PC Building, Upgrading, and Parts Picking: Everything is pretty fast now (except AMD)

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > PC Building, Upgrading, and Parts Picking: Everything is pretty fast now (except AMD)

«‹›202 »

beejay: Apr 7, 2002

How old is this power supply that you are planning on using?

# ? Jun 2, 2014 20:49

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 8, 2024 07:03

HalloKitty: Sep 30, 2005; Adjust the bass and let the Alpine blast

Poultron posted:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6y9smG

Obligatory "rate my build" post. I am finally upgrading my nearly 8 year old hardcore gaming rig and I need to make sure I am not beefing it. I am running on a 1920x1080 monitor and would eventually like to add a second monitor that will just display chat and stuff. I need to replace just about everything, but I happen to have a decent PSU already. That isn't the exact one in the build but it is the same brand and wattage.

I'd like to stay roughly in this price range with an upper limit of maybe $1,500 if I really need to push it. I basically use this computer for everything, but I don't do any modeling or video stuff, just gaming.

EDIT: I have over clocking parts in the build but am still debating if I will ever bother to do it. My current PC is OC'd but I did that a hell of a long time ago and, well, frankly, I forgot how.

Well, if you decide not to OC, get a 4690 and an H97 board.

Personally I think that 760 is expensive, since you can get a 280X for that price, which is much faster (same as a 770) ~~and has more VRAM~~. 760s are available at $229. They make more sense at that price, but much less sense at $269.

There's even an XFX 280 for $199 on PC Part Picker right now, which will give you about the same as a 760~~with more RAM~~ for $70(!) less.

vvv Huh, drat, I didn't read how much RAM the 760 had. Still not amazing price/performance but it has to be said

HalloKitty fucked around with this message at 21:00 on Jun 2, 2014

# ? Jun 2, 2014 20:54

Poultron: May 26, 2006; It doesn't make me happy if you call me cute, you bastard!

beejay posted:

How old is this power supply that you are planning on using?

I don't think it is more than a couple years old at most. I know I had to replace it relatively recently. I can check for sure when I get home.

I should look to replace it if it's three or more ish years old, right?

HalloKitty posted:

Well, if you decide not to OC, get a 4690 and an H97 board.

Personally I think that 760 is expensive, since you can get a 280X for that price, which is much faster (same as a 770) and has more VRAM. 760s are available at $229. They make more sense at that price, but much less sense at $269.

There's even an XFX 280 for $199 on PC Part Picker right now, which will give you about the same as a 760 with more RAM for $70(!) less.

I am pretty much only interested in nvidia cards at the moment. Also, the 760 on my list has 4 GB VRAM.

Poultron fucked around with this message at 20:57 on Jun 2, 2014

# ? Jun 2, 2014 20:55

DAMN NIGGA: Aug 15, 2008; by Lowtax

Poultron posted:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6y9smG

Obligatory "rate my build" post. I am finally upgrading my nearly 8 year old hardcore gaming rig and I need to make sure I am not beefing it. I am running on a 1920x1080 monitor and would eventually like to add a second monitor that will just display chat and stuff. I need to replace just about everything, but I happen to have a decent PSU already. That isn't the exact one in the build but it is the same brand and wattage.

I'd like to stay roughly in this price range with an upper limit of maybe $1,500 if I really need to push it. I basically use this computer for everything, but I don't do any modeling or video stuff, just gaming.

EDIT: I have over clocking parts in the build but am still debating if I will ever bother to do it. My current PC is OC'd but I did that a hell of a long time ago and, well, frankly, I forgot how.

Change your HDD to this http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex

# ? Jun 2, 2014 21:11

Straker: Nov 10, 2005

I thought at least one of the steambox cases turned out to be pretty much off the shelf, but I don't remember which one it was, and the steambox thread doesn't seem to have figured out if any are available from third parties. What's the smallest case I can fit a good i5 and 290 or 780 in, anyone know of anything that would work out the same size as a game console if not slightly smaller? I don't mind if I have to watercool it to keep it quiet and/or overclock, don't need an optical drive either. I was daydreaming about a 295X2 but I wouldn't be running this PC above 1080p most of the time anyway so that would just be silly.

I'm trying to rationalize building a tiny desktop for traveling, I know there's a $400 IPS, 1080p portable monitor out there that takes USB power and HDMI input (trying to avoid tons of wires, two power cables would be annoying). Laptops are kind of inadequate, expensive and poorly built (pick two) and I don't need to use it on a plane or on the toilet or anything anyway. I already travel with a portable monitor and a bunch of accessories so trading a laptop for this and adding a keyboard shouldn't be a big deal...

# ? Jun 2, 2014 21:19

notwithoutmyanus: Mar 17, 2009

Cheap but good SSDs have arrived.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8066/crucial-mx100-256gb-512gb-review/9

$110 for 240 GB or $225 for 480GB. :frogsiren:

guaranteed that I'm grabbing a second SSD.
:aaaaa:

# ? Jun 2, 2014 21:23

Poultron: May 26, 2006; It doesn't make me happy if you call me cute, you bastard!

drat NIGGA posted:

Change your HDD to this http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex

Any particular reason? I do already have a terabyte hard drive so I guess I can drop this to a terabyte.

By the way the OP only briefly touches on building services. I am one clumsy fucker and will probably break all my parts if I build the rig myself. How do physical places like Micro Center work? Do I just bring in all the parts when they get here and say hop to it, or are there like online services where I can choose my parts and have it delivered already built?

# ? Jun 2, 2014 21:36

DAMN NIGGA: Aug 15, 2008; by Lowtax

Poultron posted:

Any particular reason? I do already have a terabyte hard drive so I guess I can drop this to a terabyte.

By the way the OP only briefly touches on building services. I am one clumsy fucker and will probably break all my parts if I build the rig myself. How do physical places like Micro Center work? Do I just bring in all the parts when they get here and say hop to it, or are there like online services where I can choose my parts and have it delivered already built?

Those drives ( new versions the Purple) are for security systems and such. My bad didn't see the size, since it's not going to be the OS drive this would do too http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd20efrx

As a clumsy fucker myself, building a computer was easy. Everything fits in only one way and unless you're a barbarian, it'll be a fun project and it'll feel great every time you turn your system on, knowing you build this contraption.

DAMN NIGGA fucked around with this message at 21:52 on Jun 2, 2014

# ? Jun 2, 2014 21:50

deimos: Nov 30, 2006; Forget it man this bat is whack, it's got poobrain!

notwithoutmyanus posted:

Cheap but good SSDs have arrived.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8066/crucial-mx100-256gb-512gb-review/9

$110 for 240 GB or $225 for 480GB. guaranteed that I'm grabbing a second SSD.

# ? Jun 2, 2014 21:56

notwithoutmyanus: Mar 17, 2009

deimos posted:

I'm not unaware of that.

However this is next gen and cheap as poo poo. This will impact ssd prices.

# ? Jun 2, 2014 22:21

Propaganda Hour: Aug 25, 2008; after editing wikipedia as a joke for 16 years, i ve convinced myself that homer simpson's japanese name translates to the "The beer goblin"

deimos posted:

That title might change soon

# ? Jun 2, 2014 22:21

fookolt: Mar 13, 2012; Where there is power
There is resistance

Propaganda Hour posted:

That title might change soon

After all, the M4 was a recommended drive for a long while. Oh memories...

# ? Jun 2, 2014 22:24

Propaganda Hour: Aug 25, 2008; after editing wikipedia as a joke for 16 years, i ve convinced myself that homer simpson's japanese name translates to the "The beer goblin"

fookolt posted:

After all, the M4 was a recommended drive for a long while. Oh memories...

Yeah, and from a feature perspective the M5 series drives are pretty great, they just incur a premium for things that really no one on this forum cares about. Crucial have just been on the outside due to that driver issue on the M4 and Samsung's aggressive pricing models.

# ? Jun 2, 2014 22:26

deimos: Nov 30, 2006; Forget it man this bat is whack, it's got poobrain!

fookolt posted:

After all, the M4 was a recommended drive for a long while. Oh memories...

The M4 is the reason Crucial is still not recommended. The firmware fuckery and the overall uselessness of their support really stung a lot of people.

# ? Jun 2, 2014 22:26

Ignoarints: Nov 26, 2010

Poultron posted:

I don't think it is more than a couple years old at most. I know I had to replace it relatively recently. I can check for sure when I get home.

I should look to replace it if it's three or more ish years old, right?

I am pretty much only interested in nvidia cards at the moment. Also, the 760 on my list has 4 GB VRAM.

Either wait for a review for mid-grade nvidia cards with twice the vram for watch dogs, or consider a 770 once you near that price.

http://alienbabeltech.com/main/gtx-770-4gb-vs-2gb-tested/3/

There is a chance watch dogs uses vram is a different way that might actually show results. And while that one link I showed provides no frame time analysis, they seemed to be watching for it. And if its running at 19 fps, like the crysis 1600p benchmark that pulls in 2.3-2.7 gb vram usage, who cares

Up to you but keep it in mind. For all the :supaburn:

about vram for watchdogs it'd be nice to see the exact same cards in 2 different vram quantities benchmarked. 280x 3gb vs 6gb, 760 2gb vs 4gb, 770 2gb vs 4gb, 780 3gb vs 6gb. It's mostly been avoided in the past for whatever reason but someone must be compelled to do it now...

# ? Jun 2, 2014 22:27

Poultron: May 26, 2006; It doesn't make me happy if you call me cute, you bastard!

Ignoarints posted:

watch, dog

Thanks for the advice but I don't really give a poo poo about Watch Dogz.

# ? Jun 2, 2014 22:40

fookolt: Mar 13, 2012; Where there is power
There is resistance

deimos posted:

The M4 is the reason Crucial is still not recommended. The firmware fuckery and the overall uselessness of their support really stung a lot of people.

I'm well aware, I was one of those people

# ? Jun 2, 2014 22:41

Ignoarints: Nov 26, 2010

Poultron posted:

Thanks for the advice but I don't really give a poo poo about Watch Dogz.

Haha sorry, only assumed so because its the only reason 4gb vs 2gb has come into the spotlight

# ? Jun 2, 2014 23:12

nebby: Dec 21, 2000; resident mog

I'm looking to put together a box that will do the job for beginner/intermediate 3d game development for the oculus, something that will hold up for the next 2-3 years. I'm on a 2011 boot camped iMac now and it's showing its age for this. The last time I built a PC was 10-15 years ago so needless to say everything has changed since then in terms of components. Can someone point me towards a build out for around $1500-$2000 that will do the job?

Also I remember I used to try to avoid having to install the CPU myself and bought barebones pre-mounted rigs from newegg since I chipped a CPU once trying to latch the heat sync, is it still a bitch to get those things on or should I feel OK now doing it myself?

# ? Jun 2, 2014 23:34

ShatteredBliss: Feb 25, 2006; Today, I am going to fly.

Getting a little weary of my 5 year old laptop so I'm mulling a desktop build and holy poo poo is this thread informative.

I'm in grad school for urban planning so my uses will be along the lines of:

- Standard internet browsing/streaming
- Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, Illustrator
- Google SketchUp (especially rendering video files of models) and maybe AutoCAD
- ArcGIS and other GIS tomfoolery

Really not planning on doing any gaming; never have. Not planning on OC-ing either unless someone gives me a strong argument otherwise. That said, here's what I've got so far...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus H97M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($75.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($150.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.54 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 265 2GB Video Card ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 350D MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($21.80 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: Intel 62205ANHMWDTX1 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($36.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $959.25
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-02 18:21 EDT-0400)

My remaining nagging thoughts:

1. Should I choose different RAM? I've seen the G.Skill Ares in a couple builds here so I'm assuming it's a good choice but by no means am I set on it.

2. Any reason I should shell out the 15 extra clams to get the i5-4690?

3. I think I need an extra SATA cable (SSD, HDD, and optical drive)? Any more cables/bits that won't come prepackaged?

4. Looking at the Dell Ultrasharp 23" as a monitor but it's almost too big for my desk. Any quick comparable recommendations for something in the 20-23" range? My next stop is the Monitor Megathread.

Any other comments/suggestions are most appreciated!

# ? Jun 2, 2014 23:43

Ignoarints: Nov 26, 2010

nebby posted:

I'm looking to put together a box that will do the job for beginner/intermediate 3d game development for the oculus, something that will hold up for the next 2-3 years. I'm on a 2011 boot camped iMac now and it's showing its age for this. The last time I built a PC was 10-15 years ago so needless to say everything has changed since then in terms of components. Can someone point me towards a build out for around $1500-$2000 that will do the job?

Also I remember I used to try to avoid having to install the CPU myself and bought barebones pre-mounted rigs from newegg since I chipped a CPU once trying to latch the heat sync, is it still a bitch to get those things on or should I feel OK now doing it myself?

They are still similar in design, but there is no real way to chip a CPU anymore by putting on a heatsink.

I can lay out a framework for you, however an important question before that is if you want to overclock or not. 3D modelling is one of the few things that overclocking can directly affect.

The second question is are you willing to wait a month or two? The 4790k is getting launched "today" but won't be available for a little while. For this budget, it'd be beneficial to wait. Plus you might not feel the need to overclock with the high base and boost mhz.

Third is what is your monitor situation.

Either way, get ready to get blown away by the performance difference.

# ? Jun 2, 2014 23:45

nebby: Dec 21, 2000; resident mog

Ignoarints posted:

Either way, get ready to get blown away by the performance difference.

Sweet! I'm not interested in overclocking, trying to keep it as simple as possible. I'll need to pick up a monitor, but I can probably dig through the monitor thread there to figure it out. I can hold out for a bit, for sure, I'm guessing you'd suggest picking up a 4790k? Here's the part list I cobbled together just now based on this thread + the ars system guide:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VcZkjX
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VcZkjX/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VcZkjX/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus H97M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($75.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 280X 3GB TurboDuo Video Card ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 350D MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1030.90

# ? Jun 2, 2014 23:49

Ignoarints: Nov 26, 2010

nebby posted:

Sweet! I'm not interested in overclocking, trying to keep it as simple as possible. I'll need to pick up a monitor, but I can probably dig through the monitor thread there to figure it out. I can hold out for a bit, for sure, I'm guessing you'd suggest picking up a 4790k? Here's the part list I cobbled together just now based on this thread + the ars system guide:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VcZkjX
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VcZkjX/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VcZkjX/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus H97M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($75.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 280X 3GB TurboDuo Video Card ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 350D MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1030.90

The monitor can be a substantial cost.

Generally the 4570/4590/4690 is recommended because hyper threading is all you're getting by going i7, which is generally a waste. However 3d modelling software can show marked improvements with 8 threads. I'd quickly google the software you use and "hyperthreading". The equivalent model here is a i7-4790 (not 4790k). You will notice the price difference of course, but you are getting a little more clock speed at least too.

8GB of ram is great for everyday use and gaming, however again 3d modelling is something that can seriously use up ram. You have a legitimate reason to go 16gb, and I'd stick with 8x2 in case you need another 16 later. Again this depends on what you're doing. High detail and high poly count can destroy 8gb

The build itself looks good. Considering how much you can drop into a monitor and the fact you don't want to overclock (makes this easier), I think the direction is good here given your original budget. One thing I would add is an additional hard drive

# ? Jun 2, 2014 23:58

nebby: Dec 21, 2000; resident mog

Ignoarints posted:

The monitor can be a substantial cost.

Generally the 4570/4590/4690 is recommended because hyper threading is all you're getting by going i7, which is generally a waste. However 3d modelling software can show marked improvements with 8 threads. I'd quickly google the software you use and "hyperthreading". The equivalent model here is a i7-4790 (not 4790k). You will notice the price difference of course, but you are getting a little more clock speed at least too.

8GB of ram is great for everyday use and gaming, however again 3d modelling is something that can seriously use up ram. You have a legitimate reason to go 16gb, and I'd stick with 8x2 in case you need another 16 later. Again this depends on what you're doing. High detail and high poly count can destroy 8gb

The build itself looks good. Considering how much you can drop into a monitor and the fact you don't want to overclock (makes this easier), I think the direction is good here given your original budget. One thing I would add is an additional hard drive

Very helpful, thanks!

# ? Jun 3, 2014 00:02

The Leck: Feb 27, 2001

I notice that the recommended XFX 550W power supply from the OP is on extra sale through today. I've been thinking about doing a few other upgrades soon, with the eventual aim of mini-ITX board + a 760 or something, and hopefully quieter fans. Is there anything stupid that I'm missing about picking up this supply now to replace my current aging one with an eye toward other changes?

# ? Jun 3, 2014 00:16

DAMN NIGGA: Aug 15, 2008; by Lowtax

ShatteredBliss posted:

Getting a little weary of my 5 year old laptop so I'm mulling a desktop build and holy poo poo is this thread informative.

I'm in grad school for urban planning so my uses will be along the lines of:

- Standard internet browsing/streaming
- Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, Illustrator
- Google SketchUp (especially rendering video files of models) and maybe AutoCAD
- ArcGIS and other GIS tomfoolery

Really not planning on doing any gaming; never have. Not planning on OC-ing either unless someone gives me a strong argument otherwise. That said, here's what I've got so far...

Any other comments/suggestions are most appreciated!

A good build

For $15, I would get the the 4690. I added in a cheaper motherboard (unless the other one has some feature you need), and got you a cheaper but still great power supply since 450 watts would be enough. The RAM is fine, memory is memory.

As for the monitor, I'm partial to Dell monitors and that one doesn't seem to be a bad one. Any room in the budget/desk for a 24 inch 1920x1200 from Dell for $200 more?

# ? Jun 3, 2014 00:16

nebby: Dec 21, 2000; resident mog

4790k before end of june apparently:

http://t.co/6UAEFdKZGr

# ? Jun 3, 2014 00:53

tactlessbastard: Feb 4, 2001; Godspeed, post; Fun Shoe

I've got a 8 year old Inspiron 530 (Intel core 2 duo 2.66, ati 2600 xt, 2gb ram) that will only run Civ 5 on small maps at minimum graphic settings at a playable rate.

I'm thinking about building a new box for the first time since 1997, and my objective is big Civ 5 maps (and to run firefox for more than a day without slowing down to a crawl)

What do you all think about this build:

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H97M-G43 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($88.99 @ Mac Mall)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($87.32 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($83.86 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Case: BitFenix Comrade ATX Mid Tower Case ($47.32 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Wireless Network Adapter: Intel 62205ANHMWDTX1 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($33.99 @ Mac Mall)
Total: $857.40

tactlessbastard fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Jun 3, 2014

# ? Jun 3, 2014 00:56

Fat_Cow: Dec 12, 2009; Every time I yank a jawbone from a skull and ram it into an eyesocket, I know I'm building a better future.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/V467vK

Here is my completed build I am going to go with after taking the thread's advice.

# ? Jun 3, 2014 01:08

Illusive Fuck Man: Jul 5, 2004; RIP John McCain feel better xoxo ð ð; Taco Defender

I'm looking to build a silent and moderately powerful living room computer to gently caress around with steamos. Does anybody know of a smallish, preferably horizontal case and a very quiet cooling system that will fit inside? Budget isn't really an issue, I just don't want to hear it at all if possible.

Also, are xbox360 controllers basically the only reasonable controller to buy?

# ? Jun 3, 2014 01:42

Straker: Nov 10, 2005

Illusive gently caress Man posted:

I'm looking to build a silent and moderately powerful living room computer to gently caress around with steamos. Does anybody know of a smallish, preferably horizontal case and a very quiet cooling system that will fit inside? Budget isn't really an issue, I just don't want to hear it at all if possible.

Also, are xbox360 controllers basically the only reasonable controller to buy?

I'm still looking for an answer to basically this question too, except I don't care so much about noise, and as tiny as possible is important, I need something with a 90 degree PCIe riser.

Anyway, replying because the DS4 is really great for dedicated couch PCs since you can use the touchpad for mousing. You could wait for the steam controller too.

# ? Jun 3, 2014 02:10

Illusive Fuck Man: Jul 5, 2004; RIP John McCain feel better xoxo ð ð; Taco Defender

Straker posted:

I'm still looking for an answer to basically this question too, except I don't care so much about noise, and as tiny as possible is important, I need something with a 90 degree PCIe riser.

Anyway, replying because the DS4 is really great for dedicated couch PCs since you can use the touchpad for mousing. You could wait for the steam controller too.

Pretty sure steam controller is delayed until 2015 =[. Is it just DS4 that has good support? I have a few DS3s but I was under the impression they were annoying to get working with a PC.

# ? Jun 3, 2014 02:14

Monday_: Feb 18, 2006; Worked-up silent dork without sex ability seeks oblivion and demise.; The Great Twist

Illusive gently caress Man posted:

Pretty sure steam controller is delayed until 2015 =[. Is it just DS4 that has good support? I have a few DS3s but I was under the impression they were annoying to get working with a PC.

Getting my DS3 to work was surprisingly easy. Used MotionInJoy and XInputWrapper to get it working specifically in PCSX2, it works in everything else too.

# ? Jun 3, 2014 02:32

Straker: Nov 10, 2005

DS3 is a little annoying but on the other hand, Bluetooth. Just not much point using one since aside from BT it's not any better than the 360 pad and everything will assume you have a 360 controller, whereas the DS4 is enough of an upgrade that that stuff is worth putting up with.

# ? Jun 3, 2014 02:39

toplitzin: Jun 13, 2003

I think my fullsize (I have an e350 HTPC in addition to this) home system is getting a little long in the tooth, specs as follows:

Is it even worth upgrading just the bare-bones (RAM, MB, CPU), or should I just build fresh?
I'd like to get back into PC gaming via the couch, so it would be hooked up to a 47" 1080p.
The PC backlog is kinda big so I'm not too concerned with bleeding edge games/graphics; watchdogs maybe, crysis-es, fallouts, skyrims, etc.

It served somewhat well in the role of HTPC in my smaller apartment, but now I'm in a house there is more Den vs Office and this PC is doing more file-server duty than gaming (plus the wireless kb/mouse I have sucks for gaming).

The full rebuild option would see this PC get a PCI SATA controller and more TB disks for NAS duty.

Budget wise I'm looking to have around $800 tops. I do have additional (lovely) video cards, so the 7700 is available for a new system.

Thoughts?

# ? Jun 3, 2014 03:32

teagone: Jun 10, 2003; That was pretty intense, huh?

Would a Radeon R9 270x be a worthwhile upgrade over a Radeon 7850 2GB OC Edition?

# ? Jun 3, 2014 03:36

beejay: Apr 7, 2002

It will be an upgrade, sure. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1076?vs=1043
Worthwhile, depends on what games and what resolution, and of course your budget.

# ? Jun 3, 2014 03:41

Zero VGS: Aug 16, 2002; ASK ME ABOUT HOW HUMAN LIVES THAT MADE VIDEO GAME CONTROLLERS ARE WORTH MORE; Lipstick Apathy

I would heavily recommend 360 controllers over Dual Shock 3, and I use both. Keep in mind that Windows itself has the drivers ready to go for 360 pads (they're both MS products after all) and that every console port is 100% expecting your controller to be a 360 pad. The wired controller is totally plug and play, and if you use wireless controllers, a single receiver will sync 4 of them up at once for stupid-easy Steam co-op configurations.

DS3 is better for one thing only, it has a better cross pad. I was using it for emulated NES games and 2D fighters like Dungeon Fighter. But the newest 360 pad models have a "transforming d-pad" feature where you rotate a disc on the d-pad and it mechanically sinks in the diagonal recesses, which makes it competitive with the DS3.

# ? Jun 3, 2014 03:46

Ignoarints: Nov 26, 2010

The time has come :smith:

are there any recommended badass ~$100 cases that can deal with ATX, 3 radiators (1x 140mm minimum, 2x 120mm), and probably above all else good air flow? I prefer simple designs, and no windows. Case noise is very low on the list but it's not something I'd turn down or outright ignore if it was worth the money

# ? Jun 3, 2014 03:54

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 8, 2024 07:03

teagone: Jun 10, 2003; That was pretty intense, huh?

beejay posted:

It will be an upgrade, sure. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1076?vs=1043
Worthwhile, depends on what games and what resolution, and of course your budget.

Res is 1080p, and just a few relatively recent games: Tomb Raider (2013), the Batman: Arkham games, CS:GO, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, Battlefield 3/4. I also plan on playing the Mirror's Edge sequel/reboot/whatever-it-is when it comes out. I don't think any of those games are too demanding. While I'm satisfied with how my 7850 runs those games (alongside a Core i3-4330 and 8GB of RAM), I'm considering an upgrade if I can get something decent under $200 that'll give me a significant boost in performance. I'm just wondering if I should skip this current generation of Radeons.

[edit] Hmmm, those benchmarks are pretty convincing.

# ? Jun 3, 2014 03:56

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > PC Building, Upgrading, and Parts Picking: Everything is pretty fast now (except AMD)

«‹›202 »