Gray Matter posted:

Am I going to have significant cooling issues going from an ATX mid tower to a microatx or mini itx gaming build?

I was considering the Fractal Define Mini microatx case. As far as peripherals inside, it would be an RX 480 and 1 or 2 SSD's, no optical or disk drives, air-cooled.

ZenMaster posted:

I gave my friend my old dell PC which I souped up. He wants to replace either the CPU or the video card to increase performance in gaming.

The CPU is a Intel core i5 cpu 2.80 GHz

The video card is a Radeon HD 7950


Which one should he upgrade to see the biggest performance increase?

AVeryLargeRadish posted:

You should be fine, they make both mITX and mATX cases with good cooling, it might be a little hotter than a ATX midtower but not by a significant amount. Another case to look at is the Fractal Design Define Nano S, it's a mITX case with very good cooling and sound dampening.


The video card is the best route to go down, they should probably wait for the RX 480 at the end of this month, it should give them very good performance for the price.

Also we would need to know the exact model of CPU to say anything about it, but regardless it's probably best to upgrade the video card instead.

Dazzo posted:

With these new video cards coming out I'm looking to do a full desktop rebuild. Please let me know if there are any suggested adjustments.

What country are you in? - USA
What are you using the system for? Web and Office? Gaming? Video or photo editing? Professional creative or scientific computing? - Gaming

Evil Fluffy posted:

A 850W PSU seems like serious overkill for a single GPU. Especially since the 10-series has a low power draw. Wouldn't that setup work just fine with a 600-650W PSU or are you planning to get a 2nd card for SLI at some point?

Gray Matter posted:

Am I going to have significant cooling issues going from an ATX mid tower to a microatx or mini itx gaming build?

I was considering the Fractal Define Mini microatx case. As far as peripherals inside, it would be an RX 480 and 1 or 2 SSD's, no optical or disk drives, air-cooled.

hangintree posted:

Been a long time since I built my last computer (2005). Been mostly using laptops since then for school/work. Now I'm wanting to get back into having a PC that can actually run things.

What country are you in? United States
What are you using the system for? Web and Office? Gaming? Video or photo editing? Professional creative or scientific computing? Gaming mostly, some office/light statistics work (SPSS etc.)
What's your budget? around $2000 including a monitor
If you're gaming, what is your monitor resolution? Looking at getting a 1070 and looking through the thread it seems 1440p is what I should be aiming for?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A SLI PLUS ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($118.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($154.49 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card ($439.00)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.88 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Dell S2716DG 27.0" 144Hz Monitor ($509.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1818.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-11 19:28 EDT-0400

Edit: If I wanted to get another 1070 in the next 1-2 years to run SLI should I get a larger power supply or should the 650W be good enough?

brocretin posted:

(Reposting because I think my post got lost at the end of last page. If that's not the case, feel free to ignore me)

I need to replace my current hand-me-down desktop with something that is at all useable. This will be my first time building a computer and I don't know what I'm doing. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

What country are you in? US
What are you using the system for? Gaming, mostly strategy and FPS
What's your budget? ~800$
If you're gaming, what is your monitor resolution? How fancy do you want your graphics? 1920x1080 and good framerate are important, looking good is a secondary concern.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($204.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI H170A PC Mate ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($84.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 960 4GB Video Card ($234.28 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($47.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $785.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-11 14:24 EDT-0400

(I have access to Amazon Prime fwiw)

AVeryLargeRadish posted:

You should not buy stuff piecemeal, I know it's tempting but you need to be able to check if the components work within a month of purchase so you can do an exchange if one of them is DOA. You should get a new case, the Centurion 5 is ancient and a new case would be much better for temps, easier to work in and just better overall. The 840 EVO can be kept, it's still a good SSD, the PSU can be kept too. You should wait on the video card since new ones are in the process of coming out right now and prices will be in flux for a while. The GTX 1080 has been out for a couple weeks, the GTX 1070 just came out today, the RX 480 is set to come out on the 29th and in the future there will be a GTX 1060 and RX 490.

For a CPU either the i5-6500 or the i5-6600k, the 6600k will be much faster but requires a decent cooler(~$30) and must be OCed to get that extra speed, OCing is dead easy these days so if you can afford it the 6600k is a good deal. However with a $400 budget for the GPU/CPU I would go with the 6500 instead so more can be spent on the GPU, for the GPU an RX 480 would be good, it looks like it will be about as fast as a GTX 980. If you meant $400 for each component then your best bet would be a GTX 1070 and an i5-6600k with a nice cooler, maybe even an i7-6700k plus a good cooler.

Something nice in the midrange would look like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($204.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z170-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($82.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Micro Center)
Video Card: RX 480 ($200.00)
Power Supply: XFX TSX 550W
Total: $587.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-10 13:00 EDT-0400

Lavender Philtrum posted:

As a note, the USB 3 controller on the motherboard recommended to me by AVeryLargeRadish is reported to have problems with the Oculus Rift and Vive because the controller has some sort of incompatabiltiy with the tracking hardware - some sort of issue with how often it updates or something similar.

If anyone else plans on using the ASUS 7170-A ATX DDR4 motherboard, be aware you'll have to use one of the PCI-e slots to pop in a USB 3 card like this to be able to use the Rift/Vive. So, not the end of the world, I'll probably just do that, but still another expense that you can potentially avoid by going with another mobo.

Nitramster posted:

Thanks for your quick response, I've been working and unable to respond back! I have a couple of new thoughts while scanning your other responses here and some more general info gathering.

1. I'm willing to buy the computer sans graphics card. It lets me split the payments into 2 and still be able to RMA and see how the card market turns out in the next month.

2. I noticed the price difference between the i5-6600k and the i5-6500 is minimal, and you mentioned overclocking is cake these days, but to do that would I need a cooler. I wouldn't try to push the OC, I'll be on a 1080/60 screen for a while, but I can see an upgrade coming later in the year so being able to dial that up later sounds awesome.

3. I would spend a bit more for an attractive, quiet case. Having a badass windowed computer isn't the first impression of my room I want to give a potential date (lol wut dates loser? Shut up brain! ) I saw the Fractal R5 was on sale but I can't find the link that was on slickdeals anymore so that might be dead, I probably should've just bought that but I wasn't set on this until recently.

That Old Ganon posted:

What country are you in? United States
What are you using the system for? Gaming
What's your budget? $2k
If you're gaming, what is your monitor resolution? No monitor yet!

My brother gave me a bunch of PC parts, and I would like to make it into something to game on. I received a fairly small case, but I have no idea which brand it is. These are the rest of the parts: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/33vVnn

AVeryLargeRadish posted:

xthetenth posted:

What's your budget? You're probably a good candidate for an RX 480 on the 29th. $200 sound like a reasonable price for what you're willing to spend?

bongwizzard posted:

Crap, forgot that. Yea, that is right about where I am looking. I also need some drives and such, here is the current state of my newegg cart:



I have a small (111GB) SSD currently that the OS and other software is on, but it is also 4ish years old. One of my HDs just died and the other is of a similar vintage and general sketchiness, so I want to replace them both. The idea being to keep the OS on the current drive, move my shameful amount of unfinished games on the new SSD, and dump all my media onto the 4tb drive. Realistically I could delete like 80% of the media and not miss it, but thus far I have not summoned up the willpower to sort it all. Right now my games folder is like 430GB, but I think that I could keep it to a 500BG limit without too much trouble, as there is a lot of stuff on there I dont need to keep installed or can be moved to the normal drive.

Lavender Philtrum posted:

As a note, the USB 3 controller on the motherboard recommended to me by AVeryLargeRadish is reported to have problems with the Oculus Rift and Vive because the controller has some sort of incompatabiltiy with the tracking hardware - some sort of issue with how often it updates or something similar.

If anyone else plans on using the ASUS 7170-A ATX DDR4 motherboard, be aware you'll have to use one of the PCI-e slots to pop in a USB 3 card like this to be able to use the Rift/Vive. So, not the end of the world, I'll probably just do that, but still another expense that you can potentially avoid by going with another mobo.

AVeryLargeRadish posted:

I would get a larger PSU, yes. This would be a good way to go:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A SLI PLUS ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($132.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($154.94 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($83.16 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card ($439.00)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Dell S2716DG 27.0" 144Hz Monitor ($509.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1849.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-11 20:06 EDT-0400

BTW, avoid Superbiiz and OutletPC.

EDIT: Also consider getting the Acer XB271HU monitor instead of the Dell one, the Acer has a much better screen.

AVeryLargeRadish posted:

Wow, with a 2k budget and those parts you can build a very nice system overall, here's a spec to look at:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased For $0.00)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (Purchased For $0.00)
Memory: G.Skill Value Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($51.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Western Digital RE4-GP 2TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card ($440.00)
Case: Fractal Design Define Mini MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Acer XB271HU bmiprz 27.0" 165Hz Monitor ($717.94 @ B&H)
Total: $1478.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-12 03:15 EDT-0400

That should make for a top-of-the-line gaming PC. I replaced the power supply because you will need a better one than the one included.

Ludicrous Gibs! posted:

Dang, that's the exact model I was looking at, too.

Any thoughts on this one as a replacement? It's a budget board, but it looks like it has all the features I'm after:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130892

Lavender Philtrum posted:

Looks like, as someone else mentioned, there's a beta USB controller driver that's meant to fix the rift and other VR devices, so maybe it's not a problem after all.

HalloKitty posted:

Do wait for radeon 480 to go on sale, it'll likely be faster than a 390, for less cash.

AVeryLargeRadish posted:

Wow, with a 2k budget and those parts you can build a very nice system overall, here's a spec to look at:

(...)

Monitor: Acer XB271HU bmiprz 27.0" 165Hz Monitor ($717.94 @ B&H)

AVeryLargeRadish posted:

Here's a better build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($223.55 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H170M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($97.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: PNY Anarchy 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($27.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB FTW ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define Nano S Mini ITX Desktop Case ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $664.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-11 13:25 EDT-0400

1) Changed out the RAM for something cheaper.
2) Changed the video card for a nicer model, since it's only $5 more.
3) I switched the case for something much cheaper and more suitable for your usage, the other one is a nice case but it costs twice as much and its big feature is space for loads of hard drives, it doesn't sound like you need that. This one is small, quiet, easy to build in and much cheaper. You can still fit a couple HDDs and SSDs inside too.
4) Added a better PSU, Corsair CX PSUs have quality issues. This one is cheap but pretty decent and EVGA has amazing customer service.

Also avoid buying from SuperBiiz and OutletPC, they are not licensed resellers and do some really shady stuff.

GWBBQ posted:

I built a computer with an Asus P7P55D-E LX, first generation i5, 4GB of RAM (upgraded to 12 later,) and a Radeon HD5770 6 1/2 years ago based on advice from this thread. Lately, I've been noticing that everything feels laggy, not just games but loading most web pages. Putting in an SSD helped a lot but the system is definitely showing its age. CPU and memory use never seem to go much higher than 50% even when it's lagging, I'm wondering if it's worth trying a new video card first or if I should just save up for a few paychecks and build a brand new middle-of-the-road system in the $600-800 range like I did last time . I almost never buy new games, the only ones that noticeably tax the system are Fallout 4 and Kerbal Space Program, so I run them on lower settings and they're mostly OK. I don't expect to be doing any hardcore gaming, but if something new comes out that catches my eye I'd like to be able to run it so it looks decent.

effectual posted:

My pc is starting to show its age, I can't keep steam on while playing another game from the bnet launcher without severe lag, my memory is slower to access stuff, about 1/4 of youtube videos don't show any video (probably some codec thing but I update flash whenever it pops up that there's a new update, so ) etc. Like on Overwatch I have to do graphics settings on medium or a bit lower for it to run smoothly. Not looking for max settings, but like 75-90% instead of 40% would be nice.

Here's my current system:



USA
Looking to game mostly,
~$1,000 or less if possible, don't care upgrade or replace, whichever would work better. Can go up near 1500 if it'd make a huge difference.
probably need new case as well, this old one is pretty big and I saw the OP suggested smaller ones
prefer nvidia cards, some games (*cough*Diablo3 desert) don't like AMD


My monitor works okay but is a little old, it's an ASUS VE248H, resolution 1900x1080

Don't care about overclocking, more trouble than I want.

I also have a Frys nearby, so I could pickup stuff there to save on shipping costs, if that helps. And I can wait a month or whatever for those new graphics cards, whether to buy them if they're cheap or if they'll make older ones cheaper, w/e.

Does windows 10 make a difference over 7? I don't like the tablet-like layout, I prefer the classic style. Probably need a usb dvd drive too so I can install some of my old programs like photoshop, been usin the same disc for over a decade now on each new install

Lungboy posted:

My pc died for a few minutes tonight, and while I haven't had time to test anything, I'm suspecting the PSU. It's an 8 year old Corsair hx620w. It's my obvious culprit as the pc didn't bsod or have any symptoms, it simply turned off as though the power failed. Given the age of the PSU, it needs replacing whether it's the villain or not. The rest of my pc is just as old, so in the near future I'd like to upgrade the lot, but can't afford a full system yet. The idea is to get the PSU now, so I need tomato sure it won't limit my options later. With all that in mind:
location: UK
Uses: Internet (I'm a huge number of chrome tabs type), games (path of Exile, possibly overwatch one day), streaming media to my home ethernet.
Budget: £100 for the PSU, lower if possible, £800 for full system including Psu.

This is what I currently am looking at:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£194.99 @ Ebuyer)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£58.49 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard (£105.50 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£62.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Fractal Design Define Nano S Mini ITX Desktop Case (£58.60 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£79.32 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £559.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-13 21:41 BST+0100

Plus probably an RX480 gpu. I'm not specifically going for itx for any reason other than I've always had big towers (current is Antec Nine Hundred) and all the extra slots sit empty and feel like a total waste. Thanks!

E: I'm happy with current monitor and storage, although likely to need new OS.

AVeryLargeRadish posted:

I changed the CPU cooler because while the H7 is better than the Hyper 212 EVO it's not over double the price better. I also changed the PSU for one that is still very good but a bit cheaper, it should be plenty for an RX 480 and an OCed 6600k. I also added a good SSD in case you don't already have one.