PC Building/Upgrading/Parts-picking Megathread Reloaded

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > PC Building/Upgrading/Parts-picking Megathread Reloaded

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Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

daspope posted:

To clarify a bit, I paid less for those parts a while ago. I know I can't use the ATX board. I was trying to figure out if it's reasonable to transition to a smaller build with some of the not too old parts that I have. I suppose I should just edit that down to the CPU and PSU.

This just may not be the most reasonable thing to do. I might be better starting a new build and selling these parts.

You will be fine.

# ¿ May 7, 2016 11:54

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# ¿ May 5, 2024 14:04

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

Luna Was Here posted:

I think it was this thread someone posted a link to the little bit of software that turned off all the Windows 10 background tracking stuff, was wondering if anyone in here had a link to that, im not finding anything with the searcher

It's more hardware I suppose, and you will need to fashion it into some kind of hat like shape.

# ¿ May 7, 2016 13:31

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

melon cat posted:

No particular reason. To be honest, I was looking at the build mainly from a cost/value perspective.

Thanks for this revised list! I wasn't aware that the 750 Ti is the new value GPU. But am I wrong for considering DDR3 over DDR4, entirely for cost considerations? I was under the impression that DDR4 is better suited for higher-end builds (ie. not best for cheapskates... like my friend may or may not be), but of course I could be very wrong for thinking that.

DDR3 isn't compatible with the build blowfish posted, which is why they chose DDR4.

# ¿ May 12, 2016 19:09

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

SnatchRabbit posted:

Not exactly a PC building question, but I figured this would be the place to ask: What's the best place to buy a Rasberry Pi? Individuall or in bulk?

There is a Raspberry Pi thread on the first page.

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3468084&pagenumber=105&perpage=40

# ¿ May 12, 2016 21:55

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

CornHolio posted:

I don't really want to swap out the motherboard and processor, as far as I can tell they're still working fine. And based on what I'm using it for, 08-vintage hardware should be fine.

Boot times have improved from 2 hrs but still freezing sometimes when booting and your hardware is working fine?!

# ¿ May 19, 2016 19:23

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

mediaphage posted:

I skimmed the first couple of pages and checked for a thread; apologies if I've missed something.

I'm generally fine with picking out my own parts and putting these things together but - I'm old enough now to want something that's basically as quiet as possible. I currently have an r9 nano, but it's not that important if I can do better and quieter - everything else is mutable. Thoughts, suggestions? I don't know if I'll end up keeping it in my office or my living room, but I don't think it really matters.

I think a good case is very important in keeping things quiet - maybe take a look at the Fractal Design R5

There's s smaller version but I can't remember what it is called at the moment.

Also, Platinum PSUs which can run fanless or semi-fanless - EVGA have some good ones for not that much cash.

# ¿ Jun 14, 2016 21:32

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

Enigma posted:

So, after a lot more research I can't really find any fault in this build I posted earlier, though I may swap the 1x8 RAM to 2x4 just for redundancy. I am between two monitors, both of which are comparable at 1920x1080, 144Hz, FreeSync, 1 ms.

I know the nvidia 1060 is imminent (some sites expected it three days ago), but I can't find any G-sync monitors that are comparable to the ones I would choose if I went with the ATI card. Is there any chance the 1060 would be superior to the ATI rx 480 to the point that going with it and foregoing FreeSync would be advisable?

Sticking with 1 x 8GB stick of RAM would allow an easier upgrade path should you wish to go to 16GB further down the line - you can just buy another 1 x 8GB stick.

# ¿ Jul 15, 2016 17:59

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

Badfinger posted:

I know this is the Extremely Logical And Serious subforum, but perhaps even here there is room for hyperbole?

No.

And if your PSU does fail it is quite unlikely it will be the only component you have to replace because of it.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2016 19:26

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

Fat_Cow posted:

Alright then. Should I just spring for a WD Blue 4 TB despite the black having more RPM? WIll it impact me as much?

The WD Black will be quite a bit louder due to that increase in RPM.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2016 12:42

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

You would have to buy a new motherboard if you go to a 6600.

There are motherboards out there that would support the DDR3 RAM you already have, but if you are buying a 6600 and a new motherboard to support it, you may as well move up to DDR4 RAM as well.

# ¿ Aug 16, 2016 19:52

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

puppy party posted:

A few years ago this thread helped me put together my current PC for my first time build. It's been working great ever since and I've had no issues. I'm getting fidgety and looking to upgrade my graphics card but not really sure if everything else on the computer could handle a new 1060/1070. I don't think the processor would be a bottleneck but honestly I'm not really sure.

Can anyone shed some light on any part of my PC that might need upgrading in preparation for a new graphics card?

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/XkPTBm

Your PC will handle a GFX Card upgrade fine, although it does seem to be a miracle computer and running without a PSU.

It would be useful to know what PSU you have.

# ¿ Aug 19, 2016 17:25

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

puppy party posted:

Whoops! Didn't realize it wasn't on there anymore. I don't see it on PCPartPicker so I think it must have rolled off inventory and off the list. It's this guy.

Should I think about popping another 8gb of RAM while I'm at it?

That's a good PSU so should be able to handle a 1060/1070 just fine.

More RAM never hurts, just be sure to buy another two sticks of what you already have to cut down on "Mixing RAM Can Sometimes Cause Issues" issues

# ¿ Aug 19, 2016 17:40

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

well why not posted:

recently moved to the UK. What's the go to online store for parts here? Overclockers seems to have a lot, as does scan, but their sites are pretty bad compared to what I used in Aus (pccg).

Aria and Ebuyer are alright.

I tend to find Overclockers quite expensive.

And of course Amazon.

# ¿ Aug 24, 2016 19:39

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

Spikey Willow posted:

I have a system from 2011, built using this forum's recommended parts of the time (it's been great btw):
Asus P8H67-M Pro Intel H67 (Socket 1155)
i5-2500 3.30GHz
XFX ATI Radeon HD 5770 Single Slot 1024MB GDDR5
Kingston 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1333MHz i5 Memory Kit Non-ECC CL9 1.5V
80GB Samsung SSD (for OS)
some WD HDD
Win 10

Recently it started BSOD, which I have narrowed down to a faulty stick of RAM (using memtest86 and checking both sticks and the memory slots on the motherboard). Simplest option is to just get another 4GB stick to replace the faulty one, but while I'm in the market, what is the fastest RAM my motherboard can support? And would I see any advantages by getting anything better?

Secondly, is there anything else worth upgrading on my system, or should I wait until it's pretty much obsolete and just do a new build next time? Usage wise, I run two screens (for video watching rather than editing), and occasionally game, but nothing especially taxing. I play stuff on Steam, occasionally older games like Half-Life 2, Portal etc - I'm not going to be running Crysis at full spces.

Thanks in advance!

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8H67M_PRO/specifications/

You could upgrade you graphics card to something recent and carry that over when you decide to do a new build.

# ¿ Aug 25, 2016 19:35

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

Jose posted:

So i stuck a cheap 8gb ram in and a gtx 1060 while i'm still on a i5 4570. As far as i can tell the graphics card was the major drag as far as games go and this should be fine for a while. All i'm mostly curious about is if when i do upgrade again I'll need another motherboard or i can just replace the CPU/better ram?

I'd say what motherboard i'm using but system information isn't telling me other than its asus

If you wanted to upgrade to the latest generation of Intel processors (Skylake) you would need a new Motherboard and RAM

# ¿ Aug 25, 2016 20:37

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

I said come in! posted:

Is this motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132566 going to be okay with this tower: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119274 ? I am not familiar with micro-ATX towers but really want a small computer. I am also wanting to put a GTX 970 in there.

No, you will not be able to fit that motherboard in that case.

If you want a micro-ATX case then you need to buy a micro-ATX motherboard (or smaller)

# ¿ Aug 27, 2016 14:56

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

I said come in! posted:

Right, I just now realized that when looking at other builds in this thread. So just need to find an alternative motherboard and i'll be good.

ASRock make nice motherboards, something from them in your price range will serve you well!

# ¿ Aug 27, 2016 14:58

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

ZZT the Fifth posted:

For what it's worth, my GTX970 is the MSI one, so I don't know if that'd be a bit big for the mATX board...

It won't be.

# ¿ Sep 3, 2016 10:43

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

marauderthirty posted:

Sorry for the repost but it seems like this got lost in bottleneck chat. I'm really just trying to figure out if this case is ok or if I should go with something different, since it's giving me a compatibility error.

You might have to move the HDD cage to a different position in the case to allow the GFX card to fit.

# ¿ Sep 3, 2016 14:49

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

marauderthirty posted:

That seems fine. Are they normally adjustable? It looks like this one is judging by the pictures.

Anything else I should know as a first time builder? Do I need to buy thermal paste for the CPU/fan? Is the single case fan + CPU fan going to be enough for cooling if I'm going to OC? The performance will probably be plenty for me at first, so I probably won't be looking at overclocking right away. Any other ancillary items I might need? Cables or mounting hardware?

Yes, the be quiet! website says that you can.

Your CPU cooler should come with thermal paste pre-applied so no need to buy any.

The be quiet! website says that your case comes with a 140mm fan at the front and a 120mm fan at the rear - that should be more than adequate.

You shouldn't need anything else.

# ¿ Sep 3, 2016 15:17

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

Sometimes DDR4-2400 RAM is cheaper than DDR4-2133 RAM.

# ¿ Sep 4, 2016 12:52

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

You would need an SFX PSU if you decided to get an NCASE M1.

They can support ATX PSUs but with some considerable limitations, one being a maximum GFX card length of 195mm.

# ¿ Sep 10, 2016 08:50

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

8-Bit Dracula posted:

I bought a 6600K, Gigabyte Z170 Gaming K3 EU, 16 GB of 2400 MHz ram and a Fractal Design Integra M 650W PSU.

I'm now looking to buy a GPU as well. Specifically the Sapphire Radeon RX 470 4G, 932 MHz version (serial number 11256-00-20G).

Should I look at another graphics card instead? The GTX 960 2GB way worse? It's a bit cheaper.

The RX 470 is a much better card than the GTX 960.

# ¿ Sep 10, 2016 10:34

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

Satone posted:

This is the first computer I've set myself to building and its not quite finished yet, I still need the GPU, but I should have that in a about a week or so. I did a ton of research picking out parts and whatnot, so I'm really psyched that all research I did lined up with the OP's advice really well. The power supply looks like its gonna be a bit more than I need, but I figure that will give me room for upgrades down the line. I didn't feel like I needed a particularly great monitor, its just a used 19'' HP. I may upgrade it in the future, but right now I just don't want to drop the extra cash on something far more expensive. I expect this system to run a range of usages including (obviously) gaming and coding, so I selected parts for a higher end build on the expectation of getting at least some heavy workload out of it.

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
Mobo: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
Storage: Patriot Torch LE 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
GPU: Zotac GeForce GTX 1060 6GB AMP! Edition Video Card
PSU: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case
Heatsink: Noctua NH-U9S 46.4 CFM CPU Cooler
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/vTKcHN

If your worried about it, just ducttape a cut piece of plastic over the vent. Seems like a good solution. Probably won't look as pretty, but some paint on it might help fix that.

Get a better SSD - a Samsung 850 EVO or a Sandisk X400. The one you have picked is by no stretch of the imagination "high end".

# ¿ Sep 11, 2016 11:59

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

I have a N200 and it is alright.

The included case fans are quite loud, if that kind of thing bothers you.

# ¿ Sep 22, 2016 20:23

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

I have recent;y moved (like, 5 days ago) from a H81 / 4170 to an H170 / 6500 system and my digital license tied to blah blah blah worked absolutely fine.

I had to reinstall Windows 10, but I assumed that was down to chipset drivers, boot devices, upgrade bullshit, but as soon as I signed in using my Microsoft account my install activated with no issues.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2016 13:36

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

Mad Katter posted:

Can anyone recommend a CPU cooler for a 6600k that will fit in one of these? It's likely to see mild overclocking, but that's about it. I'd like to keep things reasonably quiet too.

I was looking at the Noctua NH-U14S, but I find CPU coolers quite difficult to compare.

That Noctua will perhaps be too high - website says 165mm with fan and that case supports CPU coolers up to 160mm.

The Cryorig H7 is often mentioned in this thread and will fit in your case and will be fine for mild overclocking.

# ¿ Nov 6, 2016 12:45

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

Luna Was Here posted:

If I got an SSD and wanted to have windows boot off of it would I have to format my main drive with Windows currently installed on it then install windows to the SSD?

Yes, you would have to install Windows on your SSD for it to boot on your SSD.

# ¿ Nov 9, 2016 19:40

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

Inverse square posted:

So by changing a very random BIOS setting to "legacy" I have made it so that the computer gives me the sign "please power down and connect the pcie power cables for this graphics card".

Here's what there is:
-Two 8-pin sockets on the side of the card (Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 Xtreme Edition)
-A plug coming out of my PSU that has 2 6-pin plugs and one 2-pin one
-A converter that takes two 6-pin sockets to a single 8-pin plug

I have tried every combination of insertions (hurr hurr). The obvious one is the two 6-pins into the converter, which goes into one of the 8-pin sockets. Still gives the sign.

If your GFX card has two 8-pin sockets on it then you need to plug two 8-pin cables from your PSU into them (6+2-pin works fine as well) - it sounds as though your PSU doesn't have these.

[edit] Just looked at the specs of you PSU - you need a new one as it doesn't have the two 8-pin (or two 6+2-pin) connectors you need.

# ¿ Nov 17, 2016 13:22

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

Inverse square posted:

Thanks a lot. What PSU is recommended here? I'm in the UK and buy things out of my expenses so price doesn't matter. In spite of the crazy graphics card, I do not intend to overclock or SLI.

UK too!

I wanna recommend the EVGA G2 series but supply always seems to be patchy for some reason (at least according to pcpartpicker).

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/3zNypg/corsair-power-supply-cp9020090na - this one is a good pick from Corsair, which also gets recommended quite a bit in the thread.

# ¿ Nov 17, 2016 13:34

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

eternalbuffalo posted:

How....how do I know if it is non-overclockable? I apologize for the probably stupid question but like I said, I am really not that savvy when it comes to the finer details of these things. I admittedly had to look up what 'PSU' meant when someone else referenced it in a post to me.

Overclockable chips end with a "K" so it depends whether your chip is a 3770K or not. Assuming Windows, a little program like CPUID would help you identify exactly what chip you have, you may even be able to do it without installing anything but I don't have Windows installed to try and see how.

# ¿ Nov 21, 2016 15:19

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

Khablam posted:

There's a lot not to like about this, I wouldn't start here.

There's perhaps a couple of things that could be improved on.

"a lot not to like" is just very slightly over the top.

# ¿ Nov 24, 2016 20:44

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

SlyFrog posted:

I have the following:

Motherboard - ASRock Z77 Extreme4
CPU - Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.40 GHz
GPU - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
Hard Drives - 1 TB Standard, 250 GB SSD

I have an Asus monitor, I forget exactly how big, but let's say 24" (I run in 1920x1080).

My question is, will upgrading the video card make a substantial difference for things like Battlefield 1?

I would prefer not to buy a new computer. But I do not understand these things, and do not know, for example, if the CPU would be too big a bottleneck such that it would not be viable to buy a new video card.

Of course, I also do not necessarily want to buy a new video card that costs $500, when that is half of just buying something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883102253&cm_sp=Homepage_BS-_-P2_83-102-253-_-11252016

Just looking for my best option here in terms of saving some money, but also being efficient and not spending $300-$500 now just to have to end up buying new in a year anyway.

A GTX 1060 would be a perfect fit for you - get the 6GB model.

I like the MSI cards - http://pcpartpicker.com/product/JVWrxr/msi-geforce-gtx-1060-6gb-gaming-x-video-card-geforce-gtx-1060-gaming-x-6g

About $270.

# ¿ Nov 27, 2016 16:41

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

CheshireCat posted:

Edit: Recommendations for a wireless network adapter? Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I?

Is that the one recommended in the OP?

If so, then yes.

# ¿ Nov 27, 2016 18:45

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

SlyFrog posted:

Cool. Just an excess of caution on my part - the card you linked is the same as this one, right? https://www.amazon.com/MSI-GTX-1060...NG+X+Video+Card

EDIT: This is why I get confused about computer stuff - there's like 6 options on that one Amazon page alone. Which one do I want? Looks like it might actually be this one? https://www.amazon.com/MSI-GTX-1060...deo%2BCard&th=1

The second one.

# ¿ Nov 27, 2016 21:56

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

Crasical posted:

Opinions on a EVGA 500B1 power supply as compared to a Corsair RMx 550W? A friend suggested it and it's 30 dollars cheaper.

I have a EVGA 500B1, went in to a new build about 2 years a go and moved it to my new Skylake build a few months back.

It works fine for what it is.

# ¿ Jan 8, 2017 11:34

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

melon cat posted:

A question about upgrading my PC from DDR3 RAM to DDR4 RAM. If I understand correctly, all I have to do is buy a DDR4-compatible mobo and buy new sticks of DDR4 RAM and a new Windows 10 OS installation (assuming my current Win 10 installation is a Retail version). Is this correct?

Also, if my goal is to improve my PC's After Effects/3D rendering time, am I better off upgrading the RAM, or upgrading my GTX970 to a better Nvidia GPU?

My current build:

Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler

ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard

G.Skill Sniper Gaming Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card

You would also need to buy a new CPU compatible with the new mobo and RAM.

# ¿ Jan 9, 2017 18:05

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

You are absolutely right to stick with the Intel Wi-Fi card.

# ¿ Jan 27, 2017 14:18

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

Miguel Prado posted:

Something like this?

CPU: Intel Core i5-7600K
CPU COOLER: CRYORIG H7 CPU Cooler
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS PRIME Z270-P
MEMORY: Crucial DDR4 Ballistix Sport 16GB
VIDEO CARD: ASUS GTX 1070 Dual OC 8GB GDDR5
STORAGE: SAMSUNG SSD M.2 500GB 960EVO
POWER SUPPLY: Corsair CX650M, 650W PSU

If you are going Corsair PSU can you spring to RM, the CX series does not have the best reputation.

# ¿ Jan 30, 2017 14:32

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# ¿ May 5, 2024 14:04

Dead Goon: Dec 13, 2002; No Obvious Flaws

Hell, I'd rather go with a Fractal Design R5 or one of those fancy tempered glass Phanteks over that CM HAF.

# ¿ Jan 30, 2017 15:12

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > PC Building/Upgrading/Parts-picking Megathread Reloaded

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