The PC Building/Post Your Specs Here Thread

[Damn_Smooth]

The more I think about it, I think I'm going to go with a GTX 970 (MSI, or EVGA probably) instead of a 290X.... I've been with AMD for GFX for my last two computers, feeling a switch.

Not to sound like a fanboy (that I totally am) and not to judge you by your choices (which I totally will) but the 290x is simply a superior card between those two cards. It actually has the amount of vram it advertises to run better at higher resolution and it is fully compliant with DX12, which the 970 is not. Do what you wish though, I won't fault you (lies).

Hm, I was told that Nvidia's tech was a step ahead of AMD's - don't remember the person's argument, but they had a degree in Comp. Eng.. Regardless, I won't just purchase based on a feeling or whim, I will be doing [partially informed] research.

The 290x is an older card that is 100% compliant with all DX12 features, which Nvidia somehow lacked the foresight to include in any card it has released or announced so far (probably to milk customers for a new card when Windows 10 releases). While running DX11 At 4k resolution the 290x goes head to head with the 980 and while the gap isn't incredible, they are both ahead of the 970. DX 12's support of asynchronous shaders is where things could get interesting though because only AMD cards support that feature at this time and it is rumoured that that could lead to a 40% increase in performance on its own, which would put a 2 and a half year old AMD card over anything Nvidia has released with the possible exception of the $1000+ TitanX, and those would be in close competition. The 970 does have the 290x beat in power consumption though if roughly $10 a year off your electricity bill is a determining factor for you. I would compliment your decision to look into it for yourself though, that's the best way to make the decision that is right for you.

[OmarBradley]

The more I think about it, I think I'm going to go with a GTX 970 (MSI, or EVGA probably) instead of a 290X.... I've been with AMD for GFX for my last two computers, feeling a switch.

Not to sound like a fanboy (that I totally am) and not to judge you by your choices (which I totally will) but the 290x is simply a superior card between those two cards. It actually has the amount of vram it advertises to run better at higher resolution and it is fully compliant with DX12, which the 970 is not. Do what you wish though, I won't fault you (lies).

Hm, I was told that Nvidia's tech was a step ahead of AMD's - don't remember the person's argument, but they had a degree in Comp. Eng.. Regardless, I won't just purchase based on a feeling or whim, I will be doing [partially informed] research.

The 290x is an older card that is 100% compliant with all DX12 features, which Nvidia somehow lacked the foresight to include in any card it has released or announced so far (probably to milk customers for a new card when Windows 10 releases). While running DX11 At 4k resolution the 290x goes head to head with the 980 and while the gap isn't incredible, they are both ahead of the 970. DX 12's support of asynchronous shaders is where things could get interesting though because only AMD cards support that feature at this time and it is rumoured that that could lead to a 40% increase in performance on its own, which would put a 2 and a half year old AMD card over anything Nvidia has released with the possible exception of the $1000+ TitanX, and those would be in close competition. The 970 does have the 290x beat in power consumption though if roughly $10 a year off your electricity bill is a determining factor for you. I would compliment your decision to look into it for yourself though, that's the best way to make the decision that is right for you.

I'm seeing this a lot when looking up the 970:

I have the card and the only way to push it over 3.5GB is at 4K.

Users seem to be saying that it lags when you start using more than 3.5GB and are not at 4K.

If you Google "GTX 970 vs. R9 290x," every result on the first page that is a comparison agrees that the 970 is probably the better choice, while they are both really good.

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-290X-vs-GeForce-GTX-970

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_970_STRIX_OC/25.html

Another factor, I have had a lot of overheating issues due to my small case size, and the R9 290X from what I hear can run very hot. I'm only going to be running at 1080p.

I'm still open to convincing, but as of now I'm certainly leaning 970.

EDIT: Right now, the only big thing I'm seeing as an advantage to the 290X is the asynchoronous shaders thing you mentioned.

Edited April 9, 2015 by OmarBradley

[Damn_Smooth]

Not sure what is going on with W1zzard's test bench there because many users on the forums are reporting AMD advantages with roughly the same margins, which is why I said the difference wasn't incredible. Maybe it's a margin of error sort of thing. I can definitely see where heat would be a problem in a smaller case though. If the asynchronous shaders pan out like they're supposed to that would be a great advantage for AMD, but we'll have to wait for release to be sure. How soon are you buying the card? I ask because AMD is releasing the 300 series in the next few months and if they turn out like the leaks suggest they are going to give Nvidia a ball kicking like they haven't received in quite some time. The thermals should be better in that series too.

[OmarBradley]

Not sure what is going on with W1zzard's test bench there because many users on the forums are reporting AMD advantages with roughly the same margins, which is why I said the difference wasn't incredible. Maybe it's a margin of error sort of thing. I can definitely see where heat would be a problem in a smaller case though. If the asynchronous shaders pan out like they're supposed to that would be a great advantage for AMD, but we'll have to wait for release to be sure. How soon are you buying the card? I ask because AMD is releasing the 300 series in the next few months and if they turn out like the leaks suggest they are going to give Nvidia a ball kicking like they haven't received in quite some time. The thermals should be better in that series too.

Witcher III comes out May 19th, that's basically my target date. I don't think the 300 series is going to hit shelves until at least mid Q3 2015. The articles I'm seeing now say that the series will get its official announcement in June. A bit too long for me to wait sadly.

There is one thing I know for sure though, my next GPU will not be made by XFX.

[Damn_Smooth]

Shitty. Witcher III is a good game to upgrade for though, it looks amazing. What are you running now?

Edited April 9, 2015 by Damn_Smooth

[OmarBradley]

Shitty. Witcher III is a good game to upgrade for though, it looks amazing. What are you running now?

HD 7970 Black, Double bullshit something fancy title by XFX. Both fans have failed at different times, and even when they're working the thing can hit 80 degrees C (or higher) if I don't change the thermal paste often.

[Damn_Smooth]

Shitty. 7970 is still a decent card otherwise. Thought about water cooling at all?

[OmarBradley]

Shitty. 7970 is still a decent card otherwise. Thought about water cooling at all?

I had an Intel water cooling unit for my processor.... the radiator kept getting so full of dust probably due to my case (even with monthly canned air clean outs) that it forced the cooler to overwork and essentially break itself................twice, I had to buy the second one because it wasn't covered under the warranty , that's why I just got an air unit (CM 212 Evo, working great so far).

I don't know if GPU water cooling works the same way, but if it does, I don't think it would be worthwhile for me. What I should do is buy a nice full size case, but that would be annoying to move everything over, and maybe not even possible given how some of the wiring was done by the manufacturer.

[Damn_Smooth]

Sorry to hear that man. Sucks when a perfectly good card goes down because of shitty manufacturing.

[OmarBradley]

Sorry to hear that man. Sucks when a perfectly good card goes down because of shitty manufacturing.

Yeah, bran had issues with his brand new XFX R9 290X, I think that's in this thread actually. Luckily the seller gave him a credit and let him return it so he could get a better manufacturer's card.

EDIT: Nevermind, it was in the AC: Unity thread:

a little while back i bought a new graphics card(and power supply) for my pc i bought a xfx radeon r9 290x for the witcher 3 when it comes out. so i was finishing some games up to start unity and my card just died..... of course being pissed off i get a hold of the people i ordered my card from get in contact with some other people and after a whole day affair i will be getting my replacement soon(have to send this hunk of shit back)

Edited April 9, 2015 by OmarBradley

[OmarBradley]

Power supply installation.... complete! Running for about 30 minutes now, no issues or signs of issues. Hell of a time wiring it since my case is small; installing SSD tomorrow, then the big GFX decision......

[bran]

sapphire 290x is going strong.

[OmarBradley]

Probably going to install my SSD later today, it's technically already in the case, as I put it in place yesterday when I had it opened up for the PSU. Slight issue though, my case is very small and even my current HD isn't in a bay, its mounted on a side panel. There is an open of space of about 4'' x 2" under the disk drive (front top of my PC, standard place), but a bunch of wires cover most of it - it would be an ideal place for the SSD, as it's sort of there already, but it's not secure because the wires block the screw holes.

This got me thinking... how often do I need/use a disk drive? I'm considering just removing it outright to make some more space for the wires/SSD, and just plugging the it back into MOBO/power when I need to use it.... the 3 times a year I do. Any opinions?

[OmarBradley]

SSD installed, Windows loaded: success. One weird issue, my PC is connected to a network, and I'm getting internet access, but it's not letting me choose a network, it's not even displaying any available networks.

Troubleshooting it ATM.

Edited April 15, 2015 by OmarBradley

[OmarBradley]

Ugh, what a headache this is turning out to be. All sorts of annoying issues popping up..... still reDLnig BF4 and AC:U due to the computer now not being able to find wired networks (finds wireless fine...), may have lost half my music...... hope the performance improvement is quite noticeable.

[OmarBradley]

Very impressed, most of the issues I've gotten taken care of. Just loaded up BF4 real quick on my break to see how it was.... normal loading times with previous 7200rpm HD were between 60 - 120 seconds....... with the SSD, it was around 15 seconds! Worth it. My only issue now, is that I'm quickly realizing 120GB is too small for my games, even AC:U won't fit on it with BF4..... guess I'll get another 120GB'er for games room. Too bad NewEgg won't let me exchange the first one I bought plus cash for the 250GB version, oh well.

[highvoltage]

#pcmasterrace

I'll post my full specs when I'm less lazy, but I currently run an i7 3770k, 580GTX, 16GB RAM and an SSD.

Need to upgrade my video card ASAP!

[bran]

#pcmasterrace

I'll post my full specs when I'm less lazy, but I currently run an i7 3770k, 580GTX, 16GB RAM and an SSD.

Need to upgrade my video card ASAP!

fuck the peasants

[highvoltage]

SSD installed, Windows loaded: success. One weird issue, my PC is connected to a network, and I'm getting internet access, but it's not letting me choose a network, it's not even displaying any available networks.

Troubleshooting it ATM.

Ugh, what a headache this is turning out to be. All sorts of annoying issues popping up..... still reDLnig BF4 and AC:U due to the computer now not being able to find wired networks (finds wireless fine...), may have lost half my music...... hope the performance improvement is quite noticeable.

Did you clone the HDD to your SSD, or perform a fresh install of Windows? If you installed Windows fresh (which you should have), make sure you got all the right drivers from your motherboard manufacturer's website - especially your chipset / network drivers.

Your computer will likely perform poorly if you use the standard set of drivers that come with Windows - it just sounds like you were missing a wired network driver.

Very impressed, most of the issues I've gotten taken care of. Just loaded up BF4 real quick on my break to see how it was.... normal loading times with previous 7200rpm HD were between 60 - 120 seconds....... with the SSD, it was around 15 seconds! Worth it. My only issue now, is that I'm quickly realizing 120GB is too small for my games, even AC:U won't fit on it with BF4..... guess I'll get another 120GB'er for games room. Too bad NewEgg won't let me exchange the first one I bought plus cash for the 250GB version, oh well.

Nice!

Yes, 120GB is WAAAY too small to install games on. GTAV alone is 120GB once it's unpacked. I would never suggest using anything smaller than a 240GB SSD as your primary if you want to install programs on it.

Your best option would be to reconnect your old 7200rpm HDD as a secondary, create a new "SteamApps" folder there, and use that as your primary install location for games. You won't have the SSD performance advantage during gaming, but all that does is reduce load times, so it's not really all that beneficial from that aspect anyway unless yours are particularly horrible.

[OmarBradley]

SSD installed, Windows loaded: success. One weird issue, my PC is connected to a network, and I'm getting internet access, but it's not letting me choose a network, it's not even displaying any available networks.

Troubleshooting it ATM.

Ugh, what a headache this is turning out to be. All sorts of annoying issues popping up..... still reDLnig BF4 and AC:U due to the computer now not being able to find wired networks (finds wireless fine...), may have lost half my music...... hope the performance improvement is quite noticeable.

Did you clone the HDD to your SSD, or perform a fresh install of Windows? If you installed Windows fresh (which you should have), make sure you got all the right drivers from your motherboard manufacturer's website - especially your chipset / network drivers.

Your computer will likely perform poorly if you use the standard set of drivers that come with Windows - it just sounds like you were missing a wired network driver.

Very impressed, most of the issues I've gotten taken care of. Just loaded up BF4 real quick on my break to see how it was.... normal loading times with previous 7200rpm HD were between 60 - 120 seconds....... with the SSD, it was around 15 seconds! Worth it. My only issue now, is that I'm quickly realizing 120GB is too small for my games, even AC:U won't fit on it with BF4..... guess I'll get another 120GB'er for games room. Too bad NewEgg won't let me exchange the first one I bought plus cash for the 250GB version, oh well.

Nice!

Yes, 120GB is WAAAY too small to install games on. GTAV alone is 120GB once it's unpacked. I would never suggest using anything smaller than a 240GB SSD as your primary if you want to install programs on it.

Your best option would be to reconnect your old 7200rpm HDD as a secondary, create a new "SteamApps" folder there, and use that as your primary install location for games. You won't have the SSD performance advantage during gaming, but all that does is reduce load times, so it's not really all that beneficial from that aspect anyway unless yours are particularly horrible.

I was being an idiot.... I had a USB WiFi adapter plugged in, and it wasn't showing that it was picking anything up, so wtf? why could I get on the internet..... well I later discovered that my PC was plugged in via Ethernet, I just forgot about it.

Though you're partially right, I didn't install the USB WiFi driver... I assumed that the MOBO software disc took care of it - I was wrong.

Fresh install of Windows, I read mixed things about cloning, and I had all of my original CD's, and my old HD was cluttered as fuck, needs a format. Currently backing it up in preparation to format it later this week.

And yes, 120GB is way to small. So I got on Craigslist, and found a solid deal for an unopened EVO 850 250GB SSD, picked it up earlier today! So I'll have the OS, BF4, Word, etc.. on SSD #1, and the rest of my games (AC:U, Witcher III, Battlefront) on SSD #2, and music, movies, random stuff on old HD. Apparently I have to do some weird trick to make the computer think both SSD's are actually one, otherwise some games get confused about where their files are - seems pretty easy to do from the guides I've looked at: http://lifehacker.com/5986883/how-to-combine-multiple-hard-drives-into-one-volume-for-cheap-high-capacity-storage

EDIT: Oh and I did figure out the music issue... it's weird. I have most of my music in one folder called Music, in the folder there are about 600 individual mp3s/audio files, and about 50 sub-folders containing the bulk of my music collection. The reason for the 50 folders is that I lost a PC/HD years back, so I ripped my music from my iPod to my PC (the good old days when Apple's security against this was weak), and it naturally organized itself into 50 random folders.

The issue was that the folders were for some reason not being displayed in my old HD or external drive (which I did back them up on) after I installed the SSD. Still no idea why . But I downloaded a program called Everything, which is some high powered fancy search program, and it found the 50 subfolders and all of the music right where I left them.... in "Music." For whatever reason, the OS just doesn't want to display the folders. Luckily I was able to then type the folder URL's manually once I knew they were there, this took some time, but it's better than losing all of my music.

I apologize if that explanation didn't make sense, as it was quite a convoluted process, and I still have no idea why.

Edited April 16, 2015 by OmarBradley

[highvoltage]

Apparently I have to do some weird trick to make the computer think both SSD's are actually one, otherwise some games get confused about where their files are - seems pretty easy to do from the guides I've looked at: http://lifehacker.com/5986883/how-to-combine-multiple-hard-drives-into-one-volume-for-cheap-high-capacity-storage

Ah - definitely DO NOT create a spanned (ie combined) volume with SSD's - you will lose support for the TRIM function which is an important function within the OS for use of an SSD. They're not compatible with Windows spanned volumes.

You will just need to create a seperate "SteamApps" folder library on your new hard drive, and specify that location when you're installing games - I can give you some guidance on this when it comes in. You don't need to install programs to the primary hard drive of a computer.

EDIT: Oh and I did figure out the music issue... it's weird. I have most of my music in one folder called Music, in the folder there are about 600 individual mp3s/audio files, and about 50 sub-folders containing the bulk of my music collection. The reason for the 50 folders is that I lost a PC/HD years back, so I ripped my music from my iPod to my PC (the good old days when Apple's security against this was weak), and it naturally organized itself into 50 random folders.

The issue was that the folders were for some reason not being displayed in my old HD or external drive (which I did back them up on) after I installed the SSD. Still no idea why . But I downloaded a program called Everything, which is some high powered fancy search program, and it found the 50 subfolders and all of the music right where I left them.... in "Music." For whatever reason, the OS just doesn't want to display the folders. Luckily I was able to then type the folder URL's manually once I knew they were there, this took some time, but it's better than losing all of my music.

Probably just marked as hidden - iPods used to store music inside hidden folders, and you likely never changed that when you were copying them.

To check, navigate to the folder you know they're in, then click "Organise (top left) --> Folder and Search Options --> View --> Then select "Show hidden files, folders or drives". This setting was probably already enabled on your old Windows install which is why you could see them before.

The hidden folders should appear after that. To unhide them, just go into the properties of each folder and untick the "hidden" box. Voila.

[OmarBradley]

Apparently I have to do some weird trick to make the computer think both SSD's are actually one, otherwise some games get confused about where their files are - seems pretty easy to do from the guides I've looked at: http://lifehacker.com/5986883/how-to-combine-multiple-hard-drives-into-one-volume-for-cheap-high-capacity-storage

Ah - definitely DO NOT create a spanned (ie combined) volume with SSD's - you will lose support for the TRIM function which is an important function within the OS for use of an SSD. They're not compatible with Windows spanned volumes.

You will just need to create a seperate "SteamApps" folder library on your new hard drive, and specify that location when you're installing games - I can give you some guidance on this when it comes in. You don't need to install programs to the primary hard drive of a computer.

EDIT: Oh and I did figure out the music issue... it's weird. I have most of my music in one folder called Music, in the folder there are about 600 individual mp3s/audio files, and about 50 sub-folders containing the bulk of my music collection. The reason for the 50 folders is that I lost a PC/HD years back, so I ripped my music from my iPod to my PC (the good old days when Apple's security against this was weak), and it naturally organized itself into 50 random folders.

The issue was that the folders were for some reason not being displayed in my old HD or external drive (which I did back them up on) after I installed the SSD. Still no idea why . But I downloaded a program called Everything, which is some high powered fancy search program, and it found the 50 subfolders and all of the music right where I left them.... in "Music." For whatever reason, the OS just doesn't want to display the folders. Luckily I was able to then type the folder URL's manually once I knew they were there, this took some time, but it's better than losing all of my music.

Probably just marked as hidden - iPods used to store music inside hidden folders, and you likely never changed that when you were copying them.

To check, navigate to the folder you know they're in, then click "Organise (top left) --> Folder and Search Options --> View --> Then select "Show hidden files, folders or drives". This setting was probably already enabled on your old Windows install which is why you could see them before.

The hidden folders should appear after that. To unhide them, just go into the properties of each folder and untick the "hidden" box. Voila.

Damn, I think you just became my new tech support specialist . I was thinking of doing option 1 out of that list, but if that's unnecessary than I certainly have no qualms about that.

That's how I remember finding the folders on my iPod in the first place.... but the other day I kept checking "Properties" of the folder, thinking the option to show hidden was somewhere under Sharing, Security, or Permissions, the general "Hidden" box wasn't checked so I moved on... didn't even think to look to Organize. What's funny is that I have a thread going on a popular PC help forum, and not one of the experts suggested I try to show hidden folders when I described the problem. I'm willing to hire you at a rate of 2 likes per hour for consulting services.

Edited April 16, 2015 by OmarBradley

[highvoltage]

Damn, I think you just became my new tech support specialist . I was thinking of doing option 1 out of that list, but if that's unnecessary than I certainly have no qualms about that.

Gotcha. Option 1 would be totally fine (but unnecessary in most cases). My warning was on Option 2.

What's funny is that I have a thread going on a popular PC help forum, and not one of the experts suggested I try to show hidden folders when I described the problem. I'm willing to hire you at a rate of 2 likes per hour for consulting services.

Yeah, even the experts miss the simple things sometimes. Me included.

Glad to help.

[OmarBradley]

Damn, I think you just became my new tech support specialist . I was thinking of doing option 1 out of that list, but if that's unnecessary than I certainly have no qualms about that.

Gotcha. Option 1 would be totally fine (but unnecessary in most cases). My warning was on Option 2.

What's funny is that I have a thread going on a popular PC help forum, and not one of the experts suggested I try to show hidden folders when I described the problem. I'm willing to hire you at a rate of 2 likes per hour for consulting services.

Yeah, even the experts miss the simple things sometimes. Me included.

Glad to help.

Interested to hear your opinion on the GTX 970 vs. R9 290X debate. Damn_Smooth insists (a few articles mention this and seem to agree) that some new technology coming out mid this year could put AMD's cards way way above anything Nvdia is doing. But ATM, the 970 seems like an overall better bet..... were you thinking of upgrading to one of those 2, or something else?

Edited April 16, 2015 by OmarBradley

[OmarBradley]

New GPU should be arriving today.

Actually a pretty packed schedule today and tomorrow..... don't know I'll get to put it in and run it yet.