PC Building/Upgrading/Parts-picking Megathread Reloaded

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ufarn: May 30, 2009

mattfl posted:

I've been out of the pc game for a long long time. I have this monitor sitting around and have the itch to get back into pc gaming

https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-elitedisplay-e241i-led-monitor-24-smart-buy/specs/

Assume I'll have this monitor for a while.

Also assume I already have storage and OS taken care of.

How's this look?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($234.53 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($96.99 @ Best Buy)
Motherboard: MSI Z170M Mortar Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB WINDFORCE OC 6G Video Card ($239.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair Air 240 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($77.88 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Corsair ML120 Pro LED White 75.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($24.98 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Corsair ML120 Pro LED White 75.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($24.98 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Corsair ML120 Pro LED White 75.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($24.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1029.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-20 19:47 EST-0500

Anyone see any spots that need to be changed?

Are you sure your motherboard doesn't support 3200+ RAM? It usually goes up to at least that in my experience.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2017 10:14

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# ¿ May 29, 2024 13:30

ufarn: May 30, 2009

BurritoJustice posted:

If you are just gaming then Ryzen will be a downgrade for you.

If you use any workstation applications then it is probably worth waiting.

Ryzen might help a bunch with parallel tasks like OBS streaming, though. But yeah, single-core performance will be lower in games alone.

# ¿ Feb 23, 2017 12:15

ufarn: May 30, 2009

VideoGames posted:

Does anyone have any neat suggestions for how to deal with coil whine?
I have a GTX 970 (Palit Jetstream) that whines whenever I'm gaming. I've had it for a while and I'm seriously considering upgrading just to get rid of the noise. I know that sounds ridiculous, considering it seems to play games pretty well still, but the noise

I take it they don't have a warranty for it? Never hurts to ask them.

# ¿ Feb 24, 2017 13:13

ufarn: May 30, 2009

The Grey posted:

I know the general consensus has been to get an i5 Kolby Lake processor for new gaming builds. Has this changed with the recent Rizen news?

I assume the new chips are similar to the i7 and don't really provide much extra benefit for gaming?

We'll find out on Mar 2 when they're out and benchmarked.

# ¿ Feb 25, 2017 01:07

ufarn: May 30, 2009

e: I think I've worked it out for the most part.

ufarn fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Mar 25, 2017

# ¿ Mar 25, 2017 17:34

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Dramatika posted:

Is there a consensus list of the better NVIDIA aftermarket manufacturers this generation? I just picked up a 1440p 165hz G-sync monitor, and want to upgrade to a 1080ti so I can see about getting 100+ fps on ultra settings, but not sure whether to go Asus, MSI, or someone else.

Palit/Gainward are some of the most performant cards, but a lot of people prefer to go by customer support experience, and the sample size on P/G isn't too big to judge.

EVGA messed up recently, but apparently have a good rep on the site?

European consumer law makes the issue of "customer niceness" less important, but I'm sure it matters more if you're American.

# ¿ Mar 25, 2017 20:06

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Anyone recommend any particular magnetic dust filters (140mm) within EU? Don't know if there's a disparity in quality.

ufarn fucked around with this message at 15:09 on Mar 26, 2017

# ¿ Mar 26, 2017 15:04

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Apparently, my Dark Base 900 doesn't have automatic fan control ("4-pin PWM Connector to mobo"), but can I buy a third-party solution instead?

My non-Pro apparently only has manual control with a front panel interface.

Here's what mine has:

A. 4-pin PWM connector
B. 3-pin fan connector
C. Fan speed switch connector
D. Power connector (SATA)

Or maybe one of these are designated for the manual case control and can be repurposed for automatic control.

Here's what the Pro version has:

A. 4-pin PWM connector to mobo
B. 4-pin PWM connector
C. 3-pin fan connector
D. LED strip connector
E. Power connector (SATA)
F. Fan speed switch connector
G. Qi charger power conenctor

ufarn fucked around with this message at 19:34 on Mar 26, 2017

# ¿ Mar 26, 2017 19:12

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Is there a smart way of sorting motherboards by number of fan headers rather than narrowing the general selection down and busting out a magnifying glass for the photos? I've also looked at the number of USB ports and watercooling headers, but that's also hard to come by.

This is one of the places where PCPP falls short.

# ¿ Mar 28, 2017 15:12

ufarn: May 30, 2009

It's a full ATX, I already have the case. My current old one has 2 3-pin chassis controllers, and I just want to ensure I get something future proof since I tend to only upgrade like every 7-8 years at this pace.

Splitter cables can be neat in general, but I don't want to overextend the motherboard beyond its voltage capacity.

I don't know when I'll be buying one, and last time I looked into motherboards, they were at Z170, and going by each motherboard for general features and specs beyond the extreme basics is always a pain in the rear end.

ufarn fucked around with this message at 17:18 on Mar 28, 2017

# ¿ Mar 28, 2017 17:16

ufarn: May 30, 2009

CHKDSK is still pretty dope I think.

# ¿ Mar 29, 2017 20:53

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Fixed.

ufarn fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Jun 6, 2017

# ¿ Jun 6, 2017 16:04

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Ularg posted:

Anyone know the difference between the different color ratings on EVGA power supplies? Some are rated as White, Gold or Platinum. And second I was thinking of getting this EVGA 750W Power Supply. I guess I want to get the G2, doesn't explain much but Google says it's a better build.

What do you guys think, can you confirm my choice as not poo poo or is there something better for the same power and price? I'm mainly unsure as to quality and whatever they use for branding.

I like Corsair's explainer. Haven't heard of "white", though. There's also Titanium after Platinum, but people here tend to just recommend something that's Gold and upwards.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2017 18:37

ufarn: May 30, 2009

For some reason, my Noctua NH-D14 is by far the noisiest thing in my computer. I just moved it to a new case, and I'm not using the rear Noctua fan to sync up with it for the time being.

I've also noticed that it's only 3-pin, but since my computer generally runs low at <50C, I don't know what's going on - maybe it's just a noisy fan in general? Even when I set the manual setting for my case fans to max, it still sounds like the Noctua is the loudest - although I guess it's possible due to the case grills in the top above it, but i doubt it.

Is this due to a misconfiguration, or should I look into something else for a more silent PC?

How many heatsinks even have four pins?

ufarn fucked around with this message at 10:31 on Jun 7, 2017

# ¿ Jun 7, 2017 10:28

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Ah, I thought I'd just let it run separately this time, but guess I can try swapping out beQuiet's rear fan and hook the Noctua up to the heatsink again.

This way, I can run three front fans, too.

# ¿ Jun 7, 2017 13:09

ufarn: May 30, 2009

The Joe Man posted:

I have a D14 myself (the old original model) fully hooked up and it's EXTREMELY quiet. Something's wrong with your setup.

EDIT: Note that I built my computer for complete silence as well so I'm familiar with noise levels. Maybe it's the case? I can't recommend this one enough: http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/discontinued-products/define-xl-black-pearl

Hmm. The case is a beQuiet Dark Base 900 so it's not that.

Do you use a custom fan profile or just default settings?

ufarn fucked around with this message at 21:38 on Jun 8, 2017

# ¿ Jun 8, 2017 10:48

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Simplest is to just try hardware encoding. Base res to 720p with Lanczos downscaling gets great results on my 270X. Quality encoder preset, 4,500-6,000 kbps.

Overwatch isn't that demanding graphically IIRC, so your CPU might be bottlenecking you.

# ¿ Jun 10, 2017 00:03

ufarn: May 30, 2009

I don't feel like upgrading my old setup before something new comes out from Intel or AMD, so would there be any noticeable performance improvement from buying a used i7-870 to replace an i5-760 for my 1156 motherboard?

Overclocking the 760 could also be an option, but it's like eight years old and I don't know how long it'd be able to last.

My CPU is by far the biggest bottleneck in my setup, and I mainly play Overwatch at the moment - hence no reason to do a major upgrade.

ufarn fucked around with this message at 15:18 on Jun 10, 2017

# ¿ Jun 10, 2017 15:12

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Eletriarnation posted:

Socket 1156 still allows BCLK overclocking, and since you already have a quad-core I would recommend giving that a try. However, if you don't like your results with that chip or want to add hyperthreading a Xeon will be much cheaper on the secondary market than an i7 will as long as your motherboard supports it. At a glance, an X3470 is the same thing as an i7-870.

To share a personal anecdote, I acquired an old system with an Intel P55 board and an i3-530 several months back. I checked eBay and saw that a Xeon X3440 was only $30 ($20 now), so I ordered one figuring that it wouldn't be that much worse than the 2500K in my main system is at stock. However, out of curiosity I tried overclocking the i3 and I think I was able to get it up to around 4.4GHz at 1.4V, which should be a totally safe voltage for long term use. This was with 2x4GB of DDR3-1866MHz RAM if I recall correctly, so while it wasn't a problem to make the RAM run faster I did have to give the uncore some voltage too so that it could keep up.

After I got the Xeon, I tried as well with it and was able to get to around 3.8 with turbo enabled - I think the low multiplier may have been holding me back. Still, not bad at all for the price - pretty close to Sandy Bridge, as I had guessed. Anyway, you should try overclocking since even after eight years your processor is probably as good as new if you've always run it at stock and kept it cool - they don't really wear out quickly. Check out the overclocking thread if you're not familiar with BCLK overclocking.

Oh, that sounds like a much better idea. I don't know why Xeons didn't come up when I searched for 1156 CPUs.

I can't get PCPP to show Xeons so I can't test it for compatibility with my motherboard, but it should be good?

Probably going to do some overclocking first now that I know that there's a backup option if anything goes wrong.

Is there a good place that compares the performance? The usual benchmark sites only seem to compare it against other Xeons.

ufarn fucked around with this message at 18:16 on Jun 10, 2017

# ¿ Jun 10, 2017 17:50

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Is there any cheap upgrade path for mobo+cpu for my setup?

My only option is to OC my i5-760 or buy a Xeon, but overclocking a Lynnfield is a mess, and I don't think a Xeon will provide much more than more overclocking headroom.

I want to wait for Cannon Lake or Ryzen 2.0, but my current CPU is such a massive bottleneck right now that I want something temporary that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

# ¿ Jun 20, 2017 14:37

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Gotta love the feeling of having all the parts ready to unpack. Almost feels like Christmas.

# ¿ Jun 25, 2017 17:49

ufarn: May 30, 2009

My dumbass Dark Base 900 non-pro comes with a lovely fan controller with no motherboard header - apparently, you need to get the Pro for that. Instead, I have to use a manual slider which at the very least is friggin dumb as I am trying to overclock my CPU with a competent D14.

Since I have an ancient ASUS P7P55D-E Pro, I only have CPU_FAN, CHA_FAN1, and CHA_FAN2, last of which only has 3 pins. And I doubt it supports a split header with three case fans (two front, one back).

I need a separate PWM fan controller with its own power that I can plug into CHA_FAN1 I reckon, but I haven't found any available in Europe. iI'm not opposed to buying from the US, and no one's selling the Dark Base 900 Pro controller separately.

What should I look for, and what are my options?

# ¿ Jun 25, 2017 19:54

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Can you push it to make it touch the metal surface underneath it? (Assuming the power's completely off, ofc.)

# ¿ Jun 30, 2017 17:48

ufarn: May 30, 2009

22 Eargesplitten posted:

Just to make sure, this is the right WD Blue to get, right? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0088PUEPK/?tag=pcpapi-20

I realized that my WD green is almost 7 years old now, and I don't know how it hasn't already failed. I know 1 TB isn't huge, but I've still got 2-300gb on my 1tb green currently.

Also, is there good free software for transferring all of the data to a new drive? Preferably something that isn't going to put a ton of stress on the old hard drive in case it's close to failure. I checked with crystaldiskinfo a few months ago, and the old one doesn't seem to have any problems.

bvckup 2 is made by someone who knows what he's doing. He also made the free Diskovery tool to check disk health. Shoot him an e-mail at the address at the bottom and ask them what the best thing to do would be and I imagine they'll be happy to help.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2017 18:44

ufarn: May 30, 2009

I'm trying to think about how I'd approach getting a new mobo+memory+cpu if 8700K/Z370 is announced/released in August:

1. I live in Europe so return policy isn't too much of an issue, but what are the general reputations for the different motherboard manus? Should I just go with either of ASUS, Gigabyte or ASRock for a high-ish-end board?

2. I want something with fan headers for both all my chassis fans, even though they'll all run at the same speed, so are there some brands that are better for this?

3. I still don't understand what the frequency is on some memory, because brands appear to show maxes with OC instead of stock defaults, but do we have any idea what the Z370/CL limit would be?

4. Does it make a difference if I buy 2x16GB, 1x16GB or 4xGB with regards to dual/quad channel? I don't feel like buying something higher than 32GB right off the bat, but I don't know you have to like buy a 4-pack to get quad channel either.

Picking and putting together a computer always takes forever for me, so I just want to get ahead of it, because there are always a billion caveats and pitfalls with this stuff.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2017 16:17

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Zero VGS posted:

Does anyone know of a cheap USB audio dongle that can do both stereo out and stereo in? All the $7 adapters I'm finding on Amazon only do a mono Microphone in but I'm looking for more of a line-in, and I have to keep the cost low as I'm buying dozens of them.

I used an awesome Turtle Beach one something like fifteen years ago so they should have one; I'd try to find one for you on their website, but it's an absolute mess so I'm going to have to put you through that task.

Searching for "sound card" might return better results.

E: "Audio Advantage" is their term for this kind of stuff, I think; used to be when I bought one, too.

ufarn fucked around with this message at 18:29 on Aug 11, 2017

# ¿ Aug 11, 2017 18:26

ufarn: May 30, 2009

You could see if any of them are in Anandtech's list of best motherboards of 2017 or close relatives at least.

# ¿ Aug 11, 2017 18:53

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Duzzy Funlop posted:

Hey building/upgrading thread. Last time I was in this subforum, I got an excellent recommendation for a refurbished Lenovo T440 that has served me supremely well for school in the US in the last 34 months. Trackpad seems to be dying a slow death now, but excellent value for money over the time.

Now that I'm back in Germany, I'm looking to buy a new desktop rig for the first time since 2009. I'm looking to get the base setup with no monitor or other peripherals, a decent SSD (have good experience with an 850 Evo 250GB so far), and CPU/GPU to play the most current gaming titles in good quality. Doesn't have to be ultra-high quality, looking good at high fps on my 1.920 x 1.080 is fine for me. I'm using the second HDMI connection to hook up my television, but since I can easily play World of Tanks while watching Game of Thrones on the secondary screen, I doubt that's an issue 8 years later.
As a new feature for me, I'd love to have an option for low-effort gaming recording/uploading if that's not expensive or complicated.

My budget is in the 800-900 Euro area, and since it looks like hardware is quite a bit cheaper in the US, I think that'd leave me somewhere under a 1,000 dollar equivalent.

I used the Parts Picker in the OP, and went with a selection process that saw me pick something in my price range if it had a ton of high ratings, that's pretty much it.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

How does this look? (Not sure about a 6 core CPU, or whether the motherboard is overkill, they both seemed popular, but I'd be happy to downsize them if instead spending an extra 60 bucks on the GPU gets me better performance)
I also don't plan on overclocking, so if I should downgrade the CPU, that's fine.

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($197.88 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard ($71.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($118.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.64 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB SC GAMING Video Card ($219.88 @ OutletPC)
Case: Phanteks - Enthoo Pro M Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($41.89 @ Newegg)
Total: $860.13
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-13 14:06 EDT-0400

/edit:

I guess the suggested 'moderate build' for gaming also looks pretty comparable if I switch out the HDD for an SSD
https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/wMgXsY/modest-gaming-build

Doesn't your motherboard support something better than 2400 MHz RAM? Would probably give you a decent bump without a major price hike. E: Looks like it does. Bumping RAM frequency is probably one of the best value-for-money decisions up until a certain point; $20-50 is usually all it takes.

Volta (GeForce 20x0) is also getting announced in September, so literally waiting one month could do wonders for your GPU options and price.

ufarn fucked around with this message at 20:21 on Aug 13, 2017

# ¿ Aug 13, 2017 20:15

ufarn: May 30, 2009

OBS Studio is better off downscaled to 720p from 1080p etc, so it's not necessarily the display resolution.

# ¿ Aug 17, 2017 00:06

ufarn: May 30, 2009

SSJ_naruto_2003 posted:

So should I buy this 7600k or not

Absolutely not.

You'll probably get two more cores with 8600K on top of any performance improvement.

A Ryzen 1600 is probably better than a 7600K, if you need to buy a new motherboard anyway.

ufarn fucked around with this message at 14:57 on Aug 17, 2017

# ¿ Aug 17, 2017 12:20

ufarn: May 30, 2009

LP are using a Wiki to great effect: http://salp.wikia.com/wiki

It doesn't have HTTPS, and wikis tend to show contributor IPs, however. Someone once said that you shouldn't link to Docs, because the urls can be finicky or something.

# ¿ Aug 17, 2017 14:59

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Without seeing the final products, is there a good way to narrow down the list of candidates of high-end motherboards for a 8700K to help me beat the preorder rush?

# ¿ Aug 18, 2017 14:18

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Zero VGS posted:

They will be called Z370 motherboards (usually appending something for form factor like Z370m for micro ATX or Z370i for ITX, check the 270 series for each company to learn their nomenclature) and the most feature/price competitive tends to be ASRock, Asus, and MSI. Gigabyte seems to have slightly worse reliability issues and EVGA usually has much less features (i.e. no Wi-Fi or Thunderbolt on a board when everyone else in it's class has it).

If you're trying to get the best bang for the buck ASRock is almost always the one, if money is no object then the best board is often MSI or Asus, God help you if you need to RMA with Asus they are especially dumb at it.

Thanks a bunch, that makes my job a lot easier.

# ¿ Aug 18, 2017 16:01

ufarn: May 30, 2009

2666 should still be the RAM max for the Z370, right? I still can't tell when the 3xxx figures are with or without overclocking.

# ¿ Aug 20, 2017 01:24

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Ah, I see. I never understood what the limit was about, cheers.

# ¿ Aug 20, 2017 01:36

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Managed to find something specific about release: "Fall".

So unless they push it to holiday, sounds like it should be arriving as expected. I'd assumed they'd include more information for the desktop lineup, though.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2017 17:39

ufarn: May 30, 2009

inkwell posted:

gaah next time i buy computer parts i need to remember to select similar shipping times!!! can't really finish it off until the ssd gets here, which is coincidentally the one to arrive latest

It always takes longer to assemble than you think, and you can still see if BIOS posts and stuff. It probably won't be that much of a delay.

# ¿ Aug 23, 2017 18:52

ufarn: May 30, 2009

Deanut Pancer posted:

What's the difference between WD Red and WD 'normal' drives? I'm looking to add a second internal disk to complement my 500GB Samsung evo. Something like 2-3TB I think. Mainly for videos and tv downloads, music archives, steam backups, stream captures and similar stuff. Would such a drive be suitable for live capturing game footage with shadow play, or should I try to direct that to the SSD? Are there any other brands worth looking for (or avoiding)?

NAS drives are often 5400 RPM, perhaps for noise reasons. They are quite loud, and I don't regret getting a Red, even though it turned out to only have 5400 RPM, I probably wouldn't have been able to tolerate the noise.

Think it was SA who recommended it to me in the first place.

# ¿ Aug 24, 2017 13:09

ufarn: May 30, 2009

My Red has to spin up a few seconds when I have to fetch something from it in Windows, but that works perfectly fine for my silent setup, as I just use it as a backup drive. But I can understand the frustration if you got it for something more involved.

# ¿ Aug 24, 2017 15:34

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# ¿ May 29, 2024 13:30

ufarn: May 30, 2009

refleks posted:

Is there actually an official launch date for Coffee Lake?

"Fall". Nothing more specific, but I guess it's better than Winter/Holidays.

# ¿ Aug 25, 2017 13:21

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

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