**Official PC rig Pics/Specs/mods thread PART III** Mirin' Aesthetics?

[OneWayFS]

Like somebody mentioned, most local BBs should have that, Microcenter nearby?

Forgot to say that I don't have a Microcenter nearby, and Best Buy is too far away for it to be worth it to go just to try switches unfortunately. The only close stores I have are OfficeDepot/Max, Staples (which still is far), Walmart and Target.

I'll return the kb if I don't like it though. I liked Browns with red dampeners as much as Clears.

[Steps2jacked]

i know this is a PC build thread.
but any good websites on how to build a cheap hackintosh??

reps for help

[OneWayFS]

i know this is a PC build thread.
but any good websites on how to build a cheap hackintosh??

reps for help

I can't give a link atm bur google the always up to date hackintosh guide lifehacker.

Also I'm pretty sure you can just use any PC to make a hackintosh (except Nvidia GPUs don't work in SLI in OS X or some chit like that)

[everblue]

i know this is a PC build thread.
but any good websites on how to build a cheap hackintosh??

reps for help

http://www.tonymacx86.com/home.php

[SynapticCleft]

Thoughts on these cases?

Antec Three Hundred 2

Fractal Design Define R4

Ignore those prices, they're both about $100. Originally I wanted to go with the Antec but it was out of stock. The Fractal Design is kind of ugly IMO but still a simple, clean case + it has 2 extra USB ports in the front.

They're both pretty basic cases, but I'm not sure which I prefer. Or maybe someone has a better recommendation around $100



Hadn't heard this, but I did some research and sure enough WD recommends Red drives for RAID. However in terms of RAID 1 I haven't found much to suggest Reds make a huge difference. This one guy even claims Blue is better.



Now that may or may not be true, but I believe any difference would be marginal at best. I'm backing up 1 home drive, not running a server.

I'd go with Fractal Define R4 because ease of access and the ergonomics will make it a breeze to work with. Antec 300 is using mid 2000s design so it will be a pain in the ass to cable manage and access your components.

For your price range look at the Corsair Carbide 400R and Phanteks Enthoo Pro
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbid...ogicaincrem-20
http://www.amazon.com/Phanteks-Entho...ogicaincrem-20

As for drives, it entirely depends on the content you are going to fill up the drives with.
Blue = Standard hard drives
Black = Similar to Blues but come with 64mb cache standard
Green = Designed for low power usage, disk spins at 5400rpm
Red = Similar to greens but have error recovery

more in the link below
http://www.smbitjournal.com/2014/05/...e-lineup-2014/

Upgraded my RAM to 16GB today. Less than 50% RAM usage now. Feels good.

Also I developed a stuttering problem on Chrome (before I upgraded and it persisted after). When playing 1080p in full screen the video would stutter, like it was running a few frames shorter than 30 (no audio stutter). This isn't attributed to my monitor as it only just started happening yesterday or the day before. The only thing I've done in that time is install CrashPlan for backups.

To fix the problem I disabled the flash plugin at chrome://plugins. It fixed the problem completely but now I can't see flash objects (not a huge deal) and most importantly these forums lag now when I scroll. Like it delays scrolling, etc. It only happens on this site. Wtf brahs.

Anyone ever experience either of these problems?



EDIT: Reenabled flash and it started again. Smooth as fuk in windowed, choppy in fullscreen. Probably gonna reinstall W8.1 tomorrow, this install feels pretty fuarked among other problems. Frustrating.

I've never experienced this type of issue and I use chrome all the time on my work computer running Win 7, are you running the latest version of flash?

[OneWayFS]

I've never experienced this type of issue and I use chrome all the time on my work computer running Win 7, are you running the latest version of flash?

Right now it says under chrome://plugins:

Adobe Flash Player (2 files) - Version: 16.0.0.257 (Disabled)
Shockwave Flash 16.0 r0


The latest version on the Flash Player page is 16.0.0.287. I'm also on the Chrome Beta (problems didn't start with the beta).

[LinuxJon]

Right now it says under chrome://plugins:

Adobe Flash Player (2 files) - Version: 16.0.0.257 (Disabled)
Shockwave Flash 16.0 r0


The latest version on the Flash Player page is 16.0.0.287. I'm also on the Chrome Beta (problems didn't start with the beta).

Have you tried uninstalling Chrome, then going in and deleting the entire system folder for it, then reinstalling?

If you just uninstall and reinstall, it doesn't matter how many times you change versions or whatever, it's still basically the same install.

[CrossCounter]

GTX 960 pricing - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...PPSSLQEGPIKMNK

$200 for reference/other low end models
$210 for EVGA SSC/Strix
$220 for MSI Twin Frozr
$230 for Gigabyte G1

Performance is barely better than a 760 so I'm not gonna bother. Might be a good deal if you can use the newegg visa checkout $25 off 200 but the R9 280/280x are still better buys at this price

[Bruthar]

GTX 960 pricing - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...PPSSLQEGPIKMNK

$200 for reference/other low end models
$210 for EVGA SSC/Strix
$220 for MSI Twin Frozr
$230 for Gigabyte G1

Performance is barely better than a 760 so I'm not gonna bother. Might be a good deal if you can use the newegg visa checkout $25 off 200 but the R9 280/280x are still better buys at this price

Although you're right about it being "barely better" than the 760, there's still some noteworthy perks to it:

1) Newer technology. Better temperatures, better power consumption, better overclockability.
2) Potentially better SLI scaling. The GTX 970 + 980 scale almost perfectly w/ SLI, so the 960 shouldn't be different.
3) DirectX12 compatible (GTX 700 series isn't).

STRONG EDIT: Regarding #3, googled it, apparently GTX 700 is compatible with DirectX12, and one source says all cards from GTX 400 series and up should be compatible. My bad!

[Miraak]

Got a bit of money coming in and wanna upgrade but dunno what, my build is AMD FX-8350 + GTX 760, 8gb RAM, all ready have an SSD and mobo is Asus M5A97. Any ideas? Wouldn't mind a GTX 980 but waste of money with current CPU?

[freeburn]

I swapped out one of my msi gaming 970s for a msi golden edition one so I'll have one red and one gold one.

Gold one for the top since it has that faceplate. Should be here tomorrow. Hopefully I didn't goof. Idk why I even bothered. I guess I'm just bored

[eXistenceLies]

Although you're right about it being "barely better" than the 760, there's still some noteworthy perks to it:

1) Newer technology. Better temperatures, better power consumption, better overclockability.
2) Potentially better SLI scaling. The GTX 970 + 980 scale almost perfectly w/ SLI, so the 960 shouldn't be different.
3) DirectX12 compatible (GTX 700 series isn't).

STRONG EDIT: Regarding #3, googled it, apparently GTX 700 is compatible with DirectX12, and one source says all cards from GTX 400 series and up should be compatible. My bad!

I am confused on better temps. These damn 970s don't turn the fan on until 60*C. That is just nuts. When I am gaming they are just chilling high 60's low 70's. My 780 never got this hot. I really don't care to manually adjust the fan as I have in the past, but why did they change it to this?

[OneWayFS]

Have you tried uninstalling Chrome, then going in and deleting the entire system folder for it, then reinstalling?

If you just uninstall and reinstall, it doesn't matter how many times you change versions or whatever, it's still basically the same install.

Yeah I know. I'm already in the process of reinstalling Windows haha. I just want to start clean and make sure everything works perfectly.


This is painful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXhVty0-d5c

[MiscMathematician]

The r9 280 is a year and a half older than the gtx 960, is $50 cheaper and performs the same. they should have made it compete with a 290 at least

[SynapticCleft]

This is painful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXhVty0-d5c
[youtube]OXhVty0-d5c[youtube]

WTF did I just watch?

[Miraak]

Got a bit of money coming in and wanna upgrade but dunno what, my build is AMD FX-8350 + GTX 760, 8gb RAM, all ready have an SSD and mobo is Asus M5A97. Any ideas? Wouldn't mind a GTX 980 but waste of money with current CPU?

Halp guys, finger hovering over one click ordering for gtx 980..

[MiscMathematician]

Halp guys, finger hovering over one click ordering for gtx 980..

$600 is a lot of dough for a graphics card IMO. you sure you need it? you on 1440p or 4k time?

your cpu is fine though

[Miraak]

$600 is a lot of dough for a graphics card IMO. you sure you need it? you on 1440p or 4k time?

your cpu is fine though

I have a 144hz 1080p 27" monitor which suits me fine games wise, would just like to future proof myself to play new games on ultra, witcher 3 etc. not worth it?

[MiscMathematician]

I have a 144hz 1080p 27" monitor which suits me fine games wise, would just like to future proof myself to play new games on ultra, witcher 3 etc. not worth it?

witcher 3 at 1440p sounds like a good use of the 980

[freeburn]

I have a 144hz 1080p 27" monitor which suits me fine games wise, would just like to future proof myself to play new games on ultra, witcher 3 etc. not worth it?

980 seems fine. Better to have more power then not enough right?

[MrJensenn]

Time to upgrade more ram?

Running 1 vm, 5 browsers, photoshop and a few more programs.




Will my vm run smoother if I assign more than 2 gb ram? Linux mint.

[8EE8EE5EE]

Got a bit of money coming in and wanna upgrade but dunno what, my build is AMD FX-8350 + GTX 760, 8gb RAM, all ready have an SSD and mobo is Asus M5A97. Any ideas? Wouldn't mind a GTX 980 but waste of money with current CPU?

No it is not a waste of money... the fx8350 can easily support any high end gpu and even dual gpu, also pls buy a 960 instead of the 760...its cheaper and a little better. Also the poster above you had a good point, the 280 280x still outperform the 760 and 960 at almost the same price point. Basically, unless you're getting a 970 or 980 just buy the AMD equivallent because it will be better price/performance.

[Bruthar]

I am confused on better temps. These damn 970s don't turn the fan on until 60*C. That is just nuts. When I am gaming they are just chilling high 60's low 70's. My 780 never got this hot. I really don't care to manually adjust the fan as I have in the past, but why did they change it to this?

It's clear that YOUR GTX 970 variant(s) doesn't have the additional tool for the fan, I believe the Gigabyte G1 is supposed to have it, and I know that the card I have, the EVGA GTX 970 ACX 2.0 SC, doesn't have it. The way around this is to utilize an overclocking software, even when not playing a game, that has its own auto-fan configuration tool.

I recommend using EVGA Precision X, click on the "Fan Curve" and make sure it's on automatic. My GPU's fan goes 24/7 keeping the GPU down into the lower 30's celsius when not under load, and it maxes out at 62 celsius when under load.

[8EE8EE5EE]

I am confused on better temps. These damn 970s don't turn the fan on until 60*C. That is just nuts. When I am gaming they are just chilling high 60's low 70's. My 780 never got this hot. I really don't care to manually adjust the fan as I have in the past, but why did they change it to this?

Download MSI Afterburner and create a custom fan profile. 60c is nothing btw i think most pcb's these days are able to withstand up to 95c.

[eXistenceLies]

It's clear that YOUR GTX 970 variant(s) doesn't have the additional tool for the fan, I believe the Gigabyte G1 is supposed to have it, and I know that the card I have, the EVGA GTX 970 ACX 2.0 SC, doesn't have it. The way around this is to utilize an overclocking software, even when not playing a game, that has its own auto-fan configuration tool.

I recommend using EVGA Precision X, click on the "Fan Curve" and make sure it's on automatic. My GPU's fan goes 24/7 keeping the GPU down into the lower 30's celsius when not under load, and it maxes out at 62 celsius when under load.

That is the same card (2 of them) I have as well and I have used EPX before. I just don't like that if I close the program it turns the manual fan setting off. Yea I use to have the fans kick on 100% when temps reached 65c lol. At idle I would have them at 15% around 30c.

[ign_fan_4life]

I heard Best Buy has a pretty awesome price match system. Is there any chance they'd do a price match on BoA's 20% off when shopping TD? It'd be awesome if I could just pick up my gpu asap and not have to worry about waiting a few months for my refund.

[Bruthar]

That is the same card (2 of them) I have as well and I have used EPX before. I just don't like that if I close the program it turns the manual fan setting off. Yea I use to have the fans kick on 100% when temps reached 65c lol. At idle I would have them at 15% around 30c.

I want to propose one more software:

NVIDIA Inspector.

Lets you change pretty much anything about the behavior of your GPU and create profiles.

99.99% positive you can set a specific temperature number you want to keep your GPU at, and it'll change the fan-load accordingly. This should work without the program being on.

[LinuxJon]

Time to upgrade more ram?

Running 1 vm, 5 browsers, photoshop and a few more programs.




Will my vm run smoother if I assign more than 2 gb ram? Linux mint.

64 or 32 bit Mint? Cinnamon, MATE or KDE?

[Miraak]

980 seems fine. Better to have more power then not enough right?

More power is definitely good, just wanted to make sure my cpu wasn't going to make it a waste of money.

No it is not a waste of money... the fx8350 can easily support any high end gpu and even dual gpu, also pls buy a 960 instead of the 760...its cheaper and a little better. Also the poster above you had a good point, the 280 280x still outperform the 760 and 960 at almost the same price point. Basically, unless you're getting a 970 or 980 just buy the AMD equivallent because it will be better price/performance.

Not sure if you misread but I do intend on getting the 980 To replace my 760 not the 960, ty though man.

[LinuxJon]

Got a bit of money coming in and wanna upgrade but dunno what, my build is AMD FX-8350 + GTX 760, 8gb RAM, all ready have an SSD and mobo is Asus M5A97. Any ideas? Wouldn't mind a GTX 980 but waste of money with current CPU?

Get a better board.

The M5A97 has simple 4+1 power phasing. Moving up even to a M5A99FX Pro R2.0 with 6+2 power phasing will make a HUGE difference. I was able to go from 4.3 stable to 4.8 stable on air this way. You could push it even more with a Crosshair V Formula Z or Sabertooth R2.0