Another PC Build Thread

[Righteous]

Yeah temps were fine with my mates too, but it still ahurdown.

[ysu]

Yeah temps were fine with my mates too, but it still ahurdown.

definitely a touch-typer just need your left hand adjusted a bit

altho I'd be interested in how the 'down' got right...

[wobblysauce]

Check the Power cables to the motherboard, 24pin and the 4 pin near CPU and the like.

Think you said you are using a modular power supply so that could be it.

Both sides.

[Righteous]

Yeah temps were fine with my mates too, but it still ahurdown.

definitely a touch-typer just need your left hand adjusted a bit

altho I'd be interested in how the 'down' got right...

Currently in rural Tas. Phone skills are not good

[Vilante]

I had a run at Battlefield 4 last night, holy Jebus, looks amazing and runs smooth as. Loving it!! A massive leap from when I was last gaming.

[DarrenM]

It's always satisfying to crank up the detail on a new machine and still get good fps


The mobo shutdown setting didnt' help me. I have some other ram sticks to try and after that it's new mobo time. Had a bunch of problems with this mobo before doing bios updates, so I haven't been all that confident in it to start with.

[DarrenM]

Replaced the mobo and prime95 ran for 10 mins @3.6Ghz before I got bored and stopped it. On the old mobo it lasted < 1 second at 2.8Ghz

[AstrO]

I use Intel Burn Test these days, especially for testing overclock stability. Just because it detects faults faster than prime 95.

[Montey]

So, the wife has told me to spend our tax return on upgrading my computer (yes, you read that correctly. She's sick of me bitching about various issues).

I have $3,200 to spend (I can exceed this slightly). The main objective is to achieve a high frame rate, on high+ settings, when playing things like ARMA3. I am currently thinking the following would do the job, but I'd like some other opinions since its been about 5 years since I looked at this sort of stuff....

Case: I will repurpose my existing Antex ATX mid-tower case.
CPU: Intel Core i7 4930K
Motherboard: Asus X79-Deluxe
RAM: G.Skill 32GB DDR3 2400MHz PC3-19200
HDD#1: Crucial RealSSD 480GB SATA3
HDD#2: I will re-purpose my 2 existing 500GB SATA2 HDD's
Graphics: 2 x Gigabyte GTX 770 OC Edition PCI-E 3.0 4GB to be SLI bridged.
CD/DVD: I will re-purpose my existing DVDRW drive. I haven't used a physical disk in the last 3 years.
Sound: I will re-purpose an existing high quality sound card.
Power: Antec 1300W

This comes out to a spend of just under $3400.

Truth be told, I'd like to get this down a little as I'd love to get myself 2 more 24" monitors and a DisplayPort v1.2 hub thingy.

Also, I crossed paths with a suggestion that this configuration may have a voltage incompatibility between the 4930K Ivy Bridge-E having a max voltage of 1.5v, with the RipjawX RAM being 1.65v. The site suggested that this would cause the G.Skill RAM to run under voltage and thereby reduce performance. When I check the Asus X79-Deluxe QVL it says that the RAM is compatible and also the Asus M/B Specifications say that the CPU is compatible. Is this an issue I should be concerned about?

Does anyone have any suggestions and/or comments about this?

Thanks for your input guys.

[DexterPunk]

Is there anything you do that would require that much ram? Games usually don't.

As far as I know, the 'K' series processors aren't really worth it unless you are wanting to overclock it.


Sent from Han Solo using TK-421's phone.

[Shonky]

I'm thinking the same as Dex, I've had 16GB in my system for about 2.5 years and in that time I can't recall ever coming close to using it all, even when trying to. I only went 16GB over 8GB at the time because it was cheap as chips to do so.

I can't comment on Ivy bridge specifically, but the 1.65v vs 1.5v ram issue has been around since since the the Z68 chipset I believe and possibly even earlier, both myself and mate of mine upgraded around the same time and both use Z68 boards, I went with 1.5v ram and he went with 1.65v ram, his system is still going 2.5 years later without issue.

[DarrenM]

I had 4Gb until a couple weeks ago. Never had any issues. Have 8 now, but most of that will never get touched.

[ysu]

The K cpu won't do anything extra unless you o/c but only costs a few $ extra, so might as well...
The ram will never be used, but it's cheap, might as well...
The 1,3K psu won't be needed unless you put another 2 gfx card in (actually, probably even then it's an overkill). But it's good to be future proof, just in case
For the quoted config, even overclocked, an 800W psu is plenty enough.

but hell, if you have the money and nothing to do with it, spend it!

p.s. actually the chosen CPU is adding a big extra to it; you need the proper mobo for it, probably tempted to go triple channel rams...and it'll probably never give you a detectable advantage over an i5. I've been there, tried it, and at the last upgrade went back to i5. Lots of savings to be had, nearly nothing lost in performance.

[Montey]

OK... Just ordered my parts. I made a few variations based on your advice and also availability/price... I am now going with:

Silverstone 1200W 80Plus Gold 135mm silent fan
G Skill 16G(4X4G) DDR3 2133MHZ PC3-17000 CL9(L9Q-16GBZH)
Asus RAMPAGE IV EXTREME X79 8x DDR3 GLAN RAID USB3 SATA3 4-way SLI/CrossFireX E-ATX
Crucial RealSSD 240G M500 SATA3 Read 500Mb/s Write 250Mb/s
2 x Gigabyte GTX 770 OC EDITION PCI-E 3.0 4GB 256-bit DDR5, Base:1137 boost:1202/6200 MHz, 2x DVI,
Intel CORE i7 4930K/3.40GHz/12MB CACHE/LGA2011/6CORES/NO FAN

Thanks for your input.

[Montey]

So I'm pretty hacked off at the moment.

I picked my new kit up today and proceeded to hook it all up. Turn it on for the first time and....... nothing.

Well, a little more than nothing, but not much. I get the fans turning on and there are LED's active on the motherboard and graphics cards, but other than that... bubkiss.

Fuether investigations reveal an error LED on the motherboard for the CPU. Googling for others with a similar problem shows a reasonable number of people having to RMA their motherboards. I am surprised by this because I have used Asus motherboards for years (over a decade) and they have always been rock solid.

So, now I have a support request in and am awaiting further advice/suggestions from them as to what to do next.

Fark!!!!

[wobblysauce]

Always a risk when you get the new stuff, tweaking and getting it just right is the fun balance.

[Montey]

As always seems to be the way with technology.... shortly after I submitted a support request to Asus.... I found a path forward.

Apparently the IvyBridge-E CPU's aren't supported until a BIOS later than that provided out of the factory. But, for some reason, when I tried to flash the most recent BIOS it didn't work. But, in desperation, I started walking backwards through the available BIOS versions and I found one that worked.

This update is being provided to you from a dual GTX770 (SLI), 16GB, 12 Core 3.4GHz CPU system... and I love it. :-)

[wobblysauce]

I like the newer ways you can update the Bios on some Mobos with nothing attached, plug in a usb and press a button done.

[ysu]

I like the newer ways you can update the Bios on some Mobos with nothing attached, plug in a usb and press a button done.

Still, nothing beats the dual bios in my opinion - I don't understand why don't every manufacturer use it. Even in a terminal fuckup case you've a backup bios running!
(having said that, I've bought asus myself as well, not gigabyte)

[wobblysauce]

Dual Bios is great if you over clock.

The reset is so fast to get back to stability.

[Simone Gelli]

Great reading guys,especially on sunday morning sipping coffe,make me feel to have an upgrade as well...but...

...my intel core duo cpu E8400 3.00 GHz,on a ASUS P5e, ATI 5850 CARD,8 GB of memory(can`t remember the brand) 650 CORSAIR psu(it took me 5 minutes to remember the brand)...win7 ultimate 64 bit...well...just refuses to let me down,in six years(6) never ever let me down once,,i mean..once,6 years of my life are on that hard disk(generic brand) I simply live with it,this system knows me and I know it,plays iracing,Assetto Corsa and other games no problem at all...how can I depart from a living organism like this pc???? I built it 6 years ago,dont know how because I have 0(zero) skills...and it was love at first sight!!

..hahahahahaaa

[ysu]

I still recommend taking a backup of that 6 years, mate. It can die in a second - the average lifetime of generic HDDs is around 3-4 years.

[Simone Gelli]

I still recommend taking a backup of that 6 years, mate. It can die in a second - the average lifetime of generic HDDs is around 3-4 years.

ye I know,but I got no idea how to,what and where...lol

Do you back up your data?...are you using an external hard drive....iclouds?...hahahaaa tell me Istvan

[wabbit]

Do you back up your data?...are you using an external hard drive....iclouds?...hahahaaa tell me Istvan

Job done

[ysu]

I still recommend taking a backup of that 6 years, mate. It can die in a second - the average lifetime of generic HDDs is around 3-4 years.

ye I know,but I got no idea how to,what and where...lol

Do you back up your data?...are you using an external hard drive....iclouds?...hahahaaa tell me Istvan

I've simply bought a 2TB external (usb3) HDD, and copied everything over, and keep copying new stuff. (this is mostly documents and photos; eg when I upload my photos from the camera to the pc, I create a backup copy straight away)
I also back by work up to online places, but that's another matter.

This is a very simple (and very cheap) solution, and only one PC is backed up, but it's something. I'll have to get a small file server here soon.