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Woz 1st MRB

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Posts posted by Woz 1st MRB

  2. Resolved - Assistance on new computer build

    in Hardware Guides & Maintenance Questions

    Posted

    Woz, 1:30 EST

    I only have a headset and mouse. I currently have a lab top so don't have any other parts for the PC.

    It seems that we missed each other. What would be a good date to reschedule this talk on?

    Yeah I was on but seems we missed each other. Sunday at 7:00 EST before practice?

    If I am around, then yes. Otherwise it will have to wait until I next see you online, or Tuesday.

  3. Resolved - Assistance on new computer build

    in Hardware Guides & Maintenance Questions

    Posted

    Also my friend sent me this list

    http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gFDs4D

    I would change to i7 though. Any thoughts?

    I had no idea that the 390 was that cheap now. Definitely go with that over the 970. The only negative is that it uses slightly more power under full load.

    I had never seen that EVGA PSU before, but after some research it looks like a really solid pick. Especially at that price. I'd pick it over the Corsair 750 I had in my build.

    It looks like your friend pulled the CD/DVD Drive out of the build. Are you okay with installing the OS via a flash drive?

    As far as upgrading to i7, the e3-1231 is basically and i7 without integrated graphics, so I'd still go with it.

    I see that he chose DDR4 over DDR3. It basically trades extra RAM for faster RAM. In my experience though, RAM speed is never the bottleneck, so I think it would be more valuable to have the 16GB @ 1866 than the 8GB @ 4000. I'll let you decide though, since it is basically a compromise decision.

    This would be the updated build I would recommend:

    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

    CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($232.99 @ SuperBiiz)

    Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($77.98 @ Newegg)

    Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($88.89 @ Newegg)

    Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.94 @ Amazon)

    Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.49 @ OutletPC)

    Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card ($303.98 @ Newegg)

    Case: BitFenix Shinobi Window (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($63.90 @ SuperBiiz)

    Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)

    Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.89 @ OutletPC)

    Monitor: Asus VS238H-P 23.0" Monitor ($106.99 @ NCIX US)

    Other: Starter Keyboard ($13.75)

    Total: $1102.79

    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

    Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-06 15:21 EDT-0400

  4. Resolved - Assistance on new computer build

    in Hardware Guides & Maintenance Questions

    Posted

    Intel's are good but overpriced for a strict gaming use.

    Intel's are pricier, but AMD tries to compete in raw scores by throwing more physical cores at lower speeds at the problem. If every game was optimized perfectly to run on multiple slower cores as well as it does on fewer faster cores, I would go AMD every time, but as far as gaming goes, single core performance takes a front seat.

  9. Resolved - New build

    in Hardware Guides & Maintenance Questions

    Posted

    That's a pretty pricey cd/dvd/bluray drive. (At least it was where I was finding it listed)

    Don't get the S version of the 4790. It is underclocked and locked (can't change clock speed). Also, the regular 4790, which is faster, is pretty much the same price.

    I personally don't see the 360 dollar 6700k (average score 10,630) being worth the price jump from the 285 dollar 4790 (average score 10,049) in terms of performance. If you get the regular 4790, note that it is also locked, and therefore not eligible for overclocking. The stock cooling fan that comes with it will be sufficient.

    Note that the 500W PSU only has enough connectors for one graphics card, and the 700W PSU has enough for two. Stick with the 500W PSU in a build if you are only going to have one graphics card. If you plan on potentially having 2, then the 700W would be needed for that.

    Definitely get this instead of the seagate. It costs less, runs at a non-dynamic speed, and has a lower failure rate.

    Let me know if I need to clarify anything, or if you have any other questions!

  11. Resolved - Assistance on new computer build

    in Hardware Guides & Maintenance Questions

    Posted · Edited by Woz 1st MRB

    Here is a first draft of a parts list. If you want to hop on to steam or vent we can talk about the reasoning behind each item. This is just a starting point, btw. We can adjust the list to make it more or less expensive.

    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

    CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($232.99 @ SuperBiiz)

    Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($77.98 @ Newegg)

    Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($88.89 @ Newegg)

    Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($98.98 @ Amazon)

    Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.49 @ OutletPC)

    Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($308.99 @ NCIX US)

    Case: BitFenix Shinobi Window (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($63.90 @ SuperBiiz)

    Power Supply: Corsair CX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Micro Center)

    Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.89 @ OutletPC)

    Monitor: Asus VS238H-P 23.0" Monitor ($106.99 @ NCIX US)

    Other: Starter Keyboard ($13.75)

    Total: $1128.84

    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

    Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 23:28 EDT-0400

  23. Resolved - upgrading

    in Hardware Guides & Maintenance Questions

    Posted

    I'm sure iBuyPower is fine. But as always, if you are willing to go through the process of building, you can get more bang for your buck and be sure that you are buying the quality components that you want.

    That being said, at the lower price points for pre-built systems, the margin is low, and they try to make money on volume. In order to keep the price point attractive, they source the cheapest parts that they can. As you customize the system, you can pay for better parts. But, this also increases the margin. As the margin grows, it makes more sense to spend that margin on better components and build it yourself.

    The significance of this in your case is that at the 600 dollar price point (excluding OS) it makes more sense to buy pre-built than it does to build it yourself, since the quality of the components won't matter as much based on how soon the computer will reach obsolescence with regards to current game releases, and based on the value of the effort required to build (relatively large in this case) vs the savings and the performance increase (both of which are small at this price point)

    If you are willing to increase your budget by about 100-150 dollars (or about 20-70 dollars if you find a free source for your OS such as work or school), and are also willing to go through the process of building it (I could skype with you while you do it, if you wish), then let us know, and we can help you put together a good custom build.

    I dunno about these guys honestly .. I got one of their desktops for my mom as a Christmas present to get rid of her ancient computer. I have no idea why, but Skype is completely incompatible with it for some reason. Tried figuring it out myself, and when I couldn't called the microsoft guys to see what they would do. Needless to say, it's still unresolved and basically with Skype when you try to make a call or use the webcam it locks up the computer until it bluescreens with a generic stop error. *shrugs* probably wouldn't buy from those guys again, would much rather build my own.

    That sounds more like a problem with the hardware/drivers, and not so much the company iBuyPower, but I totally understand the sentiment that building it yourself is a more comfortable option.

    I still stand by the opinion that throwing a little more money into it will make it worthwhile to build, and it will create a worthy gaming computer / workstation. But if he stays at the lower price, he might as well buy it pre-built.

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