I don't even know what price range I'm looking at, I don't have a sound knowledge of building a computer…I just don't know where to start basically.
Any help appreciated!
Looking for a beast PC for gaming and possibly video-editing. Advice?
The Gent on 30/07/2014 - 14:01
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Oh and a lot of you will be happy I changed over to Windows 8.1!
Yes sir, and I think you'll have a great computer once you're done. Best of luck with the build!
When you build, put the wireless card in the bottom PCIe slot.
The GPU is over kill for a 60Hz, 1080p monitor. We told you to upgrade because your first monitor was 1440p and your second choice was 144Hz.
If you want that GPU, consider an overclockable 27" 1440p monitor. They are normally around $400 on ebay.
I'd hesitate to call any single GPU "overkill" - even for a 1080p/60Hz setup. It gives you more breathing room for the increasingly complex games on the horizon. Plus you can arguably "feel" more than 60FPS on a 60Hz monitor - even if you can't see it.
Come on.
Most FPS are still console ports. Drop AA from 16x to 4x on Metro and Crysis.
Are you talking about the great page tearing and micro stall "feel". Both the 280X and the 290X have one frame lag at 1080p on BF4. The only benefit is a slight improvement to minimum frame rate.
@This Guy: But how long does the average person keep a GPU for? two years? Three years? I usually upgrade every two years, selling my old card for about half what I paid for it. But this is probably more regularly than most users.
No doubt a lot of games are console ports, but wouldn't it be nice to have a beefy GPU to keep your framerate at a pretty much constant 60fps? Or maybe give you the option to run a couple of screens? I have a 670GTX for my 1200p monitor and it's pretty darn good, but I can't get 60fps on High/Ultra settings in a complex game. For me the point of gaming on a PC is beautiful graphics and complex, hardware intensive game mechanics. Why get a GPU that will give you the same visual experience as a console?
For me, 1080p overkill would be any SLI/crossfire setup or something like a R9 295X2.
In terms of the "feel", I can't really speak from first-hand experience. This is just what I've heard (hence the use of the word "arguably", and the putting of the word "feel" in inverted commas haha). I don't claim to be any sort of expert - rather just a relatively experienced user. I don't want to start a heated argument or anything because you seem like a reasonable and cluey individiual. I always enjoy contructive banter :)
Not really, I run an R9 290X on a 1080p 60Hz monitor and it doesn't actually hit above 60 FPS at 1080p on max settings on all games. You'd expect the future crop of games to be even more heavy though.
Plus, it's not always just about the games performance, sometimes GPU acceleration can be helpful for other things as well, such as video editing, which will benefit from the added power of the R9 290 on OpenCL.
That's because frame pacing optimisations mean the max frame rate is the refresh rate.
For example, on Tomb Raider (maxed -TressFX, 64x CSAA) with two 770's:
@ 60Hz - 59fps ave.
@ 90Hz - 88fps ave.
@ 110hz - 92fps ave. (but 110fps max, 75 fps min)Best case, 2x 770 SLI is 40% better than 1x R9 290X. Worst case the 770's lose by 20%. But at 90Hz, I push 260% more pixels than a 60Hz 1080p monitor (ignoring AA).
So yes, after two hours testing, trust me when I say an R9 290X is overkill for a 1080p, 60Hz monitor.
Notes:
AA off, 8x AA, 16x AA, or 64x CSAA had no effect on frame rate (exact same fps), but different levels and types had visible effects (although minor). Game seems to be bottle necking at 90fps. Probably to do with overclocked DVI clock and slow SLI bridge.
60Hz had a constant stutter, 90Hz had a minor constant stutter, 110 was smooth with occasional micro stutter (still felt smoothest).
I used Nvidia control panel to override in game AA to get more control.
Anandtech 2014 GPU Bench used for GPU comparison.
Tomb Raider isn't a very higly demanding game though. Play something like BF4 or Crysis 3 and you'll see those frame rates hit really hard.
I don't have fraps, but eyeballing Crysis 3 was around 45fps maxed out with 64x CSAA + 16x SSAA for trasparent textures. Drop AA settings to something more reasonable and FPS shoots up.
@This Guy: Yep, but that's the latest gen graphics cards running the latest gen games. Graphics cards improve very quickly. In the scheme of things, every generation the product performance drops by 1 tier.
For example, the previous top-end from nVidia (GTX680) is now the second-from-top card (GTX770). Same goes with AMD, the previous top-end (7970) is now the second (R9 280X).
So a card that is top-end today will be around mid-range in 2 or so years time. So if you're buying a PC that you want to last you for several years, then, it's not such a bad idea. I generally aim to keep my PCs for around 3 years or so before an upgrade.
Old flagship GPU's are retired because when a new process node comes around, the same performance can be had on a far smaller, cheaper chip.
TSMC's 20 nm process node was delayed, forcing Nvidia and AMD to make Titan and R9 290X on the old 28 nm process, hence the ~30% increase compared to the ~80 to 100% increase AMD normally provide.
Now 20nm and 14nm are just around the corner, we can expect the old trend of flagship GPU's having low end equivalents in 2-3 years (Yay?).
As for games, experience says Crysis 4 will use DX12 for its ultra-settings, requiring a new card.
I was burnt with my 4870 (DX11). I tried to future proof with the 770's and was burnt with the R9 290X two weeks later. Don't buy GPU's for the future unless you like bleeding money.
Don't buy GPU's for the future unless you like bleeding money.
But that doesn't really make sense. A more powerful card today is always going to be better than a less powerful card - from the day you buy it, to the day you upgrade. Buying for the future simply means you don't buy a low/midrange card today that just barely plays today's games. It would make sense to me to buy a card that smashes today's games, so it can at least comfortably cope with tomorrow's games.
I'm still on the 770's. I could have got an R9 290X for a few hundred less if I waited two weeks.
I disagree. Xbone is meant to be upgrading to DX12 soon. This means console ports may require DX12 for best performance. AMD and Nvidia have a history of only supporting new DX standards on new products.
If you can max your fps with midrange, I recommend saving the excess and buy mid-range, then upgrade when to a DX12 card when a game you want comes out.
AMD and Nvidia have a history of only supporting new DX standards on new products.
Only if the new DX standard required new hardware that didn't exist in the current hardware. Given that the XBOne graphics chip is a Radeon 7000 class chip, DX12 shouldn't have any features that current gen graphics cannot support. There will definitely be an uproar if DX12 is PC next gen only.
When I built I put the wireless in the only PCIE that had space. Probably a more important factor.
The ASRock Z97 Anniversary has two slots, both empty with a two slot GPU (like the one you've chosen). One above the GPU (which in that case will cause it to get very hot) and one two slots below the GPU.
You can be snarky or you can listen to the one bloke taking the time to check your design choices.
@This Guy: I wasn't a fan of your arrogance in delivering the information to me.
Spot the difference:
"Hey man, just a reminder that you may want to make sure you put the wireless card in the bottom slot in case it overheats. Good luck with the build!"
"When you build, put the wireless card in the bottom PCIe slot [followed by a bashing of decisions already made and paid for by me which I politely requested nobody do]."
I'm all for being corrected - this thread has been nothing but an example of that, but your post came off as so…condescending.
@Andy-Laa: Don't worry too much about him, he's probably just trying to help.
I'm glad you've learned a lot from this thread and you've managed to successfully build your own PC. It's a useful set of skills that you'll be able to use to build future computers, troubleshoot computers…etc. Knowing the insides and outsides of a PC can be useful.
I'm sure you've done a good job, so don't worry too much about him being condescending :)
I am the most appologetic guy ever, but this is a forum and you hadn't posted your buy yet. You said you were unemployed near the top of the forum so I thought this was a waste of time to be honest.
And there are three PCIe slots (sorry, was half asleep yesterday), two below the GPU. I hope you used the bottom one.
All good man - perhaps I misread the tone. That and the fact I was really lost in the woods with the build at parts and was literally at it from buying the parts at 10am to [general life stuff] to staying up until 2:30am to finish the build didn't help. I was one grumpy bastard yesterday and I apologise too.
Btw: my god what a glorious build! I am in love with SSD storage and of course, the graphics card. Going from a stock Dell Vosotro laptop to this build is insane. From literally the lowest graphics settings and still missing frames, to literally the highest, seamlessly…I can never game on any other system again. I never realised how bad 14fps really was.
As for the cashflow, I managed to find a little in some investments I made in the form of old 35m film cameras. If you know what you're looking for, it's reasonably lucrative.
I think you did mention there were 3 - you worded it awkwardly, but you said there was one and "another one with two" I think which is true.
Sorry for late reply. you sure you want to get ASrock mobo?
I prefer branded like Asus and Gigabyte to have frequest bios update , having say so, I got a few slightly more expensive Asus and Gigabyte before (initially intended to upgrade - my new one is just cheap Asus and gigabyte , still can overclock, but not going to, extra 200Mhz cost only 10-20 dollars now?) but unfortunately died within 4 years. (one of them due to overclocking….. i suspect)
The R9 290 goes for ~$300 on Gumtree from ex-miners. Buying used parts are well worth it in my option as they either work or don't.
$0.02
they either work or don't
Yeah and getting a refund from a Gumtree bogan if it's the latter is a walk in the park…
Test before you buy.
How would you do this? Bring your system to them? Or get them to come to you, and wait for you to hook it up to your PC and run it through some tests? It sounds like a major hassle to me.
Alienware
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@googlefart:
Nah, well the main issue is it needs to be connected to other drives before it. There's 2 straights on either end and then like 3 90 degree ones in between. 90 degree ones are the only ones that wold reach unfortunately.
Anyway, gonna grab a SATA 3 cable from http://www.nswcomputers.com.au/8ware-fc-5032-sata-3-cable-st… and finsh off the rig!
EDIT: Whoa! No I'm not for $15 delivery!