Official PC Gamers Topic V3

[iNero]

New GPUs are rumored to be released at some point in 2015. So quite some time away. And most likely only the top end cards will see a boost and also will cost a lot more.

[Xerukal]

So uhm, I hate to ask silly future proof questions with no real clear answer, but how much is 3GB VRAM, really?

 

I ask because games like Watch_Dogs and Titanfall are starting to warn that you should need 3GB or higher to run ultra/maximum graphics/textures.

 

Titanfall, I cannot understand why it'd need 3GB of VRAM. But maybe I'm missing something. Watch_Dogs, however, does seem to warrant it. Given how strong some of the textures are at Ultra. But according to a dev on twitter, you can actually go over the 3 gig VRAM amount in 1080p if you run TXAA or any other heavy-duty AA while on Ultra.

 

I plan to game in 1080p for the moment and the near, foreseeable future. But I might expand further down the line, so I'd like to get a 780 Ti. I know 3GB VRAM is gonna be just fine. But there's the odd couple of games that seem to be wanting more than 2 gigs for no seemingly good reason. This is somewhat intimidating to me.

 

I know the "top cards" change all the time, and I know the 780 Ti is damn amazing and that it hasn't been "defeated" by any game just yet. But it's just this one observation that makes me a bit afraid to invest in the card. That and my complete and total lack of sufficient funds, lol.

Edited May 29, 2014 by Xerukal

[Mista J]

3GB of GDDR5 is actually a good amount. Games are starting to look better and require that extra frame buffer to handle higher res textures.

 

Have you looked at AMD cards? They usually offer more memory than NVIDIA for less.

[Vercetti42]

Maybe I should really start to think about getting a PS4 a little sooner

 

If you do it Andreas, I'll fly all the way over to Austria and tear you to pieces.

Edited May 29, 2014 by Vercetti42

[Xerukal]

3GB of GDDR5 is actually a good amount. Games are starting to look better and require that extra frame buffer to handle higher res textures.

 

Have you looked at AMD cards? They usually offer more memory than NVIDIA for less.

Yeah, I have. Although I am looking to be able to record with Shadowplay. So I'm pretty much a bit forced into getting NVIDIA's cards. Not to mention the WD fiasco...

 

In any case, I've researched VRAM a bit. And I don't know how relevant this really is, but it's not really about the VRAM amount itself. More of the card powering the VRAM. Since the 780 Ti is evidently a very strong card, I'm sure the 3 gigs wouldn't be as bad as they would be on a lower end card. Not saying it would be bad, just a lesser of two goods.

Edited May 29, 2014 by Xerukal

[sivispacem]

2GB VRAM seems to run W_D fine at 1080p on Ultra FWIW. I can run it, albeit with a bit of stutter that looks to be processor related rather than VRAM.

 

3GB is sufficient for just about anything but other factors, such as processing speed (GT/s) are equally as important.

[Mista J]

Really cool. Not sure if its $1000 cool though.

 

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/183308-lian-li-finally-delivers-the-dream-aluminium-pc-case-that-is-also-your-desk-for-1200

[RyanBurnsRed]

So guys it's time to upgrade my PC, and I think I'm going for a 6 core Xeon.

I'm going for an old LGA 1366 Xeon. Once overclocked, they are faster than a 3770K and 4770K along with the bonus of having 6 cores and 12 threads.

 

I was going for an i5 3570K, but a 1366 Xeon seems the better choice. With that I don't have to worry about games requiring 8 core CPUs for a long time.

So bring it on next gen! Throw your worst ports at me!

[Whiskey]

Was thinking about upgrading my CPU, but I have an i5 2500K for years and it's never skipped a beat, so I think I'll focus on upgrading elsewhere.

 

I want to get an SSD, and the Samsung 120GB 840 EVO is reasonable enough.

 

Is it worth getting an SSD? I want to improve my OS speed/startup etc. My HDD is just grinding windows to a halt.

[RyanBurnsRed]

Yes it is worth it. Intel also has a software that will allow you to move your Windows installation from your hard drive to the SSD

[sivispacem]

The 840 Pro is very good. That was my default choice but I got an M500 very cheap. I'd look at the M550 too as they're apparently excellent.

 

Just got bits for a new build:

 

> AMD FX-8320

> Corsair H100i

> ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0

 

Next port of call new RAM though that can probably wait, plus keeping my eye out for a second ASUS custom-PCB GTX-680, ideally a TOP, going cheap.

 

Decided against going Intel in the end given that mobo and processor cost me less than an unlocked i7 would have. Plus I had Amazon vouchers to use...

[RyanBurnsRed]

I'm also going for water cooling for the Xeon that I'm getting. I'm getting an H60 from Newegg which is going for a pretty cheap price of $49.99.

It's not as high end as the H100i, but it'll be enough to get the chip up to a moderate 4.5 Ghz which will put it just past a 4.0 Ghz i7 3770K.

 

Of course this all depends on the chip and the motherboard, but I'm not worried

 

A GTX 680 would be nice though. This Xeon will manhandle my single GTX 760. Actually, it will man handle GTX 670s in SLI.

[sivispacem]

I've got an H60 I was considering using for WCing my GPU but a) the NZXT adapters only work for the Asetek built systems not the Coolit ones and b) neither of them fit the ASUS as it has a custom PCB.

[Pat]

As far as upgrades go, next month I'm looking at Sapphire's Tri-X R9 290, Corsair's CX750M, CM's Hyper 212 Evo, and a WD Black 2TB drive. I've got a Thortec 850w PSU right now, but it's quad rail, so I was afraid it wouldn't be sending enough power to the 290. It's also 4 years old and the warranty runs out next year, so replacing it isn't a bad idea anyway. As for the 2TB drive, my current primary is an 8 year old 500GB, so like the PSU it's getting replaced for both functionality and age. No SSD for now, I know it's probably worthwhile but all of these together are already going to run me something like $680.

Edited June 23, 2014 by Pat

[GTA-Bobski]

If you got a PSU with more rails for the 12v you can always use this,

That's how I hooked up my R9 290. The special 6-pins PCIe PSU cable is connected to the 6-pins on the 290, and the 8-pins with the molex adapter. My PSU has 3 rails/19A each and this way they all take their share of the load. So now my PSU doesn't get hot and stays silent.

As for the no budget for a SSD, you can always consider a Seagate SSHD. They cost around $100 and combine a 2TB HDD with a 8GB SSD. There's no special trim software required and over time the SSHD learns what to put on the SSD and what on the HDD.

I use one in an old XP system and it works great. Programs I use on a daily basis load almost as fast as with a normal SSD. And boot-up time is way faster too.

Btw -since you're buying an AMD card- a couple of days ago they released a new version of Raptr that has a ShadowPlay clone (http://raptr.com/amd). So now you can record or stream gameplay as easy as with a nVIDIA card. I tested it with SC:Blacklist and L.A. Noire and it worked as promised. To bad Watch_Dogs isn't supported yet because I really like the 'save last 1~10 minutes gameplay' option.

[Pat]

Thanks for the suggestion on the PSU. I think I'll probably still go with a complete replacement, because it's the kind of thing where if my current one fails, it can take other stuff out with it, but I'll keep that in mind as a cheaper alternative. As for a SSHD, I'm really not interested. I'd rather wait until I can afford a good SSD, and I really don't care for Seagate.

 

The Raptr update also interests me. I'm already running AMD now (Sapphire's 1GB HD6950) and for a while I was considering a GTX 770, and ShadowPlay was one of my incentives (alongside price). I ultimately decided against it because the 2GB of RAM and sh*tty memory bus were constantly nagging at me any time I thought about it. I use Fraps right now with minimal performance impacts (recording to the drive that your game is installed to causes most of the performance impact; if you record to a separate drive like I do, most of it is eliminated) but maybe I can minimize them even further with Raptr's new software.

Edited June 23, 2014 by Pat

[Geralt of Rivia]

Thanks for the suggestion on the PSU. I think I'll probably still go with a complete replacement, because it's the kind of thing where if my current one fails, it can take other stuff out with it, but I'll keep that in mind as a cheaper alternative. As for a SSHD, I'm really not interested. I'd rather wait until I can afford a good SSD, and I really don't care for Seagate.

 

The Raptr update also interests me. I'm already running AMD now (Sapphire's 1GB HD6950) and for a while I was considering a GTX 770, and ShadowPlay was one of my incentives (alongside price). I ultimately decided against it because the 2GB of RAM and sh*tty memory bus were constantly nagging at me any time I thought about it. I use Fraps right now with minimal performance impacts (recording to the drive that your game is installed to causes most of the performance impact; if you record to a separate drive like I do, most of it is eliminated) but maybe I can minimize them even further with Raptr's new software.

SSD's aren't bad. I just got this one for my PC.

 

There's also this one.

[RyanBurnsRed]

As far as upgrades go, next month I'm looking at Sapphire's Tri-X R9 290, Corsair's CX750M, CM's Hyper 212 Evo, and a WD Black 2TB drive. I've got a Thortec 850w PSU right now, but it's quad rail, so I was afraid it wouldn't be sending enough power to the 290. It's also 4 years old and the warranty runs out next year, so replacing it isn't a bad idea anyway. As for the 2TB drive, my current primary is an 8 year old 500GB, so like the PSU it's getting replaced for both functionality and age. No SSD for now, I know it's probably worthwhile but all of these together are already going to run me something like $680.

 

I've got a Hyper 212 EVO. It's a very good cooler. It's quiet, it looks cool, and most importantly it does its job and it does it well.

What CPU do you have? Are you getting the EVO because you'll be overclocking?

[Pat]

I've got an i5-2500K, and yes, I plan on overclocking. Most likely 4.3Ghz, may go up to 4.5Ghz.

 

@TheMasterfocker: SSHD, not SSD.

[RyanBurnsRed]

I'm not sure how hot those Sandy Bridge CPUs get at those speeds, but hopefully it does what you need.

[Pat]

Sandy Bridge has better temperatures than Ivy and Haswell, last I checked. Mostly because Sandy used an integrated heat solder whereas Ivy and Haswell use some silly method of gluing the heatplate on. Personally, I think it was a bad design choice, and I'm reluctant to ever upgrade because of it (not that I need to upgrade any time soon; hell, I don't even really need to overclock).

[RyanBurnsRed]

Yes I know. Delidding Ivy and Haswell is popular.

Anyway I know you won't have any problems reaching those speeds. But I guess you'll know how to offset the voltage to get lower temps =)

[sivispacem]

You should get 4.2/4.3 stable on a 212 unless you're in a particularly hot climate. For 4.5-4.8 I'd go AIO water like a Corsair H100i.

[GTA-Bobski]

As for a SSHD, I'm really not interested. I'd rather wait until I can afford a good SSD, and I really don't care for Seagate.

 

Well, you mentioned a 2TB WD Black which is a 7200rpm HDD and so is the Seagate SSHD. And it's actually cheaper than a WD Black. On a side note, I'm not a fan of the WD Caviar models because they are noisy and can make a real nasty click sound when they park their heads when idle.

[RyanBurnsRed]

Newegg is having a sale on ebay for the H80i. $69.99 with free shipping. I'm going to buy I bought one before they sell out =)

I bought one. Now to figure out how to set it up once it arrives.

 

A lot of people tell me that they have their's pulling in cool air instead of pushing out hot air. I think I'll do that too.

I'll mount the fans to the top of the case and have them pull in cool air.

Edited June 25, 2014 by RyanBurnsRed

[sivispacem]

Get a second fan and do a push/pull. Two fans facing the same direction, one on the external case and one on the opposite side of the radiator.

 

Like this:

 

[RyanBurnsRed]

Interesting.I'll try it that way.

Thanks for the picture.

 

It should arrive sometime next week. Maybe on Tuesday.

[Mista J]

What does that do? Just quicker airflow?

[sivispacem]

Basically maximise the volume of air passing through the rad in any given time. Also makes cooling much less dependent on having the right balance of positive/negative airflow in the rest of the case.

[RyanBurnsRed]

What's that essentially doing is taking the heat and blowing it out the back of the case right?

So I put a fan on the outside of the case on the same vent and make both fans on the rad facing each other? I can see that will move more air.

 

Right now I've got 3 fans (4 if you count the 212 EVO fan I have now). I was thinking of moving the exhaust fan I have to the front and putting the rad in the position you have shown above.

Do you think that would still work as well without the fan on the outside?