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myco666

Member
Oct 26, 2017
853
Fake Europe
Of course, you can either use an adapter that lets you plug in fans directly into your PSU or you can use a 1 --> 2 converter that allows you to plug in two fans into one mb connector. Personally I prefer method 1, but you can't regulate the fan speed that way. Which isn't a big deal for case fans anyway, imo. Only use the 1-2 converter on case fan connectors and leave the dedicated CPU connector alone. if you decide to go along with that route.

Guess I will go with the converter route. Seems easier to add that to my current cable setup.

I assume your case stands steady on its feet? Literally had to place sticky notes under a foot so the case doesn't wobble. I'm fine with it though, I'll gladly take it over hardware issues.

Yeah it is steady.
 

EroticSushi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,988
Hello PC-ERA! Any build suggestions for a $1200 budget? My friend is looking into building a PC for himself.

Gonna be used for gaming (PUBG, Overwatch, Rainbow Six, etc) and some light 3D modeling work.
 

MrH

Banned
Nov 3, 2017
3,995
Decided to wait a bit and buy my components bit by bit as they become cheaper/go on sale etc, I just bought the first piece of the puzzle though! NZXT S340 Mid Tower Case (Black) for £60 which I feel is a good price, the cheapest it has ever been was £58 and it's currently on sale at CCL.
 

see5harp

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
4,435
Exactly what I've been doing. Have had my case for months just waiting on shit to become sensible. At this point I'm not sure I even reccomend people to build their own PCs. Might as well get a Corsair one or some other prebuilt.
 

Soda

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,882
Dunedin, New Zealand

Ah, wait, is this a pre-built computer? If so, do you have the model number? It should be pretty easy to find on the side of the case, maybe on a sticker. Then from there we can find your BIOS update.

In other news, after recently building a $99 gaming PC, I decided to continue the series/project by upgrading to a $150 budget. It's gonna be a whopper of an improvement, I think. This is my $99 PC (actually, $93):


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel - Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased For $43.00)
Memory: Kingston - ValueRAM 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2-800 Memory (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Samsung - Spinpoint M7 120GB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GT 740 4GB Superclocked Video Card (Purchased For $20.00)
Case: Rosewill - STAR PREDATOR ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $14.00)
Power Supply: Thermaltake - TR2 430W ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $16.00)
Other: Intel DG31PR LGA775 mATX (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $93.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-01-11 16:38 EST-0500


I got the HDD for $6.49 but was later refunded for no apparent reason (Ebay shenanigans), so that's $0. The CPU/MB/RAM/Cooler were bundled for $43 shipped from Ebay. The PSU and GPU were bundled for $36 after I haggled down from $60 via Craigslist. The case was $24 with a $10 rebate that I received. So, total cost of the $99 PC was actually $93.

Now, I am tossing out the CPU/RAM/Mobo/Cooler (well, gonna sell 'em) which frees up $43, and then upping my budget from $100 to $150. I picked up a Phenom II X4 840, motherboard, and 8 GB DDR3 1600 MT/s today from Craigslist for $50; it also came with a router and a sound card which I probably won't use. Then, I have a CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus sitting around and looking at Ebay prices they sell for $18-$30 shipped; there's a listing right now for $20, so I'm gonna use my 212+ and consider it a $20 purchase from Ebay. This leaves me $30 left for an upgrade; I can either use it for a small SSD (40-120 GB used on Ebay if I'm patient) or use it to upgrade the GPU/PSU. I think the GT 740 SC is pretty solid for the price... and I'd only have roughly $48 to work with for an upgrade to that. So, I think I'll aim for either a small SSD or a more reliable PSU. Here is my proposed $150 budget build, with $30 left-over as I decided on the PSU vs SSD situation:


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: AMD - Phenom II X4 840 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased For $50.00)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (Purchased For $20.00)
Motherboard: Asus - M4A78LT-M Micro ATX AM3 Motherboard (Purchased For $0.00)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Samsung - Spinpoint M7 120GB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GT 740 4GB Superclocked Video Card (Purchased For $20.00)
Case: Rosewill - STAR PREDATOR ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $14.00)
Power Supply: Thermaltake - TR2 430W ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $16.00)
Total: $120.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-01-11 16:44 EST-0500
 
Oct 25, 2017
5,644
Reading about Jason Schreier's PC building expedition (hello if you read this dude and apologies if your name is mis-spelt!) he seems to have picked the same sort of graphics card I got for cheap(ish) during the holidays.

Will thishttps://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/GeForce-GTX-1080-GAMING-X-8G.html

fit into

this https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-B250M-HD3-rev-10#kf

I have read about some strange software-side issues with the card and its installation, so I'll jump that bridge when I come to it, I just need to know first off if ATX boards can handle cards that are literally the same size as them?

Thanks all!
 

Flandy

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,445
Got a new 8700k via eBay for $370 and some used 16GB 3200Mhz CL16 RAM for $175
No tax on either of these so quite the savings
 

kami_sama

Member
Oct 26, 2017
7,008
So my cpu cooler is arriving the 18th, and I'm not going to be able to start building my system until then D:
 
Oct 28, 2017
142
Well, just built my first PC without assistance. I don't do fancy cases or lighting so I don't have pics to post. Very satisfying to see it boot up without a hitch.

Thanks again to Sinneslöschen and Zweizer who gave me advice a week or so ago about what parts to buy new and what to reuse.
 
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Zweizer

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,107
Well, just built my first PC without assistance. I don't do fancy cases or lighting so I don't have pics to post. Very satisfying to see it boot up without a hitch.

Thanks again to Sinneslöschen and Zweize who gave me advice a week or so ago about what parts to buy new and what to reuse.

Glad to hear it all went smoothly! Enjoy your shiny new computer!
 

blakdeth

Member
Oct 25, 2017
269
What do you all like for Z370 motherboards in the mATX form-factor? Seems mATX is a dying breed.

I have my eye on Asus - ROG STRIX Z370-G GAMING. It lacks an RGB header, but I'm not sure how much I care about that.

Then there's the EVGA Z370 Micro ATX. It's a weird little thing with only two DIMM slots and one M.2 slot. Frankly, I don't think I would need more than this, but considering the price, I would have liked to have seen more features.

I would go full ATX, but I'm never going to need the extra slots and I would have to buy a new case to accommodate.
 

Pravus

Member
Oct 28, 2017
438
Computer just shut off, I think my cpu fan is dead. Guess there's no way to tell if the cpu itself or mobo is damaged right? Sigh.
 

LegendX48

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,072
Hey Y'all, I'm going to be buying the parts for my pc upgrade this weekend and would like some feedback before taking the plunge. Here's what I'm looking at:

CPU: Ryzen 7 1700
CPU Cooler: Deepcool Gammaxx 400
Mobo: Asus STRIX X370-F Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16gb (2x8) 3200mhz
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 250gb SSD
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB

Total after tax: $935.94

PSU: Antec 750 watt (already owned and 6 years old)
GPU: AMD Sapphire RX 480 Nitro+ 8gb (already owned)
Case: NZXT Switch 810 Full Tower Case

Anything I should change? Should I replace my PSU?
 
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Soda

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,882
Dunedin, New Zealand
Computer just shut off, I think my cpu fan is dead. Guess there's no way to tell if the cpu itself or mobo is damaged right? Sigh.

CPUs are designed to shutdown if they overheat. Doubtful it fried anything.

Hey Y'all, I'm going to be buying the parts for my pc upgrade this weekend and would like some feedback before taking the plunge. Here's what I'm looking at:

CPU: Ryzen 7 1700
CPU Cooler: Deepcool Gammaxx 400
Mobo: Asus STRIX X370-F Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16gb (2x8) 3200mhz
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 250gb SSD
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB

Total after tax: $935.94

PSU: Antec 750 watt (already owned and 6 years old)
GPU: AMD Sapphire RX 480 Nitro+ 8gb (already owned)
Case: NZXT Switch 810 Full Tower Case

Anything I should change? Should I replace my PSU?

Looks good. No need to upgrade the PSU though I will say it's probably pushing near the end if its lifespan... If it were me, I'd spend $50 for a new PSU just for the peace of mind.
 

Zeusy

Avenger
Oct 30, 2017
1,818
WA
Okay, not sure if this is the correct place to post but I need PC help. So I built my PC in September worked flawlessly until I recently updated my bios, now it randomly freezes and crashes and I have to manually turn it off. I tried to do a system restore but it won't allow it an error happens. Also my motherboard is lighting up the BOOT light and in my manual it tells me there's an error with my bios. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

Jeff6851

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
753
After two years or so of contemplating upgrading "soon" I've finally purchased the final parts for my PC and they'll arrive tomorrow.

Two years ago:

GeForce 560 Ti 1 GB
i5 2500K @ 4.0 GHz
8 GB RAM
ASUS P8P67 Deluxe
500 GB HDD @ 5400 RPM
320 GB HDD @ ? RPM (It was slow and from 2008)
20" 1600x900 60 Hz monitor

Now:

MSI RX 480 4 GB
Ryzen 5 1500X
8 GB RAM (will upgrade to 16 by the end of the year)
ASRock AB350 Pro4
1 TB HDD @ 7200 RPM
256 GB SSD
24" 1920x1080 monitor
 

Isee

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
6,235
Okay, not sure if this is the correct place to post but I need PC help. So I built my PC in September worked flawlessly until I recently updated my bios, now it randomly freezes and crashes and I have to manually turn it off. I tried to do a system restore but it won't allow it an error happens. Also my motherboard is lighting up the BOOT light and in my manual it tells me there's an error with my bios. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You could try resetting the MB/Bios. Unplug your PSU, open your case und remove the mb battery for 10-15 seconds. You could also shortcut the the BIOS reset pins for a second on your mb (for example with a paper clip), but the first method is often faster and simpler for most people.
If that doesn't help try flashing back to the older bios version...

After two years or so of contemplating upgrading "soon" I've finally purchased the final parts for my PC and they'll arrive tomorrow.

Two years ago:

GeForce 560 Ti 1 GB
i5 2500K @ 4.0 GHz
8 GB RAM
ASUS P8P67 Deluxe
500 GB HDD @ 5400 RPM
320 GB HDD @ ? RPM (It was slow and from 2008)
20" 1600x900 60 Hz monitor

Now:

MSI RX 480 4 GB
Ryzen 5 1500X
8 GB RAM (will upgrade to 16 by the end of the year)
ASRock AB350 Pro4
1 TB HDD @ 7200 RPM
256 GB SSD
24" 1920x1080 monitor

Nice upgrades. Not sure if upgrading from an overclocked 2500k to a 1500X was necessary tho. CPU performance is probably kind of similar. But on the plus side you now have support for faster ram, m2, usb 3.1 and you can just get ryzen 3 (or whatever the name is going to be) in a couple of years instead of having to upgrade everything. Happy gaming.
 
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Rhaya

Member
Oct 25, 2017
888
hello PC Era .

i have a question :

today i encountered an issue where when copy and pasting large data files ( 17GB ) to another spot on my SSD my PC hard froze and needed to reboot .
the 3rd time when i tried it i even got a BSOD .

a few days prior doing this would work just fine .

I tried other things and as far as i can tell moving small amount of files works fine and i see no problems starting and playing games stored on it .

So while i am not immediately concerned could this be an early sign of my SSD dying on me ?

For added reference here is the windows Minidump made from the BSOD :

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1igjne94f3ejcxw/011318-6754-01.dmp?dl=0

anyone can see whats up ?

thanks in advance .
 

Skai

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,176
Just saw some 1080ti prices and they're crazy. I was lucky to snag a 1080ti eVga FTW3 OC for $650 new sealed. Those things are like 900+ now.
 

woodcutter

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,185
nj
figured id try here. anyone know how to stop my mouse wheel from skipping forward on websites? when I scroll up it goes to the next page. I tried my corsair utility thing, windows mouse settings. I got nothing, and I'm pretty smrt when it comes to computers.
 

Nezacant

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,085
hello PC Era .

i have a question :

today i encountered an issue where when copy and pasting large data files ( 17GB ) to another spot on my SSD my PC hard froze and needed to reboot .
the 3rd time when i tried it i even got a BSOD .

a few days prior doing this would work just fine .

I tried other things and as far as i can tell moving small amount of files works fine and i see no problems starting and playing games stored on it .

So while i am not immediately concerned could this be an early sign of my SSD dying on me ?

For added reference here is the windows Minidump made from the BSOD :

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1igjne94f3ejcxw/011318-6754-01.dmp?dl=0

anyone can see whats up ?

thanks in advance .
The dump showed hal.dll as the cause, but that doesn't really pinpoint your issue. (See here: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...e/1d4a88d5-13df-45d7-b717-f4b8c81a1ee5?auth=1 )

You could try scanning your SSD and see if it shows any errors. chkdsk (built in windows tool) maybe or try a program like HDDScan to see if it starts throwing errors at you.
 

Silvard

Resettlement Advisor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
411
Hey guys, I need a recommendation for 2.5" drives that I can stripe for general storage on a desktop PC (only room for 2 2.5" left on my case). I was thinking of using 2 FireCudas SSHDs but I believe I've read something about them not working well on raid?
 

Nezacant

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,085
figured id try here. anyone know how to stop my mouse wheel from skipping forward on websites? when I scroll up it goes to the next page. I tried my corsair utility thing, windows mouse settings. I got nothing, and I'm pretty smrt when it comes to computers.
Shift+Scroll wheel will do this in some browsers. When you hold shift does it scroll like normal?
 

Deleted member 17092

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
20,360
So just something cool I figured out, I have a 32" 4k monitor, I created a custom resolution, 3840x1600 for ultrawide. Played some Prey.

Mind blown.
 

Lat

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,322
I still have my 970 build from a few years ago. Is this still a viable build to play modern games at a decent frame rate?
 

Isee

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
6,235
I still have my 970 build from a few years ago. Is this still a viable build to play modern games at a decent frame rate?

Sure, 1080p/60 @ on a mix of medium and high settings should be possible most of the time.
The thing with 970s: They sometimes overclock like crazy. Some of them can be even brought to non oc GTX 980 levels of perfromance, which is about as fast as a modern (not overclocked) 1060. But some BIOS editing might be necessary for that, unless you are lucky.
 

ody

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
16,116
it is edge. am I fucked?
Correction
The post I was referring to was a couple months old and I misremembered.

Enable
"Scroll inactive windows when I hover over them"

For whatever reason it failed to work when I found the post, but seems to work now. Close the browser if open, toggle off/on (I believe its enabled by default but could be bugged after updates), and test.
 

woodcutter

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,185
nj
Correction
The post I was referring to was a couple months old and I misremembered.

Enable
"Scroll inactive windows when I hover over them"

For whatever reason it failed to work when I found the post, but seems to work now. Close the browser if open, toggle off/on (I believe its enabled by default but could be bugged after updates), and test.
thank you so much! it worked! pm me your paypall I'll shoot you 5 bucks.
 

LegendX48

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,072
It's a good PSU, but again its wattage is way, way, way too much. That system won't exceed ~320W under full load! You could literally power an RX64 crossfire system with a decent 750W PSU.
Even with overclocking, 3 other HDDs, a soundcard, and a dvd drive and such? I wouldn't mind the 650 watt version since it's cheaper but would it be enough even if I upgrade my gpu to a gtx 1080, and overclock it, later on?
 

Soda

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,882
Dunedin, New Zealand
Even with overclocking, 3 other HDDs, a soundcard, and a dvd drive and such? I wouldn't mind the 650 watt version since it's cheaper but would it be enough even if I upgrade my gpu to a gtx 1080, and overclock it, later on?

Pug your system into PCPartPicker. Top right of your list will show a suggested wattage. I recommend aiming for that with an additional 100-150 watt buffer to give you room to upgrade.
 

Frankfurter

Member
Oct 27, 2017
848
Even with overclocking, 3 other HDDs, a soundcard, and a dvd drive and such? I wouldn't mind the 650 watt version since it's cheaper but would it be enough even if I upgrade my gpu to a gtx 1080, and overclock it, later on?

Yes, easily. Soundcards, HDDs etc. don't draw much at all. And it's also important to note that HDDs or DVD drives won't draw much when you are gaming (the one where the game is on might draw a couple of watts, while the other two will draw maybe 1 watt or less and the DVD drive will draw ~0 while inactive).
A decent 650 Watt PSU is enough to power two heavily overclocked 1080s and an overclocked CPU easily.
There is pretty much no reason to go beyond ~550W (again: decent PSU!) unless you plan to go SLI/Crossfire in the future (which is very close to useless by now) - or unless one expects GPU power draw to increase significantly in the near future (which is very unlikely imo).
Even the OC versions of Vega 64 top out at ~350W, which would leave you with ~200W for the rest of the system (i.e. lots of headroom).

PCPartPicker is a decent advice, but please don't add even more headroom to what they are suggesting - there is plenty to begin with. Also keep in mind that power draws between RX480 and GTX 1080 aren't all that different (~+20-30 watts for the 1080).
 

LegendX48

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,072
Pug your system into PCPartPicker. Top right of your list will show a suggested wattage. I recommend aiming for that with an additional 100-150 watt buffer to give you room to upgrade.

Yes, easily. Soundcards, HDDs etc. don't draw much at all. And it's also important to note that HDDs or DVD drives won't draw much when you are gaming (the one where the game is on might draw a couple of watts, while the other two will draw maybe 1 watt or less and the DVD drive will draw ~0 while inactive).
A decent 650 Watt PSU is enough to power two heavily overclocked 1080s and an overclocked CPU easily.
There is pretty much no reason to go beyond ~550W (again: decent PSU!) unless you plan to go SLI/Crossfire in the future (which is very close to useless by now) - or unless one expects GPU power draw to increase significantly in the near future (which is very unlikely imo).
Even the OC versions of Vega 64 top out at ~350W, which would leave you with ~200W for the rest of the system (i.e. lots of headroom).

PCPartPicker is a decent advice, but please don't add even more headroom to what they are suggesting - there is plenty to begin with. Also keep in mind that power draws between RX480 and GTX 1080 aren't all that different (~+20-30 watts for the 1080).
Yeah, I've been using pcpartpicker as a guide and it shows an estimate of 499 watts (likely a bit higher after cpu overclock) and a bit lower with an eventual gtx 1080. Looks like a 650 watt should do the trick and still have about 100 watts of headroom, give or take.

In that case, I'm looking at the EVGA Supernova G3 650 watt PSU
 
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Rhaya

Member
Oct 25, 2017
888
The dump showed hal.dll as the cause, but that doesn't really pinpoint your issue. (See here: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...e/1d4a88d5-13df-45d7-b717-f4b8c81a1ee5?auth=1 )

You could try scanning your SSD and see if it shows any errors. chkdsk (built in windows tool) maybe or try a program like HDDScan to see if it starts throwing errors at you.

i have done all 3 tests with HDDscan and all 3 passed without any errors .

could the problem have been due to the nature of the files ( which where the Fallout 4 texture files i was going to modify ) ?

i will try copy /pasting the files again tomorrow and let you know if i encounter it again .
 

Frankfurter

Member
Oct 27, 2017
848
Yeah, I've been using pcpartpicker as a guide and it shows an estimate of 499 watts (likely a bit higher after cpu overclock) and a bit lower with an eventual gtx 1080. Looks like a 650 watt should do the trick and still have about 100 watts of headroom, give or take.

In that case, I'm looking at the EVGA Supernova G3 650 watt PSU

300W, give or take, but yeah ;)

Just to give you an idea of what a system actually draws from the wall (i.e. that's not what the PSU actually supplies to the components, which is what the Watt-rating is about): my previous system was a i5-2500k @ 4,4 Ghz, 2x4GB RAM, an HD 7870 (a little lower than RX480 in terms of power draw, but not by much), 1x7200rpm HDD, 1x5400rpm HDD, 1xSSD. I used a precise power meter to see how much this system draws from the wall. Real world demanding games made it draw around the 250W mark, while extreme cases (i.e. running Prime95 + Furmark at the same time) made it go up to around 320W or so. That was with a BeQuiet Straight Power E9 450W, i.e. efficiency of ~90% at that load.
 
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