General PC Help Thread - OP updated with useful links - READ

I'm always a generation behind on gfx cards as I don't play many games that require the latest hardware, my current gtx 760 is completely adequate for my needs.

Having said that I am considering getting a new PC, mainly because I'd like a smaller case and my current motherboard won't fit in a smaller one, the Fractal Design Delfine R5 might be a nice case but it's bloody huge and I want to downsize.

I'll possibly jump into Pascal with their '1070' mid-tier card. I've got a 144Hz 1920x1080 monitor that's not even 2 years old so don't really have any reason to go higher for 1440 or 4K gaming for at least another 2-3 years, by which time there'll likely be something more powerful out. I imagine whatever the 1070 ends up being will likely be pretty good for VR as well for at least a good while, and on non-VR it'll make it far easier to get higher stable FPS with all the fancy settings still on.

Ironhide wrote:I'm always a generation behind on gfx cards as I don't play many games that require the latest hardware, my current gtx 760 is completely adequate for my needs.

Having said that I am considering getting a new PC, mainly because I'd like a smaller case and my current motherboard won't fit in a smaller one, the Fractal Design Delfine R5 might be a nice case but it's bloody huge and I want to downsize.

Have you had a look at the Corsair Graphite 380 series?

I've got the full size 780 equivalent, but these look like pretty nice small form factor cases.

Guy at work was telling me to hold off buying a new card because with the new DX version, things are about to be shaken up. Basically he was saying that ATI is far better suited and nvidia were going to struggle with their current architecture.

Anyone know if he's talking rubbish? He's probably one of the brainiest people i know.

Even if the hardware is good, AMD drivers are utter shite.

As far as I'm aware it's unknown how each company will deal with this new gen, unless he has friends that works for both companies it sounds a lot like fan boy speculation.

nVidia does look like it will be releasing new cards in the next few months but I'd be surprised if they're worse than whatever AMD has, especially given AMD's notorious driver problems.

Major panic this morning as when I turned on my pc I was getting a blank screen and no activity on my keyboard (fans worked though). Disconnected everything non-essential, including GPU, plugged the monitor in the main I/O. Still nothing. Disconnected all boot media to try and load into the UEFI, nope. Switched the ram cards to different slots, nope. At this point it looked as though my either my mobo or CPU had failed; however just as I was about to admit defeat I remebered the CMOS battery on the motherboard. Switched it with a spare and though and behold, UEFI! I can't beleive I was almost going to give up on the machine for the sake of tiny battery... At least I know to check in future.

Edit: a quick check on my sys specs shows I am down to 4GB memory from 8, so it looks like one of my memory cards has died; which I'm guessing is that caused whatever strawberry float up happened with the mobo. Removing and replacing the battery must have cleared some cache or other and allowed it to reconfigure as 4GB system.

Hey Meep, download and make USB/CD of memtest86 - http://www.memtest86.com/ and you can stress test your memory, see if it works properly.

It's worth doing on most new PC builds because you can spot a bad memory stick before it fully goes like it sounds like yours has.

Memtest is great. Even if the app just crashes or never complete, just tell the retailer "I ran Memtest and it failed" and they won't argue with you.

As for cases, I still like the Bitfenix Prodigy, but it's a little plasticy and the bouncy top and bottom don't really serve any purpose. The front panel usb also flat out doesn't work (confirmed manufacturing problems after weeks of harassing them) on earlier shipments.

I love my antec p180 mini but I guess that isn't counted as a small case anymore.

Corsair seem decent but I don't like the "gamer" look. Fractal are sort of the new Antec.

Edit: this looks nice. Tempting for a refresh or to move gaming PC to living room http://m.ebuyer.com/730025

I have this: http://www.phanteks.com/enthoo-evolv.html

And it's very lovely. Heavy as strawberry float for a micro ATX, though.

Pretty large for MATX though. There seems to be a lack of good compact MATX cases and a near endless variety of ATX or mini-ITX cases. Maybe its just not a very popular form factor; as I suppose most people either go full ATX if they don't care about space or mini-ITX if they want to for something compact (allows you to run one GPU without a lot of bells and whistles). Not many want something middle of the road.

A bunch here...

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cases-an ... erPage=384

I quite like the BitFenix cases, the Phenom or the Prodigy M are both nice looking.

I couldn't say their QA holds up though. I ordered 4 Prodigy cases and all the plastic feet were screwed in with way too much torque forcing them to crack. (you can't see it but it's under the wide panels) Nicely designed though.

Does anybody here have much experience with the Steam Link? I picked one up today and after setting it up and finding everything working perfectly I turned it off and back on after doing this the link doesn't connect to my PC. The Steam Link can pick up my PC and the status of my PC through the Steam Link is 'Ready' but it just doesn't connect to it. I tried restoring it to factory setting and the same scenario played out I was able to game flawlessly after initial setup but after switching the link off and on it won't connect to my PC.

Does anyone know how to fix this?

GTX 1080 and 1070 inbound.

http://www.pcgamer.com/nvidia-gtx-1080/

Look like they will be pretty beastly. 1080 is about a third more powerful than a Titan X (well, probably not quite, but still). :shock:

Been quite a while since we've seen a leap this big.

Meep wrote:GTX 1080 and 1070 inbound.

http://www.pcgamer.com/nvidia-gtx-1080/

Look like they will be pretty beastly. 1080 is about a third more powerful than a Titan X (well, probably not quite, but still). :shock: Been quite a while since we've seen a leap this big.

More importantly perhaps, apparently the 1070 offers Titan X levels of performance at stock speeds. After upgrading from a 770 to a 970 I didn't think I'd bother with this generation of cards, but that kind of power might just tempt me.

There's a write up on Eurogamer too...

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digit ... d-gtx-1070

I've got a 970 but I don't know if it's going to be worth upgrading to a 1070, 1080 or wait for a 1080ti

I've downloaded CyberGhost VPN to change my IP for certain websites. I'm guessing this just means that websites see me as connecting from a different internet service to the one at my flat? Have I understood correctly?

My PC grinds to a halt occasionally. The task manager shows all the RAM (8GB) is being used, but not by what. Most of the time I have chrome open with about 8 tabs and iTunes, but I think it mainly happens when I'm downloading a game on steam as well, but not sure. Any ideas?

did you check resource manager and/or click the 'Show all processes from all users' button? that should give you a better idea of what's causing the issue.

General PC Help Thread - OP updated with useful links - READ

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