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

[PurplePenguin]

I decided to buy an i7 3770k to replace my old workhorse i3 2120. I know Intel are releasing some new processors in the upcoming months but I didn't want to wait!

[False]

I dont think they are replacing the K's until the new chipset.

[PurplePenguin]

I dont think they are replacing the K's until the new chipset.

When is the new chipset expected?

[Holpil]

In the coming months I believe.

[PurplePenguin]

I would think the 3770k will be a decent enough improvement over what I was using anyhow.

[systematic]

I dont think they are replacing the K's until the new chipset.

When is the new chipset expected?

The chipset was released this week (Z97). The new K processors are coming out next month:



The i7 version is going to be the first Intel processor released with a 4GHz stock clock and should easily be able to overclock easily to 5GHz on an air cooler.

[zXe]

EVGA's customer service and support is really good. Warranties are transferable (helps with resale value) and you have the option to extend your warranty to either five or ten years. They have the 90 day step-up program as well. The only downside is that their EU RMA center is located in Germany, so sending off your faulty GPU can cost quite a bit in postage and time. Of the top GPU manufacturers, only Gigabyte has a UK RMA center.

In the US EVGA's support is miles better than the rest of the competition, which is why it's so popular there. EVGA cards may not have the highest factory overclocks, but that's hardly an issue because the difference can be less than 1 FPS in most cases. It actually ends up being a better manual overclocker, but again the difference is only around 1-2 FPS.

Thx that info is really helpful

[False]

The i7 version is going to be the first Intel processor released with a 4GHz stock clock and should easily be able to overclock easily to 5GHz on an air cooler.

Nice.

[HSH28]

Intel (desktop) CPUs haven't been in the slightest exciting in years, don't expect the new ones to be any different.

[False]

Yes they have. Faster, lower power, more overclockable every cycle. Whats not to like?

[HSH28]

Yes they have. Faster, lower power, more overclockable every cycle. Whats not to like?

In tiny increments every year that most people wouldn't really notice anyway. And its been more about efficiency than increasing the raw power anyway.

[False]

Obviously Im not most people

[Ironhide]

We all know that.

[Super Dragon 64]

H-hi!

I'm also looking for a pc mainly geared towards gaming just like HailToTheKingBaby! and I was wondering if anyone had any build in mind. I would like to play most of the modern games on high/max graphics with good fps at 1920x1080. I'm willing to spend around £1000 to £1300 and I would like to actually put the part together myself. I've been considering the build that Dark Dragon 64 suggested but my pc won't only be using it for gaming. I am planning of taking up a computer games development course and a media development at my college and was wondering if there was anything else I would need or any improvements I could make. (I'm pretty new at this pc building thing and any help would be appreciated).

Thanks for any replies!

I'm not exactly sure how CPU intensive your course work will be but your budget easily allows for an i7 processor so I've included one for you. An i5 will be more than enough for gaming so, if you feel like saving £70, you'll still do quite well by getting the 4670K instead.

For the most part, the rest of the build is the similar to the one I recommended in the other thread. I've just swapped the PSU for one that is fully modular and has an increased wattage.

How soon do you need your build? I ask because new nVidia GPUs should be released in the coming months. This means that there's a chance that the 780 will drop in price and/or 880, or its equivalent, will provide better value for money.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£227.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.45 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£101.35 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£104.99 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£71.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£349.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£78.89 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic EVO Edition 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£77.70 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.91 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1180.00
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-19 21:28 BST+0100)

[Slayerx]

Having Graphic card driver issues.

Started a few days ago, haven't installed anything to effect it.

When I stream Netflix to my TV it works and then after a while my TV gets artifacts and I hear a horrible noise and then Windows tells me an error occurred with my GPU.

I updated the drivers yesterday as found them to be out of date, however it happened again today.

[HSH28]

Last time anything like that happened to me it was the actual card that was having problems. Any idea what temperature its running at?

[shrikeout]

H-hi!

I'm also looking for a pc mainly geared towards gaming just like HailToTheKingBaby! and I was wondering if anyone had any build in mind. I would like to play most of the modern games on high/max graphics with good fps at 1920x1080. I'm willing to spend around £1000 to £1300 and I would like to actually put the part together myself. I've been considering the build that Dark Dragon 64 suggested but my pc won't only be using it for gaming. I am planning of taking up a computer games development course and a media development at my college and was wondering if there was anything else I would need or any improvements I could make. (I'm pretty new at this pc building thing and any help would be appreciated).

Thanks for any replies!

I'm not exactly sure how CPU intensive your course work will be but your budget easily allows for an i7 processor so I've included one for you. An i5 will be more than enough for gaming so, if you feel like saving £70, you'll still do quite well by getting the 4670K instead.

For the most part, the rest of the build is the similar to the one I recommended in the other thread. I've just swapped the PSU for one that is fully modular and has an increased wattage.

How soon do you need your build? I ask because new nVidia GPUs should be released in the coming months. This means that there's a chance that the 780 will drop in price and/or 880, or its equivalent, will provide better value for money.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£227.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.45 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£101.35 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£104.99 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£71.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£349.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (£78.89 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic EVO Edition 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£77.70 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.91 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1180.00
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-19 21:28 BST+0100)

Thanks for the reply man!

I'm in no real rush to build the pc but I wouldn't want to wait that long. I wanted to start building it when my exams are finished which would be around mid June but I think I could wait until the end of June, but if it's really worth it, then I might just wait until the new cards come out, whenever that is.

[Super Dragon 64]

In that case, it'd be best to wait until your exams are over by which time we should, hopefully, know anything more about the 800 series. The 780 came out towards the end of May last year I expect that we'll know more about the 880 quite soon. At the very least, you can buy everything except the graphics card in mid June and then add the graphics card soon after. When I built my PC two years ago, I put together everything except the GPU in August and added the GPU in September.

[Fishfingers]

My 2GB XFX Radeon HD 7850 graphics card is getting to be on its last legs and I need a replacement.

System spec is currently:
Core i5 3570
8GB RAM
Asus P8Z77-V LX motherboard
2GB XFX Radeon HD 7850

Anyone have any advice on what card I can get for this machine that won't be bottlenecked by my 2 year old processor?

[Super Dragon 64]

nVidia 770