The 'Build Me A PC' Thread

[MahrinSkel]

They're all pretty much equal, surprising to see Alienware at a lower price point than Asus. The Dell looks good, the bigger SSD is worth the extra $100 over the MSI. Although it is quite a bit heavier (almost 2.5 pounds), so if weight is a major consideration you might want to flip that. Either one over the Asus.

I'm not sure how much of a difference the "Graphics Amplifier" port on the Alienware might make, in theory it allows some future-proofing by letting you upgrade the graphics down the line without trying to upgrade the internals (it's essentially an external PCIe port, and you can put any card into the extra box). It might let you get a extra generation or two from the laptop, for semi-fixed situations at least. If I were doing it, I'd probably go with the Alienware based on the SSD and that. But I never put my laptop in my lap (or carry it around in general, I have a tablet for that).

--Dave

[Torinak]

1. How long will it take the GTX 1080 to hit mobile? I'm guessing when that happens it should shift prices down considerably.

2. Any general opinions on these?

DELL Alienware AW17R3-4175SLV Gaming Laptop 6th Generation Intel Core i7 6700HQ (2.60 GHz) 16 GB Memory 1 TB HDD 256 GB SSD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M 3 GB GDDR5 17.3" 1920 x 1080 Windows 10 Home 64-Bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834298765
$1599, maybe another $100 promo

MSI GE Series GE72 Apache Pro-070 Gaming Laptop 6th Generation Intel Core i7 6700HQ (2.60 GHz) 16 GB Memory 1 TB HDD 128 GB SSD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M 3 GB GDDR5 17.3" Windows 10 Home 64-Bit Multi-language
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834154108
$1499

ASUS ROG G752VT-DH72 G-Sync Gaming Laptop 6th Generation Intel Core i7 6700HQ (2.60 GHz) 16 GB Memory 1 TB HDD 128 GB SSD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M 3 GB GDDR5 17.3" Windows 10 Home 64-Bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA57X3H17218
$1650

They're all basically the same system; the Dell has an extra 128Gig on the SDD. They also all come with Win10 Home - I think MS allows for paid upgrades to Pro, right?

Partner has an ASUS ROG G752VL-DH71 (2 GB GTX 965M, 1 TB HD w/out SSD) and it's an absolute beast of a system. She's dual-boxed MMOs (or MMO + another game), plays Witcher 3 just fine (on autodetected settings that were lower than ultra, but still "very pretty"), and doesn't even get hot. The display is really nice, too--colors are much much better than on my old Asus N53SV.

It does have the common-to-Windows-10 issue of wireless dropping in and out unless you tell Win10 to not power down the WiFi adapter (and to keep resetting that setting when Win10 helpfully changes it back).

If you can, I'd strongly recommend trying out the keyboards on any potential laptop--some laptop keyboards have unpleasantly different feels or configurations than you may expect, enough so to make them awkward to use.

At one point, the MSI laptops were having significant heat issues; dunno if that's really resolved now. Also, do all 3 of the laptops really have G-Sync? (if that's an issue? it seems to add about $100 to the cost)

[Hawkbit]

I might snag the Dell. I like my Dell Latitude that I use for work, and this Alienware is $1499.00 with no tax in WA. Seems like a decent deal overall.

[Trippy]

Things that I see listed in the specs on the ASUS which would make me lean towards purchasing the ASUS that I don't see on the others (which doesn't mean they don't have would have to dig around to confirm) are IPS panel, G-Sync and PCIe SSD (vs SATA SSD).

[KallDrexx]

I'm not sure how much of a difference the "Graphics Amplifier" port on the Alienware might make, in theory it allows some future-proofing by letting you upgrade the graphics down the line without trying to upgrade the internals (it's essentially an external PCIe port, and you can put any card into the extra box). It might let you get a extra generation or two from the laptop, for semi-fixed situations at least. If I were doing it, I'd probably go with the Alienware based on the SSD and that. But I never put my laptop in my lap (or carry it around in general, I have a tablet for that).

Don't get an Alienware specifically for a Graphic Amplifier port.  If you want the ability to use an external graphics adapter with a laptop just get a laptop with Thunderbolt 3.  Razor has an enclosure that works with any TB3 laptop, and rumors are others are going to start coming out with TB3 graphic card enclosures.  No reason to lock you in to always having alienware for future laptops if hooking up an external graphics card is important.

[KallDrexx]

One website accidentally leaked 1070 benchmarks out early (though I think the NDA is lifted later today): http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1225158

[Sky]

Wow, that 1080 is crazy fast.

However, with a 1080p display, I'm good with my 970, still. If I were super-concerned about power draw, maybe a 1070 would make sense. The 970 is already so great for the cooling required/power draw that I'm wicked happy nvidia is able to make them even more efficient. Everybody happier with a quiet pc.

[KallDrexx]

AMD claims that the RX 480 will be a $200 card with equivalent performance as a GTX 980 (only announced specs I think are >5Gflops).  They supposedly did a live demo having 2 480s outperform a GTX 1080 (though people are claiming the 1080 they were showing had better image quality, but apparently the benchmarking game they were using is procedurally generated so who knows).

Of course the only people who know the truth are people that are under an NDA until June 29th, so who knows how it will shake out in reality.  I do like the price point though, It could be good for 1080p if it's close to what they are claiming.

[Sky]

Forgot the old lady owes me just about enough to cover a couple projects, so I pulled the trigger on the Synology NAS and a couple 3TB Reds, as well as that 1TB 850 Pro in anticipation of installing Windows 10 on it.

So much fun buying myself a ton of homework.  

[Draegan]

I think I'll be ordering this tomorrow or monday:

http://www.amazon.com/GL552VW-DH74-15-Inch-Discrete-GeForce-Metallic/dp/B015ZG997I?ie=UTF8&ref_=cm_sw_em_r_t4_awdo_p_Jkfuxb15AF55J_tt

Anything standing out that I could be better with?

[Cyrrex]

Depends on your budget, obviously, but I would personally regret getting a gaming laptop that didn't have at least an 970m card in it. 

[Draegan]

I didn't want to drop an extra hundred or two on it.

[Cyrrex]

Understood, but since you are in the "gaming" category, it is probably the most important piece.  Dropping that kind of cheese on a new laptop and not getting at least at 970m card seems like a missed opportunity.  You'd also likely go up to a 17" screen, but maybe you see that as a negative?

[Nebu]

Understood, but since you are in the "gaming" category, it is probably the most important piece.  Dropping that kind of cheese on a new laptop and not getting at least at 970m card seems like a missed opportunity.  You'd also likely go up to a 17" screen, but maybe you see that as a negative?

I agree with this completely as someone that cut corners to keep the price around $900.  I regret my decision and wish that I had spent the extra money for a better video card and larger screen. 

Don't be me.  Buy a good rig for a little extra $$ and save yourself the regrets that I'm suffering.  If you give up Starbucks and fast food for a couple weeks, the difference will be paid for.

[Chimpy]

So I think I am finally going to build a new PC (mine is now almost 8 years old with only an SSD/video/RAM update) and I am pretty sure what I want in terms of pieces/parts but I wanted opinions on motherboards from people who have built machines more recently.

I have always leaned towards ASUS but my experience with them recently has soured me a bit, which manufacturers have people had the best luck with?

[MisterNoisy]

I built my most recent box on a Gigabyte mATX board, but had to send the first one back because it was DOA.  The replacement they shipped has been fantastic, though - good solid overclocker with all of the features I wanted and at a decent price point.

Outside of the occasional DOA situation like that, I've used a ton of different brands (most recent builds were on ASUS, Gigabyte, ASRock or MSI) without issue, so I'd just look for boards that have the features you want from a 'big name' and then go on price - it's hard to buy a real stinker from the big vendors these days, which is why you're seeing more boards trading on aesthetics lately.

[Trippy]

ASUS and Gigabyte are the two biggest (Gigabyte caught up to ASUS last year), with MSI and ASRock roughly tied for 3rd/4th. I have been going with ASUS since it cuts down on the number of things to choose from when deciding on a build but I would have no issue getting a Gigabyte or MSI board as well if I actually took the time to research their lines. ASRock has traditionally been on the lower-end (having been spun off from ASUS as their dedicated budget line) but has now moved into the high-end stuff as well.

[Sky]

My MSI mobo is 5 years old now, but I dig it. It was easy to put together and had enough features that it's supporting my latest toys (specifically 6G SATA for the new SSD). Good BIOS.

[TheWalrus]

So I think I am finally going to build a new PC (mine is now almost 8 years old with only an SSD/video/RAM update) and I am pretty sure what I want in terms of pieces/parts but I wanted opinions on motherboards from people who have built machines more recently.

I have always leaned towards ASUS but my experience with them recently has soured me a bit, which manufacturers have people had the best luck with?

My last Asus cheesed me off a bit too. So I built my last rig with a Gigabyte, and was super thrilled with it. I desperately need to build a new thingamajig, but I'm scared to look at pricing, because wife.

I also have no idea if we're running into 64 cores on terahertz, with memory sticks of 200G each. I am woefully out of touch with the building market.

[MisterNoisy]

My last Asus cheesed me off a bit too. So I built my last rig with a Gigabyte, and was super thrilled with it. I desperately need to build a new thingamajig, but I'm scared to look at pricing, because wife.

I also have no idea if we're running into 64 cores on terahertz, with memory sticks of 200G each. I am woefully out of touch with the building market.

On a decent budget, I'd be looking at Intel Skylake/LGA1151 socket and 8-16GB DDR4 memory paired up with a GTX1070 once the 'actual' release occurs (the GTX 1070/1080 cards out now are 'Founder's Edition' cards for people that are willing to pay an extra $100 for the privilege of having the new hotness about a month early).  Nothing too crazy - just faster versions of what came before.

[MahrinSkel]

If I were buying right now, this would be tempting:

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128846

mITX, which is a little tiny, but lots of features normally reserved for boards with more than twice the price: PCIe 3.0, USB 3.1 with C connectors, superfast memory, 2 SATA 6gb/sec bus and 1 SATA Express (6 and 2 drives, respectively). $135.

Only 3 expansion slots (only one open after video, an M.2), but do we actually use expansion boards for anything but video anymore? Everything else is already built into the board.

--Dave

[Goreschach]

If I were buying right now, this would be tempting:

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128846

mITX, which is a little tiny, but lots of features normally reserved for boards with more than twice the price: PCIe 3.0, USB 3.1 with C connectors, superfast memory, 2 SATA 6gb/sec bus and 1 SATA Express (6 and 2 drives, respectively). $135.

Only 3 expansion slots (only one open after video, an M.2), but do we actually use expansion boards for anything but video anymore? Everything else is already built into the board.

--Dave

The M.2 would typically be used for a modern ssd. Aside from that and video cards, there isn't really a lot for a typical desktop, unless you're doing video editing or high network bandwidth stuff. Besides graphics cards and storage all I can really think of offhand would be video capture utilities and large network adapters for routing/fibre stuff. I've found the built in sound in modern motherboards to be perfectly usable, although you might need to run the output through a little pocket amp or something, and pretty much everything else will work fine over USB 3.

At any rate, I'd hold off on buying a new system right now, since new stuff is coming out and Zen should be released in around half a year. Granted it'll most likely suck, but since this is basicallly do-or-die for AMD, it would be nice to at least see what happens.

[KallDrexx]

NDA finally dropped on the RX 480 and it's now in stock online on Newegg.  Reviews seem to have it slightly above a 970, which isn't bad considering it's $239 for the 8gb version.  

Looking like I"ll finally be upgrading my Gtx 660.

*Edit* Ended up cancelling my order.  There's a lot of stock in Newegg and most of the reviews are good, but there's some concerning information that the reference card may be drawing too much power out of the PCIE bus, and thus violating the PCIE specification.  Even though the potential of it doing any damage is probably low I'd rather just wait a couple of weeks for a 3rd party customized board, since from what I'm reading the main issue is it uses a 6 pin power plug instead of 8 (thus not giving it enough headroom).

[schild]

The question about the PCIE bus power draw was addressed in the reddit AMA today.

Edit:

Great question and I am really glad you asked.
We have extensive testing internally on our PCIE compliance and RX480 passed our testing. However we have received feedback from some of the reviewers on high current observed on PCIE in some cases. We are looking into these scenarios as we speak and reproduce these scenarios internally. Our engineering team is fully engaged.

So, yes. May want to hold off.

[Strazos]

nVidia Master Race. 

[KallDrexx]

I would get a 970 (I'd even mmmaayyybbeee consider a MSRP 1070) if it wasn't for having a Freesync monitor and not wanting to pay a premium for Gsync.

[schild]

nVidia Master Race. 

Well yeah, because 1060.

[KallDrexx]

GTX 1060 announced, launching later in the month.  Has slightly above 980 performance MSRP $250 (founders ediition $300) but since the 1080 and 1070 are still nowhere near MSRP it's unlikely to be sold for $250 (or even $300) anytime soon I'm betting.

I'm torn on what I am going to do.  The RX 480 looks like it will just barely play 60fps at highest settings on an ultrawide 1080p, which makes me wonder if I'd need to start turning some stuff down in the not too distant future and it would be nice to not have to mess with settings when buying a new card.  I wouldn't mind paying the $380 MSRP of the 1070 if it ever comes down to that price if it means I can go a long time without upgrading or changing messing with settings, but since i have a freesync monitor (and zero desire to pay the outrageous price for a gsync ultrawide) I'd lose adaptive sync capability (though I"m not currently getting the advantage of it now so I have no idea how big of a deal it really is).

[SurfD]

So, this is what I currently have chosen for my new build:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: *Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($249.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: *Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: *Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory: *G.Skill TridentZ Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: *Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: *Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($122.99 @ Newegg)
Case: *Corsair Carbide Clear 600C ATX Mid Tower Case  ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: *EVGA SuperNOVA P2 850W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1032.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-13 02:41 EDT-0400

Anyone have any  suggestions  / critique?   Yes, I did not select a video card, as I figure I will  slap my current old one into this thing, and wait a few months to see what new stuff comes down the pipe.

Also, being as it has been a longass time since I bought a computer, and damn near everything has gone Mail Order Only, anyone from the Toronto or just Ontario area in general have any reccomendations for a good Online Retailor?  Is Newegg good or is there someone else I should be looking at?   I would prefer to try to get everything from one stop, so as to avoid hassle if something  needs to be returned.

[KallDrexx]

Are you actually going to overclock your CPU?  My understanding is that you are paying a premium for the K processors just for the ability to overclock (and newer CPUs aren't great overclockers from what I've read)? 

If you are planning to do a lot of virtualization and whatnot (I'm assuming that's why you want so much memory, otherwise... why do you need 32gb instead of 16) then the K CPUs usually don't have the full virtualization features in them and you might be able to pay the same price for a CPU with more features but not OC-able.

[schild]

So, this is what I currently have chosen for my new build:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: *Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($249.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: *Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: *Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory: *G.Skill TridentZ Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: *Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: *Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($122.99 @ Newegg)
Case: *Corsair Carbide Clear 600C ATX Mid Tower Case  ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: *EVGA SuperNOVA P2 850W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1032.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-13 02:41 EDT-0400

Anyone have any  suggestions  / critique?   Yes, I did not select a video card, as I figure I will  slap my current old one into this thing, and wait a few months to see what new stuff comes down the pipe.

Also, being as it has been a longass time since I bought a computer, and damn near everything has gone Mail Order Only, anyone from the Toronto or just Ontario area in general have any reccomendations for a good Online Retailor?  Is Newegg good or is there someone else I should be looking at?   I would prefer to try to get everything from one stop, so as to avoid hassle if something  needs to be returned.

We're past the new stuff threshold on cards unless you want to hold out a tiny bit for a 1060.

I'd highly recommend getting a Samsung 950 Pro M.2 given your mobo (the exact same mobo I have). It's an insane fucking hard drive.

[schild]

Also, yes, Newegg. Unless you're being hilariously stingy.

Edit: Though, I bought nearly this same PC (swap the 6600 for a 6700) by walking into Fry's and walking out with a shopping cart.

[Lucas]

So, for the last month and half I've been using a new monitor, the DELL S2716DG. 

I opted for that after I heard bad manifacturing  stories about the Acer and the higher price tag of the Asus. The Dell it's an (I think) affordable  27" monitor, 144hz with G-Sync technology. Panel is traditional TN.

I'm really liking it and boy, you can tell the difference from a traditional 1080p60hz, just by looking at the mouse cursor on the desktop. G-sync technology is a nice plus and it's noticeable on titles like Witcher 3 (just be sure to turn V-sync off and put unlimited frames on; technology will do the rest. Yay technology!).

I must say that my 1 year old 970 is holding up well with the upgraded resolution (probably also thanks to the fact that I don't need V-sync and only a 2X MSAA when I feel like it),  although I'll likely pass it to my father toward the end of the year when I'll decide between a (by then) cheaper GTX 980ti, the 1080 or even the 1080ti (in any case, I would also like to upgrade my current 500w PSU ). First world problems.

[SurfD]

Are you actually going to overclock your CPU?  My understanding is that you are paying a premium for the K processors just for the ability to overclock (and newer CPUs aren't great overclockers from what I've read)?  

If you are planning to do a lot of virtualization and whatnot (I'm assuming that's why you want so much memory, otherwise... why do you need 32gb instead of 16) then the K CPUs usually don't have the full virtualization features in them and you might be able to pay the same price for a CPU with more features but not OC-able.

My overall goal is to put this thing together, and then not have to touch it for another 4 years or so other then maybe upgrading the video card or adding a new harddrive.  Sort of like what I have done with my current one.   Sure. I could probably drop down to 16 gig of ram, but if I am getting a new PC now, I  figure if the price difference is not too great, why not just pay the extra couple of nights out at mcdonalds and go whole hog.

Chances are, I prob will end up overclocking the CPU, though nothing extreme.

Schild, Do you think the 6700 would be worth the upgrade?  I was considering it, However the I7 6700k is about 140 bucks canadian more then the I5 6600k,  and I dont know if i really need to go that much more cutting edge.   Also,  as much as I would love to get a 950 pro, the 500gig 950pro is over twice the cost of the 850 pro at the moment (according to newegg), which is a bit rich for me.

[SurfD]

Well, discovered that there is a brick and mortar store fairly close to where I live that, according to their website, carrys every single item i am looking for except the ram I wanted.  Lots of options in the lower clock speed ranges, which requires me to now ask:  Would I be losing out on noticable performance if I drop down from 3000mhz speeds to 26 or 24s?  The other option is that they do carry 32 gig kits in the 2x16 configuration instead of 4x8, but I had opted for the 4x8 setup as I am given to understand from the limited amount of research I managed to do that currently the smaller sticks are likely to be a little bit more stable then the larger ones, and also might preform slightly better as you are using all 4 ram slots as opposed to just 2

Edit:  You know, on further consideration, 32 gig is almost definately overkill,  so I think I will look at the 4x4 16gig kits.  still wondering what mhz will get me the best performance?  Go for 30 or 32, or just look for a nice price to mhz ratio and say screw it?  Dont reallly have the patience to  try to dig through dozens of different review sites to wrap my head around that one.

Edit 2: Browsing around throwing shit into google seems to tell me that lower mhz numbers are more stable out of the box, with the sweet spot being around the 2666 / 2800 range.  Several different reviews / comments had people complaining about stability issues witth 3000 mhz and over kits.  Too many fucking choices, lol.

Edit some more:  Found this fairly nice review Which seems to indicate that there is practically no noticable benefit in going above 2666, so looks like that will likely be what I go for depending on what they have in stock at the store.  Also, they tested  with an Asus z170 a board, which brought to my attention that it is dual channel and not quad memory, so would a 2x8 stick kit be preferable to a 4x4 stick kit? Or does it not really matter?

Edit again: Blast.  A quick browse of the website for the store near me seems to  indicate that a huge amount of their ram selection is "special order" for instore purchases only, so if i do end up going there to buy my shit, they might have very limited selection of ram on hand unless i want to wait for an order to come in.