OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

[Macca00]

Gentlemen,

To reference a PK-ism, I've managed to extricate my balls from my wife's purse long enough to negotiate the purchase of a new PC. My old PC is 5 years old - I'm running a crappy GTX 660 and in the past 12 months pretty much play new games on the new consoles.

I have a few questions and wanted some suggestions about a new PC.

I'm looking to spend around $3000 - BUT that's $3000 Canadian funny money which doesn't get as much as USDs. For 3K I'm looking at the following set-up (assembled):

1 x ASUS DRW-24F1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer Black
1 x Seagate Barracuda 4TB 5900RPM SATA3 64MB Cache 3.5in Internal Hard Disk Drive
1 x Corsair Force Series LE 480GB SATA 3 6GB/S SSD
1 x Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64Bit English DVD OEM
1 x Corsair Carbide Series 200R Window Black Gaming Case ATX 3X5.25 4X3.5 Front USB3.0
1 x Corsair CS850M CS Modular 80 Plus GOLD-RATE 850W 12V Power Supply
1 x ASUS GeForce GTX 980 Ti Strix 1075MHZ 6GB 7.01GHZ GDDR5 DVI HDMI 3xDisplayPort PCI-E
1 x ASUS X99-A Motherboard
1 x Corsair Vengeance Lpx 32GB 4X8GB DDR4-2666MHZ C16 1.2V Memory Kit
1 x Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H60 CPU Cooler System
1 x Intel Core I7-5930K 3.70GHZ Six Core 15MB Hyperthreading LGA2011-V3 Processor

(I know I could save a crap-load if I made the thing myself but then I might as well take 3K and set it on fire because I'm useless at anything more than installing a video card. )

A few questions;

i. Anything I'm missing?
ii. Is there anything (tech-wise) that's a game changer coming down the pipeline that I may want to wait a few months for? I'm out of the loop.
iii. Is buying a G-Sync monitor worth it, or should I use the money to get 2 SLI'd (regular) 980s?

Thanks!

[Rodster]

Gentlemen,

To reference a PK-ism, I've managed to extricate my balls from my wife's purse long enough to negotiate the purchase of a new PC. My old PC is 5 years old - I'm running a crappy GTX 660 and in the past 12 months pretty much play new games on the new consoles.

I have a few questions and wanted some suggestions about a new PC.

I'm looking to spend around $3000 - BUT that's $3000 Canadian funny money which doesn't get as much as USDs. For 3K I'm looking at the following set-up (assembled):

1 x ASUS DRW-24F1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer Black
1 x Seagate Barracuda 4TB 5900RPM SATA3 64MB Cache 3.5in Internal Hard Disk Drive
1 x Corsair Force Series LE 480GB SATA 3 6GB/S SSD
1 x Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64Bit English DVD OEM
1 x Corsair Carbide Series 200R Window Black Gaming Case ATX 3X5.25 4X3.5 Front USB3.0
1 x Corsair CS850M CS Modular 80 Plus GOLD-RATE 850W 12V Power Supply
1 x ASUS GeForce GTX 980 Ti Strix 1075MHZ 6GB 7.01GHZ GDDR5 DVI HDMI 3xDisplayPort PCI-E
1 x ASUS X99-A Motherboard
1 x Corsair Vengeance Lpx 32GB 4X8GB DDR4-2666MHZ C16 1.2V Memory Kit
1 x Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H60 CPU Cooler System
1 x Intel Core I7-5930K 3.70GHZ Six Core 15MB Hyperthreading LGA2011-V3 Processor

(I know I could save a crap-load if I made the thing myself but then I might as well take 3K and set it on fire because I'm useless at anything more than installing a video card. )

A few questions;

i. Anything I'm missing?
ii. Is there anything (tech-wise) that's a game changer coming down the pipeline that I may want to wait a few months for? I'm out of the loop.
iii. Is buying a G-Sync monitor worth it, or should I use the money to get 2 SLI'd (regular) 980s?

Thanks!

Stay the hell away from SLI, not worth the headaches. Everything else looks good. I would add an XONE wireless receiver http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Xbox-Wi ... s+receiver

As far as monitor goes, i'd use your HDTV or a 4K HDTV.

[dbdynsty25]

32gb of ram is way overkill too. 16gb is plenty.

And yeah SLI is the devil. Buy the best single nVidia card you can afford (I'm not on the AMD bandwagon anymore).

[TCrouch]

I'll third the notion to stay away from SLI. I just pulled out the two GTX 970s in my rig this past weekend and inserted a Titan X. Whale of a difference. Faster card, 4K resolution with no issues, no flickering in games I've always had texture flickering problems with.

And you won't notice the 32GB of RAM. I know this, because I did the same thing. I run 32GB and couldn't tell the difference between a 16GB system I had before, as far as load times and applications you'd assume would run faster.

The G-Sync monitor is pretty insane. I've run the Asus ROG Swift for about a year or so, and it is a MASSIVE difference from anything else I ran. Now, is that because it's 144Hz and I only ran 60Hz monitors before, or because of the G-Sync? That, I cannot answer. I don't know. But I know that turning off V-Sync in every game I run allows things to run butter-smooth at 100+ FPS if I'm running it in 1920x1080 or 2560x1440. I don't have to worry about getting frames that high in 4K (3840x2160), so I run a different monitor for that.

As far as I know, most games won't use the extra cores from that CPU, either. And depending on how new it is, be careful. I've had issues where I purchased a CPU that was SO new, there was technically no motherboard that supported it. Even though the MoBo I bought was listed as compatible--it wasn't. The OS would load, everything seemed alright, but there was a stuttering when the CPU would 'max out' repeatedly. It was bizarre. Then again, that was with an AMD chip that was a massive power hog, so with an i7 you're probably alright there.

Depending on what resolution you'll be running in, the 980 Ti is absolutely flawless. If you're planning on running 4K, you'd have to move up to a Titan X. If you're going to run in 1920x1080, that rig is pretty much overkill, but considering your last one is 5 years old, you'll be good for another few years at least.

[Danimal]

Terry did you buy the Asus G-sync monitor?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

I'm in line for a new monitor but $800 is steep for a monitor not sure with my 980 card if it's worth it.

[dbdynsty25]

Terry did you buy the Asus G-sync monitor?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

I'm in line for a new monitor but $800 is steep for a monitor not sure with my 980 card if it's worth it.

In short. It's worth it. I wanted one so bad back last November when I bought my BenQ, but the wait was a few months and since I don't do a TON of gaming on my computer, I decided to save the extra 2-3 hundred. If you're looking for a monitor for gaming mostly, it's worth it. I'm quite jealous.

[TCrouch]

I bought this one (that link sent me to a general deals page on newegg, not sure if it's a login thing or what):

http://www.amazon.com/Asus-PG278Q-27-In ... B00MSOND8C

It had a slight flicker issue in the upper right corner that bugged me. Could have been a bad DisplayPort cable, don't know. Never got too deep into troubleshooting it, so it didn't bug me TOO much, obviously.

But I thought it was an amazing piece of tech. I was coming from 60Hz displays, though, and for the longest time I was using three 40" Toshiba LED TVs. They were awesome at the time thin bezels, etc., but moving to a 1440p 144Hz display was a massive difference.

I know you've got a good rig, so you'd probably get more benefit than you'd think out of a monitor like that. But the question of whether the $700 or $800 version is much better than a smaller 120Hz or 144Hz monitor is one I don't know the answer to.

When it comes to PC parts, I figured out a long time ago that when I settle due to price, at some point I'll wish I didn't. So I either upgrade on a much faster timetable, or I spend more money for the good tech when it comes out and upgrade slower. That monitor in particular was one where I chased and chased until I got it (took about 6 months of refreshing the 'Now in stock' tracker to get a hold of one), and I didn't regret it at all.

[Danimal]

Right now I'm running dual monitor, one is a Samsung which is nice at 1900 x 1200 but it's starting to have some display issues. The other is an old deal like 20 inch or something. I want to replace the main monitor and keep the other 2 and run a 3 monitor set up. I really only use 3 monitors when working or doing video editing. I really don't have may games that use multiple monitors. So I want the main monitor for gaming purposes. That is the same one that is on the new egg site BTW.

Wife keeps asking what I want for Christmas I was telling her some nice blue tooth wireless head phones for listening to music but maybe this will replace that.

Thanks to both of you for the input.

[TCrouch]

Well, I just ordered this today (long story), so I'll be able to see the differences between the IPS and TN panels on 144Hz G-Sync monitors:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UPV ... ailpages00

PC Gamer rated this as their #1 gaming monitor, and the Asus ROG Swift I had as #2, so it can't be all bad, I guess.

And since my son has my Asus monitor (since he NEEDS his 150FPS in CounterStrike!), I was in the market again.

[dbdynsty25]

Wife keeps asking what I want for Christmas I was telling her some nice blue tooth wireless head phones for listening to music but maybe this will replace that.

You know I've tried all of the bluetooth wireless headphones too right? LOL.

Get these:

http://v-moda.com/crossfade-wireless/

Along with these:

http://v-moda.com/xl-memory-cushions/

And you'll be in heaven. Ridiculously good.

[Macca00]

Gentlemen,

Thank you very much for your much valued input! Will nix any notion of SLI and really appreciate the heads up about the RAM!

Thanks guys.

L

[DChaps]

I am in grave need of an upgrade to my aging racing sim PC.

I would like to be able to play iracing, Dirt Rally, rfactor 2, project cars, and assetto corsa on 3 screens. I would also like to be able to use Steam Link and play my Xbox One on my PC, and be prepared for the Oculus Rift commerical version. Sadly I don't have enough time for gaming to warrant this upgrade. I am also too lazy to do all the research I used to do and put a machine together myself. Anyway, the Amazon deal below seemed pretty good for pre-built machines and ASUS is has been a brand I have trusted in the past. Thoughts on if this would give me what I am looking for and if it is a decent trade off for price vs convenience of not having to piece it together myself? Thanks!

ASUS G11CD-US006T Core i7 Gaming Desktop with Nvidia GTX980

$1,699.00 & FREE Shipping

-Latest 6th generation Intel Core i7-6700 3.4 GHz processor
-Fast performance with 16GB DDR4 memory and large 2TB HDD(8GB SSD Hybrid) and 256Gb SSD for extra storage needs
-Immerse yourself in astounding visuals with NVIDIA GTX 980 GPU
-802.11 AC with Bluetooth 4.0 for faster web browsing
-Enrich your life with the latest Windows 10 OS

OS: Windows 10 64-bit
CPU: Intel Core i7-6700
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX980 (1HDMI,1DVI,3DP)
Memory: DDR4 2133MHz 16GB
Storage: 2TB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) + 256GB SATA SSD
Optical Drive: Blu-Ray Disc Combo
Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 ac

http://www.amazon.com/G11CD-US006T-Gami ... YRGC0XPXND

[MizzouRah]

Installed my 750W power supply and Asus GTX 970 video card today. Took a bit of time getting that power supply in and getting the cables all nicely routed.

Card is great so far! Played Anno 2205 on ultra settings.

Had an issue with no video after W10 would load.. after a few reboots, it worked. The issue was not installing the NVIDIA drivers before installing the card, I uninstalled them prior to replacement, but it's best to keep them installed I'm guessing. Windows installed drivers on its own, then I could install NVIDIA Experience.

[Danimal]

Terry, DB

What do you think of this 4K monitor?

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Monitor-P271 ... 2741770316

[TCrouch]

For what purpose? Gaming, or general use? I'm not sure what your rig is like, but I constantly debate running in 4K at struggling frames and turning down quality, or WQHD at blistering frames on a 144Hz display. I choose the latter, more often than not.

If you're looking to use it as a general use display, then it's tough to say without looking at the physical monitor or knowing what panel it uses. It's so subjective--some guys like darker colors and clearer saturation, others like the crisp visuals of a different panel (sort of like the "washed out" TN panel vs. crisper IPS panel in the 144Hz monitors I have). The response time on monitors in that price range at 4K aren't going to be what you'd be using to game with, though. That monitor seems to review well, but from what I see, it's a 9ms response, which means you're not going to be playing much on it without feeling the input delay.

And personally, even with an i7-4930K processor (a little older now, but no slouch), 32GB of RAM, and a 12GB GTX Titan X, I'm still turning stuff down to run smoothly in 4K on most games. "Smoothly" being 50 to 60fps, of course, but then you get into vsync issues and screen tearing--and in 4K, you notice that stuff in a BIG way. So a lower response time panel, depending on your hardware in your PC, could be asking for trouble. And I'm only doing 4K on a TV, which wasn't really designed for PC gaming, too. I use this:

Samsung 55" Curved UHD Display

But when I do that, I'm generally sitting a bit back from it, and using a controller...and it's comparable to console performance at a higher resolution. But I can't go full 4K blazing frames without a second Titan, which I'm not going to do. Even I'm not THAT crazy...

Plus, I just bought a house, so I've got to chill on the tech spending for a few years. Until I figure out some other way to have a new income funnel for the slush fund

But if you're just talking about having more screen space for editing your site or writing things, it seems sharp and at a good price point. If you're looking at gaming, I'd still go with a 1440p display at either 120 or 144Hz.

[Danimal]

While I do game on my computer a lot, the main purpose is to replace my failing 27 inch Samsung. I seldom run games at full settings anymore and I've had to revert from my 1900 x 1280 mode because my eyes are getting worse and it's harder to see things on UI.

I'm going to give it a shot, the others are on sale as well but $200 is enough of a price difference for things I likely won't even notice. As you said it reviews well, I spent an hour looking for a bad review and they all pretty much said it's a solid monitor for gaming and general use. Other are slightly better.

I'll let you guys know if it was worth it.

[TCrouch]

Installed my 750W power supply and Asus GTX 970 video card today. Took a bit of time getting that power supply in and getting the cables all nicely routed.

Card is great so far! Played Anno 2205 on ultra settings.

That's good to hear, Mizz. The 970 should work very well for you, and most games now and for the next year or so should have no issues doing Ultra with 1920x1080 resolution. And by the time it's getting older in a couple of years, a 980Ti will be cheaper, so it should be a quick and easy swap.

[TCrouch]

While I do game on my computer a lot, the main purpose is to replace my failing 27 inch Samsung. I seldom run games at full settings anymore and I've had to revert from my 1900 x 1280 mode because my eyes are getting worse and it's harder to see things on UI.

I'm going to give it a shot, the others are on sale as well but $200 is enough of a price difference for things I likely won't even notice. As you said it reviews well, I spent an hour looking for a bad review and they all pretty much said it's a solid monitor for gaming and general use. Other are slightly better.

I'll let you guys know if it was worth it.

Yeah, that's the thing...my definition of "acceptable" is probably skewed compared to most people. A buddy who knows me probably better than anybody on this Earth other than my wife said this image cracked him up for about 20 minutes because all he could think of was me:

[dbdynsty25]

4K PC gaming isn't worth it to me. It's going to be years before 2560x1440 at ridiculous framerates isn't acceptable to me. LOL. So I say skip 4K as a computer monitor.

[Danimal]

Well my wife was the voice of reason so I canceled the Dell and went with the more expensive Acer. She said if you're spending that much, what's another $200. Love my wife so should arrive by Monday and I have all next week off.

[TCrouch]

The Acer Predator? Which Acer?

That one that I ordered a couple of weeks ago is beastly. I like it better than the Asus ROG Swift I had. The colors are so much deeper...the only thing I'm not sure of is the G-Sync tech. I never saw a single 'shimmer' or screen tear on the ROG Swift, but I've seen a few on Fallout 4 on the Acer. But then again, it could just be Fallout's wonky ass engine.

And yeah...your wife is a prophet. When it comes to PC parts, if at all possible, never settle. Stuff just moves too quickly, if you settle, in 3 months you'll wish you hadn't. And when it comes to 4K, like Scott said, you have to be at the very edge of the "cutting edge" of technology to get any benefit out of it. I can't really afford a rig that has multiple Titans or 980Tis in it, and I wanted to get AWAY from the SLI headaches that I've had for years.

1440p 144Hz is where I'll be for several years. It's still ridiculously good looking, even on a 27" display. I'm sure 4K on a 27" display would be maddeningly pretty, but I need good performance, too. I'd wonder what the people who considered it a "solid gaming monitor" were used to getting, as far as frame rates and what games they played.

I think you made the right choice, just don't know which Acer you got

[Danimal]

I went with the Acer XB270HU bprz 27-inch WQHD NVIDIA G-SYNC.

The Amazon reviews scared me off a little bit but I always take those with a grain of salt. The reviews on sites were really good. I'm just counting on if there are any issues being a Prime member will let Amazon take care of them.

Hopefully I made the right choice, those Amazon reviews claim a lot of ghosting is going on.

[TCrouch]

That's exactly what I have, and I haven't seen a single ghosting issue anywhere. The menu was a bit funky to get used to, but it's been a crisp, clean image in everything I play. I haven't had a complaint about it yet, whereas with my Swift I was noticing that flicker in the upper right section of the screen after a couple of weeks.

The Amazon reviews scared me, too, but PC Gamer generally hasn't steered me wrong yet when it comes to their recommendations (sounds lame, I know, but it's true). Whoever does their 'recommended' stuff and I have very similar opinions. The stuff I use is mostly in the top 2 or 3 of any given "list" they have, whether that's Mice, Keyboards, Monitors, Video cards, you name it.

And that monitor was their #1 as recently as a month ago, I think.

[Danimal]

Well here is hoping it comes and is flawless. I'll stop reading the amazon reviews now

[MizzouRah]

That's good to hear, Mizz. The 970 should work very well for you, and most games now and for the next year or so should have no issues doing Ultra with 1920x1080 resolution. And by the time it's getting older in a couple of years, a 980Ti will be cheaper, so it should be a quick and easy swap.

Thanks! Can't wait to see Ashes of the Singularity once I get it. Card is super quiet too.