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[opticalmace]

I've got a question. So my laptop is getting on in years but has been doing fine so far, but just now my music (which is located on my HDD) started doing that stuttering thing where it kind of freezes for a second, and one of the times after it did that, I got a BSOD.
This sounds like a HDD issue, right? Could it be anything other than an HDD issue?
I downloaded CrystalDiskInfo and it says my HDD health is "Good," but I'm skeptical.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
If I can confirm that it's my HDD, I'm going to just replace it with a 500GB Samsung SSD.

Check the cpu temp, might be overheating if there's dust build-up. Also try running memtest86+ to exclude your ram having a problem.

Could be HDD though, true.

 

[Confrontation]

Hey guys. For skylake, does higher speeds memory really matter that much? Considering the fact that I don't do any content creation.

I've been told that it can make a pretty decent difference. That's why I went with the 3200MHz DDR4 ram. Not that much more expensive, but I guess it should be ready to roll with Skylake.

 

[Kipp]

Check the cpu temp, might be overheating if there's dust build-up. Also try running memtest86+ to exclude your ram having a problem.

Could be HDD though, true.

Thank you for the advice, will do!

 

[SleazyC]

I've got a question. So my laptop is getting on in years but has been doing fine so far, but just now my music (which is located on my HDD) started doing that stuttering thing where it kind of freezes for a second, and one of the times after it did that, I got a BSOD.
This sounds like a HDD issue, right? Could it be anything other than an HDD issue?
I downloaded CrystalDiskInfo and it says my HDD health is "Good," but I'm skeptical.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
If I can confirm that it's my HDD, I'm going to just replace it with a 500GB Samsung SSD.

Is the OS located on the same HDD or is on a different HDD/SSD?

If you disable restart after crash you can also look up BSOD codes which can sometimes help you get some sort of general idea what might be going on.

 

[Ettie]

So, I'm looking for a cheap, new, gtx 970. Newegg has the gigabyte windforce model for 319 with a 30 dollar rebate. I noticed right before I pulled the trigger that there's been a string of bad reviews. Isn't this a good card generally?

http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=14-125-685

 

[Kayant]

May I ask - why is the BX100 recommended and not the 850 evo?

Strictly because of the 840 firmware issue or is there something else?

+ Cheaper(without degrade in quality) and am guessing no big differences in real world usage.

 

[opticalmace]

So, I'm looking for a cheap, new, gtx 970. Newegg has the gigabyte windforce model for 319 with a 30 dollar rebate. I noticed right before I pulled the trigger that there's been a string of bad reviews. Isn't this a good card generally?

http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=14-125-685

Not sure about this windforce model (might be a great card) but the G1 Gaming version is considered one of the best 970s.

 

[Kipp]

Is the OS located on the same HDD or is on a different HDD/SSD?

If you disable restart after crash you can also look up BSOD codes which can sometimes help you get some sort of general idea what might be going on.

It's on the same HDD.

And thanks, I should probably do that. I've just become too frustrated in the past with trying to diagnose BSODs with the BSOD codes. I usually google them to find something along the lines of "This is usually caused by either RAM, CPU, or HDD problems" or something similarly vague. It's worth a shot though.

 

[Jag]

So, I'm looking for a cheap, new, gtx 970. Newegg has the gigabyte windforce model for 319 with a 30 dollar rebate. I noticed right before I pulled the trigger that there's been a string of bad reviews. Isn't this a good card generally?

http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=14-125-685

I'm also in the market for a 970, but I'm keeping an eye on the EVGA 970 SSC and the MSI 970 Gaming 4G.

 

[Foxyone]

On the topic of HBM from earlier, apparently someone managed to tweak their Fury GPU to the point that they unlocked the full 4096 cores on it, then they proceeded to use LN2 for cooling while they overclocked the core to 1400 MHz and the HBM1 from 500MHZ to 1GHz (hitting 1Tb/s of bandwidth).

http://forum.hwbot.org/showthread.php?t=142320

 

[LilJoka]

Thank you for the advice, will do!

Find your HDD SMART Statistics and post them here.

 

[JoeyJungle]

I'd really appreciate someone verifying I'm not a moron before I buy this. Jet.com has a GTX 980 Ti ACX 2.0+ listed for $623.03, after their discount, a coupon + 1.5% discount for using Mastercard debit card it comes down to $590.18. That's a good price right? Am I going to find a better deal any time soon? Is there anything wrong with these cards?

 

[Kipp]

Find your HDD SMART Statistics and post them here.

What's the best way to do this?

 

[Crawl]

Their upcoming Pascal cards will use it. It's slated for Q1 next year, but most people are acting like Q2 or later is more likely at this rate unfortunately.

I'm not too knowledgeable on the architecture of these things so I'm not sure if all Pascal cards will be HBM2 cause I know it requires new or different architecture, but I'm sure they'll still have some newer-ish GDDR5 cards as well since HBM2 will not be cheap.

We're also get the first die shrink in like 4 years as well with these new cards. Going from 28nm to 14nm. So that should also offer up a lot of improvements on top of the new memory scheme.

If I have a 2500k hopefully it wont bottle neck pascal cards too bad?

 

[LilJoka]

What's the best way to do this?

The free trial of HDtune iwll give the stats in Health tab,

 

[ILoveBish]

Had to go get a evo 212 because skylake doesn't come with a fan! I was planning on getting the fan anyway, but not out of the gate. Oh well, my 6600k is out for delivery. I am seriously considering sticking to 8.1, is there really any solid reason to use Windows 10?

 

[Rebel Leader]

New MB is coming in today

Do I really have to do a clean install? I have nothing to back up the hdd with and no need to there's nothing important on it

 

[Complex Shadow]

I've been told that it can make a pretty decent difference. That's why I went with the 3200MHz DDR4 ram. Not that much more expensive, but I guess it should be ready to roll with Skylake.

I'll probably upgrade within a year around the time I'll be looking to make a cheap amd streaming build.

 

[opticalmace]

If I have a 2500k hopefully it wont bottle neck pascal cards too bad?

It'll be fine, as long as you're not going top end SLI. What OC are you running?

 

[JoeyJungle]

Had to go get a evo 212 because skylake doesn't come with a fan! I was planning on getting the fan anyway, but not out of the gate. Oh well, my 6600k is out for delivery. I am seriously considering sticking to 8.1, is there really any solid reason to use Windows 10?

DirectX 12 eventually, though no games use that yet. Aside from DX12 there's not really any performance gains in Windows 10, but I greatly prefer the how the ideas from Windows 8.1 are implemented in Windows 10. You can snap to corners to have windows take up a quarter of the screen, the start menu isn't dumb anymore, and apps from the window store act like an ordinary window on your main desktop instead of that weird separate desktop thing that Widnows 8 has.

That's damn good.

AHHHH I'm buying it! Thanks!

 

[Shadowhaxor]

I'd really appreciate someone verifying I'm not a moron before I buy this. Jet.com has a GTX 980 Ti ACX 2.0+ listed for $623.03, after their discount, a coupon + 1.5% discount for using Mastercard debit card it comes down to $590.18. That's a good price right? Am I going to find a better deal any time soon? Is there anything wrong with these cards?

That's damn good.

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

Had to go get a evo 212 because skylake doesn't come with a fan! I was planning on getting the fan anyway, but not out of the gate. Oh well, my 6600k is out for delivery. I am seriously considering sticking to 8.1, is there really any solid reason to use Windows 10?

DX12. No games that use it yet so you could stick with 8.1 for now.

 

[paskowitz]

New MB is coming in today

Do I really have to do a clean install? I have nothing to back up the hdd with and no need to there's nothing important on it

When I got my new mobo, I didn't wipe anything and it worked for a while. Then I started running into weird glitches and decided to wipe. Much easier to do it sooner rather than find out later.

 

[Zel3]

Skylake-E was originally scheduled to launch Q3 2016, but new reports say it is being pushed to Q1 2017 to allow some time for Broadwell-E.

Damn, what do you think I should do? Will Skylake-E be much better than X99?

 

[Kayant]

Thanks for the suggestions earlier LilJoka and SleazyC without going to the extend of switching to mini-itx I found these these two with further research -

Raijintek Aeneas
Aerocool DS Cube

Any reasons not to get either?

 

[LilJoka]

Damn, what do you think I should do? Will Skylake-E be much better than X99?

If Skylake-E releases in 2017, we itll be a gen behind the mainstream. In which case if single threaded performance is still the main factor, it will not be a smart purchase when the latest mainstream chip will again be 10% quicker clock for clock.

X99 is perfectly capable in lasting out 4 years i think.

Thanks for the suggestions earlier LilJoka and SleazyC without going to the extend of switching to mini-itx I found these these two with further research -

Raijintek Aeneas
Aerocool DS Cube

Any reasons not to get either?

IMO not so great aesthetically, look at the Silverstone TJ08E or Fractal design mini R2.

 

[Zel3]

If Skylake-E releases in 2017, we itll be a gen behind the mainstream. In which case if single threaded performance is still the main factor, it will not be a smart purchase when the latest mainstream chip will again be 10% quicker clock for clock.

X99 is perfectly capable in lasting out 4 years i think.

Considering how long X58 lasted me.. maybe I should go X99 and I can skip Skylake-E.

 

[Fxp]

What do you guys think about Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 OC Mini-ITX? I can't fit regular 970 into my case and fps difference is really small.

 

[LilJoka]

Considering how long X58 lasted me.. maybe I should go X99 and I can skip Skylake-E.

Thing is, i see Skylake also lasting as long as X99, problem is cant resists those 6 cores on 5820K vs Skylakes offerings when the prices are nearly identical overall.

 

[Kayant]

If Skylake-E releases in 2017, we itll be a gen behind the mainstream. In which case if single threaded performance is still the main factor, it will not be a smart purchase when the latest mainstream chip will again be 10% quicker clock for clock.

X99 is perfectly capable in lasting out 4 years i think.



IMO not so great aesthetically, look at the Silverstone TJ08E or Fractal design mini R2.

I have the mini R2

If there are no reasons in terms of build quality then I think I will go for one of these two.

 

[Evo X]

Considering how long X58 lasted me.. maybe I should go X99 and I can skip Skylake-E.

Yes, this is the right move.

Considering the small gains Skylake has over Devil's Canyon, I'd suspect that Skylake-E will barely be better than Haswell-E.

I'd say get X99 now and be happy. It will last you a while.

 

[Izayoi]

Apparently Amazon had my monitors and case in a local warehouse, now I get to stare at them all weekend while I wait for everything else.

 

[Enduin]

Now we play the obsessively watch the UPS tracker game.

Also why are gaming peripherals and equipment so gaudy? Like it's the in home version of custom street cars with neon lights, random fins and other weird shit.

My Corsair Vengeance K70 keyboard looks really nice and I'm sure I'll love it, but bright red LEDs? Really? And there's not normal ass white version. I'd have to spend an extra like 40-50 bucks to get the RGB edition for that.

I was so happy to find just a nice, plain, black box for my computer case.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

is there an update on smaller/console style PC builds? i see the one in the OP but thats from about a year ago.

 

[LilJoka]

I have the mini R2

If there are no reasons in terms of build quality then I think I will go for one of these two.

It'll be a downgrade imo, not sure why you would do it.

 

[JoeyJungle]

Now we play the obsessively watch the UPS tracker game.

Also why are gaming peripherals and equipment so gaudy? Like it's the in home version of custom street cars with neon lights, random fins and other weird shit.

My Corsair Vengeance K70 keyboard looks really nice and I'm sure I'll love it, but bright red LEDs? Really? And there's not normal ass white version. I'd have to spend an extra like 40-50 bucks to get the RGB edition for that.

I was so happy to find just a nice, plain, black box for my computer case.

I don't know why, but a lot of PC gamers think it's cool for their setup to look like a Geocities page.

 

[kennah]

Damn, what do you think I should do? Will Skylake-E be much better than X99?

It will be approximately 18 months better.

is there an update on smaller/console style PC builds? i see the one in the OP but thats from about a year ago.

What did you have in mind? Many itx z170 boards haven't been released yet.

 

[opticalmace]

Now we play the obsessively watch the UPS tracker game.

Also why are gaming peripherals and equipment so gaudy? Like it's the in home version of custom street cars with neon lights, random fins and other weird shit.

My Corsair Vengeance K70 keyboard looks really nice and I'm sure I'll love it, but bright red LEDs? Really? And there's not normal ass white version. I'd have to spend an extra like 40-50 bucks to get the RGB edition for that.

I was so happy to find just a nice, plain, black box for my computer case.

Agreed. If it helps though, you can turn down the backlight level on the k70. There's a button, I think in the upper right.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

It will be approximately 18 months better.

What did you have in mind? Many itx z170 boards haven't been released yet.

just wanted to put together one for my entertainment center. maybe in the ballpark of an xbox 360 size (could probably fit a little bit bigger but not much). maybe i'll wait for these itx z170 boards to come out

 

[Dash Kappei]

RECAP:

*I game at 1080p/60*

Hey guys, I'd love a new GPU to replace my HD5850 1GB and hopefully it'd last me a whole gen like the 5850 did, gaming at 1080p/60. Is that possible? Should I wait? Considering I paid €250 back then for my 5850 I decided to put away a
Budget of 300€

Is my current PC build too old to just add a new gpu? I can still max almost any last gen games at 1080/60 (no AA/2xSMAA).

Current pc:
Case THERMALTAKE DH101
CORSAIR 650 Watt TX Series
Cpu INTEL Core i5 750 Quad Core 2,66ghz (oc to 3,4Ghz)
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 socket LGA 1156 chipset Intel P55 ATX
Ram CORSAIR XMS3 4 Gb <2x2Gb> ddr3 Dual Channel 1333 Mhz CL 9-9-9-24
Gpu SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5850 1 Gb

That's exactly my old, old build.

I still use it as a second pc, and I've put in it my old 6gb Titan. Performs pretty well.

I'd say look for a gtx 970. And maybe new ram. You should be able to play modern games pretty well.

I can maybe test some games in my rig if you want, since it almost exactly replicates it (except for the Titan, which performs similarly - maybe something worse - to a 970; no OC here too).

I need some time though as I don't have games installed there yet. Feel free to suggest some titles

970 is the way to go until you get enough to upgrade the rest of your system. OC your CPU if you haven't.

All right! But what about the debacle of the 3.5 + 0.5 VRAM which would throttle the vram iirc? Fixed?

Also do I need to replace my ram or just add another 2 or 4GB stick?
I currently have 2x2GB (4GB total) of CORSAIR XMS3 4 Gb <2x2Gb> ddr3 Dual Channel 1333 Mhz CL 9-9-9-24, what's the impact I'm looking at on games?

As I've written already, yes CPU is overclocked at 3.4GHz, super stable.

Thanks!

 

[Flandy]

Click on "open resource monitor", go to the memory column and then sort by "working set" column to see what's using up most of the memory. resource manager shows all processes and hidden background services that are running. It's possible there may be spyware using up your memory so try using another anti-virus scanner besides avast, such as "eset online scanner."

Ran the scan. It found a handful of things but it doesn't seem to have done anything.
Here's an updated graph
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5737/20359315539_5c4c5d330c_o.png

Some more info. I had a memory leak issue back in June as well when I was on Windows 8.1 I wasn't able to figure out what the issue was so I ended up reinstalling Windows 8.1 The issue went away for a while and I upgraded to Windows 10 less than a week ago. I only just noticed the issue was back yesterday.
My rig if it matters
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GHpcrH

Oh and when I booted up my PC today it was already at 6GB of Ram usage within a minute of me getting to the home screen

 

[opticalmace]

RECAP:

*I game at 1080p/60*

Hey guys, I'd love a new GPU to replace my HD5850 1GB and hopefully it'd last me a whole gen like the 5850 did, gaming at 1080p/60. Is that possible? Should I wait? Considering I paid €250 back then for my 5850 I decided to put away a
Budget of 300€

Is my current PC build too old to just add a new gpu? I can still max almost any last gen games at 1080/60 (no AA/2xSMAA).

Current pc:
Case THERMALTAKE DH101
CORSAIR 650 Watt TX Series
Cpu INTEL Core i5 750 Quad Core 2,66ghz (oc to 3,4Ghz)
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 socket LGA 1156 chipset Intel P55 ATX
Ram CORSAIR XMS3 4 Gb <2x2Gb> ddr3 Dual Channel 1333 Mhz CL 9-9-9-24
Gpu SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5850 1 Gb






All right! But what about the debacle of the 3.5 + 0.5 VRAM which would throttle the vram iirc? Fixed?

Also do I need to replace my ram or just add another 2 or 4GB stick?
I currently have 2x2GB (4GB total) of CORSAIR XMS3 4 Gb <2x2Gb> ddr3 Dual Channel 1333 Mhz CL 9-9-9-24, what's the impact I'm looking at on games?

As I've written already, yes CPU is overclocked at 3.4GHz, super stable.

Thanks!

If you're okay with turning some settings down you should be fine to just add a 970. Your CPU is still chugging along. The 3.5/0.5 thing is by design, so there is no 'fix', but it's honestly not really a big deal.

2x2GB is not that cheap because it's uncommon; in combination with the fact that your current ram is 1333mhz I would just replace it with a 2x4GB g.skill set, should be $40-$50.

 

[Kayant]

It'll be a downgrade imo, not sure why you would do it.

I know you're right but I just want I smaller case ... Really wished I went with mini-itx in the beginning.

 

[LilJoka]

Ran the scan. It found a handful of things but it doesn't seem to have done anything.
Here's an updated graph
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5737/20359315539_5c4c5d330c_o.png

Some more info. I had a memory leak issue back in June as well when I was on Windows 8.1 I wasn't able to figure out what the issue was so I ended up reinstalling Windows 8.1 The issue went away for a while and I upgraded to Windows 10 less than a week ago. I only just noticed the issue was back yesterday.
My rig if it matters
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GHpcrH

Oh and when I booted up my PC today it was already at 6GB of Ram usage within a minute of me getting to the home screen

Try malwarebytes antimalware.
Its probably time for a fresh install.

I know you're right but I just want I smaller case ... Really wished I went with mini-itx in the beginning.

Have you looked at Parvum cases?

 

[Flandy]

Try malwarebytes antimalware.
Its probably time for a fresh install.



Have you looked at Parvum cases?

This install is less than 2 months old though. If I reinstall it then odds are it will just show up again. I need to find the source of the issue so it doesn't happen again

 

[Marceles]

Hi guys,

I built the GAF enthusiast PC last year (my first build), but I wanted to give my PC something since I haven't done anything to it in awhile and I'm itching to do some kind of upgrade

Current specs:

• i7 4770K 3.5 ghz
• Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H
• 16gb ram
• EVGA GeForce GTX780 SuperClocked w/EVGA ACX Cooler 3GB
• Samsung 840 EVO 250gb
• 2 TB WD HDD
• Coolermaster v750
• Fractal Define R4 case
• Xonar DGX sound card
• ASUS VE278H monitr

If you have $400 to burn, are there any worthwhile upgrades you would get or would you wait?

 

[ILoveBish]

I5-6600k just showed up. Might build tonight, but more likely this weekend.

 

[Crisium]

All right! But what about the debacle of the 3.5 + 0.5 VRAM which would throttle the vram iirc? Fixed?

They can't fix the fact that 3.5 runs on a 224-bit and 0.5 runs on a 32-bit bus. For games that use less than 3.5 expect no issues. For games that use between 3.5 and 4.0 it is up to the Nvidia driver team to allocate memory properly to mitigate slowdown. When/if they stop specifically optimizing for the 970 in drivers it would then suffer in performance in some games where a proper 4GB card would not.

I'm not sure what prices are for your country. Per dollar, the Radeon 390 is overall probably a better card so far as game performance goes. A max OC comparison of both cards here (first slide is the cards clocks) shows that the 390 is barely faster overall.

The 8GB is just a nice bonus at that point that conditionally will have it age better. It's hard to justify spending much more money over a 970, but I assume you want to keep the same GPU for 5 years again. Even at 1080 I expect the VRAM benefits to kick in before you trade up again. But it ultimately depends on the prices for your region.

Alternatively you can often still find a Radeon 290 for cheaper than a 970, although not as big of a VRAM advantage at that point it's still a full 4.0 vs 3.5+0.5.

 

[Matty8787]

Hi guys,

I built the GAF enthusiast PC last year (my first build), but I wanted to give my PC something since I haven't done anything to it in awhile and I'm itching to do some kind of upgrade

Current specs:

• i7 4770K 3.5 ghz
• Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H
• 16gb ram
• EVGA GeForce GTX780 SuperClocked w/EVGA ACX Cooler 3GB
• Samsung 840 EVO 250gb
• 2 TB WD HDD
• Coolermaster v750
• Fractal Define R4 case
• Xonar DGX sound card
• ASUS VE278H monitr

If you have $400 to burn, are there any worthwhile upgrades you would get or would you wait?

GPU or wait.

 

[Enduin]

If you have $400 to burn, are there any worthwhile upgrades you would get or would you wait?

Another SSD? Right now Amazon has the 500GB 850 Evo for only $179($90 off normal price). I'm almost tempted to pick it up myself, but I don't really need it since I already have a 500gb SSD with room to spare.

You could get a GTX 970 for under 400 easy, which would be a bit of a performance bump. But honestly it's probably best to save up and just wait till next years offerings to upgrade GPU.

I don't know why, but a lot of PC gamers think it's cool for their setup to look like a Geocities page.

Different tastes and all that, there are some that do look cool in a way, but those are normally like 3k+ super deluxe custom builds. And they aren't generally something I'd want, just novel looking.

If I were ever going to do some crazy custom build for a ton of money it would be to hide a PC inside a nice wood desk so all you see is a nice clean wood desk top with a couple monitors, mouse and keyboard. With discreet ports and fans built it.

Agreed. If it helps though, you can turn down the backlight level on the k70. There's a button, I think in the upper right.

Yeah that's why I eventually decided to get it. The build quality is one of the best and aesthetically the design is super slick, but the lights... Toned down it should be OK, if not off completely.