Hardware & Technical Asking for tips for a new rig.

[Remus]

Looking at the fact that my PC has officially entered potato state as of this year, I'm looking forward to renew my rig.

And I'm asking for help in order to do so.

I've already had experience with DIY computers, and to put it bluntly, it was a bad one.

In order to avoid committing the same mistakes, here are the things that I hope you can help me with.

Do you have any brand for Motherboards that you would recommend ?

I have a Power Unit in mynth condition ( still in the box ), but it already has more or less 7 years old. ( Thermaltake Thoughpower 850W )
Can I risk using it to save some money, or should I buy a new one ?

Do any of you have any experience with the BeQuiet ! brand ? ( PC "boxes/towers", Power units, fans )

What brand of RAM would you recommend ?

looking forward to a 1070, but should I buy MSI, Gygabite or Asus ?

THX in advance to any of you kind enough to lend me some of your time to resolve this particular issue. [heart]

 

[Surfinjo]

Motherboard ASUS

Reuse that PSU

Don't buy the fastest RAM, it isn't worth the money. Buy as much as you can afford from Crucial.

Always buy ASUS

As for cases, these are a matter of taste. Look for one which you like. It needs a good intake fan preferably at the front, with exhaust fans or ports elsewhere. If there is an intake fan on the base, for example, turn it around to be exhaust. There is not a lot of point in sucking in the dust from your table top.

remember a good Graphics card.

Sound is a matter of taste frankly.

 

[CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE]

Do any of you have any experience with the BeQuiet ! brand ? ( PC "boxes/towers", Power units, fans )

Have one of their CPU coolers, it's excellent. The fan is the quietest I have ever heard.

What brand of RAM would you recommend ?

No such thing as a bad RAM manufacturer these days so don't spend too much time worrying about this aspect. So long as you don't buy a no-name brand off ebay.

Motherboard ASUS

Their hardware is excellent quality. So long as you don't install the bundled system/fan control software you'll have no issues.

 

[Hell Razor5543]

I always tell people who ask to get the best motherboard they can afford. It is, in effect, the backbone of the entire system. A good motherboard provides solid foundations for a good system, while a poor motherboard will need replacing in short order (which normally requires an O/S re-installation), as you probably will end up with flaky performance.

 

[CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE]

OP once you've got an idea of what components you might buy, why not post them here and people can provide their feedback and highlight any potential issues.

 

[Remus]

OP once you've got an idea of what components you might buy, why not post them here and people can provide their feedback and highlight any potential issues.

THX, that sounds like a good idea.

So here is the config that I was thinking in assembling.

Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz

ASUS B85-PRO GAMER Motherboard

PSU : Thermaltake Thoughpower 850W ( mynt condition, 7 years old though)

Graphic Card : Nvidia 1070 ( brand ? )


12 Go Ram ( brand ? )

512 Go SSD ( brand ? )

1To HD ( brand ? )

I've put "brand ?" to the component for which I still have no idea what to pick.
Is Samsung any good in SSD/Hard drives ?
Apparently BeQuiet makes good cooling systems, so I will probably go for that.

I might invest in a sound card.

I've decided not to mount any CD/DVD/BR readers since I don't think I'll need them. ( I can always use my old PC to watch movies )

So, any good ? What are your thoughts.

BeQuiet makes some tasty boxes to !

Spoiler

 

[CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE]

No issues with Samsung SSDs (though the Crucial and Kingston ones are sometimes cheaper). They don't make HDDs any more (their hard drive arm was bought by Seagate).

Don't see any red flags there but one question - why 12GB RAM?

You're putting a pretty decent CPU into a budget MB but honestly unless you plan to do some crazy overclocking it's actually a wise way to spend your money (especially as most of your money should be going on the GPU).

 

[Remus]

No issues with Samsung SSDs (though the Crucial and Kingston ones are sometimes cheaper). They don't make HDDs any more (their hard drive arm was bought by Seagate).

Don't see any red flags there but one question - why 12GB RAM?

You're putting a pretty decent CPU into a budget MB but honestly unless you plan to do some crazy overclocking it's actually a wise way to spend your money (especially as most of your money should be going on the GPU).

Why 12 Gb ?

Because I was planing to use my PC to do some 3D Animation, and I heard that 3D uses a lot of RAM.

You think it is to much ?

 

[CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE]

It's not the amount, it's the configuration (combination of module sizes).

That MB/CPU supports DDR3 dual channel, but to take advantage of the dual channel functionality you need a matching pair of modules so e.g. 2x4GB or 2x8GB. Presumably you were thinking of 8+4? It will still work (without the dual channel functionality) with slightly reduced performance but DDR3 is cheap so you might as well go for 2x8GB.

 

[Remus]

It's not the amount, it's the configuration (combination of module sizes).

That MB/CPU supports DDR3 dual channel, but to take advantage of the dual channel functionality you need a matching pair of modules so e.g. 2x4GB or 2x8GB. Presumably you were thinking of 8+4? It will still work (without the dual channel functionality) with slightly reduced performance but DDR3 is cheap so you might as well go for 2x8GB.

OH !

I see, I miscalculated the RAM !

Thx, I'll be doing that !

PS : What brand would you recommend ?

I've heard that Corsair was pretty good ?

But Kingston isn't half bad either.

 

[Porina]

Why the 4770k? In a quick look, it is more expensive than a more current 6700k, which also defaults to higher clocks without overclocking on top of being more efficient overall. If you have no interest in overclocking you can still put it in a budget board.

 

[Remus]

Why the 4770k? In a quick look, it is more expensive than a more current 6700k, which also defaults to higher clocks without overclocking on top of being more efficient overall. If you have no interest in overclocking you can still put it in a budget board.

You are right !


I can have more Ghz for more or less the same price !

Nice, thx !

 

[CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE]

OH !

I see, I miscalculated the RAM !

Thx, I'll be doing that !

PS : What brand would you recommend ?

I've heard that Corsair was pretty good ?

But Kingston isn't half bad either.

To quote my previous comment:

No such thing as a bad RAM manufacturer these days so don't spend too much time worrying about this aspect. So long as you don't buy a no-name brand off ebay.

But you can't go wrong with Corsair/Kingston/Crucial.

More important, keep in mind the height of the memory modules compared to the size of the CPU cooler* to make sure there is enough clearance (though usually if you've got just the 2 memory modules it doesn't matter if the first memory slot is obscured by the cooler). Also if the case is small and the CPU cooler is big make sure there is room for the CPU cooler. The better case manufacturers (i.e. Phanteks etc.) give clearance measurements these days although all of this stuff is still something of a black art.

*though if you stick with the stock Intel cooler this will not be an issue.

 

[Hell Razor5543]

A useful trick that can remove a bottleneck is to fit an HDD dedicated exclusively for the Swap File (Virtual Memory, Page File, call it what you will). I have been doing this since Windows 98. It does NOT make the PC go faster; it stops it slowing down.

Windows will ALWAYS create a swap file, regardless of how much actual memory you have fitted (my PC has 32GB RAM, and it currently has a 5GB Swap File running as I am typing this post!), and if that Swap File is on the same drive as the O/S and applications, it can cause the PC to slow down if it has to access multiple files on a single drive. I have several drives in my PC, and one is dedicated to the Swap File (I have named the HDD volume "Swap File" so I know not to use it personally). Do NOT make the mistake of creating multiple partitions on an HDD and using one of those for the Swap File, the physical drive can still only access one bit at a time. It is (at least) twice the size of the maximum memory my PC will support. Once it is in, partitioned and named and the PC can see it, go into the Advanced Settings in Device Manager, and locate where the O/S manages the Swap File (depends on the version of Windows). Go into this menu, and configure it so that there are no Swap File entries on any other than the dedicated HDD (and allow it full system control on that HDD). Windows may well complain as you turn off the Swap File option on the C: drive, but that is OK, as you will be giving it a drive just for the Swap File. You might need to re-boot the PC for the changes to take effect.

As I said before, this does not make the PC go faster; it removes a bottleneck that can slow it down. My brother used to play a game years ago called "Total Annihilation", and it was very good, but it was a Swap File hog! During loading sequences between sections it could take minutes to load (and this was a decent PC at the time!). Merely by adding a Swap File HDD (and making sure my brother knew it was not for HIM to use!) it cut these delays down to a few seconds (OK, up to 30 seconds, but a lot better than 5 minutes!). It did mean that he could no longer go and make a cup of tea (unless he paused the game), but it increased his enjoyment a lot.

 

[Remus]

/snip

Nice !

Thx for the tip !

 

[CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE]

Don't forget if you go for a 6700K you will need to factor in the cost of an after-market CPU cooler as that CPU does not come with one.

 

[Surfinjo]

For CD drive/burner, get a portable. An internal will start up each time with windows delaying the startup and it will wear out quite quickly, even if you never actually use it.

A portable can be plugged into the USB port and used as needed.

Avoid RAM with heat sink fins. They take up space and do very little. Just make sure there is a clear line of sight between the RAM and the intake fan. If necessary, put in a deflector, a piece of card is adequate.

Nice looking case.

 

[Patrick_68000]

A useful trick that can remove a bottleneck is to fit an HDD dedicated exclusively for the Swap File (Virtual Memory, Page File, call it what you will). I have been doing this since Windows 98. It does NOT make the PC go faster; it stops it slowing down.

Windows will ALWAYS create a swap file, regardless of how much actual memory you have fitted (my PC has 32GB RAM, and it currently has a 5GB Swap File running as I am typing this post!), and if that Swap File is on the same drive as the O/S and applications, it can cause the PC to slow down if it has to access multiple files on a single drive. I have several drives in my PC, and one is dedicated to the Swap File (I have named the HDD volume "Swap File" so I know not to use it personally). Do NOT make the mistake of creating multiple partitions on an HDD and using one of those for the Swap File, the physical drive can still only access one bit at a time. It is (at least) twice the size of the maximum memory my PC will support. Once it is in, partitioned and named and the PC can see it, go into the Advanced Settings in Device Manager, and locate where the O/S manages the Swap File (depends on the version of Windows). Go into this menu, and configure it so that there are no Swap File entries on any other than the dedicated HDD (and allow it full system control on that HDD). Windows may well complain as you turn off the Swap File option on the C: drive, but that is OK, as you will be giving it a drive just for the Swap File. You might need to re-boot the PC for the changes to take effect.

As I said before, this does not make the PC go faster; it removes a bottleneck that can slow it down. My brother used to play a game years ago called "Total Annihilation", and it was very good, but it was a Swap File hog! During loading sequences between sections it could take minutes to load (and this was a decent PC at the time!). Merely by adding a Swap File HDD (and making sure my brother knew it was not for HIM to use!) it cut these delays down to a few seconds (OK, up to 30 seconds, but a lot better than 5 minutes!). It did mean that he could no longer go and make a cup of tea (unless he paused the game), but it increased his enjoyment a lot.

Personally I have 8gb of ram and it's been years that I do not use of swap file. I configured Windows without swap file