Hardware & Technical Getting a new PC, advice needed

[TR7]

OK, so I will be buying a new PC build and I already ordered the components, but I can still change them so I'd appreciate any last-minute comments on what to change etc. Also, I confess I am an Arsenal fan so I hope that at the end of a week like this you feel sorry for me and become even more inclined to help me.

Generally I am going to continue playing Horizons in 1980x1020, I would like to go as high with graphic settings as I can and and be able to do it smoothly. I will use this PC to work as well so would like it to be quiet when not using GPU.

I went for:


ASUS Z170-K

Intel i5-6500 3.20GHz 6MB BOX

ASUS GeForce GTX970 4096MB 256bit DirectCu II Strix OC

2xKingston 8GB 2400MHz HyperX Fury Black CL15

Samsung 120GB M.2 2280 SSD 850 EVO

SilentiumPC 550W Enduro FM1 Gold

WD 1TB IntelliPower 64MB RED

Zalman Z1

Win10

As I have read some discussions on it, one comment: I think I can handle the low capacity of the SSD, I will only install the system and maybe 2 games there.

Is there anything 'wrong' here, is there any way of easily increasing the quality of the setup?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Caramel Clown]

550W power supply might be a bit of a stretch of it's capabilities. I'd go for 800+, especially if you are planning to upgrade in the future. Adding second 970 in SLI will definitely tip it over it's capacity, especially under load.

 

[snadge]

Yeah, power supply is pretty wimpy, better to get a larger one so it runs cooler, also, may reconsider your CPU and get a K model, you can over clock them pretty well, nothing wrong with a Kspec i5, run faster and far more grunt than an i7 easily.

 

[drholliday]

550W is tight. I would increase that.

 

[Anubite]

PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095 Remember when overclocking that for ever notch up in volts, the notch takes about twice more wattage than the last. My i7 eats 30 more peak watts just going from 4.4 to 4.6, on top of the 15 extra from the 4.2 to 4.4.

I highly recommend DDR4 3200. Like really. Latency is not an issue, don't listen to that. Multithreading is also big now, but I understand that we all can't get i7s; RAM is #1 in all other cases. I have an i7 6700k and DDR4 3200 at 15-16-16-38-2N, and my average latency is 17ns. It is performing more than double the bandwidth and nearly 1/3 the latency of my DDR3 1600 Mushkin Redline (7-9-8-24-1T ending with 47ns lat).

EDIT: I don't even get lag in the core while plotting routes.

 

[TR7]

Thanks. So the consensus seems to be I need a stronger PSU.

I am really not going to be overlocking anything I guess. This really isn't my thing tbh.

I am not planing to expand this set, if I decide to upgrade I will probably invest in a new build again.

Is the motherboard ok? Also, will 3200 RAMs work with that board and processor?

And how would that set do with Horizons in terms of FPS and details?

 

[Caramel Clown]

Looks like your motherboard will support DDR4 memory, so yes. https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Motherboards/Z170-K/
Memory itself will be more costly than DDR3, but worth it in a long run.

 

[xondk]

SilentiumPC 550W Enduro FM1 Gold

Thanks in advance.

This needs to be improved, you are quite close to the limit of the graphic card, get a 700-800W power supply at least, and do not worry about power usage, as long as it is a high efficiency power supply.
Just because the power supply can provide up to 800W doesn't mean it is going to do so, it only draws the power the computer needs, it seems a common misunderstanding that a higher powersupply means higher power draw, not so.

 

[Saiidin]

I would also look at PSU brand...I've never heard of Silentium, so it could very well be one of those dime-a-dozen garbage-bargain varieties.

PSU is the most important piece of your system...because a bad one can kill every other piece of your system when it goes patootie!

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

This needs to be improved, you are quite close to the limit of the graphic card, get a 700-800W power supply at least, and do not worry about power usage, as long as it is a high efficiency power supply.
Just because the power supply can provide up to 800W doesn't mean it is going to do so, it only draws the power the computer needs, it seems a common misunderstanding that a higher powersupply means higher power draw, not so.

PSUs are also less efficient at max capacity. You do lose some efficiency if you're using only a tiny part of its capacity, but you want to leave a little overhead room to get the best.

Output may also drop slightly over its service life. Having that extra means you won't suddenly find yourself experiencing errors from an underpowered system.

 

[Anubite]

Is the motherboard ok? Also, will 3200 RAMs work with that board and processor?

And how would that set do with Horizons in terms of FPS and details?

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/Z170-K/ This says up to 3466mhz RAM.

The 3200mhz with my timings pushed my EVGA Classified K's volts of VCCSA, VCCIO, and PCH 1.0v to the edge of 24/7 safe. (1.36, 1.27, 1.15). 24/7 safe generally means heavy use all day. My 3600mhz settings require 1.4, 1.3, 1.2, something that will likely cut a few years off the estimate of 25yr chep life (maybe 3-10? depends on chip lottery and heavy vs burst usage).

Anything over 2133mhz is considered "manufacture overclock" and you are overlocking out-of-the-box, the memory controller on the CPU is only rated for such by Intel. Sad state of marketing and liability affairs right now I am afraid.

I am getting 60 FPS on ultra with vsync with my mentioned goods and a 290x at stock. Worst performance is on the most complex planet surfaces, but it's a GPU limit and I get about 28-35 smooth FPS in those cases.

EDIT: On PSUs, I have the 650w version of the one I linked. It has been more than enough for the i7 and 290x (a 300w GPU stock), both overclocked 10% and with 4 sticks of RAM. The reason companies recommend higher is for overclocking and legal safety.

 

[xondk]

PSUs are also less efficient at max capacity. You do lose some efficiency if you're using only a tiny part of its capacity, but you want to leave a little overhead room to get the best.

Output may also drop slightly over its service life. Having that extra means you won't suddenly find yourself experiencing errors from an underpowered system.

I was aware of less efficiency at max capacity, but also at low capacity usage? that sounds...backwards to me and what I know about it. Edit: found that this is true, though we are talking at around sub 20% load and even then only a difference of 4% at low power draw that doesn't seem so much an issue.

And about drop over time, I know this was an issue at some point, but is it really still? my now what 7-9? honestly can't remember when I bought it, had it for ages, corsair hw850w, and it still works just as great as when I got it, no issues or worries and power draw upon testing still provides what it is rated for, course it did come with a 7 year warranty, so that definitely helps, but even so, I've repaired and taken apart countless computers over the years, and many times the power supplies are the only good parts and work fine when given a new thing to power at the specs they are designed for. So is it really as much of an issue?

 

[Anubite]

Best bet is get a wattage meter and use that 850w supply that is a bit overkill, then when you get another PSU you know where to aim. Ideal wattage use = 20% less draw from the wall than the PSU is sold as, 25% less draw if you want light (10%) OC room or security from a potential supply that decays faster than others.

 

[Aussiedroid]

Although I do agree with you guys saying a bit more power wouldn't hurt, have any of you actually monitored the power usage of your systems?

I am running a 780ti which is more power hungry than the 900 series yet my power usage (with quite a few more drives/accessories) doesn't break 400 watts when playing a game and CPU/GPU running at full throttle.

550W would probably be fine, but for the price differences, a little more wouldn't hurt. I believe most 650w+ decent gold rated PSUs should be dual rail and that can help with system stability if under heavier loads.

 

[xondk]

Although I do agree with you guys saying a bit more power wouldn't hurt, have any of you actually monitored the power usage of your systems?

I am running a 780ti which is more power hungry than the 900 series yet my power usage (with quite a few more drives/accessories) doesn't break 400 watts when playing a game and CPU/GPU running at full throttle.

550W would probably be fine, but for the price differences, a little more wouldn't hurt. I believe most 650w+ decent gold rated PSUs should be dual rail and that can help with system stability if under heavier loads.

Have previously, until the monitor broke, some years ago, looking for a preferably wireless monitor that can just sit between computer and plug and provide wireless usage information, can't really find any there was a kickstarter thing once but it kinda went dark.

 

[Pville_Piper]

Have previously, until the monitor broke, some years ago, looking for a preferably wireless monitor that can just sit between computer and plug and provide wireless usage information, can't really find any there was a kickstarter thing once but it kinda went dark.

650 watts is more than enough, that's what I'm running in mine. I believe that you could get away with 550 since you aren't overclocking. The GTX 970 is very efficient.

 

[DragoonKnight]

OK, so I will be buying a new PC build and I already ordered the components, but I can still change them so I'd appreciate any last-minute comments on what to change etc. Also, I confess I am an Arsenal fan so I hope that at the end of a week like this you feel sorry for me and become even more inclined to help me.

Generally I am going to continue playing Horizons in 1980x1020, I would like to go as high with graphic settings as I can and and be able to do it smoothly. I will use this PC to work as well so would like it to be quiet when not using GPU.

I went for:


ASUS Z170-K

Intel i5-6500 3.20GHz 6MB BOX

ASUS GeForce GTX970 4096MB 256bit DirectCu II Strix OC

2xKingston 8GB 2400MHz HyperX Fury Black CL15

Samsung 120GB M.2 2280 SSD 850 EVO

SilentiumPC 550W Enduro FM1 Gold

WD 1TB IntelliPower 64MB RED

Zalman Z1

Win10

As I have read some discussions on it, one comment: I think I can handle the low capacity of the SSD, I will only install the system and maybe 2 games there.

Is there anything 'wrong' here, is there any way of easily increasing the quality of the setup?

Thanks in advance.

Dont bother with the 120GB SSD. I am running windows 7 on a 120GB SSD and I have 20GB left. I have no games on this SSD.
Either get at least a 256GB SSD or get another SSD for the games and all the other stuff you want to run from SSD.

EDIT: Sorry, miscalculated the power requirements. I think 800 Watts might be overdoing it.

GTX 970 power consumption
90 watts when idle
250 watts at full load

CPU will consume about 65 watts

The rest of your stuff does not consume that much power. The 550 you chose should work.

 

[Flin]

Thanks. So the consensus seems to be I need a stronger PSU.

I am really not going to be overlocking anything I guess. This really isn't my thing tbh.

I am not planing to expand this set, if I decide to upgrade I will probably invest in a new build again.

Is the motherboard ok? Also, will 3200 RAMs work with that board and processor?

And how would that set do with Horizons in terms of FPS and details?

If you are not going to overclock the get thr non-overclock versons (h170 I5 6600 DDR4 2133) and use the savings to get a bigger SSD.

Also of you don't plan to eventually get a second 970 to keep up with GPU demands over the next few years then you don't need a bigger PSU.

So basically get what you need for the next three years.

Better and maybe cheaper versions of almost every components will be available. Psu might last 5+ so do get a good one.

 

[Anubite]

I have a 120gb main drive SSD and it's fine if you disable pagefile and hibernation. Frees up 30-45 gigs. The things are only $50 or less, too. Don't expect to load it with too many games, though. I have 70gb free of 111gb and all my programs are installed to C:\. ED is the only game there, atm.

You'll want to consider another SSD now or later. Trust me, the maximum I/O operations will bite you in the rear at times with rapid, tiny writes; you don't want one SSD optimally. I am looking to procure a 256gb for the rest of my games, shortly. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...re=samsung_pro_950_m.2-_-20-147-466-_-Product

 

[DragoonKnight]

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/Z170-K/ This says up to 3466mhz RAM.

The 3200mhz with my timings pushed my EVGA Classified K's volts of VCCSA, VCCIO, and PCH 1.0v to the edge of 24/7 safe. (1.36, 1.27, 1.15). 24/7 safe generally means heavy use all day. My 3600mhz settings require 1.4, 1.3, 1.2, something that will likely cut a few years off the estimate of 25yr chep life (maybe 3-10? depends on chip lottery and heavy vs burst usage).

Anything over 2133mhz is considered "manufacture overclock" and you are overlocking out-of-the-box, the memory controller on the CPU is only rated for such by Intel. Sad state of marketing and liability affairs right now I am afraid.

I am getting 60 FPS on ultra with vsync with my mentioned goods and a 290x at stock. Worst performance is on the most complex planet surfaces, but it's a GPU limit and I get about 28-35 smooth FPS in those cases.

EDIT: On PSUs, I have the 650w version of the one I linked. It has been more than enough for the i7 and 290x (a 300w GPU stock), both overclocked 10% and with 4 sticks of RAM. The reason companies recommend higher is for overclocking and legal safety.

The reason companies recommend higher is because they dont know your complete system specs and what else you will add over the years. They would rather upsell you to a more expensive, and profitable for them unit, and keep you happy that everything is working than selling you something that will work at the knife edge. Has nothing to do with any "legal safety" reasons. Electrical safety is handled in a different manner.

If you really want to know what you need then do your own calculations based on your anticipated needs and add 25% on top just to be safe. That is the PSU you should buy.

 

[Aussiedroid]

Have previously, until the monitor broke, some years ago, looking for a preferably wireless monitor that can just sit between computer and plug and provide wireless usage information, can't really find any there was a kickstarter thing once but it kinda went dark.

There should be a few commercial units already available. I have a Bauhn Powermeter myself that sits between the power outlet and PC. Doesnt feed back to PC directly, but gives you the info you need. Some here for example:

http://www.ebay.com.au/bhp/power-meter