The PC Build Thread

[Gboss]

The R9 390 is a better card than the GTX970 though..?? The 970 better if your planning on oc, but benchmarks suggest going for the former.

Bought a PCS+ 390 after checking in here with Ponder. Don't regret it one bit, so far it's ran everything I have chucked at it in Ultra or Very High. Never ever owned a GPU that could run current titles maxed out before this

Only downside is its a thirsty card and you will need a decent PSU if you want your use this card.

I have a 750W Antecedents.. The CPU (225W) and GPU (275W) alone need 500W. But I'd say you could get away with a 600-650W PSU if your CPU is an i5 or anything other than a FX9590.

PS: Let's not forget that async compute doesn't work on Nvidia. Also the VRAM stated on the box of the 390 is actually a full 8gb not 7.5gb with 0.5gb of gimped VRAM

 

[Gunner182]

Bought a PCS+ 390 after checking in here with Ponder. Don't regret it one bit, so far it's ran everything I have chucked at it in Ultra or Very High. Never ever owned a GPU that could run current titles maxed out before this

Only downside is its a thirsty card and you will need a decent PSU if you want your use this card.

I have a 750W Antecedents.. The CPU (225W) and GPU (275W) alone need 500W. But I'd say you could get away with a 600-650W PSU if your CPU is an i5 or anything other than a FX9590.

PS: Let's not forget that async compute doesn't work on Nvidia. Also the VRAM stated on the box of the 390 is actually a full 8gb not 7.5gb with 0.5gb of gimped VRAM

Haha! Shots fired.

Ja I wish I was buying myself one! Been researching this card at work all day since Ponds suggested it. Didn't know much about Powercooler and to be honest didn't trust them, but reviews have been good.

 

[Gboss]

Haha! Shots fired.

Ja I wish I was buying myself one! Been researching this card at work all day since Ponds suggested it. Didn't know much about Powercooler and to be honest didn't trust them, but reviews have been good.

Hey, I just call it like I see it, if team green can't do DX12 that's their problem

I always like Sapphire cards, my last card was a Sapphire 6870.

Read some good reviews on the PCS+ 290x and the 390 has an upgraded version of the same cooler, so I decided to go with power color. Also the Sapphire 390 was 1000 rand more than the power color, which was on special

With DX12 around the corner nows a good time to be on Team Red

 

[ponder]

The R9 390 is a better card than the GTX970 though..?? The 970 better if your planning on oc, but benchmarks suggest going for the former.

Bought a PCS+ 390 after checking in here with Ponder. Don't regret it one bit, so far it's ran everything I have chucked at it in Ultra or Very High. Never ever owned a GPU that could run current titles maxed out before this

Only downside is its a thirsty card and you will need a decent PSU if you want your use this card.

I have a 750W Antecedents.. The CPU (225W) and GPU (275W) alone need 500W. But I'd say you could get away with a 600-650W PSU if your CPU is an i5 or anything other than a FX9590.

PS: Let's not forget that async compute doesn't work on Nvidia. Also the VRAM stated on the box of the 390 is actually a full 8gb not 7.5gb with 0.5gb of gimped VRAM

Haha! Shots fired.

Ja I wish I was buying myself one! Been researching this card at work all day since Ponds suggested it. Didn't know much about Powercooler and to be honest didn't trust them, but reviews have been good.

Hey, I just call it like I see it, if team green can't do DX12 that's their problem

I always like Sapphire cards, my last card was a Sapphire 6870.

Read some good reviews on the PCS+ 290x and the 390 has an upgraded version of the same cooler, so I decided to go with power color. Also the Sapphire 390 was 1000 rand more than the power color, which was on special

With DX12 around the corner nows a good time to be on Team Red

I just wanna state that I'm brand agnostic, some months ago I would have been punting gtx 970 & gtx 960 for budget builds, when it comes to those two 'budget' GPUs the R9 380 & R9 390 have taken the lead. The rest goes to nVidia, their new 'low end' GTX 950 trumps the R7 370. I've owned more AMD CPU's in my life than Intel ones and believe you should get the best bang for your buck.

Yes the R9 390 is a better performer than the GTX 970 overall, there are one or two games where the GTX 970 will beat it (Witcher 3 with hairworks off) is one example but the performance is still good.

Yes the R9 390 sucks a lot more power but you can build a comparitively priced build.

Wrt DX12 I reckon we should wait & see a bit but I've always believed that AMD will fare better here.

When it comes to AMD/ATI Sapphire really does seem to make some nice cards but you pay a lot more and you have to ask yourself whether it's worth paying that much more for a few fps more, law of diminishing returns & all that.

If the R9 380 was around in Feb I would have purchased that instead of my GTX 960.

Just two days ago this article came out http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-graphics-card-upgrade-guide-update-3 and DF is pretty pedantic about their testing & fair in opinion.

 

[Gboss]

I just wanna state that I'm brand agnostic, some months ago I would have been punting gtx 970 & gtx 960 for budget builds, when it comes to those two 'budget' GPUs the R9 380 & R9 390 have taken the lead. The rest goes to nVidia, their new 'low end' GTX 950 trumps the R7 370. I've owned more AMD CPU's in my life than Intel ones and believe you should get the best bang for your buck.

Yes the R9 390 is a better performer than the GTX 970 overall, there are one or two games where the GTX 970 will beat it (Witcher 3 with hairworks off) is one example but the performance is still good.

Yes the R9 390 sucks a lot more power but you can build a comparitively priced build.

Wrt DX12 I reckon we should wait & see a bit but I've always believed that AMD will fare better here.

When it comes to AMD/ATI Sapphire really does seem to make some nice cards but you pay a lot more and you have to ask yourself whether it's worth paying that much more for a few fps more, law of diminishing returns & all that.

If the R9 380 was around in Feb I would have purchased that instead of my GTX 960.

Just two days ago this article came out [B]http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-graphics-card-upgrade-guide-update-3[/B] and DF is pretty pedantic about their testing & fair in opinion.

Well written and unbiased article - thanks for the share

 

[Gboss]

@Ponder

While you here, please have a look at these 2 cases and let me know which would be better.

http://www.wootware.co.za/corsair-c...ir-540-silver-e-atx-desktop-cube-chassis.html
Looks good and has the room required for my cooler.

http://www.wootware.co.za/thermalta...side-panel-window-micro-atx-cube-chassis.html
Has the room for my cooler, doesn't look as good but it's cheaper.

Currently I have a Corsair 230T case, only case I could find to house a 280mm water cooler(CM Nepton 280L). The problem I have with this case is I can only setup my watercooler fans to either push or pull.
I want a case that will let me setup an additional 2 140mm fans on my watercooler and run them in a push/pull config for better cooling. I'm hoping with this setup to reduce the overall fan speed needed to cool the CPU, hoping that doubling the fans will allow me to use lower rpm's to get the same cooling.
Right now when the 2x 140mm fans kick in, it can get quite noisy - like your gaming inside a server cabinet.

Thanks in advance

 

[ponder]

I know zip about those cases in all honesty, will have a look and get back to you.

What fans are you using? Looked into static pressure fans for rads?

 

[Gboss]

I know zip about those cases in all honesty, will have a look and get back to you.

What fans are you using? Looked into static pressure fans for rads?

Actually thats exactly what I'm researching at the moment, was looking at Tom's hardware and had a few users mention the Corsair SP-120 (my rad has mounts can accommodate 120mm or 140mm) but their costly at $25-$28 each. Thats over a grand for 4 fans There's some 140mm Noctua fans recommended but also expensive, +-$30.

Do have any suggestions on some good static pressure fans that are 1 available locally and 2 don't require me to re-mortgage my house to buy them?

EDIT: Found the Corsair SP140 at Wootware for R209 - to think I was going to import them and they been under my nose all along

 

[Pandam0nium]

Hi guys, im looking for the "gaming version" (if i can state it that way) of the Corsair Carbide 200R?

 

[ponder]

Hi guys, im looking for the "gaming version" (if i can state it that way) of the Corsair Carbide 200R?

Not sure what you mean but look at,
Carbide Series SPEC-03
Vengeance C70
Graphite Series

 

[Gunner182]

Has anyone "upgraded" to Skylake or planning to? I was planning a build few months ago, but because of indecisiveness I only bought the case, now I'm ready to complete my build.

I was planning to get:
i5 4690k; and
MSI Z97S SLI KRAIT.

The only thing putting me off from getting Skylake is that I'll have to buy new DDR4 RAM. So is it OK to stay on LGA1150 for now? I don't foresee Skylake to be as big as Intel makes it out to be, x99 is where it's at, but because its so expensive many will stay with 1150.

 

[ponder]

At this point skylake is too expensive with minimal to no benefit in gaming.
https://youtu.be/pOh19-No2Nw?t=6m5s

 

[Gunner182]

At this point skylake is too expensive with minimal to no benefit in gaming.
https://youtu.be/pOh19-No2Nw?t=6m5s

Thanks for the link, no improvements you'll notice with the naked eye. This is why I despise Intel, launch something new when you know it'll improve performance dramatically.

I might even stay with AMD now!

[video=youtube;EIPggCgYK38]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIPggCgYK38[/video]

 

[quax]

Hi guys, I need some help please to put together a PC for my dad. Here's what it would be used for: Word, Excel, Browsing, video streaming to the Playstation. Nothing really that requires super processing or graphics. Just not sure about the video streaming - guess that could use a bit.

I put together the following. Not really wanting to go much over 5k...

Intel BX80646I34170 i3-4170 LGA1150 Socket 22nm Dual Core 3.7GHz Desktop CPU @ R1,891.00
Corsair CMV4GX3M1A1333C9 4GB DDR3-1333 R431.00
ASRock Q1900B-ITX Intel Quad-Core J1900 2 GHz Processor 7th Generation On-Board Graphics Mini-ITX Desktop Motherboard R979.00
Western Digital WD5000LPVT/WD5000LPVX Scorpio Blue 500GB 2.5" SATA 3Gb/s 5400RPM HDD R757.00
Corsair VS450 VS Series 450W Power Supply R586.00
Coolermaster RC-344-SKN2 Elite 344 Black & Blue USB3.0 Micro-ATX Chassis R492.00

Total - R5136

Or I must get something like this.
http://www.wootware.co.za/hp-j4a81ea-pro-3500-g2-microtower-mt3500g2-celeron-g1620-2gb-ddr3-ram-500gb-hdd-windows-8-with-bing-desktop-tower-pc.html

Your guys thoughts/advice would be awesome

 

[ponder]

R727 - MSI Intel H81M-P33 H81 Chipset Motherboard - Socket 1150
R1850 - Intel® Core™ i5-4590 Processors (6M Cache, up to 3.70 GHz)
R228 - Coolermaster Hyper TX3 Evo CPU Cooler There are cheaper coolers available.
R369 - Transcend DDR3-1600 Desktop Dimm CL11 - 4GB
R791 - WD Blue 1TB 3.5 inch SATAIII Hard Drive - 64MB Cache

Note that the MB does not support front USB3 ports so select a case accordingly that has USB2 on the front, the PSU you have is fine.

Hi guys, I need some help please to put together a PC for my dad. Here's what it would be used for: Word, Excel, Browsing, video streaming to the Playstation. Nothing really that requires super processing or graphics. Just not sure about the video streaming - guess that could use a bit.

I put together the following. Not really wanting to go much over 5k...

Intel BX80646I34170 i3-4170 LGA1150 Socket 22nm Dual Core 3.7GHz Desktop CPU @ R1,891.00
Corsair CMV4GX3M1A1333C9 4GB DDR3-1333 R431.00
ASRock Q1900B-ITX Intel Quad-Core J1900 2 GHz Processor 7th Generation On-Board Graphics Mini-ITX Desktop Motherboard R979.00
Western Digital WD5000LPVT/WD5000LPVX Scorpio Blue 500GB 2.5" SATA 3Gb/s 5400RPM HDD R757.00
Corsair VS450 VS Series 450W Power Supply R586.00
Coolermaster RC-344-SKN2 Elite 344 Black & Blue USB3.0 Micro-ATX Chassis R492.00

Total - R5136

Or I must get something like this.
http://www.wootware.co.za/hp-j4a81ea-pro-3500-g2-microtower-mt3500g2-celeron-g1620-2gb-ddr3-ram-500gb-hdd-windows-8-with-bing-desktop-tower-pc.html

Your guys thoughts/advice would be awesome

 

[Ykv]

Hi Guys

I need help building a PC for a friend. He can get the following for R 8 000:

PC Case: Corsair Carbide 100R Clear Side Panel USB3.0 Case
Power Supply: Antec 500W 80+ High Performance Power Supply
Processor: Intel Core i3-4170 (3.7GHz, 3M Cache, 2x Cores) CPU
Motherboard: MSI H81 Chipset SATA3 6.0Gb/s USB 3.0 MB
Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz High Performance Gaming RAM
Graphics Card: MSI R7 360 2GB 256bit Overclocked Edition Card
Primary Hard Drive: 1TB WD Blue 7200RPM SATA3 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD

How does the price on that sound? Will he be able to play Call of Duty @ 1080p and a reasonable framerate? He does not want to build it himself so he will likely have to take a combo somewhere.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Thank you

EDIT: I should add that the main issue here is the budget, he was initially hoping to spend no more than R 6k

 

[ponder]

How does the price on that sound? Will he be able to play Call of Duty @ 1080p and a reasonable framerate? He does not want to build it himself so he will likely have to take a combo somewhere.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Price is schite, he can get more for his money, I suspect one can do an i5 + R9 380 4GB build for slightly over R8k. Can you or someone you know not assemble it for him, it's really not hard at all.

I'll get back to you tonight or tomorrow with components & prices.

EDIT: Ignor my R8k figure mentioned above for now, think I'm on vat excl prising there, will double check.

 

[Bryn]

Hi Guys

I need help building a PC for a friend. He can get the following for R 8 000:

PC Case: Corsair Carbide 100R Clear Side Panel USB3.0 Case
Power Supply: Antec 500W 80+ High Performance Power Supply
Processor: Intel Core i3-4170 (3.7GHz, 3M Cache, 2x Cores) CPU
Motherboard: MSI H81 Chipset SATA3 6.0Gb/s USB 3.0 MB
Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz High Performance Gaming RAM
Graphics Card: MSI R7 360 2GB 256bit Overclocked Edition Card
Primary Hard Drive: 1TB WD Blue 7200RPM SATA3 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD

How does the price on that sound? Will he be able to play Call of Duty @ 1080p and a reasonable framerate? He does not want to build it himself so he will likely have to take a combo somewhere.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Thank you

Yeah, that is a load of crap for R8k. Stay the hell away.

 

[Ykv]

Price is schite, he can get more for his money, I suspect one can do an i5 + R9 380 4GB build for slightly over R8k. Can you or someone you know not assemble it for him, it's really not hard at all.

I'll get back to you tonight or tomorrow with components & prices.

EDIT: Ignor my R8k figure mentioned above for now, think I'm on vat excl prising there, will double check.

I offered to assemble it for him, but I'm going away for a few weeks and he wants to get it in next week. Going to find out from local shop if they will assemble it for him.

 

[ponder]

I offered to assemble it for him, but I'm going away for a few weeks and he wants to get it in next week. Going to find out from local shop if they will assemble it for him.

R1850 - Intel® Core™ i5-4590 Processors (6M Cache, up to 3.70 GHz)
R299 - Raijintek Aidos Black Edition 92mm PWM Fan CPU Cooler
R1067 - MSI H81-P33 H81 Series Intel H81 Express LGA1150 ATX Desktop MotherBoard
R787 - Corsair CMV8GX3M1A1333C9 Value Select 8GB (1x 8GB) DDR3-1333 CL9 1.5V 240PIN Desktop Memory
R749 - Western-Digital WD10EZEX Caviar Blue 1TB 64MB Cache Sata6G 7200rpm Internal Hard Drive
R3599 - PowerColor AXR9 380 4GBD5-PPDHE R9 380 PCS+ 4GB 256-bit PCI Express 3.0 Desktop Graphics Card - Includes Dirt Rally (Digital Code)
R849 - Super Flower SF-500P14XE(HX) Golden Green HX 500W 80 Plus Gold Certified Desktop Power Supply
R715 - Coolermaster NSE-400-KKN2 N400 Series ATX Desktop Chassis
R9915 - TOTAL

Some alternative options wrt the above components
A cheaper chassis:
http://www.wootware.co.za/coolermaster-rc-k280-kkn1-k280-all-black-usb3-0-atx-desktop-chassis.html
A cheaper MB option but has no front panel USB3 support:
http://www.wootware.co.za/msi-h81m-...1-express-1150-m-atx-desktop-motherboard.html
A cheaper GPU & PSU option:
http://www.wootware.co.za/galax-96n...r5-pci-express-3-0-desktop-graphics-card.html
http://www.wootware.co.za/super-flo...plus-gold-certified-desktop-power-supply.html
Even cheaper GPU & PSU but I won't go lower:
http://www.wootware.co.za/galax-95n...it-pci-express-3-0-desktop-graphics-card.html
http://www.wootware.co.za/super-flo...plus-gold-certified-desktop-power-supply.html

I only looked at Wootware (except for CPU) and you could probably get a few of the items for slightly cheaper on takealot (also check rebeltech). A cheaper CPU cooler would be fine & you could also get a cheaper case. I only spec'd a single 8GB DIMM in case you wanna upgrade to 16GB later or you can go with 2x4GB to take advantage of dual channel setup.

Where you located?