The PC Build Thread

[ponder]

Powercolor is fine, plenty of people here own them and I would not hesitate to buy one for myself. Think their warranty is 2yrs vs 3yrs for other manufacturers, same story with Galax.

Plenty of these powercolor cards were used for bitcoin mining in the past and then sold on secondhand at carbonite etc.

Hopefully some past & present powercolor owners can chip in here with their opinion.


@~R4k your alternatives are,
R3999 - Gigabyte R9 380 4096MB GAMING G1 Graphics Card GV-R938G1-GAMING-4GD
R4078 - XFX R9-380P-4DF5 Double Dissipation Radeon R9 380 4GB GDDR5 PCI-E Desktop Graphics Card
R4168 - SAPPHIRE Radeon R9 380, 4GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0, NITRO Edition
R3499 - Galax 96NQH8DVD9CJ GTX 960 EXOC 4GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI-Express 3.0 Desktop Graphics Card



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerColor

 

[Toothless]

Hi guys

My old computer blew up a couple years ago and since then I've made do with my rubbish laptop. I'm wanting to put that to an end. I've got a budget of around R10 000 but have to build the thing from scratch. I've done some looking around and put together a rough estimation of what I can get for around that price, but I reckon you guys will probably be more knowledgeable than myself on this topic.

So far this is what I've been looking at:

Core i5-4460
HyperX Fury, 8GB, DDR3-1600
Cooler Master G, 500w
Cooler Master K380
Seagate Barracuda, 1TB
Samsung DVD Writer
MSI H81M-P33
MSI GeForce GTX 950

Grand total: R10 009

I see you've just said that the GTX 950 is trash but I saw Fallout benchmarks where it did quite well against AMD cards. Is this a false promise?

Do you think there will be any Black Friday deals to make this a little sweeter?

EDIT: I see you've linked to Carbonite. Tried to make an account, but while moderators accept my account I am not able to view the links. Is this site legit, and how does business work with traders?

If you want a more modern system, at a cheaper rate (At least you know you have the new Skylake):


Intel Core i5-6500 Skylake Quad Core 3.2Ghz LGA1151 - R3190.86 (Esquire)
Biostar Hi-Fi B150S1 Ver. 6.x Socket LGA 1151 Motherboard - R1024.86 (Esquire)
Kingston Value Ram Memory - 8GB DDR4 - R799 (Takealot)
Samsung 24x DVD Writer SATA - R215.46 (Esquire)
Seagate Barracuda 1 TB - R796.86 (Esquire)
Cooler Master K380, Midi Tower, Windowed, Black, ATX - R583 (Rebeltech)
AeroCool 500W VX-500 Power Supply - R568.86 (Esquire)
Biostar NVidia GeForce GTX960 2GB SLI ready - R2620.86 (Esquire)

Total: R9799.76

You can use any extra money you have to look at possible cpu water coolers that will fit in the case. You can also toss in an additional R800 and upgrade the GTX960 2GB to the 4GB version.

 

[Gboss]

I can vouch for the Power color range being a good buy.
I have the R9 390 PCS+ and was hesitant at first. I had been looking at the Galaxy 970.
So glad I didn't go that route now.

 

[permanentmarker]

Thanks Gboss.

Just one more issue. Tried creating a carbonite account yesterday and have not been able to access the forum since. Is it normal for it to take a while before access is granted?

 

[Electric]

Thanks Gboss.

Just one more issue. Tried creating a carbonite account yesterday and have not been able to access the forum since. Is it normal for it to take a while before access is granted?

View attachment 318735

Yes, it can take a while.
My account took 2 days to be verified.

 

[MrR]

I'm currently busy with a skylake build for someone, but haven't had the opportunity myself to research what mobos are available and on top of that, which mobos are good (like position of msata, USB 3 ports, max memory speeds, etc).

Any recommendations on a decent K or H series mobo? We already have a 6600K cpu, but I doubt there's going to be any over clocking involved (in the next few years, or ever), so K series is not essential for the foreseeable future.

I don't want to go above R2300 (but also don't want the price to play factor in options... Yet) as we can use any extra cash on better gpu.

 

[ponder]

I'm currently busy with a skylake build for someone, but haven't had the opportunity myself to research what mobos are available and on top of that, which mobos are good (like position of msata, USB 3 ports, max memory speeds, etc).

Any recommendations on a decent K or H series mobo? We already have a 6600K cpu, but I doubt there's going to be any over clocking involved (in the next few years, or ever), so K series is not essential for the foreseeable future.

I don't want to go above R2300 (but also don't want the price to play factor in options... Yet) as we can use any extra cash on better gpu.

You might as well just go for a Z170 board, quite a few options around the R2.3k price point.

Example, https://raru.co.za/electronics/2930343-asus-z170-k-socket-1151-motherboard

 

[Soul Assassin]

Any objections to the Corsair VS450 for my HTPC.

Intel G3258
MSI H81M-P33
4GB RAM

I know it's definitely enough power, just want to hear if anyone has personal experience. My desktop has the Corsair CX430v2 and it has been running dead silent and no issue for years.

 

[rOxOr]

Hi, I need some advice, looking to upgrade my pc this december.

The components I definitely need are: CPU, RAM, MOBO, GPU.

So far what I'm looking at is

cpu: http://www.wootware.co.za/intel-core-i3-6100-3-7-ghz-dual-core-14nm-skylake-socket-lga1151-desktop-cpu.html
mobo: http://www.wootware.co.za/msi-h110m-pro-vd-h110-chipset-lga-1151-micro-atx-skylake-desktop-motherboard.html
ram: http://www.wootware.co.za/kingston-kvr21n15-8-value-8gb-ddr4-2133-pc4-17000-cl15-288pin-1-2v-retail-pack.html
gpu: http://www.wootware.co.za/powercolor-axr7-370-2gbd5-ppdhe-pcs-r7-370-2gb-256-bit-pci-express-3-0-desktop-graphics-card.html

I currently have a corsair CX500 psu and coolermaster elite430 case, it is a few years old but I was wondering if it will still be compatible with the new mobo/gpu/cpu.

Total comes to ~R6400.

If these items are not compatible or can recommend better alternatives to get to pretty much the same total I would appreciate feedback

 

[Pitbull]

Hi, I need some advice, looking to upgrade my pc this december.

The components I definitely need are: CPU, RAM, MOBO, GPU.

So far what I'm looking at is

cpu: http://www.wootware.co.za/intel-core-i3-6100-3-7-ghz-dual-core-14nm-skylake-socket-lga1151-desktop-cpu.html
mobo: http://www.wootware.co.za/msi-h110m-pro-vd-h110-chipset-lga-1151-micro-atx-skylake-desktop-motherboard.html
ram: http://www.wootware.co.za/kingston-kvr21n15-8-value-8gb-ddr4-2133-pc4-17000-cl15-288pin-1-2v-retail-pack.html
gpu: http://www.wootware.co.za/powercolor-axr7-370-2gbd5-ppdhe-pcs-r7-370-2gb-256-bit-pci-express-3-0-desktop-graphics-card.html

I currently have a corsair CX500 psu and coolermaster elite430 case, it is a few years old but I was wondering if it will still be compatible with the new mobo/gpu/cpu.

Total comes to ~R6400.

If these items are not compatible or can recommend better alternatives to get to pretty much the same total I would appreciate feedback

You can get more bang for buck by buying a CPU form carbonite. Ponder or Chevron will post the details shortly I'm sure

 

[rOxOr]

Thanks, but I don't trust people enough to buy privately, no matter how good someone's reputation is. Trust issues for days

 

[ponder]

Thanks, but I don't trust people enough to buy privately, no matter how good someone's reputation is. Trust issues for days

This guy sells hundreds of the things and have been doing so for a long time. Don't know him but have pointed many people here to his thread on carbonite and have not heard of a single instance where he did not deliver. If he was a scammer he would have been banned from carbonite a long long time ago.

I'll have a look at your items a bit later.

 

[Pitbull]

Thanks, but I don't trust people enough to buy privately, no matter how good someone's reputation is. Trust issues for days

I had the same hick-up when building my machine. I could have bought an i7 instead of an i5 if I wasn't so stubborn. I can assure you with the feedback that guy has gotten just from this forum I will surely buy my next CPU from him

 

[Soul Assassin]

I soon realised that you are only screwing yourself by not at least checking the classifieds, my CPU was brand new and R1500 less than retail and my GPU was R3700 less and still had 2 year warranty left when I bought it.

 

[rOxOr]

Sigh I have registered on carbonite, waiting for approval. I guess I will take a look there. Will still need help with component recommendations and compatibility then.

 

[Pitbull]

Sigh I have registered on carbonite, waiting for approval. I guess I will take a look there. Will still need help with component recommendations and compatibility then.

Ponder is a magician when it comes to build. He'll sort you once he has had a look at it.

 

[ponder]

I currently have a corsair CX500 psu and coolermaster elite430 case, it is a few years old but I was wondering if it will still be compatible with the new mobo/gpu/cpu.

Total comes to ~R6400.

If these items are not compatible or can recommend better alternatives to get to pretty much the same total I would appreciate feedback

Everything will be compatible so no worries there. Is you case the older model without front usb3 ports?

Alternative build,
R1950 - Intel i5-4690 from PotterH on Carbonite (i5-4590 is R1700 but I think he's out of stock on those)
R738 - MSI H81M-P33 H81 Series Intel H81 Express LGA1150 M-ATX Desktop MotherBoard
R784 - Corsair CMV8GX3M1A1600C11 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3 1600MHz CL11 1.5V 240Pin Desktop Memory
R2999 - Galax GeForce GTX 950 EXOC White 2048MB GDDR5 128-bit PCI-Express 3.0 GPU
R6471 TOTAL

If at all possible try to extend your budget by R500-600 as this will get you a better GPU with 4GB of VRAM which I would recommend with today's games,
http://www.wootware.co.za/powercolo...it-pci-express-3-0-desktop-graphics-card.html
http://www.wootware.co.za/galax-96n...r5-pci-express-3-0-desktop-graphics-card.html

 

[alternate]

Almost done with a new Skylake build. I haven't had a propper desktop in four years!

R3669 i5-6600k
R1995 MSI Z170A PC MATE
R1099 G.Skill F4-3200C16D-8GVKB Ripjaws V 8GB
R3499 PowerColor AXR9 380 4GB

I'm still looking for a decent PSU and cooler for the CPU. I will be overclocking the CPU slightly in winter.

Going to stick a standard 1TB WD Blue in the PC and wait untill I have more saved up for a SSD for my OS.

 

[rOxOr]

Cool thanks, am actually willing to go to R7500. (hoping for skylake mb/cpu) Will message PotterH once my carbonite account is activated.

 

[ponder]

Cool thanks, am actually willing to go to R7500. (hoping for skylake mb/cpu) Will message PotterH once my carbonite account is activated.

Sorry I left out the cpu cooler in the above list, all his CPUs are oem tray units so they require a cooler, any socket 1150 cheapie will do.

I'm not sure if he's selling skylake CPUs yet but you can ask him.

A haswell build with a R9 380 & CPU from potterh is gonna set you back about R7200 whereas a skylake build with r9 380 + retail i5-6500 is gonna be R9000.