Sherdog PC Build/Buy Thread, v5: Stop Thinking of Your Router as a Peripheral

[jefferz]

Your not going to be blown away/super impressed by a $40 case (lets be real here).

It has decent airflow, dust filters, and the construction of the steel isn't bad (It's a respectable case at a great price point and that's exactly it's target demographic; those who want something good but don't want to drop serious cash).

I would have rather spent the extra $20 and got an Antec Three hundred.

 

[560ti]

I would have rather spent the extra $20 and got an Antec Three hundred.

I've done some builds with that case as well (use to stock it at the store I worked out).

The steel is a little thicker but there was major issues with both the power button and the usb ports (we had multiple builds done where it either didn't recognize the ports or it only ran at 2.0 speeds. Power button was a failure on a couple as well).

Antec is a little overpriced across the board on all there products so you won't technically get a noticeably superior product even with the small price increase (hence slightly thicker steel but serious issues on wiring).

 

[jefferz]

I've done some builds with that case as well (use to stock it at the store I worked out).

The steel is a little thicker but there was major issues with both the power button and the usb ports (we had multiple builds done where it either didn't recognize the ports or it only ran at 2.0 speeds. Power button was a failure on a couple as well).

Antec is a little overpriced across the board on all there products so you won't technically get a noticeably superior product even with the small price increase (hence slightly thicker steel but serious issues on wiring).

I've had the Three Hundred 2.0 usb for a couple of years now and haven't had a problem.

Not really a major issue since I won't use it, but on the Rosewill case I got the e-sata port on the front was really bent. It didn't get that way through shipping. Fitment of the side panels isn't really that great either, I understand it's only a $40 case but things should at least be close to square.

 

[jefferz]

I just spent 2 hours trying to diagnose a new build. Everything that was supposed to be black was red. After swapping parts, etc, it came down to the HDMI cable.
Fuck.

 

[Cygnus A]

I just spent 2 hours trying to diagnose a new build. Everything that was supposed to be black was red. After swapping parts, etc, it came down to the HDMI cable.
Fuck.

Oh good times. I hate when a new build doesn't work.

 

[markulous]

I'm sure we've all been there. Back in the day it was even tougher when that was my only PC and had no internet access from another device to search the issue.

 

[Romatheus]

Need help with my build guys:

Mobo - Asus M5A99FX pro 2.0 AM3+
Ram - Gskill Ripjaw X 8GB DDR3 2400
Processor - AMD FX 8320 Vishera 8 core 3.5 Ghz
PSU - Rosewill 650 Watt
OS - Windows 7 64 bit
Video Card - HIS Radeon 7850 2GB

Mobo, Processor, and Ram are all new. I realize i need to upgrade my video card but my system is running like crap. Just did the fresh install of windows yesterday. Am i getting bottle-necked by my video card?

 

[markulous]

What is doing when it's running like crap? Is it only on certain software or just general slowness? That video card isn't THAT bad. I was running a 6850 and running all games fine just had to turn down graphics settings a bit on some games.

 

[Romatheus]

What is doing when it's running like crap? Is it only on certain software or just general slowness? That video card isn't THAT bad. I was running a 6850 and running all games fine just had to turn down graphics settings a bit on some games.

Just overall slowness. But it does seem worse when i stream a tv show or watch a youtube video. My internet connection is 100MB and i've done speed test a few times and although i never hit 100 i can hit 50MB pretty consistently.
Prior to reinstalling my OS and replacing the MOBO, and processor i was getting alot of crash to desktop on games like fallout new vegas, skyrim, and dishonored. Games that i had no issue playing through before. I'm just wondering if my video card is dying.

 

[markulous]

Well with all of that being replaced it comes down to either your video card or your hard drive. I'd look at event logs (especially after the crashes) and see what the errors are.

 

[Romatheus]

Well with all of that being replaced it comes down to either your video card or your hard drive. I'd look at event logs (especially after the crashes) and see what the errors are.

Thanks for the help. I'll check my event log.

 

[Cygnus A]

Need help with my build guys:

Mobo - Asus M5A99FX pro 2.0 AM3+
Ram - Gskill Ripjaw X 8GB DDR3 2400
Processor - AMD FX 8320 Vishera 8 core 3.5 Ghz
PSU - Rosewill 650 Watt
OS - Windows 7 64 bit
Video Card - HIS Radeon 7850 2GB

Mobo, Processor, and Ram are all new. I realize i need to upgrade my video card but my system is running like crap. Just did the fresh install of windows yesterday. Am i getting bottle-necked by my video card?

Just overall slowness. But it does seem worse when i stream a tv show or watch a youtube video. My internet connection is 100MB and i've done speed test a few times and although i never hit 100 i can hit 50MB pretty consistently.
Prior to reinstalling my OS and replacing the MOBO, and processor i was getting alot of crash to desktop on games like fallout new vegas, skyrim, and dishonored. Games that i had no issue playing through before. I'm just wondering if my video card is dying.

hard drive? People underestimate how much impact a fast drive actually has. SSDs are cheap these days. you can go for a smaller one as your main OS drive and just store games and data on a regular HDD if necessary.

Streaming videos typically are written to your drive in a temp location prior/as they are being played.

 

[Romatheus]

hard drive? People underestimate how much impact a fast drive actually has. SSDs are cheap these days. you can go for a smaller one as your main OS drive and just store games and data on a regular HDD if necessary.

Streaming videos typically are written to your drive in a temp location prior/as they are being played.

My windows score was a 5.9
Everything was in the 7's or 8's except my hard drive which was a 5.8.
Maybe that's the issue.

 

[Romatheus]

hard drive? People underestimate how much impact a fast drive actually has. SSDs are cheap these days. you can go for a smaller one as your main OS drive and just store games and data on a regular HDD if necessary.

Streaming videos typically are written to your drive in a temp location prior/as they are being played.

This is my hard drive. Is this something i should look into upgrading?

Seagate Barracuda STBD2000101 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard drive.

 

[markulous]

That hard drive is more than sufficient. If something is at fault causing major slowdowns/crashes, it's most likely defective hardware.

 

[jefferz]

Oh good times. I hate when a new build doesn't work.

I was getting ready to pack up the mobo up and send it back. I tried the HDMI cable as a last ditch effort. I'm glad I did.

 

[Edgar Allan Hoe]

I'll be receiving my second graphics card tomorrow and I'll also install the Noxia NH-L12 cooler alongside it.

It's ugly as hell but hopefully can keep my CPU as cool and quiet as my GPU's will be.

Spoiler

 

[GhostZ06]

I'll be receiving my second graphics card tomorrow and I'll also install the Noxia NH-L12 cooler alongside it.

It's ugly as hell but hopefully can keep my CPU as cool and quiet as my GPU's will be.

Spoiler

water cool son

 

[OnionKnight86]

 

[Hank The Tank]

Here is a good reference page for people wanting to gauge what they can/should build on a certain budget. Themitems are picked to complement each other rather than say spending too much on a single component while the others bottleneck the system:

http://www.logicalincrements.com/

Read through here quite a bit tonight, the site is legit, thanks Cyg.

My current PC is about 7 or 8 years old and upgraded as far as I can take it, I'm looking to build a new one.

What level (based on their chart) do you think I should start looking at based on it being used for the following:

- PC games, just Starcraft 2 and Fallout 4 for now, I would like the option of being able to play demanding games in the future if I want to, but I don't really need max settings, I just want it to look good and run smoothly (possibly 2 monitors).
- Photoshop, my wife does graphic design work on the side.
- High usage multi tasking; photoshop, netflix, 10+ browser tabs all at the same time, etc.

I would like to be able to add to it in the future if I play something more demanding. So like have a 1 card setup now with the option of adding another later?

Thanks