budget & goal?

Any specific reason for that motherboard?
Not to fond of the twin frozr on a 290 either. The 290 really benefits from the better (read: bigger) coolers. Tri-X or Windforce are only 10$ more.

Not sure what that PSU is supposed to do. Even in a worst case scenario (290 spiking to 400W) I can't see that pc using over 600W. If you're worried about that just get a 400W PSU for less than half the price and use the money you saved to get a 970 instead. Better performance and saves you money on the electricity bill. Can't be used as a furnace though, that's an AMD exclusive. That's a joke, I still remember "Thermi". Also competition -> lower prices.

This is more of a starting point. I'm more than welcome to any useful changes and replacing pointless parts.

Budget at this very moment: $650.56+

Once I get my state taxes back, then ~$689. And then more once I get paid on Friday.

Talked to him on steam.
Better and stuff, yaddaddaa, might explain tomorrow in an edit, too tired now.
EDIT:
CPU: better and only 10$ more
Mobo: cheaper
GPU: better performance, lower power consumption
Case: dust filters ftw
PSU: cheaper

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($68.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($329.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($43.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $672.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-13 17:35 EST-0500

Thanks!

Hi all

I'm actually looking for some advice as I've never bought parts for a computer before. My CPU recently busted and the CPU Fan and Heat sink are busted, Along with the graphics card/fan. I want to replace those things to get it working again obviously, but I also want to upgrade a bit while Im at it, kinda looking just for a medium range graphics card and processor, not anything over the top expensive (Canadian) I just want to be able to run things like DOTA and CS:GO etc. comfortably on low-medium settings.

I'm not really computer savvy so I couldn't really tell you what I have now entirely but any suggestions would be helpful! I can also probably find out what parts I have now if its really necessary, thanks!!

any sort of budget makes suggestions a lot easier, we might not see eye to eye on what is not too expensive. Is it safe to assume your primary game would be tf2?

not necessarily, I play tf2 but I want it for games like cs:go, dota, heroes of the storm etc

and id prolly like to keep my budget to under 500 if I can, I have decent parts in my box already but I really wanna just upgrade on my processor and graphics card, I have a brand new power supply and 4gigs of RAM (Im pretty sure) and then just the other broken stuff I listed

Uhm, there are two things I'd like to know, what are the current parts and what happened?
Are really all those parts broken? How did the motherboard and case survive? There's only two things I can think of that would kill the CPU, GPU, GPU fan, CPU fan and the CPU heatsink.
1. Someone threw the case around.
2. There was an explosion inside the case.

Hey so I have a budget of about 500-1000. I'm just looking for something to replace my shitty Mac haha. Will be my first custom build so yeah :)
I only play valve games like cs go and tf2. Also can u guys include the monitor in my budget price as well?

Australia?
500-1000$ is a pretty wide range.
Only CS:GO and TF2 should make things easier.
Either include the monitor in the budget or don't. There is no maybe. That's how budgets work.
60Hz or 120/144Hz or 120/144Hz+Lightboost?

I'd prefer 120/144 if that is possible

cheapest youre going to get a 120hz monitor over here is around $350

I built my about 2 years ago with i5-3570k and gtx660ti. Now I am thinking of upgrading my graphics card and apparently gtx 780 is really good with my current cpu. Is this a good idea or is there a better option? I don't mind amd cards since my motherboard is basically made for amd

The 780 is yesterday's news. The 970 is its cheaper, less power-hungry, but otherwise equally-matched replacement.

but will it not bottleneck my i5-3570k

There's no way you could've known that we're using that thread for all hardware advice, after all the title is "pc build thread" and this isn't a build.

It's nice that someone posted it because it helps to reduce the number of threads, but once you had posted it in your own thread there was no need to copy your post into the build thread, I monitor the whole forum.

Let's get to the actual advice:
"apparently gtx 780 is really good with my current cpu" this is bullshit. It depends on the game and your graphic settings.
You can think of this as a flowchart:
Are you satisfied with your current fps and settings in the games you are playing?
Yes -> don't upgrade.
No -> So you want higher fps or higher quality settings. Are you limited by your CPU or GPU?
CPU -> find a CPU that will allow you to play with the fps and settings you want and upgrade.
GPU -> find a GPU that will allow you to play with the fps and settings you want and upgrade.

So first you need to tell in which games you want better performance, ideally specified as "x fps at y settings" (your current fps and settings would be nice aswell) then I can help you. Upgrading for the sake of upgrading is a waste of money.

"my motherboard is basically made for amd" this is bullshit. Any GPU will work with any mobo. At this point PCIe slots are like USB. You're guaranteed to have them, only their number and speed can differ. You wouldn't choose a USB-stick based on which motherboard it works well either with since there is no difference. Sorry if I sound angry, I know most people don't have any way to tell fact from fiction when it comes to stuff like this, but those myths make me mad. I want to punch whoever came up with that bullshit in the face. Same goes for the Intel CPU + nVidia GPU/AMD CPU + AMD GPU myth.

EDIT: Advised #402 already via steam message, I didn't forget/overlook him in case someone was wondering.

you are a boss, setsul

Looking to buy a new computer, don't need a monitor or peripherals, just the computer itself. My budget is $1,150 max, I'd like to spend most of it without getting too crazy. It's mostly just for gaming and I'm not going to be playing any crazy graphics intensive games but I'd like to be able to play most games on pretty high settings. Prefer intel/nvidia on processor and vid card. Not looking to overclock but i'd like a decent aftermarket. Any advice on parts would be appreciated.

I think this might be a little outdated but I just wanted your opinions on it:

PCPartPicker part list: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/HvgqWZ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/HvgqWZ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($225.00 @ CPL Online)

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.00 @ Umart)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($499.00 @ CPL Online)

Case: NZXT H440 (Blue/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($158.50 @ Centre Com)

Power Supply: Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($189.00 @ Mwave Australia)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($125.00 @ CPL Online)

Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($19.00 @ CPL Online)

Monitor: Asus VX228H 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($179.00 @ CPL Online)

Total: $1483.50 AUD

edit: exported the text instead of pasting link

Just a few questions for both of you.

#409
I'm guessing you're not reusing any parts.
Any reason for those preferences?
1150$ is a bit overkill if you're "not going to be playing any crazy graphics intensive games". Then again I don't know what you would consider "pretty high settings" or what your current setup is, so I can't recommend anything if without knowing if it would meet your expectations or if it would be an improvement at all.
Sure I could just post a cookie cutter build but you can find those anywhere, to optimize it for your needs I need a more specific goal.

#410
Is that an existing build?
You probably won't be too happy about my opinion on it.
CPU: 4770K, why? You don't even have an aftermarket cooler.
Mobo: Z87, why? I'm doubting you're running any noticable overclock and you're not using SLI either.
RAM: 16GB, why? Also Corsair RAM is horribly overpriced. Bonus: highest RMA rates by quite a margin.
SSD: fine
HDD: Seems overkill if you have an SSD. Anything with a lot of random reads should be on the SSD and for sequential reads I'm not sure if it even beats the much cheaper Seagate Barracuda.
GPU: fine, depends a bit on the games though. If we're talking normal to GPU intensive games (anything not TF2) either the 4770K is massive overkill or the 970 is massively underpowered. With 2 970s everything would make sense.
Case: It's a good case, not my thing, but I would spend that much on a case anyway.
PSU: Incredibly overpriced and shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. QC is shiiiiiiiiiiit, build quality is shiiiiiiiiiit, performance would be ok for a PSU half the price. Also to keep it quiet instead of using a better fan the fan profile is set so it doesn't turn on until 50% load which means it'll overheat and shut down a lot. They recalled it and made a revision that had the same problem. I'm not sure if the second revision fixed that point, even if it did, if a PSU needs two revisions before it even works I'd stay away from it. Also way too high wattage, unless you're using SLI (see GPU).

The only part I'm considering reusing is my 128 gb ssd, I'm looking to replace my 500gb one with a 1tb though. I mostly prefer intel because that is what I'm used to. I'm not like dead set on nvidia but I definitely want intel. I think my current processor is an i5 2500 and my vid card is amd 7770 1gb iirc. I want to be able to run games on not low settings/resolution to get acceptable fps. I don't necessarily need to spend all of the 1,150, that is just the maximum i have to spend.

I don't know if this is really the right thread for it, but I don't wanna make a new thread for one smallish question. Would one see much of a benefit from upgrading from a 2500k @ 4.5 to a 4690k/other newer i5 maybe if it was OC/d too? I get a bunch of fps drops while streaming and am curious if anyone can give some insight.

You could keep using the 500GB HDD and get a new one too, unless you want to sell your old pc as a whole (minus SSD), in that case make sure you wipe and overwrite everything properly.

"games on not low settings/resolution to get acceptable fps" isn't that specific either. Which games are we talking about? "not low" is even less specific than "pretty high", it could be anything from medium to max/ultra. What is a not low resolution for you? 1280*720? 1920*1080? 2560*1400? 4K? 5K? Same for acceptable fps. I'm guessing it's not 30, but is it 60, >60, 120, 144 or even 240?

I'm just trying not to go overboard.

I appreciate your thoroughness. I play on a 144 hz monitor so ideally I'd like to have 200+ at all times. For example I'd like to play csgo on my monitors native resolution, 1920x1080. I can only play it on 4:3 at 1280x1024, and even on that I get ~150 fps(way way worse in smoke too). The same goes for h1z1, which I'm not really counting since it isn't a complete game, but I have to put the graphics settings on the absolute lowest otherwise my game is extremely jittery. It'd also be nice to play games like bioshock on high settings, doesn't necessarily have to be max/ultra.

edit: posted from brothers account on accident

Looking to start buying these new parts for my new PC. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/d6TP99 anything i should change? (ty delpo)

PC Case Gear - Shared Shopping Cart

1 x BitFenix Shadow ATX Case - $79.00ea

1 x Intel Core i5 4590 - $269.00ea

1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 270X Dual-X OC 2GB - $239.00ea

1 x Kingston Hyper X Fury HX318C10FBK2/8 8GB (2x4GB) Black - $99.00ea

1 x Western Digital WD Blue WD5000LPVX 500GB - $65.00ea

1 x Corsair CX-430 Modular 80+ Bronze Power Supply - $85.00ea

1 x TP-Link TL-WN881ND Wireless N PCI Express Adapter - $19.00ea

1 x Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB SSD - $75.00ea

1 x MSI H97M-G43 Motherboard - $109.00ea

1 x BenQ RL2455HM 24in LED Gaming Monitor - $219.00ea

Total: $1,258.00

Came here a while ago but have changed my build to suit a lower budget. Wondering if theres anything that pops out that needs to be changed. Contemplating on which case to get between Corsair 200R or the BitFenix Shadow in the current build.

edit: top link to full cart isn't working - http://www.pccasegear.com/sc/n14

#413
I suggest you skim through the benchmark thread (pages 2, 4 and 5 should be of the most interest for you), do the benchmark yourself and compare.

#415
That's fine, it just means that he'll get the pc, at your cost ofc.[/s]

I'm only looking at CS:GO although there aren't too many recent benchmarks. For the GPU something around a GTX 760 would be enough, but not every game is on the source engine (thank god) so I'd take it up a notch and go into the 200$ category (280/960/280X). The budget would even allow for a 970 for the really pretty games.

CPU isn't that easy. A Xeon E3-1231 v3 should get 200+ fps, but with the "baseline" build it wouldn't even touch 750$. Sure the build easily meets your requirements and from a price to performance ratio going for requirements+wiggle room makes the most sense but on the other hand I could also go well into the "fun zone" (also known as overkill).

First things first, here's the baseline build.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($242.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Enermax ETS-T40-TB 86.7 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($68.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Team Xtreem Dark Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 285 2GB TurboDuo Video Card ($161.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $701.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-02 17:31 EST-0500
Omitt the ODD if you don't need it.
GTX 960 if you insist.

Now there's various possible upgrades. Even if you don't want to overclock the i7-4790K is an option. The higher stock clocks alone would get you 15-20% better performance in anything CPU limited (so pretty much only streaming/rendering and TF2/CS:GO, other games won't be limited by the Xeon by a long shot). A bit over 30% more expensive though, you're paying for the iGPU. Still <800$, but why not go all the way. Z97 mobo for overclocking and while we're at it, make it SLI compatible. Now that we can use RAM with >1.5V let's get some 2133MHz CL10 RAM for the same price as the 1600MHz CL9 RAM. GTX 970 for good measure. You now have the option to get 120/144fps in games on settings on which most would be happy to get 60fps if you add another GTX 970 someday. To fully utilize the budget let's throw in a Noctua NH-D14 (alternative: bigger case and Phanteks PH-TC14PE) and a better PSU (two deals ran out while I was putting this together so atm it's 650W fully modular 80+ Gold PSU but that might change).

Everything between the baseline build and this one is possible.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($318.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.69 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97M Killer Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1051.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-02 05:50 EST-0500

#416
Cooler, RAM, GPU, PSU, ODD, possibly Case and Sound Card. If it's for TF2 CPU and mobo aswell.
Can't tell you to what you should change them though. I don't know what you want to do with it and you didn't specify a budget.

Specific parameters -> specific advice
One liners along the line(s) of "is something wrong with this" -> The answer will be "Yes" and nothing more.

#417
Come on we've been through this. You need to tell me your budget, I can't read your mind.
V300 is bad btw.
PC Case Gear only?
Also that shopping cart is cookie based if I'm not mistaken, no one will be able to see it.

Sorry it took so long. The Telekom, my ISP, is trying to switch to IPv6. The first and only test so far led to all 400000 connections that were involved being down for a while. I was spared but now they're pushing a mandatory firmware update that might prevent their system from going down next time. Turns out a lot of their modems/routers have never been compatible with the auto update system and haven't been updated in quite a while. Bonus points, since the server update went smoothly those modems now can't establish a connection, because after that update they won't accept the old legacy connections anymore. The technicians are now busy forcing the firmware update manually. We had a nice chat while the firmware update was installing, which took quite a while and since there was nothing better to do he also looked into some weird PPPoE issues that kept popping up after the every reconnect. While they are pretty much standard they shouldn't have persisted after the line reset and the firmware update. Turns out a port on their side has had a hardware failure for quite some time, it's getting replaced tomorrow. He also told me that unless a miracle happens if they use the current system (which is utter garbage, the first and so far only test confirmed all of their suspicions) every connection is going to go down when they switch to IPv6 in 2016. Let's hope the higher ups realise that a test that leads to 100% of the involved connections being down is not successful.

Overall I had a fun morning.

EDIT: Another deal update.

Sorry, my budget is $700

TF2 only or other games aswell? If yes, which and what settings/fps do you want to get at least. Streaming yes or no?

Depending on that there might even be enough left to put a 120GB SSD in it.

It would be nice to be able to stream but it is not necessary. I'd like to get 200+ fps on tf2 and csgo. I do not play on max settings.