PC Building Guide and Discussion #12

[kr580]

Sniper, osprey and pk, thanks for the input. I'll check some of that out.


Now on to a personal issue. I just got another monitor that has only one HDMI port and no DisplayPort or DVI. I have a 1060 video card with 1 DVI (in use currently), 1 HDMI (In use currently) and 3 DP. Didn't really think about that when ordering... Now I have to have some sort of cable adapter. What do I need to get my 1080p HDMI monitor plugged into my 1060's DP port? They have passive cables and active cables. Which one do I need? I haven't dealt with adapters since DVI decided to have 3 different options. Help!

 

[SniperHF]

I just got another monitor that has only one HDMI port

Maybe a silly question but.....does one of your other monitors have a display port?


Anyway if you have to use the adapter the active adapter would be needed most likely if it's a higher resolution monitor that's > 1080p.

But if it's 1080p a passive should work.

Make sure you get one that goes the right way. Some displayport adapters aren't two way so it needs to support a DP source to HDMI output.

 

[kr580]

Maybe a silly question but.....does one of your other monitors have a display port?


Anyway if you have to use the adapter the active adapter would be needed most likely if it's a higher resolution monitor that's > 1080p.

But if it's 1080p a passive should work.

Make sure you get one that goes the right way. Some displayport adapters aren't two way so it needs to support a DP source to HDMI output.

I've yet to own a device that has a DP port unfortunately. I'm a bargain buyer which means HDMI+VGA usually. All three are 1080p so it sounds like I'll try a passive cable. thanks for the help.

 

[SniperHF]

I've yet to own a device that has a DP port unfortunately.

There's really no benefit for most purposes. I prefer HDMI for general compatibility.

 

[guinness]

There's really no benefit for most purposes. I prefer HDMI for general compatibility.

Both will give fits with 4k, if not of the right version or cable type. I think DP is supposedly royalty free, while HDMI is not though. My TV requires HDMI 2.0 cables in order to get HDR (and do it at 4k).

In that regard, HDMI reminds me of USB C - same physical connector, but you're never sure what protocol you're going to be able to send across. USB 3.0 devices at least showed blue, vs not blue. Some day, it will be one connector to rule them all until someone comes up with a new standard, a la XKCD.

However, I have my 4k monitor over DP, and I would be hard pressed to tell a difference, other than the plug is different, and I use it because it came with a DP cable.

 

[kr580]

Anyway if you have to use the adapter the active adapter would be needed most likely if it's a higher resolution monitor that's > 1080p.

But if it's 1080p a passive should work.

Make sure you get one that goes the right way. Some displayport adapters aren't two way so it needs to support a DP source to HDMI output.

Got this adapter. Has DP source to HDMI output. Great success! Thanks again.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

This monitor is straight up nuts. Holy hell this is an experience. And I haven't even played a game yet .

 

[SwissGuy]

I was wondering if you guys could recommend me a PC build. I haven't built a PC before but it has always interested me and now that I have the funds I would like to do it. Here are a few notes of what I'm looking for:

- My budget is approximately $1000-$1500 CAD. If there's a dramatic change in performance I would be willing to spend to the higher end of that range.

- Main use for the PC would be general productivity (Excel, word etc.) and moderate gaming. I would like to play games on top settings 1080p if possible (Division, RS Siege, CIV6).

- No interest in overclocking at this time.

- I have a keyboard, mouse and monitor so no need to include that.

- I would like to have an SSD for at least the OS.

My plan would be to buy in the next couple weeks. Also if if you recommend any building guides or youtube videos that would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[mouser]

I was wondering if you guys could recommend me a PC build. I haven't built a PC before but it has always interested me and now that I have the funds I would like to do it. Here are a few notes of what I'm looking for:

- My budget is approximately $1000-$1500 CAD. If there's a dramatic change in performance I would be willing to spend to the higher end of that range.

- Main use for the PC would be general productivity (Excel, word etc.) and moderate gaming. I would like to play games on top settings 1080p if possible (Division, RS Siege, CIV6).

- No interest in overclocking at this time.

- I have a keyboard, mouse and monitor so no need to include that.

- I would like to have an SSD for at least the OS.

My plan would be to buy in the next couple weeks. Also if if you recommend any building guides or youtube videos that would be appreciated!

Thanks!

I've been looking at affordable builds for a buddy, and this is one of the best suggestion guides I've come across so far:

The Best $750 Budget Gaming PC Build - January 2019 | The Tech Buyer's Guru

The most obvious tweaks are things like memory and more/larger drives.

 

[SniperHF]

- Main use for the PC would be general productivity (Excel, word etc.) and moderate gaming. I would like to play games on top settings 1080p if possible (Division, RS Siege, CIV6).

One thing that's probably important to consider is that basically anything within reason can run 1080p at ultra settings. It's just a matter of how well it does it
This mostly depends on how much money you throw at your video card. In Canada that's somewhere between a $250 RX 570 or a $470 RTX 2060.

You can see benches of how each game you listed will run with each video card:
Palit GeForce RTX 2060 Gaming Pro OC 6 GB Review
Palit GeForce RTX 2060 Gaming Pro OC 6 GB Review

R6 and Civ VI will run on a toaster at 1080p. I'd stick to the cheaper card like a GTX 1060 6GB (do not get a 3GB) and then upgrade later if needed.

The Division seems to be the toughest one but it still manages 59 FPS average with a 1060 which is very playable:
Results: Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands and Tom Clancy’s The Division - Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Review: Is Mainstream Ray Tracing For Real?

So if you felt a burning desire to spend more money a little more video card wouldn't hurt for future proofing and better performance in The Division but it's not strictly necessary either.



The one mouser linked will certainly do the job (RX 580 video card, basically on par with a 1060), though I get kinda nervous at putting new money toward quad core only i3 CPUs.

- My budget is approximately $1000-$1500 CAD. If there's a dramatic change in performance I would be willing to spend to the higher end of that range.

For a slightly higher end take, I did this based on the Ryzen 5 2600.
CPU AMD RYZEN 5 2600 6-Core 3.4 GHz (3.9 GHz Max Boost) Socket AM4 65W YD2600BBAFBOX Desktop Processor - Newegg.ca
Board ASRock Fatal1ty B450 GAMING K4 AM4 AMD B450 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Newegg.ca
RAM CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Desktop Memory for AMD Ryzen Model CMK16GX4M2Z3200C16 - Newegg.ca
Case Rosewill ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case, Latching Tool-less Design of Drive Bays, Support up to 5 Fans - CHALLENGER S - Newegg.ca
Video Card ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1060 DirectX 12 ZT-P10620A-10M Video Card - Newegg.ca
Storage Crucial MX500 M.2 2280 500GB SATA III 3D NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) CT500MX500SSD4 - Newegg.ca
PSU EVGA 500 BR 100-BR-0500-K1 500W Power Supply - Newegg.ca

Toss in a copy of windows and it's $1,139.92 Canada bucks.
Maybe add a traditional HDD for storage.

For this I paid basically no consideration to aesthetics or noise btw, so if that's important you'll need to reconsider a few parts like the case and maybe the motherboard size.

 

[Dick Sledge]

So my PC was freezing a lot and getting not responding anytime I wanted to open up any application.

So I did a bios reset. Everything seems back to normal except it won't read my boot drive. I have to F1 it to manually boot from the drive for it to boot up.

This isn't a huge deal as it still works but has anyone had this happen and/or know any fixes?

 

[Hammettf2b]

I've had my 480 for a little over 2 years now. Guessing I'll have it at least through this year.

Brand new games right now aren't pushing things much right now.
Maybe the new Metro will.

The 480 is a great card.

I'm still more than happy with the 1080 (minus the cooling solution I have), but that won't stop me from window shopping hard.

The price increases to the top end hardware from both teams (as well as the crappy Canadian dollar) have forced me from enthusiast to budget gamer in the future though...

my RX480 4GB feels the crunch in some modern titles. thats why im looking to upgrade sometime soonish. especially for the games coming out soon

I have the RX 480 rog strix 8gb gaming and have been window shopping lately. Was looking in the the Vega cards. The fps differences seem pretty significant

 

[SniperHF]

So my PC was freezing a lot and getting not responding anytime I wanted to open up any application.

So I did a bios reset. Everything seems back to normal except it won't read my boot drive. I have to F1 it to manually boot from the drive for it to boot up.

This isn't a huge deal as it still works but has anyone had this happen and/or know any fixes?

If it's showing up in your boot manager (F1 I assume is your BIOSs shortcut for a boot menu?) Then your system is detecting it in some way.
I would double check the boot order defaults. Generally on new systems "windows boot manager" should be listed as an option and that's what you should have for the default.

I have the RX 480 rog strix 8gb gaming and have been window shopping lately. Was looking in the the Vega cards. The fps differences seem pretty significant

I think the games are behind the cards right now so it's a good time if you're interested in 1080p high refresh rate or 1440p.

BF V still gets over a 60 FPS average on older middle end cards like RX 570s @ 1080p. So if you have something like a 2060 or a Vega 64 you can get quite close to averaging a high refresh rate monitors max. Particularly if you knock down AA a bit.

But if you're like me and not buying a new monitor right now the old cards still work just fine.

One other thing that's interesting is the competition right now is pretty good with the mining craze over. Now we're back to getting nice game bundles. You can get Anthem, BF V, The Division and I think a few others right now depending on what you buy.

 

[Dick Sledge]

If it's showing up in your boot manager (F1 I assume is your BIOSs shortcut for a boot menu?) Then your system is detecting it in some way.
I would double check the boot order defaults. Generally on new systems "windows boot manager" should be listed as an option and that's what you should have for the default.

That's the thing though the boot sequence is set correctly. I even reversed it to my gaming drive as the boot then back to see if that would work.

I have an Asus motherboard. F1 is the only key you can hit to get to the bios once it tries to boot and gets past the delete key option.

So I have to hit f8 or f9, forget which, to get to the boot manager. Click on my ssd and it gets things rolling. Minor annoyance.

 

[Hammettf2b]

If it's showing up in your boot manager (F1 I assume is your BIOSs shortcut for a boot menu?) Then your system is detecting it in some way.
I would double check the boot order defaults. Generally on new systems "windows boot manager" should be listed as an option and that's what you should have for the default.




I think the games are behind the cards right now so it's a good time if you're interested in 1080p high refresh rate or 1440p.

BF V still gets over a 60 FPS average on older middle end cards like RX 570s @ 1080p. So if you have something like a 2060 or a Vega 64 you can get quite close to averaging a high refresh rate monitors max. Particularly if you knock down AA a bit.

But if you're like me and not buying a new monitor right now the old cards still work just fine.

One other thing that's interesting is the competition right now is pretty good with the mining craze over. Now we're back to getting nice game bundles. You can get Anthem, BF V, The Division and I think a few others right now depending on what you buy.

might need to upgrade my cpu as well. might do that first. i would need to replace my mb too though so im kinda torn on what I want to do first

 

[SniperHF]

That's the thing though the boot sequence is set correctly. I even reversed it to my gaming drive as the boot then back to see if that would work.

What is your motherboard?

You generally don't pick a drive specifically as the primary boot option. "Windows boot loader" will usually be listed without a specific drive associated to it.
Do you have another installation of Windows on one of those others drives? Maybe your BIOS is pointing at an old MBR somewhere. Or maybe after your BIOS reset your motherboard is in MBR only compatibility mode and not recognizing UEFI boot options.

 

[Dick Sledge]

What is your motherboard?

You generally don't pick a drive specifically as the primary boot option. "Windows boot loader" will usually be listed without a specific drive associated to it.
Do you have another installation of Windows on one of those others drives? Maybe your BIOS is pointing at an old MBR somewhere. Or maybe after your BIOS reset your motherboard is in MBR only compatibility mode and not recognizing UEFI boot options.

Asus x470 prime pro.

All the drives were brand new with only my ssd having a fresh windows install.

I'm not sure what's going on. I'll keep digging.

What is this MBR mode you speak of?

 

[SniperHF]

What is this MBR mode you speak of?

Basically there are two types of boot records, GPT and the older MBR.
This should only be a factor with a board older than yours. A brand new board on a Windows 10 install should always default to GPT.

But you do apparently have the option:

All of these settings control what type of devices and boot records you can use. By default everything *should* be using auto, which would be automatically selecting UEFI.


But that it will boot when you manually go into the BIOS (and that your hardware is recent) still makes me think you are doing something wrong in selecting your boot order and that this isn't the problem.

If you can take a picture of all the options available between the boot priority and the hard disk priority (these are usually separate menus)

 

[God King Fudge]

Just bought a 1TB SSD and I am done with the upgrading.

Did a lot to the PC in 2018. I think the only thing still existing from my old one is one of my HDDs and my PSU.

Bought RE2, cranked everything to Ultra and it ran beautifully. First new release graphically intensive game that I've played on this system. Feelsgoodman. This thread has been a lifesaver multiple times. Many appreciations to those who answer questions/give advice.

 

[SniperHF]

I think the only thing still existing from my old one

The oldest thing in my system is my motherboard (2012). I think that's the longest lasting significant component I've ever had.
Which is unfortunately kinda boring since I like system building but there's just no reason to upgrade the thing

Overclocked my 3770k is competitive with an 8600k.

 

[Smoke]

AMD, Nvidia GPUs at Risk as TSMC Halts Production Amid Chemical Contamination




Get your GPU's now folks...

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Since I have my monitor now, I'd kill for a 2080 Ti. But goddamn that is too much money.

 

[Dick Sledge]

Basically there are two types of boot records, GPT and the older MBR.
This should only be a factor with a board older than yours. A brand new board on a Windows 10 install should always default to GPT.

But you do apparently have the option:
View attachment 180285

All of these settings control what type of devices and boot records you can use. By default everything *should* be using auto, which would be automatically selecting UEFI.


But that it will boot when you manually go into the BIOS (and that your hardware is recent) still makes me think you are doing something wrong in selecting your boot order and that this isn't the problem.

If you can take a picture of all the options available between the boot priority and the hard disk priority (these are usually separate menus)

I have some things I want to accomplish with it already booted up. Once I can I'll take pics.

 

[Osprey]

I was cleaning out some of my old parts tonight and came across an 80GB hard drive. I was surprised that I would still have something so small. I recently bought a couple of microSD cards that are higher capacity than that. I have a whole bunch of 500GB drives that are still useful (mainly for backups and old data) and that I can't justify trashing just yet, but I can't do much of anything with an 80GB... except maybe install one recent game on it (not that I would, though, since it's IDE).

 

[SniperHF]

I was cleaning out some of my old parts tonight and came across an 80GB hard drive. I was surprised that I would still have something so small. I recently bought a couple of microSD cards that are higher capacity than that. I have a whole bunch of 500GB drives that are still useful (mainly for backups and old data) and that I can't justify trashing just yet, but I can't do much of anything with an 80GB... except maybe install one recent game on it (not that I would, though, since it's IDE).

I've got a 10GB Seagate
I did get rid of most of my other parts from that era though.