Post your setup!

[MrSandvich]

Hey, first time poster here. Been watching Ross's content for about five or maybe six years, but only just joined the forum. Since I'm a PC guy I thought I'd drop by this thread. What do you guys think?

 

MB: Asrock Z77E-ITX (Mini-ITX, Socket 1155)

CPU: Intel i5-2500 (Locked, Non-K version)

CPU Cooler: Stock Intel Cooler (Unfortunately)

RAM: 2x Kingston 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 (in Dual Channel)

GPU: XFX R9 270 (Aftermarket model with two fans)

PSU: Corsair CX500 (80 Plus Bronze, no modularity)

Case: Corsair 250D (Mini-ITX, cube-like case)

Storage: 1 Kingston 240GB SATA SSD, 1 Seagate 1TB HDD

Monitor: AOC 23' IPS screen (1080p, 2ms response time)

 

Been running this system mostly since 2012, barring a couple hardware changes here and there, and it can run most recent games in 1080p satisfactorily in about 25-40 fps. The CPU does, however, thermal throttle like a bastard because of the stock cooler. It often hovers around 85-95ºC (185-203F) and underclocks automatically to manage the overheating, but thankfully it isn't much of a problem since GPU bottlenecks everything anyway...

[BTGBullseye]

Not too bad... You can get an aftermarket cooler for around $20 that will drop your temps, but it's most likely the thermal compound you're using. I suggest any of the Prolimatech brand thermal pastes, they don't dry out, and they are very inexpensive for some of the best compound available.

 

You might have a noticeable speed increase if you up your RAM to a pair of 4-8GB sticks @1800MHz+. (should improve frame rates by 4-10 FPS if the game is really large, or uses a lot of RAM)

[J.C.]

This is my new rig.

 

 

 

[BTGBullseye]

Looks nice! (though IMO, you're putting your system at risk by using W10 instead of 7)

[J.C.]

You know, I was very skeptical of Windows 10, that's why I kept my old machine with 7, but after using it for like a month now, I think It'll be ok. I've disabled as much of MS's spyware as I could find, and have had no problems with unwanted reboots. Still a bit suspicious, but it's working.

[BTGBullseye]

I'm still wary of it despite everything, partially because I've read the list of info they gather when their 'telemetry' is set to the lowest it can go, and because there's still no way to avoid an update for long enough that a problem doesn't occur. (like happened with one of my W10 VMs, where it didn't like the VM 'hardware' so it refused to run for the next 6 months while MS fixed the problem)

[Luis]

Hey, first time poster here. Been watching Ross's content for about five or maybe six years, but only just joined the forum. Since I'm a PC guy I thought I'd drop by this thread. What do you guys think?

 

MB: Asrock Z77E-ITX (Mini-ITX, Socket 1155)

CPU: Intel i5-2500 (Locked, Non-K version)

CPU Cooler: Stock Intel Cooler (Unfortunately)

RAM: 2x Kingston 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 (in Dual Channel)

GPU: XFX R9 270 (Aftermarket model with two fans)

PSU: Corsair CX500 (80 Plus Bronze, no modularity)

Case: Corsair 250D (Mini-ITX, cube-like case)

Storage: 1 Kingston 240GB SATA SSD, 1 Seagate 1TB HDD

Monitor: AOC 23' IPS screen (1080p, 2ms response time)

 

Been running this system mostly since 2012, barring a couple hardware changes here and there, and it can run most recent games in 1080p satisfactorily in about 25-40 fps. The CPU does, however, thermal throttle like a bastard because of the stock cooler. It often hovers around 85-95ºC (185-203F) and underclocks automatically to manage the overheating, but thankfully it isn't much of a problem since GPU bottlenecks everything anyway...

 

 

Hey Nice setup! You can breath new life to the 2500 with an after market cooler as BTG said. I've been wanting to go Mini ITX for a while now. I love my CM690II but it's a bit too big sometimes you know? I think you could get better FPS with a GPU upgrade and a nice cooler, that 2500 should have similar performance to my 4430, you could go nuts with a 1060 or 480-580.

 

Btw, I had that power supply from my old setup and when I got my new PC some months ago my new motherboard kept warning me about overload protection when booting to the point i had to disable that to boot. It was able to run my system with a 1070 but after a couple of weeks it turned really unstable (the PSU had like 2 years with me) and at the end I had to return that 1070 under warranty, it burned a friend's motherboard when we tired it on his system and got another one but also decided to upgrade my PSU to be safe.

 

What I wanted to say is, I had an issue with it so be careful

[MrSandvich]

Hey Nice setup! You can breath new life to the 2500 with an after market cooler as BTG said. I've been wanting to go Mini ITX for a while now. I love my CM690II but it's a bit too big sometimes you know? I think you could get better FPS with a GPU upgrade and a nice cooler, that 2500 should have similar performance to my 4430, you could go nuts with a 1060 or 480-580.

 

Btw, I had that power supply from my old setup and when I got my new PC some months ago my new motherboard kept warning me about overload protection when booting to the point i had to disable that to boot. It was able to run my system with a 1070 but after a couple of weeks it turned really unstable (the PSU had like 2 years with me) and at the end I had to return that 1070 under warranty, it burned a friend's motherboard when we tired it on his system and got another one but also decided to upgrade my PSU to be safe.

 

What I wanted to say is, I had an issue with it so be careful

 

I did just that, I bought a CoolerMaster TX3 Evo for my 2500 and it works like a charm! Cheap, very easy installation, no backplate required, and it fits perfectly on my 250D case, with only 5-10mm of height to spare. Cools it very well too, I stress tested it with the Mersenne prime number test with a MB auto-overclock setting on (4.0 GHz, up from 3.70), with temperatures hovering around 80-85°C. I could've gone with an AIO but I figured it's overkill, overcomplicated and overpriced too, given my PC specs.

 

If you're interested in going Mini-ITX, I'd recommend my case, the Corsair 250D. In terms of Mini-ITX it's a bit bulky, but it has great support for standard ATX specs, like full ATX PSUs, 2 HDD and 2 SSD slots, a long and tall GPU card slot, and great CPU cooler support. Feels like an ATX system I can carry with one arm, you know?

 

And funny you say that about the PSU model I have. When I bought a GTS 450 (that Fermi architecture nearly burned down my house, BTW) for my system I needed a new PSU, so I bought a Thermaltake model, which lasted about 6 months. Then I bought a CoolerMaster model, which lasted maybe 3 or 4 months. Then I bought my current Corsair PSU, which I've been using ever since! I could've RMA'd the broken PSUs, but the international shipping prices were nearly the price of a new model, so I just chose to buy new ones. I guess the reliability of the PSUs is down to the individual part, sometimes. Especially when you're purchasing from such "middle-tier" brands, which could or could not burn down your house and pets! If Seasonic distributed their PSUs here in Brazil I'd buy one in a heartbeat, but unfortunately they and other reputable brands don't distribute here, so all we have left are the likes of Corsair and Coolermaster. #LatinAmericaProblems

[BTGBullseye]

If Seasonic distributed their PSUs here in Brazil I'd buy one in a heartbeat

FYI, Seasonic is riding on their old reputation... They actually average the same fail rate now as the other brands. (and have for the past 10 years)

 

Some of the best brands right now are Rosewill, LEPA, Antec, Raidmax, EVGA, and Seasonic. If you see them on the shelf, they are most likely to survive for longer. Make sure to pad your wattage requirements though. (if you pad by 100-150w, it averages double the lifespan of a PSU that just meets your wattage requirements; if you pad by 200w, it averages triple the lifespan)

[sheridanm962]

Just upgraded Motherboard and CPU.

 

I now have an i5 3570 that I found used for $50 NZD

The motherboard I'm using at the moment isn't that great, cost $30. At least it's a placeholder till my other one gets here.

The SATA ports are put in a stupid spot so that all my cables get squashed by my GTX 760.

 

I'm also using a stock cooler that doesn't have a copper slug which has been installed with cable ties because I'm missing some of the push pins and one doesn't lock down. Well, if it works it works. Temperatures are fine.

 

My Xeon X5450 with an LGA 771 to 775 mod worked well for what I needed it for, it's basically an Intel Core 2 Quad QX9650 that I got 2 years ago for the same price I got the 3570 for now. I would've used the beefy 130W TDP cooler from that (If I had an LGA 1155 bracket), but that's overkill and I'm going to be putting that motherboard and CPU in my girlfriends computer that I'm building for her. At least till I can find another LGA 1155 CPU like I did for cheap (She won't mind if her SATA Cables are squashed).

 

The best thing I'd have to say is that I just got another motherboard shipping my way which has more SATA ports (need more than 4) and everything is spaced out really well. I can certainly say that having PCI-Express 3.0 over 1.1 feels like a breath of fresh air, not handicapping my GTX 760.

[sheridanm962]

Far Cry 5 running like a dream.

CPU: Intel Core i5 3570
GPU: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB
PSU: Corsair CX750W 
RAM: 8GB DDR3
OS: Windows 10 Pro (X64) 
Monitor 1: Samsung 51" 1080p TV
Monitor 2: Dell ST2310 1080p
Motherboard: Gigabyte H67MA-UD2H-B3
Mouse: Logitech G500S (3600 DPI, switched to 800DPI Gaming)
Controller: Xbone Controller
Speakers: Line6 Spider IV Guitar Amp/TV HDMI
HDD1: Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 160GB
HDD2: Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 2TB
HDD3: Seagate Momentus C 7200RPM 1TB 
HDD4: Hitachi 7200RPM 320GB
HDD5: Hitachi 5400RPM 750GB

[Luis]

6 hours ago, sheridanm962 said:

Far Cry 5 running like a dream.

CPU: Intel Core i5 3570
GPU: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB
PSU: Corsair CX750W 
RAM: 8GB DDR3
OS: Windows 10 Pro (X64) 
Monitor 1: Samsung 51" 1080p TV
Monitor 2: Dell ST2310 1080p
Motherboard: Gigabyte H67MA-UD2H-B3
Mouse: Logitech G500S (3600 DPI, switched to 800DPI Gaming)
Controller: Xbone Controller
Speakers: Line6 Spider IV Guitar Amp/TV HDMI
HDD1: Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 160GB
HDD2: Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 2TB
HDD3: Seagate Momentus C 7200RPM 1TB 
HDD4: Hitachi 7200RPM 320GB
HDD5: Hitachi 5400RPM 750GB

 

Nice GPU upgrade! Those 3rd/4th gen i5s, even the 2nd gen, have great performance for 1080p gaming. 

[Alyxx Thorne]

I recently built a new PC. Here are the specs:

Case: Cooler Master HAF X Big Tower Black
Motherboard: ASUS Prime X370-A
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 1800X with Cooler Master Hyper 212 Turbo Red LED fan
GPU: ASUS RX 580 ROG Strix Gaming 8GB
RAM: 16GB G.Skill FlareX DDR4 3200Hz
Storage: 250GB Samusing 970 EVO m.2, 5TB 7200rpm SATA drive
OS: Windows 10
PSU: Corsair RM1000X

[Luis]

Hey  

I recently upgraded my motherboard, CPU and RAM. I went from an i5 4430, Asus Z87-K and 8 GB of RAM at 1600Mhz to an i5 8400, an Asus Z370-A prime and 8gb of ram @ 2133 Mhz (cheap ass ram) but this serves me well for now. I basically wanted to get better minimum FPS in PUBG as the war modes that concentrate tens of players in small spots made my framerate drop to 30s and 40s. Now it's more like 40s and 50s lol.  Kept the 1070, CM 690II, Seasonic 620w PSU, storage, 212X and optical drives from before  I'm thinking about a VR headset now but I need to get stuff like new speakers and a DAC before that.

[sheridanm962]

On 10/17/2018 at 5:18 PM, Luis said:

Nice GPU upgrade! Those 3rd/4th gen i5s, even the 2nd gen, have great performance for 1080p gaming. 

Yeah, although people are right when they say this thing runs hot.

What I've noticed is that either MSI and/or AMD have ramped up the voltage a bit too high.
I've undervolted it and I can still manage a core overclock of 1070MHz (stock is 1000MHz and Factory OC is 1040MHz).

Before, I used to hit about 74C max on load with an idle temp of about 50C, now I hit a max of around 60-65C and an Idle Temp of 40C with a custom fan profile in MSI Afterburner (hated how they made the fans turn off, it's stupid).

[pimpmasterx7]

my build:

case: coolermaster H500

cpu: ryzen 7 1700 @3.7 on all cores (easy oc )

cpu cooler: stock wraithspire

gpu: gigabyte gaming 8g 1070 ti

ram: 16gb 2666 crucial ballistix

mobo: Asus b350-f rog strix

ssd's: 1 adata sx7000 nvme ,1 sandisk ultra 2 (both 500gb) and two 480gb teamgroup l5 lites's in raid 0

HD: 1tb wd blue 7200 rpm

ps: be quiet pure power 10 600watt 80+ silver

[BTGBullseye]

Well, I'm building a PC for my brother. It's going to be the most powerful gaming PC in my family, despite being under $850, and beating out my nephew's system from last year that came in over $2500 after everything.

 

Case: Thermaltake Versa H15 Black ($35)

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-AB350M-DS3H ($60)

CPU: RYZEN 3 2200G ($100)

RAM: Team T-Force Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 14-16-16-31 ($95)

SSD: Mushkin Enhanced Reactor MKNSSDRE500GB ($60)

PSU: Rosewill Glacier Series 500W ($45)

Case Fans: 3x Rosewill RFA-120-K ($7 each)

Optical Drive: LG Internal 24x DVD Burner GH24NSC0B ($18)

Monitor: MSI Optix MAG241C ($190)

GPU: XFX Radeon RX 580 GTS Black Edition ($200)

Keyboard and Mouse: Already purchased last year, inexpensive good quality wireless combo

 

Should be able to max out all but a very small number of the most resource hungry games, and still get 60FPS or better.

Edited December 25, 2018 by BTGBullseye (see edit history)

[BTGBullseye]

Update: It works great. Had to change a very hidden setting to keep the monitor from going berserk when using the DisplayPort though. Can't find a game that drops the framerate below 30 with any normal settings combo. (will if forced supersampling is used though, but only on a few)

[BTGBullseye]

Update #2: Wattage used sits around 75w idle on the desktop in W10 Poo. (sorry, Pro) Max draw, with all possible ways to draw maxed out, (including overclocking the CPU and GPU) just under 300w. This is actually an extremely ideal wattage draw for a 500w PSU, as lower draw makes it last longer, and stay cooler.

 

CPU overclocked to a fixed 3.7GHz (no variable Turbo mode that doesn't actually work) and undervolted to 1.25v (down from 1.4v) means that the CPU stays under 90°c at all times using the stock air cooler. (AMD Wraith Stealth, it's not too bad if you remove the stock thermal paste and replace it with Prolimatech PK-3)

 

GPU comes at stock speeds with instructions for overclocking manually. This is not a bad thing, but many don't understand how to do it properly without destroying their GPU. The company tests their GPUs for stable overclocking performance, and markets them with and "OC+" rating, telling you what it is stable at. Going over that is not stable in any way ever. The one I got is a 1405/2025 (core/VRAM) overclock capable card. At that overclock, with adjusted fan speeds, (linear increase from 30°c to 60°c from 35% to 100% fan speed) makes the GPU max out at 62°c. If I had the 100% fan speed set to 65°c, it would never get used. Default settings are meant to reduce noise, but it's so quiet anyways that it doesn't matter.

 

Found a setting that massively improved framerates on this card, and apparently does so for all of this type of card... I switched the "Workload" setting from its default of "Graphics" to "Compute", and gained about 10% performance in some of the more demanding games/programs/benchmarks while simultaneously reducing GPU temps by 1°-2°. This is a very common performance improvement level for these cards, and no one outside of AMD seems to know what it's actually doing to achieve this, as there is no difference whatsoever in visual quality or fidelity according to multiple sources. (including me) Also seems to reduce the screen "flicker" somewhat when using FreeSync. (though it is still there)

[BTGBullseye]

Currently saving to build myself a new gaming system. Will be buying the monitor tomorrow. (monitor first because it'll be less stressful on my eyes than the cheap laptop display I'm using now, despite it being complete overkill for what my laptop can do for gaming)

 

Monitor: MSI Optix MAG241C - https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824475017 - $204 ($194 after $10 rebate)

Case: Antec Performance Series P5 - https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129239 - $60

Additional Case Fans: Fractal Design Venturi HP - https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835352022 - $13 x 3

PSU: Rosewill Glacier Series 700W - https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182341 - $60

Motherboard: GIGABYTE B450M DS3H - https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813145083 - $68

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2400G - https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113480 - $150

RAM: G.SKILL Sniper X 32GB DDR4 3200 16-18-18-38 - https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232711 - $190

NVMe: ADATA XPG SX6000 Lite 512GB - https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820246011 - $70

GPU: GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 2080 Ti - https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814932079 - $1150 (to be purchased a couple of months after the rest of the system)

 

Under $850 for the initial system, and under $2000 for the final build. The initial system is about 5x better than the 7 year old laptop I'm using now, and will definitely hold me over until I can get the RTX. At that point, I will be hard pressed to find a game that will ever drop below 60FPS at any settings.

 

[EDIT] Added the NVMe drive. It isn't mandatory, but save me a LOT of time and effort to have, plus it's worth the price for the extra performance over what I was going to use. (a Mushkin Enhanced ECO2 512GB SSD)