Yet another PC build thread....help!

  • Thread starter CodeRedR51
  • 75 comments
  • 4,155 views
Solid stuff dude, altough I don't know how upgradeable your MoBo might be, but pretty good for the price đź‘Ť
 
R1600Turbo
My current ethernet card only works with a wired connection. I want to switch to one that is capable of using Wifi. Where do I start?
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If you don't want to switch out the entire card, I have one of these that has worked well so far.
 
So....based on my specs on the 1st page, I was thinking about doing some upgrades soon. Anyone PC tech savvy want to recommend a first upgrade? I was going to start with doubling the RAM to 16GB, but wanted opinions first.
 
Ameer67
Overkill.
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It isn't really though. If we were talking about something stupid like 64GB I would agree but 16GB is the sweet spot.

I'd go with the extra RAM and a SSD to start with if it doesn't already have one.
 
TB
I have 16Gb in mine and have never used it. If @R1600Turbo works on large image/video editing or something similar, then the extra RAM would be justified.

If you're looking for an upgrade you'll actually use every day, I'd go with an SSD.
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I do plan on starting a YouTube channel in the next few months so it could help. I assume to switch hard drives I need to transfer all my files to an external drive first, install the SDD, then transfer them back?
 
I got an email this morning from Newegg advertising a 250GB Samsung SSD for $100 with free shipping. Anyone heard anything bad about Samsung SSD's?
 
R1600Turbo
I got an email this morning from Newegg advertising a 250GB Samsung SSD for $100 with free shipping. Anyone heard anything bad about Samsung SSD's?
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If you subscribe to Newegg newsletter and use the following code: EMCANAW22

Should make it $89.99 and decent deal and good brand to get.
 
Saidur_Ali
If you subscribe to Newegg newsletter and use the following code: EMCANAW22

Should make it $89.99 and decent deal and good brand to get.
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Alright, now I just have to figure out how to swap the OS over to it. Then I can use the 1TB HDD I have in it now as an external to hold all my games, etc.
 
Maybe best to reinstall OS on SSD instead of trying to move it over. You can use 1TB internally still to hold all your games and other stuff.
 
Saidur_Ali
Maybe best to reinstall OS on SSD instead of trying to move it over. You can use 1TB internally still to hold all your games and other stuff.
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How does one reinstall the OS if they bought their system second hand? I have the product ID but no software.
 
R1600Turbo
How does one reinstall the OS if they bought their system second hand? I have the product ID but no software.
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Do you have the product ID? or is it the product key?
For new installation, you need the key, that contains 25 characters xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
The product id will not be accepted (xxxxx-OEM-xxxxxxx-xxxxx)

\edit, i gave some links for freeware product key finders, but i'm not sure it is within the AUP( after reading it again).
I don't know if freeware key finders are illegal or not according to Microsoft.
This AUP rule is the reason i edited my post "allow unlawful access to any computer software or systems"
 
Korza
It isn't really though. If we were talking about something stupid like 64GB I would agree but 16GB is the sweet spot.

I'd go with the extra RAM and a SSD to start with if it doesn't already have one.
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8gb is enough, I did a test the other day since I'm building a new PC to see if I needed more and with Battlefield 4, spotify, google chrome with multiple tabs, fraps, msi afterburner and loads of my usual apps that run in the background my ram never went over 6gb.
 
dddsprayshop
Do you have the product ID? or is it the product key?
For new installation, you need the key, that contains 25 characters xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
The product id will not be accepted (xxxxx-OEM-xxxxxxx-xxxxx)

\edit, i gave some links for freeware product key finders, but i'm not sure it is within the AUP( after reading it again).
I don't know if freeware key finders are illegal or not according to Microsoft.
This AUP rule is the reason i edited my post "allow unlawful access to any computer software or systems"
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Forgot to reply to this, my product ID does not have the "OEM" in it.
 
I've held off on the SSD but I do have another question. When I play GTAV on my PC, I'm starting to get FPS drops and I think I can attribute this to all the car modifications I have installed. Most of them are large file size so the game is struggling with their enhanced quality over a normal GTA vehicle. I used to get ~60 FPS consistently, now I see drops into the 40's.

Can I remedy this with a newer graphics card, or is it even worth it to upgrade the graphics card without updating the processor as well?

AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB
Intel i5 4430 3GHz
 
If you haven't swapped to an SSD yet, I recommend doing it as soon as possible. No better upgrade to improve system response. You could use something like Clonezilla but there's plenty of migration tools out there without needing to do a clean install.

If you've installed a few mods for GTAV, there's a chance you're running out of VRAM. Check in the graphics options to see how much you're using. Worthwhile keeping an eye on the temperature too. Afterburner is my go to app but Precision X works just as well. If the temps are ok, you could do a bit of overclocking (PSU dependent) for some free performance...if you ignore the electricity bill.

The 7970 is fine (the newer 280X is a rebrand of it but only slightly quicker) for the game but there's also a chance your CPU is slightly bottle necking the performance. It shouldn't be but you could check it by alt tabbing/windows key out and checking the performance in task manager. The i5 4430 should be ok but it's on the 1150 platform so plenty of options available. A 4690 (non K version) is a good all rounder and will slot straight in. That's worst case though as you might be ok with what you have.

If you haven't already, right click GTAV.exe, set the priority to high/real time to give it more background resources.

If you want to make a note of the windows product key, Magical Jellybean key finder will get it. In case you wanted to do a clean install that is. It's a well known app for getting product keys from the registry, been around for years and very safe.
 
R1600Turbo
I've held off on the SSD but I do have another question. When I play GTAV on my PC, I'm starting to get FPS drops and I think I can attribute this to all the car modifications I have installed. Most of them are large file size so the game is struggling with their enhanced quality over a normal GTA vehicle. I used to get ~60 FPS consistently, now I see drops into the 40's.

Can I remedy this with a newer graphics card, or is it even worth it to upgrade the graphics card without updating the processor as well?

AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB
Intel i5 4430 3GHz
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Yeah you're probably running out of VRAM, if you want to check you will need a GPU monitor like MSI afterburner. The in-game VRAM estimate is wildly inaccurate, mine says 2.4gb when it's actually using 3.5. And yeah there's so many graphics settings you can always turn things down until you get a solid 60fps again.
 
TiZzla
Yeah you're probably running out of VRAM, if you want to check you will need a GPU monitor like MSI afterburner. The in-game VRAM estimate is wildly inaccurate, mine says 2.4gb when it's actually using 3.5. And yeah there's so many graphics settings you can always turn things down until you get a solid 60fps again.
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I had Afterburner but deleted it since I wasn't using it. I had downloaded it when I thought of over clocking my graphics card but didn't trust myself not to screw it up so I gave up on the idea. I have most of the settings in GTA on high, some things turned off and others I can't use with my system. The "memory usage" thing at the top is in the green, but not sure if that really means anything.
 
R1600Turbo
I had Afterburner but deleted it since I wasn't using it. I had downloaded it when I thought of over clocking my graphics card but didn't trust myself not to screw it up so I gave up on the idea. I have most of the settings in GTA on high, some things turned off and others I can't use with my system. The "memory usage" thing at the top is in the green, but not sure if that really means anything.
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Nah don't trust that memory usage thing, afterburner is great as you monitor everything including cpu usage, gpu usage, vram etc so you can see what is causing the frame drops. I have everything turned all the way up with MSAA off and I do get drops every now and then but nothing less than 50fps on a GTX970 and it's constantly using 3.5gb.
 
I never checked up on the VRAM usage indicator. Thinking it would only be ~10% or so either way but it's a good 30% too optimistic. Thanks for putting me right.

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I'd say you're definitely bouncing off system resources with your frame rate drops. Especially with mods.

Not much point overclocking till you get it within limits but I had mine at 1200 core and 6500 memory for a good 8-10fps extra @1080 in most games. My case was well ventilated with 10 AF120's though so your results may vary.
 

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