PC Hardware Talk Megathread

[Hemi-Cuda]

Just pulled the trigger on my big 5 year upgrade. I'll use my existing GTX 970 for now and just upgrade that when it starts struggling

Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 w/ DDR4, Creative Sound Core3D, Dual GB Lan, SLI / 3-Way CrossFireX
ILC: 889523001424 SKU: MX58679

Intel Core™ i7-6700K Processor, 4.00GHz w/ 8MB Cache
ILC: 735858301619 SKU: MX58496

Corsair Dominator Platinum Series 16GB DDR4 3200MHz Kit (2x8GB), Black
ILC: 843591073073 SKU: MX61230

Samsung 850 Pro Series Solid State Drive, SATA III, 512GB
ILC: 887276057491 SKU: MX53728

[PsYcNeT]

Just an alert for people looking for 3rd party 1080s, MemEx just got a few dozen of the MSI ones in today. Bad part? They are $990(!).

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX62656

[Phaneufenstein]

So in simple terms, what's the difference between Founder's Edition and 3rd party?
Founder's is actually manufactured by Nvidia?

Are there advantages to 3rd party since it's more expensive?

[PsYcNeT]

3rd parties come in both more and less expensive flavors. FE seems to be more readily available, but the 3rd parties are usually factory-clocked higher, and the cooler is typically a bit better.

Items like the MSI Sea Hawk have closed-loop water blocks too, which are really enticing for some super heavy overclocking.

[Hemi-Cuda]

As a last minute splurge, I decided to ditch the SATA SSD and go for one of the new M.2 PCIe SSD drives

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX60082

My system is now at ludicrous speed. I have my account set to auto-login and I don't even see the login page now, it jumps straight from the Windows loading circle straight to usable desktop. Loading times in games are also pretty much a thing of the past. If you can afford the extra cash, I highly recommend switching from a SATA drive if you're on/buying a Z170 chipset

[DoubleK]

Hemi - what's the ballpark for a system like that?

[AcGold]

The best GPUs are the silent ones imo. A whisper quiet system is awsome.

[PsYcNeT]

Got a good deal on the MSI Gaming X 8G 1080 online. Apparently when running at stock speeds, they are whisper quiet. That said, lol stock speeds

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Hemi - what's the ballpark for a system like that?

About $1300 after tax. The deal that Memory Express has on the i7-6700k right now is amazing, which is why I pulled the trigger

[Max Cow Disease]

Can anyone offer a recommendation on a decent notebook-sized laptop that will do some gaming? I'd like to play some HOI4 and possibly Civ 5/6 on the road and am looking at the 13 inch size bracket. I've looked in to the Razer Blade which is obviously quite pricey, as well as the Alienware 13. Games like HOI obviously aren't the most demanding but I also don't want to skimp on specs and then regret it later for whatever reason.

I grabbed a Dell Inspiron from Bestbuy the other day but at 15 inches it was just a little too large for hauling around in my bag on flights. The 13 inch gaming laptop market seems to slowly be picking up but I'm still not sure which direction to head in.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by Max Cow Disease

Can anyone offer a recommendation on a decent notebook-sized laptop that will do some gaming? I'd like to play some HOI4 and possibly Civ 5/6 on the road and am looking at the 13 inch size bracket. I've looked in to the Razer Blade which is obviously quite pricey, as well as the Alienware 13. Games like HOI obviously aren't the most demanding but I also don't want to skimp on specs and then regret it later for whatever reason.

I grabbed a Dell Inspiron from Bestbuy the other day but at 15 inches it was just a little too large for hauling around in my bag on flights. The 13 inch gaming laptop market seems to slowly be picking up but I'm still not sure which direction to head in.

I'm always big on Lenovos for moderate priced portable gaming (last 2 gaming laptops anyway, switched from Dell/MSI).

The y700s are 14" but are a good price for the hardware:

http://shop.lenovo.com/ca/en/laptops.../y700-14-inch/

If you want to spend ~$2000, MemEx has this MSI on sale for 100 off with an extra 100 in a rebate (1899):

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX59878

Has a dope ass 970m in it too.

There is also a likelihood in the next 2-3 months NVidia and AMD will be dropping new mobile GPUs, so the older PCs will get cleared out for a discount.

[AcGold]

Recently went with a value build and I'm blown away by 2016 technology and how much you can get for your money these days. I was playing a game at 60fps maxed out, downloading another game and watching a show and the game didn't even slow down for a moment. Hello PC goodbye consoles. I haven't owned a decent PC since 2009 and it's truly glorious. Atleast triple the performance of a ps4. Went with a measly gtx960 and a i3-6100 but they crush everything so far. It's so silent too, everything runs around 35 degrees and the case is so aesthetic. It seems like 2016 is the year when PC's really became aesthetic with how the cases are designed. First PC I built was a monstrosity with cables barely fitting in when the case was closed. The cable pathways and universal layout of the motherboards now made it possible to build a new PC in less than 2 hours.

[Sluggo]

Anyone going to the Memex block Party? The Ramburgers last year were delish.

I recently baught a 1440p monitor and am eagerly awaiting word on the 480 before upgrading my card -other comparable cards should drop in price too if its as good as the hype-

[Regulator75]

Picked up this wireless PCI-E card last week. No issues yet, setup was simple and was working within seconds of installing.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...10395940.aspx?

Type PCI-E Adapter
Interface PCI Express
Wireless Standard IEEE 802.11ac; IEEE 802.11a; IEEE 802.11n; IEEE 802.11g; IEEE 802.11b
Speed 1900 Mbps

[chemgear]

[PsYcNeT]

^I'm feeling the same way. Took nearly a week but my 1080 came in today.

Will hook this sucker up and post results (and overclocking caps/voltages/temps etc) later on because why not.

EDIT: Also, assuming it works and isn't a dud, I'll be selling

1xEVGA GTX 980 SC w/ Reference Cooler (non ACX 2.0) - $375 OBO ($100 less than most on Kijiji)

1xEVGA GTX 680 Classified 4 GB - $200 OBO

EDIT 2: Posted ads in the ad section.

[PsYcNeT]

Alright so preliminary results are...okay.

I've clocked it up to

1354mhz Base/2050mhz Boost
11124mhz RAM
Stably running with a 38% fan speed (inaudible) not going over 64c

So far, in comparative speeds I'm seeing a literal 2.5% increase (in synthetic benchmarks) over my 2x980s.

So that's kind of meh, but it's still pretty impressive for a single card however. I'm #170 worldwide for a single 1080 on the Firestrike Extreme recordboard.

Pics because why not. The cooler is pretty ugly IMO but it works great:

[DownInFlames]

That is an ugly card, but I'm jealous you got a 1080. If I was buying one purely on looks I'd get the EVGA FTW. The power adapter (sold separately I think) really helps with cable management.

https://twitter.com/EVGA_JacobF/stat...66467273179136

[Regorium]

How long does it usually take for supply to stabilize and vendors to stop gouging?

I'm looking at the RX 480 and I haven't seen it in stock at any of the Canadian retailers since it's released to the point that I'm now looking at the GTX 1060, but then I'm sure I'm going to run into the same problem.

[PsYcNeT]

Depends. All the lower nm fabrication GPUs/CPUs have been in short supply since last August or so. Generally, 3-4 months after launch you will see a more stable supply.

Using an alert website like https://www.nowinstock.net/ca/ might help, but not always.

https://www.nowinstock.net/ca/comput...rds/amd/rx480/

http://www.nowinstock.net/ca/compute...vidia/gtx1060/

Note that they don't list stock for MemEx or Canada Computers for some reason.