Questions about two pre-built PCs and upgrading a custom build.

[G3istly]

..........

[Remilia]

Any budget in mind?
The Digital Storm one costs $650 no rebate provided you build it yourself. It does a bit better on the CPU side than the Cyberpower but that's about it.
I'd be wary of Corsair CX ones as they are well, meh. Their higher ends AX/AXi are pretty good but that's really out of budget range. At least according to Jonnyguru, Corsair is changing all their product lines, hopefully for the better.

For your custom one, a R9 280x/285 or GTX 960 would suffice as an upgrade. Maybe a better / quieter cooler.

Blanket monitor suggestions.

Dell U2414H
Eizo FS2434
BenQ GW2765HT

Crucial MX200/BX100 are my go to SSDs atm.

[G3istly]

Any budget in mind?
The Digital Storm one costs $650 no rebate provided you build it yourself. It does a bit better on the CPU side than the Cyberpower but that's about it.
I'd be wary of Corsair CX ones as they are well, meh. Their higher ends AX/AXi are pretty good but that's really out of budget range. At least according to Jonnyguru, Corsair is changing all their product lines, hopefully for the better.

For your custom one, a R9 280x/285 or GTX 960 would suffice as an upgrade. Maybe a better / quieter cooler.

Blanket monitor suggestions.

Dell U2414H
Eizo FS2434
BenQ GW2765HT

What difference would a better CPU make? The cooler is quiet enough as it is but I would rather avoid upgrading that unless absolutely necessary. I don't want anything to do with Dell and if you could post links to your suggestions, I would appreciate that.

[Remilia]

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/eizo-monitor-fs2434bk
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/benq-monitor-gw2765ht
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial...ct250bx100ssd1

Eizo is sort of a premium/professional monitor manufacturer. Similar to NEC, they're the only ones offer more than the typical 30 day panel defect, 1 year panel failure and 3 year build warranty. As opposed to the 3 year panel, 5 year build warranty that Eizo gives. NEC is 4 years panel and build I believe.

I have GW2765HT, FG2421 and U2414H (U2415 also but not me, someone else in the house) in use and the FS2434 also reviewed really well on prad.de. All of the aforementioned really are pretty good. FG2421 has a small amount of issue calibrating provided you have a device that can do it anyways.

Also forgot there's this.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=REG&A=details

[G3istly]

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/eizo-monitor-fs2434bk
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/benq-monitor-gw2765ht
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial...ct250bx100ssd1

Eizo is sort of a premium monitor manufacturer. Similar to NEC, they're the only ones offer more than the typical 30 day panel defect, 1 year panel failure and 3 year build warranty. As opposed to the 3 year panel, 5 year build warranty that Eizo gives. NEC is 4 years panel and build I believe.

I have GW2765HT, FG2421 and U2414H/U2415 (well not me but in the house) in use and the FS2434 also reviewed really well on prad.de. All of the aforementioned really are pretty good. FG2421 has a small amount of issue calibrating provided you have a device that can do it anyways.

I am grateful for the help but you're going to have to talk to me and help me as if I were a child because of all this looks like random numbers and it's confusing my peanut-sized brain.

[Remilia]

Eizo / Dell are 1920x1080 60Hz IPS with a normal sRGB (what pretty much every non professional work uses) color production. Both have very good factory set calibration and don't have to worry about fiddling with the settings yourself other than brightness maybe.
Eizo has a few extra convenience things like ambient light sensor (eco mode) so it dims / brightens depending on environmental lighting. EV2450 has a human motion sensor.

BenQ GW2765HT is an AHVA (IPS-type) 2560x1440 at 27". Very good default although a bit on the warm (reddish) side out of box. It does lack the USB hubs like the Eizo/Dell ones but it is cheap and good for a 2560x1440 monitor.

AHVA/IPS are just panel types. For the most part, they have better viewing angle (compared to a TN/and older VAs) and in turn, visually better color stability throughout the entire panel. Whether you care about that is a different thing.

They're all really well rounded monitors.

[G3istly]

Thank you. I would, however, like some others to give their input before I make a decision.

[chazus]

I have the EXACT same system you do. 3570K, Geforce 660, even an XFX PSU

What games feel lacking?

EDIT: Also, Remilia really knows their shit when it comes to monitors. Their advice is sound in that regard, whatever it is.

[Kagthul]

Right now I'm trying to decide between this Cyberpower PC and this Vanquish 3 (Level One) from Digital Storm. Since my knowledge of computer hardware is non-existent, I don't know which is better or why. Also, I have this AMD CPU and I'm wondering if it's compatible with either of those and if so, would it be a good idea to swap them out? By the way, will either of those run Grand Theft Auto V well on decent settings?

---

That aside, I had someone build me a custom computer about a year or so ago and I've noticed with certain modern games, it's a bit lacking so I'm looking to upgrade it. This is the list of parts I was given to buy from someone here (though the graphics card is different from the original suggestion):

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)

As I was not the one who ordered and put the parts together, I am not 100% certain those are the exact ones but I can check if told how. Anyway, I assume I need a better graphics card and more RAM but I was also looking to get a second monitor and/or replace my first monitor and maybe an SSD if possible. Mostly because there are constant loading screens in Grand Theft Auto V and I want to minimize them as much as I can. My monitor is an LG model 22EA53 but if possible I would like to get two of something bigger and better.

Lastly, if there any instructional guides or videos on how to properly install parts and clean a PC, I would really appreciate them.

Uhh.. im unsure what you're asking here. Are you doing -both- ? Like, buying a prebuilt AND upgrading your custom? Or are you asking which would be a better option?

For the prebuild, honestly, the CPU is still EXTREMELY solid, 8GB of RAM is plenty for just gaming... the only thing that might be holding you back in super-modern games is the GTX 660 (which is no slouch but i can see some bleeding-edge games maybe having an issue at 1080p High+ maintaining 60fps..).

If that's your major complaint... upgrade to a GTX 970 and call it a day, which you can do for ~310$, and dont even consider ordering one of those prebuilts.

- - - Updated - - -

If you're -also- considering buying a prebuilt (say, for someone else or something), of the two, the Digital Storm is a much more solid machine for gaming. That Cyberpower uses a relatively junky AMD chip that i really cant recommend to anyone.

You'd save a bundle either way by simply buying the parts that are used and building it yourself.

-IF- its a "upgrade existing machine" OR "buy new machine" -

Upgrade the existing rig. Overclock the CPU, and get a newer GPU, which will be half the price or less of getting a new right that will only perform marginally better (actually.. it wont. Core i3 on that low end rig, and the GTX 960 isn't MASSIVELY more powerful than the 660/760 it replaced).

[Dedweight]

For your custom one, a R9 280x would suffice as an upgrade. Maybe a better / quieter cooler.

While it would be an upgrade I'd personally avoid the 280x(I have the GV-R928XOC-3GB rev. 3 one), I might have been super unlucky but I'm on my second RMA with the card in less then 5 months because of driver crashes and graphical artifacts(not heat or power related), if he can get one that's reliable it's a great card for the money but based on personal experience I'd look elsewhere.

[chazus]

the GTX 960 isn't MASSIVELY more powerful than the 660/760 it replaced).

I actually just benchmarked a system I'm building for a friend that's using a 960, and the 960 performs about 50% better than the 660. So something to keep in mind. And I believe the 970 is significantly more powerful, and hits more than double the 660's performance (~145% improvement)

I got a 4368 on 3DMark, they got a 6586, for reference.

[Kagthul]

I actually just benchmarked a system I'm building for a friend that's using a 960, and the 960 performs about 50% better than the 660. So something to keep in mind. And I believe the 970 is significantly more powerful, and hits more than double the 660's performance (~145% improvement)

I got a 4368 on 3DMark, they got a 6586, for reference.

Huh, most of the real-world benches ive seen put it about 25% better in the games tested (Crysis, BF, the usual lot). It's still a significant upgrade.. but given that he's got a ~600$ budget, going for the 970, which will certainly put paid to any performance gripes, seems like the logical choice to me.

Remilla had suggested the R9 280X/285 as a possible upgrade, but i'd be a bit leery of that because it could run into power issues with a 450W system. Both of those cards have a 250W TDP. Coupled with the CPU (77W, more if OCed) and remaining parts, puts you dangerously close to 400W or even a little over.

I'd stick with nVidia unless you also want to upgrade to a 520/550W PSU

[G3istly]

I have the EXACT same system you do. 3570K, Geforce 660, even an XFX PSU

What games feel lacking?

EDIT: Also, Remilia really knows their shit when it comes to monitors. Their advice is sound in that regard, whatever it is.

Grand Theft Auto V is fine for the most part but there are some frame rate issues. I also tried playing Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare when it first came out and the frame rate was so bad it was unplayable. I would like to get one of those monitors but three hundred dollars just for a monitor is a bit much, at least considering the fact that I want two of them. Then again, that's my fault for not setting a budget.

- - - Updated - - -

Uhh.. im unsure what you're asking here. Are you doing -both- ? Like, buying a prebuilt AND upgrading your custom? Or are you asking which would be a better option?

For the prebuild, honestly, the CPU is still EXTREMELY solid, 8GB of RAM is plenty for just gaming... the only thing that might be holding you back in super-modern games is the GTX 660 (which is no slouch but i can see some bleeding-edge games maybe having an issue at 1080p High+ maintaining 60fps..).

If that's your major complaint... upgrade to a GTX 970 and call it a day, which you can do for ~310$, and dont even consider ordering one of those prebuilts.

- - - Updated - - -

If you're -also- considering buying a prebuilt (say, for someone else or something), of the two, the Digital Storm is a much more solid machine for gaming. That Cyberpower uses a relatively junky AMD chip that i really cant recommend to anyone.

You'd save a bundle either way by simply buying the parts that are used and building it yourself.

-IF- its a "upgrade existing machine" OR "buy new machine" -

Upgrade the existing rig. Overclock the CPU, and get a newer GPU, which will be half the price or less of getting a new right that will only perform marginally better (actually.. it wont. Core i3 on that low end rig, and the GTX 960 isn't MASSIVELY more powerful than the 660/760 it replaced).

The pre-built PC is actually a gift for someone but they don't live anywhere near me so I have to make sure whatever I get works and is good enough to play modern titles on decent settings. If you have suggestions outside of those for around $800, I would love to hear them. I have no idea how to overclock but is the SSD that was linked any good? Will it actually help with loading times? What about RAM? Is it possible for me to get more and if I do, will it help anything enough to be worth upgrading? Also I checked PCPartPicker for a GTX 960 card but there's over a dozen of them. Which am I supposed to choose? I should have asked this sooner but regarding dual monitors: will I need a special monitor? Or could I simply buy another of what I have now? I would love to get something bigger and better but I'm spending an awful lot already so it would likely be best to settle for now.

[G3istly]

Can no one help me with at least the pre-built PC issue?

[Kagthul]

Can no one help me with at least the pre-built PC issue?

Pretty sure your personal rig issue was totally, 100% solved. Upgrade the GPU to something not crappy. GTX 960 or 970 or and AMD equivalent part.

What the issue on the pre-built your still having? Stay away from the AMD system.

[G3istly]

Pretty sure your personal rig issue was totally, 100% solved. Upgrade the GPU to something not crappy. GTX 960 or 970 or and AMD equivalent part.

What the issue on the pre-built your still having? Stay away from the AMD system.

Not necessarily. As I said, I know nothing about computer hardware and when there's over a dozen variations of the same graphics card (some with 2GB or 4GB of Memory), I'm left confused and slightly frustrated. I'd also like to know precisely which is a better investment: the 960 or the 970. Would I need to upgrade anything else like my monitor to take advantage of it? What if I get the SSD and the graphics card? Would I need to upgrade my power supply? If I need to upgrade my monitor, what's a good one that I can get for around $200? I also asked for guides or videos on how to install parts (and to clean a PC) because I don't know how and I'm very concerned I may break something.

The CyberpowerPC? Why? It seems like a better, cheaper option. No one said anything about the AMD CPU I linked on whether or not it's better and worth swapping out for.

[Kagthul]

If you're satisfied with your current monitor, i see no reason to replace it. You dont need to upgrade them to take advantage of the GPU(s), no matter what.

Wether you want the 960 or 970 is up to you - the 960 will run 1080p at high/ultra in most modern games just fine. I will not have as much future proofing as the 970, which will do pretty much everything at 1080p/Ultra/60fps or better for a number of years and can do 1440p pretty well.

If you have 600$ to spend i'd recommend the 970 just for the longevity.

As for adding an SSD - that's up to you. It will add zero performance of any kind to games. It will make them load faster, that's all. If that's super important to you, then go for it. Personally, they are absolutely the last thing i add to a rig, after ive hit every other performance goal. Until then, waste of money, IMO.

As long as you stick to a GTX 960 or 970, you wont need to upgrade your PSU. As for which manufacturer - entirely up to you. Most of them are by reputable manufacturers and will all perform roughly the same - the primary differences are which cooler they use (each manufacturer tends to have a custom cooler) and a factory overclock - even the overclocked ones arent that important - we're not talking dozens of frames per second here, just a few.

- - - Updated - - -

The CyberpowerPC? Why? It seems like a better, cheaper option. No one said anything about the AMD CPU I linked on whether or not it's better and worth swapping out for.

Why does it seem like a better, cheaper option, if i can ask?

Knowing why you think that would allow me to better understand what info you're missing to make an informed choice.

Long and short of it though, is that AMD's CPUs are underperformers at every price point.

[G3istly]

If you're satisfied with your current monitor, i see no reason to replace it. You dont need to upgrade them to take advantage of the GPU(s), no matter what.

Wether you want the 960 or 970 is up to you - the 960 will run 1080p at high/ultra in most modern games just fine. I will not have as much future proofing as the 970, which will do pretty much everything at 1080p/Ultra/60fps or better for a number of years and can do 1440p pretty well.

If you have 600$ to spend i'd recommend the 970 just for the longevity.

As for adding an SSD - that's up to you. It will add zero performance of any kind to games. It will make them load faster, that's all. If that's super important to you, then go for it. Personally, they are absolutely the last thing i add to a rig, after ive hit every other performance goal. Until then, waste of money, IMO.

As long as you stick to a GTX 960 or 970, you wont need to upgrade your PSU. As for which manufacturer - entirely up to you. Most of them are by reputable manufacturers and will all perform roughly the same - the primary differences are which cooler they use (each manufacturer tends to have a custom cooler) and a factory overclock - even the overclocked ones arent that important - we're not talking dozens of frames per second here, just a few.

Why does it seem like a better, cheaper option, if i can ask?

Knowing why you think that would allow me to better understand what info you're missing to make an informed choice.

Long and short of it though, is that AMD's CPUs are underperformers at every price point.

I guess I am but I want dual monitors so I'm not constantly having to alt-tab out of my games. However, I don't know how any of that works and whether or not I need a specific graphics card to make it work. Is this GTX 960 good? What about this GTX 970? Also, what's the difference between them having 2GB of Memory and 4GB? I'm sure it's safe to assume the larger number is superior but I would like to know why and how that affects my PC. The loading times in Grand Theft Auto V are problematic enough to buy an SSD but I'm curious if getting a better graphics card would help in any capacity? Or would I need a better hard drive? Or what? Are you saying I'll need a new cooler?

It is objectively the cheaper option but I may have misspoke when I said it was better. According to Remilia the CPU is slightly worse than the one in the Vanquish 3 but the power supply in the Vanquish 3 doesn't seem to be as good as the one in the CyberpowerPC. I did link a CPU that the person I am buying this for already has and I'm guessing it's better but I'm not sure if it's compatible (it is still an AMD though).

[Remilia]

I wouldn't say the PSU in the cyberpowerpc is better. If anything it may be worse. The CX isn't a great line, but it isn't a firecracker, hopefully, we don't know what the cyberpowerpc one has.

There's not really anything, software wise, for compatibility between AMD and Intel's. They're both x86.

[G3istly]

I wouldn't say the PSU in the cyberpowerpc is better. If anything it may be worse. The CX isn't a great line, but it isn't a firecracker, hopefully, we don't know what the cyberpowerpc one has.

There's not really anything, software wise, for compatibility between AMD and Intel's. They're both x86.

I'm not trying to be rude but this isn't really helpful. It's been about three days now and I still don't have a definitive answer for anything except perhaps the monitor(s) (which is out of my price range) and SSD.