5 months of indecision brings me here

[SemCee]

Im currently gaming on a 4770K, 780Ti pc that was having issues. i upgraded it to win10 to play Sea Of Thieves and it was crashing to desktop for unknown reasons.

I also have a Vive that the 780Ti isnt best suited to.

i'm actually getting into gaming and VR after years of hiatus and want to build a new pc that will last for some time.

I said to myself, F it might as well go the whole hog and start with 9900k with a 2080ti. I like the look of the crystal 680x, as i built the last pc in an Air 540 and I actually like the option of unicorn vomit thrown across my pc if im in the mood. LOL

My main problem is that I am so far out of touch with new components and have limited time to spend trawling reviews, etc.

I want to have no issues playing Vive VR games and playing in top settings on a predator x34 ultrawide monitor. I may want to video edit or stream in the future. I have played around with audio software in the past, (guitar, bass player).

While I've been pulling my hair out, trying to consider the merits of components, I have put aside £3000-£4000 for the build.

Any Component/build advice you can give would be helpful. I felt a few times about just throwing the money at a prebuild and giving up, but I've built my own a couple of times, so id probably be better saving the money and spending it on the build.

 

[tamzzy]

Suggest start out by upgrading your GPU first and see how you feel the performance increase is. Overclocked 4770k is still a decent chip

 

[tamzzy]

With respect to the crashing did it only occur once you had upgraded to Windows 10? If so, then it's less likely to be an issue with hardware. If it was an upgrade (ie not a fresh install), then advice is to do a fresh reinstall and see if it solves the issue.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

@SamCee

If you really want the upgrade and RGB

BB CODE
My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Intel Core i9-9900K 3.6GHz (Coffee Lake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail= £499.99
• 1 x Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master Intel Z390 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £274.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit - Black= £299.99
• 1 x Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Gaming OC 11264MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £1,099.99
• 1 x Corsair Hydro Series H115i PRO RGB Performance Liquid Cooler - 280mm (CW-9060032-WW)= £119.99
• 1 x Corsair LL140 RGB, 140mm Dual Light Loop RGB LED PWM Fan, 2 Fan Pack with Lighting Node PRO= £66.95
• 1 x Corsair Crystal 680X RGB High Airflow ATX Case - Black Tempered Glass= £219.95
• 1 x Lian-Li Strimer RGB 24 Pin Motherboard Cable= £44.99
• 1 x Lian-Li Strimer 8-Pin RGB PCIe VGA Power Cable= £31.99

Total: £2,673.53 (includes shipping: £14.70)


Normally 9900k is a waste for gaming, but if you want to do streaming and video editing, specially at 4k .

Move AIO fans to bottom of case and attach 140 RGB fans to it and mount at top

4 core i7 falls behind Prem Pro/Resolve for editing quite badly , even i5 8400/ryzen 2600 can beat it

As tamzzy mentioned, worth solving windows 10 issue as well, specially if reusing same drives​

 

[SemCee]

It was def a problem with upgrading to win10. I ended up doing a fresh install and sorted a few issues.

The last few times I've played games, (on lowish settings), I haven't had a crash. I was thinking of swapping out the predator and going back to my 1080p monitor in case that wasn't helping. But I really want to be playing at high settings and VR without worrying my pc cant handle it.

At the moment i'm still troubleshooting. I noticed the occasional video file, that used to play perfectly well on win7, stutters and struggles to play now. I've tried windows player and VLC, so far without fixing the problem. I need to go back and find the files, as I thought it was a local network issue, to begin with, but I copied one file to the pc and it did the same. I'm not 100% if its just one particular type of video format or not.

Strangely I have an old imac running bootcamp, (which I upgraded to win10 at the same time), and it doesn't seem to have any issues. Plays the files perfectly.


Anyhoo, thanks for the suggestions, kinda similar to what I was picking. What PSU would you suggest, btw? Also, i'm a little confused by the huge difference in 2080ti prices. Is it worth spending a little extra, or is it just throwing money away for tiny improvements?

 

[orbitalwalsh]

@SemCee

I went for the Gaming for its price ( one of the cheapest) , with 4 year UK RMA and warranty - corsair also has their rma team based in UK - but replace parts instead of repairing .

both of them have reps on here if you choose to upgrade @CorsairChris @GIGA-Man , nice to make reps sweat a little now and again

whats your current PSU ?

@EsaT is a damn good member on here with enough PSU knowledge to cause an EMP bomb

if its old and past Warranty or just a shocking unit, recommend to replace.

also to save some cash, can drop to Aorus Pro Wifi - does the same job as the Master with a little less flare but saves £80 odd

Spoiler: and for those RBG Strimers.... if you want to vomit...

 

[SemCee]

To be honest if I can get my current pc working without any issues I was thinking giving it to a nephew as his first pc. I think everything in it is 5-6 years old now, but it’s only had modest use.

Now you’ve given me a defined starting point I’m gonna try and get the time to sit and read some reviews, check out others builds.

The money isn’t a massive issue really. (Well it is, but I’ve put that money by to pay for a build now). I’d rather not waste it on silly decisions, but am willing to spend on the right parts....

 

[orbitalwalsh]

To be honest if I can get my current pc working without any issues I was thinking giving it to a nephew as his first pc. I think everything in it is 5-6 years old now, but it’s only had modest use.

Now you’ve given me a defined starting point I’m gonna try and get the time to sit and read some reviews, check out others builds.

The money isn’t a massive issue really. (Well it is, but I’ve put that money by to pay for a build now). I’d rather not waste it on silly decisions, but am willing to spend on the right parts....

It certainly would be eye catching and stylish !

And your nephew would be over the moon !

 

[EsaT]

At the moment i'm still troubleshooting. I noticed the occasional video file, that used to play perfectly well on win7, stutters and struggles to play now. I've tried windows player and VLC, so far without fixing the problem. I need to go back and find the files, as I thought it was a local network issue, to begin with, but I copied one file to the pc and it did the same. I'm not 100% if its just one particular type of video format or not.

Ctrl+J in VLC shows what codecs video uses.
I think Nvidia 7xx serie doesn't support H265 decoding.
So CPU decoding could require more power than there's now available with Wintoys 10.

MPC-HC would be another player to try.
Myself have used that for long time, with VLC as second option.
(and MS player as intolerable POS closed fast if accidentally opened)

The money isn’t a massive issue really. (Well it is, but I’ve put that money by to pay for a build now). I’d rather not waste it on silly decisions, but am willing to spend on the right parts....

Intel's current prices are sure silly considering CPUs won't stand time.
Best description of CPU choise situation is "Damned if you do, damned if you don't".

At the moment Intel has advantage, but it's not because of Intel having done any especially good job.
In fact instead of genuinely giving real advance in performance per money, Intel has been focused on pumping butts of consumers... err prices up.
Those arm, both legs and half the internal organs priced CPUs won't stay as high end even third of the time of £300 level 4770K.
And while marketing is in "9th generation", CPUs are architecturally copies of 6th gen Skylake, which was incremental upgrade from 4th gen Haswell.

Way biggest reason for Intel's advantage is current Ryzens being made on originally Samsung's phone/tablet CPU node, which limits clocks.
And due for release in few months Zen2s made on TSMC's 7nm node will give AMD clear manufacturing tech advantage.
In CES AMD demoed engineering sample matching 9900K's processing power at ~50W lower power consumption.
So AMD was likely holding it back, even if manufacturing node hasn't matured to give more reserve now.

Also "chiplet" design rumoured in December got confirmed.
With shown CPU having empty spot the size of another 8 core computing die and AMD hinting about another push forward in core count/processing power per money.
So like rumoured, 8 cores/16 threads is quite likely £200-250 model, with £100 higher hobbyer level likely getting 12c/24t.
While 9900K's price level can well get 16c/32t monster shredding 9900K (or what's left of it after 12c/24t) to pieces and peeing on its grave.

And if you still feel that Intel's cash cow milking priced 8 cores/16 threads is lot power for future, next-gen consoles likely come with Zen2 based 8c/16t CPU.

So for PC Master Race (instead of Intel Cash Cow Race) best choise would be waiting for Zen2.
Though unlike Intel changing CPU sockets just for the fun of screwing consumers to butt, AMD would offer way to avoid eternal damnation:
Zen2 CPUs will fit to current AM4 motherboards after BIOS update.
Also unless DDR5 suddenly picks up speed, even next year's Zen2 tweaks are likely going to be compatible with current motherboards.

 

[CorsairChris]

My personal favourite PSU we currently do is the AX850, well priced titanium efficiency, will give you some headroom for overclocking at 850w, and is a Seasonic OEM.

As @orbitalwalsh mentioned, we have a UK RMA centre, we don't repair we just straight replace, plus have options for advanced replacement to reduce downtime.

AX850 is here: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...lar-power-supply-cp-9020151-uk-ca-24g-cs.html

Cheers

Chris

 

[SemCee]

Thanks for the suggestion. @CorsairChris

@EsaT Thanks for pointing me towards MPC-HC. I installed potplayer, which did the trick, but playing with Cinema mode in VR needed MPC installed and eventually after playing with the settings, (dont ask which ones), got it playing smoothly. More than likely I wont use the VR player, but its nice to know there isn't an issue if I do. (Plus once I realised it wasnt working properly I had to try to fix it)

I've been super busy over the weekend, so am just starting to get back to doing a bit more research, but this is all very helpful, thankyou.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

Thanks for the suggestion. @CorsairChris

@EsaT Thanks for pointing me towards MPC-HC. I installed potplayer, which did the trick, but playing with Cinema mode in VR needed MPC installed and eventually after playing with the settings, (dont ask which ones), got it playing smoothly. More than likely I wont use the VR player, but its nice to know there isn't an issue if I do. (Plus once I realised it wasnt working properly I had to try to fix it)

I've been super busy over the weekend, so am just starting to get back to doing a bit more research, but this is all very helpful, thankyou.

Keep the Thread updated with how you get on

 

[EsaT]

@EsaT Thanks for pointing me towards MPC-HC. I installed potplayer, which did the trick, but playing with Cinema mode in VR needed MPC installed and eventually after playing with the settings, (dont ask which ones), got it playing smoothly. More than likely I wont use the VR player, but its nice to know there isn't an issue if I do. (Plus once I realised it wasnt working properly I had to try to fix it)

Have used Media Player Classic like 15 years because it's light on resource use and has always worked as well as can be realistically expected from any such complexity program.

 

[SemCee]

@EsaT I'm sure I used it in the past. I might even have had it installed before the upgrade to win10, and that's why it was all working. I have a problem, find an answer, fix and then forgot how I fixed it so I can start all over again next time. LOL

@orbitalwalsh no problems, I will do. I can be a bit slow getting things done. (work and all that). It took me 5 months to get myself in here and ask for advice.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

@EsaT I'm sure I used it in the past. I might even have had it installed before the upgrade to win10, and that's why it was all working. I have a problem, find an answer, fix and then forgot how I fixed it so I can start all over again next time. LOL

@orbitalwalsh no problems, I will do. I can be a bit slow getting things done. (work and all that). It took me 5 months to get myself in here and ask for advice.

slow and steady win the race... until Pound drops in value since everything is bough in Dollars... so only thing to watch out for.