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[mkenyon]

In my experience, Amazon is much worse about shipping PC parts than Newegg. This seems very exceptionally bad.

Packages from Newegg for me have historically been entirely filled with non-static peanuts.

With Amazon, buying something like an HDD, RAM, SSD, or processor, I'm lucky to get something other than a very lightly padded soft envelope.

 

[adamantypants]

Sucks about that package. I'd also recommend letting them know about it. I'd wager that it's more of UPS's handling over bad packaging. Even if all the items were loose in the box, the most damage you'd see is dings on the corners, not complete cave ins like that. Someone sat on or stepped on that box.

 

[The Llama]

In my experience, Amazon is much worse about shipping PC parts than Newegg. This seems very exceptionally bad.

Packages from Newegg for me have historically been entirely filled with non-static peanuts.

With Amazon, buying something like an HDD, RAM, SSD, or processor, I'm lucky to get something other than a very lightly padded soft envelope.

It's not even just about the packing though (which I've personally never had problems with at either). Newegg always takes so much longer to ship than even the free Amazon shipping.

 

[matrixman92]

I am the one that was getting blue screens when I updated my graphics card yesterday. Today I turned my computer on and it is not even showing my video card under device manager, it just says standard VGA graphics adapter. Anyone know what went wrong?

 

[mkenyon]

Yeah, they are slower in that regard.

Big upside is the lack of sales tax though. That tax on $1000 order adds up.

I am the one that was getting blue screens when I updated my graphics card yesterday. Today I turned my computer on and it is not even showing my video card under device manager, it just says standard VGA graphics adapter. Anyone know what went wrong?

Unplug everything and then plug it back in, making sure everything is nice and secure.

 

[Felix Lighter]

As a non-US resident I've never personally used them, but going by the reviews on Newegg that I occasionally read, this seems to be a common thing.

Was there no bubble wrap in the top of the box?

It had a few of those airfilled backs on top.

I'm going to contact them and let them know how the packages arrived. The actual large box that contained all the items had some banged up corners but I was surprised to see what was inside.

 

[Serandur]

In my experience, Amazon is much worse about shipping PC parts than Newegg. This seems very exceptionally bad.

Packages from Newegg for me have historically been entirely filled with non-static peanuts.

With Amazon, buying something like an HDD, RAM, SSD, or processor, I'm lucky to get something other than a very lightly padded soft envelope.

Newegg shipping quality varies on the item in my experience. I ordered a monitor from them once, they didn't even bother putting it in a padded shipping box for protection or to cover up the fact that it was an expensive product; stand was broken during shipping. So now I only buy monitors from Amazon (especially since Amazon will RMA for dead pixels or pretty much anything) but Newegg pack internal components well enough I feel.

I prefer Amazon, but they charge tax in my state now whereas Newegg don't.

 

[Felix Lighter]

Ugh, Email contact us option for Newegg is done through a very limited web form which doesn't allow for attaching photos, won't accept urls in the body and your options for topics is very limited. I'll send off the complaint but I don't have high hopes that anyone in a position of authority is going to see it.

 

[garath]

Hmm. Since I'm getting a 970 shortly, I'm really interested in what my next monitor purchase is going to be. So far the Asus VG248QE is a front runner for the price and the 144hz but I'd really like G-sync. I can't seem to find where to buy the modding kit or how much it is. I also don't see many monitors in the 24" space coming out soon. There's one BENQ model that looks promising but no idea when it comes out.

 

[opticalmace]

I'm not sure how to interpret this score. I tried googling for other results with my GPU but it didn't seem to tell me much.

Is double the score generally double the FPS? Is this a bad/good/normal score?

 

[Windom Earle]

What is the best "affordable" G-Sync screen? 799 for the Rog Swift is a bit too much for me after buying two new GPUs this month.

Is the AOC G2460PG any good? My local shop has it in stock, but going from (a crappy) 27 to 24 feels like a downgrade...

 

[Addnan]

Newegg for being the specialist in PC parts you would think would be much better. Over here when I order from Scan.co.uk it almost annoys me how much padding they use on everything. Order keyboard, lets wrap it in 20 layers of bubble wrap first. CCL just sent my RAM in a paper envelope through normal mail... Luckily nothing was damaged.

 

[ricki42]

Not happy with the package condition from Newegg/UPS.

The clam shell around the CPU looks fine and the motherboard box doesn't look like it deflected enough to hit the actual board itself but what the fuck. It looks like the stepped directly on the CPU box.

That looks pretty bad. Stuff like this is why I decided getting my monitor from BestBuy even though it's more expensive; at least I can just outright refuse it if the box is damaged.
My case shipped by Newegg/UPS arrived looking like this

There was no additional packaging material or anything. That side of the case is hard to open and close so I think it might have gotten slightly bent.

Newegg always takes so much longer to ship than even the free Amazon shipping.

It's been the opposite in my experience. Amazon (the US one) usually takes 3-5 days before the order is even shipped. Newegg sends them out relatively quickly, usually within less than 24h. This is using free shipping on both.

 

[xBladeM6x]

Alright, so I've been messing around with my GTX 980 SC, and I've been trying to overclock beyond the SC defaults, but it seems like I can't run games for an extended amount of time without some sort of driver lockup, or most recently, my entire computer locking up to the point of needing to unplug it. I'm using the most recent EVGA Precision X16 (5.2.0), and tried applying a +100 OC to my card, with no memory overclock. Which brings it to around 1450 MHz on the boost clock and still seems to crash the fuck out of it after about 15 mins. This is disappointing. :l

 

[matrixman92]

Yeah, they are slower in that regard.

Big upside is the lack of sales tax though. That tax on $1000 order adds up.

Unplug everything and then plug it back in, making sure everything is nice and secure.

Everything seems to be secured fine. Restarted the PC and it's not there again

 

[luxarific]

Ugh, Email contact us option for Newegg is done through a very limited web form which doesn't allow for attaching photos, won't accept urls in the body and your options for topics is very limited. I'll send off the complaint but I don't have high hopes that anyone in a position of authority is going to see it.

I would tweet the photos to their two main Twitter accounts. I would really be surprised if they don't respond quickly as those photos just scream don't buy at Newegg.

https://twitter.com/NeweggService

https://twitter.com/Newegg

 

[mrklaw]

I would tweet the photos to their two main Twitter accounts. I would really be surprised if they don't respond quickly as those photos just scream don't buy at Newegg.

https://twitter.com/NeweggService

https://twitter.com/Newegg

I'd perhaps tweet them and say you want to DM them, rather than posting publicly

 

[garath]

Alright, so I've been messing around with my GTX 980 SC, and I've been trying to overclock beyond the SC defaults, but it seems like I can't run games for an extended amount of time without some sort of driver lockup, or most recently, my entire computer locking up to the point of needing to unplug it. I'm using the most recent EVGA Precision X16, and tried applying a +100 OC to my card, with no memory overclock. Which brings it to around 1450 MHz on the boost clock and still seems to crash the fuck out of it after about 15 mins. This is disappointing. :l

Chip lottery

 

[Booshka]

I'd perhaps tweet them and say you want to DM them, rather than posting publicly

This, try to handle the issue privately, then if they don't respond or tell you to fuck off, then you can do the public shaming on Social Media.

 

[mkenyon]

Everything seems to be secured fine. Restarted the PC and it's not there again

It might be dead. Are the fans spinning up on it?

Hmm. Since I'm getting a 970 shortly, I'm really interested in what my next monitor purchase is going to be. So far the Asus VG248QE is a front runner for the price and the 144hz but I'd really like G-sync. I can't seem to find where to buy the modding kit or how much it is. I also don't see many monitors in the 24" space coming out soon. There's one BENQ model that looks promising but no idea when it comes out.

The AOC uses the same panel, FWIW.

The chip you buy directly from NVIDIA. It's an easy process modding the monitor, but does void your warranty. Keep that in mind.

You buy it from here: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/g-sync/where-to-buy-g-sync-monitors-and-modules

Comes in and out of stock.

 

[The Big Rig]

So I'm debating whether I should upgrade something within my system or just use that money towards building a new one.

I have an Athlon 2 X4 processor,
An AMD 5770
8 Gigs of RAM

My options:
Possibly installing a Phenom 2 processor with the same socket type
Installing a new GPU ($200-$250 range)

Would any of these upgrades give me enough to run Witcher 3 eventually? Or should I just forget about my current build and start saving for something new?

 

[xBladeM6x]

Chip lottery

As much as I want to say this might be the case, I have the distinct feeling it might be something to do with Precision 16 itself. Many people are complaining about it being unstable and doing weird shit to their systems. I'm going to revert back to an older version and see what happens. If it turns out I just got a fucking dud of a card, I'll just RMA it.

 

[matrixman92]

It might be dead. Are the fans spinning up on it?

Yeah, there is one fan on the bottom of it that is spinning. This is the last time I buy a part from a company I have never even heard of...fuckin Zotac.

Restarted my computer again and now I have to do a startup repair

I went and tried to update the video card through device manager and it blue screened on reboot. Zotac isn't even replying to my emails, their number is endless hold. I think I am seriously stuck with a 200+ dollar paperweight

 

[garath]

It might be dead. Are the fans spinning up on it?

The AOC uses the same panel, FWIW.

The chip you buy directly from NVIDIA. It's an easy process modding the monitor, but does void your warranty. Keep that in mind.

You buy it from here: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/g-sync/where-to-buy-g-sync-monitors-and-modules

Comes in and out of stock.

Ugh. $199 for the mod. No way. Guess I'll just relax and wait. See if the AOC and BENQ monitors come out soon and < $300. You'd think NVIDIA would want to get some more g-sync monitors out there with the 900 series being such a hit.

As much as I want to say this might be the case, I have the distinct feeling it might be something to do with Precision 16 itself. Many people are complaining about it being unstable and doing weird shit to their systems. I'm going to revert back to an older version and see what happens. If it turns out I just got a fucking dud of a card, I'll just RMA it.

Try Afterburner instead of Precision.

 

[mkenyon]

As much as I want to say this might be the case, I have the distinct feeling it might be something to do with Precision 16 itself. Many people are complaining about it being unstable and doing weird shit to their systems. I'm going to revert back to an older version and see what happens. If it turns out I just got a fucking dud of a card, I'll just RMA it.

Don't forget about the rule of 13 either.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1438886/official-nvidia-gtx-780-ti-owners-club/1980#post_21193640

And really, you shouldn't think there is something funky if you can't get additional overhead on a 680 SC. I've had cards that couldn't go much more than 50Mhz over base clock.

 

[Felix Lighter]

I would tweet the photos to their two main Twitter accounts. I would really be surprised if they don't respond quickly as those photos just scream don't buy at Newegg.

https://twitter.com/NeweggService

https://twitter.com/Newegg

Their twitter account mentions a direct email address, wecare.twitter@newegg.com, so I can thankfully create a more in depth email with attached images and links. I'll give that a try, first. Thanks for the tip. I very very rarely use twitter.

 

[luxarific]

Their twitter account mentions a direct email address, wecare.twitter@newegg.com, so I can thankfully create a more in depth email with attached images and links. I'll give that a try, first. Thanks for the tip. I very very rarely use twitter.

Let us know how it goes. At the very least they should express ship you new replacement parts for free, while you return the old ones.

 

[appaws]

So I'm debating whether I should upgrade something within my system or just use that money towards building a new one.

I have an Athlon 2 X4 processor,
An AMD 5770
8 Gigs of RAM

My options:
Possibly installing a Phenom 2 processor with the same socket type
Installing a new GPU ($200-$250 range)

Would any of these upgrades give me enough to run Witcher 3 eventually? Or should I just forget about my current build and start saving for something new?

I guess it depends on whether you can play the things you want to play now in the meantime...? If yes, then you could save a little scratch and go for a new build. That is what I would recommend.

Start figuring out what kind of dough you can put away....or you could look into credit stuff. I have a Newegg premier card, and if I spend over $500 at a time, it gives me a year with no interest. YMMV.

(Disclaimer: Still have to get permission from the wife....and she is not nice like Smokey's wife.)

 

[Thrakier]

If I'd like to add a SSD to my PC, would it be possible to just clone my OS (Win 8) on the SSD or would I have to reinstall?

 

[Chance Hale]

Been waiting for XB280HK myself. Found this review from pcper yesterday http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Displays/Acer-XB280HK-28-4K-G-Sync-Monitor-Review

Bit of a bummer that it doesn't have 3D support, figured that was just a given for gaming monitors at this point.

 

[Smokey]

As much as I want to say this might be the case, I have the distinct feeling it might be something to do with Precision 16 itself. Many people are complaining about it being unstable and doing weird shit to their systems. I'm going to revert back to an older version and see what happens. If it turns out I just got a fucking dud of a card, I'll just RMA it.

Use afterburner 4.0 final.

Precision has had tons of bugs since they stopped using Riva and rebuilt the program from scratch.

 

[Superimposer]

GAF, I'm really at a loss and really need someone to help me.

I took apart my computer today to reseat my CPU cooler with new TIM. When I switched it on I got the Windows 8 boot screen but after that my monitor said 'No Signal'. I feared the worst but switching over to my onboard graphics it was working fine.

I was then afraid that I fried my GPU with static or something. However, if I start up with the onboard then switch to the GPU I can go all day. However, if I then try to restart with the GPU working, the same problem happens again.

There's only one other thing that I have come across that I can't explain - when I start up Aida64 (which I intended to use to check the effectiveness of the new TIM by stressing the CPU) this will also cause the GPU to lose signal. This is BEFORE starting any tests, the simple action of opening the application crashes the computer. How strange.

I'm totally at a loss and obviously can't go on forever having to switch cables around every time I turn on the computer. Is there any explanation for this? I really don't think I messed up my GPU with static - I'm able to play games just fine once I'm in.

Back to this GAF. Reset CMOS and got an error that current settings are not compatible with something or other. This goes away when I switch out to onboard graphics. But this is after loading defaults so surely the settings would be right?

"Boot failure detected

The system has experienced a boot failure possibly due to incorrect configuration. Previous settings in BIOS may not be compatible with current hardware state"

HOWEVER, safe mode boots. Could be a driver issue?

 

[Prophet Steve]

If I'd like to add a SSD to my PC, would it be possible to just clone my OS (Win 8) on the SSD or would I have to reinstall?

You mean you already have a SSD and want an extra/new one, or from a HDD to a SSD? I think you should be able to clone in both situations, but wait for different responses.

 

[Thrakier]

You mean you already have a SSD and want an extra/new one, or from a HDD to a SSD? I think you should be able to clone in both situations, but wait for different responses.

I only got one normal 500GB HDD with my OS on it. And I want to add an SSD to it.

 

[Quenk]

I only got one normal 500GB HDD with my OS on it. And I want to add an SSD to it.

As long as your new SSD is big enough, you should be able to clone it. I'm pretty sure I read that people have done that before.

 

[Goldenmoney]

If I'd like to add a SSD to my PC, would it be possible to just clone my OS (Win 8) on the SSD or would I have to reinstall?

Yea that's what I did for my laptop. A simple copy and paste won't work though. You'll need a disk cloning software.

 

[xBladeM6x]

Use afterburner 4.0 final.

Precision has had tons of bugs since they stopped using Riva and rebuilt the program from scratch.

Just did. However when I downgraded to EVGA 4.2.1 (largely regarded as the best version) I still had the issue of a game crashing the driver. It's strange, what's happening more often now is I'll be playing a game, the screen goes black, resets, and then the game is back on. It's like the driver is going to fail, but then restarts and is like "oh, no I'm good", and the game keeps going.

Also, I just benchmarked this in Unigine Heaven 4.0 (Basic, Extreme preset) and had an average fps of 88.5 and a score of 2230. Not sure if this is good or not.

 

[Smokey]

Just did. However when I downgraded to EVGA 4.2.1 (largely regarded as the best version) I still had the issue of a game crashing the driver. It's strange, what's happening more often now is I'll be playing a game, the screen goes black, resets, and then the game is back on. It's like the driver is going to fail, but then restarts and is like "oh, no I'm good", and the game keeps going.

Also, I just benchmarked this in Unigine Heaven 4.0 (Basic, Extreme preset) and had an average fps of 88.5 and a score of 2230. Not sure if this is good or not.

This only happens when you try to OC youre already OC'd card right? Might just have a bad chip.

 

[xBladeM6x]

This only happens when you try to OC youre already OC'd card right? Might just have a bad chip.

Yeah, I have a EVGA 980 SC. I haven't really tested it with no OC yet (outside of it's base SC overclock) but I feel like even if it was stable when at it's SC base speed, I won't keep it anyways, because it means I got a shit card if it can't even hit 1400 MHz, when I see people talking about getting the shit to over 1500.

 

[georgc]

Just finished my build thanks to GAF

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/georgc/saved/BNt9TW

 

[Smokey]

Yeah, I have a EVGA 980 SC. I haven't really tested it with no OC yet (outside of it's base SC overclock) but I feel like even if it was stable when at it's SC base speed, I won't keep it anyways, because it means I got a shit card if it can't even hit 1400 MHz, when I see people talking about getting the shit to over 1500.

Have you tried running Heaven or did you go straight to gaming? What driver set are you on?

Run your card through heaven at its stock clocks a few times to make sure it is fine. If that checks out start with a small OC of +20 and go from there.

 

[Mascot]

Speaking purely hypothetically here, but if a friend of mine was clearing out his desk and found an original Microsoft Partner Program DVD of Windows 7 Professional 32 bit, would my friend be able to install this as the OS on a brand-new PC build, and if so, would the fact that it's 32 bit (and not 64 bit) limit or hamper the functionality of his new PC in any way? He does a lot of work for charity, by the way.

 

[Addnan]

Speaking purely hypothetically here, but if a friend of mine was clearing out his desk and found an original Microsoft Partner Program DVD of Windows 7 Professional 32 bit, would my friend be able to install this as the OS on a brand-new PC build, and if so, would the fact that it's 32 bit (and not 64 bit) limit or hamper the functionality of his new PC in any way? He does a lot of work for charity, by the way.

Would be limited to 4GB RAM, no idea about the rest.

 

[xBladeM6x]

Have you tried running Heaven or did you go straight to gaming? What driver set are you on?

Run your card through heaven at its stock clocks a few times to make sure it is fine. If that checks out start with a small OC of +20 and go from there.

I've been trying loads of different games. (Mind you, I'm referring to before I used MSI Afterburner, and the Heaven benchmark) I'm on driver 344.16 WHQL. I'm going test out 3D Mark 11, then try some different games and see how it goes, now that I'm not using Precision.

 

[JetForceGemini]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cwF2jX
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cwF2jX/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Biostar Hi-Fi B85S3+ Ver. 6.x Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($64.00 @ Newegg)
Memory: Pareema 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($25.49 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cougar Spike MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($28.34 @ NCIX US)
Total: $402.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-25 17:04 EDT-0400


Here go the final build that I'll be buying

Note that I will only be gaming in 720p so hopefully this give me excellent framerates

 

[mkenyon]

Just finished my build thanks to GAF

\m/

Looks spectacular!

 

[matrixman92]

finally got in contact with the fine people over at Zotac. Holy crap, some of the rudest customer service people I have ever had the pleasure of contacting. Felt like they were rushing me the whole time when I was just telling them my problem. They obviously didnt care and just said they will send me an email later if my video card return is approved....well, at least I got somewhere. Now just hoping the video card actually is the problem.

 

[mrklaw]

Saw a hadron hydro case today. That is a bloody lovely case. Shame it is limited to mini ITX.

What's the smallest case you'd get an SLI setup in?

I wonder if NVidia will bring out an SLI on a card with the 9xx chips. with VR SLI there might be demand for SLI from people that can only take a single card - like SFF miniITX owners

 

[xBladeM6x]

.

I tried with OC on 3DMark 11, and would crash the driver everytime. I decided fuck it, and just took my own OC's completely off and it managed to actually go through the whole 3DMark 11 (Performance) benchmark without crashing. The score was 14,269. (i7-3770k stock CPU as well)

Should I just RMA and hope I get sent something better, or just stick with it at stock SC and accept that I have a good card, just not as good as it could be?

 

[mkenyon]

Saw a hadron hydro case today. That is a bloody lovely case. Shame it is limited to mini ITX.

What's the smallest case you'd get an SLI setup in?

I wonder if NVidia will bring out an SLI on a card with the 9xx chips. with VR SLI there might be demand for SLI from people that can only take a single card - like SFF miniITX owners

Smallest is probably the Silverstone SG10.

I like the Phanteks Evolv a lot though, and that'd be my choice for an air cooled mATX case.

I tried with OC on 3DMark 11, and would crash the driver everytime. I decided fuck it, and just took my own OC's completely off and it managed to actually go through the whole 3DMark 11 (Performance) benchmark without crashing. The score was 14,269. (i7-3770k stock CPU as well)

Should I just RMA and hope I get sent something better, or just stick with it at stock SC and accept that I have a good card, just not as good as it could be?

RMA'ing because it doesn't overclock as much as you want is a big time dick move, especially since you'd need to lie in order to accomplish it.

Also, did you try the rule of 13?