M1ke10191

This would make a great gift for my father.

So I've been having an ongoing issue now with Windows where every once in a while it would shut down fine but fail to start when I booted the computer back up. It would just hang at the splash screen but POST was fine. Over the past few months I've reinstalled Windows twice which fixes the problem for a bit but it usually comes back. I was able to accidenally recreate this problem, though, when running Sky Diver. I ran Firestrike first since I was testing for coil whine on my new GTX 970 which didn't give me any problems. I got through a good chunk of Sky Diver when I noticed the screen had gone black and my computer started beeping. If I remember, it was a long, 2 second-ish beep followed by two shorter ones that were in a loop. I just hard reset the comp and had that problem like before where the computer wouldn't boot into Windows. After a few hard resets I was able to get to my desktop, so here I am. I have an SSD (Samsung EVO 240) that is less than a year old which both the OS and the benchmark were on. The video card is only a month or two old (EVGA GTX 970 ACX SC). I've heard RAM can possibly be an issue, too. I have 4x2GB which is going on 6 years old now. I'll list the rest of my specs below: CPU: Intel Core i7 860 2.8Ghz - 5-6 years old GPU: EVGA GTX 970 - new RAM: 8 GB - 5-6 years old PSU: 750W 80 Plus - 5-6 years o.d Storage: 250 GB SSD; 1.5 TB HDD - SSD is <1yr old, HDD 5-6 years old Pretty stumped at this point. This is the actual error message I got: Problem signature: Problem Event Name: BlueScreen OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3 Locale ID: 1033 Additional information about the problem: BCCode: 116 BCP1: FFFFFA80097F24E0 BCP2: FFFFF8800FD50828 BCP3: FFFFFFFFC000009A BCP4: 0000000000000004 OS Version: 6_1_7601 Service Pack: 1_0 Product: 768_1 All my drivers should be up to date as well. Any thoughts on this? Bad hardware? Bad software?

I'd carry over my HDD and SSD to the new build. I'd probably have to buy a new copy of Windows since my copy is the Gateway OEM copy. I'd budget at least $1,000, would be comfortable going to $1,500, and if necessary could stretch it to $2,000. I could probably add another $500 to that budget by selling my old system.

Seeing as my motherboard won't allow for OCing since it's Gateway's, it sounds like some bottlenecking will occur if i can't OC. How bad do you think any bottlenecks would be on a stock i7 860 2.8Ghz? Or is it mostly negligible? I'd rather buy a top of the line card but I also want to get everything out of it. Also, would my board prevent me from OCing the new GPU as well? It looks like my processor has an older 1156 socket so if I replaced the board to enable OCing, I'd have to switch the processor as well, right? Honestly, if my current CPU/board won't play nice with a top end card, I'd hold off upgrading anything until Christmas and give myself the gift of a whole new comp at that point (and you can bet I'll be back here haha). My current setup still works it just isn't ideal, especially with something like ArmA III. It still plays 90% of my games just fine so I can hold off till 2015 if needed.

I've cleaned it out once every few months so dust isn't a huge issue. And yeah, it's the stock cooler. Never really thought about upgrading to an aftermarket one although I wouldn't be against it.

I'm assuming so. I wasn't taxing the computer when I ran the program. I appreciate it since I know so insignificantly little about motherboards. I don't think I'll do SLI/Crossfire since I've heard it can be a hassle even after everything is set up. I'm more of a "buy one real good card" kind of guy. These guys have me leaning towards the R9 290 now so Nvidia may be out of the question as it is.

Here's the requested link to my specs: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/oagiY5cetZw0Fa37FtflE84

I downloaded Speccy and got the right info. It's a Gateway H57M01. Very thorough response. You've made it clear that the Ti and R90x aren't worth it. I've never had an Nvidia card before and this AMD Radeon HD 5850 is the only AMD card I've had. I haven't had any bad experiences with it and have no reason to not buy from AMD again. I don't like the whole Catalyst thing and I've heard Nvidia drivers just auto update for you, which I like. One minor (very minor) nod to an AMD card is Mantle since I play BF4. Would I slightly prefer an Nvidia card just to try out the brand? Yeah. Is that worth the $100 price difference of a better card? Eh, yes and no. Assuming this card lasts me 3-5 years the $100 isn't a big deal but at the same time I do like the cost efficiency of the AMD card you mentioned. I know absolutely nothing about OCing. I know the definition but nothing as far as how to actually do it. I'd like to give it a whirl assuming I kept temperatures and everything in check but you have a good point. I wouldn't be surprised if Gateway did that.

What is your guys' opinions on the Nvidia GTX 780 compared to the 780 Ti? I can afford either but obviously I'd rather save the few hundred bucks if there is a negligible gain in performance. This leads into my next question. I bought this computer from TigerDirect almost 5 years ago and all that's been added is an SSD; everything else is stock from back then. http://www.cnet.com/products/gateway-fx6831-01/ Processor: Intel Core i7 860 2.8 ghz Power Supply: 750W rated 80 plus Motherboard: Gateway H57M01 Video Card: AMD Radeon HD 5850 Ram: 8 GB I'm new to upgrading hardware and I wanted to make sure that a new video card is compatible with that motherboard. My main focus is gaming, with the games I play being BF4, various MMOs, ArmA III, etc. Will a straight up video card upgrade allow for max settings on ultra with 60+ FPS or am I to the point now where I should also be looking towards getting a better CPU (and presumably motherboard)? If so, what do you guys recommend? I use a 1080 monitor right now but I may have plans of setting up three monitors in the not-so-near future. I'd rather not SLI anything, either. Like I said, I'm a novice with this stuff so if you need more info, let me know. Thanks, -Mike