allison1derland

Have you found a similar alternative? I am looking for one like the 380T too.

Is there a new model that is similar, like a 390T or something? I have been unable to find it for sale anywhere.

A new architecture immediately after polaris? That's so soon. Would that be 5 series? 580, 570, 560? I don't want to spend over $350 yet. Probably $300 +/- 20. Is MSI Afterburner still better for non MSI cards? I have tried OCing it, but none of my settings save or get applied. As soon as I switch away, all of my changes go away even after choosing "Apply and save." Are there detailed guides that are better than "bump up clock speed by 10 aaaaaaand you're done." ?? Thanks for your opinions. I appreciate the advice.

Hello, How can I optimize my GPU settings in the ASUS Tweak Tool 2 or OverDrive to make my R9 380 perform the best? I don't care about noise and I think its temps are fine. I tried increasing the power target and gpu clock, and then click apply to save the settings as a custom profile, but it would not actually save. When I would switch profiles and go back to see if the settings that I just altered would return, everything would be undone. Could someone please link to a guide or explain step-by-step how to OC an ASUS AMD GPU? One time when I tried creating a custom profile, it actually undid everything and all the sliders went down to 0 in the default OC mode. All the guides I have found just say, "increase the clock speed by 10 until it becomes unstable, then go down 20 and you're done!" but that doesn't help when none of my settings get saved/applied and the default OC mode gets undone. I had to uninstall GPU Tweak and reinstall it to get the original OC Mode settings back to normal. I have included pictures of the settings that I pretty much leave on and have not successfully messed with much. I did toggle frame rate target control on and set it to 60. I don't really understand what the other settings do. The default OC mode gets 104%. I don't know if that is good. I believe I saw some guy in a video get 118%. I think my 600W PSU should give me a lot of headroom right? What can I do to get better than the default OC mode? I built this system in March 2016: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/MbJqbj RIGHT before the new generation of GPUs came out. Had to, I wanted to play Dark Souls 3.

Would it make sense to spend $270-$300 on something like a 1060 for a build w/ the total original cost of about $800? Also, how can I optimize the OverDrive or GPU Tweak Tool 2 settings to get max performance and extend the time the 380 will be fine for running games at as max settings as possible? (Mainly care about game appearance, less about FPS. 50-60FPS is fine) Also, don't care about noise or temps.

Hi all, Info per guidelines: 1. Thinking future upgrade budget $300-$400 if multiple parts, if just GPU, around $300 in USA 2. Purposes = gaming and website work, general non-intensive tasks 3. Currently one 1400x900 monitor and sometimes a 720p tv too, I would like to run 2 actual monitors (one 1400x900 and one 1920x1080) when I get a 1080p monitor eventually 4. Peripherals already purchased for original build 5. Thought Process: My hope was that this build would last a few years. It is still 90% fine. I was very annoyed/disappointed with the AMD 16.xx drivers. 15.x came on the disc w/ the GPU, and that worked mostly fine, but then I upgraded to 16.x and experienced crashes and glitches, so I rolled back and 15.x was better. After skipping a few 16.x releases, it seems AMD mostly fixed the problems causing the crashes, so I am on the latest drivers now. I don't think I NEED to upgrade hardware now. What I want to know is about how long my current hardware should last for playing about 1 new AAA title per year with as many max settings as possible. Framerate is less important to me, anything between 50-60 is fine. Now that the new generation of both AMD and NVIDIA GPUs are out, I fear the new titles will be written to leverage those resources and my previous gen 380 will get smoked trying to keep up. How can I optimize my GPU settings in the ASUS Tweak Tool 2 or OverDrive to make it perform the best? I don't care about noise and I think its temps are fine. I tried increasing the power target and gpu clock, and then click apply to save the settings as a custom profile, but it would not actually save and I would switch profiles and go back and everything would be undone. Could someone please link to a guide or explain step-by-step how to OC an ASUS AMD GPU? One time when I tried creating a custom profile, it actually undid everything and all the sliders went down to 0 in the previously included OC mode. All the guides I have found just say, "increase the clock speed by 10 until it becomes unstable, then go down 20 and you're done!" but that doesn't help when none of my settings get saved/applied and the default OC mode gets undone. As you can see in my linked build, I am using micro ATX. It was really hard to shove the ASUS Strix 380 into this case because of the non removable DVD cage. Its length is the problem. Whenever I do upgrade, I am thinking a single fan GPU on something like a 1060 (Maybe 1160 by the time I need it). That seems super tiny and good for a micro ATX build. I am also leaning toward NVIDIA because I am annoyed that AMD drivers caused so many problems and the software is not intuitive. I have included pictures of the settings that I pretty much leave on and have not successfully messed with much. I did toggle frame rate target control on and set it to 60. I don't really understand what the other settings do. The default OC mode gets 104%. I don't know if that is good. I believe I saw some guy in a video get 118%. I think my 600W PSU should give me a lot of headroom right? What can I do to get better than the default OC mode? I built this system in March 2016: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/MbJqbj RIGHT before the new generation of GPUs came out. Had to, I wanted to play Dark Souls 3. I thought it went in this section of the forum because whenever I do need to upgrade the GPU, I figure it could be worth it to upgrade the motherboard. I am on a Skylake i5, so I figure that CPU should last a while. I think 16GB of RAM should last a while. My wifi card has an annoying antenna that is attached to wires that come out of the back. I wonder if the motherboards that have onboard wifi have 1-2ft of wires out of the back too. If not, I might want to get a motherboard with onboard wifi that is much tidier and maybe only has a rigid antenna or 2 that sticks out of the back but can be rotated up or down. I also want one with more fan headers so I can plug in my case fans and I can eliminate one of the PSU cables that I have plugged into my modular PSU that is solely for a molex cable to plug into 1 case fan. The case fan in question is a large (240?mm) with LED. I tried plugging it into a fan splitter, but it would not work.

I looked into the OEM version vs retail version of windows and it seems that the key is tied to the motherboard. That'd be fine if people planned to upgrade all the other parts, but keep the same motherboard. Although I want this build to last a long time w/o requiring changes, I want to be able to use my key again if I ever wanted/needed to switch out the motherboard. So, I think I'll stick to the USB straight from Microsoft. I did more research on the case and found out it was too small for that GPU. Sad day. My friend suggested a Red and Black one since it is closer to matching the Dark Souls vibe. Seems like everyone does red and black, but whatever. My parts need a home so... Does everyone think President's Day will be the next best time for component shopping?

Hello from the future. I want to remove it from the Prodigy M case. It is distracting enough to make the case look cheap. I like the look of the body, but the logo is lame.

Thanks for the resources! I will check them out. This option sounds like the way to go and saves $12 that'll bring me back down under 1k total.

To make sure I understand, it's possible to get a generic install.iso from MS and not use the OEM DVDs but rather use the code that comes with the DVDs during the install process from my own USB. Is that right? Have you done it? I would like to save $ if possible and that seems cool. Yes, I'll use my 32" tv as my monitor. I have a wireless mouse that I use w/ my laptop that I will use w/ this build.

What would be a suitable alternative that won't make me pay for BIOS features that will go unused because I have a locked CPU?

Hello LTT community, Plan- I am saving up for a desktop that I would like to build in March/April 2016. I am currently on a laptop, so I have no peripherals to reuse and no components to carry over. I have a 32" tv that I plan to use as my monitor. I plan on saving up to spend about $1,000 USD for everything (pc hardware, Windows 10, peripherals, thermal compound, tax, shipping, controller). I would be willing to spend a little more here and there IF it resulted in a significant bang-for-the-buck performance improvement. I do not plan on swapping/upgrading components every x months. I am saving up to buy everything at once around March. This would be my first build as well. I have upgraded the hardware in my family's computers before and watched a lot of youtube videos about builds. I have never overclocked because all of the hardware I have experience with being incapable, but I would be willing to learn to overclock the CPU, RAM, and GPU if it meant I could save money and achieve equal/better performance than I would get if I paid for components with higher clock speeds out of the box. That said, I would like the system to perform well out of the box and not depend on being overclocked. I would like it to be a capable machine for more than 4-5 years so I can comfortably play things that come out later. I do not plan on an SLI configuration in the future. Use- 3rd person stamina-based action/RPG gaming (Dark Souls 3), Minecraft, Portal 1&2, KotOR 1&2, Super Meatboy, and future games. No first person shooters. I don't need 4k at all. I am good with 1080p or 1440p gaming. I don't need 60fps. I don't need ultra high/mega/insane/godly graphic settings. I'm fine with med-high/high with a few options turned off. The gameplay is the most important aspect to me. It being extra pretty is secondary. I will also use it as a general purpose computer to browse the internet, bank, trade, watch netflix/youtube/twitch/other video sites, word doc creation/collaboration, work with spreadsheets, light image editing, google hangouts/skype, email, store my local media (only a couple thousand songs, a few movies, not many pictures), and random stuff. I do not do any CAD 3D art or design. I do not make/edit video on a regular basis. I have done a preliminary pcpartpicker build that will hopefully give you guys an idea of what I'm looking for, but I am willing to change all components on the list for better performance for equal/near equal price or better future compatibility. I will include the link to the pcpartpicker build list here: ------ http://pcpartpicker....nd/saved/gZHH99 I will also list the components and the reason I picked them- Like I said before, I'm willing to change everything for a better price/performance ratio. Preferences include it being small-ish, a white or steel case, skylake Thanks everyone for your input/suggestions with part model numbers and prices I also estimated tax and it'll be about $86 so it'll be around $923 + 86 = $1010 out the door. That's ok. PCPP list here: http://pcpartpicker....nd/saved/gZHH99 CPU i5 6500 (locked) due to bang for the buck GHz/price ratio eliminates the cost of an aftermarket cooler b/c I won't OC and the stock one is fine GPU ASUS R9 380 4GB because this seems to be a better value when compared with the MSI one Mobo Gigabyte GAH110M-A because it doesn't have features I don't need like CPU OC, so I don't want to pay for them if I'm not going to use them I really decided I want to go mATX. I thought about mini ITX, but I realized that if there are only 2 PCIe slots on the case, that I couldn't install a wifi card, so...that ended that. RAM 8 GB Crucial stick. Leaving 1 slot open to get another 8GB stick in the future if I absolutely need it. SSD 240 GB Kingston SSDNow V300 just because it's $70 PSU EVGA 600 W 80+ Bronze OS Windows 10 USB $108 has to be USB since I won't have a DVD drive. If someone can tell me where I can get the OEM price for a download to put on my own USB, I'd love to hear it. So far, I've only seen OEM DVDs, which would not be useful to me. Gigabyte GCblahblahblah Wireless network card $30 Picked this one because it is AC compatible for the future. If you know of a cheaper one, please tell me. Keyboard Logitech K360 White I want a wireless, white keyboard and this is only $18 I will use my current mouse. Case I want it to be small (micro ATX), simple, and white or silver. I don't like all the super/hyper/mega/ultra/extreme/fury/predator-type look that most gaming-oriented cases use. I prefer simple and classy. Think Mac Pro. So I'm willing to pay $90 for it rather than get an ugly $45-60 thing. Please tell me if you know of a similar, less expensive case.

Also, can anyone tell me whether I'm more likely to get better prices in Feb, March, or April due to any trends or release dates or updates on the enterprise side that trickle down and affect the consumer prices. Obviously in general, the longer it's been out, the cheaper it gets. But there are fluctuations and I don't want to buy my parts during a price peak.

I have changed things in the build after more research. I welcome any suggestions/advice with links and details. I also estimated tax and it'll be about $76 so I'll be around $940 total, which is good because I don't want to pass $1000 out the door for everything including tax and shipping. PCPP list here: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/allison1derland/saved/gZHH99 Changes below CPU i5 6500 (locked) due to bang for the buck GHz/price ratio eliminates the cost of an aftermarket cooler b/c I won't OC and the stock one is fine GPU ASUS R9 380 4GB because this seems to be a better value when compared with the MSI one Mobo Gigabyte GAH110M-A because it doesn't have features I don't need like CPU OC, so I don't want to pay for them if I'm not going to use them I really decided I want to go mATX. I thought about mini ITX, but I realized that if there are only 2 PCIe slots on the case, that I couldn't install a wifi card, so...that ended that. RAM 8 GB Crucial stick. Leaving 1 slot open to get another 8GB stick in the future if I absolutely need it. SSD 240 GB Kingston SSDNow V300 just because it's $70 PSU EVGA 600 W 80+ Bronze OS Windows 10 USB $108 has to be USB since I won't have a DVD drive. If someone can tell me where I can get the OEM price for a download to put on my own USB, I'd love to hear it. So far, I've only seen OEM DVDs, which would not be useful to me. Gigabyte GCblahblahblah Wireless network card $30 Picked this one because it is AC compatible for the future. If you know of a cheaper one, please tell me. Keyboard Logitech K360 White I want a wireless, white keyboard and this is only $18 I will use my current mouse. Case I want it to be small (micro ATX), simple, and white or silver. I don't like all the super/hyper/mega/ultra/extreme/fury/predator-type look that most gaming-oriented cases use. I prefer simple and classy. Think Mac Pro. So I'll pay $90 for it rather than get an ugly $45-60 thing.

I'm curious, what is the difference between different linux OSs since anyone can install the same desktop environment on top of most of them? For example, what is the difference between ubuntu with GNOME, fedora with GNOME, Arch with GNOME, and Mint with GNOME? Is it just the prepackaged applications and the vocabulary used within the terminal? I understand that they refer to different repositories. But for the end user sitting at the computer watching youtube, what is the difference between these and any other OS when the DE can be the same across them all?