PC Crapping out

I have Steam on my media SSD… but it's mostly a luxury IMO - it doesn't make an overwhelming difference. As to your hardware, you could use some faster RAM.

My loading times on games would beg to differ with you. Especially the witcher and DAO loaded significantly faster.

As far as faster memory, the difference between 1600 and 2400 is pretty much nothing in gaming with a discrete videocard.

http://anandtech.com/show/7364/memory-scaling-on-haswell/7

To be clear though you won't see much difference in FPS with an SSD though either but loading times are another story.

Heres a video on SSD loading in games the difference is substantial IMO.


http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FQpiZ44GyYU
 
Yes, it's nice, but it's still a luxury. Exactly what portion of a game is spent on loading screens - whether they be 6 seconds or 10 seconds? If you're an old Quake fanatic, you could make the case for snappier level loads to not get fragged, but most gaming just doesn't need it.

In any case, I do have a very nice Samsung SSD set aside for gaming but I won't make any excuses for it being anything but a purchase made out of curiosity rather than thoughts for real gain. And loading up a 40gig Skyrim or FNV installation on that drive is always something of a bittersweet experience.

I would put such an expenditure dead last behind everything else in a system, including RAM that would make your entire system snappier (in conjunction with the OS SSD).
 
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I'm not sure I understand the luxury viewpoint. If your saying it's not needed then ok, but neither is anything on his list. He could get an amd proc. with a gtx 660 and pair it with a 1366x768 monitor and run everything out there. Doesn't mean he should or it would be a great experience.

All I can say is the loading times in skyrim with 100+ mods on a HDD were unbearable and I probably would have stopped playing or uninstalled a bunch of mods if I hadn't gotten an SSD. OTOH I have gone from 1600 to 2400 ram and I can say there is no visible difference in anything I run.

I've never heard anyone say they'd put an ssd upgrade dead last. I've install quite a few for friends and family and it's always been a wow experience for them. Theres no reason in dragging this out though if you don't see the benefit then you don't.

We've given the OP some info, he can decide what to do with it.
 
Probably will end up with both things. Faster memory and an SSD. I think the thing going out the window is the $1200 barrier :) I keep hitting the $1700 range with every pre-built and even $1400 if I build it.
 
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Meh… it's always a waiting game with tech. If you feel like upgrading, go ahead and do it. No sense in waiting a few months for the sake of a few dollars… because if you do that, you'll be asking yourself to wait yet again in a few more months for Black Friday/Christmas specials.

^This. If you keep holding out for that shiny item that's "right around the corner", you'll eventually start to second-guess yourself.

No matter when you upgrade or what you buy, there's always going to be something released just weeks later that's a little faster and cheaper. That's just how it is with tech.
 
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Regarding saving here and there on the iBUYPOWER site, Windows 8.1 may be cheaper than Windows 7 but you have to deal with the mail in rebate (and dont get Office starter). Also there is a 5% off coupon code (BOXBOX5) available if you search the internet I didn't write it down but save shipping costs. Looks like they have the no shipping cost code (IBP2014) available now as well. Do you really need a bluray reader? You probably dont need the K unlocked processor but then again I did unlock mine.

Do you really need the fast second data drive? I plan to recover my existing drives for data and the use the SSD for improving the existing experience.
 
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Its not only loading times that ssds improve (and in old games like Gothic3 or Modded stalkers they are lifesavers) but also help minimize (or in the case of modded Skyrim and Fallout 3 damn near disappear) ingame stuttering due to streaming, equally important imo.

I only use SSDs in the system nowadays (Samsung, 2x250+2x150, non raided) and have a desktop Lacie usb 3.0 2TB hdd for backups and the flac music Library. They are still a bit expensive but they are worth it if you are building a high end system, imo.

P.S. Ofcourse, most modern unmodded/untweaked games do ok without them. If you don't mind waiting a bit ;)
 
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If I put steam on the SSD, does the OS need to be on SSD too? My thought is seperate SSD's, one for steam and one for OS, but if it's not necessary for the OS, I'll save the cash. I have never filled even a single TB drive up and that's with purposely never uninstalling anything. I might do the dual-ssd's and an external drive for storage route. I already have a 320 gb external that doesn't have much.
 
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Definitely put the OS on an ssd. It will improve overall system snappiness. If you go for two SSDs you could buy a smaller one(i.e. 128GB) for the OS+ Some programs/games and a larger (i.e. 256GB) for the Steam folder.

Personally I have the main Steam Folder in D(with the OS in C) but have the Steam games spread all over all the 4 ssds (I rarely uninstall anything). Steam allows you install in any disk you like (gives you an option on install). It will create a SteamLibrary i.e. folder on said drive.
 
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Yeah, Steam lets you install anywhere now.

I've had my OS on my 128GB SSD for about four years now. I've only got 23GB free now, even after cleaning out temp files. Leftover junk does fill it up slowly but surely.

iBuyPower is good stuff. Last time I bought from CyberPower and that has worked out great, too. I got a PC that needed lots of fans and they were able to provide a case that did it.
 
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Because I'm lazy and hate to wait once I want something, I generally buy something from HP/Dell/Asus/Gateway and then just modify it a little to meet my needs. Looking at this pc and I've already bought a 256 gb SSD and loaded Win7 Pro on it:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/essenti...086172072&skuId=3026586&st=essentio&cp=1&lp=2

Let me know what you think. One negative is that it only has one PCI-Express, but I've never had an SLI setup, so I don't think it's that big a deal.
 
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Actually I'm pretty impressed with that, I doubt I could build that myself much cheaper.

If I had to nitpick, I'm not a huge fan of the limitations of h81 chipset. Only 2 dimm slots( although that shouldn't be a problem as you getting 12GB of ram), lack of RST and SRT, no sli as you stated, only 2 usb3.0 but most of all no overclocking. None of this is absolutely need though so it may be a non issue for you.

Also, no brands listed for ram, HDD and power supply. Again though not a huge deal, although I strictly refuse to run generic ram in any pc I build, too much trouble performance and reliability with cheap ram in the past. Results will vary though, obviously.

Lastly is that upgrades would probably be limited with the case and configuration, this is purely a guess though based on previous experience with store bought pc's.

Might seem like a big list of negatives but really non of them are deal beakers and depending on your needs many may be irrelevant.

Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the value, especially with an off the shelf pc from bestbuy.

Also, I'm a big asus fan so that doesn't hurt and bestbuy has good return policies, although I've never bought a pc from them so it might be different.
 
I'd say the 760 is noticeably lower than the 770 according to some benchmarks so that's a trade off but its also why its only $1K. Otherwise it seems pretty decent especially when compared with the logicalincrements comparable systems. Good find.
 
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Is it just me or do they not rate the PSU anywhere?. If its a cheap 500W one you may need to change it down the line if/when you go for a higher end gfx card (gtx760 is not exactly future proof if you are modding bethesda's games.It is actually equal or a bit worse than my old gtx670) and that would entail some work too. I'd say that as you are probably not interested in OCing a good quality 650W would be OK.

Other than that I have no experience with pre-bought PCs generally speaking, but I agree with the guys above that it "looks" ok…
 
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