Building a gaming PC

[volsung]

I tried resetting CMOS but maybe didn't so it right... Either way no luck. My guess is the PSU had something going on and moving things in and out plus unplugging put the nail in the coffin. I hope my hardware is OK though.

I can RMA my Seasonic but that may take too long to process. If it is the PSU, should I just but a new one instead and then resell the Seasonic when it comes back?

I'm gonna have a more knowledgeable person help me tomorrow. This is so frustrating I want to just go and get a new PSU. Is BeQuiet comparable to Seasonic?

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

I've been using 750W Seasonic (Titanium) for a while without any problems. But I didn't really experiment with different PSUs. So far my experience with Seasonic was good.

If you can test the PSU on something else, it can confirm whether it's defective. Selling a defective one probably won't produce much.

 

[volsung]

Yeah I'll decide tomorrow. I used to have a problem where the computer wouldn't turn on, but after unplugging the cord and flipping the PSU power switch a couple of times it would turn back on. I always assumed it had to do with my power strip but obviously not anymore.

Anyway, a wasted day.

 

[M4xw0lf]

Sorry to hear all that, seems very annoying. Regarding BeQuiet: their offerings are very solid at the low budget end, and among the best in the high end. I've been using them for over ten years in my PCs (just two differen PSUs in that time, in fact) and never had a reason to buy something else.

 

[Triffid77]

These problems are a pain in the A$$ (especially without backup working gear to test).

Ok, possible faults:
Mobo
PSU
RAM
1 piece of hardware effing the system.

Regarding Seasonic & Bequiet, both are very good. Seasonic is the pinnacle. Unfortunately everything can fail. If so, youve hit the unlucky lottery. If you eventually find it is the seasonic, i still suggest getting another one - they absolutely are the best. (suggest one of the new focus or primes - they carry 12 year warranty).

First up, unplug all non-essential stuff. Every hard drive and peripheral (including the new ssds). Only cpu, ram, psu plugged in. Even remove the GPU and use onboard graphics.

1) If it boots, is still doesnt rule out mobo or PSU but can pinpoint a particular piece of hardware.

2) If no boot, try 1 RAM stick at a time. Make sure you use the correct RAM slot. (check manual for which slot to use for 1 stick)
If both no go, its ok to assume RAM is fine.

3) Now heres the problem - try an alternative PSU (of course most of us dont have a spare).

I have a feeling its the mobo, not the PSU. Something may have shorted. Again, a pain in the a$$.

-----
Regarding NVMe cooling, the EK cooler Gilrond mentioned is a good little piece (i have 2), though cooling isn't necessary. It lowers idle temp by a decent margin and also slows the time of thermal throttling if you doing long drive intensive work.
Heres my system: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/TKkdnQ (in the pics they are the little black heatsinks with a round silver ek badge)

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

Just note, that you shouldn't remove Samsung sticker from the SSD, it can invalidate their warranty. Just apply that thermal pad from the heatsink on top of the sticker. The sticker has metal threads in it, so it should conduct heat at least somewhat well. I also had to customize that thermal pad, using one they provided as is wasn't working well. I had to use thinner one and thicker one on the same side (half - half) to make it fit evenly.

 

[Triffid77]

Just note, that you shouldn't remove Samsung sticker from the SSD, it can invalidate their warranty. Just apply that thermal pad from the heatsink on top of the sticker. The sticker has metal threads in it, so it should conduct heat at least somewhat well. I also had to customize that thermal pad, using one they provided as is wasn't working well. I had to use thinner one and thicker one on the same side (half - half) to make it fit evenly.

Good point on the sticker Gilrond. Also concur with the thermal pad placement -
Theres .5mm and 1mm pads included. The controller is lower than the memory modules (for the samsungs). Cut & use the .5 on the memory and 1mm on the controller.
Again, getting it isn't necessary but its a good little cooler.

 

[volsung]

Thanks everybody for your input. On Friday I tried removing parts, and tried turning the computer on with and without hard drives/SSD, GPU, RAM, etc. There was no pattern to anything. It just turns on sometimes but more often it does not, regardless of what I do. The thing is, once it turns on, it runs perfectly. No booting or stability issues whatsoever. In fact I got it to turn on at the end of the day on Friday and kept it running during the weekend and played games, browsed, watched movies, rebooted and so on with zero issues.

Anyway, I brought it to the shop this morning so they can diagnose it properly. My system is almost exactly 3 years old, the Seasonic PSU has a 5 year warranty (so 2 years left), while my Asus MoBo had a 3 years warranty (coincidence?). I might just have to get a new Z170 motherboard which is a bit silly at this point, but at least they're not very expensive anymore.

I'll let you know what happens. Oh by the way I got to play some Tyranny over the weekend and the loading screens are minuscule (3 s. max?). I thought this was normal but apparently people complain about how slow they are! SSD gaming is already paying off!

 

[Triffid77]

Thanks everybody for your input. On Friday I tried removing parts, and tried turning the computer on with and without hard drives/SSD, GPU, RAM, etc. There was no pattern to anything. It just turns on sometimes but more often it does not, regardless of what I do. The thing is, once it turns on, it runs perfectly. No booting or stability issues whatsoever. In fact I got it to turn on at the end of the day on Friday and kept it running during the weekend and played games, browsed, watched movies, rebooted and so on with zero issues.

OK the prob you first mentioned is a pain, but intermittent is worse.
Now that its intermittent (and running flawlessly when it does boot) id say that it sways it to the PSU being the most likely culprit.
Good luck, and again, you're unlucky to have probs with the seasonic (if thats the cause).

Glad youve noticed the SSD speed. Enjoy (when you get your pc fully up & running). Spinning rust for mass media storage only!

 

[M4xw0lf]

SSDs are the best thing to come to computers since... the graphical user interface?

 

[SigilFey]

Thanks everybody for your input. On Friday I tried removing parts, and tried turning the computer on with and without hard drives/SSD, GPU, RAM, etc. There was no pattern to anything. It just turns on sometimes but more often it does not, regardless of what I do. The thing is, once it turns on, it runs perfectly. No booting or stability issues whatsoever. In fact I got it to turn on at the end of the day on Friday and kept it running during the weekend and played games, browsed, watched movies, rebooted and so on with zero issues.

Anyway, I brought it to the shop this morning so they can diagnose it properly. My system is almost exactly 3 years old, the Seasonic PSU has a 5 year warranty (so 2 years left), while my Asus MoBo had a 3 years warranty (coincidence?). I might just have to get a new Z170 motherboard which is a bit silly at this point, but at least they're not very expensive anymore.

I'll let you know what happens. Oh by the way I got to play some Tyranny over the weekend and the loading screens are minuscule (3 s. max?). I thought this was normal but apparently people complain about how slow they are! SSD gaming is already paying off!

I'm very late to the party, but just in case the shop has trouble, another thing to try with that sort of non-reliable startup is different RAM. I've had this sort of thing happen to me a few times in the past, and sometimes, just putting older hardware into the thing lets it boot up without issue. (That would be indicative of the component being damaged, not the mobo itself.)

I've had it happen to me twice with RAM, so that's normally where I start. It could technically be any of the hardware, but since we're talking problematic boot, that makes me think seating issue or bunk RAM.

 

[volsung]

I'm very late to the party, but just in case the shop has trouble, another thing to try with that sort of non-reliable startup is different RAM. I've had this sort of thing happen to me a few times in the past, and sometimes, just putting older hardware into the thing lets it boot up without issue. (That would be indicative of the component being damaged, not the mobo itself.)

I've had it happen to me twice with RAM, so that's normally where I start. It could technically be any of the hardware, but since we're talking problematic boot, that makes me think seating issue or bunk RAM.

I think I tried one RAM stick at a time with no success. The issue is that the computer doesn't even turn on. If it does turn on, there are zero booting issues and everything works perfectly. Maybe damaged RAM can short something and prevent the mobo from sending the on signal to the PSU?

Anyway, I will let you guys know what happens. Shouldn't take more than a couple of days.

And @M4xw0lf , the CLI is mightier than the GUI But yeah I get you! Maybe the best thing to come to commodity computers since multi core CPU's?

 

[SigilFey]

Here's hoping for the easy fix. Sometimes, computers are so much fun I could fart.

 

[volsung]

I know, right? I don't normally have any issues but when I do I wish I didn't depend on a computer so fucking much.

 

[volsung]

Apparently it was the PSU. I ordered a new Focus + (or something like that) with a whopping 10 year warranty and will have it all assembled by Saturday. I'll RMA the old one and maybe keep it or resell it for 30 bucks or something, unless Seasonic sends back a new one.

I could just wait for the RMA but I'm going crazy without my nerd drug.

 

[M4xw0lf]

Yay for nerd drug!

 

[Garrison72]

So I'm looking for a new monitor and I have some noob questions:

1. 60 fps is critical for me. Can I get a 1440p monitor to future proof, yet still run it at a lower resolution if necessary (1080p) to maintain 60 fps? In other words, I don't want to be stuck with a monitor that's too demanding for my GTX 980, 4gb.

2. what panel type and aspect ratio are best for gaming?

Any other general recommendations are welcome. Cheers.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

Not sure if 980 can handle demanding games at 60 fps at such resolution. Especially VRAM can be an issue. 8 GB vs 4 GB make a huge difference. I'd say stick to your current resolution for now if you don't want to replace the GPU (don't exceed 1920x1200 or 1920x1080). For any future GPU don't buy anything with less than 8 GB VRAM.

Personally, I wanted to get a 16x10 aspect ratio with IPS panel with something better than 1920x1200 but such monitors are quite expensive and have high response time. Especially when you get into higher than 60 Hz refresh rate territory (to use with adaptive sync). So I'm waiting for something like OLED or similar to become more mainstream. This should provide high resolution high refresh rate monitors with good color and low response time.

 

[Garrison72]

Not sure if 980 can handle demanding games at 60 fps at such resolution. Especially VRAM can be an issue. 8 GB vs 4 GB make a huge difference.

Even at 1920x1080? See that's my dilemma. When I first bought this rig I was sure to ask if it could at least run 1080 at 60 fps ( on high settings with modern games) and was told yes on numerous occasions. But how many monitors now have that as their native resolution?

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

Even at 1920x1080?

If you don't want to use the native higher resolution, why buy such monitor? It would be more expensive. And scaling usually isn't a good idea on LCD screens. But may be modern ones handle it better, I haven't tried it with recent models.

Quite a lot of monitors still use 1920x1080. 1920x1200 are more rare. They are in use simply because modern GPUs still haven't caught up to higher resolutions properly (especially with higher refresh rates). But things are improving.