[OT] Any computer people here?

[ROC Sabres]

You're going to find for the most part that cards for editing and gaming are the same. The key is more RAM, and most video cards have plenty of them now. If you look at what is available, many even offer two versions, one with less RAM to save some $$. That's not where you want to save money for your purposes. 

 

I've been an Nvidia guy all my life. You get more for your $$ than the Radeons. Nothing wrong with the Radeons at all, they're pretty good cards. Just personal preference. 

 

You've got a damn good setup, get yourself a video card to match. Don't make that the weak point. When they release a new series, the previous models are taken off the market fairly quickly so you're not going to be able to save much by finding a leftover 780 GTX. The 900's are still out but they cost just as much, if not more than the 1000 series. I did some quick testing of my new Asus 1060 today (didn't have much time to get crazy) and it didn't break a sweat and I never heard it run. I suggest going with Asus, MSI, EVGA, or Gigabyte. If you get a 1060, you're going to be in the $225-$325 range. The 1070 and 1080 cards are for people that spend all day benchmarking and brag about their scores, there's just no reason to spend $500-$750 on those models when you'll never see the difference. Just months ago the 980 was the fastest on the market, now the 1060 is faster than the 980. So basically, the low end of the 1000 series is still faster than anything built up to that point. 

 

EVGA offers a single fan 1060, in the low $200 range. Most models offer either 3GB of RAM or 6GB of RAM. You'll want any of the 6GB models which is probably about $50 more. 

 

I really like this Asus 1060 I got. With three fans, it works less which means it's quieter. It's a big card but you've got room. Look on Amazon and Newegg and see what they have. Post up what you're interested in.

 

And please, PLEASE don't use the on-board graphics, LOL! While that's good, it's still only for casual internet users who need battery life. Let the CPU do its thing and let a GPU do its thing. No reason to kill the CPU with added heat. And you'll never be able to edit with on-board graphics. 

 

Here's the Asus I got, and the Gigabyte I considered. 

 

https://www.asus.com/us/Graphics-Cards/ROG-STRIX-GTX1060-O6G-GAMING/

 

http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5993#kf

Another place to look for good deals is www.pcpartpicker.com The site lets you build an entire computer and even filters out compatibility.  Doesn't really matter much for a video card but there are a few other sellers that they give with different rebate than amazon and newegg (even though they are usually pretty competitive in pricing).

Edited September 6, 2016 by ROC Sabres

[MattPie]

Another place to look for good deals is www.pcpartpicker.com The site lets you build an entire computer and even filters out compatibility.  Doesn't really matter much for a video card but there are a few other sellers that they give with different rebate than amazon and newegg (even though they are usually pretty competitive in pricing).

 

I'm a fan of Newegg, but that goes back years. Mostly because they have a great search filter to narrow down to what you want (other sites may have caught up) and they often ship out of a warehouse in NJ that means whatever shipping option I choose it shows up the next day (or 2 at most).

[ROC Sabres]

I'm a fan of Newegg, but that goes back years. Mostly because they have a great search filter to narrow down to what you want (other sites may have caught up) and they often ship out of a warehouse in NJ that means whatever shipping option I choose it shows up the next day (or 2 at most).

I like newegg also.  Just like the way that site gives you more seller options.  I had to wait about 3 days longer for my CPU but ended up getting it 35 bucks cheaper.  A buddy of mine wanted to build his own computer and kept asking me question after question and just pointed him to that site so he could do the research on his own and get all the compatible parts instead of bugging me about which part was better.

[GASabresIUFAN]

I am fortunate to have a microcenter a mile from my home. Their parts prices are competitve with newegg and others. They also have great sales. I compared the prices I paid to the same components on pcpartpicker.com and I came out ahead $50 on my build.

 

I was looking at the 1060 video cards, microcenter has a 970 from Gigabyte w 4gb gddr5 for 188. Is the 1060 w 6tb really worth the $100?

[MattPie]

I am fortunate to have a microcenter a mile from my home. Their parts prices are competitve with newegg and others. They also have great sales. I compared the prices I paid to the same components on pcpartpicker.com and I came out ahead $50 on my build.

 

I was looking at the 1060 video cards, microcenter has a 970 from Gigabyte w 4gb gddr5 for 188. Is the 1060 w 6tb really worth the $100?

 

The value decision is up to you. :) I always thought of it this way: once you get to the performance level you require for whatever you're doing (games, video, whatevers) that's the base. Buy more performance than that, and you're buying time before the software takes more and more CPU and/or GPU until the hardware you bought can no longer cope. The other way to look at it is stuff gets expensive fast when you get up to the high end. I'll put it in car terms: you can buy a car that's 50% faster than Honda Fit relatively easily. You have to spend a lot more to find something that's 50% faster than that car. There's logic in buying the (hopefully) inexpensive card that does what you need now and then upgrading when needed with another inexpensive card that due to time has much better performance. If we're talking $200 and $300 cards, it's probably a wash; I'd buy the $300 card just so I don't have to mess with it for longer. If you were debating a $200 vs. a $750 card, I'd say $200. You could upgrade that card 3 times in the next 5 years and still be ahead on cash, and probably have a faster card at the end than the $750 card bought now and never upgraded.

[TrueBlueGED]

I am fortunate to have a microcenter a mile from my home. Their parts prices are competitve with newegg and others. They also have great sales. I compared the prices I paid to the same components on pcpartpicker.com and I came out ahead $50 on my build.

 

I was looking at the 1060 video cards, microcenter has a 970 from Gigabyte w 4gb gddr5 for 188. Is the 1060 w 6tb really worth the $100?

I hate you. Don't take it personally, it's just jealousy.

[matter2003]

I didn't do the memtest, but I did try and boot Centos using one RAM board at a time and this is all that happened. It went through the loading phase only to finish off with this.

 

 

When booting, this is what the red lines look like. They didn't go away by disconnecting the SSD.

 

 

A bad video card isn't going to prevent the computer from booting properly.

Sure it can. Not always, but it can happen...honestly just about ANYTHING can cause a computer to not boot properly

The value decision is up to you. :) I always thought of it this way: once you get to the performance level you require for whatever you're doing (games, video, whatevers) that's the base. Buy more performance than that, and you're buying time before the software takes more and more CPU and/or GPU until the hardware you bought can no longer cope. The other way to look at it is stuff gets expensive fast when you get up to the high end. I'll put it in car terms: you can buy a car that's 50% faster than Honda Fit relatively easily. You have to spend a lot more to find something that's 50% faster than that car. There's logic in buying the (hopefully) inexpensive card that does what you need now and then upgrading when needed with another inexpensive card that due to time has much better performance. If we're talking $200 and $300 cards, it's probably a wash; I'd buy the $300 card just so I don't have to mess with it for longer. If you were debating a $200 vs. a $750 card, I'd say $200. You could upgrade that card 3 times in the next 5 years and still be ahead on cash, and probably have a faster card at the end than the $750 card bought now and never upgraded.

I've done very well by upgrading once the "newer" cards/CPU etc come out and buying the one it just replaced...got a 970GTX last year by doing that and made the best CPU decision of my life by getting an initial 2600K processor that is fully unlocked, meaning when I overclock it to 4.3Ghz, it's still in the top 10 in benchmarks several years later...

[GASabresIUFAN]

I hate you. Don't take it personally, it's just jealousy.

I won't. That said it really is awesome to be able to run there like going to CVS if you need something. The bad thing is that they are truly overpriced on cables.

[JJFIVEOH]

I am fortunate to have a microcenter a mile from my home. Their parts prices are competitve with newegg and others. They also have great sales. I compared the prices I paid to the same components on pcpartpicker.com and I came out ahead $50 on my build.

 

I was looking at the 1060 video cards, microcenter has a 970 from Gigabyte w 4gb gddr5 for 188. Is the 1060 w 6tb really worth the $100?

 

 

The value decision is up to you. :) I always thought of it this way: once you get to the performance level you require for whatever you're doing (games, video, whatevers) that's the base. Buy more performance than that, and you're buying time before the software takes more and more CPU and/or GPU until the hardware you bought can no longer cope. The other way to look at it is stuff gets expensive fast when you get up to the high end. I'll put it in car terms: you can buy a car that's 50% faster than Honda Fit relatively easily. You have to spend a lot more to find something that's 50% faster than that car. There's logic in buying the (hopefully) inexpensive card that does what you need now and then upgrading when needed with another inexpensive card that due to time has much better performance. If we're talking $200 and $300 cards, it's probably a wash; I'd buy the $300 card just so I don't have to mess with it for longer. If you were debating a $200 vs. a $750 card, I'd say $200. You could upgrade that card 3 times in the next 5 years and still be ahead on cash, and probably have a faster card at the end than the $750 card bought now and never upgraded.

 

I agree with Matt, I'd spend the extra $100. After messing with this 1060, it's quite a few steps ahead of the 900's. Each new series before were small improvements over the last. Not this one. I've got it pushing over 2000 MHz and it's not even close to getting hot. 

Sure it can. Not always, but it can happen...honestly just about ANYTHING can cause a computer to not boot properly

 

 

 

You are right!  B-)

Here's a good review of the Asus I bought. 

 

[GASabresIUFAN]

Thanks.  I'm convinced.  Sounds like a perfect thing for the holiday list.  

[JJFIVEOH]

On a side note, I read about this the other day. Anybody looking for a new laptop?  :blink:

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/acer-predator-21x-has-first-curved-screen-on-gaming-laptop-photos-2016-9/#it-also-features-nvidias-g-sync-technology-for-super-smooth-gameplay-3