The Power PC Thread [f*ck off consoles]

[Ex-User (19928)]

@Jeff simply - Have you got the latest patch (v1.07) for Witcher 3. There have been various performance updates and tweaks so it should run quite nicely...

1.02!

If that's the answer I'll be happy!

 

[SharkyUK]

Make sure you've got the latest driver, too... they have had Witcher 3 specific tweaks made along the way.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Make sure you've got the latest driver, too... they have had Witcher 3 specific tweaks made along the way. :smile:

Yep I wasn't that much of a noob

The CD in the box looked like it would be a bit of faffing around to open it so I just went to NVidias website to download latest one from there.

 

[SharkyUK]

Yep I wasn't that much of a noob :tongueout:

If you say so... :tonguewink:

Joking aside, I have to agree with Wilkeh regarding the 144Hz / GSync monitors. So smooth and makes playing games all the more enjoyable (for graphics wh0res like me). That said, I don't yet have such a setup at home. Only at work. I'm still undecided what to do in terms of new GPU and monitor combos for my home rig.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

If you say so... :tonguewink:

Joking aside, I have to agree with Wilkeh regarding the 144Hz / GSync monitors. So smooth and makes playing games all the more enjoyable (for graphics wh0res like me). That said, I don't yet have such a setup at home. Only at work. I'm still undecided what to do in terms of new GPU and monitor combos for my home rig.

I've noticed some coil whine on my card in the Witcher3 menu (it goes up to 3000fps and the frequency of the whine dips dramatically when the FPS goes to 2500 FPS for example, making me think that it would be completely gone if the FPS remains below 1000).

I've never experienced this before, it's hella annoying- is it worth sending back though? From reading it seems that this is very common with the Maxwell cards and that 970 owners can experience it at 60 FPS....

To confirm, there is no noise from the card when actually in the game (I went as far as unplugging all the noisy crappy Corsair fans I have so that I was just left with the GPU and my 2x Noctua CPU fans and there was no whine at all).

With regards of what to do for your system...... Well, I know from reputation you like toys, but with a 780Ti that must still be a very capable card? My 290 wasn't as quick as a 780Ti and it still handled business @ full HD. Only reason I've bought this is... Because really.

 

[Keydogg]

But is there such thing as too many pixels?

If Windows can scale on a retina screen (higher pixel density) then it must scale fine on a 28" UDH screen. I am keen to try the 144hz out though, I can't help but feel it's going to be the placebo effect if I like it though.

If 60hz means you have a frame gap of 0.016 seconds, then that's the maximum latency it can add. Admittedly (using 60hz screens) to test my reaction times, I get about 0.2 seconds at best. So by reducing the frame gap with 144hz to 0.007 seconds, that's a maximum potential reaction time improvement of 0.01 seconds. 10ms... I'm sure it all adds up, but I wonder how much it's really worth if anything....

Anyway, the 980 is due today, Acer 4K tomorrow and ROG Swift TBC.

Just FYI the advantage of 144hz is not enhancing your reaction time, it's making movement much smoother on screen so your eyes don't have to readjust focus on a fast moving scenes (I.e. Turning around quickly). It almost feels like everything is in slow motion when you first try 144hz, it's awesome!

There is no placebo effect with 144hz, it's much, much better.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Just FYI the advantage of 144hz is not enhancing your reaction time, it's making movement much smoother on screen so your eyes don't have to readjust focus on a fast moving scenes (I.e. Turning around quickly). It almost feels like everything is in slow motion when you first try 144hz, it's awesome!

There is no placebo effect with 144hz, it's much, much better.

Thanks mate.

Truth be told, I'm hoping the ROG Swift bowls me over so that it's an easy decision to send the Acer back. The resolution is quite honestly, immense. My 980Ti isn't quite there power wise to run max settings, I had to knock Witcher3 down to High and disable some post processing/hairworks (BTW, is hairworks actually s**t or am I just blind?). Also had to disable AA on BF4, but I honestly couldn't tell the difference, however the resolution is immediately noticeable.

If I don't find the 144hz super smooth then I will most definitely be sticking with 4K as the overall real estate improvement and detail on everything feels worth it alone. Even if I have to knock the settings back a little here and there - it still looks amazing.

Initially I loaded BF4 with the same settings for full HD (ultra everything) and it was grinding along at sub 10 FPS. Came out of the menus and the game played at about 20FPS. I was not impressed, but then I realised I had resolution scaling on, so it was running at 3840x2160 to start with, and then upscaling by 50% again!!

Unsurprisingly turning the upscaling off and the game then shot to 40-50FPS (Gsync seemed to make little to no difference IMO). Turned off some post processing and AA and it plays at 60FPS - Gsync locked I presume (dips a little here and there).

 

[Keydogg]

That sounds awesome. I would love a 4k monitor for work because of the sheer amount of productivity value the extra real estate gives. One day maybe!

Now the thought of 4K and 144hz, that's w**k worthy!

 

[STRBramley]

Can anyone recommend a good motherboard? I want to start buying some parts for a new PC build as mines 5 years out of date. I'm completely out of touch with PC gaming so if someone can recommend a good mobo as a starting point I'll go from there.

 

[Darren S]

Can anyone recommend a good motherboard? I want to start buying some parts for a new PC build as mines 5 years out of date. I'm completely out of touch with PC gaming so if someone can recommend a good mobo as a starting point I'll go from there.

• How much do you want to spend?
• What features are important to you?
• How much O/C'ing do you expect to be doing?

....the list goes on! :tongueout:

If I was to buy one today, I'd be looking at the below. I currently have an Asus Rampage III Extreme from 2010, but the vast majority of overclocking ability with the mobo, I simply haven't bothered with. A bit of a waste on me.

This....

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus...-6gb-s-pcie-30-sli-crossfirex-2xgbe-2xsata-ex

Or one without the trinkets....

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus...r4-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-pcie-30-(x16)-atx

 

[Wilkeh]

Standard 540 Air case fans!!!

Going to grab some new fans over the weekend Jeff :smile:

Any recommendations? I kind of like the idea of red LED's ones to match my theme. I need 3 case fans and 2 for the radiator

I prefer quietness over performance though

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Going to grab some new fans over the weekend Jeff :smile:

Any recommendations? I kind of like the idea of red LED's ones to match my theme. I need 3 case fans and 2 for the radiator

I prefer quietness over performance though :smile:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KF7O58G/?tag=cliospnet01-21

and

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KHRGQOU/?tag=cliospnet01-21

I went with 140mm for the top and back, and 3x 120mm for the front. I've read a lot of suggestions that 3x 120s offer higher air flow than 2x 140s. On PWM they go as slow as 3-400 rpm and are completely silent. I have been running them on 80% though and they're not silent then, but they're much quieter than the Corsairs they replaced and don't have as annoying of a noise.

Plus I swear I can actually feel a breeze coming off the PC lol.

I'm working on an Arduino project to control their speed by PWM related to air temperature inside the case (since controlling them via CPU core temperature I've found is silly because there's plenty of games I can play that have the CPU sat at a leisurely 40-50 degrees whilst the GPU is throttling at 84). Whilst they're at 80% they definitely reduce temps of the GPU card, but it's so nice having it silent when possible.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

My ROG Swift is playing up, I've got vertical green lines on the left half of the monitor. Google suggests this isn't unheard of.

I think it's poor QC around the input section as giving the cable a bit of a wiggle sorts it out for a bit, but considering it's not even a month old I'm not going to risk keeping it.

 

[SharkyUK]

Hmmm, I was contemplating the ROG Swift... I quit my job the other day and will be working from home now, hence I NEED a new monitor, 980 Ti, ... :tonguewink:

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Makes sense mate

Honestly though, the ROG Swift is a nice piece of kit- sadly there are so many stories of poor QC. I've bought another one from Amazon and will just buy/return as it's not much of a hassle until I get a good one.

 

[Wilkeh]

Makes sense mate :wink:

Honestly though, the ROG Swift is a nice piece of kit- sadly there are so many stories of poor QC. I've bought another one from Amazon and will just buy/return as it's not much of a hassle until I get a good one.

Took me 3 to get the perfect one mate. First 2 had lots of dead pixels etc. This third one had been faultless


(TOUCH WOOD)

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Took me 3 to get the perfect one mate. First 2 had lots of dead pixels etc. This third one had been faultless :smiley:


(TOUCH WOOD)

f**k!

This doesn't have any dead pixels, and it's been fine today- but knowing it f***s up occasionally- not very happy to just keep it.

 

[Wilkeh]

You got a spare DP cable you could try?

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

You got a spare DP cable you could try?

It's not the cable mate. Cable just transmits a digital signal, it would either work or it wouldn't. (But yes I have)

 

[Wilkeh]

Cable just transmits a digital signal, it would either work or it wouldn't.

Not sure I agree with that

I understand that an expensive cable will produce the exact same result as a cheapo cable as it's digital but I'm certain I've had dodgy DVI cables in the past that have created flickers etc.

But then again I'm no cable expert

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Been playing with my Arduino stuff today. I cooked my Nano with the 12v rail from a power supply (didn't completely take apart my previous project which happened to use 12v instead of 5v for one of the sources, and I managed to pick that one because it was the red wire....)

Anyway. Getting there with my custom air cooling solution.

The case by my least favourite brand ever.

I just have the stuff there in breakout form for diagnostics.

Pretty straight forward wiring and programming (I'd not used any of this before today).

The sensor is nested in the middle CPU fan pointing at the back of the graphics card, conveniently positioned so that it has (I think) the back of the core and the VRMs. Tested it breifly so far on GTA5 benchmark and the temperature tends to lag behind the reported core temperature, but that's understandable- however it responds pretty quickly. The biggest gap was at 60C on the core, I was getting 50C from the sensor pointed at the card.

In the picture above it's idling, the core is showing 41C. The highest temp during the benchmark was 64C.

Pretty pleased with it overall. Currently I've got all 6 chassis fans running at 80% and whilst they're not an intrusive noise, they're not quiet.

I think I've proved already that it will be reliable to build a bit of code into the Ardunio that says "if temperature is less than 40, then set fans to idle (400rpm), else if temperature is more than 40 but less than 50 then set a medium fan profile, else if higher than 60 then set a high fan profile".

 

[McGherkin]

Hi folks.

I've got a new sim rig coming and I want to run a dedicated PC with it.

I currently have this laptop;
http://www.reevoo.com/p/asus-n56vz-s4242
i7 3610QM, GT650M, 8GB.

I want to have improved performance if I'm going to the trouble of having a standalone, so I'm looking at running GTA V maxed at 1080p/60, and possibly later on running a 3 screen setup, although things like FSX and Assetto Corsa are more likely to be the ones I use with that setup.

So I have the following;
Bitfenix Neos ATX
i5 4690@3.5ghz
ASUS H81M-K Motherboard
TeamGroup Elite Black 16GB (2x8GB) 1600MHz DDR3
MSI GeForce GTX 960 Gaming 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Seagate SSHD 7200RPM 3.5" 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache SSHD Hybrid Drive
Corsair CX430W V2 "80 Plus Bronze" Rated Power Supply

£745 in all.

Too much? Too little? What think?

 

[McGherkin]

Ended up with a 4690k, GTX 780, MSI Z97I AC, 16GB RAM, 240GB SSD, all in a Bitfenix Prodigy.
Happy with that.

 

[Wilkeh]

Ended up with a 4690k, GTX 780, MSI Z97I AC, 16GB RAM, 240GB SSD, all in a Bitfenix Prodigy.
Happy with that.

Can I ask why you went for a 780 over a 970? Or is it a 780 Ti?

 

[McGherkin]

I was advised it'd be sufficient, and it's a saving.

 

[SharkyUK]

Oh bugger... just seen McG's post I am contemplating selling my GTX 780 Ti SC.

 

[McGherkin]

😧

Drop me a PM if you do sell it, may as well upgrade straight away lol.

 

[iain187]

I am contemplating going from an old chunky 32" tele plus 19" monitor to 2x 27" 120k monitors

Mainly so I can wall mount them as I'm in a smaller room now but also it gives me the option to add a 3rd later so I can be a car sim nerd

Has anyone done this and does the huge horizontal resolution batter your GFX card?

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

What resolution/graphics card.

 

[iain187]

A GTX 760 and I guess the res would end up being 1080 x3 but I'm not sure

 

[McGherkin]

Well, yeah, your card's going to take a bit of a hammering as it's rendering 3 screens at once.

GTX760... I'd say you'd manage to get low end stuff working but nothing half decent graphics wise.

 

[iain187]

I was thinking project cars

 

[Addicted]

Yeah not gonna happen, not unless you want to stare at potato graphics :]

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

You'll need at least a single flagship card by today's standards to drive ~6 megapixels on screen above 60fps.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00YNEIAWY/?tag=cliospnet01-21

If you don't already have Prime you can take out a free trial and have it for tomorrow :wink:

Not that you have your 3x monitors yet, but any excuse to buy high end PC parts right?

 

[iain187]

Hmm this could get expensive fast!

 

[McGherkin]

I'll probably go for a Rift before I go triple screen TBH. Not so good for lap times but the experience more than makes up for it.

 

[iain187]

I should probably try a triple screen setup before investing

My problem with cockpit view is its like trying to drive a car with a hoody on- you have no idea what's going on so its not really any good

 

[tsoob]

What's all this x86 s**t doing in a PowerPC thread?

 

[welshname]

So I don't play multi monitor games but I like having lots of monitors for when I'm working at home.

This is what my desk looks like currently.

2 x 23" LG IPS monitors
1 BenQ XL2430T
1 40" Sharp TV