Best PC build for gaming and live streaming?

Anthony Hayes82 said:I'm probably just gonna use the SSD to keep Windows isolated from my other data. My original thought was to just grab a cheap 120GB HDD, but I figured why not, if it gives me even a tiny bit faster boot times and better responsiveness. I'll move Program Files and User folders over to the HDD and just symlink them so Windows does less heavy lifting, plus keep the page file and temp files on the HDD too...

I guess that doesn't make much sense. Sure, putting Downloads / Pictures / Documents on an HDD is fine, but you should definitely leave your desktop and Program Files on the SSD. There's really no point in trying to save space when you already have the drive; it's not like it's going to die in two days. Just leave your daily apps, temp files, and the paging file on the SSD and enjoy the speed.

+1

Here it is. 😁

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e3...pseb6aplo9.jpg

You did a great job coordinating that black and red theme (case, RAM, and SSD). Did the SSD just happen to match, or were you specifically hunting for those colors?

Did the Coca-Cola not arrive yet?

Timothy Kim60 said:You did a really solid job matching that black and red theme—the case, the RAM, and even the SSD all look great together. Did that SSD just happen to be what you had on hand, or were you specifically hunting for those colors to complete the build?

Did the Cooler not show up yet?

I was actually hunting for an SSD that came in black or black-and-red. I'm thinking about picking up some red extension cables from BitFenix later on to match the vibe.

The Cooler hasn't shown up yet because the delivery guy from Overseas was running behind schedule. 🥱

Ran through a quick Valley bench test, and honestly, the graph looks fantastic. 😁

Honestly, I think some red lights would look way better with that color scheme than those white ones.

Drew Sanchez82 said:Red LEDs would actually look better with that color scheme than white ones.

I don't think so. If I went with red, everything would just bleed into these reddish tones. Using white keeps things sharp and gives me that nice contrast between the black and the red. 🙂

Here’s what my setup looks like right now
https://scontent-vie1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...0a&oe=562F7236

https://scontent-vie1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...0d&oe=55EFB2C7

https://scontent-vie1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...cf&oe=55E6CC78

Took these shots about three years ago, back when I still had an NVIDIA GTX 560 tucked inside.
The motherboard is this black and red combo—even the BIOS matches the vibe.

Drew Sanchez82 said:Here is what my setup looks like right now
https://scontent-vie1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...0a&oe=562F7236

https://scontent-vie1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...0d&oe=55EFB2C7

https://scontent-vie1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...cf&oe=55E6CC78

Taken about three years ago, back when I still had an NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti tucked inside.
The motherboard is black and red, and even the BIOS matches that theme.

It looks cool, but it's just not really my style. 🙂

On another note, my Corsair CC-120 arrived today and it's honestly great...

I also tracked down a 2.1 speaker system that would fit perfectly with the whole build.
http://www.bestbuy.com/generic-speaker-link

Quick question here. I tried digging through Google, but I can't find anyone dealing with this exact same headache.
It happened once right after I finished the build and hit the power button for the first time. I press the button, everything spins up—fans, LEDs, hard drive—and then about two seconds later, the whole thing just dies. Then, it immediately kicks back on and boots into Windows perfectly fine. After that initial hiccup, it ran smoothly for maybe three or four restarts. But today, it did the exact same thing again. Even when I tried to restart just to jump into the BIOS, it went through that same "power on, kill, power on" cycle before finally stabilizing.
I’m starting to suspect my power supply is acting up. I'm running an EVGA 650 w 80 + Silver.

So, what kind of build are we talking about here? I think I saw that on a few motherboards before, but I never really gave it much thought, I guess.

fadedorca66 said:What kind of setup are we talking about here? I’ve seen that mentioned on some motherboards before, but I never really gave it much thought.

Motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-970A DS3P
Intel Core i7 processor with motherboard
AMD Radeon RX series

I’ve also got some LED strips, one 140mm fan, three 120mm fans, and a Corsair H120 cooling my CPU

On the motherboard, I have one CPU fan header and three case fan headers, and they're all currently occupied. It might actually be smarter to plug those three 120mm fans into an NZXT fan hub instead, since that gets direct 12V power from the PSU.

Does that stuff stay there even after you reset the BIOS settings to default?

Timothy Kim60 said:Does that stuff stick around even if you reset the BIOS to factory defaults?

Yeah. After it happened the first time, I actually went ahead and reset my BIOS to defaults, even though everything had been set to default from day one.

I ran into the same thing with that Motherboard, but I didn't really bother digging into it since it was actually working 😬 You probably need to check the manual to be sure. I think ASRock has a dehumidify feature that does something similar.

It’s just reassuring to know that something like that isn't going to just snap or fail on me.

On Gigabyte boards, that's just a built-in safety protocol for when you push an overclock too far or mess up some BIOS settings. Basically, if you screw up the speed, multiplier, or memory timings, the system attempts to boot, realizes it can't, resets the BIOS, and then gets you back into the OS. Since Timothy60 was asking about it...

Take a look at your current settings and compare them against the official specs for your CPU, RAM, and FSB... maybe try different RAM slots or a different PCIe slot if you have two running at the same speed...

darkowl72 said:On Gigabyte boards, that's basically just a safety protocol. It kicks in if you push your overclocking too far or mess up some BIOS settings. If that's what's happening... say you crank up the speed, multiplier, or memory settings too high, the system tries to boot, realizes it can't, resets the BIOS, and then loads the OS. Timothy Kim60 was asking a good question there...

Take a close look at your settings and compare them against the official specs for your processor, RAM, and FSB... maybe try different RAM slots, or even a different GPU slot if you have two running at the same speed...

Look, I already went through my BIOS settings and that's not the issue. I actually tried intentionally messing with the overclocking—specifically trying an undervolt—just to see how the system would react. Instead of just shutting down immediately, it cycled twice. Before, it was just ON, OFF, ON, and then it booted into Windows. But during this test, it went ON, OFF, ON, OFF, and then back to ON with a "boot failed" message, giving me the option to either reset to BIOS defaults or enter the BIOS manually.

I'm not sure, maybe it’s some kind of short circuit check? Like, it sends a quick pulse of power to make sure everything is stable before committing to a full boot.

I'm going to try moving the RAM from slots 2 and 4 over to 1 and 3. Hopefully, the CPU cooler won't be in the way.

I have two PCI Express x16 slots available, but one is running at full x16 where the GPU is currently seated, and the second one only runs at x4.

Look, if you’re totally stuck and nothing else works, you might as well try plugging it into that PCIEx4 slot just to see what happens...