What am i doing wrong with my gaming pc build?

[iK1DDER]

I spent almost 900 dollars on my pc build and it still isnt great for gaming. i run skyrim at 20 fps in heavily snowy areas and when the weather is clear, it is around 26-40 fps. My specs are: MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte ga-z97-hd3, POWER SUPPLY: EVGA 430 watt 80+ atx, PROCESSOR: i5 4690k 3.5 ghz but overclocked at 4.24 ghz right now (but i could overclock higher but choose not to), HARD DRIVE: Western Digital 2TB 3.5-inch, SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB Cache WD2003FZEX, RAM: G.Skill 2 x 8(16gb) DDR3-1600 PC3-12800, GRAPHICS CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 1GB, Windows 8.1 and i use an external usb optical drive if that matters, which is: Lite-On IT Corporation Optical Drives EBAU108-01

 

[th3legitbeast]

600w PSU, and at least a 750ti to get decent fps

 

[iK1DDER]

is the sapphire one compatible with my case? my case: Corsair Carbide Series 200R Compact ATX Case CC-9011023-WW. the sapphire one is 12.13" (308mm) long. also the msi one has a higher core clock of 1.5ghz and the sapphire one is 1.01ghz i think.

Corsair Carbide Series 200R
Maximum GPU Length 420mm
420mm = 16.5 inches.

Im going to question the 1.5Ghz vs 1.01Ghz. Thats a massive variance there, and remember, both have the same GPU. Double check your numbers.

i messed up again and accidentally put it as solved again lol but the regular msi version is 1.0ghz but the MSI R9 390 GAMING 8G LE is like the same price but it is 1.05ghz of core clock and the sapphire one is 1.01ghz. by the way my monitor is a 1440p monitor not a 1080p one. i bought the EVGA SuperNOVA 850 B2 850W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply - See more at: http://www.ncixus.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=98820&vpn=110-B2-0850-V1&manufacture=eVGA&promoid=1292#sthash.0w0GrHVw.dpuf im thinking of getting the sapphire but idk which one would be the best and i hope the r9 390 is good enough to run most games at 60fps on a 1440p monitor.

 

[MarkW]

Both are good cards. So is the power supply.

You are almost there!!!! :lol:

You can do it!!!!

Oh, and I undid the solution thing for ya too!

 

[iK1DDER]

is the sapphire one compatible with my case? my case: Corsair Carbide Series 200R Compact ATX Case CC-9011023-WW. the sapphire one is 12.13" (308mm) long. also the msi one has a higher core clock of 1.5ghz and the sapphire one is 1.01ghz i think.

Corsair Carbide Series 200R
Maximum GPU Length 420mm
420mm = 16.5 inches.

Im going to question the 1.5Ghz vs 1.01Ghz. Thats a massive variance there, and remember, both have the same GPU. Double check your numbers.

thanks again. idk which to choose tho. the msi LE version is the one with 1.05Ghz and the sapphire once has 1.01Ghz but the sapphire one is the only one with three fans and i have heard sapphire has worked on amd cards longer than msi and sapphire has the card open for them to make before msi does because it is like exclusive for them or something so they get it a little earlier than msi. so they have more time to work with it than msi does so idk which is really better. i also meant 1.05ghz before not 1.5ghz lol. i messed up and idk if these cards are that good for 1440p gaming with 60fps on most games on max settings.

 

[MarkW]

Both companies have been working with AMD and their GPU's for decades. As I keep saying, the GPU's are identical. The memory is identical. The .04 difference in speed will only change things by a fraction of a FPS.

If nothing else, take out a quarter, and flip it.

 

[iK1DDER]

Both companies have been working with AMD and their GPU's for decades. As I keep saying, the GPU's are identical. The memory is identical. The .04 difference in speed will only change things by a fraction of a FPS.

If nothing else, take out a quarter, and flip it.

well i might get the sapphire one since it has three fans but the sapphire one doesnt have a back plate so thats the only bad thing really but it is manageable. will this graphics card max out most games in 1440p gaming at 60 fps?

 

[GObonzo]

these Powercolor have a very nice PCS+ cooler and backplate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131672&cm_re=r9_390-_-14-131-672-_-Product
my PCS+ 290X has never passes 60° at 1440p ultra gaming.

these XFX "Double-D" coolers have always worked great and better fit for some slightly smaller cases:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150729&cm_re=r9_390-_-14-150-729-_-Product

both ~$329 @ newegg.
you should keep an eye on all the nice 390\390X cards at various retailers and wait for a great deal on whichever has the default clocks, cooler, and design you prefer.

 

[jvk9718]

I spent almost 900 dollars on my pc build and it still isnt great for gaming. i run skyrim at 20 fps in heavily snowy areas and when the weather is clear, it is around 26-40 fps. My specs are: MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte ga-z97-hd3, POWER SUPPLY: EVGA 430 watt 80+ atx, PROCESSOR: i5 4690k 3.5 ghz but overclocked at 4.24 ghz right now (but i could overclock higher but choose not to), HARD DRIVE: Western Digital 2TB 3.5-inch, SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB Cache WD2003FZEX, RAM: G.Skill 2 x 8(16gb) DDR3-1600 PC3-12800, GRAPHICS CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 1GB, Windows 8.1 and i use an external usb optical drive if that matters, which is: Lite-On IT Corporation Optical Drives EBAU108-01

Let me tell you a quick story of how important it is to have a good GPU.
A few years back, I purchased myself a new desktop computer. It was about $400 and it performed spectacular for heavy schoolwork and business. It's specs were i3-3240, 4 GB of RAM, and integrated graphics. So it is a lower end power computer. But it worked just beautiful for me.

However, I noticed that I couldn't play games very well. Skyrim, for example, had to run on low settings and I still experienced lag in areas like the dungeons.

After reading around, I decided to add a dedicated graphics card.(At this point I upgraded RAM to 8 GB). After a while of researching, I came across the Geforce GTX 750Ti Superclocked 2 GB. It had extremely positive reviews and was small in size. So I ordered myself one and installed it on my computer(along with upgrading the psu). When I first started up Skyrim, the game switched the settings from low to Ultra High. Just like that. I could play Skyrim on ultra high and there was no lag whatsoever. So games I played on this computer now either had the settings on Very High or High(including Dragon Age Inquistion)
So I just created a mid-level gaming computer that costed me in total $600.

The graphics card you bought is cheap and much older. It is not designed to be powerful. So you have a bad case of bottlenecking. You should at least get a GTX 750Ti. But if you already spent $900, then go higher! Get yourself a GTX 970 or R9 290 Tri-X or 390. The graphics card should be one of the most expensive components on your computer.

Do NOT use the integrated graphics. Integrated graphics will always fall behind a dedicated graphics card. You'll get even worse performance. You already spent that much money, get some more to get yourself a more powerful graphics card. Otherwise that's $900 more or less wasted.
Good luck!

 

[wjones40]

is was a cheap one and i already spent so much on everything else so i wanted to go as cheap as possible but still get good results. i was thinking maybe the power supply might be my problem but most people say it is alright for gaming from what i saw on google but idk for sure. i would just like to know what the problem is and if the graphics card is the problem then should i just try to use my on board\ integrated graphics since i have 16gb ram?

When I built mine I went with AMD so I could afford a high end graphics card. If you are gaming and using a slow video card, you are not going to see good video performance, regardless of how fast the rest of your system is. Fast video and hard drives can compensate for a slower processor. But, a fast processor and hard drive cannot compensate for a slow video card.

 

[iK1DDER]

I spent almost 900 dollars on my pc build and it still isnt great for gaming. i run skyrim at 20 fps in heavily snowy areas and when the weather is clear, it is around 26-40 fps. My specs are: MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte ga-z97-hd3, POWER SUPPLY: EVGA 430 watt 80+ atx, PROCESSOR: i5 4690k 3.5 ghz but overclocked at 4.24 ghz right now (but i could overclock higher but choose not to), HARD DRIVE: Western Digital 2TB 3.5-inch, SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB Cache WD2003FZEX, RAM: G.Skill 2 x 8(16gb) DDR3-1600 PC3-12800, GRAPHICS CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 1GB, Windows 8.1 and i use an external usb optical drive if that matters, which is: Lite-On IT Corporation Optical Drives EBAU108-01

Let me tell you a quick story of how important it is to have a good GPU.
A few years back, I purchased myself a new desktop computer. It was about $400 and it performed spectacular for heavy schoolwork and business. It's specs were i3-3240, 4 GB of RAM, and integrated graphics. So it is a lower end power computer. But it worked just beautiful for me.

However, I noticed that I couldn't play games very well. Skyrim, for example, had to run on low settings and I still experienced lag in areas like the dungeons.

After reading around, I decided to add a dedicated graphics card.(At this point I upgraded RAM to 8 GB). After a while of researching, I came across the Geforce GTX 750Ti Superclocked 2 GB. It had extremely positive reviews and was small in size. So I ordered myself one and installed it on my computer(along with upgrading the psu). When I first started up Skyrim, the game switched the settings from low to Ultra High. Just like that. I could play Skyrim on ultra high and there was no lag whatsoever. So games I played on this computer now either had the settings on Very High or High(including Dragon Age Inquistion)
So I just created a mid-level gaming computer that costed me in total $600.

The graphics card you bought is cheap and much older. It is not designed to be powerful. So you have a bad case of bottlenecking. You should at least get a GTX 750Ti. But if you already spent $900, then go higher! Get yourself a GTX 970 or R9 290 Tri-X or 390. The graphics card should be one of the most expensive components on your computer.

Do NOT use the integrated graphics. Integrated graphics will always fall behind a dedicated graphics card. You'll get even worse performance. You already spent that much money, get some more to get yourself a more powerful graphics card. Otherwise that's $900 more or less wasted.
Good luck!

the powercolor one seems pretty cool but it dont have a vga cable. i have an hdmi cable but my monitor dont have a plugin for it but it does has a dvi cable plug in but i dont have a dvi cable lol. now that i think of it, i wonder if any of the r9 390s have vga plugin

 

[undouble]

I spent almost 900 dollars on my pc build and it still isnt great for gaming. i run skyrim at 20 fps in heavily snowy areas and when the weather is clear, it is around 26-40 fps. My specs are: MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte ga-z97-hd3, POWER SUPPLY: EVGA 430 watt 80+ atx, PROCESSOR: i5 4690k 3.5 ghz but overclocked at 4.24 ghz right now (but i could overclock higher but choose not to), HARD DRIVE: Western Digital 2TB 3.5-inch, SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB Cache WD2003FZEX, RAM: G.Skill 2 x 8(16gb) DDR3-1600 PC3-12800, GRAPHICS CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 1GB, Windows 8.1 and i use an external usb optical drive if that matters, which is: Lite-On IT Corporation Optical Drives EBAU108-01

1) Your p/s looks to be underpowered for this rig. I'd suggest upgrading to a ~700-800 watt unit.
2) You don't mention what you are using for an Ethernet connector but, based on your comments, it appears that you use a Wi-Fi connections. This type of connection, unlike a wired internet, IS subject to weather-related issues. Spend a few bucks for a wired provider (such as Comcast, WOW, or any local provider) IF possible.---If not, you'll just have to suffer with the rest of us wi-fi's in rain, sleet, hail, and snow!!
3) The rest of your system looks ok, with sufficient memory and speed to provide reasonable frame rates (60+ for most gaming today).

 

[iK1DDER]

I spent almost 900 dollars on my pc build and it still isnt great for gaming. i run skyrim at 20 fps in heavily snowy areas and when the weather is clear, it is around 26-40 fps. My specs are: MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte ga-z97-hd3, POWER SUPPLY: EVGA 430 watt 80+ atx, PROCESSOR: i5 4690k 3.5 ghz but overclocked at 4.24 ghz right now (but i could overclock higher but choose not to), HARD DRIVE: Western Digital 2TB 3.5-inch, SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB Cache WD2003FZEX, RAM: G.Skill 2 x 8(16gb) DDR3-1600 PC3-12800, GRAPHICS CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 1GB, Windows 8.1 and i use an external usb optical drive if that matters, which is: Lite-On IT Corporation Optical Drives EBAU108-01

1) Your p/s looks to be underpowered for this rig. I'd suggest upgrading to a ~700-800 watt unit.
2) You don't mention what you are using for an Ethernet connector but, based on your comments, it appears that you use a Wi-Fi connections. This type of connection, unlike a wired internet, IS subject to weather-related issues. Spend a few bucks for a wired provider (such as Comcast, WOW, or any local provider) IF possible.---If not, you'll just have to suffer with the rest of us wi-fi's in rain, sleet, hail, and snow!!
3) The rest of your system looks ok, with sufficient memory and speed to provide reasonable frame rates (60+ for most gaming today).

Thank you for trying to help. i bought a new psu, it is an 850 b2 bronze 80+ from here: http://www.ncixus.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=98820&vpn=110-B2-0850-V1&manufacture=eVGA&promoid=1292 and i have a wired internet connection but i appreciate your help.

 

[MarkW]

the powercolor one seems pretty cool but it dont have a vga cable. i have an hdmi cable but my monitor dont have a plugin for it but it does has a dvi cable plug in but i dont have a dvi cable lol. now that i think of it, i wonder if any of the r9 390s have vga plugin

No. VGA was dropped from nearly all video cards years ago. The reason is that it is an analog signal, and everything has gone digital.

DVI is effectively dying right now. It just has not kept up with where the industry has gone. The industry recognized this about 5 years ago, and announced about 3 years ago that as of the end of this year, DVI would no longer be on video cards being released.\

So, anything new coming from now on will only have DisplayPort (DP) and HDMI. Mostly DP, and normally a single HDMI port. Reason? DP has supported 5K video since 2009. Thats a lot of time to plan for something. Right now DP is shipping at version 1.2 on almost all cards. The ones supporting FreeSync or AMDSync are using DP 1.2a. Starting next year, we will begin to see DP 1.3, which will support 8K video.

HDMI is still trying to catch up with the 4K monitors that were shipping a year ago. Most cards with an HDMI port today are version 1.4x versions. These can support 4K monitors, but only at 30Hz. With HDMI 2.0, which nearly all new cards next year will have, 4K at 60Hz will be supported.

AMD is working to get FreeSync/AMDSync added to the HDMI 2.0 standard. It is coming. Just a matter of it is makes it into the standard soon enough for it to be supported by monitors and video cards that will be shipping by the middle of next year.

And finally, Intel has announced that they will begin supporting FreeSync on their iGPU's in 2017.

 

[iK1DDER]

the powercolor one seems pretty cool but it dont have a vga cable. i have an hdmi cable but my monitor dont have a plugin for it but it does has a dvi cable plug in but i dont have a dvi cable lol. now that i think of it, i wonder if any of the r9 390s have vga plugin

No. VGA was dropped from nearly all video cards years ago. The reason is that it is an analog signal, and everything has gone digital.

DVI is effectively dying right now. It just has not kept up with where the industry has gone. The industry recognized this about 5 years ago, and announced about 3 years ago that as of the end of this year, DVI would no longer be on video cards being released.\

So, anything new coming from now on will only have DisplayPort (DP) and HDMI. Mostly DP, and normally a single HDMI port. Reason? DP has supported 5K video since 2009. Thats a lot of time to plan for something. Right now DP is shipping at version 1.2 on almost all cards. The ones supporting FreeSync or AMDSync are using DP 1.2a. Starting next year, we will begin to see DP 1.3, which will support 8K video.

HDMI is still trying to catch up with the 4K monitors that were shipping a year ago. Most cards with an HDMI port today are version 1.4x versions. These can support 4K monitors, but only at 30Hz. With HDMI 2.0, which nearly all new cards next year will have, 4K at 60Hz will be supported.

AMD is working to get FreeSync/AMDSync added to the HDMI 2.0 standard. It is coming. Just a matter of it is makes it into the standard soon enough for it to be supported by monitors and video cards that will be shipping by the middle of next year.

And finally, Intel has announced that they will begin supporting FreeSync on their iGPU's in 2017.

does the sapphire r9 390 have a DP or HDMI? just found found out it has 3 DP so should i buy a DVI/DP adapter? for my monitor since it only have a vga and a dvi plugin?

 

[MarkW]

does the sapphire r9 390 have a DP or HDMI? just found found out it has 3 DP so should i buy a DVI/DP adapter? for my monitor since it only have a vga and a dvi plugin?

Sapphire Radeon NITRO R9 390 8GB GDDR5 DVI-D / HDMI / TRIPLE DP Tri-X OC Version (UEFI) PCI-E Graphics Card 11244-00-20G
1 x HDMI (with 3D)
3 x DisplayPort
1 x DVI-D

 

[iK1DDER]

does the sapphire r9 390 have a DP or HDMI? just found found out it has 3 DP so should i buy a DVI/DP adapter? for my monitor since it only have a vga and a dvi plugin?

Sapphire Radeon NITRO R9 390 8GB GDDR5 DVI-D / HDMI / TRIPLE DP Tri-X OC Version (UEFI) PCI-E Graphics Card 11244-00-20G
1 x HDMI (with 3D)
3 x DisplayPort
1 x DVI-D

would it be better to buy an DP/DVI adapter or just a DVI cable with the two DVI connectors on each end? since my monitor only has a vga and dvi port.

 

[MarkW]

Sapphire Radeon NITRO R9 390 8GB GDDR5 DVI-D / HDMI / TRIPLE DP Tri-X OC Version (UEFI) PCI-E Graphics Card 11244-00-20G
1 x HDMI (with 3D)
3 x DisplayPort
1 x DVI-D

would it be better to buy an DP/DVI adapter or just a DVI cable with the two DVI connectors on each end? since my monitor only has a vga and dvi port.[/quotemsg]

Well, this might sound crazy, but you seem to need to use DVI-D, and the video card has it. So does the monitor...

And if I remember right, you said you had a DVI cable... So if it is a DVI-D cable, why not use it?

Ok.. I am going to sit back now and wait for that light bulb over there to light up and a big grin appear on your face!

 

[MarkW]

Sapphire Radeon NITRO R9 390 8GB GDDR5 DVI-D / HDMI / TRIPLE DP Tri-X OC Version (UEFI) PCI-E Graphics Card 11244-00-20G
1 x HDMI (with 3D)
3 x DisplayPort
1 x DVI-D

would it be better to buy an DP/DVI adapter or just a DVI cable with the two DVI connectors on each end? since my monitor only has a vga and dvi port.

Well, this might sound crazy, but you seem to need to use DVI-D, and the video card has it. So does the monitor...

And if I remember right, you said you had a DVI cable... So if it is a DVI-D cable, why not use it?

Ok.. I am going to sit back now and wait for that light bulb over there to light up and a big grin appear on your face!

 

[iK1DDER]

Sapphire Radeon NITRO R9 390 8GB GDDR5 DVI-D / HDMI / TRIPLE DP Tri-X OC Version (UEFI) PCI-E Graphics Card 11244-00-20G
1 x HDMI (with 3D)
3 x DisplayPort
1 x DVI-D

would it be better to buy an DP/DVI adapter or just a DVI cable with the two DVI connectors on each end? since my monitor only has a vga and dvi port.

Well, this might sound crazy, but you seem to need to use DVI-D, and the video card has it. So does the monitor...

And if I remember right, you said you had a DVI cable... So if it is a DVI-D cable, why not use it?

Ok.. I am going to sit back now and wait for that light bulb over there to light up and a big grin appear on your face!

Im not sure where you are going with the whole smiling thing, lol, but i dont have a DVI cable. so i should buy the DVI-D cable and not the DVI/DP adapter?

 

[MarkW]

Why?

The video card has a DVI-D port...
The monitor has a DVI port.
And you have a DVI cable.

If you want a new DVI cable, sure. But do you need one?

 

[iK1DDER]

Why?

The video card has a DVI-D port...
The monitor has a DVI port.
And you have a DVI cable.

i have an hdmi cable not a DVI cable. my moitor only has a VGA and a DVI port not a hdmi so i cant use an hdmi on my monitor so i need to buy a dvi cable or an DP/DVI adapter. i would need to buy one to use the card with my monitor.

 

[MarkW]

OK. I thought you said you had a DVI cable at some point.

Just make sure that whatever DVI cable you buy is compatible with both the DVI-D port on the video card, and the DVI port on the back of the monitor. There are both DVi-I and DVI-D ports, and the connectors have different pin holes. Hopefully, your monitor will be DVI-D compatible, and if it is, just get the DVI-D cable. Amazon seems to have cables that go from almost anything to almost anything else.

 

[iK1DDER]

OK. I thought you said you had a DVI cable at some point.

Just make sure that whatever DVI cable you buy is compatible with both the DVI-D port on the video card, and the DVI port on the back of the monitor. There are both DVi-I and DVI-D ports, and the connectors have different pin holes. Hopefully, your monitor will be DVI-D compatible, and if it is, just get the DVI-D cable. Amazon seems to have cables that go from almost anything to almost anything else.

oh okay. i checked the difference earlier and i have a DVI-D on my monitor. it doesnt have those two holes above and the two below the little dash looking thing so it is a DVI-D, i just bought a DVI-D, this: http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters%C2%AE-Plated-DVI-D-Ferrites/dp/B007NJ0S1W/ref=sr_1_12?s=audio-video-accessories&ie=UTF8&qid=1441224092&sr=1-12 , is that one good?

 

[MarkW]

Yes. I have several Cable Matters cables here, and have had no issues with them.

 

[iK1DDER]

Yes. I have several Cable Matters cables here, and have had no issues with them.

alright man, so you think the sapphire is the r9 390 i should buy?