Got my first gaming pc

So last year I was playing a lot of Skyrim on my PS4 and the mods were really handicapped the system. I started looking into mods and I saw what was possible on PC. I ended up getting a good deal on a gaming PC from my cousin. For $800 I got a full rig with two 980'tis and a i7. I just bought a 240hz Alienware monitor and I purchased a year subscription to NexusMods.

After seeing what is possible on PC I can't wait to get modding on Skyrim.

I really don't like Steam and their DRM policies. I'm not a fan of digital content but it is what it is.

I bought Vampire Masquerade Skyrim Salt and Sanctuary Fable Anniversary and Dragon Age Origins.

Dust is really bad in my house. I keep it as clean as possible but my pc is still getting dusty inside. Is it fine to just use a can of compressed air with the GPU's and interior of the case? Any cleaning tips?

Heres a pic

Not a fan of sli\crossfire anymore, but for that price!

It's fine to use the can inside

@jdc6305: I wouldn't worry about Steam DRM. Consoles are a DRM platform by default with their closed ecosystem and proprietary hardware. Anyway, your PC is much better than any console and can do a lot more. Enjoy Skyrim and the other games.

I agree not a fan of sli/crossfire but damn nice price for that power.

My last pc got years of dust and still works perfectly. My recent (1 year and months old) pc will probably get a dust sli gpu in no time :D

Thanks for the comments. I actually tried to talk him down to $600 but he wouldn't take it.

@jdc6305: You really should get some dust filters for your PC's fan intakes. Stretched pantyhose held with duct tape works fine if you can't fit proper filters to your case (or can't afford them).

I have filters on my intakes but I have gaps around my optical drive. The way my cousin has this set up with the fans has me worried. My main GPU is running at 49*c the secondary one is running at 35*c. I have the fans kicked up to 1300 rpms because if I don't they get up to 65*c. I'm thinking there is something going on with the air flow in the case. I have 2 fans in the front one in the rear. The two in the front are blowing inward the one in the rear is blowing out. When my cousin had this rig he was in a basement and it was cold. I have it in my computer room on top of my desk. It's a lot warmer in here but I'm running air conditioning. I'm thinking I might need a better fan set up. I'm not sure what to do though. I'm thinking about replacing the two fans in the front with 3 smaller ones. The two fans in the front now don't fill the entire space of the case with 3 smaller ones it would. Also I'm gonna have to figure out something to do with the gaps around the optical drive.

no surprise, he could most likely get 600$ out of the gpu's alone

@jdc6305: 65c on GPU's is cold, they can take up to 95c without a worry.

Congrats :). I have the same Corsair Vengeance RAMs. Nice SLI on those GTX 980. As for dust, I have a big ass air compressor that I occassionally run inside my room. I allow it to build pressure and sort of "dust off" everything in my room. Works great for computers, midi keyboards, samplers, routers, chair and ordinary furniture. Then I simply pass the vacuum in my room to collect all the fallen dust and I call it a day. You don't have to purchase a big compressor like me cause it's an overkill. Buy a one like those and you'll be fine: https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=mJSXoPUn&id=F0B1BFA448B4FCB1ACEDBECFD2F60DCC025906A5&thid=OIP.mJSXoPUniTyt1hb3Fg5WPgHaHa&mediaurl=http%3a%2f%2faircompressorlab.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2016%2f07%2f81q1MDU3v8L._SL1500_.jpg&exph=1500&expw=1500&q=small+air+compressor&simid=608010755442999355&selectedIndex=9&ajaxhist=0

@jdc6305 Good price for a decent system, enjoy.

Some pro advice on keeping it clean (I've worked in fire and flood restoration for over 20 years, so cleaning electronics is something I know well)

1. Power off your PC, leave the power cable in but flick the power switch off. It will give you a constant earth.
2. Make sure all LED's and displays are off - i.e power has dissipated before going inside
3. Touch the case before you touch anything inside, it will earth you and help protect your expensive PC
4. Blow off the dust with a compressor or air can (watch for water droplets, especially from air cans) and brush lightly with a soft brush, ideally not a nylon one but it shouldn't be an issue if that's all you can get. Modern electronics are not particularly sensitive to static.
5. If you do get water droplets from your compressed air, don't panic, you can pop the component in the oven at 50C (122F) for an hour or so and any small amounts of water will dry off. Make sure you don't have the oven any higher than that or you will melt any plastics. Oven drying is probably not recommended for the faint of heart but we regularly full wet wash all kinds of electronic equipment and dry them in ovens at 50C for a minimum of 12 hours, sometimes they are in there for days.
6. For any stubborn bits use Isopropanol or Isopropyl Alcohol, ideally 95% but 70% will do if that's all you can get. Rub the marks off with a cotton swab. Put the IPA on the swab not on the components and don't saturate (no puddles) and leave it to dry for at least an hour or use a hair dryer on hot (don't hold it close) and it'll be gone in a matter of seconds.

Just as a note, I would not recommend vacuuming inside a PC. They can build large amounts of static at the nozzle especially if there is a lot of dust being collected and they really can build enough charge to do some serious damage. Unless of course you can get a vacuum cleaner designed for electronic equipment, they do exist but can be expensive.

Why do you not like SLI or xFire? I had an xFire setup for a long time, and loved it. Never had any issues, and most games I played supported it. I now use a single GF1070, but wouldn't mind adding a second card someday. My other setup (2 7850s) gave some impressive frames in its day.

If I were you I would sell those GTX 980 Tis each and get a single GTX 1080 Ti.

Hey welcome to the PC Gaming community and glad to see you have a rig. I would recommend making sure the room where the pc is, is as clean as possible also.

Wow that is a good deal.

A single 980Ti is still an extremely good card. Though they do get a bit hot.

Modded Skyrim on the PC is probably one of my favorite experiences. Now that SKSE is available for the SE it's almost time to give it another go. This is a good looking mod list I've been wanting to mess around with: https://www.zhakaron.com/2017/11/skyrim-se-loadout-for-legacy-of.html

I use a program called 'Mod Organizer', I find it better than the 'Nexus Mod Manager' https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/6194

I recently picked up a BenQ Zowie RL2455 for playing console games. Oh my God the horrible picture quality. Hazy. Foggy. I played Black Ops and the game didn't look good at all. I have a 10 year old Samsung 19 inch LED that I'm staying with because that thing is extremely sharp looking. I was totally and utterly disappointed in the gaming monitor I'm sending it back for a refund.

Speaking of mods, do you know what is the best mod to play old video games from around the 2000s?

congrats, hope i get a pc that has the same specs that you have

Steam is the best thing to happen to PC gaming ever.

Steam is also the best thing to happen to gaming overall...ever

so its unfortunate that the OP is not going to be playing a lot of great games. Some of them he might be able to get directly from the developers

oh talk about missing out!

Can you tell me your full pc specs, you know cpu speed and type of ram and speed? Sounds like you got an incredible deal there.

@jdc6305: I`m currently using Nvidia GeForce GTX gpu to test heavy games on my citrix vdi. It is just flawless and smooth as a firing bullet !

Adrian Gates

Game Developer - https://www.apps4rent.com

congrats

That's a lot of bang for your buck, congrats TC. Hope you enjoy all the modding you'll be able to do with that setup.

Compressed air is totally fine to use inside. You can maybe look at getting a case with dust plates if you're paranoid about it. The Fractal ones are pretty good I hear, and keep everything running fairly quiet too.

Congrats

Just seeing the dust is making my nose tingle.

Good luck with the journey of the PC

What a pointless necro thread

5 month old thread. Locked.