The PC Builders Thread ("I Need a New PC") v2

Plum · Feb 13, 2020

Vulcano's Assistant said:
1) Just saying that since fans are a moving parts, and if something were to degrade over time, it may be the bearings of the fan. But it is unlikely that a fan on a PSU fails since they are built to last.
2) Can't promise with 100% certainty, but all points to yes.
3) I believe this mounting kit should make older NH-U12s compatible with AM4. That said, depending on how old yours is, I think Noctua may have rolled a slight variation of their fans in between, so if you want a new one get a new one, they now also have them all in black.

Thank you! I'll stick with the build I have and get the mounting kit instead of bothering to buy a new cooler. It's one from early 2017 so it's not like it's that old lol

I've also decided to get the 1TB version of the Crucial M.2/PCIe SSD with some the money I've saved with the CPU cooler and GPU. I know it's probably a stupid question but are there any potenital issues with having a large boot drive?

liquidmetal14 · Feb 13, 2020

Smokey said:
What are you using to take advantage of it? Your phone?

I'm guessing by your post that wifi to non gen 6 stuff is improved?

Glad you asked.

Yes, older gen devices have benefited greatly from the improved beamforning and all the new tech. I get triple the speed on my current PC vs the last AC router.

I have 2 wifi6 devices and both get almost 100% of my wired connection (600mbps). My Ryzen x570 board will come with wifi6 as well. It's a big jump for me.

Akai_XIII · Feb 13, 2020

Akai_XIII said:
Corsair RM650, RM Series, 80 Plus Gold Certified, 650 W Fully Modular ATX Power Supply - Black (£82.99)
Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-05 Mid-Tower Gaming Case/Chassis - Black (£44.98)
Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4 3200 MHz C16 XMP 2.0 High Performance Desktop Memory Kit, Black (£71.50)
Aorus X570 AORUS ELITE (Socket AM4/X570/DDR4/S-ATA 600/ATX) (£184.79)
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Processor (8C/16T, 36MB Cache, 4.4 GHz Max Boost) (£259.99)
Crucial CT1000P1SSD8 P1 1 TB (3D, NAND, NVMe, PCIe, M.2, Solid State Drive) (£94.49)

Total: £738ish

I want to upgrade my i5 3570k, 16GB, RX580 8GB PC - would this be worthwhile? I don't want to upgrade again for a long time (I've had this build since around 2012/13). I'd still use the 580.

Anyone?

Vulcano's Assistant · Feb 13, 2020

Plum said:
Thank you! I'll stick with the build I have and get the mounting kit instead of bothering to buy a new cooler. It's one from early 2017 so it's not like it's that old lol

I've also decided to get the 1TB version of the Crucial M.2/PCIe SSD with some the money I've saved with the CPU cooler and GPU. I know it's probably a stupid question but are there any potenital issues with having a large boot drive?

Oh yeah, if it is from 2017 then it is the exact same cooler.

There won't be be any issues at 1TB. 1TB Nvmes is what most people are getting nowadays

catpurrcat · Feb 13, 2020

Wow. Can anyone confirm what they're saying here?

Love Hardware Unboxed and their opinion matters alot to me...

There appears to be a reddit thread about it too

Plum · Feb 13, 2020

Vulcano's Assistant said:
Oh yeah, if it is from 2017 then it is the exact same cooler.

There won't be be any issues at 1TB. 1TB Nvmes is what most people are getting nowadays

Great, thanks!

Now that I think about it I'm going to get an SFF PSU as I'm quite worried about the potential GPU temperatures. I'm fine paying another £100 if it gives me that piece of mind.

Vulcano's Assistant · Feb 13, 2020

Akai_XIII said:
Anyone?

it is a decent upgrade I think it should last thru next gen combined with the next gen of GPUs. Part choice looks good to me too. Maybe 3600 Mhz CL16 RAM, if isn't much more expensive since reviewers insist it is the Ryzen Ram sweet spot.

Vulcano's Assistant · Feb 13, 2020

Plum said:
Great, thanks!

Now that I think about it I'm going to get an SFF PSU as I'm quite worried about the potential GPU temperatures. I'm fine paying another £100 if it gives me that piece of mind.

if you are willing to spend £100 for temperature another option is getting a hybrid GPU like this 2070 Super from EVGA, then you don't have to worry about airflow. Though in the long run a SFX PSU would last you for future upgrades.

But I think you are fine as it is. I wouldn't get another PSU unless I could sell the one I already have if it hasn't be unboxed.

Rizific · Feb 13, 2020

catpurrcat said:
Wow. Can anyone confirm what they're saying here?

Love Hardware Unboxed and their opinion matters alot to me...

There appears to be a reddit thread about it too

thats a bummer. ive had personal bad experiences with two different rx580s and was contemplating upgrading to a 5700xt from my 1070.

Vulcano's Assistant · Feb 13, 2020

catpurrcat said:
Wow. Can anyone confirm what they're saying here?

Love Hardware Unboxed and their opinion matters alot to me...

There appears to be a reddit thread about it too

My brother is having a lot of black screen bugs that just started this month, but he has a r9 390.

We thought it was a hardware issue because I replicated the same issues on another machine using the same GPU after a clean install, and the computer becomes unusable, so he is running on the integrated graphics atm.

asmith906 · Feb 13, 2020

catpurrcat said:
Wow. Can anyone confirm what they're saying here?

Love Hardware Unboxed and their opinion matters alot to me...

There appears to be a reddit thread about it too

It's weird how people have all these problems with and card. I've had a 7870, rx 470, rx 480, rx 560 and rx 5700 hand have noticed no difference than the Nvidia cards I had.

LordDraven · Feb 13, 2020

TaySan said:
What resolution are you gaming at? Intel I believe isn't as sensitive to ram speed as Ryzen is so you should be fine.

1440p so 2560x1440

LordDraven · Feb 13, 2020

Wraith said:
What resolution/refresh rate are you running, and how much RAM would you be replacing?

This link has benchmarks with a 9900k and 2080ti, so a little beefier than your setup, but also on a Z390. At 1080p, there is some difference between 2666 C15 and 3400 C16. But stepping up to 1440p or 4K, there's hardly any difference at all.

If you're trying to max things out at 1080p, and only need 16GB, ddr4 3600 C16 can be had for $85.

Memory Overclocking on Z390 Coffee Lake: What RAM Speed Do You Need?

We evaluate the impact of memory speeds from DDR4-2133 to DDR4-4400 on the Coffee Lake Refresh platform.

www.tomshardware.com

2560x1440 at 144hz

Wraith · Feb 13, 2020

LordDraven said:
2560x1440 at 144hz

Then you're probably fine.

Shadownet · Feb 13, 2020

So I've been debating on whether to add a second gaming monitor or get an ultrawide gaming monitor.

Right now I have an XB271HU (IPS version). So I'm either looking for another IPS 1440p IPS monitor or go 1440p ultrawide.

My question is. How does games that doesn't support ultrawide look on an ultrawide display? Bad?

Dave. · Feb 13, 2020

Shadownet said:
So I've been debating on whether to add a second gaming monitor or get an ultrawide gaming monitor.

Right now I have an XB271HU (IPS version). So I'm either looking for another IPS 1440p IPS monitor or go 1440p ultrawide.

My question is. How does games that doesn't support ultrawide look on an ultrawide display? Bad?

They look the same as old 4:3 tv shows look on today's 16:9 TV or monitor - black bars at the sides.

Dave. · Feb 13, 2020

Plum said:
Thank you! I'll stick with the build I have and get the mounting kit instead of bothering to buy a new cooler. It's one from early 2017 so it's not like it's that old lol

I'm 95% sure Noctua will just send you one of those AM4 mounting kits for free if you ask and can show them a receipt.

xy0 · Feb 13, 2020

I'm hoping this is on-topic enough for this thread:

I'm looking to build a PC but first and foremost looking for a small desk on casters that I can wheel in and out of different rooms of my home depending on circumstance.

Ideally the tower would mount or hang from the bottom of the desk plane, and I'd do the same with my consoles.

Has anyone seen anything out on the web like this?

Deleted member 3190 · Feb 13, 2020

catpurrcat said:
Wow. Can anyone confirm what they're saying here?

Love Hardware Unboxed and their opinion matters alot to me...

There appears to be a reddit thread about it too

I started having some issues with the new drivers last month. I occasionally get the black screen issue when playing MTG:A or Crosscode in fullscreen. I think they both might be Unity games, not sure if that's related.

TaySan · Feb 13, 2020

LordDraven said:
1440p so 2560x1440

1440p or higher and your fine honestly. Only 1080p gaming really has an effect.

MoosetheMark · Feb 13, 2020

Reposting my build request for advice from a few months ago, I didn't get any nibbles then but maybe you folks could give me some advice:

Basically, I want to upgrade everything except my graphics card. I have a 1070 that will be fine for the time being, but I'm being severely bottlenecked by my 4670k CPU and 8 GB of RAM. I want to play Alyx on VR and generally have a smoother experience. I'd also like to downside, so I'm looking for a really nice and subtle/unobtrusive Micro-ATX case.

1) Budget is ~$1000, preferably less. I'd love for it to come in around $800, given that I'm reusing my old GPU.

2) The computer lives in the living room of my small apartment, near the couch and connected to my TV via an HDMI cord. Despite this, I don't actually plan to game too much on it. I'm mostly a console guy these days, but I'd like to keep things fairly powerful for exclusives, media, and video/sound editing purposes.

3) Honestly, I have an itchy trigger finger and I'd like to have it up and running in time for Alyx. I'm also looking for a project for the long weekend, so I might even pull the trigger tonight if I can come to a decision.

4) I have a PC I built in ~2013. It's got an i5 4670k on a Z87 motherboard and 8 GB of RAM on two 4G sticks.

A few years ago I upgraded to a 1070 GPU, and I think I'll be keeping that for the time being. Again, I'm mostly going to be a console gamer, and I think the 1070 should still be solid for me.

I'm pretty sure I've settled on the 3700X, but I'm having a hard time picking out a motherboard. I don't want to spend tooo much, and I don't want anything that will have big chunky plastic that could make for a tight squeeze in the case I want.

I should probably get new ram as well, I'm thinking 16GB in two 8GB sticks.

As for hard drives, I'd like some decent storage. I run a Plex server off my current computer, I'd love a dedicated media drive + an SSD for Windows, etc.

Also, I really want a new case, my current mid-tower is a little large and unwieldy, would a micro-ATX fit my graphics card inside? I'm looking for a plain, no-frills black box, but with good cooling and easily accessible ports.

Would I need to replace my power supply, which I believe is 650w? It's not modular, if that's a necessity for smaller cases.

5) I have all the accessories I need.

6) I used to overclock a ton, but since I'm not primarily gaming on PC, maybe I shouldn't worry about it? Especially since I'm looking for a smaller form factor, I'd rather not have to mess with aftermarket cooling if I don't need to. That said, I still want to future-proof myself for a while, so I'd either want a really good CPU, or a motherboard that will stay compatible long enough for when I need to upgrade, if that makes sense.

What say you, era?

Smokey · Feb 14, 2020

liquidmetal14 said:
Glad you asked.

Yes, older gen devices have benefited greatly from the improved beamforning and all the new tech. I get triple the speed on my current PC vs the last AC router.

I have 2 wifi6 devices and both get almost 100% of my wired connection (600mbps). My Ryzen x570 board will come with wifi6 as well. It's a big jump for me.

Nice. I definitely need a new router. Right now I've got everything wired up from my ATT Gigabit all in one box. Since everything is wired, it's not bad, but I fully realize that I need to update it, and get a separate router at some point.

Crazymoogle · Feb 14, 2020

MoosetheMark said:
Reposting my build request for advice from a few months ago, I didn't get any nibbles then but maybe you folks could give me some advice:

CPU: As someone with that exact same CPU (4670k) the price sweetspot right now is the 3600 or 3600X depending on your region. Of course, go for the 3700X if you can swing it, but if I just look at Amazon.com right now it's basically double the price? Believe me, I'd love to have 8 cores, but my guess is that you'll see better value for the money moving those dollars directly onto the eventual GPU purchase you're going to want to make instead. I know you said you're not in the GPU market, but games right now clearly show that you're better off going, say, 3600/2070S than 3700/2060S, for example.

MB: As a Z87 guy you basically have to dump the RAM and board for something new. Go for a B450 board as those are generally cheaper than the X570, which really only has the advantage of PCIe 4.0. There are good and bad boards so you may want to browse youtube for "Best B450" or something similar...

If you're still using mATX then B450 is by far your best option as I think there is only one mATX X570 board...the format will probably be dead next time you upgrade, replaced by the combo of ITX and DTX.

SSD: Why would you want PCIe4? Well, because there are Gen4 SSDs out there with massively faster transfer rates. That being said, they are clearly more expensive, they use heatsinks, and games don't seem to show a big difference using them yet. So just shop around for an NVMe (stick) SSD, Gen 3. Saves a bunch of interior space (plugs right onto the motherboard!) in your PC and its faster than ye old' SATA. Sometimes people here will get an NVMe for their boot drive and then shop for a cheaper, 2.5" SATA SSD as a media drive. But even 1TB NVMe is pretty reasonably priced (for SSD) these days.

RAM: Yep, 2x8 makes sense. You want to aim for DDR4 3200 with CL14 if possible just because AMD's architecture shows clear performance dropoff with slower RAM. But I'm sure there are some no-nonsense Ripjaws or whatever that fit the bill. You definitely want 2x8 since AMD boards are dual-channel.

CASE: You need to measure (or better yet, just get the specs online) for your specific brand of graphics card to see what case it fits in. mATX will almost undoubtedly fit what you need so long as you don't go ITX, but I know some of those old cards had those damn heat pipes jutting out....

PSU: 650w? Nope Just take it. Modular is nice for cleaner builds but unless you go ITX it doesn't matter for fit.

Would I need to replace my power supply, which I believe is 650w? It's not modular, if that's a necessity for smaller cases.

COOLING: Well, if you buy the 3600X (not the 3600) or 3700X you get the Wraith cooler for free, so that may be fine for you? Might be best to go that route and then decide if the heat or noise is fine by you. You'd probably want to get a case with a few built in fans though, depending on how quiet a build you want?

ss_lemonade · Feb 14, 2020

liquidmetal14 said:
Glad you asked.

Yes, older gen devices have benefited greatly from the improved beamforning and all the new tech. I get triple the speed on my current PC vs the last AC router.

I have 2 wifi6 devices and both get almost 100% of my wired connection (600mbps). My Ryzen x570 board will come with wifi6 as well. It's a big jump for me.

What was your old router? I currently use 2 t-mobile routers flashed back to ac68u, one acting as a repeater. Setup seems to work well for general internet tasks, but I like to stream to my Steam Link and I just can't get a good, clean signal between where my PC is located and where I would like to stream. Powerline seems to be even slower, but does provide a more stable connection (so less artifacts).

macindc · Feb 14, 2020

georaldc said:
What was your old router? I currently use 2 t-mobile routers flashed back to ac68u, one acting as a repeater. Setup seems to work well for general internet tasks, but I like to stream to my Steam Link and I just can't get a good, clean signal between where my PC is located and where I would like to stream. Powerline seems to be even slower, but does provide a more stable connection (so less artifacts).

In my personal experience the WiFi receiver on the Steam Link is just not great. I only had it working reliably if it was in the same room with my router. At that point I just gave up and wired it into the router.

CorpseLight · Feb 14, 2020

Wow I can't seem to catch a break with this new pc I built.
First I had the bios crash on me which I talked about a few pages back, was able to get it back with the help of some ERA folks.
Now, I'm getting intermittent BSoDs with various codes.
My bluetooth adapter no longer is working either since the Bios crash. And I can't for the life of me get it to work. It says the driver is missing but errors out everytime I try and auto download it from device manager. I even downloaded the extra bluetooth program from the companies site (Avantree) and that doesnt work either. The adapter works on my brother in laws pc with no issues at all, plugs right in and works.
So I figure, screw it I'm doing what everyone suggested and just doing a fresh install of windows thru the settings. Well, that errored out 3 times as well at about 52%, and said something along the lines of an unexpected error happened and no files could be erased.
I was up til about 2am trying google solutions to this whole thing.

Kalamour · Feb 14, 2020

Hello everyone. With Half-Life Alyx coming next month, I think it is time for me to retire my 980TI. That card is a beast and performed exceptionally well for the four years I've had it. Any recommendations? Is there anything on the market as future-proof as the 980TI has been for me this generation? Or is it better to go for a middle-level card knowing that I might have to replace it soon?

Deleted member 2172 · Feb 14, 2020

Ch3m61_ said:
Wow I can't seem to catch a break with this new pc I built.
First I had the bios crash on me which I talked about a few pages back, was able to get it back with the help of some ERA folks.
Now, I'm getting intermittent BSoDs with various codes.
My bluetooth adapter no longer is working either since the Bios crash. And I can't for the life of me get it to work. It says the driver is missing but errors out everytime I try and auto download it from device manager. I even downloaded the extra bluetooth program from the companies site (Avantree) and that doesnt work either. The adapter works on my brother in laws pc with no issues at all, plugs right in and works.
So I figure, screw it I'm doing what everyone suggested and just doing a fresh install of windows thru the settings. Well, that errored out 3 times as well at about 52%, and said something along the lines of an unexpected error happened and no files could be erased.
I was up til about 2am trying google solutions to this whole thing.

Have you tried updating the bios again since then? I remember you saying you were 4 updates behind, you could be on a unstable bios now. As someone suggested earlier, maybe trying updating 1 bios build at a time instead of jumping to the latest.

It sounds like all these issues have started occurring since you fixed the bios problem, which I doubt is a coincidence.

Kalamour said:
Hello everyone. With Half-Life Alyx coming next month, I think it is time for me to retire my 980TI. That card is a beast and performed exceptionally well for the four years I've had it. Any recommendations? Is there anything on the market as future-proof as the 980TI has been for me this generation? Or is it better to go for a middle-level card knowing that I might have to replace it soon?

2070S is a great card for its cost. But next gen GPU's are not far away now (summer-ish), I would probably save the money and grab a 2060S then upgrade to the 3070 or 3080 in Summer depending on price.

Here is a performance comparison between 980ti to 2060S

liquidmetal14 · Feb 14, 2020

georaldc said:
What was your old router? I currently use 2 t-mobile routers flashed back to ac68u, one acting as a repeater. Setup seems to work well for general internet tasks, but I like to stream to my Steam Link and I just can't get a good, clean signal between where my PC is located and where I would like to stream. Powerline seems to be even slower, but does provide a more stable connection (so less artifacts).

I had an Asus ac66u myself.

I'm using that one as a separate network off the Nighthawk for now as it has better parental controls that I use.

The signal is 100% across my the house vs the 80% I get with the other router as well. Has lower db so I'm definitely getting cleaner and more efficient connection with the RAX80.

Pings are 1/3 lower as well and get nearly what I get wired even off wifi5 stuff. Can't wait to get my wifi6 motherboard for my x570 build.

CorpseLight · Feb 14, 2020

Chaz said:
Have you tried updating the bios again since then? I remember you saying you were 4 updates behind, you could be on a unstable bios now. As someone suggested earlier, maybe trying updating 1 bios build at a time instead of jumping to the latest.

It sounds like all these issues have started occurring since you fixed the bios problem, which I doubt is a coincidence.

2070S is a great card for its cost. But next gen GPU's are not far away now (summer-ish), I would probably save the money and grab a 2060S then upgrade to the 3070 or 3080 in Summer depending on price.

Here is a performance comparison between 980ti to 2060S

I installed the MSI live updater, which checks to make sure im running the newer drivers of theirs. Came back saying I had the newest Mobo driver. Im really just contemplating pulling this thing out and returning it since its giving me so many issues. B450 Tomahawk

Kalamour · Feb 14, 2020

Chaz said:
2070S is a great card for its cost. But next gen GPU's are not far away now (summer-ish), I would probably save the money and grab a 2060S then upgrade to the 3070 or 3080 in Summer depending on price.

Here is a performance comparison between 980ti to 2060S

Thanks for the answer! I'll take a look at those 2.

Deleted member 2172 · Feb 14, 2020

Ch3m61_ said:
I installed the MSI live updater, which checks to make sure im running the newer drivers of theirs. Came back saying I had the newest Mobo driver. Im really just contemplating pulling this thing out and returning it since its giving me so many issues. B450 Tomahawk

Mobo driver version & bios version are two different things. Resetting the CMOS like you did probably restored the mobo to the original bios it shipped with, if I am not mistaken. That version may have been an unstable version that is causing the BSOD's you have mentioned. If you want to continue troubleshooting my first recommendation would be to update the bios to the latest version and see if it resolves any issues. But I don't blame you if you would rather just return it and grab something else, sometimes it just isn't worth the hassle.

FWIW I am using the Asus ROG B450-ITX and its treated me well, the ATX version is probably just the same but bigger. Ive also always stood by Gigabyte when it comes to AMD boards, they are consistently great.

shodgson8 · Feb 14, 2020

catpurrcat said:
Wow. Can anyone confirm what they're saying here?

Love Hardware Unboxed and their opinion matters alot to me...

There appears to be a reddit thread about it too

I can back this, albeit not personally, I have a work colleague who has had no end of issues with his 5700 going to black screens to the point where he has returned the card.

Personally I have always gone AMD until picking up the 2060 Super (4850 to 6850 to 390) and had very minimal issues but haven't been hearing particularly positive things recently....as always different peoples experiences may vary.

Evolution of Metal · Feb 14, 2020

Chaz said:
Mobo driver version & bios version are two different things. Resetting the CMOS like you did probably restored the mobo to the original bios it shipped with, if I am not mistaken.

There is no such thing as Mobo driver. There is a package of drivers for different parts of the motherboard, and if you are using Windows 10, you don't need it as Windows has the built-in drivers for all the essentials.

BIOS version isn't affected by the CMOS reset.

You want to install the latest BIOS, the install the latest chipset driver.

LordDraven · Feb 14, 2020

I'm looking to get an m.2 storage and on my Z390 I see the following slot types:

Type 22110
Type 2280

Is one better than the other?

selfnoise · Feb 14, 2020

LordDraven said:
I'm looking to get an m.2 storage and on my Z390 I see the following slot types:

Type 22110
Type 2280

Is one better than the other?

That's just the max length of m2 drive supported. Most drives these days are 2280.

LordDraven · Feb 14, 2020

Chaz said:
Mobo driver version & bios version are two different things. Resetting the CMOS like you did probably restored the mobo to the original bios it shipped with, if I am not mistaken. That version may have been an unstable version that is causing the BSOD's you have mentioned. If you want to continue troubleshooting my first recommendation would be to update the bios to the latest version and see if it resolves any issues. But I don't blame you if you would rather just return it and grab something else, sometimes it just isn't worth the hassle.

FWIW I am using the Asus ROG B450-ITX and its treated me well, the ATX version is probably just the same but bigger. Ive also always stood by Gigabyte when it comes to AMD boards, they are consistently great.

there is no such thing as a MB driver

LordDraven · Feb 14, 2020

selfnoise said:
That's just the length of m2 drive supported. Most drives these days are 2280.

THANKS! is an m.2 faster than an SSD? Primary PC use is for gaming

Deleted member 2172 · Feb 14, 2020

Evolution of Metal said:
There is no such thing as Mobo driver. There is a package of drivers for different parts of the motherboard, and if you are using Windows 10, you don't need it as Windows has the built-in drivers for all the essentials.

BIOS version isn't affected by the CMOS reset.

You want to install the latest BIOS, the install the latest chipset driver.

Chipset drivers was what I was referring to (and what I thought he was referring to by saying the MSI Live Updater saying had the 'newest mobo drivers').

Ch3m61 tried to update their bios a few days ago and got a blank screen afterwards, resulting in having to reset the CMOS to fix. So, I guess instead of reverting back to the original BIOS, the actual update itself failed and he's still on his original BIOS, would you say? Please see:

Ch3m61_ said:
Now, my main issue is that from what I can see, the Bios i am using is 4 updates behind. And im terrified to try and update it again.

If that is the case, with a failed update its entirely possible the something went wrong during the update that is causing BSOD's and failed Wi-Fi. All things considered I would just return it Ch3m61_

LordDraven said:
there is no such thing as a MB driver

See above.

selfnoise · Feb 14, 2020

LordDraven said:
THANKS! is an m.2 faster than an SSD? Primary PC use is for gaming

m.2 is the form factor of the drive rather than connection type. So you can have SATA m.2 drives as well as slots on older motherboards that only support SATA speeds.

The two connection types are SATA and NVMe. Modern NVMe drives can have much faster sequential read/write than allowed by SATA but in terms of loading games it doesn't currently matter much.

KimonoNoNo · Feb 14, 2020

Plum said:
Thank you! I'll stick with the build I have and get the mounting kit instead of bothering to buy a new cooler. It's one from early 2017 so it's not like it's that old lol

Dave. said:
I'm 95% sure Noctua will just send you one of those AM4 mounting kits for free if you ask and can show them a receipt.

Done it myself with an old as the hills Noctua cooler.
I didn't even need the recept, I just attached a photo of the cooler and the motherboard box as proof.

CorpseLight · Feb 14, 2020

Chaz said:
Chipset drivers was what I was referring to (and what I thought he was referring to by saying the MSI Live Updater saying had the 'newest mobo drivers').

Ch3m61 tried to update their bios a few days ago and got a blank screen afterwards, resulting in having to reset the CMOS to fix. So, I guess instead of reverting back to the original BIOS, the actual update itself failed and he's still on his original BIOS, would you say? Please see:

If that is the case, with a failed update its entirely possible the something went wrong during the update that is causing BSOD's and failed Wi-Fi. All things considered I would just return it Ch3m61_

See above.

I was able to finally get a fresh install of windows 10 to work, using the media creation tool. Seems to have fixed the majority of my Wifi and bluetooth issues, now im going to nuke the 1TB HDD and just buy a 1TB SSD and that should fix everything. Now just have the fun process of redownloading all my apps and games again!

Deleted member 2172 · Feb 14, 2020

Ch3m61_ said:
I was able to finally get a fresh install of windows 10 to work, using the media creation tool. Seems to have fixed the majority of my Wifi and bluetooth issues, now im going to nuke the 1TB HDD and just buy a 1TB SSD and that should fix everything. Now just have the fun process of redownloading all my apps and games again!

nice, glad you got it fixed

I Don't Like · Feb 14, 2020

Shadownet said:
So I've been debating on whether to add a second gaming monitor or get an ultrawide gaming monitor.

Right now I have an XB271HU (IPS version). So I'm either looking for another IPS 1440p IPS monitor or go 1440p ultrawide.

My question is. How does games that doesn't support ultrawide look on an ultrawide display? Bad?

Ultrawide is the way to go and modern games all support 21:9 - I don't remember last time I ran into one that didn't.

MoosetheMark · Feb 14, 2020

Crazymoogle said:
CPU: As someone with that exact same CPU (4670k) the price sweetspot right now is the 3600 or 3600X depending on your region. Of course, go for the 3700X if you can swing it, but if I just look at Amazon.com right now it's basically double the price? Believe me, I'd love to have 8 cores, but my guess is that you'll see better value for the money moving those dollars directly onto the eventual GPU purchase you're going to want to make instead. I know you said you're not in the GPU market, but games right now clearly show that you're better off going, say, 3600/2070S than 3700/2060S, for example.

MB: As a Z87 guy you basically have to dump the RAM and board for something new. Go for a B450 board as those are generally cheaper than the X570, which really only has the advantage of PCIe 4.0. There are good and bad boards so you may want to browse youtube for "Best B450" or something similar...

If you're still using mATX then B450 is by far your best option as I think there is only one mATX X570 board...the format will probably be dead next time you upgrade, replaced by the combo of ITX and DTX.

SSD: Why would you want PCIe4? Well, because there are Gen4 SSDs out there with massively faster transfer rates. That being said, they are clearly more expensive, they use heatsinks, and games don't seem to show a big difference using them yet. So just shop around for an NVMe (stick) SSD, Gen 3. Saves a bunch of interior space (plugs right onto the motherboard!) in your PC and its faster than ye old' SATA. Sometimes people here will get an NVMe for their boot drive and then shop for a cheaper, 2.5" SATA SSD as a media drive. But even 1TB NVMe is pretty reasonably priced (for SSD) these days.

RAM: Yep, 2x8 makes sense. You want to aim for DDR4 3200 with CL14 if possible just because AMD's architecture shows clear performance dropoff with slower RAM. But I'm sure there are some no-nonsense Ripjaws or whatever that fit the bill. You definitely want 2x8 since AMD boards are dual-channel.

CASE: You need to measure (or better yet, just get the specs online) for your specific brand of graphics card to see what case it fits in. mATX will almost undoubtedly fit what you need so long as you don't go ITX, but I know some of those old cards had those damn heat pipes jutting out....

PSU: 650w? Nope Just take it. Modular is nice for cleaner builds but unless you go ITX it doesn't matter for fit.

Would I need to replace my power supply, which I believe is 650w? It's not modular, if that's a necessity for smaller cases.

COOLING: Well, if you buy the 3600X (not the 3600) or 3700X you get the Wraith cooler for free, so that may be fine for you? Might be best to go that route and then decide if the heat or noise is fine by you. You'd probably want to get a case with a few built in fans though, depending on how quiet a build you want?

Thank you for this amazing response! Especially about NVME memory, I literally had no idea that existed!

Another · Feb 14, 2020

Era, what's the best gaming latpop I can get for 1000€?
I keep bouncing around between three different houses so a desktop would prove to be a hassle for my current lifestyle and in that sense I need something to keep me going for the next couple of years.
Ideally 15".

Duxxy3 · Feb 14, 2020

Akai_XIII said:
Anyone?

I'm not a fan of the case. Airflow is pretty restricted on it.

Polyh3dron · Feb 14, 2020

catpurrcat said:
Wow. Can anyone confirm what they're saying here?

Love Hardware Unboxed and their opinion matters alot to me...

There appears to be a reddit thread about it too

lol and Era dogpiled on me very recently when I asked if AMD still had awful drivers for their GPUs.

linnus · Feb 14, 2020

So I have to build a PC for vidoe editing/rendering at work. I have a free (but reasonable) budget, my only direction was build the best PC for editing.

So I'm kinda lost, looking at the options available in my country I'm leaning towards Ryzen 9 3900X (the other option is i9 9900k).

For the GPU should I go RTX 2800? Sli? AMD?

catpurrcat · Feb 14, 2020

Polyh3dron said:
lol and Era dogpiled on me very recently when I asked if AMD still had awful drivers for their GPUs.

ugh. Sorry to hear that. It's like console war 2.0 for some people. Unfortunately a number of threads like that.

The PC Builders Thread ("I Need a New PC") v2

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