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

Vulcano's Assistant · Feb 24, 2020

Omnipotent said:
Is there any worthwhile reason I should wait for this years Ryzen 4000 series CPUs rather than just buying one of last years? Was going to wait but now I'm thinking of just getting a 3900x, and if I go that route what are some good overclocking mobos for it?

Depends on how much overclocking you are looking to do, but in regular use cases you'll probably be more than fine with Asus or Gigabyte's ~$200 boards. Asus TUF Gaming X570-Plus and Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite, or the $150 ASUS Prime X570-P if you don't need many extra ports, but just want a competent VRM.

If you want an educated description across all the price spectrum, or if you are doing more than conventional overclocking tho:

Best Motherboards for AMD Ryzen: R5 3600, R9 3950X & B450, X570, X470

The best motherboards for AMD Ryzen CPUs in 2019, from B450 to X570, covered in one place. This updated version of our guide considers the R9 3950X & R5 3600...

www.youtube.com

ABeezy1388 · Feb 24, 2020

KimonoNoNo said:
Sorry I haven't got personal experience, just what I heard from people online.

Ah darn, I've heard some rumblings of this also but never did it and don't know what to look out for. $5 seems to be a sweet spot for a key for W10 Pro here in the US. Suppose it's worth the gamble. The sellers got thousands of ratings with most 95% rating or higher with few negative reviews.

Vulcano's Assistant · Feb 24, 2020

ABeezy1388 said:
Ah darn, I've heard some rumblings of this also but never did it and don't know what to look out for. $5 seems to be a sweet spot for a key for W10 Pro here in the US. Suppose it's worth the gamble. The sellers got thousands of ratings with most 95% rating or higher with few negative reviews.

I've done this twice for $7 and never not gotten it. One time the key didn't work and I emailed the person and they sent me another within the hour.

Vibbon · Feb 24, 2020

I have a question that's gonna really show off my ignorance:
So I have a Corsair Carbide 88R and just got an RX 580 and this thing is massive. It fits, but it's getting a little crowded. I am going to be getting some additional case fans (2x intakes for front + 2x exhausts on top) so I'm not running that single fan in the back as hard. That said, I'm wondering if these case fans would be sufficient or if I should just go ahead and upgrade my case to a larger one.

tl;dr: Is it better to have more open air or could you get by on fans alone?

Deleted member 2229 · Feb 24, 2020

Vulcano's Assistant said:
Asus TUF Gaming X570-Plus and Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite, or the $150 ASUS Prime X570-P if you don't need many extra ports, but just want a competent VRM.

Much appreciated!

FlyStarJay · Feb 24, 2020

hey guys, i am planning on building a new pc, mainly cause i want a new 1 and the 1 i currently have was bought in 2011, with nvidia 560 ti. I will play games on it once a while and in future able to stream 4k videos/contents (netflix, youtube, disney+). Here is my list, is it decent? https://pcpartpicker.com/list/J44cgJ

the gpu is the 4gb version, and i have the standard HDD that i will use for the PC until i can afford SSD. That is costing me £666, can i get it cheaper? also the gpu comes with 2 games and the mobo might come with 1 as well. I won't be overclocking the system

Thanks

Vulcano's Assistant · Feb 24, 2020

Vibbon said:
I have a question that's gonna really show off my ignorance:
So I have a Corsair Carbide 88R and just got an RX 580 and this thing is massive. It fits, but it's getting a little crowded. I am going to be getting some additional case fans (2x intakes for front + 2x exhausts on top) so I'm not running that single fan in the back as hard. That said, I'm wondering if these case fans would be sufficient or if I should just go ahead and upgrade my case to a larger one.

tl;dr: Is it better to have more open air or could you get by on fans alone?

Not so much about the case being larger and having empty space, but it having good intake. At first glance the front panel of the Carbide 88R seems like a bit of a choke point to me, I wonder if adding more fans in front is worth it, but I can picture more exhausts on top definitely helping, increasing negative pressure so you case sucks air even from the unused pci brackets on the back. (something similar to what we find on the NZXT H510 stock configuration)

I guess it depends on how expensive are the fans you are looking to buy, 4x$12 is not too far from a new $60 case if that comes with at least a decent fan, but most good cases are not going to come with as competitive prices with anything more than a couple fans installed.

If you are looking for airflow oriented case I would suggest the Phanteks Eclipse P300A Mesh, but as said before, that only comes with a single fan in the back so you would be reusing you current fan to maximize its mesh front design. Airflow cases fully quipped with fans out of the box would be around $100 like the Silverstone RL06, or the Phanteks Eclipse P400A Digital. (Though it would be about the same cost to add three good fans to the P300A than a single one to the P400A)

Maybe the way to go is getting two extra fans first and trying them on your current case. If you are still unhappy with the case then you can still reuse those two fans on your next case.

Wraith · Feb 24, 2020

FlyStarJay said:
hey guys, i am planning on building a new pc, mainly cause i want a new 1 and the 1 i currently have was bought in 2011, with nvidia 560 ti. I will play games on it once a while and in future able to stream 4k videos/contents (netflix, youtube, disney+). Here is my list, is it decent? https://pcpartpicker.com/list/J44cgJ

the gpu is the 4gb version, and i have the standard HDD that i will use for the PC until i can afford SSD. That is costing me £666, can i get it cheaper? also the gpu comes with 2 games and the mobo might come with 1 as well. I won't be overclocking the system

Thanks

Don't know what price you're paying for individual parts, but general recommendations:

Swap the X570 board for a B450 MAX (the "MAX" boards are compatible with the 3600 out of the box; cheaper than X570, but doesn't do PCI-E 4).
Get a budget NVME boot drive (250GB+) or SATA SSD at least. That way you don't have to mess with cloning HDD OS drive to SSD.
See if there's enough to squeeze in a 1660 SUPER/1660 ti or RX 5600 XT.
Could consider slightly cheaper RAM (non-RGB) and PSU (ex. 550W semi-modular, bronze or better, might save a bit, but stick with reputable brands). Nothing wrong with your choices, but might be able to make cuts here if you want to fit in a better GPU.

FlyStarJay · Feb 24, 2020

Wraith said:
Don't know what price you're paying for individual parts, but general recommendations:

Swap the X570 board for a B450 MAX (the "MAX" boards are compatible with the 3600 out of the box; cheaper than X570, but doesn't do PCI-E 4).

Get a budget NVME boot drive (250GB+) or SATA SSD at least. That way you don't have to mess with cloning HDD OS drive to SSD.

See if there's enough to squeeze in a 1660 SUPER/1660 ti or RX 5600 XT.

Could consider slightly cheaper RAM (non-RGB) and PSU (ex. 550W semi-modular, bronze or better, might save a bit, but stick with reputable brands). Nothing wrong with your choices, but might be able to make cuts here if you want to fit in a better GPU.

Thank you so much, i was looking at something like the tomahawk, but people kept saying the bios is out of date and it needs to be updated and that would not be possible as i dont have a compatible cpu, another reason why i went with x570 was cause of UBS C, but i can skip that for cheaper. Regarding ram, i dont think i saw anything cheaper in 3200mhz, or should i drop to 3000mhz or does it matter? Should i go for this PSU?

Wraith · Feb 24, 2020

FlyStarJay said:
Thank you so much, i was looking at something like the tomahawk, but people kept saying the bios is out of date and it needs to be updated and that would not be possible as i dont have a compatible cpu, another reason why i went with x570 was cause of UBS C, but i can skip that for cheaper. Regarding ram, i dont think i saw anything cheaper in 3200mhz, or should i drop to 3000mhz or does it matter? Should i go for this PSU?

If you get the B450 Tomahawk MAX, it should have a BIOS compatible with the 3600 out of the box.

The B450 Tomahawk (non-MAX) does support BIOS flashback, meaning you can update the BIOS via USB with no CPU installed. Slightly more work getting the BIOS update ready, but you wouldn't need a older CPU on hand to update it.

There should be B450 boards with one or more USB Type-C ports on the rear I/O panel (including both Tomahawk versions), but finding an onboard header for front panel Type-C ports is less common.

RAM - Sticking with 3200 is probably good for Ryzen. 3200 CAS16 and 3000 CAS15 are pretty similar performance. I'm not saying go for slower RAM, but if you can get the same speed for less (different brand/style), might consider it.

GameMax is not a PSU brand I'm familiar with at all (don't think they're sold here in the states). I generally stick to Corsair, EVGA, SeaSonic, but have heard some be quiet! PSUs are also good.

FlyStarJay · Feb 24, 2020

Wraith said:
If you get the B450 Tomahawk MAX, it should have a BIOS compatible with the 3600 out of the box.

The B450 Tomahawk (non-MAX) does support BIOS flashback, meaning you can update the BIOS via USB with no CPU installed. Slightly more work getting the BIOS update ready, but you wouldn't need a older CPU on hand to update it.

There should be B450 boards with one or more USB Type-C ports on the rear I/O panel (including both Tomahawk versions), but finding an onboard header for front panel Type-C ports is less common.

RAM - Sticking with 3200 is probably good for Ryzen. 3200 CAS16 and 3000 CAS15 are pretty similar performance. I'm not saying go for slower RAM, but if you can get the same speed for less (different brand/style), might consider it.

GameMax is not a PSU brand I'm familiar with at all (don't think they're sold here in the states). I generally stick to Corsair, EVGA, SeaSonic, but have heard some be quiet! PSUs are also good.

Yeai looked at the Tomahawk Max, it does have C, i will look for cheaper PSU, could you please explain this? "3200 CAS16 and 3000 CAS15"

Wraith · Feb 24, 2020

FlyStarJay said:
Yeai looked at the Tomahawk Max, it does have C, i will look for cheaper PSU, could you please explain this? "3200 CAS16 and 3000 CAS15"

CAS is latency rating. Most of the RAM you'll see in this price range is CAS16 (C16). DDR4 3000 at C15 (lower latency) generally performs about the same as 3200 C16 (higher frequency).

But you don't have to worry a lot about this. 3200 C16 is about where you want to be.

FlyStarJay · Feb 24, 2020

Wraith said:
CAS is latency rating. Most of the RAM you'll see in this price range is CAS16 (C16). DDR4 3000 at C15 (lower latency) generally performs about the same as 3200 C16 (higher frequency).

But you don't have to worry a lot about this. 3200 C16 is about where you want to be.

Might have to stick with the 5500 xt, 5600xt is way to expensive for me at the moment

FlyStarJay · Feb 24, 2020

Wraith said:
Don't know what price you're paying for individual parts, but general recommendations:

Swap the X570 board for a B450 MAX (the "MAX" boards are compatible with the 3600 out of the box; cheaper than X570, but doesn't do PCI-E 4).

Get a budget NVME boot drive (250GB+) or SATA SSD at least. That way you don't have to mess with cloning HDD OS drive to SSD.

See if there's enough to squeeze in a 1660 SUPER/1660 ti or RX 5600 XT.

Could consider slightly cheaper RAM (non-RGB) and PSU (ex. 550W semi-modular, bronze or better, might save a bit, but stick with reputable brands). Nothing wrong with your choices, but might be able to make cuts here if you want to fit in a better GPU.

Is this nvme good? nvme 256 gb

Crazymoogle · Feb 24, 2020

FlyStarJay said:
Is this nvme good? nvme 256 gb

Strongly advise against that one because it uses a DRAM-less design, which can mean HDD-like latency. It's a newer thing some companies are doing to drop cost.

There are definitely a variety of cheap NVME out there that have great speed though, like the Sabrent TLC 256, but keep in mind performance will go up with each capacity jump, so 512/500 is a boost over 250/256 and so on. Depends what you can afford. ADATA, aadlink, Sabrent, SiliconPower all have some good products despite their no-namer labels though.

FlyStarJay · Feb 24, 2020

Crazymoogle said:
Strongly advise against that one because it uses a DRAM-less design, which can mean HDD-like latency. It's a newer thing some companies are doing to drop cost.

There are definitely a variety of cheap NVME out there that have great speed though, like the Sabrent TLC 256, but keep in mind performance will go up with each capacity jump, so 512/500 is a boost over 250/256 and so on. Depends what you can afford. ADATA, aadlink, Sabrent, SiliconPower all have some good products despite their no-namer labels though.

Thank You, as cheap as possible, i like the sabrent, if i do not see cheaper. SiliconPower

Crazymoogle · Feb 24, 2020

FlyStarJay said:
Thank You, as cheap as possible, i like the sabrent, if i do not see cheaper. SiliconPower

The SP drive *looks* like the right drive. It specifically says "A80" and the photos (stock photos) say P34A80, which is this drive. It also says PCIe Gen 3x4, which is the P34. This uses the Phison E12 which is basically the same thing as on the Sabrent. And it seems to be sold by SiliconPower Europe, so yeah, that drive works.

FlyStarJay · Feb 24, 2020

Ok thank you all, ordered the silicon Power 256gb off amazon, tomahawk max 450, 3600, 550 semi modular corsair, 5500 xt, 16gb ram and this case.

Should come in a couple of days, my 1st build, i hope i do not mess it up

Paterique · Feb 24, 2020

hey so need some advise, currently have a i7-4790k with 16g of ram running a rtx 2080ti.....
im thinking of buying an i9-9900 processor or the equivalent ryzen. Im not very knowledgeable in cpu and am wondering
if it is worth it and if ill see a difference and which of the 2 cpu u guys recommend.

thanks!

Vulcano's Assistant · Feb 24, 2020

Paterique said:
hey so need some advise, currently have a i7-4790k with 16g of ram running a rtx 2080ti.....
im thinking of buying an i9-9900 processor or the equivalent ryzen. Im not very knowledgeable in cpu and am wondering
if it is worth it and if ill see a difference and which of the 2 cpu u guys recommend.

thanks!

In The Ryzen side the 8-core would be the 3700X or the 3800X. The 3700X would be a very solid option at the moment.

In the In Intel side the 9900k is the fastest gaming CPU, but I would be tempted to wait and see if the 10th series has better bang for the buck than the 9th, since a i7-10700K should be launching on the upcoming months. There isn't a date, but it should be close because some retailers have already mistakenly put them on their store and then removed them.

Crazymoogle · Feb 24, 2020

I'd wait another generation, most of the work is being done by your GPU (which is extremely strong). It could use a better CPU, but you'd be doing a complete system overhaul to make that change.

(Of course if you can afford a Ti then I guess CPU+MB+RAM is peanuts)

Paterique · Feb 24, 2020

Vulcano's Assistant said:
In The Ryzen side the 8-core would be the 3700X or the 3800X. The 3700X would be a very solid option at the moment.

In the In Intel side the 9900k is the fastest gaming CPU, but I would be tempted to wait and see if the 10th series has better bang for the buck than the 9th, since a i7-10700K should be launching on the upcoming months. There isn't a date, but it should be close because some retailers have already mistakenly put them on their store and then removed them.

Crazymoogle said:
I'd wait another generation, most of the work is being done by your GPU (which is extremely strong). It could use a better CPU, but you'd be doing a complete system overhaul to make that change.

(Of course if you can afford a Ti then I guess CPU+MB+RAM is peanuts)

alright thanks for the help, ill ponder on all of this

opticalmace · Feb 24, 2020

Paterique said:
hey so need some advise, currently have a i7-4790k with 16g of ram running a rtx 2080ti.....
im thinking of buying an i9-9900 processor or the equivalent ryzen. Im not very knowledgeable in cpu and am wondering
if it is worth it and if ill see a difference and which of the 2 cpu u guys recommend.

thanks!

Hey, what resolution/refresh rate do you play at? Pretty modern games?

ABeezy1388 · Feb 24, 2020

Ok I need some help, I'm new to building pc's and installing windows.

built my pc yesterday and it booted up no problem. Installed windows from usb drive no problem. Downloaded and installed my programs, drivers, updates etc. was late powered off and went to bed.

got home From work today turn it on doesn't boot into windows. Powered down and restart tried booting into the other drives nothing worked. So I attempted to reinstall windows and it crashed mid way. Now I'm stuck when I try booting from the usb it says I need to repair windows. I selected to do a clean install went through that and the Pc started cleaning it and installing and it turned off and on and few times then turned off. Now when I turn it on I'm at the same point again where nothing happens. I Can go to bios that's it otherwise it'll just sit on a black screen.

im getting extremely discouraged. :( can anyone who's good with this sort of thing help me?

Dave. · Feb 24, 2020

ABeezy1388 said:
Ok I need some help, I'm new to building pc's and installing windows.

built my pc yesterday and it booted up no problem. Installed windows from usb drive no problem. Downloaded and installed my programs, drivers, updates etc. was late powered off and went to bed.

got home From work today turn it on doesn't boot into windows. Powered down and restart tried booting into the other drives nothing worked. So I attempted to reinstall windows and it crashed mid way. Now I'm stuck when I try booting from the usb it says I need to repair windows. I selected to do a clean install went through that and the Pc started cleaning it and installing and it turned off and on and few times then turned off. Now when I turn it on I'm at the same point again where nothing happens. I Can go to bios that's it otherwise it'll just sit on a black screen.

im getting extremely discouraged. :( can anyone who's good with this sort of thing help me?

Run Memtest86

ABeezy1388 · Feb 24, 2020

Vulcano's Assistant said:
I've done this twice for $7 and never not gotten it. One time the key didn't work and I emailed the person and they sent me another within the hour.

i got mine for $5 I gave it a shot but I'm having pc issues so I gotta try it once I'm all good to go. I knew it was to good to be true lol

ABeezy1388 · Feb 24, 2020

Dave. said:
Run Memtest86

I don't know anything about that; I'll have to read into it. :/

from the time of my posting I managed to get it to start installing again and it crashed again. It keeps crashing when I get to the screen after logging in with my email and it asks about syncing my devices or something like that and i have to select yes or no. And boom just shuts off black screen and then I go through all the issues from my previous post. I'm gonna pull my hair out

catpurrcat · Feb 24, 2020

ABeezy1388 said:
i got mine for $5 I gave it a shot but I'm having pc issues so I gotta try it once I'm all good to go. I knew it was to good to be true lol

The issue you're having is unrelated to windows activation. It sounds like a hardware issue, specifically bad RAM or lesser extent bad HDD. Before doing anything else, re-install your RAM, HDD, and GPU, make sure these are secure in the slots. Now try to reinstall windows.

EDIT: try to install windows WITHOUT being connected to the internet. So don't enter your wifi credentials when installing windows. It won't ask you to login then.

If it crashes again, you'll need to run memtest86 to rule out bad RAM. It happens, periodically.

catpurrcat · Feb 24, 2020

ABeezy1388 said:
I don't know anything about that; I'll have to read into it. :/

from the time of my posting I managed to get it to start installing again and it crashed again. It keeps crashing when I get to the screen after logging in with my email and it asks about syncing my devices or something like that and i have to select yes or no. And boom just shuts off black screen and then I go through all the issues from my previous post. I'm gonna pull my hair out

Please post your full specs again :) we can help!

catpurrcat · Feb 24, 2020

ABeezy1388 another thought- when it "crashes", are you sure the computer is actually freezing up, and it's not just your monitor cutting the display signal? Is this a new monitor? Try a new HDMI or displayport cable if so.

Dave. · Feb 24, 2020

ABeezy1388 said:
I don't know anything about that; I'll have to read into it. :/

from the time of my posting I managed to get it to start installing again and it crashed again. It keeps crashing when I get to the screen after logging in with my email and it asks about syncing my devices or something like that and i have to select yes or no. And boom just shuts off black screen and then I go through all the issues from my previous post. I'm gonna pull my hair out

It's a self running program that boots from a usb stick (hopefully you have still capability to make bootable usb sticks). It will test your RAM (and inherently CPU and motherboard settings etc), and if passes clean rule out a whole swathe of possible issues. Likewise, if it fails it will highlight possible issues. Ideally it is run to completion before Windows installation, but I',m fighting a losing battle on that front 😁

ABeezy1388 · Feb 24, 2020

catpurrcat said:
The issue you're having is unrelated to windows activation. It sounds like a hardware issue, specifically bad RAM or lesser extent bad HDD. Before doing anything else, re-install your RAM, HDD, and GPU, make sure these are secure in the slots. Now try to reinstall windows.

EDIT: try to install windows WITHOUT being connected to the internet. So don't enter your wifi credentials when installing windows. It won't ask you to login then.

If it crashes again, you'll need to run memtest86 to rule out bad RAM. It happens, periodically.

so after I built the pc I didn't connect to the internet initially and everything was good As mentioned in a few posts up that then today the computer wouldn't boot into windows.

catpurrcat said:
Please post your full specs again :) we can help!

here is my specs. I'm proud of myself for actually building a pc and it starting up on the first try and windows installing fine too, until I turned the pc on today.

Power Supply: EVGA 650GM 80+G FM SFX PSU
Memory: G. SKILL 32GB 2X16 D4 3200 RIPJAWS
Storage: IPSG 256GB I PREMIUM NVME SSD (boot drive)
Storage: IPSG 1TB I PREMIUM NVME SSD
CPU: AMD AMD RYZEN 5 3600X WRAITHS
Motherboard: GIGABYTE X570 AORUS ITX WIFI
GPU: EVGA RTX 2080 SUPER BLACK GAMING
Cooler: NOCTUA NH-L9a CHROMAX BLACK
Case: LOUQE GHOST S1 LIMESTONE

catpurrcat said:
ABeezy1388 another thought- when it "crashes", are you sure the computer is actually freezing up, and it's not just your monitor cutting the display signal? Is this a new monitor? Try a new HDMI or displayport cable if so.

monitor is good, I'm on a 65" LG OLED and 65" SAMSUNG KS8000, does it on both and my old pc doesn't cut out so I know that my cables and monitors are fine.

Dave. said:
It's a self running program that boots from a usb stick (hopefully you have still capability to make bootable usb sticks). It will test your RAM (and inherently CPU and motherboard settings etc), and if passes clean rule out a whole swathe of possible issues. Likewise, if it fails it will highlight possible issues. Ideally it is run to completion before Windows installation, but I',m fighting a losing battle on that front 😁

so I download it and put it on flash drive plug into new pc turn on and boot into the usb and it self runs? i can download it off my old pc. Is ok to run if windows is half installed since the crash lol?

ABeezy1388 · Feb 24, 2020

By the way thanks to both of you for helping a stranger :D

Dave. · Feb 24, 2020

ABeezy1388 said:
so I download it and put it on flash drive plug into new pc turn on and boot into the usb and it self runs? i can download it off my old pc. Is ok to run if windows is half installed since the crash lol?

Exactly. It will run fine, it doesn't care what's on your hard disks.

MemTest86 - Official Site of the x86 Memory Testing Tool

MemTest86 is the original self booting memory testing software for x86 and ARM computers. Supporting both BIOS and UEFI, with options to boot from USB.

www.memtest86.com

Kevers · Feb 24, 2020

I'm gonna hold off until next year to build an entire new machine but I grabbed an NXZT H510, a 16gb ram upgrade (unfortunately my z97 mobo only supports ddr3), and an RX 5700 XT. I'm currently on an i7-4790k and I've asked around and been told I should be great for another year with the 5700 XT lasting me past my new build.

Hopefully Amazon gets it here fairly early tomorrow so I can throw my current machine in the new case and get everything installed before I head into work.

Rolento · Feb 24, 2020

TC McQueen said:
Try out this build:

Sweet thanks I'll check it out

EDIT: for something lower prices, what are thoughts on this? (Would switch out ssd for a higher capacity unit)

catpurrcat · Feb 24, 2020

ABeezy1388 said:
By the way thanks to both of you for helping a stranger :D

You're doing good dude, run the memtest as Dave noted and report back :)
An issue that comes up sometimes is driver conflicts, which is why running the clean install without internet is key, and turn OFF automatic updates. When everything is up and running, after installing your GPU drivers yourself from Nvidia's site, then run windows update and only install updates one at a time. That will let you narrow down which update is crashing your system, as you can always go into safe mode later and roll back.

Paterique · Feb 24, 2020

opticalmace said:
Hey, what resolution/refresh rate do you play at? Pretty modern games?

playing on a samsung chg90 super wide screen (love it) usually at 1440hz and yes modern games

ABeezy1388 · Feb 24, 2020

Dave. said:
Exactly. It will run fine, it doesn't care what's on your hard disks.

MemTest86 - Official Site of the x86 Memory Testing Tool

MemTest86 is the original self booting memory testing software for x86 and ARM computers. Supporting both BIOS and UEFI, with options to boot from USB.

www.memtest86.com

so I turned the pc on pressed delete for to the boot order selected my USB with the MemTest86 .img and quit. Pc restarted and just nothing; black screen :(

catpurrcat said:
You're doing good dude, run the memtest as Dave noted and report back :)
An issue that comes up sometimes is driver conflicts, which is why running the clean install without internet is key, and turn OFF automatic updates. When everything is up and running, after installing your GPU drivers yourself from Nvidia's site, then run windows update and only install updates one at a time. That will let you narrow down which update is crashing your system, as you can always go into safe mode later and roll back.

Thanks, it's just super frustrating. Before any of they see my above response to Dave's quote. Aghhh lol

catpurrcat · Feb 24, 2020

ABeezy1388 said:
so I turned the pc on pressed delete for to the boot order selected my USB with the MemTest86 .img and quit. Pc restarted and just nothing; black screen :(

Thanks, it's just super frustrating. Before any of they see my above response to Dave's quote. Aghhh lol

If you can get into the bios, can you see how recent your bios version is? Bios updates can improve memory compatibility and squash any bugs (but sometimes create problems too)

ABeezy1388 · Feb 24, 2020

So it says my bios "reset" and I hit F12 and tried booting to my flash drive with the MemTest86 on it it's called "UEFI: Sandisk Cruzer Glide 1.27, Partition 1" and when I click that to boot nothing happens it just goes back to this same screen

ABeezy1388 · Feb 24, 2020

catpurrcat said:
If you can get into the bios, can you see how recent your bios version is? Bios updates can improve memory compatibility and squash any bugs (but sometimes create problems too)

I have version F11 it says, not the best with this bios stuff lol. I thought I saw somewhere in the advanced settings it was from 12-6-19 but not 100% sure on that, but it is version F11

Dave. · Feb 24, 2020

ABeezy1388 said:
so I turned the pc on pressed delete for to the boot order selected my USB with the MemTest86 .img and quit. Pc restarted and just nothing; black screen :(

Thanks, it's just super frustrating. Before any of they see my above response to Dave's quote. Aghhh lol

There is sometimes a couple of different boot options for the usb stick, UEFI or LEGACY and sometimes a stick only works on one or the other, try the other?

ABeezy1388 · Feb 24, 2020

Dave. said:
There is sometimes a couple of different boot options for the usb stick, UEFI or LEGACY and sometimes a stick only works on one or the other, try the other?

I have 4 things in my boot options. My two m.2s and two different named things for the usb drive. Just tried the other and it rebooted and popped up with a black screen and white text saying "remove disks or other media. Press any key to restart."

ABeezy1388 · Feb 24, 2020

Just was thinking... do I have to do anything special with the memtest86 Img file or my usb drive? I literally just cut my files from it and pasted them on my desktop and then copy and pasted the .img file on the usb drive. Is that sufficient enough?

Dave. · Feb 24, 2020

ABeezy1388 said:
Just was thinking... do I have to do anything special with the memtest86 Img file or my usb drive? I literally just cut my files from it and pasted them on my desktop and then copy and pasted the .img file on the usb drive. Is that sufficient enough?

That is not sufficient :) it needs "burning" with Rufus or something like that, instructions here: https://www.memtest86.com/technical.htm

Download the Windows MemTest86 USB image.

Right click on the downloaded file and select the "Extract to Here" option. This places the USB image and imaging tool into the current folder.

Run the included imageUSB tool, it should already have the image file selected and you just need to choose which connected USB drive to turn into a bootable drive. Note that this will erase all data on the drive.

ABeezy1388 · Feb 24, 2020

Dave. said:
That is not sufficient :) it needs "burning" with Rufus or something like that, instructions here: https://www.memtest86.com/technical.htm

haha jeez I'm an idiot. I promise I'm actually a tech guy and good with this crap. I've been a Mac guy tho for to many years. So Its been a while for me tinkering on pc.

anyways let me do this and report back :)

ABeezy1388 · Feb 24, 2020

Ok, now it's got a bunch of lines such as "getting memory size..."

edit: test is actually running now but I don't know what I'm looking for exactly lol

dallow_bg · Feb 24, 2020

FlyStarJay said:
Thank You, as cheap as possible, i like the sabrent, if i do not see cheaper. SiliconPower

I use 2 of the 1TB drives in my recent build. They work great so far!

Cipherr · Feb 24, 2020

Got my win 10 Pro key for like $14.99 US from some website on a tech youtubers channel. Key was and is legit, full version and all. I wouldnt pay more than $50 for a key honestly considering how easy it is to get a cheap one through these sites.

Just search youtube tech sites for them, Im not going to link what I used because they are referral links for channels and those sites get a kickback on them I think.

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

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