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

[Crazymoogle]

Encountering an issue with my louqe ghost s1 build.

Have an aorus x570 mini itx board with a ryzen, looking to use the noctua L12s cooler. I affixed this boy to the board only to learn that it's a few mm too tall for me to slide on the case side plate without significant force. a googling has led me to a number of reddit threads about bending (!) the cooler or using a beltsander (!!!) to shave down the fins on the cooler to get it to fit. I don't have access to a fucking metalworking shop so the beltsander option is not on the table for me. any of yall have experience with this particular setup and have advice?

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No particular experience with that build but 4mm is pretty significant clearance to get past...honestly unless you can do a mod, it sounds like the cheapest answer is a lower clearance cooler, because after that it's about a new case or very low profile RAM...at some point the only options seem to be a new cooler or a machine shop?

Well, or (c) mod the side plate. Tough call.

 

[Deleted member 47700]

Anybody know what's happening here? It only ever seems to do this when I'm playing Modern Warfare.

RTX 2070 Super
i9 9900k
16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 RAM

 

[Skyfireblaze]

Anybody know what's happening here? It only ever seems to do this when I'm playing Modern Warfare.

RTX 2070 Super
i9 9900k
16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 RAM

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Well that's your Nvidia driver crashing, try a clean reinstall after purging them with Display Driver Uninstaller.

 

[Deleted member 47700]

Well that's your Nvidia driver crashing, try a clean reinstall after purging them with Display Driver Uninstaller.

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And done, thanks! It's a problem that happens once in a blue moon so fingers crossed it doesn't happen again. :)

 

[Skyfireblaze]

And done, thanks! It's a problem that happens once in a blue moon so fingers crossed it doesn't happen again. :)

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Well if it happens again post here so we can troubleshoot further, I hope it won't though :)

 

[FlyStarJay]

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.

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I been looking at m2 for future purpose, how would i know the good ones? so i could plan ahead? thanks

 

[PolishQ]

Howdy y'all. I got my most recent PC in 2016 to run the first-generation Vive. Specs are:

16GB DDR4-2133 DIMM (2x8GB) RAM
i7-6700K processor quad-core [4.0GHz, 8MB Shared Cache]
6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 980Ti

I recently upgraded to a Valve Index (ordered before the shortage hit). It's been running most VR games fine, but I'd like to be prepared in case Alyx comes with steeper requirements. With that in mind, I'm assuming GPU is the most important thing I'd want to consider upgrading. What are my best options for a significant performance boost at a reasonable price? And, secondly, is there any reason to consider a new CPU?

 

[ABeezy1388]

Encountering an issue with my louqe ghost s1 build.

Have an aorus x570 mini itx board with a ryzen, looking to use the noctua L12s cooler. I affixed this boy to the board only to learn that it's a few mm too tall for me to slide on the case side plate without significant force. a googling has led me to a number of reddit threads about bending (!) the cooler or using a beltsander (!!!) to shave down the fins on the cooler to get it to fit. I don't have access to a fucking metalworking shop so the beltsander option is not on the table for me. any of yall have experience with this particular setup and have advice?

Click to shrink...

join the discord; there are knowledgeable people on there who have done it. And there are soooo many Reddit posts and a very popular YouTube guide floating around showing exactly how it's done.

I have a ghost but I didn't not want to worry about clearance or bending. But it doesn't look hard at all, I just went a different route. :)

 

[ABeezy1388]

Can someone recommend a power supply ac cable replacement off Amazon for the following:

https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=123-GM-0650-RX (evga 650 gm 80+g fm sfx psu)

I am going to be moving my SFF around my house from one tv/spot to another and the less I gotta lug the better. I dont know much about voltage, gauge, etc so looking for the closet thing to the original.

Thanks!

 

[Deleted member 35478]

I'm trying to setup a 3 monitor setup, 4k tv, and 2 1080p monitors. The 4k tv is the third monitor only used for couch gaming. I noticed it's possible to set a different wallpaper for each monitor, but is it possible to use a single wallpaper for the 2 1080p screens? Not even sure this is the place to ask lol

 

[Shoichi]

I'm trying to setup a 3 monitor setup, 4k tv, and 2 1080p monitors. The 4k tv is the third monitor only used for couch gaming. I noticed it's possible to set a different wallpaper for each monitor, but is it possible to use a single wallpaper for the 2 1080p screens? Not even sure this is the place to ask lol

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You can extend a single wallpaper throughout your monitors or have each one done separately. Don't think there is a way though for you to have both an extended wallpaper on 2 of them and separate one on the other. Unless you customize it yourself into 3 images

 

[Deleted member 35478]

You can extend a single wallpaper throughout your monitors or have each one done separately. Don't think there is a way though for you to have both an extended wallpaper on 2 of them and separate one on the other. Unless you customize it yourself into 3 images

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I downloaded Wallpaper Engine and created a static wallpaper via the program, then grouped my 2 monitors and applied the wallpaper.

So next issue, launching a Steam game and having it play on the tv lol. Currently a game opens on my monitor, so i try to move it to the 4k tv and it gets stretched and zoomed in.

Edit: Got it sorted, launched Steam in Big Picture mode and set which monitor Big Picture launches on, set it to the 4k tv.

 

[Crazymoogle]

I been looking at m2 for future purpose, how would i know the good ones? so i could plan ahead? thanks

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M.2 is just a slot on the motherboard. What you're really looking for is NVMe, which is the protocol. It's difficult to tell which drives are best without reading reddit/reviews/watching youtube reviews, but the basic gist is that today's NVMe controllers are mature and reliable. So most NVMe on the market are in one of four categories:

1. GEN 4: Hard to go wrong with anything here. All blazing fast, all expensive. You should either buy one that has a heatsink or get a motherboard with M.2 heatsinks on it. There are new controllers coming out later this year (Samsung, etc) that should elevate the transfer speed even more. If I had to pick I would look at Sabrent.
   
   
2. GEN 3x4 TLC: Basically 4 lane PCIe 3.0 speed, which is still very fast. Almost any discount brand is worth looking at in this category so long as it has a DRAM cache. ADATA, addlink, Mushkin, etc all make great drives. I currently use an ADATA 2TB and it's blazing.
   
   
3. GEN 3 QLC: 4x storage ("Q"uad) instead of 3x ("T"ri) storage, meaning cheaper prices. But QLC is slower and has a shorter lifespan. Intel's 660p and 665p are infamous bad performing drives, but QLC is still a great storage option if you find the right model with DRAM.
   
   
4. DRAMLESS: Usually QLC. Very slow because it uses the drive itself as a cache, which also means it gets slower as it fills up.

Strictly speaking for games right now any of the first 3 options are probably indistinguishable from each other. A Gen 4 drive shows no frame rate advantage anywhere. That could change, but for now PC typically has a lot more RAM to work with and so games are leveraging RAM so much that SSD transfer rate is not a critical factor in load time.

If I were buying today I would go big on capacity (1-2TB) and get a cheaper model like the Sabrent Rocket, ADATA SX8200 Pro, or addlink S70. If you really need your brand names, Samsung is the king and should have a 980 EVO/980 Pro later this year in the high end (Gen4), but honestly the 960/970 models are plenty fast too.

If you *really* want to go cheap, 2.5" SATA TLC SSDs are totally a fine move today. But then you lose all of the benefits of NVMe in terms of install/clean build, and maybe (?) it shows its age in the next few years. SATA SSDs are also slowly disappearing from the market, so...it depends on the deal.

 

[パンダさん]

I'm going to sell my 9700k mITX build to a close friend, because it's exactly what he wants.
I'll be doing a new one from scratch with an ATX MB and 3900x, because I need more threads and less noise.
I'll keep my 2 SATA SSDs as well as my RTX 2070 Super.

The only thing I'm not sure about is the PSU.
The board has 2 CPU Power connectors, but as I could find out, you can use it with only one connected.
The be Quiet! Straight Power 11 650W does only have one CPU PWR.
The Straight Power 11 750W has two of them.
But imo 650W is more than enough.
The 650W Platinum costs the same as the 750W Gold.

I'm also thinking about throwing in a 3700x, upgrade to a 4900x later, when it's out, and replace the 2600x of my GF with the 3700x.

What dou you think?

https://de.pcpartpicker.com/user/febLey/saved/zMx9NG

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I did it, I've just placed my order.
I guess I'm a bit insane, but I couldn't get this out of my head for about 2 weeks.
But it's a was unique opportunity for me to switch, my friend is getting a really good CPU for a good prize (he'd be buying Intel anyways) and I can have my AMD.
Also there's a cashback promotion by MSI going on right now in Europe, which pushed me over the edge.
So I'll be getting the Unify for effectively 230 euros.
Also all of the prizes for the other parts were in a really good spot right now, I've already monitored them for a while now.
But I did get the 3700x (for 290) instead of the 3900x. 8 to 16 threads already is a huge enough upgrade and I can easily add even more later down the line.
Guess I'm now part of the Ryzen gang.
And I'm really curious about the new case, can't wait to see it in person.

 

[catpurrcat]

I did it, I've just placed my order.
I guess I'm a bit insane, but I couldn't get this out of my head for about 2 weeks.
But it's a was unique opportunity for me to switch, my friend is getting a really good CPU for a good prize (he'd be buying Intel anyways) and I can have my AMD.
Also there's a cashback promotion by MSI going on right now in Europe, which pushed me over the edge.
So I'll be getting the Unify for effectively 230 euros.
Also all of the prizes for the other parts were in a really good spot right now, I've already monitored them for a while now.
But I did get the 3700x (for 290) instead of the 3900x. 8 to 16 threads already is a huge enough upgrade and I can easily add even more later down the line.
Guess I'm now part of the Ryzen gang.
And I'm really curious about the new case, can't wait to see it in person.

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Looks like a good build. That be quiet case is really unique. Take pics of it when you're done!

 

[catpurrcat]

I'm trying to setup a 3 monitor setup, 4k tv, and 2 1080p monitors. The 4k tv is the third monitor only used for couch gaming. I noticed it's possible to set a different wallpaper for each monitor, but is it possible to use a single wallpaper for the 2 1080p screens? Not even sure this is the place to ask lol

Click to shrink...

I struggled with this very issue a couple of days ago, adding a second monitor to a setup that was previously TV for couch or single monitor for desk. Now with two monitors and a TV, the Win+P function doesn't work as I would like it to. Solution? Displayfusion! An awesome piece of software that's able to save monitor profiles, save taskbars and wallpapers to each screen and best of all, switches between profiles seamlessly.

 

[Dogo Mojo]

Just out of curiosity do we have a discord channel for pc building or does someone know a good one? I'm in the middle of building but I'm not sure where some of my wires should be plugged in I've done most a lot of it but some of the ports on the board aren't as clear as I wish they were.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Just out of curiosity do we have a discord channel for pc building or does someone know a good one? I'm in the middle of building but I'm not sure where some of my wires should be plugged in I've done most a lot of it but some of the ports on the board aren't as clear as I wish they were.

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Any particular ones you want to ask about? I'd say the trickiest are usually:

• ATX/EPS 4 pin: Some motherboards have an 8pin power connector (usually labelled "CPU") but some also have an extra 4pin, which can be skipped as it's just for providing extra power, usually called "LN2" mode (Liquid Nitrogen) for extreme cooling. The two most important power plugs on your motherboard are the 24pin for the board and the 8 pin for the CPU.
  
  
• Front Panel Buttons: If you just have loose cables, and are trying to figure out which one goes where in the grid, generally "+" or a small triangle arrow marking on the black port casing = the "button" and "-" or the absence of a marking is "ground". I think I've also seen a case or two where there are multiple reset buttons (?) on the motherboard, and generally things work just fine if you only pay attention to the buttons clustered around each other first.

 

[TaySan]

Okay i turned xmp back on and downclocked the ram from 4000mhz to 3600mz and did a memtest and seems like all is well. Should i bother messing with memory timmings? my rams timmings are 18-20-20-44. I've never did this for RAM before, but i don't want to mess with anything anymore if i don't have too.

I game at 1440p/120 hz and 4k/60.

 

[Dogo Mojo]

Any particular ones you want to ask about? I'd say the trickiest are usually:

• ATX/EPS 4 pin: Some motherboards have an 8pin power connector (usually labelled "CPU") but some also have an extra 4pin, which can be skipped as it's just for providing extra power, usually called "LN2" mode (Liquid Nitrogen) for extreme cooling. The two most important power plugs on your motherboard are the 24pin for the board and the 8 pin for the CPU.
  
  
• Front Panel Buttons: If you just have loose cables, and are trying to figure out which one goes where in the grid, generally "+" or a small triangle arrow marking on the black port casing = the "button" and "-" or the absence of a marking is "ground". I think I've also seen a case or two where there are multiple reset buttons (?) on the motherboard, and generally things work just fine if you only pay attention to the buttons clustered around each other first.

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Honestly it's the RGB cables coming from my case. It's a mess of connectors but I don't see how I would connect it all to my motherboard. It doesn't help that some of them are also directly tied to the fans for my case.

 

[SmartWaffles]

Okay i turned xmp back on and downclocked the ram from 4000mhz to 3600mz and did a memtest and seems like all is well. Should i bother messing with memory timmings? my rams timmings are 18-20-20-44. I've never did this for RAM before, but i don't want to mess with anything anymore if i don't have too.

I game at 1440p/120 hz and 4k/60.

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Just leave it at XMP. At 3600 plus you will almost feel no performance gains, meanwhile you are much more likely to be GPU capped anyway.

 

[PhotonicBrain]

Weird questions about multiple GPUs.

If I were to get an AMD GPU and get Nvidia's next GPU "RTX 3080 Ti". Would I be able to render games on the Nvidia GPU while I pass through that video out of AMD's display ports? If so, can I set up that Eyefinity thing for my bottom three monitors (Left Monitor is 1920x1080, Middle Monitor is 2560x1080, and the Right Monitor is 1920x1080) as one large 6400x1080 display? Nvidia doesn't support Surround Display if all three monitors aren't the same resolution, despite having the same vertical resolution and real-world monitor height size (11.5ish inches tall). The top monitors can remain as separate individuals.

Thanks.

 

[SmartWaffles]

Howdy y'all. I got my most recent PC in 2016 to run the first-generation Vive. Specs are:

16GB DDR4-2133 DIMM (2x8GB) RAM
i7-6700K processor quad-core [4.0GHz, 8MB Shared Cache]
6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 980Ti

I recently upgraded to a Valve Index (ordered before the shortage hit). It's been running most VR games fine, but I'd like to be prepared in case Alyx comes with steeper requirements. With that in mind, I'm assuming GPU is the most important thing I'd want to consider upgrading. What are my best options for a significant performance boost at a reasonable price? And, secondly, is there any reason to consider a new CPU?

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GPU and RAM. DDR4 2133 is very slow and will actively bottleneck your system in high demand applications. Your CPU still works fine.

 

[TaySan]

Just leave it at XMP. At 3600 plus you will almost feel no performance gains, meanwhile you are much more likely to be GPU capped anyway.

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Awesome! I played a good hour Mafia 2 and no crashes so far. :)(Before it was crashing within the first 10 minutes of playing) tomorrow I'm going to play some more demanding games so I'm keeping my fingers crossed everything is stable from here on out.

 

[SmartWaffles]

Weird questions about multiple GPUs.

If I were to get an AMD GPU and get Nvidia's next GPU "RTX 3080 Ti". Would I be able to render games on the Nvidia GPU while I pass through that video out of AMD's display ports? If so, can I set up that Eyefinity thing for my bottom three monitors (Left Monitor is 1920x1080, Middle Monitor is 2560x1080, and the Right Monitor is 1920x1080) as one large 6400x1080 display? Nvidia doesn't support Surround Display if all three monitors aren't the same resolution, despite having the same vertical resolution and real-world monitor height size (11.5ish inches tall). The top monitors can remain as separate individuals.

Thanks.

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I don't think it is possible.

 

[Skyfireblaze]

I'm trying to setup a 3 monitor setup, 4k tv, and 2 1080p monitors. The 4k tv is the third monitor only used for couch gaming. I noticed it's possible to set a different wallpaper for each monitor, but is it possible to use a single wallpaper for the 2 1080p screens? Not even sure this is the place to ask lol

Click to shrink...

Use the free version of this: https://www.displayfusion.com/

 

[Crazymoogle]

Honestly it's the RGB cables coming from my case. It's a mess of connectors but I don't see how I would connect it all to my motherboard. It doesn't help that some of them are also directly tied to the fans for my case.

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Depends on the kind of RGB devices you have?

Almost* all ARGB fans have two cables:
FAN CONTROL: Either 3-pin (1-1-1) if it's a constant speed, or 4-pin (1-1-1-1) if it's PWM. You plug this in so the motherboard can control the fan.
RGB: There are three standards...

• 3-Pin/5V: Looks like a 4 pin cable but one of the pins in the middle is missing. This is the generic "anybody" standard. Cooler Master, Deepcool, Phanteks, etc. Most MB only have one so you need to use a splitter, controller, or daisy chain to connect more than one. (If your RGB cable has two connectors on it, that means you can daisy chain). Some fans will come with a very basic controller, sometimes even has buttons on it. It's basically just a hub to plug your fans into.
  
  
• 4-Pin/12V: Specific to the motherboard vendor, but luckily the vast majority of fans that support 4-pin support all of the motherboard RGB implementations. Just don't mix 4-pin and 3-pin, or you'll potentially damage the port (voltage mixup).
  
  
• 9-Pin/USB2: Corsair, Thermaltake, etc. use custom controllers that plug into a USB2 header on your motherboard instead. This prevents the motherboard from taking control and is usually just used to allow the fans to communicate to their respective custom software solutions. In these cases the fans HAVE to plug into the company's controller, which in turn plugs into the USB2 header (for control) and SATA or MOLEX for power. (The dirty trick is that these guys usually (but not always) offer an optional controller that also has a 4-pin out, but it costs money.)
  TT kind of goes the extra mile by using USB2 headers on the fans so that you only need one cable out of each.

 

[shark97]

I built a i5 6600K, 16GB RAM rig a few years ago. Added a RX 8GB 570 on the cheap later, so it can at least game decently.

That said I happened across a review of the Ryzen 5 1600 AF (cheap AMD 6 core/12 thread, MSRP 85 though 99 on newegg), and suddenly suffered a small bite of the upgrade bug....I could reuse my current RAM, and for like 200 throw in that 1600 and a new mobo, and go from 4 threads to 12. Heck I'd also like to upgrade this old Crucial 128 GB Sata SSD boot drive in it (I honestly barely use storage at all, have a old 1TB mechanical in as 2nd drive for that though).

I guess the problem is I have little interest in PC gaming anymore, which kind of negates the need for a strong PC. This build is fine for what I actually do, which is surf the web, youtube, and twitch basically. How much difference would spending 200-500 actually make on my daily experience with this PC? Probably near zero.

Just building it out I'd like to do:

1600AF-$99
Motherboard-X570? $130? Or BX whatever, ~90. Depends on if I feel NVME is a must.
-New case while I'm at it. Not a need but a want. Never been really thrilled with the case I have. ~100 (sadly this is now on the cheap side for a case probably, sigh).
-16Gb more DDR4. Just to push it to 32GB total for overkill. ~$60?
-A snazzy 1TB SSD. While I'm at it PROBABLY would want a up to date NVME one. Alternatively, do a cheaper BX motherboard/Sata SSD build. ~$130?

Total, 520+ tax? If I did a BX mobo and Sata SSD, could save a bit.


It kind of sucks being someone who LOVES building PC's, but no care to PC game negating the need for it LOL. But it's still worthy as a speedy websurfer. Money is a little tight though, probably wont do it.

 

[macindc]

I built a i5 6600K, 16GB RAM rig a few years ago. Added a RX 8GB 570 on the cheap later, so it can at least game decently.

That said I happened across a review of the Ryzen 5 1600 AF (cheap AMD 6 core/12 thread, MSRP 85 though 99 on newegg), and suddenly suffered a small bite of the upgrade bug....I could reuse my current RAM, and for like 200 throw in that 1600 and a new mobo, and go from 4 threads to 12. Heck I'd also like to upgrade this old Crucial 128 GB Sata SSD boot drive in it (I honestly barely use storage at all, have a old 1TB mechanical in as 2nd drive for that though).

I guess the problem is I have little interest in PC gaming anymore, which kind of negates the need for a strong PC. This build is fine for what I actually do, which is surf the web, youtube, and twitch basically. How much difference would spending 200-500 actually make on my daily experience with this PC? Probably near zero.

It kind of sucks being someone who LOVES building PC's, but no care to PC game negating the need for it LOL. But it's still worthy as a speedy websurfer. Money is a little tight though, probably wont do it.

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If your current PC is meeting your needs then building a new one just for the sake of it is a pretty expensive waste of money.

If you really just want the experience of building a PC I'd suggest finding a friend or family member who could use a new one and just building it for them while they buy the parts.

 

[Crazymoogle]

1600AF-$99
Motherboard-X570? $130? Or BX whatever, ~90. Depends on if I feel NVME is a must.
-New case while I'm at it. Not a need but a want. Never been really thrilled with the case I have. ~100 (sadly this is now on the cheap side for a case probably, sigh).
-16Gb more DDR4. Just to push it to 32GB total for overkill. ~$60?
-A snazzy 1TB SSD. While I'm at it PROBABLY would want a up to date NVME one. Alternatively, do a cheaper BX motherboard/Sata SSD build. ~$130?
It kind of sucks being someone who LOVES building PC's, but no care to PC game negating the need for it LOL. But it's still worthy as a speedy websurfer. Money is a little tight though, probably wont do it.

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Are you using USD? (Kinda assuming so given the 1600AF price?)

• Ryzen 1600AF (AM4) - $99
• Gigabyte B450M DS3H mATX - $71.98
• NZXT H510 - $69.98
• Crucial P1 1TB - $99.99
• Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4-3200 - $74.98
• Total: $436.88

Not sure if that's the best board for 1600AF, but it's cheap...of course I agree with macindc but as builds go that's pretty cheap...of course, no particular reason to go above 16GB so if you already have good DDR4-3000+ that would make it even cheaper.

 

[PolishQ]

GPU and RAM. DDR4 2133 is very slow and will actively bottleneck your system in high demand applications. Your CPU still works fine.

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Oh thanks. DDR4-3200 is a good target then?
For GPU, is an RTX 2070 Super the best price for performance?

 

[AnimeJesus]

Possibly a dumb question but I bought a MSI Z390-A PRO motherboard and now Im kinda wishing I got the MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Plus motherboard. The one I got (Z390-A PRO) appears to be mostly a professional motherboard meant for what I assume is autocad or other non-gaming stuff.

I got it for a gaming PC...am I missing out on anything by not going with the "gaming" board? Are there really any major differences? I'll likely never overclock and I'm not streaming or anything.

 

[パンダさん]

Oh thanks. DDR4-3200 is a good target then?
For GPU, is an RTX 2070 Super the best price for performance?

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Yes, imo 3200 is currently the sweetspot between price and performance.
I'm not an expert with RAM and timings, etc, but I'm pretty happy with the G.Skill Aegis, the Corsair Vengeance LPX aren't bad either.
Nvidia will announce something on March 24th, I'd at least wait until then.
The 2060 KO is a pretty good value, but obviously a good chunk slower (about 20%) than the 2070.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Possibly a dumb question but I bought a MSI Z390-A PRO motherboard and now Im kinda wishing I got the MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Plus motherboard. The one I got (Z390-A PRO) appears to be mostly a professional motherboard meant for what I assume is autocad or other non-gaming stuff.

I got it for a gaming PC...am I missing out on anything by not going with the "gaming" board? Are there really any major differences? I'll likely never overclock and I'm not streaming or anything.

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The difference between most boards is within the margin of error; generally speaking a "better" or "more gaming" motherboard is really just

• Overclocking support (VRM cooling, power delivery, anything that makes OC more likely)
• Core Features (more ports, WiFi/BT, more RGB, layout that isn't crazy, etc...)
• Comfort features (built in IO panel, backplate or "armor", M.2 heatsinks, OC focused UEFI, USB flashback for BIOS recovery, etc...)

Looking at your board, it's just a typical mid-class ATX board. About all you're really missing is RGB and a few other minor feature details. Nothing you'll miss.

 

[I Don't Like]

Still in constant awe at how bad a value many prebuilt computers are. A Dell desktop with 1660Ti, 9700, 1TB SATA SSD and 16Gbs Ram for 1200 at MicroCenter. 1200 dollars. And of course all the other parts are generic shite. That's fucking criminal pricing.

 

[m_shortpants]

So my EVGA 2080 Super seems to have a slight squeak / whine when I play certain games. It's most egregious in the Witcher 3. I'm going to wait until I get my new PC parts to see if that is still the case, as right now I have it in my old PC. Crossing my fingers I don't have to deal with an RMA or anything. Although I did buy at Amazon, if that helps.

 

[Polyh3dron]

Depends what you mean by "high end as it can be" - it's totally possible to go X570 and use higher end processors (ie: 3900X) with mITX builds. Specifically, ASUS and AORUS seem to have good X570 solutions. But since you're looking to get cheap memory, I guess it's not what I think.

That G.Skill kit is totally fine. Ideally, you want DDR-3600 CL16, but that can be quite expensive. DDR-3600 CL18 is often close to price to 3200c16, so it's popular. But 3200cl16 is the most popular and is a totally fine option for Ryzen builds. You should check the motherboard QVL and RAM vendor QVL to see if the two are comparable (if one says it is, good enough) but even if it's not, generally you can try manual timings and make it work. The BIOS will just set your RAM to 2133 by default until you figure it out.

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yeah I ended up getting a 64GB 3600 CL18 kit for my 3950X build because at the time, the 64GB CL16 kits were completely sold out. Is there much of a difference between the two if I'm running the CL18 kit with XMP?

 

[AnimeJesus]

The difference between most boards is within the margin of error; generally speaking a "better" or "more gaming" motherboard is really just

• Overclocking support (VRM cooling, power delivery, anything that makes OC more likely)
• Core Features (more ports, WiFi/BT, more RGB, layout that isn't crazy, etc...)
• Comfort features (built in IO panel, backplate or "armor", M.2 heatsinks, OC focused UEFI, USB flashback for BIOS recovery, etc...)

Looking at your board, it's just a typical mid-class ATX board. About all you're really missing is RGB and a few other minor feature details. Nothing you'll miss.

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Thanks...I'll probably just keep the PRO then.

 

[PolishQ]

Yes, imo 3200 is currently the sweetspot between price and performance.
I'm not an expert with RAM and timings, etc, but I'm pretty happy with the G.Skill Aegis, the Corsair Vengeance LPX aren't bad either.
Nvidia will announce something on March 24th, I'd at least wait until then.
The 2060 KO is a pretty good value, but obviously a good chunk slower (about 20%) than the 2070.

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Looked into this further ... I've got an HP Envy 750se, and the BIOS has no option to enable XMP for my RAM ... with that in mind, I'd have to get a new motherboard to support DDR4-3200, yeah? Is my current 16GB DDR4-2133 that big of a bottleneck?
Is Windows going to start complaining if I swap out my motherboard?

 

[Norris1020]

Still in constant awe at how bad a value many prebuilt computers are. A Dell desktop with 1660Ti, 9700, 1TB SATA SSD and 16Gbs Ram for 1200 at MicroCenter. 1200 dollars. And of course all the other parts are generic shite. That's fucking criminal pricing.

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That's nuts. Especially when there's a Powerspec prebuilt on there with the sames specs minus 500GB's for the SSD (though it's nvme) and a 2060 Super for $100 less.

 

[laxu]

Still in constant awe at how bad a value many prebuilt computers are. A Dell desktop with 1660Ti, 9700, 1TB SATA SSD and 16Gbs Ram for 1200 at MicroCenter. 1200 dollars. And of course all the other parts are generic shite. That's fucking criminal pricing.

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I looked into the pricing of a Corsair One which has a pretty unique small form factor case which really would be the main reason to buy one. Without a case, similar hardware (but higher quality mobo, SSD and RAM) would cost me over 1000 euros less even accounting for dual AIO coolers. That's a pretty hefty price for a fancy case and assembly. At least the One had mostly high tier parts rather than the usual crap you find in prebuilts where the GPU is usually woefully inadequate or they have some other aspect of the specs that makes it crap.

 

[AnimeJesus]

The difference between most boards is within the margin of error; generally speaking a "better" or "more gaming" motherboard is really just

• Overclocking support (VRM cooling, power delivery, anything that makes OC more likely)
• Core Features (more ports, WiFi/BT, more RGB, layout that isn't crazy, etc...)
• Comfort features (built in IO panel, backplate or "armor", M.2 heatsinks, OC focused UEFI, USB flashback for BIOS recovery, etc...)

Looking at your board, it's just a typical mid-class ATX board. About all you're really missing is RGB and a few other minor feature details. Nothing you'll miss.

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Thanks...I'll probably just keep the PRO then.

 

[Dogo Mojo]

Ok, my computer is completely assembled, I'm currently now trying to troubleshoot some issues.

1 computer powers up, but it's not sending a signal to my monitor.

2.When I plug my usb devices with lighting into my usb ports they light up (I assume that means they are working) except for my rgb keyboard. I plugged my keyboard into amother computer and it does activate on that computer.

3. RGB fans are spinning, but the rgb lighting on them is not working.

these are the issues so far if anyone might have anysuggestions.

 

[harry the spy]

Hi Era,

I am in the market for a new monitor. I would love something with the following specs:
- nice look that does not scream gamer, ideally something similar to the apple cinema display (brushed aluminium).
- 27 inch.
- gsync or freesync or whatever it is that is the right thing to do these days.
- two displayports input (does that even exist?). Ideally I want to connect my desktop (displayport output) and my macbook pro (usb-c output) to it, and switch at the screen level (fuck external switches, they are almost always rubbish).

I realize that's a tall order. Does anything like this exist?

 

[m_shortpants]

Ok, my computer is completely assembled, I'm currently now trying to troubleshoot some issues.

1 computer powers up, but it's not sending a signal to my monitor.

2.When I plug my usb devices with lighting into my usb ports they light up (I assume that means they are working) except for my rgb keyboard. I plugged my keyboard into amother computer and it does activate on that computer.

3. RGB fans are spinning, but the rgb lighting on them is not working.

these are the issues so far if anyone might have anysuggestions.

Click to shrink...

Did you plug your monitor into your graphics card, and not your motherboard?

Is your keyboard plugged into the same USB array on your motherboard as the other devices? Do you have USB ports on the front of your case you could test?

 

[GameShowPresident]

I'm looking to build a new PC before Doom Eternal comes out. My 5 year old PC with 970 is recently no longer outputting video either through the card or motherboard, so it's also kind of a necessity. I received a 1440p G-Sync monitor last year which I'd like to take advantage of , but I tend to play a good amount of controller friendly games on my TV at 1080p60fps (although it is a 4k TV so I'm seeing this as an opportunity to take advantage of that).

I've been eyeing the [Build 7 - I] in the OP, but I will likely reuse my current HDD and SSD and I'm also willing to go a little over 2000.

I would appreciate any comments or advice on how to go about this.

 

[PhantomFFR]

Hi Era,

I am in the market for a new monitor. I would love something with the following specs:
- nice look that does not scream gamer, ideally something similar to the apple cinema display (brushed aluminium).
- 27 inch.
- gsync or freesync or whatever it is that is the right thing to do these days.
- two displayports input (does that even exist?). Ideally I want to connect my desktop (displayport output) and my macbook pro (usb-c output) to it, and switch at the screen level (fuck external switches, they are almost always rubbish).

I realize that's a tall order. Does anything like this exist?

Click to shrink...

I'm fairly certain that the brushed aluminium would be a knock out. But a non-gmer look is no problem. Two DP aren't either, though it appears that would rule native gsync out, but there are multiple monitors with freesync and several with high refresh rate. But you could also always use a DP->HDMI adapter/cable instead. I find external switchers more convenient however, as they usually require just one button, whereas most monitors require multiple button presses to switch inputs.

 

[harry the spy]

I'm fairly certain that the brushed aluminium would be a knock out. But a non-gmer look is no problem. Two DP aren't either, though it appears that would rule native gsync out, but there are multiple monitors with freesync and several with high refresh rate. But you could also always use a DP->HDMI adapter/cable instead. I find external switchers more convenient however, as they usually require just one button, whereas most monitors require multiple button presses to switch inputs.

Click to shrink...

Thanks, I am thinking of the 27UL850, which does not look horrible (though it's far from my pretty cinema display). Freesync but does seem g-sync compatible ? (I have an nvidia GPU). As for switches, I just have had so many bad experiences with switches and external adapters of all sorts, I am thinking of just giving up.

 

[I Don't Like]

I'm looking to build a new PC before Doom Eternal comes out. My 5 year old PC with 970 is recently no longer outputting video either through the card or motherboard, so it's also kind of a necessity. I received a 1440p G-Sync monitor last year which I'd like to take advantage of , but I tend to play a good amount of controller friendly games on my TV at 1080p60fps (although it is a 4k TV so I'm seeing this as an opportunity to take advantage of that).

I've been eyeing the [Build 7 - I] in the OP, but I will likely reuse my current HDD and SSD and I'm also willing to go a little over 2000.

I would appreciate any comments or advice on how to go about this.

Click to shrink...

Keep in mind new Intels and nVidia cards are around the corner (I think we may hear about a timeline for the 3000 series cards before the end of the month) but you're essentially without a computer. However, I have to wonder how you ended up with no video from the GPU or mobo. If your mobo supports flash BIOS update, have you tried that? The likelihood of both crapping out is small and 5 years is not even that old.

In any case, if you're ready now and don't care about the upcoming hardware and can go over 2k then build 7 is good but I'd bump the GPU to a 2080Ti since you're saving some cost reusing your storage. If this is strictly a gaming PC you may also want to go intel but it's hard to argue with the value of the Ryzen 3 series so either way you're covered.

You do have options down the road if you're willing to put up with the hassle. If nVidia only releases the 3080 in a few months or whatever it is but not the 3080Ti, realistically the performance difference between that and a 2080Ti probably won't be a whole lot, so you likely aren't missing out. If they release the 3080Ti (or whatever the flagship card is) at the same time, you could potentially sell the 2080Ti and move to that card but of course you'll lose value just in the few months you own it and have to go through the selling process, etc. That's the kind of shit I would do because I'm impatient and impulsive, lol - just throwing it out there as an option.

 

[GameShowPresident]

Keep in mind new Intels and nVidia cards are around the corner (I think we may hear about a timeline for the 3000 series cards before the end of the month) but you're essentially without a computer. However, I have to wonder how you ended up with no video from the GPU or mobo. If your mobo supports flash BIOS update, have you tried that? The likelihood of both crapping out is small and 5 years is not even that old.

In any case, if you're ready now and don't care about the upcoming hardware and can go over 2k then build 7 is good but I'd bump the GPU to a 2080Ti since you're saving some cost reusing your storage. If this is strictly a gaming PC you may also want to go intel but it's hard to argue with the value of the Ryzen 3 series so either way you're covered.

You do have options down the road if you're willing to put up with the hassle. If nVidia only releases the 3080 in a few months or whatever it is but not the 3080Ti, realistically the performance difference between that and a 2080Ti probably won't be a whole lot, so you likely aren't missing out. If they release the 3080Ti (or whatever the flagship card is) at the same time, you could potentially sell the 2080Ti and move to that card but of course you'll lose value just in the few months you own it and have to go through the selling process, etc. That's the kind of shit I would do because I'm impatient and impulsive, lol - just throwing it out there as an option.

Click to shrink...

Yeah I realize it's an awkward time to build so I guess the TI would hopefully buy me some time before having to upgrade the GPU, and I'd also hope it would have some re-sell value.

Can you elaborate on the flash BIOS? This is something I'm totally unfamiliar with. I just assumed that this was just the mobo that went out.