The PC Builders Thread ("I Need a New PC") v3

[Black_Stride]

Hey guys, im looking to upgrade my graphics, currently running a GTX 1070 and ideally wanting an RTX 2080, however there are so many versions of the 2080 and all at wildly different prices. any RTX 2080 owners out there want to give me some tips on what and where to buy????

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Theres no real difference between all the different RTX 2080s.
They pretty much all hit a baseline spec and then third parties may overclock it from the factory.

But realistically all you are paying for when going up and down in price is the warranty and the kind of cooler they are using.

So check size to make sure it fits.
IF you have a windowed case check that you like how the GPU looks.
Bigger/better coolers will let the GPU clock higher getting you more performance.

If you could cool all the different RTX 2080s to the same temperature, they would boost to within margin of error of each other at the end of the day they are all still just 2080s.

Im not one for RGB, but the kid in me abolutely loves the way the Aorus cooler looks and the rgb effects it can pull up.

 

[sackboy97]

Is it alright if the cooler fan touches the backplate of the GPU?

 

[eddy]

Its pretty much the best way to get super high speeds.
Intels Optane drives have been leading the pack for a while.

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Errr... Not really.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Is it alright if the cooler fan touches the backplate of the GPU?

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So you mounted a cooler with the fan on the bottom? or it's the side edge touching somehow?

 

[Black_Stride]

Errr... Not really.

Click to shrink...

Not really to what?
The Optane cards leading the back, or single PCIE cards being faster than other connections?

 

[sackboy97]

So you mounted a cooler with the fan on the bottom? or it's the side edge touching somehow?

Click to shrink...

No, it's the bottom edge of the fan (that's mounted vertically) that's attached to the cooler.

 

[Deleted member 49611]

Not really to what?
The Optane cards leading the back, or single PCIE cards being faster than other connections?

Click to shrink...

that Optane isn't leading.

Optane memory is good for improving HDD speeds. Optane SSD isn't as fast as a good PCIE 3.0 or 4.0 m.2 drive.

 

[Black_Stride]

that Optane isn't leading.

Optane memory is good for improving HDD speeds. Optane SSD isn't as fast as a good PCIE 3.0 or 4.0 m.2 drive.

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Intel hasnt been leading the pack?

The Optane PCIE 4.0 isnt out to consumers yet but the Optane SSDs have been king shit....and likely the PCIE 4.0 version of the Optane will alse decimate the competition.

 

[パンダさん]

Hey guys, im looking to upgrade my graphics, currently running a GTX 1070 and ideally wanting an RTX 2080, however there are so many versions of the 2080 and all at wildly different prices. any RTX 2080 owners out there want to give me some tips on what and where to buy????

Click to shrink...

Ideally you want one with many big fans (90mm+). It will run quieter, cooler and with higher clocks.

Something like one of these:
EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER FTW3 Ultra Gaming
Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8G
MSI GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio

Personally I'd chose the EVGA FTW3 Ultra Gaming, because they have really good warranty terms and the Step up progam.

 

[Crazymoogle]

No, it's the bottom edge of the fan (that's mounted vertically) that's attached to the cooler.

Click to shrink...

Well, there's no particular harm, You don't want heat transfer from the CPU heatsink to the GPU backplate, but the fan frame is rugged plastic that shouldn't melt. If you're really worried you could do a careful finger test while running a game with the case open, but generally backplates are not blazing hot.

Optane memory is good for improving HDD speeds. Optane SSD isn't as fast as a good PCIE 3.0 or 4.0 m.2 drive.

Click to shrink...

To explain this to the onlookers, there are two Optane formats:

• Optane H10 is a M.2, NVMe, PCIe 3.0 drive. But it's basically an Intel 660p with a 32GB Optane cache. So it gets a few perks but is ultimately a troubled QLC SSD.
  
  
• Optane 905P is an entirely Optane-based drive...but a 380GB model is $500 dollars. At 1TB it's roughly 10 times as expensive as a PCIE 3.0x4 SSD. It excels at random reads. Like 400% better than a Gen 4 SSD. But flops in write speed and sustained write speed. (Optane lifespawn is also super long, although that rarely matters for most)

Basically, Optanes are random IO monsters but cost so much more that they aren't viable for almost anyone here. They can't compare in transfer speed yet - Intel doesn't support PCIe 4.0 yet and the 905P didn't come close to capping Gen3 anyway - but the random IO does mean that it always tends to perform slightly better than SSDs in real world performance.

Of course, I'm not sure saving a second or two of load time is worth $1300 USD (1TB).

 

[sackboy97]

Well, there's no particular harm, You don't want heat transfer from the CPU heatsink to the GPU backplate, but the fan frame is rugged plastic that shouldn't melt. If you're really worried you could do a careful finger test while running a game with the case open, but generally backplates are not blazing hot.

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Thanks, I'll keep an eye on it for now to check if everything seems as it should.

 

[KalBalboa]

If you don't do any gaming then how is it even a question? Get the Ryzen 3900X for 400 bucks from Microcenter; it's a no-brainer.

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QuickSync is basically a necessity for H264 video workflow, still.

 

[bic]

The only small AM4 board that has the header built in is the Asus ROG (X570) Crosshair VIII Impact, which is mini DTX (a bit taller than mini ITX; still fits in a lot of itx cases, but not all).

But you could use an adapter such as this with the regular USB 3.0/3.1 header which all other mobos should have. It wont be the same speed as 3.2 gen 2, but it will work as 3.0/3.1 with the usb-c form factor.

Amazon.com: Silverstone CP14, USB 3.0 Internal (19-Pin) Header to USB 3.1/3.2 Type-C (20-Pin) Key-A Adapter: Computers & Accessories

Amazon.com: Silverstone CP14, USB 3.0 Internal (19-Pin) Header to USB 3.1/3.2 Type-C (20-Pin) Key-A Adapter: Computers & Accessories

www.amazon.com

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Thanks! Damn, I'll have to see if mini DTX will fit the NZXT H1 case I ordered. I'm going to guess not.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Thanks! Damn, I'll have to see if mini DTX will fit the NZXT H1 case I ordered. I'm going to guess not.

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I'm pretty sure it won't fit. And the DTX is very expensive. You're better off with an adapter for sure.

 

[Thwomp]

 

[Orange Piccolo]

So I decided to use the upcoming $1200 for a new computer. I haven't actually owned a computer in years, so I'm not sure the best way to go about this. I don't have a monitor or mouse/keyboard, or a copy of windows, which I know will eat into the budget.

Can you guys recommend a system with that price point? I ask that the mouse/keyboard be wireless, though.

 

[Canklestank]

How much of a jump is Zen 3 expected to be?

Video editing from home has really started to reveal my need for an upgrade (currently 2500K 16GB).

Right now I'm considering a 3700X (might bump it to 3800X, but if I do that, I might as well wait for Zen 3).

Also, is the power draw of PCIe 4.0 expected to decrease or will there be more lanes?

I'll probably post a build here to get the thread's thoughts in case I do decide to upgrade now.

 

[TerremotoDePorta]

So I decided to use the upcoming $1200 for a new computer. I haven't actually owned a computer in years, so I'm not sure the best way to go about this. I don't have a monitor or mouse/keyboard, or a copy of windows, which I know will eat into the budget.

Can you guys recommend a system with that price point? I ask that the mouse/keyboard be wireless, though.

Click to shrink...

Questions to make things easier for us:

1. Main use of computer? Gaming? Video editing?

2. Preferred size? (aka can it be a big box under a desk or does it need to fit somewhere small)

3. Any preference as aesthetics go? (e.g. RGB, monochrome,)

 

[Orange Piccolo]

Questions to make things easier for us:

1. Main use of computer? Gaming? Video editing?

2. Preferred size? (aka can it be a big box under a desk or does it need to fit somewhere small)

3. Any preference as aesthetics go? (e.g. RGB, monochrome,)

Click to shrink...

1. Gaming.

2. No preference. (Whichever yields the biggest results for gaming.)

3. No preference.

 

[Lazybob]

If anyone needs some storage Bestbuy is selling 12TB Easystores for $180 today. It's an external drive but it can be shucked. The drive inside is a WD White drive, which from what I read is similar to their Red drives. Good for things like a media server.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/wd-easystore-12tb-external-usb-3-0-hard-drive-black/6364259.p?skuId=6364259

 

[Cyborg009]

So a few questions.

I have my PC up and running but it looks like my old coolmaster isn't going can someone suggest for my B450 Tomahawk or should I stick with the cooler that came with my AMD CPU.


Also so here how my PC looks like. I was wondering how I should have my air flow going through(pull air in or pull air out?). I kind of didn't like having my power supply fan pointing directly to my GPU so instead I placed it facing down to the vent.

 

[molnizzle]

So a few questions.

I have my PC up and running but it looks like my old coolmaster isn't going can someone suggest for my B450 Tomahawk or should I stick with the cooler that came with my AMD CPU.


Also so here how my PC looks like. I was wondering how I should have my air flow going through(pull air in or pull air out?). I kind of didn't like having my power supply fan pointing directly to my GPU so instead I placed it facing down to the vent.

Click to shrink...

Intake in the front, exhaust in the back.

 

[Renteka-Bond]

...Snip

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...Snip

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Thanks for the tips, you two. I was overshotting a lot earlier, so getting some insight for paring down was exactly what I needed. The new adjustments are below;

Izzy's Build

pcpartpicker.com

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Best Buy)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($152.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8 GB Video Card ($399.99 @ Best Buy)
Case: NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GA 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($85.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1218.92
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-02 15:43 EDT-0400

For what it's worth, other than price, is there any particular reason for recommending against the Evo Line? I have a couple of the 860s and they've been fine for me, function wise.

 

[Advc]

Holy shit, GPU prices are insanely high right now. Just casually checked on Amazon Mexico and the prices are gross. A 1660 Ti costing the same as an RX 5700 XT and the 5700 XT costing the same as a 2070 Super. So glad I bought the 2060 Super on mid february before these insane price spikes which unfortunately doesn't show signs of being done anytime soon, at least here in Mexico. This sucks :(

 

[kamikazety]

Why does everyone use the NZXT case? Its garbage.

 

[Black_Stride]

Thanks for the tips, you too. I was overshotting a lot earlier, so getting some insight for paring down was exactly what I needed. The new adjustments are below;

Izzy's Build

pcpartpicker.com

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Best Buy)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($152.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8 GB Video Card ($399.99 @ Best Buy)
Case: NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GA 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($85.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1218.92
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-02 15:43 EDT-0400

For what it's worth, other than price, is there any particular reason for recommending against the Evo Line? I have a couple of the 860s and they've been fine for me, function wise.

Click to shrink...

This is a much more balanced build for what your use case is

As for Samsung SSDs
Its just the price really.
Competitors have all but caught up performance and durability wise so there is no logical reason to pay more, especially when the dollars you will feel, the difference in performance you wont.

So a few questions.

I have my PC up and running but it looks like my old coolmaster isn't going can someone suggest for my B450 Tomahawk or should I stick with the cooler that came with my AMD CPU.
Also so here how my PC looks like. I was wondering how I should have my air flow going through(pull air in or pull air out?). I kind of didn't like having my power supply fan pointing directly to my GPU so instead I placed it facing down to the vent.

Click to shrink...

Be normal man.
Front fans intake.
Rear fans exhaust.

Mounting the PSU fan towards the vent is why the vent exists.
The only reasons to mount it sucking air from inside the case would be if your are putting your PC on a rug or thick carpet that might limit airflow or pick up a bunch of dust if unfiltered, you might also use the PSU fan as an extra exhaust fan but thats very specific use case when people want balanced pressure.

Holy shit, GPU prices are insanely high right now. Just casually checked on Amazon Mexico and the prices are gross. A 1660 Ti costing the same as an RX 5700 XT and the 5700 XT costing the same as a 2070 Super. So glad I bought the 2060 Super on mid february before these insane price spikes which unfortunately doesn't show signs of being done anytime soon, at least here in Mexico. This sucks :(

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Im not even worried.
I wouldnt be buying a GPU in Q1 and Q2 untill we know when Ampere is dropping, its launch will almost certainly drop the price of Turning and im in no rush nothing will be stressing my machine before the nextgen machine actually drop.
Im sure prices wont fully normalize, but ive ordered from elsewhere and waited for packages to save costs, so ive got some contingencies for when Ampere drops for where Ill be ordering from.....but hopefully we will have figured it out by Ampere and everything will be okay.

Why does everyone use the NZXT case? Its garbage.

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Which one the H510?

Its a very handsome looking case, is pretty cheap and kinda gets the job done.
Personally I wouldnt rock it either for a gaming rig.

But then again I dont particularly like RGB or TG side panels, so im likely really outta touch with PC building now.

 

[Kiyoshi]

Holy shit, GPU prices are insanely high right now. Just casually checked on Amazon Mexico and the prices are gross. A 1660 Ti costing the same as an RX 5700 XT and the 5700 XT costing the same as a 2070 Super. So glad I bought the 2060 Super on mid february before these insane price spikes which unfortunately doesn't show signs of being done anytime soon, at least here in Mexico. This sucks :(

Click to shrink...

Yeah, going up almost daily in the UK. There's barely any 2070 Supers for less than £500 now, and a couple I've been looking at over the past few months are £100 more expensive than they were. All the more reason for me to wait I think, and keep on going with my 1070.

 

[Deleted member 56752]

Yeah, going up almost daily in the UK. There's barely any 2070 Supers for less than £500 now, and a couple I've been looking at over the past few months are £100 more expensive than they were. All the more reason for me to wait I think, and keep on going with my 1070.

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Makes me wonder if I bought my rig at the right time

 

[Renteka-Bond]

Why does everyone use the NZXT case? Its garbage.

Click to shrink...

This is a much more balanced build for what your use case is

As for Samsung SSDs
Its just the price really.
Competitors have all but caught up performance and durability wise so there is no logical reason to pay more, especially when the dollars you will feel, the difference in performance you wont.


Which one the H510?

Its a very handsome looking case, is pretty cheap and kinda gets the job done.
Personally I wouldnt rock it either for a gaming rig.

But then again I dont particularly like RGB or TG side panels, so im likely really outta touch with PC building now.

Click to shrink...

The NZXT was recommended by a buddy who just finished building his PC relatvely recently, since it seems pretty light/compact. I'm out of touch with cases as well myself (I've had the same case, the Dragon Rider , since like 2011) so I don't know how to pick'm these days. Is there a different case you'd recommend?

As for the SSD comment, that's good to note for the future, cause I've been minorly thinking about upgrading my set as well. Samsung's always been pretty consistent and other brands tend to have inklings of issue I hear whenever I do some minor digging.

 

[m_shortpants]

The NZXT was recommended by a buddy who just finished building his PC relatvely recently, since it seems pretty light/compact. I'm out of touch with cases as well myself (I've had the same case, the Dragon Rider , since like 2011) so I don't know how to pick'm these days. Is there a different case you'd recommend?

As for the SSD comment, that's good to note for the future, cause I've been minorly thinking about upgrading my set as well. Samsung's always been pretty consistent and other brands tend to have inklings of issue I hear whenever I do some minor digging.

Click to shrink...

If you like the way the case looks, go for it. Another widely recommended case is the Meshify C. My younger brother has it and it works well. I just built into an NZXT H510 elite and I love it. Love the way it looks on my desk. and I end up staring at it a lot.

 

[Crazymoogle]

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Best Buy)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($152.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8 GB Video Card ($399.99 @ Best Buy)
Case: NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GA 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($85.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1218.92
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-02 15:43 EDT-0400

For what it's worth, other than price, is there any particular reason for recommending against the Evo Line? I have a couple of the 860s and they've been fine for me, function wise.

Click to shrink...

So as Black_Stride said, others have caught up. You don't have to be afraid of unknown brands because they are using the same chipsets as the major players, and Samsung (who uses their own flash and chipsets apart from everyone else) is just charging a huge premium right now when real-world use doesn't show nearly enough of an advantage to justify it.

Basically what you should be deciding here is what spec you want:

• Cheap 1TB: The Crucial P1. It has the slowest write speed because it's QLC.
• Faster 1TB: Silicon Power A60 (TLC, $122)
• Performance 1TB: The HP EX950 ($148) or ADATA SX 8200 Pro (if you can find stock). TLC
• Samsung 1TB: 970 Evo ($180) but you won't notice a difference vs. the EX950

For me, I bought the ADATA SX8200 Pro (the EX950 is exactly the same thing, spec wise). But for games you will not notice a difference right now vs. the P1. ALL of them will be faster than a hard drive though. Just google any of the names to see some reviews.

I think the rest of the list is great. As I said, you could always save ~50 dollars by going down to a B450 motherboard, or save even more by going to a motherboard without WiFi+Bluetooth, but the TUF gives the best chance of a Ryzen 4000 upgrade if you want to do that. (And if you want to use, say a wireless Xbox controller, you want the bluetooth). I think if I was just focusing on now, I would grab the MSI B450 Tomahawk Max ($115)...but there's no WiFi/BT there so you would need to buy a dongle if you wanted the bluetooth later.

 

[Sexy Fish]

Yeah, sorry, still going with the old parts list for now while we all try to make it through these crazy times. $1200 USD allows you to do 1440p now, although maybe not 144hz on everything. It just depends on your priorities.

Looking at the ~$1200 USD build Soda put together in the past, here's what I would do

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 3600X ($200)
  The 3600X is 6 cores/12 threads, but $100 cheaper than the 8/16 3700X. It's just a huge bargain, and the cooler is at least usable if you don't have the budget to move up to a Mugen 5 RGB / Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB / Dark Rock 4 Slim. I would prefer an aftermarket cooler myself, but the 3600X uses at least a competent cooler. If you go for one of those other coolers, you can downgrade to the 3600 (non-X) to save ~30 dollars. The ~5% perf difference isn't worth it.
  
  
• MB: MSI Tomahawk Max ($115)
  I am on the record saying you should go X570 if you wish to upgrade your processor to Ryzen 4000 later. And you can do that for another $20-30 bucks. But if you want cheap but great, that's the Tomahawk Max.
  
  
• GPU: EVGA RTX 2060 Super SC ($404)
  This is where it gets tough. The 5700 XT undoubtedly gives better raw performance, but you are risking driver issues. The 1660Ti will save you 100-130 bucks and give you an awesome 1080p experience, but they aren't truly 1440p cards and lack RTX. So to me the gamechange right now is the RTX 2060, because DLSS 2.0 (basically, using machine learning cores for framerate) has shocking performance improvements to games that support it, so you get basically a good card now that will continue to get better. If you fully intend to go RTX 3000 next year though, look at the 1660 Super or Ti.
  
  
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB ($78)
  Can always pay more for RGB but these are pretty good.
  
  
• SSD: Crucial P1 1TB NVMe ($110)
  Just carry over your old HDD if you want more space. The key thing here is NVMe so you've got speed and room for your most played games.
  
  
• CASE: Fractal Design Meshify C TG ($100) There are cheaper options but this one lets you build easily with ATX and you even get the tempered side glass. There is a non-glass version out there if you prefer. It's a great, roomy mid-tower and it comes with two fans (plus it's mesh front, so you can put 3 more upfront if budget allows.) If you hate the look, the Phanteks P400A is also highly regarded, although it has a little bit less room for CPU cooler height and you may need to check versus aftermarket coolers.
  
  
• PSU: EVGA Supernova 650W ($100) Modular and fully capable.
• Windows 10 Home ($107) Can always look around for keys, or just go keyless, but if you want to expense everything...

Here's the partpicker link. $1211 USD

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Hey I just built this pc and it turned out great. Thanks a ton!

Do you or anyone else have recommendations for a headphones and microphone? That'll be my last bit of upgrading.

Thanks.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Hey I just built this pc and it turned out great. Thanks a ton!

Do you or anyone else have recommendations for a headphones and microphone? That'll be my last bit of upgrading.

Thanks.

Click to shrink...

Honestly, my go to headphones is the Razer Nari. The midrange one has a rectractable, bendable mic, it's wireless (with a tiny dongle that can be stored in the headphones themselves) and it still has removable 3.5mm cable if you don't want to be wireless or the battery runs out. (Charges by micro USB). It's really ideal for my WFH because I can walk around the flat while talking, but still use it as a dumb wired headset if necessary (such as for playing PS4 games). You have to get the midrange one though - the cheap one is not wireless and the expensive one just adds useless THX stuff.

 

[kamikazety]

For cases, the Fractal Design Meshify is fantastic but I like the Fractal Design Define 7 a LOT but it's pricey for a simple case($170) and not for everyone.If your a minimalist (Simple blue light, nice routing, fantastic airflow) you can go the Corsair Carbide Series 275R ($75ish).

There's a lot of room in between but everyone seems to get nzxt and coolmaster. Corsair makes fantastic cases and PSU. They go from crazy to minimalist too.

Speaking of monster towers, look at this insane beast of a case: Corsair Obsidian

Spoiler: Obsidian Case

 

[Renteka-Bond]

So as Black_Stride said, others have caught up. You don't have to be afraid of unknown brands because they are using the same chipsets as the major players, and Samsung (who uses their own flash and chipsets apart from everyone else) is just charging a huge premium right now when real-world use doesn't show nearly enough of an advantage to justify it.

Basically what you should be deciding here is what spec you want:

• Cheap 1TB: The Crucial P1. It has the slowest write speed because it's QLC.
• Faster 1TB: Silicon Power A60 (TLC, $122)
• Performance 1TB: The HP EX950 ($148) or ADATA SX 8200 Pro (if you can find stock). TLC
• Samsung 1TB: 970 Evo ($180) but you won't notice a difference vs. the EX950

For me, I bought the ADATA SX8200 Pro (the EX950 is exactly the same thing, spec wise). But for games you will not notice a difference right now vs. the P1. ALL of them will be faster than a hard drive though. Just google any of the names to see some reviews.

I think the rest of the list is great. As I said, you could always save ~50 dollars by going down to a B450 motherboard, or save even more by going to a motherboard without WiFi+Bluetooth, but the TUF gives the best chance of a Ryzen 4000 upgrade if you want to do that. (And if you want to use, say a wireless Xbox controller, you want the bluetooth). I think if I was just focusing on now, I would grab the MSI B450 Tomahawk Max ($115)...but there's no WiFi/BT there so you would need to buy a dongle if you wanted the bluetooth later.

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Yeah, I did consider the 450, but this current setup is still within budget (enough) while offering greater overhead. Plus, it saves on having to buy a dongle/accessories for the features later, which saves on space and so on. As far as the SSD, even if it's the slowest, it will be infinitely faster than anything she's used before, so it's fine, haha.

 

[Cyborg009]

Intake in the front, exhaust in the back.

Click to shrink...

might also use the PSU fan as an extra exhaust fan but thats very specific use case when people want balanced pressure.

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Thanks. And Would you happen to have a suggest cooler for my CPU my old 212 doesn't fit at all.

I was thinking of this: https://www.amazon.com/Cryorig-CR-H7A-H7-Tower-Cooler/dp/B00S7YA5FQ

or

Amazon.com: Scythe Mugen 5 Rev.B CPU Air Cooler, 120mm Single Tower, Intel LGA1151, AMD AM4/Ryzen: Computers & Accessories

Buy Scythe Mugen 5 Rev.B CPU Air Cooler, 120mm Single Tower, Intel LGA1151, AMD AM4/Ryzen: CPU Cooling Fans - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

But I hope it doesn't block any of my ram slots.

 

[Vulcano's Assistant]

Thanks. And Would you happen to have a suggest cooler for my CPU my old 212 doesn't fit at all.

I was thinking of this: https://www.amazon.com/Cryorig-CR-H7A-H7-Tower-Cooler/dp/B00S7YA5FQ

or

Amazon.com: Scythe Mugen 5 Rev.B CPU Air Cooler, 120mm Single Tower, Intel LGA1151, AMD AM4/Ryzen: Computers & Accessories

Buy Scythe Mugen 5 Rev.B CPU Air Cooler, 120mm Single Tower, Intel LGA1151, AMD AM4/Ryzen: CPU Cooling Fans - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

But I hope it doesn't block any of my ram slots.

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The Mugen 5 shouldn't block any ram slots, and it is a better cooler than the H7, but what case you got that doesn't fit the 212?

While both the H7 and Mugen 5 are shorter than the 212, the H7 is the shortest of the two by a whole centimeter; so there are two chamber cases or other narrow cases (often designed for AIOs instead or air coolers) that only fit the 145mm tall H7 and not the 155mm Mugen 5.

 

[Nazgûl]

Nice. I see you still are lacking a hard drive (Disco Duro), even a cheap 500GB model will be more than enough for any old games you might want to try.

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Yes. I will definitely pick one as soon as i can. I will need it

 

[Crazymoogle]

For cases, the Fractal Design Meshify is fantastic but I like the Fractal Design Define 7 a LOT but it's pricey for a simple case($170) and not for everyone.If your a minimalist (Simple blue light, nice routing, fantastic airflow) you can go the Corsair Carbide Series 275R ($75ish).

There's a lot of room in between but everyone seems to get nzxt and coolmaster. Corsair makes fantastic cases and PSU. They go from crazy to minimalist too.

Speaking of monster towers, look at this insane beast of a case: Corsair Obsidian

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The Obsidian. 😆 Actually a family member here has the old HAF, which is also just a ridiculous amount of metal. Can't imagine buying a full-tower these days for any reason. But overall the big problem I have with a lot of these nice cases is that they put glass in front of the fans. Airflow just gets destroyed. I mean, the reason why Gamers Nexus pushes mesh is because the more unimpeded airflow is, the quieter the fans can operate. My 6 fan Meshify C monstrosity is dead quiet compared to an AIO! 😆

Yeah, I did consider the 450, but this current setup is still within budget (enough) while offering greater overhead. Plus, it saves on having to buy a dongle/accessories for the features later, which saves on space and so on. As far as the SSD, even if it's the slowest, it will be infinitely faster than anything she's used before, so it's fine, haha.

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Perfect then! I own the 3600 (not X) and TUF X570 myself. Would have loved to have WiFi 6 but honestly I don't need it (that's what the ethernet plug is for!) It was mostly to have bluetooth for game controllers and headsets. Honestly its a great board, plenty of pinouts, a heatsink for your M.2, really the only thing I was annoyed by was having to place the IO shield but that's been a thing for 30 years now. You do it once and never touch it again.

Oh, this goes without saying for builds, but in case you didn't know...always build on top of your motherboard box first! AMD uses a clamp mount system for the CPU cooler, meaning you need to touch the back and front of the motherboard at the same time, and it's generally easier to install the CPU, cooler and RAM before you screw it into the case. Some people go as far as to plug in a video card and PSU and test boot, but it's mainly just to not need 4 hands for the cooler installation. The motherboard box is the go-to ghetto install you'll see in a lot of youtube builds.

 

[Nida]

I want to upgrade and add an additional SSD to my system. Currently have a 500 GB Samsung EVO, and wasn't sure if I should just get a second one, or if an M.2 drive is worth looking at?

 

[Crazymoogle]

I want to upgrade and add an additional SSD to my system. Currently have a 500 GB Samsung EVO, and wasn't sure if I should just get a second one, or if an M.2 drive is worth looking at?

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Do you have an M.2 slot?
Is the slot SATA or NVMe?

You need to find this out first.

 

[Nida]

Do you have an M.2 slot?
Is the slot SATA or NVMe?

You need to find this out first.

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I have ASUS ROG Strix Z370-E Gaming LGA11 so:

Dual PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots provide NVMe SSD RAID support for an incredible performance boost. Create a RAID configuration with up to three PCIe 3.0 storage devices via two M.2 slots and a PCIe x16 slot to enjoy the world's fastest data-transfer speeds.

 

[Crazymoogle]

I have ASUS ROG Strix Z370-E Gaming LGA11 so:

Dual PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots provide NVMe SSD RAID support for an incredible performance boost. Create a RAID configuration with up to three PCIe 3.0 storage devices via two M.2 slots and a PCIe x16 slot to enjoy the world's fastest data-transfer speeds.

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Yeah, so you have 2x M2. NVMe slots! Great.

You can pick any M.2 NVMe you want, specs will be better than SATA. You cannot use PCIe 4.0 ("Gen 4") drives, but don't worry, those are extremely expensive anyway. Beyond that you can use any drive clearly marked "M.2 2280" and "NVMe".

M.2 NVMe is of course worth looking at if you can, because apart from being the fastest possible for your spec, it's also very convenient - a tiny, smaller than RAM stick - that plugs directly into your motherboard with no cables required.

 

[Nida]

Yeah, so you have 2x M2. NVMe slots! Great.

You can pick any M.2 NVMe you want, specs will be better than SATA. You cannot use PCIe 4.0 ("Gen 4") drives, but don't worry, those are extremely expensive anyway. Beyond that you can use any drive clearly marked "M.2 2280" and "NVMe".

M.2 NVMe is of course worth looking at if you can, because apart from being the fastest possible for your spec, it's also very convenient - a tiny, smaller than RAM stick - that plugs directly into your motherboard with no cables required.

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Oh wow, that's easier than I thought it would be. I was worried it was going to have to be mounted or take up a slot something else might use.

One of the Amazon reviews mentions a mounting screw for a Samsung drive. Is that only needed if your motherboard doesn't have the slot built in?

 

[Crazymoogle]

Oh wow, that's easier than I thought it would be. I was worried it was going to have to be mounted or take up a slot something else might use.

One of the Amazon reviews mentions a mounting screw for a Samsung drive. Is that only needed if your motherboard doesn't have the slot built in?

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The M.2 slot is raised off the motherboard a little bit (unlike RAM, the M.2 lies flat) so you need two pieces of metal: one is a standoff (a metal screw with a hole for another screw) and the screw. See this image at the bottom, the screw is the top and the hexagon metal is the standoff. Motherboards come with these in a parts bag, they almost never are preinstalled. If you don't have it, unfortunately you'd have to buy something like this. The drives don't come with the standoff or screw, usually. (The screw is extremely small; 3mm)

It's risen off the board as a electrical and heat reason. Many M2 have chips on both sides, some heat, obviously a lot of electricity...so it needs to hover above the board a bit.

 

[Stacey]

Finding it very difficult to find a gpu that isn't either out of stock or has had the price hiked to a ridiculous level.

Think I might wait til the 3000 series.

 

[Nida]

The M.2 slot is raised off the motherboard a little bit (unlike RAM, the M.2 lies flat) so you need two pieces of metal: one is a standoff (a metal screw with a hole for another screw) and the screw. See this image at the bottom, the screw is the top and the hexagon metal is the standoff. Motherboards come with these in a parts bag, they almost never are preinstalled. If you don't have it, unfortunately you'd have to buy something like this. The drives don't come with the standoff or screw, usually. (The screw is extremely small; 3mm)

It's risen off the board as a electrical and heat reason. Many M2 have chips on both sides, some heat, obviously a lot of electricity...so it needs to hover above the board a bit.

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If I know my girlfriend, she kept all the accessories. Why are 2 TB versions out of stock? Not a lot made?

 

[Crazymoogle]

If I know my girlfriend, she kept all the accessories. Why are 2 TB versions out of stock? Not a lot made?

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Depends on the drive. Some manufacturers don't make them because they are only priced to the cheap end of the market. Others are just out of stock due to the current world situation...

I bought my 2TB SX8200 Pro a month ago, and ADATA stocks definitely seem limited right now.

 

[molnizzle]

Finding it very difficult to find a gpu that isn't either out of stock or has had the price hiked to a ridiculous level.

Think I might wait til the 3000 series.

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Prices will be terrible on those for a while too.

 

[snack]

I am trying to do 144hz / 1440p gaming - can a Nvidia RTX 2070 Super handle that at high settings (w/ a Ryzen 3600)? Or can I even go a bit lower on the GPU scale to achieve this? Thanks.