I'm looking to build a 1080P PC with a either 1660 super or 1660 ti. I'm currently looking at the motherboard from Asus b450m-a but, kind of a dumb question, what should I look for in a Mobo? How do I know if it's good or bad?
-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
The PC Builders Thread ("I Need a New PC") v3
- Thread starter Crazymoogle
- Start date
- PC Tech OT
Yeah I gave up trying to explain this to people on every page. It has been frustrating to read this thread lately.
Last edited:
Ampere is actually releasing right around the corner or is information about them releasing soon? Do we know exactly when they are dropping?
Also, I thought the saying was that it is "always a bad time to upgrade your PC"? Because there is always something either coming out or impending price drops?
How is this "frustrating" for you....? 🤔
It's frustrating because it's beating a dead horse. You can calmly explain to someone that we're 4/5s of the way through this GPU cycle and that it's not a good idea to buy a 2080 Ti that launched 18 months ago when we're getting a new product lineup with ~40% gains in < 5 months, and then three more people ask if they should buy this 2070/2080/Ti on the very next page.
Some people even know the answer and they ask anyways bc they are just looking for confirmation bias. It's silly and shortsighted that they can't wait 5 months to make a luxury purchase in order to give themselves an extra 2 years of longevity. It's not like they can't play games for the next four months. But whatever, go ahead and buy now then.
I am thinking of upgrading the RAM on my PC, feeling the current 16 GB is lacking a bit.
The current RAM I have is 2x8GB (2666 MHz / PC4-21300) unbuffered non-ECC. I was thinking of buying 2x16GB for the remaining two slots, but I have no idea if I am able to have 2x8GB and 2x16GB at the same time. Am I losing any synergy effects doing it like this? Will it work at all? When I built my last PC, which was like 10 years ago, I vaguely recall people/manufacturers to stick to the exact same type/size for all slots on the mobo, dunno if it applies anymore.
The motherboard is a slightly old ASUS ROG STRIX Z370-F GAMING, if it matters. Any help is appreciated, thanks!
The current RAM I have is 2x8GB (2666 MHz / PC4-21300) unbuffered non-ECC. I was thinking of buying 2x16GB for the remaining two slots, but I have no idea if I am able to have 2x8GB and 2x16GB at the same time. Am I losing any synergy effects doing it like this? Will it work at all? When I built my last PC, which was like 10 years ago, I vaguely recall people/manufacturers to stick to the exact same type/size for all slots on the mobo, dunno if it applies anymore.
The motherboard is a slightly old ASUS ROG STRIX Z370-F GAMING, if it matters. Any help is appreciated, thanks!
Because I've done it before. It's not worth the wait. October? And he needs a PC now in April? Then the cards get delayed a few weeks in October, then when they DO hit, its the major shopping season and you can't find one for anything for a month or more without it being scalped and priced to hell.
BAM just like that its December and you are still trying to locate the newly released card at something resembling MSRP. I've done that too many times while suffering on a PC that's old and needs replacement. Just buy what's there now; You can circle back when supply is plentiful and available and easily sell a previous gen card and buy the new hotness. And you'll get the benefit of upgrading after all the new cards growing pains with drivers are all worked out anyway.
Edit: Its not luxury purchases to some extreme dude...We are talking about $1500 GPU's not people buying their first home. You need to relax. If the cost is so extremely prohibitive for you then wait. But for a lot of people that are buying ~3k+ machines, the cost is fine, so building now, selling the card later and upgrading is NOT that big of a deal.
No no.. you have this backwards. People are free to, and will continue to ask for advice about their builds in the thread titled:
"The PC Builders thread: I need a new PC"
You however, can choose to not answer if for whatever reason you cannot do so without finding it "frustrating" as you have put it. People asking questions about PC builds in this thread have done nothing wrong. They are using the thread properly. If it bothers you, stop answering. The rest of us will help them.
While I understand it can be frustrating to have to answer the same questions over and over again, isn't that what this thread is for? To push people in the right direction? Everyone learns differently, right? All you can do is give them advice and send them on their way. They still have to make that final choice on their own. If it is a bit much for you, perhaps maybe take a break from it?
Like, if all someone has to do is buy a graphics card you don't recommend and that frustrates you, then maybe a break is in order?
If no one else has thanked you for helping out I want to say it now: thanks for giving advice to members participating in this thread. That much is always appreciated. 👍
the thread is 36 pages. Idk. Seems like a legit question to me but tbf I don't come on this thread every day. I have a 2080 super and I feel like I want to know if I made a mistake buying it in November
You have the the second best gaming card on the market and will have had it for nearly a year before a successor is launched. You also got a free 10% performance boost from nvidia because you got the super version.
A year or so of having one of the top gpus on the market is pretty good in the PC space. Your card will also still be a great performer once new cards are released. It isn't obsolete immediately once a new GPU gen launches.
You didn't make a mistake as long you you were comfortable with the amount of money you spent.
I was talking directly to you in that reply. Of course other people can ask questions. I'm aware of how this thread works.
Just like how I'm allowed to make a reply to answer someone's direct question to me without receiving snide or condescending remarks from you.
My go to choice would be the Crucial MX500 or a WD Blue.
They cost about the same just under $200....as for going on sale.
The MX500 was on a massive sale not too long ago....but i dont know if i would expect many sales right now.
The MSI tomahawk is a great option for b450. Looks at the vrm temperatures, features you need. The OP recommends hardware unbox a YouTube channel, and I can confirm they do an amazing job. They recommend and test lots of Mobos.
Then PM it. I'm not going to tip toe around responding to certain posters. I don't know you, and I don't bother remembering usernames. Use the ignore function.
I recommend the Crucial MX500. I have one, its doing well, runs cool, and seems to go on sale often but unpredictably. 2TB is also the sweet spot right now for costs. Looks like it will be a while before the larger ones are more common and hit the same sweet spot pricing wise. $229 ish right now but wil sales will dip just under 200 frequently.
You didnt make a mistake at all. That card is legit and will run anything out there now. That won't magically change just because its predecessor hits the market. You'll be able to get amazing resale on it if you bother upgrading this winter too. But I wouldnt be surprised if you find that you can wait until this time next year to upgrade instead, and even then, only if you are a bleeding edge type of person looking for HFR gaming specifically.
Last edited:
Listen, if someone is wealthy enough to plop down $1000 today and then do it again in September, more power to them.
But they aren't the same people asking in this thread if 2080 is a good deal right now because money is not a barrier to them.
If you're asking if something is a good deal right now, I'm going to tell you to wait 5 months because that's the right answer. If you want something to tide you over, get a 1660ti and then sell it once Ampere releases.
But they aren't the same people asking in this thread if 2080 is a good deal right now because money is not a barrier to them.
If you're asking if something is a good deal right now, I'm going to tell you to wait 5 months because that's the right answer. If you want something to tide you over, get a 1660ti and then sell it once Ampere releases.
I still dont understand how Samsung EVOs are selling like hotcakes when we have a number of ssds that can keep up or even beat it.
The EVO Plus is even more baffling, at that price you might as well get a Gen 4 SSD.
I know Samsung was king shit back in the day it seems people still holding that notion.....other manufacturers have caught up and for the price beat Samsung.
PCMark 10 is a good way to test what real world usage would be like...simple Read/Write tests are practically useless.
In overall score the EVO is barely better than a Sabrent Rocket and loses to the similarly price Rocket 4.0.
Not that it really matters because access time on pretty much any decent SSD will be amazing, but again it isnt really beating the Rocket.
Worse still the thing runs hotter than its competition.
The EVO Plus is even more baffling, at that price you might as well get a Gen 4 SSD.
I know Samsung was king shit back in the day it seems people still holding that notion.....other manufacturers have caught up and for the price beat Samsung.
PCMark 10 is a good way to test what real world usage would be like...simple Read/Write tests are practically useless.
In overall score the EVO is barely better than a Sabrent Rocket and loses to the similarly price Rocket 4.0.
Not that it really matters because access time on pretty much any decent SSD will be amazing, but again it isnt really beating the Rocket.
Worse still the thing runs hotter than its competition.
You're giving awful advice to people. $229 for a SATA drive today? Buy a high-end GPU now bc it's not a lot of money to you?
One can only read so much bad advice. This is exactly the type of thing that has been so prevalent on here lately. (Outside of the OP who does a very good job.)
So if someone is asking "Is now a good time" or "my rig is 10 years old" then they very obviously aren't someone like you whom "has suffered too many times on a PC that's old (by not upgrading fast enough)". They are directly asking about VALUE and long-term INVESTMENT when they ask those questions. And just like Kieli said, the better recommendation is for them to buy something used or dirt cheap as a temporary replacement only if they absolutely need something for the time being.
really dude?
yep. done.
One can only read so much bad advice. This is exactly the type of thing that has been so prevalent on here lately. (Outside of the OP who does a very good job.)
Precisely this. If someone comes here and asks if it's a good deal to buy a high-end GPU in May 2020 then you are flat out wrong and doing them a disservice by telling them "yes". This is not a good time to buy a high-end GPU if it's not necessary. There are new cards coming from AMD soon and there are new RTX cards coming from Nvidia around September where the RTX 3070 (or similarly designated equivalent) will purportedly be doing roughly ~95% performance of a 2080 Ti, but at ~$500-600. The 3080 will purportedly be doing 110% of a 2080 Ti. With similar pricing structures to their predecessors. Which is exactly how all of this is supposed to work bc Nvidia wants to be able to sell the 3080 and above to 2080 Ti owners.
So if someone is asking "Is now a good time" or "my rig is 10 years old" then they very obviously aren't someone like you whom "has suffered too many times on a PC that's old (by not upgrading fast enough)". They are directly asking about VALUE and long-term INVESTMENT when they ask those questions. And just like Kieli said, the better recommendation is for them to buy something used or dirt cheap as a temporary replacement only if they absolutely need something for the time being.
If I could get a Corsair Force MP600 for $119, would that be a good deal? It is 500GB tho. Not too familiar with m.2 drives.I still dont understand how Samsung EVOs are selling like hotcakes when we have a number of ssds that can keep up or even beat it.
The EVO Plus is even more baffling, at that price you might as well get a Gen 4 SSD.
I know Samsung was king shit back in the day it seems people still holding that notion.....other manufacturers have caught up and for the price beat Samsung.
PCMark 10 is a good way to test what real world usage would be like...simple Read/Write tests are practically useless.
In overall score the EVO is barely better than a Sabrent Rocket and loses to the similarly price Rocket 4.0.
Not that it really matters because access time on pretty much any decent SSD will be amazing, but again it isnt really beating the Rocket.
Worse still the thing runs hotter than its competition.
Its an okay deal. THe MP600 is a very quick SSD (like all Gen 4s really)
But at 500GB the cost/performance/capacity isnt that great for pretty much any SSD.
When going M.2, 1TB is the sweet spot because most really good ones are under 200 dollars for Gen4 and 1TB.
500GB for 120 is still an okay deal for Gen 4 dont get me wrong....it just hurts a bit that for a few more dollars you can effectively double your storage.
That paired with the fact that alot of SSDs actually perform better in their higher capacity variants makes it a bit of a hard sell.
But still okay.
Should note, a Gen 3 Sabrent Rocket is like 10 ~ 20 dollars more for a 1TB.
The real question you should be asking yourself is do you need the Gen 4 speeds, because in general computing and gaming right now the difference rarely justifies the price.
TL;DR: Yeah go for it, thats an okay deal but for a few dollars more you can double your storage for not much lost in performance.
Oh yes I think I've seen you mention this before. As always thanks for your insight.
And oh fuck ... You were right. Fucking hell 149.
Edit: also it seems to come with a nice 5 year warranty.
Anyone? Sorry to bump this one up so soon, but I'm eyeing a pair of Corsair Vengeance sticks (2x16GB) that seem very good that are almost running out.
If I retain my current 2x8GB in the A/B channels, and then put in the 2x16GB in the free A/B channels, will both pairs run in dual-channel?
Get rid of the 2666, just use 2x16 DDR4 3200 or higher. Putting mismatched RAM will only limit all RAM including your newer and faster ones to the lower speed.
Thanks! The ones I am eyeing are not mismatched with the ones I have (2666 MHz / PC4-21300). Not even sure if my mobo supports 3200MHz memory. My question was fundamentally about buying and using a pair that are differently sized from the ones I have, and if that leads to something wonky, such as messing up the dual-channelling.
You want to use higher speed memory in the first place, DDR4 3200 is really cheap these days. Unless your workload demands a massive amount of memory like 8K video editing, 32GB is enough. Not worth risking stability issues by using memory of different timings and brands.
Gotcha, many thanks! The most demanding thing I use the PC for is sound/music production, which is inherently CPU-bottlenecked, but more RAM does help running tons of apps/instruments in parallel.
Now to see if replacing the RAM like this causes issues with software authentications... ugh.
Strangely enough, someone else asked the same on Wednesday (complete with answers). Yes, Dual Channel will work. I think there's a good chance it would also work with miss-matched speeds in the different channels, or worst case you'd have to set the speed for a potentially faster kit manually. (in case you'd want to experiment whether fast RAM does more for you than more RAM, which might be debatable)
Huh, thanks for pointing out that exchange and for providing further help!
One reason, though probably not the overriding one, is that the Samsung drives are available everywhere in the world (except maybe North Korea), whereas the Sabrent is not. If I wanted a Sabrent I would have to import it, adding expense and complications.
The pricing can also differ between regions.
And of course market recognition is a thing, as is brand loyalty.
It shouldn't. Most hardware ID checks are based on motherboard and CPU.
So i'm reading through this thread and basically i'm seeing that for what I want to do, I should just wait till whenever Nvidia releases their new graphics cards (made a post in that ray tracing thread in general gaming and... after a bit more research learned that i could have just fucked myself if I bought a prebuild with a 2080ti (the ones with single fans... now i dont know jack about pc gaming or building a computer, but that doesnt seem right when i see GPUs with 2-3 fans for the most part)
Reason I want to build a computer, well money from unemployment helps me out a ton, I want something to be future proofing myself for a long haul and possibly VR , I think I might be done with consoles since emulation on PCs for anything below a ps3 seem to be good nowadays (and i know ps3 emulation is still in early stages and is very much a brute force method)
Reason I want to build a computer, well money from unemployment helps me out a ton, I want something to be future proofing myself for a long haul and possibly VR , I think I might be done with consoles since emulation on PCs for anything below a ps3 seem to be good nowadays (and i know ps3 emulation is still in early stages and is very much a brute force method)
The 2080Ti is going to be a good card for a while remember that the 2080Ti is likely only gonna be beaten by the xx80 and xx80Ti of nextgen.
So pretty much you will have the third best graphics card available and be in the top 1%.
Graphics cards these days are smart enough to never kill themselves, one fan, two fans, 3 fans or four.....that card aint gonna die.
Itll throttle itself once it reaches the target temp, you can still alter that figure to let the card go higher.
A 1080Ti is still a good card, and it came out years and years ago.
I do sign up to school of thought that we really should wait atleast until end of May where we hopefully get teasers if not full on reveals of Ampere to actually lock in a purchase.
But if i could afford a 2080Ti machine right now like it will arrive in a week........I would jump on one no question.
Great, thanks again! Thankfully my most important licenses are on USB dongles anyway.
Like I know that getting a 2080ti will be overkill for the most part for me ATM since I dont have any intentions of buying a 4k monitor *yet* and will likely be using either a 1080p monitor and try to get one with g-sync or some good 1440p monitor. And VR would be a later purchase. The main thing is that, that card will future proof me for a good chunk of games and thats the sole reason i'd want it (I want to play cyberpunk 2077 and have it look awesome) and its not like me not spending the money now will change anything (except knowing my luck, the moment I buy parts or a prebuild, the Ampere will get announced, get a price, the 2080 ti will go on sale and it'll be a week or two after my return/price match policy would expire lol (i've had that luck with other products in my life)
For reference this was the best buy Prebuild I was looking at (and yes the cube looks like ass lol) , and my friend told me I should go to Microcenter and check that place out (once we're out of this mess with corona) before buying anything yet.
Yeah I wanted my first gaming pc and I feel like the "ahhhhhh something new and better is out soon" is unavoidable. I'd rather move than stand still forever
My apologies, I couldn't find a better thread to post this in-
I have Dell G7 7790 laptop, and can't find a clear recommendation as to which SSD to buy as an upgrade. I think
Samsung (MZ-V7S1T0B/AM) 970 EVO Plus SSD will work, but also saw conflicting info as to if the full speed will be usable?
I have Dell G7 7790 laptop, and can't find a clear recommendation as to which SSD to buy as an upgrade. I think
Samsung (MZ-V7S1T0B/AM) 970 EVO Plus SSD will work, but also saw conflicting info as to if the full speed will be usable?
I'm starting to rethink my computer build plans for the year. I have a 980ti and 6700k, so I was planning on just doing a full rebuild when the new nvidia cards and ryzen processors came out. But hearing talk that the generation after the next one will bring with it motherboards that support ddr5 and other jumps has me thinking about just replacing my graphics card, case, and power supply this year and waiting. I just don't know how well that 6700k will hold up to Cyberpunk.
First gen DDR5 and MBs will be super expensive. Just get a Ryzen 4000, with fast DDR4 Ram, a RTX 30XX and skip the first gen of Ryzen 5nm and DDR5.
Hello guys,
haven't been into the PC market for a few years. Just bought a ton of stuff, and want to know what screen would be good? I don't even know what to expect performance-wise... Can this stuff even run 4K games, or should I look for 144hz? Or should I go all out with an ultrawide? This is what I bought (some flavour text in Norwegian)...
haven't been into the PC market for a few years. Just bought a ton of stuff, and want to know what screen would be good? I don't even know what to expect performance-wise... Can this stuff even run 4K games, or should I look for 144hz? Or should I go all out with an ultrawide? This is what I bought (some flavour text in Norwegian)...
We still don't know much about B550 and what's gimped about it. Sure, it has PCIe 4.0, but can it overclock as well as the X570? Does it support SLI? There are still many things not said.
It's not a 4K capable rig for the most part. 4K gaming on PC in general, is not worth it. Get a 1440p high end Gsync/Freesync monitor instead, like the LG27GL850 and ASUS TUF VG27AQ.Hello guys,
haven't been into the PC market for a few years. Just bought a ton of stuff, and want to know what screen would be good? I don't even know what to expect performance-wise... Can this stuff even run 4K games, or should I look for 144hz? Or should I go all out with an ultrawide? This is what I bought (some flavour text in Norwegian)...
Your rig is also kinda bad.... Intel non K CPUs are not that good. Paring a B360 with an i9 is even more bizarre. Using DDR4 2666 with an i9 is... bad. You can definitely build something better/more balanced with that budget.
Thank you very much for the answer.
What's wrong with the MB + 9900K combo?
I'm fairly sure your CPU is a non K version which runs on lower clocks, and can't be overclocked, is also terribly priced. The B360 is in general used with much lower end CPUs, surely not an i9. I'd say, return this if you can, rebuild something more balanced like a Ryzen 3900X + X570, or 9900K+Z390 if you really want to stick to Intel.
Hi everyone!
I've been putting off building a new PC for years as my current one was built in 2011 and hasn't really been upgraded since. It's actually gotten worse because one of the gfx cards I had in it in SLI died a few years back.
I know there is never a perfect time to build one but, is it an especially bad time currently? I can limp along for another 6-12 months if so.
Price range would be $1500-1800 for everything including monitor.
Thanks
I've been putting off building a new PC for years as my current one was built in 2011 and hasn't really been upgraded since. It's actually gotten worse because one of the gfx cards I had in it in SLI died a few years back.
I know there is never a perfect time to build one but, is it an especially bad time currently? I can limp along for another 6-12 months if so.
Price range would be $1500-1800 for everything including monitor.
Thanks
I could still cancel the order so changed some stuff around.
Does this look better?
Another Motherboard, changed to i7-9700K
I also ordered a 1440p IPS screen, thank you.
Get a Ryzen 7 3700X + MSI or ASUS TUF X570. Upgrade your RAM to DDR4 3200 or 3600. Ditch the SSD for a Western Digital Blue SN550 or Samsung 970 EVO if it's within your budget.I could still cancel the order so changed some stuff around.
Does this look better?
Another Motherboard, changed to i7-9700K
I also ordered a 1440p IPS screen, thank you.
