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

[Deleted member 49611]

i originally wanted to get a 3080 but of course we all know how that went. the other day i saw that gpu prices had dropped a bit because of bitcoin or something so out of curiosity i checked on ebay to see what the prices were like now. i was surprised to see that a 3080 Ti can go for about £1,300 quite easily which is ~£250 over what Nvidia advertises on their site. a 3080 was about the same price or maybe ~£1,200 which is £550-650 over what Nvidia says.

i have been saving up and have exactly £1,000 to spend. if i sold my 2080 i could get £324 from C.E.X. I bought that card about 3 years ago for £750 so I'd be getting 43% of what I paid for it back which is quite good I think! So i could quite easily cover the cost of a 3080 Ti.

The thing is i don't know if my PC can handle it. I have a 750W PSU which I bought almost exactly 7 years ago. The power of the 3080 Ti is quite a step up from the 2080. I think it's about 130W more. My PC has a 9900K so I am worried that AND a 3080 Ti will be too much. I've never had any issues with my PSU. It's the one part I've kept all these years from my very first PC but it is 7 years old...

The cost of a new PSU would be too much at the moment so I guess i just want to know if you think I will be fine to just swap out the GPU or should i definitely be putting in a new PSU if i get a 3080 Ti? my PSU is an EVGA 750W SuperNova G2 80% GOLD.

If i do need a new PSU would an 850W be fine or should I go for a 1000W? I would probably go for a Seasonic or Bequiet model.

 

[eEK!]

i originally wanted to get a 3080 but of course we all know how that went. the other day i saw that gpu prices had dropped a bit because of bitcoin or something so out of curiosity i checked on ebay to see what the prices were like now. i was surprised to see that a 3080 Ti can go for about £1,300 quite easily which is ~£250 over what Nvidia advertises on their site. a 3080 was about the same price or maybe ~£1,200 which is £550-650 over what Nvidia says.

i have been saving up and have exactly £1,000 to spend. if i sold my 2080 i could get £324 from C.E.X. I bought that card about 3 years ago for £750 so I'd be getting 43% of what I paid for it back which is quite good I think! So i could quite easily cover the cost of a 3080 Ti.

The thing is i don't know if my PC can handle it. I have a 750W PSU which I bought almost exactly 7 years ago. The power of the 3080 Ti is quite a step up from the 2080. I think it's about 130W more. My PC has a 9900K so I am worried that AND a 3080 Ti will be too much. I've never had any issues with my PSU. It's the one part I've kept all these years from my very first PC but it is 7 years old...

The cost of a new PSU would be too much at the moment so I guess i just want to know if you think I will be fine to just swap out the GPU or should i definitely be putting in a new PSU if i get a 3080 Ti? my PSU is an EVGA 750W SuperNova G2 80% GOLD.

If i do need a new PSU would an 850W be fine or should I go for a 1000W? I would probably go for a Seasonic or Bequiet model.

Click to shrink...

Obvious advice is sell your 2080 on eBay/Facebook/anywhere other than CEX for £600+ and use the extra money to buy a new PSU.

I sold an rx590 on eBay for £250 in about 15 minutes, so CEX are really ripping you off at £320.

 

[Dave.]

i originally wanted to get a 3080 but of course we all know how that went. the other day i saw that gpu prices had dropped a bit because of bitcoin or something so out of curiosity i checked on ebay to see what the prices were like now. i was surprised to see that a 3080 Ti can go for about £1,300 quite easily which is ~£250 over what Nvidia advertises on their site. a 3080 was about the same price or maybe ~£1,200 which is £550-650 over what Nvidia says.

i have been saving up and have exactly £1,000 to spend. if i sold my 2080 i could get £324 from C.E.X. I bought that card about 3 years ago for £750 so I'd be getting 43% of what I paid for it back which is quite good I think! So i could quite easily cover the cost of a 3080 Ti.

The thing is i don't know if my PC can handle it. I have a 750W PSU which I bought almost exactly 7 years ago. The power of the 3080 Ti is quite a step up from the 2080. I think it's about 130W more. My PC has a 9900K so I am worried that AND a 3080 Ti will be too much. I've never had any issues with my PSU. It's the one part I've kept all these years from my very first PC but it is 7 years old...

The cost of a new PSU would be too much at the moment so I guess i just want to know if you think I will be fine to just swap out the GPU or should i definitely be putting in a new PSU if i get a 3080 Ti? my PSU is an EVGA 750W SuperNova G2 80% GOLD.

If i do need a new PSU would an 850W be fine or should I go for a 1000W? I would probably go for a Seasonic or Bequiet model.

Click to shrink...

You can get twice that for a 2080 on Ebay:

Rtx 2080 for sale | eBay

Find great deals on eBay for Rtx 2080. Shop with confidence.

www.ebay.co.uk

If you're in the UK you have a decent chance to get FE cards at MSRP from Scan if you can deal with the hassle, set up tweetdeck alerts on @partalert for notifications

 

[ChitonIV]

Everyone should keep in mind before trying to sell something on Ebay: They take 12% or more, of the total sale, for computer hardware.

I have a 750W PSU which I bought almost exactly 7 years ago. The power of the 3080 Ti is quite a step up from the 2080. I think it's about 130W more. My PC has a 9900K so I am worried that AND a 3080 Ti will be too much. I've never had any issues with my PSU. It's the one part I've kept all these years from my very first PC but it is 7 years old...

Click to shrink...

9900k is still a really good gaming CPU. It might be a small bottleneck for high refresh 1080p in a small amount of games. But its not even something you would notice, unless you had comparison numbers for the same game, with a 3080 ti and a better CPU.

750w is borderline for a 3080 ti. Depending on the PSU, it might work, or you might have some random restarts if the PSU goes into overload protection mode.

However, if your PSU is still in warranty (some have really long warranties), you might be able to warranty replace it for a more modern unit, which doesn't go into overload protection and shutdown, because of a videocard.

 

[Nero3000]

Thanks to the support here managed to build my new PC:

CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor (£279.98 @ CCL Computers)
CPU Cooler: ASUS TUF 120 AIO
Motherboard: ASRock Z690M-ITX/ax Mini ITX LGA1700 Motherboard (£235.46 @ More Computers)
Memory: 2x16GB 3600 CL16
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£128.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 8 GB Founders Edition Video Card (Purchased For £470.00)
Case: Lian Li Q58 (PCIe 4.0) Mini ITX Desktop Case (£161.06 @ More Computers)
Power Supply: Corsair SF 750 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply (£125.36 @ Box Limited)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM chromax.black.swap 60.09 CFM 120 mm Fan (£29.90 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1626.74

Click to shrink...

Just testing the temps with stress tests, at the moment I have (fur mark + cinebench):

GPU Temp @ 74
GPU Hotspot @ 82/83
CPU Package @ 82

I think these are fine if a bit on the high side?

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

I am sooooo smitten with how well this new mobo matches the grey Torrent.

It's not perfect, but it's about as close as I could realistically hope, I think. REALLY happy with it.

Noctua DH-15 should be here by next weekend, and my 3080 Ti FTW3 should be here a few days after that. Hoping to have it all built out (minus CableMod cables) by Valentine's Day.

 

[ChitonIV]

Thanks to the support here managed to build my new PC:



Just testing the temps with stress tests, at the moment I have (fur mark + cinebench):

GPU Temp @ 74
GPU Hotspot @ 82/83
CPU Package @ 82

I think these are fine if a bit on the high side?

Click to shrink...

70 - 75c GPU temp is what you should expect of an upper end Nvidia GPU, in a case with good airflow.

Your CPU temp is fine for Cinibench and to be expected of an 120mm AIO. It will generally be lower in gaming and other tasks which don't fully load every thread, like Cinibench does.

 

[Dave.]

Everyone should keep in mind before trying to sell something on Ebay: They take 12% or more, of the total sale, for computer hardware.

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That's significantly better than CeX's roughly 50% cut, no? 😁

 

[Crazymoogle]

I think these are fine if a bit on the high side?

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Checking Gamers Nexus, 75 seems about right for the GPU core. The FE is not the top tier of RTX cooling and your temp is during a benchmark, so I think it's fine.

I am sooooo smitten with how well this new mobo matches the grey Torrent.

Click to shrink...

I've also been actively considering the Torrent to replace my current case (Lancool 2 Mesh). Looks great! I also appreciate how the motherboard plating just covers the 3 slots below the graphics card, meaning you can basically run the AORUS Master 3080 if you wanted.

 

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

I am sooooo smitten with how well this new mobo matches the grey Torrent.

It's not perfect, but it's about as close as I could realistically hope, I think. REALLY happy with it.

Noctua DH-15 should be here by next weekend, and my 3080 Ti FTW3 should be here a few days after that. Hoping to have it all built out (minus CableMod cables) by Valentine's Day.

Click to shrink...

Excuse my ignorance, but with that many holes, how do you stop the inside of that beauty getting caked in dust after 2 weeks?

 

[ChitonIV]

Excuse my ignorance, but with that many holes, how do you stop the inside of that beauty getting caked in dust after 2 weeks?

Click to shrink...

Unless your residence is especially dusty, it should take a few months for noticeable dust buildup. and even then, it probably wouldn't start to affect performance until close to a year of no cleaning.

But cleaning is easy. You spray with an air compressor, static free vacuum, etc. and then use a soft brush or toothbrush, to wipe away the stuff which doesn't easily blow off. Only takes a few minutes.

For some cases, using no dust mesh can mean 5 - 10c lower temps. For example, the "Hyte Revolt 3" case, talked about a few posts earlier.

 

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

Unless your residence is especially dusty, it should take a few months for noticeable dust buildup. and even then, it probably wouldn't start to affect performance until close to a year of no cleaning.

But cleaning is easy. You spray with an air compressor, static free vacuum, etc. and then use a soft brush or toothbrush, to wipe away the stuff which doesn't easily blow off. Only takes a few minutes.

For some cases, using no dust mesh can mean 5 - 10c lower temps. For example, the "Hyte Revolt 3" case, talked about a few posts earlier.

Click to shrink...

Thanks for the reply - yep, with a dog + carpet + pollen blowing into the ground floor flat, it can get dusty pretty quickly here.

I'm starting to get the PC Building itch again, though haven't done it in 15 or so years; have no idea where to start apart from wanting to play All The Games (tm) on Ultra, to have a large SSD, good RAM and handle everything quickly, quietly and cool-ly. I know of water cooling but am already stressed about the idea of messing it up somehow during building etc. Trying to figure out where to begin with this project.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Excuse my ignorance, but with that many holes, how do you stop the inside of that beauty getting caked in dust after 2 weeks?

Click to shrink...

The Fractal Torrent is a positive airflow case. It comes with 2x180mm front intake fans and 3x140mm bottom intake fans. The front and bottom both have dust filters. As long as you don't leave the system idle for weeks the vast majority of all dust and particles should be caught by front and bottom filters. (And for cat owners, another plus is having a fully steel top to make it immune to sitting cats) The extreme back ventilation is simply to ensure that the positive airflow can circulate as there is no top exhaust.

 

[Deleted member 49611]

thanks for the replies. not sure i can be bothered with selling a GPU on ebay. i will see what price i can get and have a think about it.

 

[TheDestructiveSquirrel]

Maybe someone else with the Lancool II Mesh case can answer this.

Lian Li's website says the 3 front case fans are PWM but the fan connectors are only 3 pin and I can only control them in DC mode.

Am I missing something?

LANCOOL II Mesh RGB - Ultimate Airflow Chassis

With the mesh front, LANCOOL II MESH making great airflow in the chasis, Packing three ARGB PWM 120mm fans effectively cooling the component in user's PC build and able to control by the botton on the I/O port. 9 drive mounting space and supports 384mm maximum GPU length and 176mm maximum hight...

lian-li.com

 

[ChitonIV]

Maybe someone else with the Lancool II Mesh case can answer this.

Lian Li's website says the 3 front case fans are PWM but the fan connectors are only 3 pin and I can only control them in DC mode.

Am I missing something?

LANCOOL II Mesh RGB - Ultimate Airflow Chassis

With the mesh front, LANCOOL II MESH making great airflow in the chasis, Packing three ARGB PWM 120mm fans effectively cooling the component in user's PC build and able to control by the botton on the I/O port. 9 drive mounting space and supports 384mm maximum GPU length and 176mm maximum hight...

lian-li.com

Click to shrink...

They probably made spec changes to pinch pennies or maybe due to supply issues, and the official product page doesn't reflect that.

 

[TheDestructiveSquirrel]

They probably made spec changes to pinch pennies or maybe due to supply issues, and the official product page doesn't reflect that.

Click to shrink...

That's what I thought, I guess it doesn't matter much

 

[ChitonIV]

That's what I thought, I guess it doesn't matter much

Click to shrink...

You can message their support and see if they will send you some replacements.

 

[TheDestructiveSquirrel]

You can message their support and see if they will send you some replacements.

Click to shrink...

I checked the manual and it says to control with DC mode, I'm not gonna bother

 

[I Don't Like]

thanks for the replies. not sure i can be bothered with selling a GPU on ebay. i will see what price i can get and have a think about it.

Click to shrink...

Craigslist is another option - avoid eBay fees and get more money out of it while still being able to offer it for less than you would eBay since you're trying to recoup shipping and account for fees.

 

[Akash]

Could anyone recommend a discord server for tracking GPU drops? Time to step my game up...

 

[Gabbo]

Could anyone recommend a discord server for tracking GPU drops? Time to step my game up...

Click to shrink...

I've been using:

Join the Stock Checker Discord Server!

The leading stock availability tracker. Find hot deals, discuss gaming news, and engage with tech enthusiasts. | 50834 members

discord.gg

Join the StockDrops Discord Server!

We are a community that's focused on gaming, new tech releases, support, and discussions among like-minded people. | 75923 members

discord.gg

And if you're Canadian:

Join the Canadian Gaming Deals Discord Server!

Check out the Canadian Gaming Deals community on Discord - hang out with 2685 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.

discord.gg

 

[Aztechnology]

I'm at my wits end. Building a PC with the following specs for a buddy.

Musetex MK7 case
B660M-A D4 asus Prime mobo
Intel 12400 processor
Gskill rip jaw DDR4 3600 mhz ram
Arctic Freezer 34 cooler
Asus RTX 3060ti Dual Series GPU
WD Black SN850 SSD

I've connected everything tried posting on the integrated GPU without GPU installed and on dedicated GPU and everything powers on, fans spin etc. Never any display, nothing. I've tried reseating nearly everything and I just can't get it to post anything to screen via hdmi or display port.

 

[Terbinator]

I'm at my wits end. Building a PC with the following specs for a buddy.

Musetex MK7 case
B660M-A D4 asus Prime mobo
Intel 12400 processor
Gskill rip jaw DDR4 3600 mhz ram
Arctic Freezer 34 cooler
Asus RTX 3060ti Dual Series GPU
WD Black SN850 SSD

I've connected everything tried posting on the integrated GPU without GPU installed and on dedicated GPU and everything powers on, fans spin etc. Never any display, nothing. I've tried reseating nearly everything and I just can't get it to post anything to screen via hdmi or display port.

Click to shrink...

Not trying to be a troll but you don't mention a PSU here?

Is the 4/8Pin connector connected also if so?

Best thing is to take everything out and try posting on a tabletop top or something. Could be you're grounding somehow when it's inside the case.

 

[Aztechnology]

Not trying to be a troll but you don't mention a PSU here?

Is the 4/8Pin connector connected also if so?

Best thing is to take everything out and try posting on a tabletop top or something. Could be you're grounding somehow when it's inside the case.

Click to shrink...

Sorry yea it's a 750w gold rated fully modular PSU. My plan in the morning was to do so, and then rebuild again. In the meantime I was hoping maybe someone might spot an issue just from the parts list potentially. Like an incompatible part. I can test the ram and GPU in my personal comp to isolate further but that's about it.

 

[Aztechnology]

Not trying to be a troll but you don't mention a PSU here?

Is the 4/8Pin connector connected also if so?

Best thing is to take everything out and try posting on a tabletop top or something. Could be you're grounding somehow when it's inside the case.

Click to shrink...

Tested it on the anti static wrap/test bench style and it is still not posting with or without GPU

 

[Crazymoogle]

Tested it on the anti static wrap/test bench style and it is still not posting with or without GPU

Click to shrink...

If it's not posting the things I would be doing are:

1. Minimizing the build. Remove the NVMe, just try to post with the motherboard, CPU, 1 stick of RAM in slot A2. You should only have the ATX (24pin) and EPS (8pin, I think it's called ATX_12V on your board, but it should go to the ATX/EPS plug on a modular power supply, NOT PCIe) plugged in, as well as the front panel connectors. No SATA. Since you say you have the 12400 and not the "F" variant you should be able to go displayport or HDMI to your monitor from the motherboard. Honestly I would even try to avoid the AIO if possible since all you want to see is the BIOS screen.

2. Normally there would be lights for post (ie: a GPU light, a CPU light, etc) to tell you what stage POST is failing. But this B660 board is extremely cut down to the point that the manual doesn't even have a troubleshooting section.

Sorry, that's all I've got. If an absolutely minimum build isn't posting, all you can really do is:
1. manually pull every power cable (on both motherboard and PSU ends) and reinsert.
2. Try a different power location in your flat
3. Try a different monitor

...but that's all scraping the bottom of the barrel

 

[Aztechnology]

If it's not posting the things I would be doing are:

1. Minimizing the build. Remove the NVMe, just try to post with the motherboard, CPU, 1 stick of RAM in slot A2. You should only have the ATX (24pin) and EPS (8pin, I think it's called ATX_12V on your board, but it should go to the ATX/EPS plug on a modular power supply, NOT PCIe) plugged in, as well as the front panel connectors. No SATA. Since you say you have the 12400 and not the "F" variant you should be able to go displayport or HDMI to your monitor from the motherboard. Honestly I would even try to avoid the AIO if possible since all you want to see is the BIOS screen.

2. Normally there would be lights for post (ie: a GPU light, a CPU light, etc) to tell you what stage POST is failing. But this B660 board is extremely cut down to the point that the manual doesn't even have a troubleshooting section.

Sorry, that's all I've got. If an absolutely minimum build isn't posting, all you can really do is:
1. manually pull every power cable (on both motherboard and PSU ends) and reinsert.
2. Try a different power location in your flat
3. Try a different monitor

...but that's all scraping the bottom of the barrel

Click to shrink...

I used a different mobo/cpu with the ram, PSU, GPU etc. confirmed those parts are all working fine. It seems almost a certainty it's the mobo or CPU at this point. I should have run the test bench in the first place to narrow down. I'm lucky to have access to multiple DDR4 boards.

I'll admit I didn't think about the Nvme drive potentially causing a no post. I may try removing that tomorrow.

 

[TheDestructiveSquirrel]

Anyone know a guide to overclocking for beginners? Would I need to plug in the 4-pin connector for a 5800x if I wanted to overclock?

 

[super-famicom]

Anyone know a guide to overclocking for beginners? Would I need to plug in the 4-pin connector for a 5800x if I wanted to overclock?

Click to shrink...

This seems to be a popular guide on the AMD subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/qik4t3/zen_3_pbo_and_curve_optimizer/
I have a 5800x but I don't bother with overclocking it.

When you say 4-pin connector do you mean the 4+4 one (8-pin cable)? Minus the cables for my 3080, I have the 12-pin and the 8-pin (4+4) cables connecting my motherboard and PSU.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Excuse my ignorance, but with that many holes, how do you stop the inside of that beauty getting caked in dust after 2 weeks?

Click to shrink...

positive pressure. More fans blowing in than out.

 

[TheDestructiveSquirrel]

This seems to be a popular guide on the AMD subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/qik4t3/zen_3_pbo_and_curve_optimizer/
I have a 5800x but I don't bother with overclocking it.

When you say 4-pin connector do you mean the 4+4 one (8-pin cable)? Minus the cables for my 3080, I have the 12-pin and the 8-pin (4+4) cables connecting my motherboard and PSU.

Click to shrink...

My motherboard has headers for CPU pwr 1 which is an 8-pin and a CPU pwr 2 which is 4-pin, I read that CPU pwr 2 may only be necessary if pushing the limits of overclocking.

 

[I Don't Like]

I used a different mobo/cpu with the ram, PSU, GPU etc. confirmed those parts are all working fine. It seems almost a certainty it's the mobo or CPU at this point. I should have run the test bench in the first place to narrow down. I'm lucky to have access to multiple DDR4 boards.

I'll admit I didn't think about the Nvme drive potentially causing a no post. I may try removing that tomorrow.

Click to shrink...

A disk causing no POST isn't a thing as far as I'm aware. Computers don't care whether your storage devices are functional or not. At worst you get a no bootable device error. I assume it's not impossible I guess but never heard of it.

 

[ChitonIV]

Got an EVGA RTX 3050 from Newegg shuffle today.

Already have had a 2060 for a couple years. But might use this for step-up program.

 

[apathetic]

Got an EVGA RTX 3050 from Newegg shuffle today.

Already have had a 2060 for a couple years. But might use this for step-up program.

Click to shrink...

Sadly they recently changed their step up cards. The 3050 can step up to a 70ti max now.

 

[ChitonIV]

Sadly they recently changed their step up cards. The 3050 can step up to a 70ti max now.

Click to shrink...

I'm not interested in anything higher than a 3070, anyway.

IMO, 3070 ti shouldn't exist. The performance improvement is negligible. But the price increase is a lot. And power usage is a lot higher, as well.

 

[Aztechnology]

A disk causing no POST isn't a thing as far as I'm aware. Computers don't care whether your storage devices are functional or not. At worst you get a no bootable device error. I assume it's not impossible I guess but never heard of it.

Click to shrink...

With an Gen 4 NVME as it's using PCI-E lanes it definitely can. It posted… and I reluctantly call it a post as I can't replicate it again. And it was artifacted beyond belief. It was overlayed in green with artifact lines across the whole post and it froze/could not be interacted with.

 

[apathetic]

I'm not interested in anything higher than a 3070, anyway.

IMO, 3070 ti shouldn't exist. The performance improvement is negligible. But the price increase is a lot. And power usage is a lot higher, as well.

Click to shrink...

I agree with you that the 70ti was a waste of time. Until the 12gb 80 came around and made the difference in price between the 70ti and the next step up so large. The god damn madmen actually made the 70ti something worth considering.

 

[Archduke Kong]

Are the HP Omen desktops a good/bad deal? I'm interested in getting into PC gaming and I know prebuilt is the way to go right now, and somehow every time I look into them, I keep getting drawn to these ones.

i was thinking of the 3060ti model, because I'll likely be running it through my TV until I can get a good monitor and likely won't be getting super high framerates/4K going anytime soon. I realized a few Best Buys near me have the 30L with a 3080 in stock though and I wouldn't mind having it for the future, and I'm at a point right now where I could probably afford to get it, even if I don't take full advantage of what it can do immediately. I could put the extra funds towards a monitor, but I also don't know if I feel like waiting to upgrade yet again if the chip shortage is going to be a problem for a while. I've also seen that the 30L can have cooling issues though, but I've seen such mixed opinions on this that I don't know if it's an overblown issue or not or if it would be that big of a deal. Also I noticed a 40L model start showing up as well.

Anyone have opinions on this line of prebuilts?

 

[super-famicom]

Are the HP Omen desktops a good/bad deal? I'm interested in getting into PC gaming and I know prebuilt is the way to go right now, and somehow every time I look into them, I keep getting drawn to these ones.

i was thinking of the 3060ti model, because I'll likely be running it through my TV until I can get a good monitor and likely won't be getting super high framerates/4K going anytime soon. I realized a few Best Buys near me have the 30L with a 3080 in stock though and I wouldn't mind having it for the future, and I'm at a point right now where I could probably afford to get it, even if I don't take full advantage of what it can do immediately. I could put the extra funds towards a monitor, but I also don't know if I feel like waiting to upgrade yet again if the chip shortage is going to be a problem for a while. I've also seen that the 30L can have cooling issues though, but I've seen such mixed opinions on this that I don't know if it's an overblown issue or not or if it would be that big of a deal. Also I noticed a 40L model start showing up as well.

Anyone have opinions on this line of prebuilts?

Click to shrink...

SOLDIER recently bought the same model you're looking at, if you wanted to ask for impressions.

 

[Retromess]

I'm sure this has been answered up and down, but forgive me for not searching TOO much.

My PC is good, but the current bottleneck I'm facing is graphics card (I believe). Games run fine but I know they could run BETTER.

Currently I have an NVIDIA RTX 2060 (6MB VRAM, I believe) as my GPU.

Should I keep trying to see if I can get a 3060/3070/3080 at some point when they're not sell-your-kidney expensive, and also in stock at places?
FWIW, the rest of the stuff:

i9-9900 @ 3.60 GHz CPU
32 GB DDR4 RAM
Can't remember MoBo off the top of my head but it's pretty new. I mainly use a 1440p/170Hz monitor.

Thanks for any help and advice!

 

[Crazymoogle]

My motherboard has headers for CPU pwr 1 which is an 8-pin and a CPU pwr 2 which is 4-pin, I read that CPU pwr 2 may only be necessary if pushing the limits of overclocking.

Click to shrink...

It's often called the "LN2" because it's necessary to provide the power when doing a Liquid Nitrogen build. Buildzoid has a lengthy post on how it's not necessary for normal overclocking since it's very unlikely you would be pulling more than 300W to the CPU

That being said, those thoughts haven't been updated for the 12900K so I can't speak to that, but basically anybody talking about the secondary EPS usually includes the words "placebo".

 

[ChitonIV]

Anyone know a guide to overclocking for beginners? Would I need to plug in the 4-pin connector for a 5800x if I wanted to overclock?

Click to shrink...

Have you already built the computer and you aren't using the second 4-pin on the board?

Some motherboards which have those extra power connectors-----actually require them for quirk free functionality. You will see various comments here or there around the net, that those secondary power delivery connections aren't necessary (unless your system is drawing a lot of power). But yeah, some boards are weird without the second connector---connected.

So, I would connect it. even if your system doesn't necessarily need the extra power.

 

[Yinyangfooey]

Does anyone have any recs for a prebuilt? I'm trying to stay in between $1000 - $1500

It's going to my first gaming PC!

 

[Polyh3dron]

Does anyone have any recs for a prebuilt? I'm trying to stay in between $1000 - $1500

It's going to my first gaming PC!

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NZXT| Player: One Prime Gaming PC | GeForce RTX™ 4060 Ti

Player: One Prime Gaming PC - Intel® Core™ i5-13400F/i7-13700KF - NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4060 Ti - 16GB DDR5 RAM - 1TB NVMe SSD - Upgradable - NZXT H6 Flow.

nzxt.com

 

[TheDestructiveSquirrel]

Have you already built the computer and you aren't using the second 4-pin on the board?

Some motherboards which have those extra power connectors-----actually require them for quirk free functionality. You will see various comments here or there around the net, that those secondary power delivery connections aren't necessary (unless your system is drawing a lot of power). But yeah, some boards are weird without the second connector---connected.

So, I would connect it. even if your system doesn't necessarily need the extra power.

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Yea, everything is working as expected after a week of gaming on it. I'll keep that in mind.

 

[hussien-11]

I'm sure this has been answered up and down, but forgive me for not searching TOO much.

My PC is good, but the current bottleneck I'm facing is graphics card (I believe). Games run fine but I know they could run BETTER.

Currently I have an NVIDIA RTX 2060 (6MB VRAM, I believe) as my GPU.

Should I keep trying to see if I can get a 3060/3070/3080 at some point when they're not sell-your-kidney expensive, and also in stock at places?
FWIW, the rest of the stuff:

i9-9900 @ 3.60 GHz CPU
32 GB DDR4 RAM
Can't remember MoBo off the top of my head but it's pretty new. I mainly use a 1440p/170Hz monitor.

Thanks for any help and advice!

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RTX 3060 is not a very big improvement over RTX 2060 honestly (~20% faster), at least something like the RTX 3060 Ti will provide a big jump in performance, and will be better suited for 1440p gaming. 3060 Ti is ~ 50% faster than the 2060. of course, the RTX 3070 is even better.

If the CPU is not overclocked you may face slight CPU bottlenecks here and there with a card like the RTX 3080, but its still worth it if you managed to get one, and you will still be able to max out the card's performance most of the time at ultra settings. its especially worth it if you care about RT.

Does anyone have any recs for a prebuilt? I'm trying to stay in between $1000 - $1500

It's going to my first gaming PC!

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This PC seems really good to me. its 1700$ but you get fantastic GPU which is the RTX 3060 Ti: beast for 1080p, great for 1440p, and even capable of 4k at med/high settings with the aid of DLSS (but not ideal for that resolution). otherwise, you will probably have to look for a RTX 3060 build, which is perfect for 1080p, and capable of 1440p with optimized settings + DLSS. but in any case make sure you check user reviews for any potential issues with any pre-built.

 

[5pectre]

I need help finding more ram for my PC and I'm at a loss.

My PC has 1 stick of: SK Hynix 8GB 2Rx8 PC3L - 12800U - 11 - 12 - B1 ram block (240pin). I can't seem to find a matching block in any shop so I want to buy 2x8GB blocks of a different brand but the PC3L is throwing me off?

As I understand it PC3L is 1.35v and PC3 is 1.5v. I see PC3 ram blocks online rated at 1.35v. Will they work?

 

[Retromess]

RTX 3060 is not a very big improvement over RTX 2060 honestly (~20% faster), at least something like the RTX 3060 Ti will provide a big jump in performance, and will be better suited for 1440p gaming. 3060 Ti is ~ 50% faster than the 2060. of course, the RTX 3070 is even better.

If the CPU is not overclocked you may face slight CPU bottlenecks here and there with a card like the RTX 3080, but its still worth it if you managed to get one, and you will still be able to max out the card's performance most of the time at ultra settings. its especially worth it if you care about RT.

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Thank you so much for this, that helps a ton!

I'll keep my eye out for any good deals regarding a 3060 Ti or RTX 3070. I'd been meaning to looking into overclocking my CPU anyway so maybe I'll mess around with that in the meantime.

 

[Dozer]

Behold, the most absurd markup I've ever seen, in today's Newegg shuffle. $980 more than MSRP.

And you have to enter a lottery to *maybe* buy one.