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The PC Builders Thread ("I Need a New PC") v2
- Thread starter Soda
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They have good deals on processors, sometimes motherboards. SSDs are attractively priced there as well. But honestly a lot of stuff is very expensive. Their AIO coolers, power supplies, and RAM are all VERY expensive. There is no savings to be had at all on their cases either. There's a huge markup for profit margin on all of that stuff. High-end GPUs never have any special pricing, and they don't get discounted often either.
Basically they get you in the door with the core component pricing. Then the accessories are all quite spendy.
came to post this case.
Cooler Master MasterBox Q500L... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q8VJ17J?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
So recently I migrated my old full tower pc (i7 920, asus p6t se ATX mobo, reg atx sized corsair non modular psu ) build into this matx sized case. I did upgraded a few parts in hoping to get a few more years as a HTPC. (Things I did upgraded, ebayed a xeon x5650 and rx 580, amazoned that cooler master q500l case, 2fan aio water cpu cooler as my old air cooled cpu fan is too large )
Surprisingly the case can fit reg atx mobo, atx psu, 2fan aio water cooler without much problem. high recommend it. (I tucked the extra cables to the back of the case)
I only manage to oc the x5650 to 3.7ghz with HT enable. Seems like anything higher with 3.8ghz with HT disable on the used x5650 I got from ebay is unstable. I pumped in 1.475v vcore and it still wasnt stable. Not willing to go higher vcore for the 4ghz+ oc so I'm sticking to 3.7ghz with HT enable.
Sadly the stream capabilities isnt as great when compare to my current i7 6700k gtx 980 build. Non the less, it will serve a good HTPC and worth the upgrade and migratation to a smaller case footprint.
Here's a video of the orig rgb fan that came with the aio cooler
The fan was too noisy for my liking so I had to swap them out with my old cougar hydrobearing 120mm fans. Which is the orange fan in the first pic above.
for comparison of the case to my old full tower case
Cooler Master MasterBox Q500L... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q8VJ17J?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
So recently I migrated my old full tower pc (i7 920, asus p6t se ATX mobo, reg atx sized corsair non modular psu ) build into this matx sized case. I did upgraded a few parts in hoping to get a few more years as a HTPC. (Things I did upgraded, ebayed a xeon x5650 and rx 580, amazoned that cooler master q500l case, 2fan aio water cpu cooler as my old air cooled cpu fan is too large )
Surprisingly the case can fit reg atx mobo, atx psu, 2fan aio water cooler without much problem. high recommend it. (I tucked the extra cables to the back of the case)
I only manage to oc the x5650 to 3.7ghz with HT enable. Seems like anything higher with 3.8ghz with HT disable on the used x5650 I got from ebay is unstable. I pumped in 1.475v vcore and it still wasnt stable. Not willing to go higher vcore for the 4ghz+ oc so I'm sticking to 3.7ghz with HT enable.
Sadly the stream capabilities isnt as great when compare to my current i7 6700k gtx 980 build. Non the less, it will serve a good HTPC and worth the upgrade and migratation to a smaller case footprint.
Here's a video of the orig rgb fan that came with the aio cooler
The fan was too noisy for my liking so I had to swap them out with my old cougar hydrobearing 120mm fans. Which is the orange fan in the first pic above.
for comparison of the case to my old full tower case
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Heyyo! I'm looking to purchase a tower/monitor this evening and could use some help. This computer will mostly be used to run some GPU/CPU intense imaging. I know I want a good monitor that's at least 27'' 1440p with a high refresh rate and then the best tower - I'm looking to spend around $2,500-3,000. Any suggestions?
How does this look?
PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor ($499.99 @ Best Buy)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM 75 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($124.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard ($198.32 @ B&H)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($139.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($169.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB STRIX GAMING Advanced Video Card ($784.99 @ Best Buy)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Walmart)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.89 @ Amazon)
Monitor: LG 27GL850-B 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor ($496.99 @ B&H)
Total: $2795.13
Hey all. I'm still running a i5 4670k (2013's finest) and have a GTX 1060 6 GB. Was originally thinking that my next upgrade would be pretty substantial and include a new CPU, but from what I've heard—and considering that new consoles are coming next year and I'll probably get one—I think I will probably stick with the i5 4670k and in a year or two get another new graphics card.
So my question to you PC-heads out there is this: I'm still running 8 GB of RAM. Been considering going for the 16 GB upgrade for a while now, but I've never really seen a convincing case that it would add much for performance. But now there are games (like Fallen Order) where 16 GB is the recommended spec...and it's not too pricey. But it'd be DDR3 RAM, not DDR4, so I wouldn't be able to bring it over to any new build. What do you all think?
I'm running at 1440p by the way.
So my question to you PC-heads out there is this: I'm still running 8 GB of RAM. Been considering going for the 16 GB upgrade for a while now, but I've never really seen a convincing case that it would add much for performance. But now there are games (like Fallen Order) where 16 GB is the recommended spec...and it's not too pricey. But it'd be DDR3 RAM, not DDR4, so I wouldn't be able to bring it over to any new build. What do you all think?
I'm running at 1440p by the way.
Another SSD deal: 1TB 970 EVO $120, free (standard) shipping if you've got prime. Has been at $170 for the last few months.
Actually, something like a Ryzen 3700X will comfortably last you through next gen, or till the later half of next gen just fine. There won't be any notable new CPU and GPU release till 2H 2020, RAM and SSD are cheaper than ever, it is truly a great time to upgrade or build a new one. The 4 gen i5 is generally not really up to task in newer games, increasingly so this year and beyond because more games are utilizing more than 4 threads.
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I would not recommend that case at all.
There are plenty of other good alternatives at that price.
Hey thanks for the advice. Nice to get some straight talk about this stuff. I'm considering the 16 GB RAM upgrade as well because I can get it for around $50 and it would help me with productivity software too (500 page Word documents).
I wish I could do a full upgrade right now but I can't afford it. At this point I'm thinking I'll do the RAM upgrade, then get one of the new consoles (likely Scarlett) probably in 2021 at some point when the games are there and there's a deal, and then build a completely new PC mid-gen.
Part of this is because I've also realized I prefer playing many types of games (adventure, third person, etc.) on consoles, even if the PC graphics are better—I just like sitting on my couch and playing a game, as opposed to using a controller in a desk chair. (Unfortunately my PC is in another room so I can't run an HDMI out—and I'm not sure about using a streaming box via wifi.) On PC now I pretty much am only playing strategy games, old school FPS's that I can't stomach playing with a controller, and the like. So I can maybe wait a bit and do a full upgrade later.
(I know most in this thread probably feel differently, but we're all different!)
Yeah that was an incredible offer, and by far a historical low. That Samsung is usually $179.
That sold out quickly. I might have bought one had I not missed it.
I would never buy a recent Cooler Master case. Besides a couple of the obscure deluxe full towers that are sweet, they are all completely plastic on the outside and they look junky as hell.
No idea what that company is thinking.
Cant watch the video at work but is the video testing basing off from the air cooler?
I'm using aio water cooler and have quite good temps on my oc cpu. around 20s idle and 60s when I did prime95.
The main reason I chose this case was that I'm trying to migrate an old full size atx mobo to smaller case. There's not alot of matx case that can fit a reg size atx mobo. And to that effect, sff generally arent suited for well airflow anyway. So the main selling point is the case size for me.
I'll watch it when I get off work and see what he says.
Though if I were to build a fresh pc, I would only choose this case if I were to get a full atx mobo like what I currently have to migrate. Since nowdays most builds are matx or itx. The extra pcie slot isnt really needed much to go for a full size atx mobo build.
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well that case q500l that I have is all powder coated metal except the magnetic mesh cover and the dark translucent side panel. the quality is quite good compare to the past pc case I have used. Not sure how's cooler master's previous case are, as I general buy case from either budget, specific function or size factor.
FYI. New Intel architectual bugs revealed today. Plus "Benchmarks Of JCC Erratum: A New Intel CPU Bug With Performance Implications On Skylake Through Cascade Lake". Kernel changelog.
So the last part i need to finish my build will be here today and i was wondering if my external drive (which is partitioned to E) will work on this new pc if i just plug it in because that's the drive that houses my Steam library, Oculus library etc. and i really don't want to have to re-download everything.
Also, i have never installed a M.2 by my MB has 2 slots with a Single Thermal Guard i assume i just remove that, plop both in, screw them in and replace the guard and i am good to go? Was debating about snagging a 1TB m.2 to throw my main games i play on them.
Also, i have never installed a M.2 by my MB has 2 slots with a Single Thermal Guard i assume i just remove that, plop both in, screw them in and replace the guard and i am good to go? Was debating about snagging a 1TB m.2 to throw my main games i play on them.
Man that 120$ 1tb m.2 sure sold out quick. still rember when I bought my 500gb m.2 970 evo for i7 6700k build and it was expensive.
I just got my beautiful new beast of a tower and wanted to try Outer Worlds on it - but no Game Pass title is working right now. The App is minimizing but no game is launching. To check if that had to do with my installation being corrupt, I also installed Dead Cells, but that also doesn't launch.
I don't have my windows key yet (ebay being late) so no idea if it could have something to do with that.
I don't have my windows key yet (ebay being late) so no idea if it could have something to do with that.
The cheapest seller, like $2 tier, has the thing on automation. You are supposed to get your key instantly
I know - technically it's not ebay being late: I bought from someone a little more expensive because I wanted to be sure to get a good one... He send me an invalid code and now I'm waiting for a response.
Edit: Getting another cheap one - I wanna get this over with.
I've had my current PC for about 5 years now and still holds up really well at 1440p. I have a 4790k and a 980ti, but recently I have had some issues with my CPU where it blue screens my PC when I'm playing or using demanding software (tried loads of other things first, none worked). So I've under clocked it by turning the turbo off and it's fine now, but this is less than ideal. So I'm looking at building a new PC in March/April in time for Cyberpunk 2077 and Dying Light 2 amongst others.
I'm looking to spend around £800-1200, but I will not update my GPU straight away as I'd rather save more, focus on CPU and get a top end one later down the line. So my aim is to get a top draw system that I will be able to build on for the next 5 years so I've prioritised the CPU. Now I'm not 100% sure what CPU to go with, it will either be the i7 9700k, i9 9900k or the i9 9900ks. I was pretty set on a 9900k but looking at benchmarks this seems overkill for a gaming build.
So I've come up with the following:
CPU: i7 9700k
Cooler: NZXT Kraken x62
Mobo: Asus PRIME Z390-A
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
OS: Windows 10 Pro
Case: NZXT H700i ATX Mid Tower Case (black/blue)
The above costs around £1000, which would leave me a bit of money to upgrade some accessories.
I'm going for blue themed build and I love the NZXT case so set on that. I will be using some parts from my old PC to save money:
Storage: x2 1TB SSD, x1 500GB SSD
GPU: MSI GTX 980ti
PSU: Corsair AX860i
Monitor: ASUS ROG 1440p, 144hz g-sync (can't remember the name off the top of my head)
So I've a few questions, doing this I could afford the 9900k or 9900ks, would the extra £120-200 be worth it, with long term in mind too? Or is this just a waste? Is getting 32GB of RAM worth it these days with newer games or still overkill? I'm guessing overkill but I have the option to upgrade if I want.
I know some of these parts may change over the next 5 months, but this is my rough plan going forward. I'll buy a GPU later down the line and let my 980ti see me through a little longer. Before buying the next in the RTX XX80 line more than likely. Is there any hint as to when Nvidia's next round of cards will come out?
Thanks, grateful for any pointers or suggestions.
I'm looking to spend around £800-1200, but I will not update my GPU straight away as I'd rather save more, focus on CPU and get a top end one later down the line. So my aim is to get a top draw system that I will be able to build on for the next 5 years so I've prioritised the CPU. Now I'm not 100% sure what CPU to go with, it will either be the i7 9700k, i9 9900k or the i9 9900ks. I was pretty set on a 9900k but looking at benchmarks this seems overkill for a gaming build.
So I've come up with the following:
CPU: i7 9700k
Cooler: NZXT Kraken x62
Mobo: Asus PRIME Z390-A
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
OS: Windows 10 Pro
Case: NZXT H700i ATX Mid Tower Case (black/blue)
The above costs around £1000, which would leave me a bit of money to upgrade some accessories.
I'm going for blue themed build and I love the NZXT case so set on that. I will be using some parts from my old PC to save money:
Storage: x2 1TB SSD, x1 500GB SSD
GPU: MSI GTX 980ti
PSU: Corsair AX860i
Monitor: ASUS ROG 1440p, 144hz g-sync (can't remember the name off the top of my head)
So I've a few questions, doing this I could afford the 9900k or 9900ks, would the extra £120-200 be worth it, with long term in mind too? Or is this just a waste? Is getting 32GB of RAM worth it these days with newer games or still overkill? I'm guessing overkill but I have the option to upgrade if I want.
I know some of these parts may change over the next 5 months, but this is my rough plan going forward. I'll buy a GPU later down the line and let my 980ti see me through a little longer. Before buying the next in the RTX XX80 line more than likely. Is there any hint as to when Nvidia's next round of cards will come out?
Thanks, grateful for any pointers or suggestions.
Absolutely! I'm just gonna install the last few Windows updates and then try again.
Bought another key that worked.
Edit: Nope - still cannot launch any game through the Game Pass App.
That's a very smart approach imo.
Get the 9900K if you can afford it. If not, the 9700K is perfectly fine. We're not expecting any huge advances from Intel CPUs next year; just another 14nm+++ i9-10900K. Your GPU is still serviceable so best to do a core rebuild for now. I agree with your approach completely. I'm sure it's the CPU giving you BSOD errors too. I'd get a better motherboard than that if you end up deciding to go with the 9900K is all. You don't need more than 16gb RAM for gaming. That's smart to wait until the next RTX lineup drops sometime next year.
What can I say, that Xbox App (and the entire MS Store), are trash. Any single thing isn't right and it bogs down, without revealing any information. Try uninstalling everything, including the app. Reinstall it, make sure that you have the latest drivers. Maybe something will work out...
If it doesn't, Windows reinstall could work. I wish I was joking, but that is where we are at with MS products.
Awesome, thanks. I may go with a ROG motherboard again then with my extra bit of budget, I was tempted when trying to decide parts so I'll just swap that in. This one to be precise:
Asus ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
I've have the MAXIMUS VII HERO in my current build and the MAXIMUS VI IMPACT in a partial old m-itx build I still have stashed away. Found them to be great.
ah fuck, what??? i don't even have a spare pci slot for it but i'd've jumped on that
Shiiit. I need to watch this thread more. Do you use any particular site to stay on top of great sales like this?
I'll be happy as long as next gen consoles are on similar 'medium' settings with late next gen games.
So I watched the video and i do agree with the video. like said earlier, if fresh build I wouldnt really consider the case but because im migrating from a huge full atx tower that had a atx mobo and was looking for a small case, this fit my bill. The case was really the smallest I've seen so far that can fit a regular atx mobo that I have. One of the reason I went with aio watercooling was to not cramp up the space in there for better airflow too. I got the aio watercooler for 70$ so, consider if I get a good big air cooler for oc'ing an old xeon cpu, I'd think the price was fair. In the end I really wanted a small size case lol.
I remember back when I got a cheap zalman all copper heatsink aircooler for the i7 920 I had in there. Boy the temps was like almost 50 at idle and 80+ when I was encoding video. I end up buying a silverarrow aircooler (something similar to those huge noctua) to knock it down to 20s idle and like 50s load. I'm kinda surprise ppl consider 60s or 70s is high temp nowdays.
If this is consider high temp, dunno what to say. 🤷♂️
Hi, I'm planning to upgrade to Nvidia's Ampere, probably the xx60 series, next year from 750Ti. But, I'm a little bit concerned with my aging i7 4770. Would the processor last me at least another gen? Or do I need to upgrade it? I'll be happy if I could get 1080p/60fps with medium-high settings for next gen games with the processor. Besides the processor and the GPU, I also have 8 GB of DDR3 (I'm planning to add another 8 GB this December) and Samsung EVO 860 500GB.
Thanks!
Thanks!
I wonder how far future chipsets/mobos and m.2 are going to go... Enough lanes for 4 m.2 slots on a single mobo? I mean, I love these things. They don't eat your sata slots, have decent capacity at 2TB so far (within reasonable pricing) and they are blisteringly fast. Would be crazy to be able to build my next system in 3/4 years with 4 6TB m.2 ssds and no sata drives at all.
A Windows reinstall "could" work?
Oh man!
It's only a day of setting stuff up that's gonna be lost, but that's still unacceptable to happen and then maybe not even work.
I'm gonna take another round through windows support first though.
And I'm gonna have to clean my partitions completely I guess..
so I decided (probably) that i'm gonna build a pc rather than buy a prebuilt. how much does the cpu cooler matter? was planning on an i7-9700k and using this cooler:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Thermalt...-Gaming-CPU-Cooler-CL-P039-AL12BL-A/440656495
and if it matters, this motherboard:
TUF Z390-PRO GAMING Desktop Motherboard
Also, if my main hard drive has a windows 10 upgrade install from an old pre built, will it work if I plug it into the new system?
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Thermalt...-Gaming-CPU-Cooler-CL-P039-AL12BL-A/440656495
and if it matters, this motherboard:
TUF Z390-PRO GAMING Desktop Motherboard
Also, if my main hard drive has a windows 10 upgrade install from an old pre built, will it work if I plug it into the new system?
Eh, 9th gen i7s are very hot, I'd go with something better, like a Noctua NH-D15S.
Your old Windows 10 license is likely an OEM one which is not tranferrable, but still worth trying, use the method here:
i'll keep that in mind once I get everything.
As for the cooler, what really should I be looking for? Primarily trying to buy everything at once, and spend as little as possible. Also, not planning on overclocking, but will probably push games as hard as I can graphically.
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With a 9700k you should go with a good tower air cooler (Be quiet! Dark Rock pro 4 - Dark Rock 4 or Noctua NH-D15S) or a 280mm AIO liquid cooler.
The choice between AIO and air cooler depends on your priorities.
AIO are compact and generally esthetically pleasing (RGB) but pricier.
Good air cooler like the ones I recommended are a lot quieter (no pump noise, better fans), cost less (Dark Rock 4 is 74,00 $ on Amazon), and have a cooling potential on par with at least 280mm AIO liquid coolers (360mm AIO may have marginally better results), but are big inside the case and could have RAM clearance issues.
You said that you are on a budget, so air cooler should be the best for you.
A good budget option is the Thermalright Macho Direct at under $50. I've used it with both my 6600K @ 4.6 GHz and my current 3700X and it works well for both and doesn't make much noise.
Getting harder and harder to recommend Intel CPUs to anyone doing a new build. I know AMD has issues too but to me it looks like Intel is so much worse at dealing with them, who knows what else will pop up and need performance-reducing patches.
Phoronix has since done some gaming benchmarks on the new microcode, and these show you'll lose a frame here and there, get slightly worse frame times in some games. One native game ("Enemy Territory: Legacy") had a regression of 8%, but benchmarking is weird so I wouldn't read too much into that one outlier at this point in time.
Are there any hackintosh info consolidated in a post somewhere? Or am I better of searching for hackintosh information elsewhere? My 6 year old MacBook needs to be "replaced", and I'm thinking that I should build a PC that I can use as a hackintosh and game on as well!
Need some advice on a keyboard. I decided i'm going to replace my razer blackwidow chroma. I'm looking for a 60% KB and i had my eye on the ducky one 2 mini but I haven't been keeping up with the market these days and I don't know if i'm just paying for brand name or if it's actually that much better than other comparable keyboards. Can anyone give me some feedback on this? Is there something cheaper that is just as good? Thanks.
Hey all, I just installed the latest Windows 10 update (KB4524570) on my Asus Zenbook and now I'm having really irritating hdmi output problems where previously I had none. I use my HDMI daily because I use a small TV as a second monitor, and I also have to use the HDMI output for my work in Grad school constantly for conferences and presentations, so this is actually more than a minor inconvenience for me. Has anyone else had HDMI bullshitty stuff in the past few days due to the most recent update? I reinstalled display drivers but it didn't seem to help at all. Any advice would be really appreciated.
That's weird. After updating Windows 10 to the 1909 build, I can't turn my RGB on. Set to on in the BIOS. Gives a auraservice unavailable warning. Uninstalled and reinstalled Aura Sync.
I noticed my top case fans were off too, not just the RGB. Turned the power off, turned it on, and things worked fine during POST, but when booting to Windows the fans and RGB shut off. I uninstalled all the Aura software and it seem fine now. Not like I need the software, since it's such a piece of shit, so I guess that's that.
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