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

Super Havoc · Mar 20, 2020

Quick question for you PC Master race folks.

I was looking to get a fairly affordable gaming PC for emulation up to modern times with an Nvidia 1060 card since I've heard nothing but good things about it.

Can you guys link me to a site with pre-built PC's for sale meeting the specs I'd need for this please?

Or, help me build one capable of modern emulation with the pieces I'd need and the best places to find them.

Crazymoogle · Mar 20, 2020

justiceiro said:
Anyway, I took this mid tier suggestion from op, and started tweaking.
CPU: Amd Ryzen 5 3600 3.6ghz Cache 32mb
Motherboard: Amd Am4 B450M-HDV Hdmi/Dvi/Vga Asrock
Ram: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT, 8GB, 2666MHz, DDR4
Storage: SSD Kingston A400, 480GB, SATA
PSU: EVGA 500W 80 Plus White
Case: C3Tech Gamer ATX

Case
Honestly, for cheap gaming I am not worried about the case. You want airflow if you can (mesh or vents) but in general any cheap case is at least usable. It just may run hot or noisy without fans and airflow. Pick whatever fits your price range and ideally it has enough vents or a free fan with it.

CPU/GPU
The Ryzen 3600 is a great option, but as mentioned AMD processors do not have GPUs by default, even if the motherboard has video ports! This means even if you plug into a monitor you will not see anything on the screen. So your solution is either to get a cheap GPU, or go intel which will at least let the computer turn on, although gaming will be laptop level at best. The i3 8100 is usually recommended as a 4 core solution. If you want to stick with AMD, the two CPUs that have graphics are the Ryzen 3200G or 3400G. Both of those are AM4 processors compatible with the motherboard and RAM you've chosen.

RAM and Storage
Aim for 3200 RAM if possible, and then 16GB. If neither, well, 8GB sounds like the best you can do for now. If you have a spare regular HDD you could consider dropping your SSD down to a 250GB model and just managing between the two, if that saves you any budget. Crucial is a good brand, sure.

If you can only afford 8GB, that's totally fine for 1080p gaming on less strenuous titles, overwatch, etc. Ideally you want more, but the B450M-HDV only has two RAM slots. So if you only buy one RAM DIMM, you'll take a performance hit because you're only using half the bandwidth. But if you buy 2x4, you have to replace one or both of them later if you upgrade. So choose carefully.

PSU
Similarly I don't know what the PSU is in your old computer but maybe it carries over? Seasonic is a trusted brand and usually has 10 year warranties. But your budget seems extremely tight so maybe those other are options too?

stat84 · Mar 20, 2020

I have a 2TB extenal Western Digital HDD with a seperate power supply.Its one of those big hard drives(shape like small box).

So i was wondering if can open it and place it inside my PC case and use it as an internal disc.It it possible or does the seperate power supply makes it impossible?

SmartWaffles · Mar 20, 2020

stat84 said:
I have a 2TB extenal Western Digital HDD with a seperate power supply.Its one of those big hard drives(shape like small box).

So i was wondering if can open it and place it inside my PC case and use it as an internal disc.It it possible or does the seperate power supply makes it impossible?

Just open it up and install it in your PC. The hard drive inside is just a normal 3.5 inch HDD.

stat84 · Mar 20, 2020

SmartWaffles said:
Just open it up and install it in your PC. The hard drive inside is just a normal 3.5 inch HDD.

I just did that thanks.so i just have to connect it now and i should work normally right?

RPG · Mar 20, 2020

Hi all. I'm in the market for upgrading my current monitor. It's nothing special (ASUS VS248H) but it's done its job for the past 5.5 years. Anyway, looking for something that still splits the difference between work and gaming. Would really prefer an increase in screen real estate for work purposes and the Windows 10 split view feels cramped on my current screen. Doesn't need to be top of the line, just an improvement over what I have now.

My problem is it's been years since I built my current PC and been away too long to know what's good and not, and after browsing all the monitors kinda start looking the same and then I'm just looking at price... So, I figured I'd see if anyone has input on what's worked for them. I have an i7-4790 w/ a GTX 1060. Ideally would like to stay below $500.

Crazymoogle · Mar 20, 2020

stat84 said:
I just did that thanks.so i just have to connect it now and i should work normally right?

Usually these external drives are just internal drives with a thin custom connector attached to the SATA power and data plugs. Unplug those, plug into the SATA data and SATA power in your case, and you should be good to go.

Sometimes there are weird exceptions but most of the time it isn't worth the engineering cost to make them anything else. Most of the trouble is simply in breaking the drive out without permanently damaging the external casing, because if you do it right, you can actually reuse the casing for another hard drive later.

Dick Whitman · Mar 20, 2020

GeezyAF said:
Yes, that combo would be fine too. The PSU in the H1 is made by Seasonic IIRC, so it's pretty robust.
Tech YES did a video about running a 450w PSU with a 3950x/2080ti. Video

For 4K gaming, it won't matter since all the load will be on the 2080ti. Building at this time, I'd be inclined to go with the 3950x, because LGA 1151 is on it's way out, but the 9900k is the king of gaming.

thanks. this is really helpful. after watching countless videos of builds that involve NZXT's H1 case, I think I might just try and build something myself rather than paying someone to do it for me or opting for a prebuilt machine. since the H1 comes with a preinstalled PSU, AIO, and riser card, it seems like it would make things that much easier.

justiceiro · Mar 20, 2020

JurassicUtility said:
Personally, I would go with 16 GB of at least 3200MHz ram. Its better to buy matched sets of RAM, because if you buy them separately they will not have been tested and confirmed to work together. DDR4 ram is also cheaper than its been in years, so if this is a system you are using for a long time, you might as well buy the amount you need now. This comes from a Amerocentric perspective though, so I might be ignorant of the price realities where you live.

Not familiar with the other PSU brands you mentioned, but Seasonics are generally really solid (have one in my current build even). Case is a little harder to address... can't tell much about the that case from just the picture. My personal experience is that it's worthwhile to make sure you get a case that has a decent amount of space behind the back panel and well placed holes on the motherboard mounting plate for routing cables. The case from my old build lacked space, and was a nightmare to work in because I also foolishly bought a non-modular power supply.

really, even if the two ram card have the same frequency, there is a chance they won't work together? Bizarre. Thanks ani

Black_Stride said:
The 3600 doesnt have integrated graphics.
You wont be able to see anything without a graphics card.
Might as well get a cheap one just to tide you over.

wow, I thought the integrated graphics came from motherboard, not processor. It has always been like that?

Vulcano's Assistant said:
You wont have integrated graphics on a R5 3600. For the motherboard, seems like you are on a tight budget, so at the very least make sure that the Mobo is compatible with Ryzen 3000 out of the box, the easiest way is reading the reviews and consumer questions. Going from what is said in Amazon, it seem to be the case. If you are getting everything online, then it is better to buy a slightly worse b450 that you know will work than buy one with better specs blindly. At a local store you may be able ask the staff to update the board for you.

As for the other questions:
Seasonic and Crucial are two of the most reputable brands in the industry. Haven't heard of the rest except Cougar that is known to make decent cases, but they are certainly not known for their PSUs.

Cases are important because they affect temperature a lot, specially for GPUs in Micro-ATX, like your are planning. If you have no particular look in mind for the case, see if you can find something that has a mesh front panel, or other form of ventilation that is not minimal like the few holes in the case above. Another thing that can help is an ATX case even if you have a M-ATX mobo, because that gives you more space under your GPU.

I don't really have preference about the motherboard , I just pick this one bi it was the cheapest I could find.

Crazymoogle said:
Case
Honestly, for cheap gaming I am not worried about the case. You want airflow if you can (mesh or vents) but in general any cheap case is at least usable. It just may run hot or noisy without fans and airflow. Pick whatever fits your price range and ideally it has enough vents or a free fan with it.

CPU/GPU
The Ryzen 3600 is a great option, but as mentioned AMD processors do not have GPUs by default, even if the motherboard has video ports! This means even if you plug into a monitor you will not see anything on the screen. So your solution is either to get a cheap GPU, or go intel which will at least let the computer turn on, although gaming will be laptop level at best. The i3 8100 is usually recommended as a 4 core solution. If you want to stick with AMD, the two CPUs that have graphics are the Ryzen 3200G or 3400G. Both of those are AM4 processors compatible with the motherboard and RAM you've chosen.

RAM and Storage
Aim for 3200 RAM if possible, and then 16GB. If neither, well, 8GB sounds like the best you can do for now. If you have a spare regular HDD you could consider dropping your SSD down to a 250GB model and just managing between the two, if that saves you any budget. Crucial is a good brand, sure.

If you can only afford 8GB, that's totally fine for 1080p gaming on less strenuous titles, overwatch, etc. Ideally you want more, but the B450M-HDV only has two RAM slots. So if you only buy one RAM DIMM, you'll take a performance hit because you're only using half the bandwidth. But if you buy 2x4, you have to replace one or both of them later if you upgrade. So choose carefully.

PSU
Similarly I don't know what the PSU is in your old computer but maybe it carries over? Seasonic is a trusted brand and usually has 10 year warranties. But your budget seems extremely tight so maybe those other are options too?

My old computer is a laptop actually. And the part that broke from it was exactly the hd, twice, so I can't really savage that.

If I pick up the i3, will I be limited by it when I eventually get a better vga in the future? And about the 3200 and 3400?

Btw, I was presented to another option that had a 400w PSU, a i5 2400, 8gb, and a RX 570 4gb. How would such config fare compared to the one I proposed?

Also, I still looking for recommendations of a monitor. Thanks for all the help so far guys.

Shiki · Mar 20, 2020

Hey guys,

I dunno if i'm at the right place but I'm at my wits end and I need some guidance.

A week ago, I added a new monitor to my setup (now two). One plugged through DVI and the other HDMI.
Got some issues with sound coming out of my new monitor instead of my speakers but I managed to resolve that issue.

Fast forward today: I just installed a new GTX 1660 and updated drivers. Now sound does not work.
(strangely, sound works when i plug in headphones)

I tried:

disabling/re-installing sound drivers
rolling back drivers
doing a clean install of the GTX1660 drivers

This final step now makes either just the bass/subwoofer work or headphones and nothing else. If I switch sound to the new monitor, I get tin can quality sound and no bass. I want sound to come from speakers and the subwoofer as it always did : (

I read about the supposed "nvidia sound bug'' while I was googling for a solution but none of the solutions there helped.

I hope this makes some sense, I'm not super knowledgeable about this stuff. If any system info is needed, I will provide it.

Thanks in advance :)

Black_Stride · Mar 20, 2020

justiceiro said:
wow, I thought the integrated graphics came from motherboard, not processor. It has always been like that?

If I pick up the i3, will I be limited by it when I eventually get a better vga in the future? And about the 3200 and 3400?

Btw, I was presented to another option that had a 400w PSU, a i5 2400, 8gb, and a RX 570 4gb. How would such config fare compared to the one I proposed?

Yup integrated graphics have been on the processor since forever.
I legit cant even remember the last time i saw a motherboard with its own IGP.

Also the i3 that was recommended will wipe the floor with an i5 2400, but atleast that machine comes with a decent graphics card.
If its a good deal go for it but you will need to upgrade your CPU sooner rather than later.
400W is pretty low if you are going to upgrade the GPU/CPU soonish
an i5 2400 is really really old now and wasnt exactly a powerhouse at launch.
the RX 570 4GB is a decent card and should keep up with the GTX1650 still a good deal.

For my money.
As was pointed out stretch the budget abit and aim for a R5 3600 or even drop to a R5 3400G.....you wont need to upgrade any time soon.

The 3200G and 3400G are actually really good APUs and if your budget is really tight but you need graphics and processing right now....they are both really good options even the small 3200G.
The 3400G is perfect and when you do upgrade to another GPU the internal one will switch off and 8 threads shouldnt bottleneck you too much playing at 1080p60

PhantomFFR · Mar 20, 2020

justiceiro said:
really, even if the two ram card have the same frequency, there is a chance they won't work together? Bizarre. Thanks ani

There is a small chance of it not working. A very small chance.

wow, I thought the integrated graphics came from motherboard, not processor. It has always been like that?

No, up until ~15 years ago the graphics were integrated in the motherboard. But since the Core series from Intel, Intel integrated the graphics processor with the CPU. For AMD it's a bit later and a bit muddier as they had both APUs (CPU with integrated GPU) as well as mainboards with an integrated GPU up until the AM3 socket, which stopped being relevant 5+ years ago.

My old computer is a laptop actually. And the part that broke from it was exactly the hd, twice, so I can't really savage that.

If I pick up the i3, will I be limited by it when I eventually get a better vga in the future? And about the 3200 and 3400?

Btw, I was presented to another option that had a 400w PSU, a i5 2400, 8gb, and a RX 570 4gb. How would such config fare compared to the one I proposed?

What other specs does your laptop have? If it was sufficient for your uses you could just buy a new SSD and install it instead ofthe broken HDD.

the i3-8xxx/i3-9xxx is roughly in the same performance range as the Ryzen 3200G/3400G. And all of them are in terms of CPU quite a bit off of the Ryzen 3600. The i5-2400 would be worse than either of them. I want to say about 30% slower, but that is just me guessing. Depending on the price of that used system it might be okay, but it should certainly be much cheaper than your original plan to be worthwhile at all.

Shiki said:
Got some issues with sound coming out of my new monitor instead of my speakers but I managed to resolve that issue.

Fast forward today: I just installed a new GTX 1660 and updated drivers. Now sound does not work.

disabling/re-installing sound drivers
rolling back drivers
doing a clean install of the GTX1660 drivers

I hope this makes some sense, I'm not super knowledgeable about this stuff. If any system info is needed, I will provide it.

Just asking because of your disclaimer, but you have checked under your "playback devices", which speaker-output is active, right?

maximumzero · Mar 20, 2020

Trying to turn an old PC into a NAS.

openmediavault seems to install fine but crashes at bootup, and I know so little about Linux that I can't even begin to troubleshoot it.

FreeNAS seems to hang midway through the install process.

Guess I'll try to see if I can do a Windows Server install next.

Shiki · Mar 20, 2020

PhantomFFR said:
Just asking because of your disclaimer, but you have checked under your "playback devices", which speaker-output is active, right?

The correct playback device was selected but still no sound was coming out.
I finally resolved the issue by downloading an alternate driver for my motherboard and sound came back.
Doom eternal time :D

Thank you for your reply still! much appreciated!

SecondNature · Mar 20, 2020

So I have a 500W PSU and I see the RX580 recommendation is 550W

Am I outta luck here? should I just go with the RX570, which does have a 500W recommendation?

Also, 4GB or 8GB? It doesnt matter much for performance, right? Im wanting to run most popular shooters at 144hz, hopefully at med textures at least

COD's Warzone is what Id imagine is most demanding of my library

Mr.Awesome · Mar 20, 2020

Can someone reccomend best monitor I can get for like 100-150 dollars? I get to expense it for work so I prefer if it doesnt have gaming in the title but I'm going to be using it for lots of gaming on my new desktop.

I Don't Like · Mar 20, 2020

SecondNature said:
So I have a 500W PSU and I see the RX580 recommendation is 550W

Am I outta luck here? should I just go with the RX570, which does have a 500W recommendation?

Also, 4GB or 8GB? It doesnt matter much for performance, right? Im wanting to run most popular shooters at 144hz, hopefully at med textures at least

COD's Warzone is what Id imagine is most demanding of my library

500w should still be fine.

Can't imagine doing anything these days with 4GBs of RAM.

CountAntonio · Mar 20, 2020

SecondNature · Mar 20, 2020

PlayALLTheGames said:
500w should still be fine.

Can't imagine doing anything these days with 4GBs of RAM.

580 8gb it is then

but im still debating if 570 is okay for my needs. Saves me like $40.

one other question: i see games like warzone eating up 11Gb ram at around 100 FPS

I have 8 gb ram

if i lock fps to 60, then would my 8gb be fine?

I Don't Like · Mar 20, 2020

SecondNature said:
580 8gb it is then

but im still debating if 570 is okay for my needs. Saves me like $40.

one other question: i see games like warzone eating up 11Gb ram at around 100 FPS

I have 8 gb ram

if i lock fps to 60, then would my 8gb be fine?

You may be lucky and find head to head benchmarks between 570 and 580 for one or more of the games you actually play - that might help you make a decision. 580 maybe is worth $40 more if it lasts you a little longer than a 570. On the other hand they're not wildly different in performance.

I don't know about Warzone's RAM usage but I see the min requirement is 8 so you should be fine.

Crazymoogle · Mar 20, 2020

CountAntonius said:
Not desktop related but figured I'd ask anyway. My sister is a teacher and her laptop is ancient and runs abysmally even after a reformat. With all the online stuff going on they are telling her she needs to be online constantly and so she needs a budget friendly(600 and bellow) laptop that can run windows, do word processing , web conferences and basic internet stuff. No gaming or none of that.

I see a bunch in her price range but i honestly have no idea what even considered decent. She's not interested in a desktop because she needs to be mobile with it.

something like this decent?

The HP is a clunker.

DVD Drive (unless you need one)
15.6" screen but only 720p
4lbs
Previous Gen AMD processor

If you are using Amazon I would use the search filters for Laptops that are

15-15.9" (I'm assuming she wants this screen size)
1080p (1920x1080, you need this resolution for managing windows at this screen size)
8GB of RAM

Honestly even with a 128GB SSD that would work because you can always (a) delete files or (b) move them to the cloud. So something like the Acer Aspire probably makes more sense because you can get the resolution and drop weight (especially by removing the DVD).

SecondNature said:
one other question: i see games like warzone eating up 11Gb ram at around 100 FPS
I have 8 gb ram
if i lock fps to 60, then would my 8gb be fine?

FPS does not affect how much memory you use; those frames are not what are filling up your RAM. If Warzone needs 11GB you will either see a performance hit or the game will not run. (I suspect just a performance hit)

RPG said:
Hi all. I'm in the market for upgrading my current monitor. It's nothing special (ASUS VS248H) but it's done its job for the past 5.5 years. Anyway, looking for something that still splits the difference between work and gaming. Would really prefer an increase in screen real estate for work purposes and the Windows 10 split view feels cramped on my current screen. Doesn't need to be top of the line, just an improvement over what I have now.

My problem is it's been years since I built my current PC and been away too long to know what's good and not, and after browsing all the monitors kinda start looking the same and then I'm just looking at price... So, I figured I'd see if anyone has input on what's worked for them. I have an i7-4790 w/ a GTX 1060. Ideally would like to stay below $500.

If you want an increase in screen real-estate for work, then you want QHD (2560x1440). Something like the Pixio PX7 Prime is ideal because you get QHD, 144hz+ Freesync, and an IPS display. (IPS tends to be the brightest with the widest viewing angles, TN is the cheapest). So you could always save money finding an equivalent TN panel. Only other thing I'd say is for work I prefer flat (not curved) displays. YMMV but it keeps stuff like Powerpoint from looking weird...

Pixio monitors are really popular as cheaper, freesync compatible gaming options.

SecondNature · Mar 20, 2020

Crazymoogle said:
FPS does not affect how much memory you use; those frames are not what are filling up your RAM. If Warzone needs 11GB you will either see a performance hit or the game will not run. (I suspect just a performance hit)

Hm, performance as in less than 60 FPS?

PlayALLTheGames said:
You may be lucky and find head to head benchmarks between 570 and 580 for one or more of the games you actually play - that might help you make a decision. 580 maybe is worth $40 more if it lasts you a little longer than a 570. On the other hand they're not wildly different in performance.

I don't know about Warzone's RAM usage but I see the min requirement is 8 so you should be fine.

If it is 8 minimum, is that on absolute lowest settings @ 60 FPS? I want it to look as good as the PS4 launch version, with a more stable framerate ultimately

I Don't Like · Mar 20, 2020

SecondNature said:
Hm, performance as in less than 60 FPS?

If it is 8 minimum, is that on absolute lowest settings @ 60 FPS? I want it to look as good as the PS4 launch version, with a more stable framerate ultimately

8 minimum doesn't correspond to the lowest graphics setting.

Again I'd search to see if you can find benchmarks for the game with a similar setup and/or check the Warzone performance thread (I assume there is one?)

Deleted member 55164 · Mar 20, 2020

Now that i'm working from home 100% ive realized i have very little desk real-estate; currently rocking this screen for my gaming setup (use a separate monitor for work) and while the base stand is gorgeous it takes up a ton of space:

ASUS PG349Q: https://www.pccasegear.com/products/46992/asus-rog-pg349q-uwqhd-120hz-g-sync-ips-34in-monitor
At some point i'll likely upgrade to the ASUS PG35VQ once things in the world settle.

Anyway thinking of the appeal of screen arms for desks and found this on amazon:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B00FE2NVV4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ANEGB3WVEVKZB&psc=1

Any suggestions on the value of a screen arm and is this a good one?

Thanks in advance!

XevTanuki · Mar 21, 2020

Can someone please either convince me not to buy this or tell me that it's ok to buy this.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ibuypower-snowblind-gaming-desktop-intel-core-i9-9900kf-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-2080-super-1tb-hdd-480gb-ssd-white/6392643.p?skuId=6392643

$1,800 for a 2080 Super and i9 9900KF seems like a deal even if it is a pre-built.

Vulcano's Assistant · Mar 21, 2020

XevTanuki said:
Can someone please either convince me not to buy this or tell me that it's ok to buy this.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ibuypower-snowblind-gaming-desktop-intel-core-i9-9900kf-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-2080-super-1tb-hdd-480gb-ssd-white/6392643.p?skuId=6392643
$1,800 for a 2080 Super and i9 9900KF seems like a deal even if it is a pre-built.

Price is not bad for those core components. If you go to their site an customize something similar you end up at $2000. The problems is that they are probably giving you the shaft with the mobo their are pairing that 9900Kf to. I don't suppose they expect buyers to overclock since (at least in the pictures) that cooler looks like a $20 DEEPCOOL GAMMAXX, which I would not trust to handle a 9900KF very well.

If you can go for a Ryzen 3700X instead of a 9900KF, you can customize the daily deal over at CyberpowerPC and with some current discounts going on, you end up under $1700 after you add a FE 2080 Super and a 1TB WD Blue nvme.

SecondNature · Mar 21, 2020

PlayALLTheGames said:
You may be lucky and find head to head benchmarks between 570 and 580 for one or more of the games you actually play - that might help you make a decision. 580 maybe is worth $40 more if it lasts you a little longer than a 570. On the other hand they're not wildly different in performance.

I don't know about Warzone's RAM usage but I see the min requirement is 8 so you should be fine.

Ive seen some vids, but they are all at uncapped frame rates. I want to know what it'd look like at 60 FPS locked

So with my HD 7800, I manage to get 120 FPS in Overwatch by turning resolution to 50% and all low settings. Man its soooo buttery smooth.

I dont even think its placebo, but Im also playing a lot better (tracking my shots). I can't believe I thought 60 FPS was the standard

Black_Stride · Mar 21, 2020

SecondNature said:
Ive seen some vids, but they are all at uncapped frame rates. I want to know what it'd look like at 60 FPS locked

So with my HD 7800, I manage to get 120 FPS in Overwatch by turning resolution to 50% and all low settings. Man its soooo buttery smooth.

I dont even think its placebo, but Im also playing a lot better (tracking my shots). I can't believe I thought 60 FPS was the standard

If they both have uncapped framerates above 60 then locking to 60 will get you umm.......60fps with headroom to spare.

All you really need to look out for is that the GPU can hold frames above whatever your target framerate is.

Also from minor research the RX570 at 1080 with high settings optimized would easily be able to handle framerates above 60 approaching 120 but not quite a locked 120.
Sounds like you got a freesync monitor so you could even just uncap the framerate and enjoy yourself at whatever speed your components can manage.

Im not quite sure what exactly you are asking about how it will look at 60fps.
If you mean what graphic settings.....then at 1080p expect to play at or around high at a locked 60....1440p you would need to drop some settings to med or even low for higher framerates.

Monkey Business · Mar 21, 2020

OK - I have a problem that probably can't be resolved but I'll ask the community anyway!

My laptop has just died; it refuses to take on power. Testing with a volt-meter shows everything is fine until it gets to the motherboard. So, the motherboard is fkd. Sucks but here's my issue. The SSD that was in the laptop - I can access the data on it by plugging it into my desktop and see the data and back it up. However, there is one small thing I cant do which is backup all my metadata that I had stored for my Music in the Rekordbox software, which equates to days and days of work. So the music is backed-up, the metadata isn't (rekordbox i believe has the function to do this; I was going to back it up when I had finished inputting all the metadata - doh!). Also, I need to deactivate the Rekordbox licence so I don't have to pay for it on a new laptop.
So I've tried booting this SSD in both my desktop and my other laptop. While I realise that both my desktop and other laptop have vastly differing hardware I thought that Windows 10 might be sympathetic and overlook/re-load drivers and perhaps boot with issue but no, it would seem both the desktop and other laptop can't find a boot sector.
Given I have 100% access to the SSD, is there anyway I can somehow rebuild the boot-sector with a generic bootloader so I can get into the SSD OS install?

I'm not pinning much hope on any of this working even if there is a way to get it to boot but I'd rather exhaust all possibilities first!

Any help would be much appreciated!

Deleted member 5876 · Mar 21, 2020

n.thou said:
Now that i'm working from home 100% ive realized i have very little desk real-estate; currently rocking this screen for my gaming setup (use a separate monitor for work) and while the base stand is gorgeous it takes up a ton of space:

ASUS PG349Q: https://www.pccasegear.com/products/46992/asus-rog-pg349q-uwqhd-120hz-g-sync-ips-34in-monitor
At some point i'll likely upgrade to the ASUS PG35VQ once things in the world settle.

Anyway thinking of the appeal of screen arms for desks and found this on amazon:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B00FE2NVV4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ANEGB3WVEVKZB&psc=1

Any suggestions on the value of a screen arm and is this a good one?

Thanks in advance!

Ergotron are excellent arms. I use a slightly different one than you do to hold my 38" ultrawide.
Amazon sells their own brand as well for slightly cheaper that are rebadged Ergotrons.
But I dont know if they make one for the weight class you need to hold.

Another option to consider is a non-articulating arm, eg fixed. These will be way cheaper but you lose the ability to freely adjust the monitor whenever / however you like.

Faces of Death · Mar 21, 2020

Hey guys, I have a G-Sync question.

I just ordered a new monitor (ROG PG27UQ) it's 4k/144hz and rated as G-Sync Ultimate. I'm running a standard RTX 2080 at the moment so 4k/60+ isn't happening for a lot of games...but can I still have g-sync work at 1800p or 1440p?

I also have a LG C9 which is g-sync compatible up to 4K/60 and 1440p/120...will the monitor work the same way?

FliX · Mar 21, 2020

So for some reason the thought of building a gaming PC to hook up to my TV has been festering in my mind... So I'm joining to keep this thread in my subscriptions while that thought develops...

myzhi · Mar 21, 2020

Monkey Business said:
OK - I have a problem that probably can't be resolved but I'll ask the community anyway!

My laptop has just died; it refuses to take on power. Testing with a volt-meter shows everything is fine until it gets to the motherboard. So, the motherboard is fkd. Sucks but here's my issue. The SSD that was in the laptop - I can access the data on it by plugging it into my desktop and see the data and back it up. However, there is one small thing I cant do which is backup all my metadata that I had stored for my Music in the Rekordbox software, which equates to days and days of work. So the music is backed-up, the metadata isn't (rekordbox i believe has the function to do this; I was going to back it up when I had finished inputting all the metadata - doh!). Also, I need to deactivate the Rekordbox licence so I don't have to pay for it on a new laptop.
So I've tried booting this SSD in both my desktop and my other laptop. While I realise that both my desktop and other laptop have vastly differing hardware I thought that Windows 10 might be sympathetic and overlook/re-load drivers and perhaps boot with issue but no, it would seem both the desktop and other laptop can't find a boot sector.
Given I have 100% access to the SSD, is there anyway I can somehow rebuild the boot-sector with a generic bootloader so I can get into the SSD OS install?

I'm not pinning much hope on any of this working even if there is a way to get it to boot but I'd rather exhaust all possibilities first!

Any help would be much appreciated!

During startup, go into Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) and boot into Safe Mode. Once you get into the Windows safe mode desktop, just restart your PC. Windows should have fix your missing boot sector.

Faces of Death said:
Hey guys, I have a G-Sync question.

I just ordered a new monitor (ROG PG27UQ) it's 4k/144hz and rated as G-Sync Ultimate. I'm running a standard RTX 2080 at the moment so 4k/60+ isn't happening for a lot of games...but can I still have g-sync work at 1800p or 1440p?

I also have a LG C9 which is g-sync compatible up to 4K/60 and 1440p/120...will the monitor work the same way?

Yes, of course, you can run at lower resolution. Just stuff will look not look sharp and more blurry.

Black_Stride · Mar 21, 2020

Faces of Death said:
Hey guys, I have a G-Sync question.

I just ordered a new monitor (ROG PG27UQ) it's 4k/144hz and rated as G-Sync Ultimate. I'm running a standard RTX 2080 at the moment so 4k/60+ isn't happening for a lot of games...but can I still have g-sync work at 1800p or 1440p?

I also have a LG C9 which is g-sync compatible up to 4K/60 and 1440p/120...will the monitor work the same way?

Gsync doesnt really care about your resolution and most games these days have in-game res sliders so you wont have to set custom resolutions while keeping your HUD looking clear.

The Monitor should go to 144 regardless of resolution as its rated 4K144.

Faces of Death · Mar 21, 2020

myzhi said:
Yes, of course, you can run at lower resolution. Just stuff will look not look sharp and more blurry.

Black_Stride said:
Gsync doesnt really care about your resolution and most games these days have in-game res sliders so you wont have to set custom resolutions while keeping your HUD looking clear.

The Monitor should go to 144 regardless of resolution as its rated 4K144.

Awesome, thanks! I knew resolution sliders worked fine, but I never tried custom resolutions like 1800p.

ABeezy1388 · Mar 21, 2020

FliXFantatier said:
So for some reason the thought of building a gaming PC to hook up to my TV has been festering in my mind... So I'm joining to keep this thread in my subscriptions while that thought develops...

I did this... been a Mac guy for past 10 years (and still am with iPhone 10X Max, iPad Pro 11", and Macbook Pro), but I wanted to be able to game on a beast of a rig. Came here and debated back and forth from like December or so until end of February... took the plunge and loving it so far. Built a SFF that I can easily move around the house to various tv's/rooms :D

Jarmel · Mar 21, 2020

What's the best midtower case that looks cool but is also extremely quiet? I'm thinking about building a new PC and wanted alternatives to the full tower I was considering. I'm concerned about the thermals in the be quiet! DB700.

JasonV · Mar 21, 2020

This is my current setup:

GTX 780
i5 4670K 3.4
16GB Ram
Playing at 2560x1600

If I just upgrade my graphics card (2600 or 2700), would I be able to play current stuff like Doom, Apex, COD Warzone etc at 2560x1600 60FPS?

Or would I be limited by my CPU?

SecondNature · Mar 21, 2020

So I got the GTX 1650 Super for $250 total over the RX580. Hopefully that's a good decision

I'll eventually upgrade RAM from 8 GB and one day my CPU (i5-3570K). I feel guilty spending so much, hoping it's a fine investment that will last me 5 or so years

Vulcano's Assistant · Mar 21, 2020

Jarmel said:
What's the best midtower case that looks cool but is also extremely quiet? I'm thinking about building a new PC and wanted alternatives to the full tower I was considering. I'm concerned about the thermals in the be quiet! DB700.

be quiet! and Fractal Design make quiet cases, but they wouldn't be too quiet if the components inside are louder. If you get a case with good airflow and both the GPU and CPU have decently sized coolers they could run at lower speeds, but some noise will always escape from the back of most cases, and from the front with mesh front cases if components inside are audible, a thing to consider is what direction your case is facing on your desk.

But yes it is easier out of the gate to go for a case designed to be quiet, since you may need to provide your own fans to optimize a more open case for silent operation, which adds to the price. The advantage of getting a be Quiet case is that they come with a pair of their quiet fans.

On a more tight budget my suggestion would be to get a Pure base 600/601 or a Pure base 500, you also get nice quiet fans and can also invest the price difference compared to the Dark Base 700 into a GPU model with a bigger cooler or a premium CPU cooler.

If the budget allows for $150-$190 cases then sure go ahead they look awesome, even though the Dark Base 700 or Silent base 801 wouldn't be quieter than their smaller siblings, they would be roomier and have better built quality. Another options could be the new Fractal Define 7 or the older Define R6, and from Phanteks the Eclipse P600S. But I would still suggest to get a quiet GPU, a quiet CPU cooler, and a quiet PSU.

For the other strategy of getting a case with good airflow and relying on the fans having to spin slower some options that I think look nice include the Phanteks P300A, Phantks P400A, Fractal Design Meshify C, Fractal Design Meshify S2.

Here are two videos that touch on or test that idea of a quiet case versus an airflow one.

Airflow vs. Silent Case: Noise-Normalized Thermals

This video shows how an airflow-focused PC build can actually be quieter than a silence-focused build, featuring the Silent Base 601 vs. SilverStone RL06. Ad...

www.youtube.com

The Silent AIR COOLED Gaming PC!

Our search for the quietest gaming PC is going into air cooling territory! But does an air cooler provide enough cooling for an overclocked 9900K? Remember t...

www.youtube.com

Infinite Justice · Mar 21, 2020

Been checking out Gamers Nexus and damn they don't mince words at all.

Jarmel · Mar 21, 2020

Vulcano's Assistant said:
be quiet! and Fractal Design make quiet cases, but they wouldn't be too quiet if the components inside are louder. If you get a case with good airflow and both the GPU and CPU have decently sized coolers they could run at lower speeds, but some noise will always escape from the back of most cases, and from the front with mesh front cases if components inside are audible, a thing to consider is what direction your case is facing on your desk.

But yes it is easier out of the gate to go for a case designed to be quiet, since you may need to provide your own fans to optimize a more open case for silent operation, which adds to the price. The advantage of getting a be Quiet case is that they come with a pair of their quiet fans.

On a more tight budget my suggestion would be to get a Pure base 600/601 or a Pure base 500, you also get nice quiet fans and can also invest the price difference compared to the Dark Base 700 into a GPU model with a bigger cooler or a premium CPU cooler.

If the budget allows for $150-$190 cases then sure go ahead they look awesome, even though the Dark Base 700 or Silent base 801 wouldn't be quieter than their smaller siblings, they would be roomier and have better built quality. Another options could be the new Fractal Define 7 or the older Define R6, and from Phanteks the Eclipse P600S. But I would still suggest to get a quiet GPU, a quiet CPU cooler, and a quiet PSU.

For the other strategy of getting a case with good airflow and relying on the fans having to spin slower some options that I think look nice include the Phanteks P300A, Phantks P400A, Fractal Design Meshify C, Fractal Design Meshify S2.

Here are two videos that touch on or test that idea of a quiet case versus an airflow one.

Airflow vs. Silent Case: Noise-Normalized Thermals

This video shows how an airflow-focused PC build can actually be quieter than a silence-focused build, featuring the Silent Base 601 vs. SilverStone RL06. Ad...

www.youtube.com

The Silent AIR COOLED Gaming PC!

Our search for the quietest gaming PC is going into air cooling territory! But does an air cooler provide enough cooling for an overclocked 9900K? Remember t...

www.youtube.com

Yea price isn't really a concern unless it's over $400. I really just want the best.

I was thinking maybe the Fractal Design 7 but I'm leaning towards just going back to a full tower design and getting the DB900 as the size difference between the two isn't that great.

I'm also debating about maybe swapping out the fans on a Z73 and going with the Silent Wings 3. However the default fans on the Z73 seem to be pretty good.

Otakukidd · Mar 21, 2020

Hey guys thought this place would be a good Ask. built my PC last august. Everything went fine. Got a ryzen 7 and a 2070. Everything was fine till a couple of months ago out of nowhere I get drastic frame drops. Like from 60 down to 10 or 5 for like 3 seconds but it would happen every once and awhile and to every game from destiny 2 to trails in the sky. At first thought it was a hardware. problem. But then I noticed something, it was predictable. It happened every 10 minutes. 4:10 4:20 4:30... It only happens on the tens which tells me it's a software problem. I've been turning stuff off to see if I could fix it but to no avail. My Google Fu has also failed me. Thought I would ask as a last ditch effort before reimaging Since it's going to be a pain in the ass to reinstall some of these games

Vulcano's Assistant · Mar 21, 2020

Jarmel said:
Yea price isn't really a concern unless it's over $400. I really just want the best.

I was thinking maybe the Fractal Design 7 but I'm leaning towards just going back to a full tower design and getting the DB900 as the size difference between the two isn't that great.

I'm also debating about maybe swapping out the fans on a Z73 and going with the Silent Wings 3. However the default fans on the Z73 seem to be pretty good.

There is a Define 7 XL as well. Which is a full tower version.

Jarmel · Mar 22, 2020

Vulcano's Assistant said:
There is a Define 7 XL as well. Which is a full tower version.

I'm not really finding any good comparisons between the two in terms of thermals and noise levels. Gamer Nexus only looked at the midtower Define 7.

Vulcano's Assistant · Mar 22, 2020

Jarmel said:
I'm not really finding any good comparisons between the two in terms of thermals and noise levels. Gamer Nexus only looked at the midtower Define 7.

Yeah. It may have been because both models launched at the same time, but there isn't much coverage of the XL on its own, not even some reputable sites like techpowerup reviewed the XL. I imagine Gamer's Nexus would have done a review of it if Fractal had sent one to them, or maybe they aren't too into reviewing that many full towers. They also completely ignored the Phanteks 719.

Deleted member 56752 · Mar 22, 2020

ABeezy1388 said:
I did this... been a Mac guy for past 10 years (and still am with iPhone 10X Max, iPad Pro 11", and Macbook Pro), but I wanted to be able to game on a beast of a rig. Came here and debated back and forth from like December or so until end of February... took the plunge and loving it so far. Built a SFF that I can easily move around the house to various tv's/rooms :D

iPhone XR for my money is the best phone money can buy.

Vulcano's Assistant · Mar 22, 2020

Otakukidd said:
Hey guys thought this place would be a good Ask. built my PC last august. Everything went fine. Got a ryzen 7 and a 2070. Everything was fine till a couple of months ago out of nowhere I get drastic frame drops. Like from 60 down to 10 or 5 for like 3 seconds but it would happen every once and awhile and to every game from destiny 2 to trails in the sky. At first thought it was a hardware. problem. But then I noticed something, it was predictable. It happened every 10 minutes. 4:10 4:20 4:30... It only happens on the tens which tells me it's a software problem. I've been turning stuff off to see if I could fix it but to no avail. My Google Fu has also failed me. Thought I would ask as a last ditch effort before reimaging Since it's going to be a pain in the ass to reinstall some of these games

I haven't heard of something like that, but I would try running a continuous benchmark that isn't a game to see if it happens as well. Something like one of the Ungine benchmarks that you can leave running while you monitor cpu usage, gpu usage, temperatures, etc.

And/or if you have more than one drive I would test installing games on different drives to see if that's the culprit.

signal · Mar 22, 2020

If new Nvidia GPUs come out April, will the current 2060s drop in price or will the 3k series just be priced higher?

Trisc · Mar 22, 2020

Hey folks, a friend of mine wanted to build a PC and was thinking about using an old PC case I gave him a long time ago, the Cooler Master HAF 912. This would likely be used for a build using an B450 ATX motherboard and a full-size GPU. When I first used the case back in 2013, I built it with a one-fan GTX 760 and an AMD FX-6300.

Would there be any major compatibility issues using this case over getting a new one? Part of the reason he wants to use it is because he likes the look of it, kept it in great condition, and doesn't want to have to buy a new case if he doesn't have to. However, I'm a little concerned about compatibility with modern parts.

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

Game Developer

Game Developer

Game Developer

Big Seller

Master of the Reality Stone

The Jackrabbit Always Wins

The Jackrabbit Always Wins

The cutest v-tuber

The Jackrabbit Always Wins

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account