|OT| The PC Hardware Thread -- Buy/Upgrade/Ask/Answer

[ISee]

i5 10400 could be hold back by slower memory on non z boards, and I'm not sure if it's worth it to buy a 200€ MB for a ~170€ CPU. Unless you plan to get a rocket lake CPU next year.
3600 + a b550 board (once available) could be the better choice here. If MB prices aren't through the roof.



---

So here's my current config. And following it are the spare parts lying around. I was toying with the idea of making it a full on secondary PC, not certain. What do you think ? What would you buy to complete it ? Would you change or add something to the current rig ?

Obvious one would be to buy a new monitor to put this one on the seconday PC. Other suggestions ? Secondary PC would be for my mother, so high web usage and I hope some multiplayer sandbox games. Things like that. Not the last AAA @ 4k


MAIN PC

Monitor Iiyama ProLite B2715HDS
Tower NZXT H500 - Noir 99,95
CPU AMD YD260XBCAFBOX Processeur RYZEN5 2600X Socket AM4 4.25Ghz+19MB 209,9
Stock cooler
Mobo MSI B450 Tomahawk Carte mère AMD Socket AM4 119,99
Mem Corsair Vengeance LPX 16Go (2x8Go) DDR4 3000MHz C15 XMP 2.0 130,89
GPU MSI RTX 2060 Super Gaming X 451,11
Power Supply Corsair RM550x v2 - 550W 99,95


SECONDARY PC

Monitor
-
Tower Cooler Master Silencio
CPU Intel Core i5 2500k
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Mobo Asus P8P67LE Rev 3.0 (Rev. B3)
Mem G.Skill Kit Extreme3 2 x 4 Go PC12800 Ripjaws X CAS9
GPU GeForce 970
Power Supply Antec HCG - 520W

2500k + 970 isn't a bad PC and overkill for any web browsing that can be realistically done. I'd add a SSD, at least for the OS. If you feel "fancy" find a used i7 2600k. They are pretty cheap now [~60-70€), Could help with open world game performance.

 

[Pogi]

So, I'll be upgrading my gaming PC albeit gradually. What should I upgrade first my i5-6400 to a Ryzen or my 1660Ti to a 2070 Super?

 

[lashman]

So, I'll be upgrading my gaming PC albeit gradually. What should I upgrade first my i5-6400 to a Ryzen or my 1660Ti to a 2070 Super?

i'd go with the gpu

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

Well, as i've been saving more money than i thought working from home i have bought the SteelSeries Arctis 1 Wireless headset and a super-cheap refurbished Corsair Void Pro RGB Wireless headset. I ended up with the Arctis 1 wireless for the crazy compatibility with PC/PS4/Switch/Android and the Void Pro wireless because it was nearly 40% off.

That's what not buying food and coffee in town everyday and playing my games rather than buying more does for me. I like it. Now back to saving more money each month!

 

[Li Kao]

Ok, I'm back with a more precise question this time
As some people already know, I get terrible CPU temp in demanding games. Demanding being relative as I'm talking AC Unity on very high 1080 with a 2060, but well.
So I plan to change my 2x front case fans.
...
I know, not logical, but bear with me.

As I supremely don't want to unscrew the CPU fan, clean the thermal paste and re-apply it (though I know I will have to), I wanted to start with two easy fuckers that never worked correctly, the two front case fans, that shouldn't work in PWM but only work in PWM


My question is : what requirements should I look for ? I know nothing about fans. Is there a standard size ? some other things to take into account before buying ?

I have a NZXT H500, I see in the specs that it supports
Front: Up to 280mm
Rear: 120mm

Is it the only thing to consider ?

 

[Eferis]

My question is : what requirements should I look for ? I know nothing about fans. Is there a standard size ? some other things to take into account before buying ?

The two most common sizes for case fans are 120mm and 140mm, check on your manual which fans your case supports. If I remember correctly, you have a NZXT h500/510/510i, which supports 2x120mm/2x140mm front fans, 1x120mm/1x140mm top fan and a 1x120mm rear fan. I tend to prefer going with fewer 140mm fans instead of more 120mm ones if possibile as they move the same amount of air with less energy (and noise).

Honestly, it doesn't make that much of a difference in real life scenarios but, if you really want to maximize your purchase for the usage you have in mind, you should look for airflow fans for fans that doesn't have to move air through other stuff (rear and top fan, if you want to use the latter as exhaust fan) and static pressure ones for fans that have to push air through other components like the front fans you're looking to buy. Don't overthink this though, static pressure fans (which are more common) are fine for every use as long as you install them correctly.

EDIT: BTW, if you have high CPU temps, it's probably more useful to invest in a better CPU cooler in my opinion.

 

[ISee]

EDIT: BTW, if you have high CPU temps, it's probably more useful to invest in a better CPU cooler in my opinion.

Li Kao my friend. Please listen to this wise advice. Also you really should start investigating your CPU cooler and not your case fans if temperatures are that out of control.
---

Did you already try opening the side panel? Or at least turning the rear fan to make it blow fresh air inside your case (top fan should blow air out). Both test methods should give your CPU cooler more fresh air to work with than any front fan configuration the NZXT H500 can hold.
If that helps, start working on your case fan configuration (or get a better, air flow orientated case). If not, investigate your CPU cooler and maybe exchange it. Because chances are high that you are about to blow 40-50 bucks on high quality fans and temps will stay rather bad.

For Fan recommendations: I tend to use 120mm or 140mm Noctua NF-12/14 fans. The colour schemes are not necessary for everybody, but there are some black variants now. It's hard to get something better.
If you wish for very quiet operations take a look at BeQuiet fans.

But we are talking about expansive non RGB fans here. 20€+/fan for Noctua and ~12€/fan for BeQuiet

 

[Li Kao]

Thank you two monsters for pushing me to try my hand, not only at thermal paste, but removing old thermal paste too. My CPU is on you
More seriously the message is received, I will buy a CPU fan first and foremost. That being said I'm beginning to want to buy cpu and case fans. If the temp are breaking my balls, why not go all the way. But ISee is right, it's not a cheap purchase, noctua fans are 30 and noctua cpu is 100.

So how can I diagnostic ? Tell me slowly, I'm not a technical person. Intake, exhaust, shmegsaust
What can I look at to have a better idea of things ? For now the CPU peak goes 95-100+ in AC Unity, case closed.
Should I try case open ? Other things to try ?

For info
"Or at least turning the rear fan to make it blow fresh air inside your case (top fan should blow air out). Both test methods should give your CPU cooler more fresh air to work with than any front fan configuration the NZXT H500 can hold."
Are a lot of words that look super useful. But I don't understand them

How do I know if a fan blows in or out ?
How do I reverse the direction if it's wrongly set up ?

 

[ISee]

Thank you two monsters for pushing me to try my hand, not only at thermal paste, but removing old thermal paste too. My CPU is on you
More seriously the message is received, I will buy a CPU fan first and foremost. That being said I'm beginning to want to buy cpu and case fans. If the temp are breaking my balls, why not go all the way. But ISee is right, it's not a cheap purchase, noctua fans are 30 and noctua cpu is 100.

So how can I diagnostic ? Tell me slowly, I'm not a technical person. Intake, exhaust, shmegsaust
What can I look at to have a better idea of things ? For now the CPU peak goes 95-100+ in AC Unity, case closed.
Should I try case open ? Other things to try ?

For info
"Or at least turning the rear fan to make it blow fresh air inside your case (top fan should blow air out). Both test methods should give your CPU cooler more fresh air to work with than any front fan configuration the NZXT H500 can hold."
Are a lot of words that look super useful. But I don't understand them

How do I know if a fan blows in or out ?
How do I reverse the direction if it's wrongly set up ?

For starters, just open the case. Best way to do so would be to remove the tempered glass panel. Than start your system, play AC Unity and take note if temperatures improve. Report back, we'll try to guide you through the rest.
What kind of CPU cooler are you using btw? CPU was a r5 2600 if I remember correctly?

 

[Li Kao]

For starters, just open the case. Best way to do so would be to remove the tempered glass panel. Than start your system, play AC Unity and take note if temperatures improve. Report back, we'll try to guide you through the rest.
What kind of CPU cooler are you using btw? CPU was a r5 2600 if I remember correctly?

I think it's a 2600+ and stock cooler.
I have to put the PC on my desk if I want to play Unity with open case, now that I have a little terror putting always its nose where it shouldn't

 

[ISee]

How do I know if a fan blows in or out ?
How do I reverse the direction if it's wrongly set up ?

There should be arrows, indicating the airflow direction on the side of the fan (at least on one side).
But in general: Pretty side is pulling air in. Ugly side is pulling air out

 

[Li Kao]

Ok, so the rear and top fans being pre-installed, the only wrongly oriented ones could be the front ? They must blow out I suppose ?

 

[ISee]

Ok, so the rear and top fans being pre-installed, the only wrongly oriented ones could be the front ? They must blow out I suppose ?

I didn't say that anything is wrongly preinstalled. Chances are high that everything is correctly installed.
But I suggested to check if the problem is the case airflow OR the cpu cooler. Before going out and buying new case fans.

To check for that you need to improve the amount of fresh air around the CPU cooler. You can do so by either opening the case (most easy way) or by re orientating your rear exhaust fan to blow fresh air into the case (normally pre installed to exhaust air out of the case).

If you open the case and CPU temperatures stay high, than you need to take a closer look at your CPU cooler.
If temperatures improve, than you need to improve your case airflow.


Step 1: Remove tempered glass panel
Step 2: Play AC Unity
Step 3: Note if Temperatures improved.
Step 4: Report back

 

[Li Kao]

Ok, PC on the desk, booting at 70c.
Will remove the glass panel and play Unity.

Observation one : going by the logo I think I put the front fans in reverse, they are blowing in.
Rear and top seem to be blowing out from factory. If the grille is any indication.

 

[ISee]

Observation one : going by the logo I think I put the front fans in reverse, they are blowing in.

That's how normally things are supposed to be:
Front fans are blowing air in.
Rear and Top are blowing air out.

Did the CPU temperature improve by removing the tempered glass panel?

 

[Li Kao]

That's how normally things are supposed to be:
Front fans are blowing air in.
Rear and Top are blowing air out.

Did the CPU temperature improve by removing the tempered glass panel?

I had on last bit of DLC to finally finish this horrible slog, sorry
So I can now say that after 1 hour of play, peak was 79.5c

How is it and what do we conclude from that ?

 

[ISee]

I had on last bit of DLC to finally finish this horrible slog, sorry
So I can now say that after 1 hour of play, peak was 79.5c

How is it and what do we conclude from that ?

Previous peak was 100°C?

I'd say that you have two problems;

1.) Your CPU is starving for fresh, cool air.

You already have two front fans pulling air in and two fans pulling air out (rear and top), so the problem doesn't seem to be the amount of fans in your case.
I looked up your case and the design does not seem to be favorable for airflow imo (though it's a very good looking case).
The front fans can only pull in air through a tiny portion of one side panel. Even worse the openings in the side panel seems to be rather close to the fans itself which doesn't allow them to build a good amount of pressure to suck in air in the first place. I doubt that stronger fans are going to significantly improve the situation.

Solution: Re-orientate the top case fan and allow it to blow fresh air on top of the CPU cooler. Your case air flow would look somewhat like this:
There should be a filter on top, so dust buildup shouldn't be a problem. That said, removing the dust filter would allow the top fan to pull in even more fresh air.

2.) Even with enough fresh air, the CPU cooler doesn't seem to do a descent job.

Solution: Try reapplying thermal paste. Important: Before removing the CPU cooler, run your system in windows for 10-15 minutes (just let it run). Than turn it off, turn off the PSU and remove the CPU cooler. This way the thermal paste will be warm and less sticky. Makes it easier to remove the cooler.

if that doesn't work (and I don't think it will do much, unless you've by accident completely forgotten to apply thermal paste in the first place): Get a better CPU cooler. There is only so much you can do with airflow and thermal paste.

But in general, if you can bring down temps to around 80°C during heavy gaming seasons your r5 2600 should be fine.

 

[kio]

Hi guys. Probably a dumb question but after looking around for 2 days I still don't have an answer so I'm hoping someone can help me here.

I have 2 bluetooth headsets that I use regularly. One I used for work paired with my work computer (a win10 laptop) and it never failed to reconnect after being paired the first time. The second is usually paired with my android tablet and also works perfectly (reconnects without issue). They both work fine and without problems.

I recently bought a bluetooth dongle for my home PC to use one of these headsets as my wired headset was getting old and the isolation rubber on the cord was badly damaged.
The problem is that I can't seem to reconnect any of the headsets after I power them off. Windows says the things are paired and after I power them on it says they are connected but the fact is they don't work, and even enter pairing mode after 30s of being unable to connect to what they were previously paired with. Everytime I want to use the headset on my PC I have to remove the device in windows' settings and pair them again. Is there any known issue that is preventing this from working? Is it because I'm using an USB dongle?

edit: forgot to say but it's somewhat implied, I unpair the headsets from the tablet and my work computer before connecting them to my PC.

 

[Li Kao]

Solution: Re-orientate the top case fan and allow it to blow fresh air on top of the CPU cooler. Your case air flow would look somewhat like this:
There should be a filter on top, so dust buildup shouldn't be a problem. That said, removing the dust filter would allow the top fan to pull in even more fresh air.

Solution: Try reapplying thermal paste. Important: Before removing the CPU cooler, run your system in windows for 10-15 minutes (just let it run). Than turn it off, turn off the PSU and remove the CPU cooler. This way the thermal paste will be warm and less sticky. Makes it easier to remove the cooler.

if that doesn't work (and I don't think it will do much, unless you've by accident completely forgotten to apply thermal paste in the first place): Get a better CPU cooler. There is only so much you can do with airflow and thermal paste.

Thanks for your help ISee !

I could try solution 1 as the top front fan is a little low, indeed.
About solution 2, at the risk of ridiculing myself, the 2600+ cooler had thermal paste pre-applied... or did I dun goofed hard ?

But at the end of the day, do I understand correctly that in a correct air flow situation, you don't really need front fans ? So what if I splurged for a noctua 100e CPU cooler and took back the front fans to an old PC ?

 

[ISee]

Thanks for your help ISee !

I could try solution 1 as the top front fan is a little low, indeed.
About solution 2, at the risk of ridiculing myself, the 2600+ cooler had thermal paste pre-applied... or did I dun goofed hard ?

But at the end of the day, do I understand correctly that in a correct air flow situation, you don't really need front fans ? So what if I splurged for a noctua 100e CPU cooler and took back the front fans to an old PC ?

No. Having front fans to pull in fresh air is the way to go for most builds. In addition you want to have at least one additional fan at the rear blowing the "used" hot air out. Something like this:

You can put in one additional fan on the top (over the CPU) that is also pulling hot air out. I'd say that's the normal setup and how most cases are intended to be used.
The problem with your specific case design could be that it is physically not able to pull in a healthy amount of fresh air from the front. Still, I'd leave the front fans in there, because even a small amount is helping. But as you have a top fan and your CPU temps are worrying you, I'd use the top fan to help pull in fresh air (instead of hot air out).
Without any kind of front fans, chances are high that you'll start cooking your GPU next btw. Because air in that region could start circulating.

I believe the stock, included AMD coolers come with preapplied thermal paste.

A better CPU cooler will probably help in a.) moving air through the case and b.) will be better in handling the situation. But sorry, I've no idea what a noctua 100e is. Depending on your budget, and thinking about the "size limitations" of your case (some CPU coolers are huge) I'd recommend taking a look at Noctuas NH-U12A. It's a beast of a CPU cooler, especially for its small size.

But it is also rather expansive and I'm not sure you want to spend that amount of money.

For now, just start with using the top fan to blow fresh air on top of the CPU and leave the front fans where they are. If that fixes your CPU problems and it stops exceeding 80°C all of the time. Call it a day and save your money.

 

[Durante]

Hi guys. Probably a dumb question but after looking around for 2 days I still don't have an answer so I'm hoping someone can help me here.

I have 2 bluetooth headsets that I use regularly. One I used for work paired with my work computer (a win10 laptop) and it never failed to reconnect after being paired the first time. The second is usually paired with my android tablet and also works perfectly (reconnects without issue). They both work fine and without problems.

I recently bought a bluetooth dongle for my home PC to use one of these headsets as my wired headset was getting old and the isolation rubber on the cord was badly damaged.
The problem is that I can't seem to reconnect any of the headsets after I power them off. Windows says the things are paired and after I power them on it says they are connected but the fact is they don't work, and even enter pairing mode after 30s of being unable to connect to what they were previously paired with. Everytime I want to use the headset on my PC I have to remove the device in windows' settings and pair them again. Is there any known issue that is preventing this from working? Is it because I'm using an USB dongle?

edit: forgot to say but it's somewhat implied, I unpair the headsets from the tablet and my work computer before connecting them to my PC.

Sadly I can't help you with that, but I can report that I had the exact same problem with a BT device. (In the same circumstances, with a BT dongle on my home PC)
Everything works as long as I keep things paired only to my PC, but after pairing it with something else I need to manually remove and re-pair the device.

For my case it wasn't a big deal since I'm not commonly switching the systems I use the device with, but it's certainly annoying.

 

[Li Kao]

A better CPU cooler will probably help in a.) moving air through the case and b.) will be better in handling the situation. But sorry, I've no idea what a noctua 100e is. Depending on your budget, and thinking about the "size limitations" of your case (some CPU coolers are huge) I'd recommend taking a look at Noctuas NH-U12A. It's a beast of a CPU cooler, especially for its small size.

Lol my bad, it was a manner of speaking, meant the Noctua CPU cooler that everyone seem to love and is 100 euros.
Well, I hope there is just one model or I'm generalizing again.

What would you think would result in the best case ?
Changing case ? Adding a Noctua on the CPU ? Adding a 3rd front fan ?

 

[ISee]

Lol my bad, it was a manner of speaking, meant the Noctua CPU cooler that everyone seem to love and is 100 euros.
Well, I hope there is just one model or I'm generalizing again.

What would you thing would result in the best case ?
Changing case ? Adding a Noctua on the CPU ? Adding a 3rd front fan ?

The Noctua NH-D15? It's a very good cooler, but I'm not entirely sure if it's going to fit in your case. That's why I recommended taking a look at the smaller, but nearly as powerful NH-U12a.

-A half descent case + a good CPU cooler will cost you about 200€ total. It will for sure be a nice upgrade, but is it a good idea for a (now) 120€ CPU? It's also a very time consuming upgrade. You need to practically disassemble your current system and completely rebuild it.

-Just a case would probably bring down your CPU and GPU temps, but never below the values that you achieved after removing the tempered glass panel.
It's also nearly as labour intensive as the first option.

-Just a 100€ Noctua NH-U12A will for sure bring down temperatures, but than again it won't run under "optimal" conditions. But it doesn't take a lot of time and effort to exchange a CPU cooler, so that's a plus.

-Third fan is the chippest "buy something" option, but I doubt that's going to help much. If at all.

I still think your most effective option is to use the top fan as an intake. It doesn't cost anything and is also easy to do: unscrew the fan, rotate it by 180° and screw it back in.
If that doesn't satisfy you, think about a new cooler. It is as expansive as a new, descent case but less difficult and time consuming to exchange. But than again spending 100€ to cool a CPU that now costs 120€? I'm not sure that a wise idea. It depends on your budget tbh.

 

[Durante]

Another option is to get a different, but better, CPU cooler. I use a Noctua myself, but that's largely because PC hardware is basically the only thing I allow myself the luxury of not being too concerned about cost-efficiency with

If you look at it realistically, you can get 95% of the performance of a Noctua cooler for <50% of the price with something like a Scythe Mugen 5. Or even a pretty big improvement over the stock cooler for ~30€ with an Arctic Freezer 34 (and with easier installation/fewer compatibility concerns).

I'd first try to change the fan orientation, see what that does, and if it's not sufficient then you could look into one of these options.

 

[Li Kao]

Cleaned the case and inverted the top fan, will update in 10 minutes.

---

Just browsing
Max 75,6
Avg. 62,5

Are you kidding me ?

I will start AC Syndicate case closed and see what I get.

 

[ISee]

Cleaned the case and inverted the top fan, will update in 10 minutes.

---

Just browsing
Max 75,6
Avg. 62,5

Are you kidding me ?

I will start AC Syndicate case closed and see what I get.

 

[Li Kao]

Hey, you gotta run the game a certain time to do the best science. Ok, good one, it was for SCIENCE !
Max 89.9
Avg 71,8

I'm always freaked out by the peak, but isn't the average more important ? Or is this peak definitely too high ?

 

[warp_]

I use that same nzxt case and have a wraith prism cooler and use a fan setup exactly like what ISee posted and run at 39-42c idle and at like 65-68c while gaming and watching videos at the same time (and about 81c when rendering video). i also got this same temp (though with a different cpu) with a smaller cpu cooler, wraith spire, so i think better case fans and proper airflow will help a lot.

i also keep my pc with open air on all sides and not in a desk cubby.

 

[Li Kao]

i also keep my pc with open air on all sides and not in a desk cubby.

I have a curious cat, I don't want to get a fried curious cat !

 

[warp_]

ha! that's fair. i'm lucky enough to have a scaredy cat so he is easily steered away from any cables.

i was nervous getting the h500 because of the high temp issues some people were seeing so i got 4 bequiet fans and oriented them like the picture posted above and haven't ever had any temp issues so it is definitely something to look into imo.

 

[ISee]

Hey, you gotta run the game a certain time to do the best science. Ok, good one, it was for SCIENCE !
Max 89.9
Avg 71,8

I'm always freaked out by the peak, but isn't the average more important ? Or is this peak definitely too high ?

That should be fine.

 

[Futaleufu]

Having one frontal fan that pulls air in, a back fan that pushes it out and a top one that also pushes out should be enough in 98% of the cases.

My older PC has 2 fans on top sucking air out but it also has 4 hard disks, a SSD and a bluray drive.

 

[Li Kao]

All this shit really tempts me to build a new PC (this is my first fully built by myself and not a store). Now I can't, but what I mean is that this is a learning step I hope I won't forget.

• Choose a good airflow case.
• Don't shit your pants at thermal paste and buy a pre-applied shit.

Basically I want holes on the front panel of my future case. Lots

 

[Parsnip]

Just drill a few holes in there and it's all good.

Seriously though, thermal paste stuff sounds a lot scarier than it is in reality.

 

[didamangi]

All this shit really tempts me to build a new PC (this is my first fully built by myself and not a store). Now I can't, but what I mean is that this is a learning step I hope I won't forget.

• Choose a good airflow case.
• Don't shit your pants at thermal paste and buy a pre-applied shit.

Basically I want holes on the front panel of my future case. Lots

Have you tried reseating the cpu cooler? Maybe it not seated/screwed properly and that's all it takes to fix this problem. Probably the cheapest solution as well. Just take it off and you can see by the thermal paste if it has spread properly or not.

 

[ISee]

All this shit really tempts me to build a new PC (this is my first fully built by myself and not a store). Now I can't, but what I mean is that this is a learning step I hope I won't forget.

• Choose a good airflow case.
• Don't shit your pants at thermal paste and buy a pre-applied shit.

Basically I want holes on the front panel of my future case. Lots

I like the phantek p400a

 

[Durante]

Just drill a few holes in there and it's all good.

Seriously though, thermal paste stuff sounds a lot scarier than it is in reality.

Yeah, as long as you're not using something exotic like liquid metal the worst that can happen is a bit of a mess (or using too much/too little and getting worse thermal performance, but that's easily rectified by trying again).

 

[ISee]

Just drill a few holes in there and it's all good.

lol
My brother did exactly that to his side panel because his Nvidia FX 5800 and Athlon 64 combo were constantly overheating. He also slammed a 140mm fan on to the side panel, from the outside.
It was an interesting build to look at. But to be fair the 5800 was a hot card.

 

[Durante]

 

[Kvik]

I definitely love no-RGB builds. I have this bookmarked for inspiration.


Maybe for my next build.

 

[Parsnip]

I like my pc's as simple looking as possible. No windows, rgb or any of that stuff.

 

[gabbo]

I like my pc's as simple looking as possible. No windows, rgb or any of that stuff.

Yep. cool, quiet, efficient. That's how I want my next build to go. RGB, windows get in the way of that

 

[Durante]

Purported 3080 GPU design leak:

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 pictured? - VideoCardz.com

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 pictured? Alleged pictures of the upcoming GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards have been leaked on Chiphell. The models photographed by a leaker are clearly prototypes or engineering samples likely to be one of the many suggested designs for the final choice. The design does...

videocardz.com

Looks legitimate to me, it's too novel for someone to make up

 

[ISee]

Read rumours about the "big cards" eating up to 350W of power and having memory closer to the GPU die itself to improve memory throughput. Which could create a big thermal hotspot. Would maybe explain why Nvidia is looking for new cooling solutions. The GPU dies itself are also supposed to be relatively big, despite being made in a new manufacturing process. Sounds like Nvidia is going all in on performance and we might get power hungry, rather expansive beasts of cards.

No idea if it is true, of course. But 350W (+potential OC)... that's a lot of heat that needs to be exchanged and moved out of cases... into rooms.

 

[Parsnip]

Those look like big boys.
And that fan solution is interesting to say the least.

 

[Theswweet]

These cards are going to be beasts!

 

[Shahem]

Nvidia needs to feel the heat.

I don't care where it comes from but they have to be pressured to deliver the best they actually can instead of settling for what they can get away with.

Turing brought a slew of very interesting features that now form the basis for next-gen but performance wise I've not been impressed with my 2070 upgrading from a 1070, ~25% faster in average.

I expect much more from the RTX 3070 in RT and non RT games. The node shrink alone will allow for impressive clockspeeds to say nothing of architectural improvements.

I think 50-60% is realistic, broadly speaking across 20 or so high-end games. Some games are bound to scale lower as it always happened and some will definitely scale better with modern technology.

 

[Durante]

I really don't think Nvidia has ever been "settling for what they can get away with". Intel, maybe, for a few years.
But NV have been consistently delivering more or less the best that can be done with the technology they can realistically use. E.g. 2 years ago it wasn't really possible to build a GPU faster than a 2080ti (and with a matching feature set).

Of course a new generation that comes with a significant node shrink will basically always be a bigger step than one which is a refinement on an existing node.

 

[Shahem]

I really don't think Nvidia has ever been "settling for what they can get away with". Intel, maybe, for a few years.
But NV have been consistently delivering more or less the best that can be done with the technology they can realistically use. E.g. 2 years ago it wasn't really possible to build a GPU faster than a 2080ti (and with a matching feature set).

Of course a new generation that comes with a significant node shrink will basically always be a bigger step than one which is a refinement on an existing node.

I don't see why the 2000 Super series could not have been released in 2018 for instance. I was disappointed to find out slightly better GPUs were coming out so soon. Of course product development is nowhere near as simple as we sometimes make it out to be.

Nvidia's recent offerings have not impressed me all that much to be fair.

 

[Parsnip]

I don't think the cards themselves have been unimpressive, it's just that they are so pricy.