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

Li Kao said:
I am in an upgrade mood ! For starter because I really wouldn't mind more disk space, and for fuck's sake, I won't let it be said that I don't blindly follow Windows in a new version like a moronic moth into a flame ! Oh, wait...

So my PC, or parts of it -
AMD RYZEN5 2600X Socket AM4 4.25Ghz+19MB
MSI B450 Tomahawk AMD Socket AM4
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16Go (2x8Go) DDR4 3000MHz C15 XMP 2.0
MSI Geforce 2060 Super

The nifty Windows 11 tool Ge0force linked to says...

wgFvA9U.jpeg


I was thinking about buying a Samsung 980 NVME drive, Pro version looks nice but pricier (is it needed ?). I suppose it would solve the DirectStorage compatibility thing, and be a good opportunity to do clean install with an UEFI format. I'm not clear about my MB being secure boot ready though.
I seem to vaguely recall recall horror stories several years ago when NVME were new, overheating mostly. And my PC is not the chillest, it can go in the 70c when gaming.

So what says you, Meta ? Is this doable ? Will I bask in the glory of a new super fast drive and enjoy a Windows version that doesn't subtly whisper to me
REBUILD ICON CACHE, MOTHERFUCKER !
every other day ?
Well, let's not get carried away :confounded-face:

Every input welcome ! And if it is not too much to ask, I would love your opinion on this ISee
Click to expand...

I have the same issue as you have with bios and secure boot. I've decided to wait a while before taking any action. Windows 11 is still in development so anything can change, and it's not a good idea to install it right after release anyway. Let's just wait and see how other people solve these issues, there will be plenty of guides and vids about this matter when Windows 11 is officially released.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rogue Agent, EdwardTivrusky and Li Kao
Ge0force said:
I have the same issue as you have with bios and secure boot. I've decided to wait a while before taking any action. Windows 11 is still in development so anything can change, and it's not a good idea to install it right after release anyway. Let's just wait and see how other people solve these issues, there will be plenty of guides and vids about this matter when Windows 11 is officially released.
Click to expand...
You missed the part where I say I'm dumb :coffee-blob:
Shiny new thingy... I'm game ! To be fair other than the general lack of polish of Win 10 that drives me up the wall, I never had issues with it.

NarohDethan said:
I'm really in the mood for a mini ITX build 👀
Click to expand...
Mmh, without going Mini-ITX, I'm pretty tempted to go full SSD for the silence. But SSD are still not cheap enough for me to replace 5 To :face-with-cold-sweat:
 
Li Kao said:
You missed the part where I say I'm dumb :coffee-blob:
Shiny new thingy... I'm game ! To be fair other than the general lack of polish of Win 10 that drives me up the wall, I never had issues with it.


Mmh, without going Mini-ITX, I'm pretty tempted to go full SSD for the silence. But SSD are still not cheap enough for me to replace 5 To :face-with-cold-sweat:
Click to expand...
This is the list my current parts I'm planning
 
  • Like
Reactions: Li Kao
The Samsung 980 PRO page on Amazon specify a working temp up to 70c :thinking-blob:
Not those fucking fan issues again...

edit -
JESUS H. CHRIST, the super fast 980 Pro is PCIe 4.0 and my motherboard only does 3.0
 
Last edited:
BIOS to UEFI should just be a switch you select in the options and shouldn't mess anything up.
Secure Boot is enabled in the BIOS and then in Windows using tpm.msc.

I'd avoid Windows 11 for a while, don't go beta testing the OS as it will drive you up the wall if you have issues. Also, it will take a while before Windows 11 is proper shiny anyway. At the moment it's a couple of incremental changes to windows 10 and a new set of GUI libraries over the top of it.

As far as i can remember the 980 NVMe will run with PCIe 3.0 just not as quickly. They will also be designed to cope with running hot too so that shouldn't be too much of an issue. Where and how are you measuring your 70c temps in your machine?

My advice is to hold up and let other people test this stuff out while you look at prices of hardware and your options etc.
 
  • Love
Reactions: Li Kao
Hmm, it seems there is a way to make afterburner log temp history. I hope that includes peaks and not just avg.
You are right, I should take a good look at my actual cpu and gpu temp under load these days.
 
So I played Control for a long moment. 1440p DLSS + RT HIGH on my little 2060 Super. I suppose it is taxing, as I am regularly at 50fps or so.
Max GPU temp 74c
Max Temp CPU 84c

:face-with-open-mouth-and-cold-sweat:
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: NarohDethan
Ok, after looking into it some more, my boot drive is indeed MBR and I should convert it. With seemingly no data loss, cool.
Then again I'm shitting brick, is my vanilla B450 Tomahawk 100% UEFI compatible.
 
Yes, there's a command you can run that converts your drive from MBR to GPT and it shouldn't cause any issues.
I'm off to the shop before my stream starts but i'll dig out an article later on but "Windows MBR to GPT" should get you some results.

Here you go, search web for "Windows 10 MBR to GPT" for example...
www.thewindowsclub.com

How to Convert MBR to GPT without Data Loss in Windows 11/10

Learn how to convert MBR to GPT disk without data loss in Windows 11/10, using Diskpart, Gptgen, or AOMEI Partition Assistant. MBR disks support only 4 partition tables.
www.thewindowsclub.com www.thewindowsclub.com
 
  • Love
Reactions: Li Kao
GrrImAFridge talked some sense into me. I should do a backup first or buy a new ssd. Reasonable sucks.
With all the data spread everywhere by each app, I have no idea how to even be sure I do a good backup.
 
I would have told you to do that as well but i need my milkshake and it slipped my mind.
All the articles will highly suggest you do it too and knowing your luck, yeah, backup your data on your OS drive. Profile, Documents etc and make sure you have the serial numbers or registration keys for any apps you have installed on the machine. Just to be safe. Oh and your Windows Key if you had one.

Shop time!
 
  • This!
  • Love
Reactions: C-Dub and Li Kao
I'm finally getting rid of my ultrawide. Between generally mediocre game compatibility and, recently, some sort of Nvidia driver/LG TV firmware update, I could no longer stream from my living room PC in 2560x1080 to my office PC hooked up to ultrawide. And if there's one thing I hate, it's having pillars on either side.

So I'm back to 16:9. I'm a little disappointed that I can't continue to enjoy ultrawide, but I am looking forward to having the screen real estate of a 16:9 28 inch 4K monitor soon.

I did a 4K test stream today and my home network can handle the required bitrate perfectly fine. I actually remember, about 13-14 years ago I had a 27 inch TV as my, well, main TV. It was 720p. I'm interested to see how a larger monitor fits on my desk.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pommes and Li Kao
My PC is emitting the most annoying of buzzing. And when I lay my arm on the desk or push under it with my knee it stops.
I suspect some fan. I'm not amused.
 
Li Kao said:
My PC is emitting the most annoying of buzzing. And when I lay my arm on the desk or push under it with my knee it stops.
I suspect some fan. I'm not amused.
Click to expand...
That sounds like it could be anything from a fan to hdd to gpu causing vibrations in the case.
I've been dealing with a lot of that lately. Next time I open the case up I'm probably going recheck every single screw, I'm guessing something was left a little loose when I converted my case from standard to "storage mode" or whatever they call that in the Meshify 2.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Li Kao
I'm looking for a new case. My current one is a massive cube, i think its actually a server case or something. Looking to shrink it down a bit. I really like having the mobo horizontal and so have been looking at horizontal cases like media player type ones. So far the SilverStone Grandia GD09 is the best one ive seen
but im not sure if my 3090 FE will fit in it (description says will fit cards up to 12.2in, the 3090 is 12.3!)

Anyone have a recommendation for a cube/box case that'll take the card?
 
The GD09 is a great case, but your card might be really pushing up against the front of the case.

Are you looking to stay atx or go smaller?
 
gabbo said:
You might want to look into the Cooler Master HAF XB EVO as an alternative to the GD09
Click to expand...

Cor thats a chunky one, im looking for something smaller to maybe fit in the cabinet under my tele. Also would prefer something a bit sleeker as my current case is massive. Im thinking the GDo9 is about as close as ill get.
 
So I've got my monitor upgrade. Went for a cheap 4K monitor as it's mostly for work, so a high quality monitor isn't strictly necessary.

And... wow. I've gone from a 25 inch 2560x1080 ultrawide to a 28 inch 3840x2160 16:9, and the best way to describe it is the monitor is the same width, but the height has increased. And all the text is sharper.

I was mildly concerned my office PC's Intel Xe wouldn't be able to handle 4K anything (including the desktop), but I'm tryping this message on it now and I've tried a test stream of Moonlight to from my living room PC, over powerline adapters, to this display and it's pretty much flawless 60fps.

I've basically doubled my screen real estate on the vertical axis while sharpening all my text. And now when I stream a game, I don't have black bars anymore. Consider me happy.

While I've read it should work, I need to test my work Surface Pro with it next. Hopefully I'm able to use the full 4K resolution. And hopefully it overworks this thing, it breaks, and I get one of the HP EliteBooks they're replacing all our Pros with sooner rather than later. 🙈
 
  • Comfy
Reactions: Parsnip
I think I have potentially found the main culprit to my case vibration problems, and at least found the main thing that vibrates.
The potential culprit is my gpu, more specifically the pci-e power cables that rest against the side panel and I think that might be where the transfer starts. I took the side panel out today as the case was vibrating, it stopped and hasn't started again. Of course the vibration could be starting elsewhere and the side panel was just the main booster and taking it out silences it. But I have a good feeling about the cables.

But I don't really have a good solution to the issue. I'm using a single cable that has two plus at the end so I have to bend it so it goes into both of the power slots, and I can't really work around that. There's nowhere else for that piece of cable to go. Ic ould bend the cable downwards even more but it would probably just bounce back shortly.
So the only real solution I can think of is to switch to 2 cables so I don't have to do the bendy thing at all.

Maybe I'll do that tomorrow.
 
After much consideration (as in YOLO) and because I'm a bitch to new version of windows, I followed the WindowsCentral guide to convert my MBR drive to GPT. And well, one error excepted it went remarkably well and fast. You basically put 2 commands, boot, change your bios setup to UEFI and voila.

Now I'm Windows 11 compatible :cat-pizza-blob:

The error ? At this step of the guide...
mbr2gpt-convert-windows-10.jpg


I obtained the same result but with two added lines toward the end :
Call WinReReapir to repair WinRe
MBR2GPT: Failed to update ReAgent.xml, please try to manually disable and enable WinRe
Click to expand...

If somebody could share some light on this error, I would be reassured. But other than that, yeah, drive is in GPT and boot is UEFI, alright.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pommes
Li Kao said:
After much consideration (as in YOLO) and because I'm a bitch to new version of windows, I followed the WindowsCentral guide to convert my MBR drive to GPT. And well, one error excepted it went remarkably well and fast. You basically put 2 commands, boot, change your bios setup to UEFI and voila.

Now I'm Windows 11 compatible :cat-pizza-blob:

The error ? At this step of the guide...
mbr2gpt-convert-windows-10.jpg


I obtained the same result but with two added lines toward the end :


If somebody could share some light on this error, I would be reassured. But other than that, yeah, drive is in GPT and boot is UEFI, alright.
Click to expand...
From How to Use and Repair Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) on Windows 10? | Windows OS Hub .

If you converted the disk partition table from MBR to GPT using the MBR2GPT tool, you may encounter the error:
MBR2GPT: Failed to update ReAgent.xml, please try to manually disable and enable WinRE.
To fix, you need to reboot and manually disable and enable WinRE.

How to Manually Enable or Disable Windows Recovery Environment in Windows 10?

Try to disable and enable WinRE on your computer by running the following commands in the elevated command prompt:
reagentc /disable
reagentc /enable

reagentc-enable.jpg
 
  • Love
Reactions: Li Kao
Cheers, I followed the guide and... it worked ? I mean I could successfully disable and enable it again. Would be cool to have a dumbproof command to ask if everything is ok, but eh.
 
Joe Spangle said:
Whats the best GPU in the £200-£400 range these days?
Click to expand...
GTX 1660 Ti and Super come in at around £400. RTX 3060 is about £50-100 more. The market is weird and sucks right now and you’ll be ripped off less by paying more than looking at the sub-£400 range.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Joe Spangle
I'm running into a very weird issue.
I got an USB-C dock recently where all my stuff is plugged in, which I can then plug into work laptop or desktop based on what I need.
It worked perfectly for a good while but recently the Dock seems to constantly disconnect and reconnect very often, with things obviously not responding during that. I don't recall changing anything software or hardware wise, it just start happening out of nowhere.
The weird thing is that this happens only when I'm just browsing the net or doing other low effort stuff. While it works perfectly whenever I'm playing a game. Like it is some sort of reverse load issue where it works fine when the machine is under load, but not when there's nothing going on.
Does anyone have any ideas what it could be?
 
Ascheroth said:
I'm running into a very weird issue.
I got an USB-C dock recently where all my stuff is plugged in, which I can then plug into work laptop or desktop based on what I need.
It worked perfectly for a good while but recently the Dock seems to constantly disconnect and reconnect very often, with things obviously not responding during that. I don't recall changing anything software or hardware wise, it just start happening out of nowhere.
The weird thing is that this happens only when I'm just browsing the net or doing other low effort stuff. While it works perfectly whenever I'm playing a game. Like it is some sort of reverse load issue where it works fine when the machine is under load, but not when there's nothing going on.
Does anyone have any ideas what it could be?
Click to expand...
Is the Dock actively powered, meaning it has its own power adaptor, or does it just run entirely over USB-C? With docks that aren't actively powered you will at some point have problems, as you increase the number of devices it's supposed to be charging/powering.
It seems like your PC lowers the power output when not under load. Seems unusual.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ascheroth
Mivey said:
Is the Dock actively powered, meaning it has its own power adaptor, or does it just run entirely over USB-C? It seems like your PC lowers the power output when not under load.
Click to expand...
It's actively powered, which is why I don't understand it, lol.
I guess I'll look through the power plans tomorrow and see if I can find anything.
 
Ascheroth said:
Does anyone have any ideas what it could be?
Click to expand...

I have a similar issue in my post here where my PSU is on its way out so all the power rails aren't outputting their optimal voltage. So it stuffed almost everything that needs power, including USB. Perhaps check with HWMonitor if the USB ports are outputting 5v?

These things are pretty good too.

MakerHawk USB Power Meter, TC66 USB Tester Bluetooth Type C USB Voltage Meter and Current Tester, 0.96 Inch IPS Color LCD Display Power Tester Multimeter PD Ammeter Voltmeter QC 2.0 3.0 : Amazon.com.au: Home Improvement

MakerHawk USB Power Meter, TC66 USB Tester Bluetooth Type C USB Voltage Meter and Current Tester, 0.96 Inch IPS Color LCD Display Power Tester Multimeter PD Ammeter Voltmeter QC 2.0 3.0 : Amazon.com.au: Home Improvement
www.amazon.com.au
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ascheroth
Incidentally, I've thinking about getting a usb c hub to plug all my wireless shit in, to clear up some of the cable mess that's behind my desk. Any recommendations? Most of them seem to come with a short cable for laptop use I guess, so I would either need to find one with a longer cable or just grab an extension cable too.
 
Hm. Does complaining on the internet also work for software/hardware stuff?
I did absolutely nothing, yet today everything is working fine :thinking-face:
knocks on wood
 
  • Like
Reactions: xinek
I'm already on the latest nvidia driver so could I just put the card in and reinstall the driver?
 
didamangi said:


Very thicc boi. 4 slot gpu.
Click to expand...

Not surprising with that insane heatsink, plus what are probably the best fans in the market. Of course, it doesn't turn the thing into a 4 slot monster GPU, so that's the "price" you pay for it.

Given that I like having relatively large cases, like Define R6, I could see myself buying something like this. Hope Asus and Noctua keep this insane design alive for future GPUs too.
 
1184 More Posts...
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom