|OT| The PC Hardware Thread -- Buy/Upgrade/Ask/Answer
- Thread starter Durante
- Start date
That video is accurate. Buying a PC these days is super expensive but out of all the expensive things that I bought, I was most annoyed with the motherboard situation when I built mine a few months ago. The floor price on motherboards has been jacked up immensely. My new motherboard cost 2.5x times what I paid for my old one about 4 years ago. It cost more than the actual CPU itself. And what sucks is that when you start going down the stack you see that they are making insane compromises on the cheaper variants. For example, mid range boards a few years ago used to have 4-6 SATA ports. Now you need to get to the very top end to get that many. I know SATA ports are less useful now than they used to be but it's not a dead standard or anything. Cannot believe how stingy mobo manufacturers are with some of these things. Lower priced boards will get you fewer connectivity ports with inferior specs just because.
Everyone always talks about how GPU and CPU prices are shooting up but nobody really focuses on the situation with motherboards. The price gouging is just as bad as any of those components IMO.
Everyone always talks about how GPU and CPU prices are shooting up but nobody really focuses on the situation with motherboards. The price gouging is just as bad as any of those components IMO.
I guess I need to start looking at a new mouse, scroll wheel on my G603 started making a weird extra noise at every step and after using it a bit like that, it simply lost all resistance and the wheel stopped registering. Luckily I have a second identical mouse just sitting here so I'm not completely helpless, but in that one the wheel's a bit bad too, it doesn't register every scroll step and feels off. Plus I've always had the issue with these two where sometimes the cursor just jumps in the upper corner all of a sudden and I never was able to verify if it was an issue with wireless interference or what. I thought about opening up one of them and seeing if I could fix it, but I really really dislike it when they put the screws under the mouse feet, even though you can put the feet back and the adhesive does still kind of hold them in place, it's never as good anymore. So I don't think I'm going to bother.
If I want to keep using eneloops my options on Logitech Gaming side appear to be quite limited. G305 seems to be the only one that's still getting made.
Maybe I need to branch out of Logitech though, given my general issues with this mouse. Maybe Deathadder V2 X Hyperspeed, that looks like it would fit with my grip very well.
If I want to keep using eneloops my options on Logitech Gaming side appear to be quite limited. G305 seems to be the only one that's still getting made.
Maybe I need to branch out of Logitech though, given my general issues with this mouse. Maybe Deathadder V2 X Hyperspeed, that looks like it would fit with my grip very well.
I'm constantly racking my mind, if I want to upgrade my current monitor (27" 1080p144 GSync VA panel) to one of the new monitors using LG's 27" 240Hz OLED panels.
On one hand, it's OLED, so it will look lovely, especially for movie playback, which seems to be what I mostly do on the computer these days (SteamDeck represent)
On the other, it's OLED, so I'll most likely have Total Commander burned in in half a year or so.
On one hand, it's OLED, so it will look lovely, especially for movie playback, which seems to be what I mostly do on the computer these days (SteamDeck represent)
On the other, it's OLED, so I'll most likely have Total Commander burned in in half a year or so.
Trying to put a new SSD in my PC with Windows11. Isn't there a way to just have it as a new shoved drive without this "storage spaces" crap? My 4 other drives don't have any such weird configuration they're just drives but I can't find a way to add this new drive without going through that stuff. Help?
Edit: never mind, with doing crap removing the hardware in device manager or whatever I managed to make it show up as unallocated space in Disk Management view and from there added it as a simple volume as normal and not an assigned Storage Space or whatever that stuff does now.
So what games benefit the most from SSD to install a few on it now that I have some more space outside my tiny boot OS SSD (it's only 500GB though)? Whether in having crazy bad load times otherwise or actual game performance effects due to streaming assets or whatever?
Edit: never mind, with doing crap removing the hardware in device manager or whatever I managed to make it show up as unallocated space in Disk Management view and from there added it as a simple volume as normal and not an assigned Storage Space or whatever that stuff does now.
So what games benefit the most from SSD to install a few on it now that I have some more space outside my tiny boot OS SSD (it's only 500GB though)? Whether in having crazy bad load times otherwise or actual game performance effects due to streaming assets or whatever?
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Forspoken uses DirectStorage. The demo might be worth checking out?
But any big AAA for PS4 or newer is going to have great loading times with a SSD.
I just can't even think what to transfer to SSD from the games I already have. Like I used to think I might need SSD for RE4 cos it stuttered all over the place but it no longer does, patches and/or cleaning my PC so it runs better/cooler fixed it (and things like texture streaming only rely on VRAM according to the menu anyway). Returnal still does a bit but I'm not sure it's because it's on HDD. Monster Hunter Rise does take a bit to start up but I think it's mostly cos it checks/redoes shader compilation every time or something, but I don't play it often enough for that to be an issue nowadays. Etc.
So basically what requires an SSD to function properly, other than Star Citizen?
So basically what requires an SSD to function properly, other than Star Citizen?
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Wouldn't 4:3 work even better on an OLED? You'd have black bars on sides of the screen = turned off pixesl = no chance of burning in for them,
4:3 on a 16:9 OLED looks way better than 4:3 on a regular 16:9 screen but the problem with burn in in this case is the pixels within the 4:3 window seeing heavier use and OLED pixels gradually wear down with use. The risk is after a year? 2 years? 3 years? you get very visible lines along those 4:3 borders when displaying 16:9 content where the center looks different than the sides.
Grabbed a 4080 to go in my HTPC. Going to hold off on a C2 OLED for now.
Planning to recycle my 3080 into my new office PC.
Grabbed a 5600X, 32GB RAM and a 1TB NVMe. Should be fun for messing about with Stable Diffusion, playing Civ VI (and eventually VII), and learning programming on.
Planning to recycle my 3080 into my new office PC.
Grabbed a 5600X, 32GB RAM and a 1TB NVMe. Should be fun for messing about with Stable Diffusion, playing Civ VI (and eventually VII), and learning programming on.
Suggests for moderately priced monitor for gaming laptop and PS4?
(buying to use for 2-3 years before I upgrade to full PC. I don't know much about monitor tech)
(buying to use for 2-3 years before I upgrade to full PC. I don't know much about monitor tech)
- 1080p (up for debate)
- Has the tech that adjusts with refresh rate of PS4 so that there is no ghosting
- Enough size so that PS4 image quality doesn't get blurry
- Decent colors and sharpness.
If you want decent IQ with a 1080p screen, you actually want it to be small, I'd say 24 inch or less. The more you blow it up, the blockier it will look.
I think with 1080p at this point, you don't have to worry about price. Maybe that it will be hard to get modern ones, with VRR support. Also VRR isn't about ghosting, it's to avoid screen tearing if you have framedrops and to try to even out framepacing, though it's not magic, you'll still notice if the game goes up and down in framerate like crazy.
Also, PS4 doesn't support Freesync or VRR, so it's kind of a moot point anyway.
The 1080p monitor space is kind of saturated with a lot of displays that PS4 will never make use of. 1080p is popular in the eSports area so high framerates are really the main draw of a 1080p screen, and since PS4 is capped at 60hz you're not going to get the most out of it.
Frankly, it's better to look at cheaper monitors in the £100-£200 price range since those tend to be 60-75hz displays at 24 inches. If you're happy at 21 inch you can probably get a display in the £90-£150 range, but 21 inch displays tend to be for office use so I'd recommend against it or you'll be playing in washed out colours and run the risk of ghosting because no one gives a fuck at that size.
Find one that has a low response time, and maybe some sort of HDR support if you're feeling fancy. Getting a mid-range 1080p screen (so 144hz or higher) will be largely wasted on PS4, unless you also have a PC or console (Xbox One/Series, or PS5) capable of playing games at higher framerates hooked up to it or you're planning to get one of those during your intended life of the display.
But if all you're doing is getting a stepping-stone display to fill a gap before you get a higher-end one, I'd rather save money than buy features you'll never get to appreciate.
What I'd do is make a shortlist (pick about 4-5 in the same price range) and look up reviews or check out Rtings to see if they've tested it, and go from there.
In short, at 60hz what you're looking for is low input lag and low response time mainly. Both of these are very possible without you spending a lot of money.
The 1080p monitor space is kind of saturated with a lot of displays that PS4 will never make use of. 1080p is popular in the eSports area so high framerates are really the main draw of a 1080p screen, and since PS4 is capped at 60hz you're not going to get the most out of it.
Frankly, it's better to look at cheaper monitors in the £100-£200 price range since those tend to be 60-75hz displays at 24 inches. If you're happy at 21 inch you can probably get a display in the £90-£150 range, but 21 inch displays tend to be for office use so I'd recommend against it or you'll be playing in washed out colours and run the risk of ghosting because no one gives a fuck at that size.
Find one that has a low response time, and maybe some sort of HDR support if you're feeling fancy. Getting a mid-range 1080p screen (so 144hz or higher) will be largely wasted on PS4, unless you also have a PC or console (Xbox One/Series, or PS5) capable of playing games at higher framerates hooked up to it or you're planning to get one of those during your intended life of the display.
But if all you're doing is getting a stepping-stone display to fill a gap before you get a higher-end one, I'd rather save money than buy features you'll never get to appreciate.
What I'd do is make a shortlist (pick about 4-5 in the same price range) and look up reviews or check out Rtings to see if they've tested it, and go from there.
In short, at 60hz what you're looking for is low input lag and low response time mainly. Both of these are very possible without you spending a lot of money.
Will be going for 24' then. I don't wont the image quality to get too blurry or colors to wash out.
Aim is to get a stop gap monitor until I upgrade to a full PC. I needed one for the new PS4 slim and gaming laptop.
I'm fine with little more input time as long as games look good in motion. What criteria should I be looking for when browsing Amazon?
Also Should I get a G-sync/Free-Sync monitor?
EDIT - A lot of gaming monitors on Indian Amazon right now are well above 60Hz, some are jumping straight to 165 Hz
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My 4070 FE (660 € 
) arrived today, I will install it Friday when I have my first week off in nearly half a year.
I am still not happy with this purchase (price and performance) but what can you do nowadays?
I looked up my past purchases (970 350€, 2070 530€), so at least the price did not increase as much this time... That's good, right?
) arrived today, I will install it Friday when I have my first week off in nearly half a year.I am still not happy with this purchase (price and performance) but what can you do nowadays?
I looked up my past purchases (970 350€, 2070 530€), so at least the price did not increase as much this time... That's good, right?
Got myself a Gigabyte G24F 2.
I was initially going for lower frequency ones but they were somehow as expensive as this in one India. Cheaper ones were office ones.
Oh well, I can play indie games at 160 hz now lol.
I was initially going for lower frequency ones but they were somehow as expensive as this in one India. Cheaper ones were office ones.
Oh well, I can play indie games at 160 hz now lol.
Added a third nvme to my aging z390 setup because why not? Shouldn't be surprised but it just works, no fuss.
Wouldn't recommend that ssd cooler though, I have to pry the metal clips with pliers to get it to lock, otherwise the heatsink just come loose, although the temperatures are good, dropped ~15C on load.
Will be upgrading my nephew pc this weekend as well. Decade old 4th gen i5 intel and rx 580 to a 5600 and 6700 xt. Will post pics
Wouldn't recommend that ssd cooler though, I have to pry the metal clips with pliers to get it to lock, otherwise the heatsink just come loose, although the temperatures are good, dropped ~15C on load.
Will be upgrading my nephew pc this weekend as well. Decade old 4th gen i5 intel and rx 580 to a 5600 and 6700 xt. Will post pics
OP
- Thread Starter
- #3,375
The whole M.2 ssd cooling situation is a bit messed up. There are a ton of potential mounting incompatibilites between different mainboard clearances and SSD thicknesses (esp. single- or dual-sided.
I have 4 NVME SSDs on my mainboard, but 2 don't have an heatsinks at all due to this reason (and might actually throttle a bit on the very rare occassion that I have a sustained load). I have decent airflow throughout the case though.
I have 4 NVME SSDs on my mainboard, but 2 don't have an heatsinks at all due to this reason (and might actually throttle a bit on the very rare occassion that I have a sustained load). I have decent airflow throughout the case though.
I kind of hate the M.2 spec. Sure it has its advantages and you could use riser cables to plop the drives somewhere that's not as crowded as your mainboard or go with pci-e expansion cards, but part of me kind of wishes something similar to U.2 would have come to the consumer space instead. Or really just anything that's more flexible by design. Like even if you have a riser cable and put the drive somewhere that's more easily accessible than under your 3 slot gpu, I don't think M.2 supports hot swapping drives for example. It's just not designed for that. And I don't even need hot swapping, it's just something I'm bummed about not being an option in M.2.
It seems like the server and consumer space diverged in these specs and it kind of sucks I think.
I've been buying NAS drives as my main bulk storage for ages because the sata connector is universal and you typically get 5 year warranty with those drives, but if in the future we get some new mass storage media that's speedy enough to need a faster connection than sata can provide and cheaper or just cheap enough that it finally replaces the old magnetic platter drives, maybe I can't buy the extended warranty drives anymore for home NAS or my PC or whatever because the connector spec isn't the same across the board.
Maybe I'm just grumpy for nothing.
It seems like the server and consumer space diverged in these specs and it kind of sucks I think.
I've been buying NAS drives as my main bulk storage for ages because the sata connector is universal and you typically get 5 year warranty with those drives, but if in the future we get some new mass storage media that's speedy enough to need a faster connection than sata can provide and cheaper or just cheap enough that it finally replaces the old magnetic platter drives, maybe I can't buy the extended warranty drives anymore for home NAS or my PC or whatever because the connector spec isn't the same across the board.
Maybe I'm just grumpy for nothing.
The upgrade for my nephew is done. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/6msptn + Cooler Master GM238-FFS monitor.
Minor undervolt on cpu (which is also an overclock) and gpu. 3DMark and Cinebench scores all where it should be, OCCT stability test 30 minutes passed.
Just gotta play some games to make sure it's all good. Got TLoU on steam for free with the GPU as well, so that's nice.
For a decade old case, it's not that bad for temps since it's one of the few cases back then to have a mesh front, CPU just hitting 60C on OCCT test and the GPU 70C when gaming. I reused the old cooler since it's pretty nice, compact, not loud and the performance is better than the stock cooler.
Before (i5 4570 and a used Rx 580)
After:
As for the parts:
The MVP for this build:
Minor undervolt on cpu (which is also an overclock) and gpu. 3DMark and Cinebench scores all where it should be, OCCT stability test 30 minutes passed.
Just gotta play some games to make sure it's all good. Got TLoU on steam for free with the GPU as well, so that's nice.
For a decade old case, it's not that bad for temps since it's one of the few cases back then to have a mesh front, CPU just hitting 60C on OCCT test and the GPU 70C when gaming. I reused the old cooler since it's pretty nice, compact, not loud and the performance is better than the stock cooler.
Before (i5 4570 and a used Rx 580)
After:
s
As for the parts:
- Why not AM5? He's on a strict budget, so either he gets 5600 + 6700 xt, or 7600 + 1650 4gb.
- The asrock motherboard is really good for the price IMO. For $100 you get a nice arrangement of usb ports, including type c. Two usb 3.0 front panel ports. Realtek 1200 codec. Decent vrm that can handle 5800x3d, one m.2 heatsink.
- This Cooler Master monitor is pretty nice as well. Good IPS colors, dynamic overdrive works great, freesync works great, srgb profile works great. 2xhdmi and 2xdp ports and 3 years warranty. It's $30 cheaper than the average 1080p 144=165hz in my country as well. Only negative I can think of is the basic stand.
- The Asrock 6700 XT has pretty quiet fans and decent temps, but unfortunately this one has coil whine. Luckily my nephew shove his pc on the floor like a heathen so that won't be a problem.
- I don't want that RGB ram but unfortunately the better performing RAM I wanted is out of stock, oh well, just a different of 1 CL timing.
- The asrock motherboard is really good for the price IMO. For $100 you get a nice arrangement of usb ports, including type c. Two usb 3.0 front panel ports. Realtek 1200 codec. Decent vrm that can handle 5800x3d, one m.2 heatsink.
- This Cooler Master monitor is pretty nice as well. Good IPS colors, dynamic overdrive works great, freesync works great, srgb profile works great. 2xhdmi and 2xdp ports and 3 years warranty. It's $30 cheaper than the average 1080p 144=165hz in my country as well. Only negative I can think of is the basic stand.
- The Asrock 6700 XT has pretty quiet fans and decent temps, but unfortunately this one has coil whine. Luckily my nephew shove his pc on the floor like a heathen so that won't be a problem.
- I don't want that RGB ram but unfortunately the better performing RAM I wanted is out of stock, oh well, just a different of 1 CL timing.
The MVP for this build:
That's 3dmark Fire Strike.
The remote thing is a power bank plus a flexible usb led light. Like this one here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001166099163.html
The bane of my existence. The toolless design is great in theory, but mounting a heat sink is a nightmare because the clearance is very tight, and we can't replace the plastic latch with a screw to make things easier.
At this point I need to start considering a new PC build. These days I use computing for AI first, gaming second, but my current PC is an i9-9900k + 32GB RAM, and my mobo has little support for 64GB and none above that.
My plan is to build a PC, maybe this year, but probably 1 year from now, with at least 64GB RAM. There are already AI things I cannot do because of my limited memory.
I haven't paid too much attention to goings-on in hardware but things haven't seemed too great from an outsider perspective.
The latest gen of CPUs don't seem that great, with Intel requiring Windows 11 for heterogeneous cores (I want to avoid Win 11 to not botch VR support, last I heard Win 11 was terrible with VR), and AMD just being a bit flat? It also seems like the uplift per core is <50% over a 9900K, is that accurate? CPUs just seem blazing hot these days with tons of power consumption, but if my CPU is going to be a workhorse it probably needs to be higher end...
Now gamers haven't flocked to DDR5, but I was wondering if that extra bandwidth might be crucial going forward with AI. It's already critical but I haven't seen any tests of DDR4 vs DDR5 for CPU inference. I don't suppose anyone knows anything about that?
I predominantly use my 3090's 24GB VRAM, but if Nvidia doesn't budge with VRAM the industry (and myself) may creep towards CPU inference. Frankly Apple starts looking pretty good in this space if Nvidia can't compete. I won't be buying a new 40x0 series GPU unless they release a 48GB model Titan for ~$2000 or less. Once you hit $3000 you might as well get a professional GPU for 48GB... and that's more than I'd like to pay.
It just seems like mobos are all really expensive these days? I don't want an Asus for ethical reasons, and my final Asus mobo had terrible BIOS support. My ASRock board has completely destroyed Asus in terms of quality in all respects, but I'm willing to go with any board other than Asus.
I have an extra EVGA 850W PSU sitting around, but I'm thinking I need to go higher than that for future GPUs, right? We're talking 2025+ GPUs. Is 1200W the most you can go on 110V? Is that practical? I've lost a bit of trust with EVGA with a recent PSU RMA I completed, so I'll need to go a different brand if I buy something.
I'm probably going to lean a bit harder into NVMe storage, I can now fill 2TB NVMe + 4TB of SSDs + most of 13TB HDD space, which maxes out my current drives capacity. Probably will aim for 4TB NVMe + ~8TB SSD & rest in HDD...
Finally, while I've always loved Fractal Design Refine cases, I'm the type of person who downclocks everything so I can get things as quiet as possible. I kind of expect that any open air case will be perceivably louder. I'm worried that the same is true when using an AIO cooler since the radiator will be mounted on the top, directly where I can hear it. As opposed to case fans having layers of noise-proofing... Does anyone have thoughts or experience on that?
I think I'd be willing to pay up to ~$3000 without a GPU. I'm not LOOKING to spend that much, but it just seems like I have really high needs.
One last question, is AIO cooling really 'required' minimum these days for high end CPUs? I remember people saying the same when the 9900K came out but that hasn't been the case in actuality.
My plan is to build a PC, maybe this year, but probably 1 year from now, with at least 64GB RAM. There are already AI things I cannot do because of my limited memory.
I haven't paid too much attention to goings-on in hardware but things haven't seemed too great from an outsider perspective.
The latest gen of CPUs don't seem that great, with Intel requiring Windows 11 for heterogeneous cores (I want to avoid Win 11 to not botch VR support, last I heard Win 11 was terrible with VR), and AMD just being a bit flat? It also seems like the uplift per core is <50% over a 9900K, is that accurate? CPUs just seem blazing hot these days with tons of power consumption, but if my CPU is going to be a workhorse it probably needs to be higher end...
Now gamers haven't flocked to DDR5, but I was wondering if that extra bandwidth might be crucial going forward with AI. It's already critical but I haven't seen any tests of DDR4 vs DDR5 for CPU inference. I don't suppose anyone knows anything about that?
I predominantly use my 3090's 24GB VRAM, but if Nvidia doesn't budge with VRAM the industry (and myself) may creep towards CPU inference. Frankly Apple starts looking pretty good in this space if Nvidia can't compete. I won't be buying a new 40x0 series GPU unless they release a 48GB model Titan for ~$2000 or less. Once you hit $3000 you might as well get a professional GPU for 48GB... and that's more than I'd like to pay.
It just seems like mobos are all really expensive these days? I don't want an Asus for ethical reasons, and my final Asus mobo had terrible BIOS support. My ASRock board has completely destroyed Asus in terms of quality in all respects, but I'm willing to go with any board other than Asus.
I have an extra EVGA 850W PSU sitting around, but I'm thinking I need to go higher than that for future GPUs, right? We're talking 2025+ GPUs. Is 1200W the most you can go on 110V? Is that practical? I've lost a bit of trust with EVGA with a recent PSU RMA I completed, so I'll need to go a different brand if I buy something.
I'm probably going to lean a bit harder into NVMe storage, I can now fill 2TB NVMe + 4TB of SSDs + most of 13TB HDD space, which maxes out my current drives capacity. Probably will aim for 4TB NVMe + ~8TB SSD & rest in HDD...
Finally, while I've always loved Fractal Design Refine cases, I'm the type of person who downclocks everything so I can get things as quiet as possible. I kind of expect that any open air case will be perceivably louder. I'm worried that the same is true when using an AIO cooler since the radiator will be mounted on the top, directly where I can hear it. As opposed to case fans having layers of noise-proofing... Does anyone have thoughts or experience on that?
I think I'd be willing to pay up to ~$3000 without a GPU. I'm not LOOKING to spend that much, but it just seems like I have really high needs.
One last question, is AIO cooling really 'required' minimum these days for high end CPUs? I remember people saying the same when the 9900K came out but that hasn't been the case in actuality.
Not to draw from low-G’s question, but I have a more broad/generic one of my own.
I’ve found myself in possession of a spare Micro-ATX B550 motherboard, along with a spare mATX case and 500w PSU.
I’m considering a project. Do you guys have any suggestions? I’ve already got a home server (Intel 11400, 32gb 3200mhz RAM), and I’ve got a PC for my office (5600X, 16gb 3200mhz RAM, RTX 3080) and a living room desktop (5800X, 32gb 3600mhz RAM, RTX 4080).
I’ve considered making a low-ish power “streaming only”computer that will run Linux (possibly ChimeraOS or HoloISO until SteamOS 3 releases) that I can use to stream 800p games that don’t work so well on Steam Deck, but it seems a bit much to spend on a handful of edge cases. For reasons I won’t go into here, streaming from the office or living room PC is not feasible.
Anyone done fun little projects with spare parts before?
NVMe is great. Not sure if there are any AI benefits, but newer “heavy” AAA games like Cyberpunk 2077 and newer really benefit from the faster speeds. I definitely recommend a good NVMe for modern games, and as a 8tb SATA SSD owner myself, having that kind of insane storage to store all your older games on is great. Definitely worth it if you like to have your games immediately available like I do.
As someone who switched from a Fractal Design Refine case to Meshify C, I personally found the increased noise a small trade off for the better cooling.
I think as far as whether AIO is necessary, I think the consensus is not in open air. Provided you’ve got good airflow in your case a good tower cooler will more than do the job. But if you’re using a silent case that has limited airflow then an AIO is, in my view, a much better option. You’ll still get more noise as you‘ll need to mount it to the top of the case versus the front, and that means using the alternate AIO top for the silent case that allows air in (and noise to escape). If you try to fan cool a modern CPU in a silent case you’re basically turning the inside of your PC into a roasting tin.
I stuck an AIO in my Meshify C living room gaming PC and the AIO is noisiest at boot. Once I’m in game I hear the GPU (4080) more than the AIO, frankly.
I’ve found myself in possession of a spare Micro-ATX B550 motherboard, along with a spare mATX case and 500w PSU.
I’m considering a project. Do you guys have any suggestions? I’ve already got a home server (Intel 11400, 32gb 3200mhz RAM), and I’ve got a PC for my office (5600X, 16gb 3200mhz RAM, RTX 3080) and a living room desktop (5800X, 32gb 3600mhz RAM, RTX 4080).
I’ve considered making a low-ish power “streaming only”computer that will run Linux (possibly ChimeraOS or HoloISO until SteamOS 3 releases) that I can use to stream 800p games that don’t work so well on Steam Deck, but it seems a bit much to spend on a handful of edge cases. For reasons I won’t go into here, streaming from the office or living room PC is not feasible.
Anyone done fun little projects with spare parts before?
I can’t help with all your points but here’s my experience of the quoted.
NVMe is great. Not sure if there are any AI benefits, but newer “heavy” AAA games like Cyberpunk 2077 and newer really benefit from the faster speeds. I definitely recommend a good NVMe for modern games, and as a 8tb SATA SSD owner myself, having that kind of insane storage to store all your older games on is great. Definitely worth it if you like to have your games immediately available like I do.
As someone who switched from a Fractal Design Refine case to Meshify C, I personally found the increased noise a small trade off for the better cooling.
I think as far as whether AIO is necessary, I think the consensus is not in open air. Provided you’ve got good airflow in your case a good tower cooler will more than do the job. But if you’re using a silent case that has limited airflow then an AIO is, in my view, a much better option. You’ll still get more noise as you‘ll need to mount it to the top of the case versus the front, and that means using the alternate AIO top for the silent case that allows air in (and noise to escape). If you try to fan cool a modern CPU in a silent case you’re basically turning the inside of your PC into a roasting tin.
I stuck an AIO in my Meshify C living room gaming PC and the AIO is noisiest at boot. Once I’m in game I hear the GPU (4080) more than the AIO, frankly.
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I went from a silent focused case with sound dampening, to an airflow focused case and the airflow one is the quietest pc I ever had.
The silent focused case was silent on idle, but on load I can still hear the fans ramp up. Not loud, but not silent either. . While the airflow focused one is pretty much silent all the time, idle or load, because I can lower the fans speed without sacrificing temps. I used an air cooler though, the nhd 15 and haven't use an AIO in my life so I can't comment on it. The loudest thing in my pc is my hard drive now.
I have a NZXT h510i which is said to have bad airflow, but I've never had any problems myself. Should I switch cases if I'm planning to upgrade my GPU?
While there are lots of other factors, I think if you’re unhappy (or getting to be unhappy) with your temps in a case and you’re replacing a part with one that has larger power draw, it’s probably time to rethink anything that’s causing those temps.
More watts = more heat dissipated.
I don’t know much about that case but looking at where it can take in air and the space at the top for a radiator, I think I’d want a better one in all honesty.
More watts = more heat dissipated.
I don’t know much about that case but looking at where it can take in air and the space at the top for a radiator, I think I’d want a better one in all honesty.
The problem is that I dunno which one to pick now hah.
My options are:
NZXT H7 Flow
LianLi Lancool II Mesh
Fractal Design Meshify C
Fractal Design Torrent Compact
I have a Meshify C (inside: Ryzen 5800X and RTX 4080) and I'm happy with the temps.
I imagine the Torrent Compact also has good airflow. I trust Fractal a lot.
But in all honesty I think all those cases look very good as far as airflow goes. There's nothing unusual about them and they seem to follow very similar layouts for mounting fans and routing cables.
I imagine the Torrent Compact also has good airflow. I trust Fractal a lot.
But in all honesty I think all those cases look very good as far as airflow goes. There's nothing unusual about them and they seem to follow very similar layouts for mounting fans and routing cables.
A bigger case is always functionally better. You get better airflow, more room for bigger components, more room for cable management and generally it's much easier to build/maintain a system when your hand isn't banging into parts and cables while doing it. Smaller cases mean you need to have sharper turns in the cables and they will touch other parts of the system and it's just unwieldy.
I had a Meshify C before I got my current Meshify 2. I bought the Meshify C for my last build because it had good reviews and it was a premium product and it looked nice. What I didn't know at the time was that the 'C' stands for 'compact'. It was a smaller case, and while it was designed beautifully (and is why I bought another Meshify case this time), building and maintaining the PC was just that much trickier. You had to squish cables a bit more and work around them when cleaning the system or removing the GPU or whatever. But here's what actually killed it for me... when I got the Meshify C I was either on the 970 or 2080 and it fit fine. When I upgraded to the 3080 I had to remove the front lower fan because there was no other way to fit the GPU in the case. And then when I got the 4090 there was just no way to fit it in at all.
Components are getting bigger and hotter and I live in a very hot country to begin with. I will never buy another smaller case. I know there are people who subscribe to the minimalist ethos and even enjoy the challenge of building really tiny but powerful PCs but for me form will never take priority over function.
I had a Meshify C before I got my current Meshify 2. I bought the Meshify C for my last build because it had good reviews and it was a premium product and it looked nice. What I didn't know at the time was that the 'C' stands for 'compact'. It was a smaller case, and while it was designed beautifully (and is why I bought another Meshify case this time), building and maintaining the PC was just that much trickier. You had to squish cables a bit more and work around them when cleaning the system or removing the GPU or whatever. But here's what actually killed it for me... when I got the Meshify C I was either on the 970 or 2080 and it fit fine. When I upgraded to the 3080 I had to remove the front lower fan because there was no other way to fit the GPU in the case. And then when I got the 4090 there was just no way to fit it in at all.
Components are getting bigger and hotter and I live in a very hot country to begin with. I will never buy another smaller case. I know there are people who subscribe to the minimalist ethos and even enjoy the challenge of building really tiny but powerful PCs but for me form will never take priority over function.
Those are good choices.The problem is that I dunno which one to pick now hah.
My options are:
NZXT H7 Flow
LianLi Lancool II Mesh
Fractal Design Meshify C
Fractal Design Torrent Compact
Meshify C if you're planning to go 280/360 AIO in the front might restrict longer gpu, other than that it's great. edit: oh, it won't fit a 4090? that's unfortunate.
I have a lancool ii mesh, it's great, only gripe is the bottom front mesh has a literal hole in it that can absolutely pull dust easily. The neat fix is this, which I did. Or you can just put a painters tape to block it for an easy way.
Maybe the Lancool 216 can be a consideration as well?
Ah that's unfortunate about the Meshify C. I was planning to get a 4090 indeed.
Oh yeah, if you're getting a 4090, avoid a smaller case for sure.
When I bought my 4080 I was planning to put an extra fan in. Instead, I had to raise the fan already in there as it was blocking the GPU. The extra fan I had now sits below the GPU, but to get it in there I had to remove part of the PSU shroud (the case has this function by design, so no DIY shit going on), so the fan is sort of blowing air towards the PSU and the GPU at the same time.
Still not had any problems with temps, but I think I'll need to replace it next time. For smaller cases going forward manufacturers are going to have to resort to some exotic designs, largely borrowed from the SFF range.
We're starting to see stuff like that at Computex this year (odd GPU and PSU mounting systems that require cables routed through the case to reach them) but if you find that a pain in the ass you'll want to just get a larger case.
I think the future of Meshify C volume cases is probably a smaller footprint, but making them taller to accommodate longer GPUs. Think what the NZXT H1 did for the SFF case and apply it on a bigger scale.
Okay I checked reddit and apparently it is in fact possible to get a 4090 into the C.
I imagine this only works for the FE and not bigger models. Still takes up too much space IMO.
Then you might want to change the torrent compact to the normal torrent if you choose that one.
The H7, ii mesh, 216 and normal torrent can accomodate the 4090 easily.
Also, the 12VHPWR cable is pretty shit.
Cable's locked but just a wiggle can make it loose? That's horrible.
Oh no, get the 4090. I'm just commenting on the flaws of the 12VHPWR cable.
Just make sure to check that cable is fully seated after you finish your build and before turning on your pc.
I have the 12VHPWR cable from Cablemod plus their 90 degree adapter. They're pretty solid. I don't think I even feel the slightest of heat on the connectors. But then again, my GPU is waterblocked, so...
I think for the pre-made ones you can get it shipped almost immediately, but there will be some lead time up to several weeks if you want it customised (different colour schemes/length/materials etc).
OP
- Thread Starter
- #3,400
I honestly think that problem is overblown. Sure, the connector could (and should) be designed better to prevent this type of user error, but it's still user error. I still vastly prefer it to the alternative (double or triple ATX plugs).