I dunno, user error because of bad design is really bad for consumer.
I'll say this for cablemod though, it seems their warranty is really good. Taking care of your customer melting gpu when the AIB refuse warranty is really above and beyond.
|OT| The PC Hardware Thread -- Buy/Upgrade/Ask/Answer
- Thread starter Durante
- Start date
I'll say this for cablemod though, it seems their warranty is really good. Taking care of your customer melting gpu when the AIB refuse warranty is really above and beyond.
Tempted to get the fractal terra because it's so small, but it seems too tight for the components I already have, the bottom is not prepared for intake fans and it's going to suck up dust like crazy 
www.fractal-design.com
Terra Archives
www.fractal-design.com
Looks amazing.Tempted to get the fractal terra because it's so small, but it seems too tight for the components I already have, the bottom is not prepared for intake fans and it's going to suck up dust like crazy
Terra Archives
For my next HTPC build (2-ish years or more from now) I'm seriously considering a SFF case. Right now I'm leaning towards whatever iteration of the NZXT H1 is out - I'm using the V2 case for my office desktop and it's just a delightful case - but Fractal Design really do make the best-looking cases out there right now so I can see myself easily swayed.
SFF is usually a bit fiddly to build in, but that's the nature of cases at that size.
My card was declined on the case purchase. Will take that as divine intervention and wait until I can buy the entire build.
Anyone rocking a wireless mechanical keyboard? I’m getting sucked down the rabbit hole, and while I’m not looking to get into modding I still want a hot swappable keyboard in case I change my mind.
Just wondering what anyone’s using if they have one? I’m looking at Keychron, Epomaker, and Kludge at the moment.
Bonus I could connect it to my Steam Deck too.
Just wondering what anyone’s using if they have one? I’m looking at Keychron, Epomaker, and Kludge at the moment.
Bonus I could connect it to my Steam Deck too.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #3,407
I really enjoyed watching this:
I think it is finally time to upgrade my CPU (i5 4570?) after seeing the Starfield gameplay and just my experience with a few games over the last year. I was wondering which would be the most logical one that will last for a few years and not break the bank.
I am using
a Nvidia 2060 TI
16 GB Ram
I was looking at getting the Ryzen 7 5800X3D or the Ryzen 9 5900X
or is there a better choice that I haven't considered?
I am using
a Nvidia 2060 TI
16 GB Ram
I was looking at getting the Ryzen 7 5800X3D or the Ryzen 9 5900X
or is there a better choice that I haven't considered?
If you’re picking between the 5900X and 5800X3D, the 5800X3D is the better gaming CPU. For non-gaming tasks, I imagine the 5900X is more than likely the better buy, but you may want to look up benchmarks of what you want to do with your CPU.
The 7800X3D is the new gaming king, but if you’re not upgrading to AM5 (which is more expensive for the motherboard and CPU, not to mention you’d need to buy new DDR5 RAM) then the 5800X3D is the best.
The 7800X3D is the new gaming king, but if you’re not upgrading to AM5 (which is more expensive for the motherboard and CPU, not to mention you’d need to buy new DDR5 RAM) then the 5800X3D is the best.
Adding to C-Dub point, hopefully your current CPU cooler is AM4 compatible because 5800x3d doesn't come with one.
Thanks to you both, I'll look into the AM4 compatibility. I would love to get the 7800X3D, but living in South Africa the price is an extra 200dollars compared to the US.
Actually, after doing some research locally, in my country, between AM4 and AM5, it actually makes more sense to go AM5 now.
5800x3d+b550+16gb 3600mhz RAM: ~$520
7600+b650+32gb 6000mhz RAM: ~$538
Of course it'll be different in your country but not a bad idea to check out am5 prices first.
Obviously there's no benchmarks for Starfield yet, so we don't know if the 3d v-cache of the 5800x3d will be a massive difference or not between the two.
Recently bought an Alienware M17 R5 laptop (With an RX 6850M XT, 32GB of DDR5-4800 RAM, 1080p 360Hz display, MX Red low profile keyboard, and a Ryzen 9 6900HX) so I could get some work done while I'm on a week-long trip, and so I can do work outside of my desk area. From my time using the Steam Deck on a stand with a wireless keyboard and mouse, it was a bit clunky and constrained in terms of doing work on, and the desktop mode felt strangely sluggish. Reason I chose Alienware is because I could finance it and pay monthly on it, similar to how I paid for my monitor, and it's a better deal specs wise than going through renting sites, assuming I can pay within the interest free time zone. There's also a surprisingly small amount of laptops with AMD dedicated graphics. It's a year old system at this point, but it's still surprisingly okay.
So far, runs good, assuming it's plugged in. I noticed that unplugging it causes it to be a bit more sluggish, and I haven't noticed any power profile related stuff to change this. I installed Nobara on it for a bit, and I noticed that the framerate was higher in some games (CS:GO comes to mind). Sadly, I had to abandon Nobara because updates ended up bricking the install. There was also some things like ROCM and the vk_pro switcher stuff (for AMF encoding in OBS) that straight up wouldn't work on the laptop, but stuff like DGPU/iGPU switching was far less painful compared to Windows where it felt like I had to add games to a whitelist to use the dGPU for them to run smooth. Pathtracing seemed snappier in Blender than my current desktop setup's 6900XT. I still need to give Stable Diffusion a try (mostly from the tech being interesting), but I noticed that at least under Linux on my 6900XT, it was surprisingly solid, but on Windows it was suffering from VRAM problems, so I'm unsure if I want to spend the time to set it up just to be met with VRAM restrictions. Assuming you can find a game that can actually hit the 360Hz target, it looks really smooth, but I still prefer the type of smooth that a high refresh rate OLED display has. There's no coil whine on the laptop compared to any of my desktop setups, and at this rate, I'd prefer louder fans over coil whine. A mixture of high and ultra settings at 1080p with Red Dead Redemption 2 gets really close to locking at 120FPS. Splitgate runs close to a locked 360FPS, assuming I use exclusive fullscreen mode, because borderless mode causes performance to tank for some reason. I don't think the display option I chose came with a MUX switch, but it still runs good enough for me.
I wish that this laptop had a Thunderbolt/USB 4.0 port for an eGPU (So it's not just e-Waste when it can't run games anymore), and a DisplayPort port instead of an HDMI 2.1 one (Because my QD-OLED monitor only goes up to 100Hz at 3440x1440 over HDMI), I originally was going to buy a Framework laptop with an AMD dedicated GPU, but that would release too late for when said week long trip happens, so my hands were a bit tied. I definitely want to get a Framework laptop soon though. I wonder if an HDMI 2.1 to DisplayPort adapter would fix the 100Hz issue, because my Steam Deck dock can do 3440x1440 at 120Hz now after a firmware update, assuming I use DisplayPort. The keyboard also feels really nice to use, really close to the Macbook keyboards (from my initial impressions from trying one at Best Buy) in terms of feeling good to type on.
I see why Alienware has a bad rep with desktops, but from my first experience with them when it comes to laptops and displays, they're surprisingly solid.
So far, runs good, assuming it's plugged in. I noticed that unplugging it causes it to be a bit more sluggish, and I haven't noticed any power profile related stuff to change this. I installed Nobara on it for a bit, and I noticed that the framerate was higher in some games (CS:GO comes to mind). Sadly, I had to abandon Nobara because updates ended up bricking the install. There was also some things like ROCM and the vk_pro switcher stuff (for AMF encoding in OBS) that straight up wouldn't work on the laptop, but stuff like DGPU/iGPU switching was far less painful compared to Windows where it felt like I had to add games to a whitelist to use the dGPU for them to run smooth. Pathtracing seemed snappier in Blender than my current desktop setup's 6900XT. I still need to give Stable Diffusion a try (mostly from the tech being interesting), but I noticed that at least under Linux on my 6900XT, it was surprisingly solid, but on Windows it was suffering from VRAM problems, so I'm unsure if I want to spend the time to set it up just to be met with VRAM restrictions. Assuming you can find a game that can actually hit the 360Hz target, it looks really smooth, but I still prefer the type of smooth that a high refresh rate OLED display has. There's no coil whine on the laptop compared to any of my desktop setups, and at this rate, I'd prefer louder fans over coil whine. A mixture of high and ultra settings at 1080p with Red Dead Redemption 2 gets really close to locking at 120FPS. Splitgate runs close to a locked 360FPS, assuming I use exclusive fullscreen mode, because borderless mode causes performance to tank for some reason. I don't think the display option I chose came with a MUX switch, but it still runs good enough for me.
I wish that this laptop had a Thunderbolt/USB 4.0 port for an eGPU (So it's not just e-Waste when it can't run games anymore), and a DisplayPort port instead of an HDMI 2.1 one (Because my QD-OLED monitor only goes up to 100Hz at 3440x1440 over HDMI), I originally was going to buy a Framework laptop with an AMD dedicated GPU, but that would release too late for when said week long trip happens, so my hands were a bit tied. I definitely want to get a Framework laptop soon though. I wonder if an HDMI 2.1 to DisplayPort adapter would fix the 100Hz issue, because my Steam Deck dock can do 3440x1440 at 120Hz now after a firmware update, assuming I use DisplayPort. The keyboard also feels really nice to use, really close to the Macbook keyboards (from my initial impressions from trying one at Best Buy) in terms of feeling good to type on.
I see why Alienware has a bad rep with desktops, but from my first experience with them when it comes to laptops and displays, they're surprisingly solid.
I use a Keychron K4, I like the 96% layout (Still has the number pad and function keys while being compact), and it can connect to the Steam Deck over Bluetooth. There's also a switch for Windows/Mac usage, and there's no proprietary RGB software nonsense, and you can also adjust the lights with OpenRGB. The downside is that you need some special keycaps, as the right alt, fn, control, light swittch, and numpad 0 keys are custom sized or just unavailable on stuff like HyperX's pudding keycaps. Easily the best keyboard I've used so far, but after moving and making the mistake of putting it in a briefcase, the switch broke and it's forever stuck in USB mode.
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What do we think about Radeon 7900 XTX
Also, is there an AM5 board that isn't a complete shit show
Also, is there an AM5 board that isn't a complete shit show
Avoid all A620 mobo and Asus B650 Prime and you can pick and choose the rest to your liking. Just update to latest bios immediately on first boot to "fix" the high vsoc voltage and you're good to go. Just don't enable expo/xmp before updating to the latest bios.
Thank you for all this info didamangi , from looking up the prices it seems like I can get an upgrade kit from my local shop for a little bit more than for just the 5800x3dActually, after doing some research locally, in my country, between AM4 and AM5, it actually makes more sense to go AM5 now.
5800x3d+b550+16gb 3600mhz RAM: ~$520
7600+b650+32gb 6000mhz RAM: ~$538
Of course it'll be different in your country but not a bad idea to check out am5 prices first.
Obviously there's no benchmarks for Starfield yet, so we don't know if the 3d v-cache of the 5800x3d will be a massive difference or not between the two.
The 5800x3d : AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D Processor - Free Shipping - South Africa $370
7600pro kit: AMD RYZEN 5 7600 PRO A620M-E 16GB DDR5 5600MHz Upgrade Kit $400
I would have to get the kit because it seems like I already have an AM4 board.
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Here's a preliminary list I came up with
Case: NZXT H7 Flow
CPU: Ryzen 7 7800X 3D
Mobo: ASRock B650 PG Lightning
GPU: XFX Radeon 7900 XTX / Gigabyte 4080 (still undecided)
PSU: MSI MPG A1000G (1000 W)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 32gb ddr5
Cooler: Noctua NHD15
SSD: Western Digital WD Black SN850X 2TB x 2
I'm a big fan of 'cry once buy once'
If I have that kind of budget I'll be reducing the cost of my case, cooler and ssd as low as I can go to squeeze a 4090 in there.Here's a preliminary list I came up with
Case: NZXT H7 Flow
CPU: Ryzen 7 7800X 3D
Mobo: ASRock B650 PG Lightning
GPU: XFX Radeon 7900 XTX / Gigabyte 4080 (still undecided)
PSU: MSI MPG A1000G (1000 W)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 32gb ddr5
Cooler: Noctua NHD15
SSD: Western Digital WD Black SN850X 2TB x 2
I'm a big fan of 'cry once buy once'
Or just YOLO and get all of that and the 4090
Someone suggested to me to get a Thermalright cooler instead of noctuaIf I have that kind of budget I'll be reducing the cost of my case, cooler and ssd as low as I can go to squeeze a 4090 in there.
Or just YOLO and get all of that and the 4090
Yea. Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 or Deepcool AK620 gets the job done for much cheaper and as good as nhd15.
All right this is my final list:
Case: NZXT H7 Flow
CPU: Ryzen 7 7800X 3D
Mobo: ASRock B650 PG Lightning
GPU: MSI RTX 4080 Gaming X Trio
PSU: MSI MPG A1000G (1000 W)
RAM: G.SKILL Trident Z5 NEO 32GB 6000mhz (2 x 16 gb)
Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120
SSD: Western Digital WD Black SN850X 2TB x 2
You splurge all this money on a high end PC, only to buy a fucking NZXT. You make pandas sad, every last one of them.
Now I admittedly kinda hate the brand, but with the broad look at this beauty, why not go for the big brand like lian-li or fractal, that have top airflow ?
Concerning (mostly upcoming?) cases, this is a pretty new video from tech jesus.
Haven't actually watched it myself since I'm not in the market for a new case, but figured peeps might be interested.
Haven't actually watched it myself since I'm not in the market for a new case, but figured peeps might be interested.
Hi guys.
I believe it's time to think about upgrading, my current PC is almost 7 years old and although it behaved like a trooper this whole time and had zero failures of any component so far it's starting to show it's age.
If I were to buy something now (CPU + GPU) what would you recommend that would be future proof for ~5 years and assuming I don't intend to play the most graphically demanding games on release, maybe with a 2 or 3 year delay? Is it worth waiting for a new generation of CPUs and/or GPUs?
If it matters I currently have an i5 6600 and GTX 1070.
I believe it's time to think about upgrading, my current PC is almost 7 years old and although it behaved like a trooper this whole time and had zero failures of any component so far it's starting to show it's age.
If I were to buy something now (CPU + GPU) what would you recommend that would be future proof for ~5 years and assuming I don't intend to play the most graphically demanding games on release, maybe with a 2 or 3 year delay? Is it worth waiting for a new generation of CPUs and/or GPUs?
If it matters I currently have an i5 6600 and GTX 1070.
NZXT ain't that bad anyway. The company had to learn a few hard lessons about the H1 and how to handle a product that catches fire (!!!), but they've made that right now and their products are nicely made and look decent.
Question, does the airflow design of a case have an impact on the temperature of the air it pushes out? these days have been really hot, and my PC does make my room hotter
Yup. A case that’s got better airflow is going to expel the hot air inside the case and replace it with cooler air from outside the case better than less efficient ones.
That heat has to go somewhere, right?
Since it comes and goes from the room it’s in, a case that keeps your PC cooler will heat your room up more quickly.
But I have no idea whether it’d be noticeable. Probably other variables to consider like ambient room temperature, size of the room, and such.
The effect might be negligible. Not sure I’ve seen any studies to check that.
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I think I will solve this by buying a 15ft HDMI cable and not having my computer next to me during the next months cuz shit is HOT
As long as it doesn't overheat (which would reduce the amount of energy turned into heat because components have to clock down) i think it's just a delay. Turning it on more heat stays in the case and everything inside gets hotter, but eventually it does get to the same point where the less but hotter air expels the same amount of heat as an airflow case. The same amount of heat is generated after all and as you said, it has to go somewhere and it doesn't just keep getting hotter and hotter inside forever. On the other side, after turning it off the hotter case will give off heat while cooling down for longer so looking at the impact as a whole hours after turning the pc off again i'd expect little difference if any.
Would be interesting to see properly measured for sure.
What is your budget?
Personally, I upgraded 7 months ago to 5800X3D (new) and 3080Ti (got it for 600 bucks used, but with warranty), reused all of my other components (motherboard, PSU, RAM, drives..).
If I didn't have that upgrade path and was buying a new PC today, I would 100% get 7800X3D and cheapest 4080 I could find. But budget really decides the GPU, and from 1070 even just 4070 will be huge upgrade.
Given our summers are only going to get warmer and our winters colder (thanks, Capitalism), might be something worth researching.
I was thinking somewhere between 1k€ and 1.5k€
I'm still exploring the possibities so thanks for your input. So far I'm considering the following (without GPU) -> list
Since I currenly have an intel CPU and board, switching to AMD means swtiching everything.
I also have a mini tower right now so that also needs to change if I want to fit a bigger GPU.
I was considering reusing the drives, I have a 250Gb SSD and a 2TB HDD, but I also need something bigger to sustain for the longer run, plus the fact they are 7yo means the probability of failure is quite high so I need to prepare.
I could try to salvage the power supply, it's still perfectly functional, but it's only 600W and 7yo (probable imminent failure).
All things considered I could reuse my 1070 and wait for a better card next year, hopefuly with less stupid crazy high prices, because paying >700€ for an 8GB card stings and finding a 4080 at a decent price is almost a pipe dream. I still intend to play at 1080p so it's doable like this although not preferable.
All this chatter about cases is making me thirsty for a new case.
I've got an old Cooler Master N400 which is desperately begging me to be sent to a farm upstate and put down with a shotgun.
It survived multiple moves, including an international overseas one, but now it vibrates a lot and makes quite a lot of noise overall.
It probably has poor airflow (and my cable management and stock CPU fan don't help), but what do I know?
I was kind of looking at the NZXT ones, as I like their looks, but then people here started shitting upon them.
Problem is, all Lian Li and Fractal in the same price range as the H7 Flow look hideous to me.
I'd love some super clean lines, maybe white for that old-school sci-fi flair.
Are there other brands or models that I should check out?
I mostly want decent airflow and enough room for my clumsy hands.
I don't care about lights and stuff, but wouldn't mind a glass panel just to see if stuff is catching fire while I'm not looking.
Speaking of, I've got the stupidest of questions: why does it seem that all cases have the glass panel on the left? Can I swap the whole thing to the right?
Right now, my PC is on my left, so I would not be able to cluelessly stare into the case.
I've got an old Cooler Master N400 which is desperately begging me to be sent to a farm upstate and put down with a shotgun.
It survived multiple moves, including an international overseas one, but now it vibrates a lot and makes quite a lot of noise overall.
It probably has poor airflow (and my cable management and stock CPU fan don't help), but what do I know?
I was kind of looking at the NZXT ones, as I like their looks, but then people here started shitting upon them.
Problem is, all Lian Li and Fractal in the same price range as the H7 Flow look hideous to me.
I'd love some super clean lines, maybe white for that old-school sci-fi flair.
Are there other brands or models that I should check out?
I mostly want decent airflow and enough room for my clumsy hands.
I don't care about lights and stuff, but wouldn't mind a glass panel just to see if stuff is catching fire while I'm not looking.
Speaking of, I've got the stupidest of questions: why does it seem that all cases have the glass panel on the left? Can I swap the whole thing to the right?
Right now, my PC is on my left, so I would not be able to cluelessly stare into the case.
H7 flow is not a bad case at all though. It's a good airflow case.
If the glass panel is on the right than you can only look at your cable management for most cases.
Some cases do inverted layout if you want to see your system from your left through the panel. Like the be quiet 802.
Yeah, I can imagine that.
It's just that only targeting folks with a PC-on-the-right setup, feels a bit like a missed business opportunity.
Yeah after some digging I also concluded that the N7 Flow aint that bad. Now...white or black?
Man, my cheap wireless mouse I bought a couple months ago is already double clicking. Am I the only person who chews through mice? I really wonder if there is a mice for me that won't break in under a year.
I actually kinda want to get a wireless mouse and keyboard for couch gaming. Do you guys have any recommendations for something that will hopefully last me say 3 years? Really it's only the mice that start double clicking on me, I think others I've had the cord fail, and another one the scroll wheel got really mushy and disgusting. I'm pretty sure I have never broken any keyboards.
I actually kinda want to get a wireless mouse and keyboard for couch gaming. Do you guys have any recommendations for something that will hopefully last me say 3 years? Really it's only the mice that start double clicking on me, I think others I've had the cord fail, and another one the scroll wheel got really mushy and disgusting. I'm pretty sure I have never broken any keyboards.
No warranty for your cheap mouse?
My Logitech G604 right button double click in it's first few months, RMA, got a new one and works fine for 4 years until today, you guess it, double clicking again. On the left button now. And my logitech G305 with minimal use has double click on one of the side buttons.
Meanwhile my original g502 wired still works fine after 8 years.
I'm kinda interested in the razer naga pro now, at least it has 2 years warranty compared to the 1 year warranty of logitech here locally.
Speaking of mouses, does any one here happen to have expirience with vertical mouses? (Long story short, my doctor told me that I should try one to reduce strain in my right hand)
I had terrible trouble years ago with RSI symptoms so i moved to using a "cheap" WACOM Bamboo tablet and once configured it was fantastic, i leant it to a couple of people in the office when i went on holidays etc and often they requisitioned their own after i came back.
I think the WACOM One is the entry level tablet these days. For a mouse substitute you do not need an ultra fancy one at all. I would recommend getting one that's a mouse pad size though if you can.
Wacom One Medium Tablet and Stylus - Amazon UK
I found that the expensive "ergonomic" vertical/shark-fin mice years ago were unusable for me so i bought one of these instead and never looked back!
I'd recommend the ANKER over a stylus/tablet but wanted to offer both ideas.
Anker Vertical/Shark-Fin Wired Mouse - Amazon UK
I have tried a bunch of similar mice over they years but always return to the Anker model. I don't think it'd be great for serious gaming but for 8 hours a day at work it's been a life-changer. The price varies between £13 and £18 but i really recommend it and again there's about 5 or 6 of them in our department now after people have used mine while i was on leave. For me they are much better than the super-expensive ergonomic mice.
So yeah, try one of the shark-fin mice and give it a serious try-out, don't give up after a few days etc, stick with it and after a few weeks it really makes a difference. Or try a tablet & stylus, they're a bit trickier to setup as you like but i found it just as effective.
I am not a doctor tho, this is pure personal experience.
Just to round things out i got a foot rest to help with posture.
I started using TKL/80% etc keyboards rather than full size keyboards as the reduced width helped bring my arms straighter? ... they were closer to stright from my body and that helped a great deal too as my arms/wrists weren't twisting as much.
I also got a lumbar pillow thing for my office chair to help keep my posture right and all these things helped in their own small way.
So it's not just a mouse change, look at how you sit in your chair, how your feet are and how your arms are positioned.
These things all add up over hours a day every day for years.
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I am currently rocking a Keychron K2 Pro at work.
(I painted the metal frame, it's black by default, and you don't get those keycaps by default either. The keycaps are MT3 Serika, sold by Drop
It's hot-swappable, and uses Bluetooth. Supports up to 3 profiles that it can store, so you can quickly switch between 3 devices. Also supports QMK/VIA, so easily remappable, with some support for macros too.
Edit:
Oh, just noticed that the post is already a few weeks old,
I will check, but it's 'Free Wolf' brand so I have severe doubts, haha. I'm thinking of getting a reputable brand, but I do need to have the forward and backwards buttons on the left, so it can't be a basic one.
I feel like mice quality/longevity isn't as good as it used to be these days.
The best mice I ever had was the big ass Microsoft one. This one:
Don't think it even broke. I just wanted one with extra butons, so I got one of the Logitech MX518 or something. I've been chasing that high ever since.
NarohDethan and kio
I want to suggest the g203/g305/deathadder essential/Orochi V2 but there are reviews for double clicking on each. At least they got warranties.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #3,450
I'm curious what will happen. My Logitech G5 R2 that I got in 2008 and used daily broke in 2022, in March, and I got a Razer DeathAdder V2. I'm actually very happy with that so far, but I don't expect it to last 14 years.