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

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
7,706
15,611
113
Do we have a release date for this sexy mofo ?
 

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
7,706
15,611
113
Is a Ryzen 5600x a good buy ? Was tempted to upgrade my 2600x for switch emulation among other things. Still a little pricey for me at 300 euros, but the 3600 seem to do a 2021 and is OOS.
Or should I go 3700x ? Honestly don’t understand why there are 3000 and 5000 lines.
 
Last edited:

Parsnip

Riskbreaker
Sep 11, 2018
3,028
6,669
113
Finland
Is a Ryzen 5600x a good buy ? Was tempted to upgrade my 2600x for switch emulation among other things. Still a little pricey for me at 300 euros, but the 3600 seem to do a 2021 and is OOS.
Or should I go 3700x ? Honestly don’t understand why there are 3000 and 5000 lines.
5600x is great. I have it. :longswordblob: The 5000 series is newer than the 3000 series so it has some improvements over the older lines.

If you think about upgrading make sure your mobo supports it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: EdwardTivrusky

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
7,706
15,611
113
5600x is great. I have it. :longswordblob: The 5000 series is newer than the 3000 series so it has some improvements over the older lines.

If you think about upgrading make sure your mobo supports it.
B450 Tomahawk vanilla, it seems it's compatible if I update the bios.

Now, the last bios version being labeled '7C02v1H5(Beta version)' doesn't fill me with confidence, ffs.
 

EdwardTivrusky

Good Morning, Weather Hackers!
Dec 8, 2018
7,277
12,382
113
Quick note and hopefully not required but update the BIOS before you put the chip in! I've seen lots of posts where people had forgotten to update their BIOS in the excitement of a new upgrade. :)

Might be worth trying the new BIOS soon, make a note of your ram speeds etc or anything else you've changed and give it a whirl. Much better than finding out there's an issue when you've just installed a new CPU and don't know if it's the CPU or BIOS etc.
 
  • Love
Reactions: Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
7,706
15,611
113
Quick note and hopefully not required but update the BIOS before you put the chip in! I've seen lots of posts where people had forgotten to update their BIOS in the excitement of a new upgrade. :)

Might be worth trying the new BIOS soon, make a note of your ram speeds etc or anything else you've changed and give it a whirl. Much better than finding out there's an issue when you've just installed a new CPU and don't know if it's the CPU or BIOS etc.
I take it I'm a little bit out of my league. I don't plan to change anything and I may have forgotten to write any info beforehand.
Thatttt being said, I had thought about flashing the bios BEFORE upgrading the CPU :cuteblob:
 
  • Like
Reactions: EdwardTivrusky

fearthedawn

Junior Member
Apr 19, 2019
289
593
93
...
Or should I go 3700x ? Honestly don’t understand why there are 3000 and 5000 lines.
At a similar price the 5600x is a better purchase compared to the 3700x because the overall performance when completely maxed out is pretty close but if an application can't make full use of all cores and/or benefits heavily from single thread performance (both of those apply to games a lot) the 5600x is faster, sometimes much faster.

The older architectures sticking around more right now is just the market, AMD isn't really interested in producing a full lineup of 5000 series CPUs as long as they can max out their available production with premium parts and those keep selling.
 
  • Comfy
Reactions: Li Kao

EdwardTivrusky

Good Morning, Weather Hackers!
Dec 8, 2018
7,277
12,382
113
You've got me thinking of upgrading my 2700X too... hmmm but reinstalling the AIO will be a pain... not really i'm just lazy and my 2700X is fine for now.
Totally looking at 5600X/5800X tho. Dammit.
 

Parsnip

Riskbreaker
Sep 11, 2018
3,028
6,669
113
Finland
You've got me thinking of upgrading my 2700X too... hmmm but reinstalling the AIO will be a pain... not really i'm just lazy and my 2700X is fine for now.
Totally looking at 5600X/5800X tho. Dammit.


I upgraded from 2600 (non-x) to 5600x and it was very nice.
For me 2600 was always meant to be a cheap stopgap move from my aging hasswell system. In gaming it was basically a sidegrade but bumping core/thread count from 4/4 to 6/12 made a big difference in other tasks. So it was nice to upgrade for real with the 5600x.
 
  • Like
Reactions: EdwardTivrusky

toxicitizen

MetaMember
Oct 24, 2018
1,536
3,909
113
So, I'll likely be building a new PC in the coming months. I just bought my GTX 1660 Super two years ago (shit, it's already been two years?!) so I'll probably hold off until the RTX 40 series for the GPU. I also know that DDR5 is around the corner but it's probably going to be too expensive to warrant jumping in right away. So I think I'd rather just take the opportunity to splurge on the CPU and some massive SSDs for now.

I'm pretty out of the loop on the CPU front. What I'm wondering is : is there anything coming in the near future that's enough of a game-changer or massive leap to warrant waiting for or should I just go for something that's already out? The CPU is the area where I'm in the most dire need of an upgrade. At this point I'm pretty sure my 1660 Super is being bottlenecked by my i5-4690K,

I'm also thinking of going for a smaller form factor this time. I was thinking micro-ATX and getting one of those dual chamber cube-ish kinda case. Any issues or limitations I should be aware of on that front?
 

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
7,706
15,611
113
Well, Intel Alder Lake is supposedly coming out soon and it’s supposedly the big return of Intel (but that’s Intel pov, so…).
That being said, they may already have issues with some DRM solutions, like Denuvo.
 
  • Like
Reactions: toxicitizen
OP
Durante

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
3,835
18,379
113
Yeah, I think waiting for Alder Lake is worth it. Even in the current market, if the leaks are anything to go by, it should improve the perf/$ situation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: toxicitizen

gabbo

MetaMember
Dec 22, 2018
3,506
5,542
113
Toronto
I'm also thinking of going for a smaller form factor this time. I was thinking micro-ATX and getting one of those dual chamber cube-ish kinda case. Any issues or limitations I should be aware of on that front?
There isn't really any major issues with the dual chamber cubes, so long as you an get the cooling right and make sure any GPU/cpu cooler combination will fit properly (assume you're going to get a bigger card down the line), you should be fine.
 
  • Like
Reactions: toxicitizen

toxicitizen

MetaMember
Oct 24, 2018
1,536
3,909
113
Well, Intel Alder Lake is supposedly coming out soon and it’s supposedly the big return of Intel (but that’s Intel pov, so…).
That being said, they may already have issues with some DRM solutions, like Denuvo.
Yeah, I think waiting for Alder Lake is worth it. Even in the current market, if the leaks are anything to go by, it should improve the perf/$ situation.
Thanks for the replies. Good to know although I just read a little about the potential issues with DRM and it would be less than ideal for older games to not work on it. Hopefully that's something that will be fixed quickly for most games. Then again, I could just hang on to my current desktop for that, I suppose.

There isn't really any major issues with the dual chamber cubes, so long as you an get the cooling right and make sure any GPU/cpu cooler combination will fit properly (assume you're going to get a bigger card down the line), you should be fine.
I was thinking more about micro-ATX with that question, sorry if that wasn't clear. I know the smaller form factor means there's less space on the motherboard and that can mean less features/options, so I was worried about potentially overlooking something and ending up limiting my options somehow. I know to look for obvious things like number of RAM slots, m.2 slots, SATA ports, etc, but once you start talking about like... which components use which bus and how they can affect each other, my eyes just sorta glaze over...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Li Kao

gabbo

MetaMember
Dec 22, 2018
3,506
5,542
113
Toronto
Thanks for the replies. Good to know although I just read a little about the potential issues with DRM and it would be less than ideal for older games to not work on it. Hopefully that's something that will be fixed quickly for most games. Then again, I could just hang on to my current desktop for that, I suppose.



I was thinking more about micro-ATX with that question, sorry if that wasn't clear. I know the smaller form factor means there's less space on the motherboard and that can mean less features/options, so I was worried about potentially overlooking something and ending up limiting my options somehow. I know to look for obvious things like number of RAM slots, m.2 slots, SATA ports, etc, but once you start talking about like... which components use which bus and how they can affect each other, my eyes just sorta glaze over...
Like, at the high level, I get what you mean, but are you referring to something specific? I know some LGA1200 boards require a certain CPU generation to use NVME slots, and Riser cables/boards can be hit or miss, but I think youre worrying about issues you likely won't run into simply because of the form factor. I've been dealing with AMD mostly in my potential builds, so I can't speak too much to how Intel boards handle things

Have you perused pcpartpicker ? It will help alleviate some of the issues youre worried about with warnings if some parts dont play nice (in a majority of system build-related cases)
 
Last edited:

toxicitizen

MetaMember
Oct 24, 2018
1,536
3,909
113
Like, at the high level, I get what you mean, but are you referring to something specific? I know some LGA1200 boards require a certain CPU generation to use NVME slots, and Riser cables/boards can be hit or miss, but I think youre worrying about issues you likely won't run into simply because of the form factor. I've been dealing with AMD mostly in my potential builds, so I can't speak too much to how Intel boards handle things

Have you perused pcpartpicker ? It will help alleviate some of the issues youre worried about with warnings if some parts dont play nice (in a majority of system build-related cases)
Nothing specific, no. You're probably right and I'm worrying over nothing haha. It's just that when I was researching micro-ATX I read about the limited space on the board thing and it reminded me of something I read a while back when researching SSDs about how (IIRC) an nvme drive could interfere with the GPU in some configurations, something to do with the PCIE bus or whatever. Like I said, that kinda stuff gets a little confusing to me. I mostly just want to make sure there isn't some big obvious thing I'm missing here.

And yeah, I've made a tentative build on pcpartpicker which I'll tweak as I settle on exactly what I want so at least that should give me a heads up.
 

gabbo

MetaMember
Dec 22, 2018
3,506
5,542
113
Toronto
Nothing specific, no. You're probably right and I'm worrying over nothing haha. It's just that when I was researching micro-ATX I read about the limited space on the board thing and it reminded me of something I read a while back when researching SSDs about how (IIRC) an nvme drive could interfere with the GPU in some configurations, something to do with the PCIE bus or whatever. Like I said, that kinda stuff gets a little confusing to me. I mostly just want to make sure there isn't some big obvious thing I'm missing here.

And yeah, I've made a tentative build on pcpartpicker which I'll tweak as I settle on exactly what I want so at least that should give me a heads up.
You mean like this:
How Many PCIe Lanes Does M.2 Slot Use? - PC Guide 101

but more specifically this:
?
Even if it did (for an intel build), I don't think you'd notice any real world difference unless youre crunching numbers for blender or media creation
 
  • Like
Reactions: toxicitizen

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
7,706
15,611
113
One thing I don’t get about Alder Lake is… has it been delayed ? I don’t follow hardware release so I’m a complete noob, but IIRC it was a release for the end of 2021. But there isn’t much 2021 left.
So what ? Has it been delayed ? Or do these things tend to be shadow dropped like, ‘here goes’ ?
 

madjoki

👀 I see you
Sep 19, 2018
3,009
11,158
113
One thing I don’t get about Alder Lake is… has it been delayed ? I don’t follow hardware release so I’m a complete noob, but IIRC it was a release for the end of 2021. But there isn’t much 2021 left.
So what ? Has it been delayed ? Or do these things tend to be shadow dropped like, ‘here goes’ ?
Rumors say November 4th. Official is Q4 2021 (mentioned in gamedev guide posted last week, that we got Denuvo/DRM stuff from).
 
OP
Durante

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
3,835
18,379
113
Yeah, it should be happening any time now. FWIW, I also expected the announcement earlier.
 

Theswweet

Dirty Weeb
Mar 12, 2019
984
2,163
93
It definitely feels like AMD has been holding onto Zen 3+ waiting for Alder Lake, too. Guessing we'll see that drop shortly after Intel's launch.
 

Amzin

No one beats me 17 times in a row!
Dec 5, 2018
1,001
2,110
113
I've been waiting to build a new "living room" gaming PC until I could get a retail cost 3080 and finally did. But, it was kinda sudden and now I have a bunch of questions since I had been wondering if I'd even get a 3080 this year so I was waiting on my research :p

I know for 4K gaming GPU is the heavy lifter, but some games still get CPU throttled - is a Ryzen 3600 good enough for reliable 60FPS 4K everything or would I want to splurge for the 5900? Or even wait another ~month for another gen of CPU? This will only ever be hooked up to a 60hz TV for the foreseeable future so I don't need to worry about trying to hit 120hz or anything like that, but I would love to play on highest fidelity I can get away with.

I also could use help finding a good case. I need it to fit these new giant cards but I'm looking for something that is as quiet as possible, and would even prefer no glass / see through panel because I already have controllable lighting in the living room and don't want to futz with getting the innards of the PC looking OK every time I change it. Quietness is the #1 concern though, and I'm having trouble finding much in the way of cases that advertise sound reduction without also including a bunch of other things I don't need / like.
 

d00d3n

MetaMember
Jan 26, 2019
306
555
93
I made the wreckless and unnecessary decision to buy the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 two days ago, despite buying another premium ultrawide (PG35VQ) a little more than a year ago. Has been sent to me and will probably be delivered on friday. I think I will enjoy the new display, but it will be painful to be reminded of how much money I wasted on the other display when I use my mac mini.
 

didamangi

Who do you think you are? I am!
Nov 16, 2018
1,103
3,225
113
Jakarta, Indonesia
steamcommunity.com

The MSI blog: All You Need to Know about DDR5 Memory Modules | MSI

"It typically takes around 2 years to reach price parity with previous generations, and we expect trends to remain similar with DDR5 modules as well."

Well, not upgrading anytime soon then.
 

Joe Spangle

Playing....
Apr 17, 2019
2,417
8,223
113
Is there any particular make / model AIO cpu water cooler i should go for or are they pretty similar? Re-building my PC into a smaller case (i got that SilverStone SST-GD09B case) and dont really want to rebuild a water loop so thought an AIO would be alright?
 

gabbo

MetaMember
Dec 22, 2018
3,506
5,542
113
Toronto
Is there any particular make / model AIO cpu water cooler i should go for or are they pretty similar? Re-building my PC into a smaller case (i got that SilverStone SST-GD09B case) and dont really want to rebuild a water loop so thought an AIO would be alright?
From what research I did when I was putting my new machine together, the numbers are pretty similar among 240mm aio, it comes down to tubing, mounting, and their ease of use for a given cooler. You could probably squeeze a 240mm in on the left side. 120mm might fit better, but you might sacrifice some cooling if youre rocking a 11900 or a 5950x
 
  • Like
Reactions: Joe Spangle

d00d3n

MetaMember
Jan 26, 2019
306
555
93
I made the wreckless and unnecessary decision to buy the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 two days ago, despite buying another premium ultrawide (PG35VQ) a little more than a year ago. Has been sent to me and will probably be delivered on friday. I think I will enjoy the new display, but it will be painful to be reminded of how much money I wasted on the other display when I use my mac mini.
This project turned out to be a big disappointment. I bought the display through a well-known company that sells electronics through the internet, but it turns out that they contract other companies to sell some of their products, including the display in question. The display was sold at a 12% temporary discount compared to most other offers, but it was too good to be true. The contracted company seems more and more like some kind of scam shop. They claim that my display was posted the day after I ordered it 2021-10-18, but no tracking information has been posted, and they basically just said "be calm and wait" without posting any tracking information when I contacted support. Now that I look at customer feedback for the contracting company people are screaming "scam" and doll out 0/5 ratings.

Thankfully, we are supposed to have pretty rock solid rights to return products purchased through the internet within 14 days, so I just sent in my request to do just that. I have to remember to pay some extra money to buy from a more serious company next time.
 
  • Sad
Reactions: Pommes and Parsnip

d00d3n

MetaMember
Jan 26, 2019
306
555
93
Will the i9-12900K with DDR5 memory be a notable upgrade for high frame rate gaming compared with the i9-9900K?
 

d00d3n

MetaMember
Jan 26, 2019
306
555
93
I am considering this build at the moment (GPU would be my Geforce RTX 3090 from my existing computer):
CPU: Intel Core i9-12900K 5,2GHz (cost saving with the KF model is insignificant)
RAM: 2*16 Gb Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 5200MHz (the release date for the g skill modules seems to be uncertain)
Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX Z690-F GAMING WIFI (PCIE release button seems nice and good to have 4 M2 slots, "E" model seems pointless)
CPU fan: Noctua NH-D15 (have to order motherboard conversion kit free of charge from noctua)
Chassi fans: 3 Noctua NF-A14-PWM (will only fit 2x 140 mm front fans and one 1x 140 mm back fan if you close off the PSU compartment)
Chassi: Fractal Design Meshify 2 Black Solid (airflow seems great, and I like the look)
PSU: Corsair RM850X V2 850W (more expensive models don't seem to add anything of value to me)

Would cost 2000 euro. Maybe a bit more if I buy a couple of extra M2 drives ...
 

d00d3n

MetaMember
Jan 26, 2019
306
555
93
Why does not every motherboard have PCIe release button? Seems so obvious in hindsight.
Yes, it is a horrible experience to shred your cuticles on a CPU heat sink while worrying that you will apply too much pressure and break the motherboard when you are trying to reach the hidden release switch
 
  • Like
Reactions: Parsnip and xinek

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
7,706
15,611
113
Yes, it is a horrible experience to shred your cuticles on a CPU heat sink while worrying that you will apply too much pressure and break the motherboard when you are trying to reach the hidden release switch
Unless I’m mistaken, that’s unrelated to CPU though ? But on a related note, isn’t the whole installation of CPU and Heatsink simpler on Intel in some ways ? Vaguely remember it’s less shitty than on AMD.
 
  • Like
Reactions: d00d3n

gabbo

MetaMember
Dec 22, 2018
3,506
5,542
113
Toronto
Unless I’m mistaken, that’s unrelated to CPU though ? But on a related note, isn’t the whole installation of CPU and Heatsink simpler on Intel in some ways ? Vaguely remember it’s less shitty than on AMD.
I think that's really brand dependent. If the cooler uses the mobo-supplied backplate, it's almost too easy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: d00d3n
OP
Durante

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
3,835
18,379
113
Will the i9-12900K with DDR5 memory be a notable upgrade for high frame rate gaming compared with the i9-9900K?
Depends on your definition of notable.

I'd realistically expect up t0 35% in entirely CPU-bound scenarios.

FWIW, I'm considering the same upgrade, but not primarily for gaming.
 
  • Like
Reactions: d00d3n

d00d3n

MetaMember
Jan 26, 2019
306
555
93
I am considering this build at the moment (GPU would be my Geforce RTX 3090 from my existing computer):
CPU: Intel Core i9-12900K 5,2GHz (cost saving with the KF model is insignificant)
RAM: 2*16 Gb Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 5200MHz (the release date for the g skill modules seems to be uncertain)
Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX Z690-F GAMING WIFI (PCIE release button seems nice and good to have 4 M2 slots, "E" model seems pointless)
CPU fan: Noctua NH-D15 (have to order motherboard conversion kit free of charge from noctua)
Chassi fans: 3 Noctua NF-A14-PWM (will only fit 2x 140 mm front fans and one 1x 140 mm back fan if you close off the PSU compartment)
Chassi: Fractal Design Meshify 2 Black Solid (airflow seems great, and I like the look)
PSU: Corsair RM850X V2 850W (more expensive models don't seem to add anything of value to me)

Would cost 2000 euro. Maybe a bit more if I buy a couple of extra M2 drives ...
Just to not fool people, the ASUS motherboard does not work with the Noctua cooler after checking compatibility information.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stevey
OP
Durante

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
3,835
18,379
113
Which LGA 1700 motherboards are you considering?
I haven't looked into it in detail yet, but currently I'm partial towards the ASUS Prime Z690-A. It's not too silly in terms of pricing, and I like its layout and the set of connectivity it provides.
 
  • Like
Reactions: d00d3n

C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
3,992
11,886
113
Anyone got any experience of mixing Gen3 and Gen4 NVMes?

I currently run Windows off a Gen3 NVMe but I'm thinking of putting Gen4 SSDs in my other two M.2 slots - will I get the full speed off of those Gen4 drives despite having a Gen3 installed, and despite the fact that Windows is running off a Gen3? I don't want to have to do a Windows re-install to one of the Gen4 drives if I don't have to.
 
OP
Durante

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
3,835
18,379
113
That really shouldn't matter at all. Each M.2 slot is completely independent of every other one. (It's like putting a PCIe 4 device in one PCIe slot and a PCIe 3 device into another; they don't interact)
 
  • Like
Reactions: C-Dub

gabbo

MetaMember
Dec 22, 2018
3,506
5,542
113
Toronto
Anyone got any experience of mixing Gen3 and Gen4 NVMes?

I currently run Windows off a Gen3 NVMe but I'm thinking of putting Gen4 SSDs in my other two M.2 slots - will I get the full speed off of those Gen4 drives despite having a Gen3 installed, and despite the fact that Windows is running off a Gen3? I don't want to have to do a Windows re-install to one of the Gen4 drives if I don't have to.
The only issue you would run into has more to do with which slot is the faster of the two m.2slots. So you might need to swap them around to pull the best speed from your gen4, but as durante said, they wont fight each other.
 

C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
3,992
11,886
113
The only issue you would run into has more to do with which slot is the faster of the two m.2slots. So you might need to swap them around to pull the best speed from your gen4, but as durante said, they wont fight each other.
Yeah I don’t mind looking into that. I’ve got three NVMe sockets and I think they’re all Gen4, but I will look into it.