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

[Durante]

I ordered parts for a new PC yesterday.
I was thinking about it since the 12900k release, but always debating due to the expense and due to not finding a case I like that ticks all the boxes I want of this build.
Now I found one (this), and I convinced myself that, since I use the PC for work and its company money it doesn't really matter that it's expensive as fuck

 

[gabbo]

I ordered parts for a new PC yesterday.
I was thinking about it since the 12900k release, but always debating due to the expense and due to not finding a case I like that ticks all the boxes I want of this build.
Now I found one (this), and I convinced myself that, since I use the PC for work and its company money it doesn't really matter that it's expensive as fuck

That must be nice. How can I get in on such a deal?

 

[Parsnip]

That must be nice. How can I get in on such a deal?

Easy, just start your own pc porting company.

 

[Durante]

It actually worked the first time I turned it on! Always nice when that happens.
Also, this case is almost comically large.

Now for the somewhat arduous process of setting up an OS installation that has everything I need for daily use and migrating all my accounts and profiles and data etc. to it...

 

[Mivey]

I ordered parts for a new PC yesterday.
I was thinking about it since the 12900k release, but always debating due to the expense and due to not finding a case I like that ticks all the boxes I want of this build.
Now I found one (this), and I convinced myself that, since I use the PC for work and its company money it doesn't really matter that it's expensive as fuck

Reminds me a lot of my white Define R6 case, similar price too.

It does stay incredibly silent, though that's probably also due to the noctua fans and coolers, and the 2080Ti STRIX that is usually pretty quiet.

 

[Durante]

Yeah I had a Define case for my previous build, but I wanted something more open (I'm using the mesh front and mesh top in the Silent Base 802 now).
The main reason is that I'm running a 12900k and a 3090 in this thing, so overall ventilation needs to be really good for it to stay quiet over longer load periods.

Really impressed by the Arctic Liquid Freezer 360 by the way. The last time I used water cooling was before all-in-one systems were even a thing, and it was very complicated to build. But installing the all-in-one isn't really much more difficult than installing a huge air cooler, and it manages to cool the 12900k to 80° at most in a sustained 200W load while staying really quiet. With a 285W load (which is a bit silly, note that I'm talking about just CPU power in both cases!) it gets more noisy but still manages to keep the system under the threshold temperature, which no air cooler could do. And the best thing is that it's 90€, which is less than some high-end air coolers. And you get 3 pretty good fans on the radiator which also contributes to your case cooling! And no LEDs! Really can't recommend it enough for any build with a high-wattage CPU.

I probably went a bit too far in terms of overall cooling with this one after I had some case temp issues with my previous build once I started using the 3090. I now have 3 140mm front fans right behind the mesh front, a 140mm exhaust in the back, and the 3x120 on the radiator blowing out of the top.

 

[d00d3n]

Yeah I had a Define case for my previous build, but I wanted something more open (I'm using the mesh front and mesh top in the Silent Base 802 now).
The main reason is that I'm running a 12900k and a 3090 in this thing, so overall ventilation needs to be really good for it to stay quiet over longer load periods.

Really impressed by the Arctic Liquid Freezer 360 by the way. The last time I used water cooling was before all-in-one systems were even a thing, and it was very complicated to build. But installing the all-in-one isn't really much more difficult than installing a huge air cooler, and it manages to cool the 12900k to 80° at most in a sustained 200W load while staying really quiet. With a 285W load (which is a bit silly, note that I'm talking about just CPU power in both cases!) it gets more noisy but still manages to keep the system under the threshold temperature, which no air cooler could do. And the best thing is that it's 90€, which is less than some high-end air coolers. And you get 3 pretty good fans on the radiator which also contributes to your case cooling! And no LEDs! Really can't recommend it enough for any build with a high-wattage CPU.

I probably went a bit too far in terms of overall cooling with this one after I had some case temp issues with my previous build once I started using the 3090. I now have 3 140mm front fans right behind the mesh front, a 140mm exhaust in the back, and the 3x120 on the radiator blowing out of the top.

Did you go for DDR4 or DDR5 in the end?

 

[Durante]

Did you go for DDR4 or DDR5 in the end?

DDR4. It's basically impossible to get a 64 GB 2-module DDR5 kits with good timings.
I went for the highest end 64 GB DDR4 kit I could get and it was still cheaper than 32 GB of DDR5 with good timings.

 

[Stevey]

Ordered the new MX518, my G502 is looking a bit tired and worn these days.

 

[Durante]

My Logitech G5 seems to be dying after ~13 years of service

I was hoping that the intermittent input drops might be a SW/HW issue of my previous PC, but now I see the exact same thing on the new one. It might be time to buy a new mouse. End of an era.

 

[gabbo]

My Logitech G5 seems to be dying after ~13 years of service

I was hoping that the intermittent input drops might be a SW/HW issue of my previous PC, but now I see the exact same thing on the new one. It might be time to buy a new mouse. End of an era.

what are you looking at as a replacement?

 

[Stevey]

What do people do with their old hardware?
I have like 3 GPUs, a complete PC with i7 3770k in it just collecting dust.

 

[Parsnip]

What do people do with their old hardware?
I have like 3 GPUs, a complete PC with i7 3770k in it just collecting dust.

Depends. Sell. Pass the hardware down to someone else in your immediate family if there's need. Donate to some place.

 

[Durante]

what are you looking at as a replacement?

I'm still unsure, I'd rather just keep it :/

Probably a Logitech MX518, although I've heard the new ones aren't quite as good as the original (which I already didn't like quite as much as the G5 rev2).

What do people do with their old hardware?
I have like 3 GPUs, a complete PC with i7 3770k in it just collecting dust.

I used to keep it and then get rid of it much later. These days I prefer selling the complete system to people I know locally (at a huge discount compared to selling the individual parts on ebay or something like that, but that's just way too much effort).

 

[Stevey]

I'm happy with my new MX518, although it's lighter than my G502, the scroll wheel feels infinitely better. (never did like the G502 wheel for scrolling or clicking)

 

[Parsnip]

I use the wireless G603. Suits my needs.

Though I still haven't figured out if the occasional cursor jumping to the uppercorner of the screen is a hardware, software or wireless range issue.

 

[gabbo]

What do people do with their old hardware?
I have like 3 GPUs, a complete PC with i7 3770k in it just collecting dust.

I try to repurpose for as long as I can.
My old PC, built in 2013, became my wife's machine at the beginning of the pandemic because we started gaming with friends more and I had built a new machine,
Last year (because I like pain) I built her a new machine (minus new gpu). That old machine is now my htpc, replacing the htpc I had previously (built when Vista launched).
That PC I recycled through my work's e-waste program, as it was too old to hand down or sell. So yeah.

edit: re mice - I'm using the 502 Lightspeed, which works very well wired or wireless and has decent swap-able weights. But I'm not playing a lot of twith online shooters, so I don't have to worry about any input issues.

 

[Parsnip]

Opened my pc case today and unplugged one of my hdd's to see which of the two I have in there is actually the louder one.

While doing that it also occurred to me that I could move one sata ssd to the slot behind the motherboard tray.
But before actually starting that, it occurred to me that powering that drive there would be kind of pain. All the sata power cables I have have 3 connectors and the one at the very end is in a 90 degrees angle. That would be a pain in the ass.
Maybe once I invest in individually sleeved cables, those should be more flexible in general and the one at the end is not angled.

Alternately I could use some kind of sata power extension cables I guess.
I should investigate this a bit more.

 

[C-Dub]

What do people do with their old hardware?
I have like 3 GPUs, a complete PC with i7 3770k in it just collecting dust.

Unraid server.

 

[LEANIJA]

I mentioned in the Steam thread some time ago that a) my main PC had its GPU die (a 1070 Ti) and b) that I purchased a gaming laptop (a Legion 5, to be precise) . The two arent connected, but it was a lucky choice to buy that laptop.

After my GPU supposedly died, I switched to using the laptop as my main machine; however, its storage is quite limited, 500 GB versus the 2 TB (500 GB NVME, 500 GB SSD, 1TB SSD) I have on my PC; so I looked online if theres a way to plop an additional hard drive into the laptop. I found a video on Youtube about upgrading the Legion 5 which showed that there indeed is! I decided to put my 1TB SSD with all my accumulated data on it into the laptop.

But once I opened the laptop up (which I had to go buy tools for, btw, I didnt have the tiny Philips screwdriver needed), the slot for the 2.5" SSD that I saw on the video wasnt there. Mustve been a different model.
There was, however, a slot for another NVME drive.
So I decided to put the NVME from the PC into the laptop. That NVME only had the OS on it, nothing much else.
Said and done, without any problems, I now have 1 TB on the laptop.

However, I wanted my PC to at least be "alive", so I reinstalled the OS (Manjaro Linux) on another SSD that was in there. For funsies, I decided to see if the GPU by some miracle would work.
And it did.
WTF. That thing refused to start – completely. Now it boots up without a hitch? Super confused.

So now my GPU is working again for some reason and I have a freshly installed OS on the PC, and more storage on the laptop...which will stay my main machine, since the 3060 it has is just a newer GPU, it makes more sense to use it)

Its just very weird. I have no clue whats really up with my PC and if this status of GPU=alive will last or not. I am considering to actually put Windows10 on it -for a while– to finally finish Half Life Alyx, since my VR headset (Rift S) doesnt like Linux.

 

[Parsnip]

Yeah, hardware is weird.

Looks like Fractal released some new smaller Torrent cases, compact and nano.

 

[Li Kao]

I see a Gainward GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Ghost LHR at 800 euros. Does it make sense to upgrade a 2060 super with it ? And by which magnitude is it a rip off ?
Curiosity talking, I don't buy 800 moulas worth of hardware on a whim.

 

[LEANIJA]

I see a Gainward GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Ghost LHR at 800 euros. Does it make sense to upgrade a 2060 super with it ? And by which magnitude is it a rip off ?
Curiosity talking, I don't buy 800 moulas worth of hardware on a whim.

Probably not - looking at comparisons online, looks like it's not a huge upgrade, and double the recommended price
Plus, the 2060 Super should still last you a while.
(I can still run anything I want with my 1070 Ti)

And given your frequent mentions of money problems, I'd always advise against buying something you don't really need. Just my opinion, I'm not your dad

 

[Li Kao]

LEANIJA While I wouldn’t say that we are golden or totally out of the blue, things changed recently, I’m not living in overdraft anymore ! This feels good.

 

[madjoki]

Ohhhhh: Dell Alienware AW3423DW with 34" QD-OLED Panel and 175Hz Refresh Rate - TFTCentral

Alienware QD-OLED monitor reveals high price of Samsung’s new tech

Alienware AW3423DW brings rare form factor to OLED monitor options.

arstechnica.com

Apparently it will should retail for $1300.

Not cheap, but I don't think anyone expected it to be this low.

 

[Li Kao]

1300 dollars is one thing. The euro pricing is another

 

[Mivey]

Alienware QD-OLED monitor reveals high price of Samsung’s new tech

Alienware AW3423DW brings rare form factor to OLED monitor options.

arstechnica.com

Apparently it will should retail for $1300.

Not cheap, but I don't think anyone expected it to be this low.

1300$ for a cutting edge new OLED monitor is pretty good. Especially because with 34 inches it is at least approaching the normal size of a monitor (even if it's at the very top end). I wouldn't call this a high price at all, when previous monitors that had impressive HDR plus variable framerate cost like 3000$. And this thing will probably be better at HDR than even the best miniLED monitors with thousands of backlights. Can't beat OLED in that regard.
Give me this in a 27 inch form factor, no curved screen, and drop the price below 1000$, and that be a near perfect device for me.

 

[Durante]

Alienware QD-OLED monitor reveals high price of Samsung’s new tech

Alienware AW3423DW brings rare form factor to OLED monitor options.

arstechnica.com

Apparently it will should retail for $1300.

Not cheap, but I don't think anyone expected it to be this low.

That's literally half of what I expected as a lower bound.

If this holds true I see basically no way I'm not getting it.

 

[Li Kao]

Mmh, what's the best case I could buy for a sane price, thermal and noise wise ? The Fractal Torrent is not cheap, and what scares me is that if I go by Gamers Nexus end of year comparative, it's a thermal beast but far from silent.
On the other hand the Lian Li Lancool 215 is cheaper and less noisy, while still having good thermals. But mother of god burn this shit down, it's so ugly.

Any input appreciated. I'm in no rush to build a PC from scratch but on the other hand, having a PC and not an oven would be cool. And a good first step. Why change the internals when you have a badly cooled PC.
I guess I could also simply buy mid-range Noctua fans ?

 

[Mivey]

Mmh, what's the best case I could buy for a sane price, thermal and noise wise ? The Fractal Torrent is not cheap, and what scares me is that if I go by Gamers Nexus end of year comparative, it's a thermal beast but far from silent.
On the other hand the Lian Li Lancool 215 is cheaper and less noisy, while still having good thermals. But mother of god burn this shit down, it's so ugly.

Any input appreciated. I'm in no rush to build a PC from scratch but on the other hand, having a PC and not an oven would be cool. And a good first step. Why change the internals when you have a badly cooled PC.
I guess I could also simply buy mid-range Noctua fans ?

The Fractal Define I posted above is very good in terms of noise, very quiet while still having pretty decent thermals. It is on the more expensive side of things, but you do also get something with decent built quality, so I'd say the price is "sane" in terms of what you are getting. It's a full tower case, so on the larger side of things. Fractal has some newer Define cases that are quite a bit smaller as well. I can't personally vouch for those, so you might want to check out reviews there.

 

[Li Kao]

The Fractal Define I posted above is very good in terms of noise, very quiet while still having pretty decent thermals. It is on the more expensive side of things, but you do also get something with decent built quality, so I'd say the price is "sane" in terms of what you are getting. It's a full tower case, so on the larger side of things. Fractal has some newer Define cases that are quite a bit smaller as well. I can't personally vouch for those, so you might want to check out reviews there.

Oh, the size doesn't bother me too much, unless we are speaking about a monster. Far less important than 1 thermals and 2 quietness.

Edit - The Be Quiet Pure Base 500DX is nicely placed is both thermals and noise, and cheap. But then, once again, the design is... an acquired taste.

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

Li Kao You'll need to have a look at someone like Gamers Nexus or Hardware Unboxed or one of the more nerdy PC channels.
Fractal Design Define is quiet, expensive and BIG because the panels have dampening/soundproofing material on them which also means they need a bit more effort to keep them cool. I had to move to a bigger case and have a Lian Li PC-011 which you'd expect to be loud but with the right fans and my AIO watercooler it's pretty silent unless i run the most demanding games when the GFX card fans ramp up.

One thing i do with Gamers Nexus is watch them at 1.25 speed or Steve takes FOREVER to talk.
Gamers Nexus Youtube Case Reviews - Youtube Search

If i can think of anywhere better than trawling through overclockers uk, LTT or Tom's Hardware forums i'll post it.

 

[Li Kao]

EdwardTivrusky Yup, I was basing my search on the Best Case of 2021 video. The Torrent is the coolest but it seems to also be the noisiest.
Though I suppose noise isn't the end all be all if also buy third party fans. But then again Steve seems to say that the Torrent fans are not cheap fans and you should use them.
But yeah, I'm not very tech-litterate and this project is shaping up to be a headache. Between pricey and out of stock OOS parts... I can't fucking find an electrical duster FFS !

 

[C-Dub]

One thing i do with Gamers Nexus is watch them at 1.25 speed or Steve takes FOREVER to talk.
Gamers Nexus Youtube Case Reviews - Youtube Search

So glad I’m not the only one who does this. Their videos are so informative but my god they can drag.

 

[didamangi]

Mmh, what's the best case I could buy for a sane price, thermal and noise wise ? The Fractal Torrent is not cheap, and what scares me is that if I go by Gamers Nexus end of year comparative, it's a thermal beast but far from silent.
On the other hand the Lian Li Lancool 215 is cheaper and less noisy, while still having good thermals. But mother of god burn this shit down, it's so ugly.

Any input appreciated. I'm in no rush to build a PC from scratch but on the other hand, having a PC and not an oven would be cool. And a good first step. Why change the internals when you have a badly cooled PC.
I guess I could also simply buy mid-range Noctua fans ?

Any mesh/air focus that you like the design and price of.

Regarding noise you can set your fans to silent enough rpm (according to your liking) on load , provided the cpu and gpu cooling is also up to their tasks, which the mesh case should help.

I change my silent focus case to lancool 2 mesh and the lancool 2 mesh is actually quieter on load because I can set the fans on lower rpm than the my previous silent focus case and the temp is also better.

 

[Durante]

Regarding the cost effectiveness / noise / quality tradeoff I think the Pure Base 500DX is a pretty good choice. There's also the Corsair 4000D Airflow in roughly the same category, and you might find the design more inoffensive.

Personally, I feel like the Torrent (and also its recently announced smaller versions) is overpriced if you're looking for value.

 

[Li Kao]

I'm not even sure about what I need anymore. Too much informations, too much hair splitting about this point or that point.

Let's return to basics. I have a NZXT H500 and it historically has been shit at cooling with my 2600x stock cooler. Less so since ISee gifted me a better cooler, not a good one as he specified, just better. I imagine it's stock AMD cooler + (don't remember the name).
And even with it, I saw some dreadful temps while playing demanding games on unwise settings, like Control at 1440p with RT (50 fps or so ?).

Flash forward to now, I'm in the mood to update the PC. Not the GPU because fuck stocks, but why not retire the 2600x ? But then I ask myself, what's the fucking point of splurging 400 something (CPU+Mobo) on a system whose cooling is debatable ?

Then my brain turns to molasse. Cases with good airflow are not cheap, and I dread the added noise that could come from them. For now I'm, if memory serves, with a back and a back-top fan, both exhaust. NZXT stock configuration. Pretty sure those are not PWM and right now they are set to basically 900 RPM for one and 1000 RPM for the other.
My CPU cooler is at 1600 RPM and is already gently grating.
Oh yeah, the PC is on the desk just next to me. Noise-wise, it's looking for trouble, but my apartment floor is simply too dusty to leave the case on floor level. Dust production must be on an industrial scale in my city, no explanation.

Do I change case ? Do I simply buy good fans ? Do I go live in a monastery because noise breaks my balls ?

I think I summarized things pretty well.


Oh, and I just did a 3d Mark demo (Timespy) and I got slightly below average in score (200 below) and CPU and GPU peaked respectively at 81 and 68.4°c


I could really use some outside input.

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

How are the fan intake/exhaust set up on your case?
Are the fans pointing the right way or at least the way you think they are?
Fans will or should have a small arrow somewhere on the casing to show airflow direction.
Did temps improve with the new cooler?
Did you apply thermal paste/pads properly?
What thermal paste/pads did you use?
Is your PC BIOS overclocking or over volting which is why things are running hot?

If you want to clean dust then you want a hand-held anti-static air-blower. Something like this. We use a Data-Vac model my housemate brings home from work now and then. I use it to blow out the fins on PC cooler, PS4, behind radiators, behind tv etc. You want a blower to blow air out, not a vacuum which could pull dust in.

This is £50 but you should be able to find cheaper, less powerful ones somewhere hopefully.
Amazon product
If all else fails then headphones. I always put my case on the floor below the desk and make sure the filters are in place.

 

[didamangi]

Oh, the size doesn't bother me too much, unless we are speaking about a monster. Far less important than 1 thermals and 2 quietness.

Edit - The Be Quiet Pure Base 500DX is nicely placed is both thermals and noise, and cheap. But then, once again, the design is... an acquired taste.

I feel noise normalized benchmark is the one to look out for with your criteria, gamers nexus has one.

lancool 215, lancool ii mesh, p400a, pure base 500dx, 400d airflow, td500 mesh are good options for the cheaper mesh cases they reviewed.

 

[Li Kao]

Wait, what do they mean by normalized ? How does the Torrent goes from noisiest to first place ?
‘Case fans slowed to meet total system noise of 36dBA’ feels like a how and not a why to my uneducated mind.

 

[didamangi]

Wait, what do they mean by normalized ? How does the Torrent goes from noisiest to first place ?
‘Case fans slowed to meet total system noise of 36dBA’ feels like a how and not a why to my uneducated mind.

Yup. They adjust the case fans (GPU and CPU fans are fixed speed) so the noise levels of the tested systems only reach 36 dba and measured the CPU and GPU temps.

This chart is case stock fan configuration, so they only tested the cases with their stock fan config, not adding any case fans to the system other than what comes with the case.

 

[Parsnip]

I have the Meshify 2. It's nice. I use a bunch of Noctua's fans on the case too.

 

[Li Kao]

I have the Meshify 2. It's nice. I use a bunch of Noctua's fans on the case too.

Yeah I really like the look of the Meshify 2. Not sure it would be a good purchase now that we have better (?) performing cases, and I'm fucking lost between the hundred versions of the case, but I REALLY like it.
Torrent is not bad, but there is an hint of a heater in its design.

 

[fearthedawn]

Imho there is rarely a need to overthink performance of mesh cases:

Does a lot of air go in and out again, all of it flowing in a big stream inside the case?
Do you have case fans that are quality enough to move a good amount of air while staying at a whisper and do you have some way to adjust rpm to get/keep them at that level?

Check both and it's going to perform good enough for most users and won't add much at all to the noise level, a few degrees up or down inside the case ultimately doesn't matter much, what really matters is that the heat gets out quickly and doesn't keep accumulating (obviously if you have a 400W gpu and 200W cpu both running full tilt... there is a point somewhere where some cases will reach their limit while others are still fine).

(As long as the heat is getting out) much more important for noise is cpu and gpu fans running quiet and the design and quality of the cooler/fans has a huge impact there as the range goes from whisper quiet under full load all the way to jet engine even in open air. I guess a good test here would be removing the side panel of your case and then running benchmarks, if it's loud your cpu and/or gpu cooler are loud and a better case can only change that so much.

 

[Durante]

Yeah, the only time it gets slightly more complicated is if you want to use liquid cooling. With air cooling, especially for something that's not on the very extreme end, there's no need to worry too much about it.

Perhaps one more general point to remember is that your intakes should be properly filtered (as in, stopping dust without impeding air too much), because that's the difference between dusting out a tiny amount of buildup from your PC once a year or so and everything potentially getting clogged in months. But any decent current mesh case (including the ones mentioned in this thread) is usually good about this.

obviously if you have a 400W gpu and 200W cpu both running full tilt...

I feel called out

 

[Joe Spangle]

Ah bollocks. I dont think my chunky 3090 is going to fit in the case i got - a GD-09.
Not given up yet but its very tight in there.

 

[gabbo]

Ah bollocks. I dont think my chunky 3090 is going to fit in the case i got - a GD-09.
Not given up yet but its very tight in there.

How long is the 3090 you have? Owning a GD09, this is relevant to my interests (i'm using a low profile card in mine, so I can't provide advice sadly)

 

[Joe Spangle]

How long is the 3090 you have? Owning a GD09, this is relevant to my interests (i'm using a low profile card in mine, so I can't provide advice sadly)

Its a standard one, FE do they call it? Official stats are 12.3″ (313 mm) x 5.4″ (138 mm)

Measuring it just now it comes in at 324mm - from the rear to the sticky out metal bit which is the bit im having trouble getting down into the case. I think it may well fit (just about, probably touching the end wall of the case) if i can manoeuvre it down into place but there isnt much room to wheel it around.

 

[MomoVideo]

Not that much related to the thread, but did anyone experience this?

Ever since updating to Windows 11, I get those few pixel-wide bars of my desktop at the top and the side of the screen when I open videos in fullscreen in browser or Steam. It's driving me nuts. I have to reopen the video again in fullscreen for this bug to go away.

 

[Joe Spangle]

Ah bollocks. I dont think my chunky 3090 is going to fit in the case i got - a GD-09.
Not given up yet but its very tight in there.

It fits! With a bit of forcing the sides of the case out ive managed to get it in. very snug. Pretty pleased to be honest. Had real doubts it would go in.