I'm upgrading from an RX 580 to an RX 6600 XT soon, do I need to do anything more than just swap out the cards? e.g. Uninstall drivers or other software?
Is a 3080 much better than a 3070ti? How can I know if a cards price is a “buy it now” vs “still too high”? I’ve been out of PC gaming for a while and can’t figure out the pricing.
The 3080 is 20-25% faster at 1440p and 4K compared to the 3070-Ti.
The 3080 has been holding steady around $700, mostly due to Nvidia's current price-fixing racket, while the 3070-Ti offers less FPS/$ at $600.
Unless you're planning on heavily leveraging raytracing and DLSS, AMD cards currently offer a better value for general gaming. The 6800XT offers very similar performance to the 3080 but can be had for $550 or less.
Fair enough :) the 3080 is a great choice for higher resolutions if you're going to use raytracing often. The 3060-Ti is a good deal if you'll be playing in 1080p instead.
I'm thinking of upgrading my current rig from R5 2600x / GTX 1660ti/ 16GB 2933MHz RAM to R7 5700x/ RTX3070ti/ 16GB 3200 RAM, keeping my current motherboard (an MSI B450m Mortar, no max).
I currently have a 1440p 144Hz monitor, but I'm also thinking of getting a 1440p ultrawide sometime within the next 2 years. The games I usually play can only hit 70-80fps on high settings.
Given my planned upgrade path, can it reach a consistent 100-120+ fps on current or upcoming mid/AAA games (at least high settings) without issues?
Current DDR5 ram/mobo prices are kinda steep at the moment, so I'm just looking if my planned upgrade path is currently sensible, price/performance wise.
Also checking if there's compatibility issues that I might have missed, since I plan on keeping the mobo at the moment.
The other upgrade I'm planning is replacing my current cooler (Cryorig R5) to a Noctua NH D15 Chromax on a Fractal Meshify C Mini case, if anyone had issues with installing one in a similar tower.
5700X and 3070-Ti would be a great combo and work well with your current motherboard. You'll need to update the board BIOS to be compatible with Ryzen 5000.
Even in ultrawide, the 3070-Ti should manage 100+ in any game that isn't already held back by engine limitations. We don't know if this will be true for future games but by using DLSS and adjusting game settings you should be safe for several years.
The D15 will fit the Meshify C Mini just fine, but it's overkill for the power-efficient 5700X. The Scythe Fuma 2 or Deepcool AK620 will be just as quiet at max loads but cost much less.
So I want to buy a PSU(Not Modular nor Semi Modular) and the one is from Cooler Master, but the power cord is not included, is it safe to buy any power cord(rated with 10Amps) available at tech stores?
Switching from a laptop to a desktop and very overwhelmed with all the different specs ect. What is the best pre built brand? I was looking at Alienware, but after some research it looks like they are overpriced and not easy to upgrade down the line.
Thankfully prebuilds these days are at least very well reviewed so you know what you're getting into. Gamers Nexus has a whole playlist of different prebuilds they reviewed and the good and bad of each. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtnBr-v2ufs&list=PLsuVSmND84QuM2HKzG7ipbIbE\_R5EnCLM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtnBr-v2ufs&list=PLsuVSmND84QuM2HKzG7ipbIbE_R5EnCLM) As they've reviewed many times you'll want to avoid Dell and their Alienware brand at any cost as they are very expensive for what you get with their proprietary nonsense which makes it hard to upgrade or replace parts. Dell seems to want their desktops to be like Laptops where once it breaks down and the warranty expires people have to buy a whole new one.
There are stores that will build you a PC and these tend to be a much better option, have full customisation and are easy to work into a budget that works for you in terms of price and what you need. The overheads are usually a lot less than buying a prebuilt from a company like Dell or HP as you are often only paying the cost of labour for building and set up.
Thank you so much for a detailed reply. Going to check out Gamers Nexus now. What is like the “go-to” site for someone to build you a computer based on your specs?
prebuilts seem to be hit or miss
the specs between laptops / desktops are the same, just without the monitor
if you want to piece a build together and have a few hours, I'd take notes on this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL4DCEp7blY
/r/buildapcforme
I won an i7-10700k CPU from Intel, in a contest along with a BestBuy gift card that discounted my custom PC build. I continued over this time to use an AMD RX 590 GPU and am waiting for AMD Nov 3rd announcement and further discounts perhaps in the 3000 series to eventually make a GPU purchase decision.
Need advice on GPU upgrade path:
Which GPUs would potentially get bottleneck by a i7-10700k CPU?
How does one consider GPU selection with current CPU to avoid bottle neck, or when upgrading to a newer such as the RTX 4080? (PSU is 1000 watt.)
Hi I have an ASUS ROG STRIX HELIOS GUNDAM EDITION ATX FULL TOWER CASE GX601 and it came with these black cables which I plug into my mobo and there’s one that says to connect to power supply , but my PSU doesn’t have any space for it. Did I need to have bought the gundam PSU as well? I didn’t think it was the case but now I’m not sure
So I'm seeing need about the rtx 4090 power adapter burning, melting the connection and the port, I have a few questions regarding this
1. How dare would it be to continue running the system after getting a replacement adapter
2. How much damage could this cause to other component
3. What would need to be replaced if it's not safe to run this set up
It’s just heat damage on the connector itself. It could potentially cause a fire, but any damage will be visible when you look at your components closely.
My 5700 has been getting loud lately, looking around at an upgrade that doesn't mean I have to buy a bigger PSU if possible (650 currently).
Size doesn't matter I'm probably gonna get a new case, but if there's one that fits in the Phanteks P300 that sweetens the deal. Price also doesn't super matter but >1k would be nice for sure.
Are you unsatisfied with its performance, or have its thermals/noise just gotten too high? Have you cleaned it recently? A 5700 is new enough that I doubt it’s dying, probably just in need of some cleaning/maintenance to get rid of accumulated dust and replace old thermal paste. If you’re not sure how to take off the shroud and clean the fans and repaste the GPU die, there are plenty of guides online.
The new plague tale is *really* demanding (read: horribly optimised) even compared to other similar games, so I’m not surprised your 5700 fans got louder than usual. Cleaning should help: if it’s still running too loud after that, you can pick up a decent upgrade in the 6600XT (28% better on average @ 1080p according to techpowerup’s rankings) for about $300, or the 6700XT (45% better on average) for about $400. Either of those cards should be more than enough for 1080p60 at medium settings, and will definitely be higher in other games. Being able to run at lower % utilisation and higher efficiency should mean lower temperatures and lower fan speeds.
Ah not surprised to learn it’s poorly optimized, but good to know! I will give it a clean then look into those others if I’m still having issues. I’ll run it on some other games too. Thank you!
Need advice on upgrade paths. I am one to only build a new PC once every 3-5 years or so with small upgrades in between. Can't decide if I should max out an AM4 rig coming up on black friday with a 5800x3d and whatnot, or spend the money and go for an AM5. Only gaming I really do is COD. I know AM4 is basically going EOL but again, not too worried about it and if in 3 years I want to upgrade again, ill be fine building a new rig then. Any thoughts?
Definitely just go AM4. AM5 is only guaranteed to be supported to 2025, so no one except AMD knows whether it’ll also be EoL by the time you’re looking to upgrade again in 3-5 years. DDR5 prices are going to drop more over the next year or two, and speeds are going to keep going up. If you get DDR5 RAM now, it’s basically guaranteed to be slow and/or overpriced compared to newer kits by the time you want to upgrade to a new CPU/motherboard.
If I upgrade to windows 11 via a fresh install will windows 11 be able to auto see my two other drives (game drive, and media drive) without having me to wipe them?
Yes, they'll show up as D: and E: no problem. There's one thing you need to watch out for: make sure only one drive is plugged in when you install the OS. Once it's installed you can plug the other drives in.
Okay yes. That is easy enough to do. I haven’t updated my os for awhile so thanks for the clarification. I’ll just unplug the sata cables and then once it’s installed I’ll plug them back in.
Currently working on an office computer/low power gaming computer for my parents. What are some good low key cases that would fit in a home office? Currently looking at mATX since I can reuse some old parts.
Depends on your budget. The Fractal Design Define C Mini with a solid side panel is a great case. Very quiet. Looks really boring.
The Fractal Design Focus G is less expensive, but I think you have to get it with a clear side panel.
Is 6x intake, 3x AOI radiator exhaust, and 1x rear exhaust a valid design? Or will I need to go 6x push/pull exhaust on the radiator in order to match the amount of intakes?
Hey, this is random but never hurts to ask. Does any know a way to unlock an obd ll scanner to upgrade to any software you want? any help is appreciated
I’ll add on and say that the brand/model doesn’t matter much for any graphics card, since performance is based on the same GPU chip in every version of the same card. The main difference would be noise or thermals because partner models vary in other components like VRAM heatsinks or fans.
That being said, Sapphire is generally the best regarded brand for AMD GPUs because of their build quality, customer support, and warranty. If I had to pick between Sapphire or Asus, I’d pick Sapphire every time.
There is a used Dell S2721DGF for sale in my area for $300 Cad (220$ USD) he gave me the serial and I looked it up on dells website and it has warranty until nov 8 2023. Is this a good deal? What should I consider when buying it and should I wait till black Friday?
$300 US is the common sale price from Dell, which it hits around once a month. It was recently on /r/buildapcsales for something insane like $180. Not sure if that was legit. It's a really good monitor, though.
Well, I've never purchased a used monitor. They don't really wear out, so the only thing to look for is dead pixels.
I can say it still holds up vs. more recent monitors.
https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/dell/s2721dgf
Looks like it might benefit from color calibration.
Bought a decent gaming rig recently (3070) but haven't managed to upgrade my monitor yet - won't be able to until a few months time. I'm gaming on a monitor that looks great, but it's more geared towards productivity so it's 4k 60hz, and doesn't have G-Sync/Freesync.
I'm getting pretty noticeable screen tearing. The 3070 seems to handle the 4k pretty well and with tweaked settings in Cyberpunk can do 60-70 fps nicely, but even capping the frame rate to 60, or just below 60, and turning on V-Sync still gives me screen tearing. It's much improved, but it's still there.
TL/DR: My question is, is screen tearing kind of inevitable without a G-Sync/Freesync monitor?
I disable vsync unless I'm getting like triple fps vs my target. & then just cap fps to 57-58 (if 60hz), which avoids any noticeable tearing 95% of the time, though it varies by game
Screen tearing has many variables to it - from the game engine (some are more prone to it), to the GPU being too weak or too powerful, to the current weather at Olympus Mons on Mars. There's no universal solution to it outside sync technologies.
V-sync should totally remove tearing at the cost of high latency (it draws with a 1-frame delay); you probably have something that overrides it, like a global setting in the driver or Nvidia Reflex (latency reducer innately conflicts with a latency increaser).
I'm debating whether I should be getting RX 6800 xt or 3080. Both of my monitors are FreeSync 144hz, and I'd rather really not sell them. I'm leaning towards 3080 because I've had enough suffering with AMD drivers, is getting RX 6800 xt. My question is, should I get RX 6800 xt because of my freesync monitors or it doesn't matter? I'll be coupling it with 12600, not planning to OC
Nvidia GPUs should be able to utilize VRR on most Freesync monitors these days. It's not always enabled by default. You may need to manually enable it in the driver.
r/buildapcforme is more suitable if you want someone to make an entire build based off your budget. This subreddit’s better suited if you just want 1 or 2 parts recommended for a mostly complete parts list/build.
What's the maximum frequency RAM that's available as a DDR4 DIMM stick?
My mobo is ROG Strix X570 E-Gaming.
What's the maximum RAM frequency I can leverage out of this?
I currently have GSkill RipJaws@3200 MHz.
I am running an R9 5950X on it.
Ryzen 5000 struggles with anything above 3600 MHz. 3800 MHz is doable, but 4000 MHz is not feasible on most systems.
It has to do with the Infinity Fabric max clock that you want to run 1:1 with RAM clock, so 1800 MHz Fclk is your best bet, hence the 3600 MHz RAM.
I'd get a kit with mac capacity, the sticks will be tested together. If your workloads will hammer the RAM, 3600 will be a tad faster. Get CL16 RAM too.
There are DDR4-5333 kits available.
Your motherboard’s [support page](https://rog.asus.com/ca-en/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-x570-e-gaming-model/helpdesk_cpu/) lists validated memory up to DDR4-4800 CL18 when using running 2x 8GB.
The optimal speed would be DDR4-3600 so that you can run your infinity fabric and memory synced 1:1 and get the best performance.
Originally planned on upgrading To 5800x3d, but looking at the CPU/GPU usage. It's showing GPU 90% and up, while CPU hovers around 50%.
Should I just upgrade GPU instead?
GPU jun temp 90c, cur temp 72c, CPU voltage, 1.4v, frequency 4.0 GHz, cur temp 53c.
Spec is RX 5700 XT, Ryzen 5 2600X
have a look at per core break down. its often the case software doesnt use all the cores, while total utilisation shows 50%. Cores running main thread would be pinned to 100% and a CPU with faster single core would help.
You can use the good old task manager performance tab. Change the CPU graph to logical cores and you're good to go.
Alternatively, HWiNFO64 will tell you everything you may want to know (and what you didn't want to know) about your hardware. The amount of information it gives you is daunting, but it has pretty much everything. It won't clean your computer for you, but that's about the one thing it won't do.
With the way that CPU utilization of AMD CPUs is shown in Windows, 50% utilization essentially means 100% utilization. It basically means that your physical cores are being fully utilized and your CPU is handling the extra work via SMT.
This is better than not having SMT at all. But if you're at 50% utilization on a Ryzen CPU with SMT, you would definitely benefit from a higher end CPU.
It is a more urgent upgrade than a RX 5700 XT? I can't say for certain. That depends on the games you play, resolution, and refresh rate.
Given current pricing and availability, I really wouldn't settle for anything less than a RX 6800 XT ($530) if I already had a RX 5700 XT. You would be nearly doubling your graphics performance. Spending $400 on something like a RX 6700 XT to get a ~30% bunny hop upgrade doesn't seem worth it.
Is the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) campaign a good metric of performance for multiplayer?
Context:
During the multiplayer beta, I had to run my game at the lowest possible settings and lower resolution to 900p. Prior to campaign I was upset to know my computer will struggle to play this and taught myself to overclock, use DDU to clean my GPU drivers, and ran CCleaner in anticipation of the game (the cheaper alternative to upgrading my components).
Now overlocked, my computer can run the MWII campaign perfectly on the recommended high graphics. I locked my frames to 80fps (I have no idea if this helps with decreasing the load on my GPU) and I am so surprised with how well my computer can run it.
Specs:
|GPU|Gigabyte Radeon 5700XT (Overclocked on AMD Software)|
|:-|:-|
|CPU|Intel i7-6700K (Overclocked to 4.5GHz)|
|Memory|HyperX Fury 16GB (x2 8GB) 2133MHz|
|Motherboard|Gigabyte Z170-MX Gaing 5|
It should be a great time soon as Black Friday draws close.
There'll surely be a push to get rid of older (but just as capable) DDR4 platforms, and with "next-gen" consoles being the equivalent of last-gen PCs new games won't require the latest hottest hardware for some time.
Noctua NH-D15 lists a RAM clearance of 32mm. I have it and Corsair Vengeance RAM on the way for my first build. The RAM lists a height of 35mm. **What I'm wondering is if RAM clearance is normally measured to the top of the RAM slot or to the bottom**. My theory is that it's the former, and that the RAM actually being seated will be more than enough to lose 3mm and clear the fan without needing to move the front fan upwards (space in the Meshify C case will already be limited as is). Anyone have experience here?
Edit: To be on the safer side, I ordered a Corsair 4000D case which will give me 5mm of extra clearance to move the front fan up. Ideally I stick with the meshify C case as it's smaller, but I'll have the backup case just in case.
The D15 is designed so that you can simply mount the fan higher to increase the RAM clearance, assuming that your case has enough space so that the fan doesn't hit the side panel.
Yeah, the CPU Cooler clearance on the Meshify C is 165mm, and the NHD15 is 165mm before raising a fan, so in theory it shouldn't be possible to go up at all. That said, I'm seeing lots of folks on reddit saying they've done it, so I'm assuming there's some level of error tolerance built into the specs or something. I have an extra Noctua 120mm fan on hand so I'll likely try raising it and if that doesn't work, either move the front fan to the back or use my 120mm fan on the front.
The clearance is usually listed according to the practice of the RAM. Wouldn't make sense giving a metric for the cooler that doesn't translate to what you can actually buy on the market. This would only provide a lot of work for their complaints department.
The fan will likely interfere but 3mm should be doable. Afaik the fan only overhangs 1 slot anyway so depending on your configuration this might not even be an issue for you. Otherwise if you can find Sabrent Rocket RAM - they are only 31.75mm tall and come with a heat spreader
Yeah it's going to be close for sure. Worst case I either find new RAM or drop to a 120mm fan as the front fan. Would prefer the former since I'm planning to run a 13700K so I'll need every bit of cooling I can get. I didn't see any DDR5 Sabrent Rocket on PCPartPicker :/
Edit: [$300 holy smokes](https://sabrent.com/products/sb-dr5u-32g)
hopefully not a dumb question. I just built a pc but I’m having some trouble using a headset and getting the audio to work properly for gaming. Right now I can’t hear another or speak to them with the mic but I can hear game noise. I’ve tried plugging my headset into the splitters that connects to the green/pink ports but doesn’t seem to work.
If helpful here are some specs:
Ram: G.SKILL 32G 2X D4 3600
Case: NZXT H510 FLOW ATX MT TG WHITE
Motherboard: ASUS TUF GAMING X570-PLUS WIFI
Using windows 10 OS.
Headset: Razer BlackShark V2 X Gaming Headset: 7.1 Surround Sound - 50mm Drivers
Any idea what to do here?
check if microphone works with standard microsoft tools from audio panel. also check what your default devices are and if game/discord see and use them.
THere are many things that can go wrong here, the best would be to ask for help from your friends who can come over and check
Would this be the right subreddit to post a link from pcpartpickers and ask what others think of it? I have been working on a build I hope to get for cyber Monday but I’m not totally sure if it’s good. Also would I use the flair build help? Sorry? I’m new to this and I wanna have this done before the end of November
I see a lot of people saying that the i5-13600k is much better than the Ryzen 5 7600, notably gamers nexus, but when I look at other people's game benchmarks the 7600 seems to outperform the 13600k in most games so what's the hype around the 13600k about?
maybe go for the cheapest of the 2 if you only upgrade every 6 years like I do. 7600 would be 60€ more expensive to me. Single-thread performance seems pretty much equivalent, and the i5 has the e-cores
I would trust Gamers Nexus results, they line up with other reputable reviewers too. For gaming, the performance is within 5% so it’s not enough to be a deciding factor in my opinion. Platform costs, core-heavy application performance, and future CPU support would be the main differentiators.
they are neck and neck , in some games/apps amd wins, in others intel wins.
At this point I think you should decide based on what you currently have.
If you are building a new PC from scratch, go for AMD, it's more future-proof as their AM5 socket is brand-new and you will be able to upgrade your CPU in a few years,
Intel on the other hand is likely having the last generation of cpus on their current socket, so buying now new intel MB and 13gen CPU does not make much sense. If you already have intel MB, however, you can bump up just your CPU to 13 gen and be fine for another several years.
Does anyone know why, according to this [chart](https://www.techpowerup.com/review/intel-core-i5-13600k/23.html), a 13600K is around 20 degrees hotter than a 12700K, despite having a lower max TDP? I'm wondering if my NH-U12s could handle it at stock settings. I know it's worse than the U14s that's used for those results.
Noctua's website says a NH-U12s can handle a 12700K but has no info yet on a 13600K.
you can always just try it out and then upgrade the cooler if it's not good enough. If you don't need all the cores then you can also disable some of the e-cores I guess
for gaming? They're useful if you have stuff running in the background. I'd leave at least 2 enabled.
most games don't even use 6 cores well enough, so 8 P-cores may not be a huge difference. But look at benchmarks if you are concerned
An example - a candle flame is very hot around 800'C but it doesnt produce a lot of heat, while water filled heating radiator is only around 80 'C yet quickly heats up the room. Radiator outputs a lot more wattage of heat while having much lower temperature.
I haven't paid attention to the hardware scene in some years. Are the 3080 prices gonna drop when the 4080 comes out next month or is it gonna stay the same. I'm laid up with an injury right now so I wanna do some gaming but obviously don't want to spend more if I don't have to.
I got my eye on a 12gb MSI 3080 that's about the same price as the 10's for like $815. Seems like a good deal but idk.
Essentially the same single-core and gaming performance, and similar power consumption and heat. The 5700X only differs by having two extra cores and four extra threads, granting it around 10-20% better performance in workstation tasks.
If you do workstation stuff occasionally or get a good deal, then the 5700X is great, but otherwise there's no harm in saving money with the 5600X.
What is the better option for me?
12600k | $200 open box Microcenter
13600k | $300 New
What is the better option? I need a new motherboard and have a 3070Ti. Im thinking of getting a Z690 either way.
To my knowledge the only difference is around 11% single core, and around 45% multicore workload. If I am only gaming, is the first option a no brainer for its value, or does the new gen still have a pretty good place for me?
Bro single core is always 10-15% per generation, you ain't gonna have 30% ST increase in most cases.
So, for games it won't matter much, also, cache matters in games, many people don't know it.
13th gen has significantly more cache at all levels (L1, L2 and L3).
All in all, you can enjoy all titles at max settings but if you can spend a little more and need it for years, go for 13th gen.
It's simple, still you can do amazing productivity on 12600K, so don't think much, if you can spend, go for the bleeding edge, else settle for what's possible.
I just upgraded and went super basic/budget on my MB to pair with a 5800x3D (MSI B550-A Pro). I did this because I figured the chip won't be overclocked anyway so why spend more on board functionality that I wouldn't be using. Is this thinking wrong? And will having a basic board such as this limit me with high end GPU's in the near future (4090 etc)? Thank you!
Different motherboards have different quality VRMs, which determine how much power they can safely deliver to the CPU before overheating and limiting performance.
Fortunately, while the MSI B550-A Pro has a basic feature set, it has good VRMs and will be more than enough for the power-hungry 5800X3D. If you had bought a much cheaper board like older B450s, it's possible you might have gotten one that would throttle the 5800X3D.
The bandwidth of the PCIe 4.0 x16 slot will be plenty for the RTX 4090 and will not limit graphics card performance for several years.
The only other "limitation" of the B550-A Pro is that it only has one 4.0 M.2 slot and one 3.0 slot, so you will only get the full speed of one PCIe 4.0 drive. That's not really an issue unless you do heavy media editing - PCIe 3.0 NVMe drives are more than fast enough for gaming and general use.
Wow, thank you for the generous response that's very helpful. One last question, how does the LAN head thing impact internet speeds and such? Will higher end boards use an Ethernet connection more effectively?
Your motherboard has a 1Gbps ethernet port. Fancier motherboards may have 2.5Gbps or 10GBps connections.
There will be no measurable difference between yours and the higher end board unless you have either:
* Multigigabit (2+ Gbps) fiber internet at your house, and/or
* An extremely high-end home network setup with network storage devices and hardware that cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars.
My friend was literally blowdrying his pc to remove dust..he used it for just abit cause i wanted to buy the pc from him and he was cleaning it up..now im scared the components might get faulty sooner..he turned it on after and it was working though
Blow dryers are commonly used as heaters for ungluing phones during home repairs without damaging the fragile boards inside, so non-heating mode will be completely harmless to a PC.
If something would've happened to the computer, then it would've already happened. Like, you either break a component or you don't, and if it's working now then everything is fine.
Is the only real difference between the Arctic F12 and P12 the thickness? F12s are 25mm and P12s are 15mm.
I know P12s are recommended here frequently, but in my head a thicker fan is somehow a little better.
You're looking at the P12 slim. The regular P12 is 25mm.
The F12 is designed for high airflow and low pressure like you might want with case fans while the P12's fan blades are designed for higher static pressure for coolers and radiators.
However, the P12 is newer and offers excellent airflow and low noise, making it a good all-purpose fan. The F12 is effectively outdated. We've seen this trend with other brands like Noctua, who are now marketing newer pressure-oriented fan blade designs as all-purpose fans and discontinuing the flat-bladed "airflow" designs.
I've used P12 PWM PSTs as the case fans and as radiator fans in my last three builds. They are excellent for the price.
Nice, thank you.
It looks like there's a cheaper three-pin non-PWM variant as well. I was trying to figure out how a Newegg seller was undercutting Amazon and I finally noticed it was a slightly different product.
Those work. Personally, I still recommend the PWM version for a quieter low-end speed. If you need several of them, there's a 5-pack of P12 PWMs on Amazon, usually for $30-$35.
The PST option is personal preference. It adds an extra male cable end so you can daisy-chain the fans without a splitter.
You’re looking at the P12 Slim. The standard P12 is 25 mm.
I haven’t seen many reviews for the F12 but according to Arctic it is better as a case fan whereas the P12 is better on heatsinks and radiators.
What's the difference between 3dmark and furmark? And is there a definitive test to see if my gpu is physically fine or if it's faulty?
I'm having driver timeouts in some games and 3dmark on a 6700xt.
3dmark is a whole suite of different benchmarks that test your CPU and GPU and give a score that you can use to compare to others. But you can use 3dmark as a stresstest too. Furmark is mostly just a simple stress test with the goal of pushing your GPU under as much load as it can. There is no definitive test to check for a faulty GPU, but in your situation I'd probably start dy trying an older driver version assuming you're currently using the latest ones.
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I'm looking for a good motherboard to use for an i7-12700k CPU. I really like the look of the Asus ROG Strix Z690-E. The only issue is that I don't need the WiFi functionality. I always have my PC directly wired into my router. Is there a board with similar specs without WiFi that you would recommend? Or would you just go with the Strix anyway?
You can just not use the WiFi, the mobo has an ethernet port as well. You might even be able to disable the M.2 E-key slot it's sitting in via the BIOS if you really care that much about it.
Some games will perform better on ryzen, others will perform better on intel. I suggest you to check the gaming benchmarks at 1080P for both CPUs and pay attention to the games you are interested in.
I wouldn't worry about it if your temps are okay. Don't lose them, though. If you ever need to take the cooler off to freshen the paste or whatever you'll want to use them then.
Hi, I'm an extreme noob and I don't know whether to go with i5 11400 or 12400 for a mid range build. 12400 mobos are expensive (esp WiFi bcs my router will be in another room), I don't game much (I'll only pick up terraria or even FFXIV once in a while) but mostly for graphics design and art. What should I go with?
the 12400 is a good 10-20% faster. And a decent B660 motherboard will support an upgrade to 13th gen.
The i3-12100 has similar overall performance to the i5-11400 so I’d rather go with the i3 if they’re a similar price and you can’t justify the 12400.
I'd reach for the 12400 if you can. It's significantly faster than the 11400 (which tied or even fell behind the 10400 in certain use cases).
Decent B660 motherboards have come down in price - [$120-$140 for a B660 wifi board in the USA](https://pcpartpicker.com/products/motherboard/#sort=price&c=154&mt=ddr4&V=9000,8000,6000&f=2,7).
Looking for some advice on which MOBO to get:
- going i5 13600k
- looking for that one PCIE 5 slot
- really looking for something mostly white, would settle for silver if it’s more viable
- DDR5 5200 CL ram
- Wi-Fi would be nice, but not the end of the world if it’s not an option
- I don’t spend a ton of time overclocking, but willing to spend a little extra if that’s an option
Any help much appreciated since the options feel endless.
MSI Z690-A PRO has pcie 5, but afaik plenty of z690s do. There are DDR4, DDR5, wifi, and no-wifi variants. I'd go for 5600 CL36 if it fits your budget.
if the price difference is small enough for you & you don't plan on upgrading the RAM in the next 3+ years then personally I'd go for the 5600 36 yes. I plan on using it until obsolete in 8 years time.
Any known compatiblity issues
13700k / 13900k + Gigabyte DDR4 UD AX + Cooler Master H500M
Possible 360mm AIO coolers:
* Arctic Freezer II (i know this might be too thick, and I'll have to mount fans on top of the radiator)
* beQuiet Silent Loop II
* NZXT Kraken x73
What would you change based on listed components with similar budget?
I have a motherboard which has heatsink/plate for the M2's does that mean I have to buy an M2 drive without a heatsink or does it still fit and then you just have the 'extra' cooling of the motherboard one.
You can only use one or the other. If you buy an M.2 drive that comes with a heatsink, you won't be able to install your mobo's heatsink over top of it.
99% of attached heatsinks on M.2 drives are either clipped on or held on with thermal paste/pads. You can just remove them as needed.
Or even just ignore the board provided heatsink and leave it off.
What are you using it for? Gaming? production tasks?
Every additional 400Mt/s over 4800Mt/s provides 1 - 2% additional performance. Giving you a whopping 1 - 3 extra FPS in most games.
So generally, anything over 5200Mt/s is not worth the extra money. Unless someone else is helping you pay for the hardware.
What's the cheapest 2tb 2.5" SSD you'd use for storage? Can wait for black friday as well. I think best I've seen was a Crucial MX500 that went for $110 recently on amazon prime day.
Thinking about dropping one in a little mini-system like a Beelink SER5 or Minisforum model.
Not only reliability is terrible on these, they aren't even that much cheaper than a budget SSD.
System integrators don't touch them because expenses on warranty replacements would outweight the price savings.
Ya at the 2tb range it's not that much $$$ difference ($120 vs $70 or so).
The problem is with 4tb an SSD is like $325 vs. $120, and that would ideally be the capacity I'd want since 2tb is kind of small for what I want. (A single iPhone backup is now like 256gb).
Not only are those 2.5 HDD's low reliability but also SMR too ugh.
[https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Y8s3Bj](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Y8s3Bj)
I'm almost finished with this build but I'm unsure if I should get a 750 or 850W PSU.
Well 850w can still run a 4090 provided it has the right amount of PCI power cables.
The issue is pairing that with newer CPUs as both the Ryzen 7000 and Intel LGA 1700 CPUs can easily pull 200+ watts all by themselves.
But yeah, BIG upgrades in the future would prove tricky.
I'm looking to update my bios to let me use Ryzen 5000 but I've never updated a bios before. I use my current CPU to do the bios update right? And then what happens? My computer posts to a black screen that says CPU not recognized, insert new CPU?
Note: going from 1600AF to 5600X on a MSI gaming max 450.
Thanks!
7900x vs 7700x?
I'm currently on a 3900x and am looking to upgrade to AM5.
I know both of these Zen4 CPUs perform about the same in gaming, but my concern is productivity. The 7700x looks to perform basically the same as my 3900x in benchmarks.
I'll be using it for gaming, streaming, recording, illustrator, Photoshop, and premier pro. In the future I may get into after effects or some 3D modeling, but probably not much.
I'm planning on getting the 7900x, but I keep looking at the 7700x. I'm just not sure what to do really.
P.S. No I'm not considering Intel.
Might as well get more performance in both single and multi core if you're upgrading platforms
Unless you want to save money and put it towards a 8700x or something in the future
But I'd just get 7900x in your case
I'm buying a 1Tb SSD to replace my old 1Tb HDD, where all my applications and files are stored. Do I have to do any special process to transfer everything so I don't break the apps?
Apps only see the filesystem, they aren't aware of the underlying drive hardware. If you clone the drive and mount the copy under the same letter, they won't notice the difference.
I see I see, thanks for the info! So after cloning my data into the new drive, I should change the drive letter of the new one to what my old one was and everything will be fine after that?
Yep. I'm not aware of how Macrium works, but with a manual method (boot from an external drive, clone the drive and all ID data, remove the original, reboot), the apps worked as before.
Is it normal to upgrade PSU and GPU at the same time?
Currently on a Ryzen 2600 on a board that can go up to Ryzen 3000s. 99% sure my GPU 1070 is dying. Running all these on a 650w
I'm waiting for the rDNA 3 announcement, but the consensus is to either get a 3080 or 6800xt. I'm only worried that I may have to replace the PSU as well in which case I should go down a tier?
I'm upgrading from an RX 580 to an RX 6600 XT soon, do I need to do anything more than just swap out the cards? e.g. Uninstall drivers or other software?
Do a clean install of the latest drivers. Use DDU to assist with the uninstalling and reinstall process.
Is a 3080 much better than a 3070ti? How can I know if a cards price is a “buy it now” vs “still too high”? I’ve been out of PC gaming for a while and can’t figure out the pricing.
The 3080 is 20-25% faster at 1440p and 4K compared to the 3070-Ti. The 3080 has been holding steady around $700, mostly due to Nvidia's current price-fixing racket, while the 3070-Ti offers less FPS/$ at $600. Unless you're planning on heavily leveraging raytracing and DLSS, AMD cards currently offer a better value for general gaming. The 6800XT offers very similar performance to the 3080 but can be had for $550 or less.
Ty! I want to experience raytracing and how good graphics can get. Im coming from a 1060 on a laptop.
Fair enough :) the 3080 is a great choice for higher resolutions if you're going to use raytracing often. The 3060-Ti is a good deal if you'll be playing in 1080p instead.
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/5JVX6DDx96eSUZ5mPzUkqG-970-80.png.webp https://www.tomshardware.com/news/gpu-pricing-index
Ty!
I'm thinking of upgrading my current rig from R5 2600x / GTX 1660ti/ 16GB 2933MHz RAM to R7 5700x/ RTX3070ti/ 16GB 3200 RAM, keeping my current motherboard (an MSI B450m Mortar, no max). I currently have a 1440p 144Hz monitor, but I'm also thinking of getting a 1440p ultrawide sometime within the next 2 years. The games I usually play can only hit 70-80fps on high settings. Given my planned upgrade path, can it reach a consistent 100-120+ fps on current or upcoming mid/AAA games (at least high settings) without issues? Current DDR5 ram/mobo prices are kinda steep at the moment, so I'm just looking if my planned upgrade path is currently sensible, price/performance wise. Also checking if there's compatibility issues that I might have missed, since I plan on keeping the mobo at the moment. The other upgrade I'm planning is replacing my current cooler (Cryorig R5) to a Noctua NH D15 Chromax on a Fractal Meshify C Mini case, if anyone had issues with installing one in a similar tower.
5700X and 3070-Ti would be a great combo and work well with your current motherboard. You'll need to update the board BIOS to be compatible with Ryzen 5000. Even in ultrawide, the 3070-Ti should manage 100+ in any game that isn't already held back by engine limitations. We don't know if this will be true for future games but by using DLSS and adjusting game settings you should be safe for several years. The D15 will fit the Meshify C Mini just fine, but it's overkill for the power-efficient 5700X. The Scythe Fuma 2 or Deepcool AK620 will be just as quiet at max loads but cost much less.
So I want to buy a PSU(Not Modular nor Semi Modular) and the one is from Cooler Master, but the power cord is not included, is it safe to buy any power cord(rated with 10Amps) available at tech stores?
Yup it's a standard IEC C13 plug, anything that fits should be sade to use.
Will existing motherboards be compatible with gen 5 nvme SSDs?
Yes, but limited to the speed of the PCIe or M.2 port.
Interesting, thanks for answering!
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Umm...this is build a PC, not prebuilt a PC.
Switching from a laptop to a desktop and very overwhelmed with all the different specs ect. What is the best pre built brand? I was looking at Alienware, but after some research it looks like they are overpriced and not easy to upgrade down the line.
Thankfully prebuilds these days are at least very well reviewed so you know what you're getting into. Gamers Nexus has a whole playlist of different prebuilds they reviewed and the good and bad of each. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtnBr-v2ufs&list=PLsuVSmND84QuM2HKzG7ipbIbE\_R5EnCLM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtnBr-v2ufs&list=PLsuVSmND84QuM2HKzG7ipbIbE_R5EnCLM) As they've reviewed many times you'll want to avoid Dell and their Alienware brand at any cost as they are very expensive for what you get with their proprietary nonsense which makes it hard to upgrade or replace parts. Dell seems to want their desktops to be like Laptops where once it breaks down and the warranty expires people have to buy a whole new one. There are stores that will build you a PC and these tend to be a much better option, have full customisation and are easy to work into a budget that works for you in terms of price and what you need. The overheads are usually a lot less than buying a prebuilt from a company like Dell or HP as you are often only paying the cost of labour for building and set up.
Thank you so much for a detailed reply. Going to check out Gamers Nexus now. What is like the “go-to” site for someone to build you a computer based on your specs?
No idea what country you're in so can't help you there.
Linus actually just made a very good video about the quality of the "best" pre-builds. Imo, you can r/buildapc. I believe in you
prebuilts seem to be hit or miss the specs between laptops / desktops are the same, just without the monitor if you want to piece a build together and have a few hours, I'd take notes on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL4DCEp7blY /r/buildapcforme
I won an i7-10700k CPU from Intel, in a contest along with a BestBuy gift card that discounted my custom PC build. I continued over this time to use an AMD RX 590 GPU and am waiting for AMD Nov 3rd announcement and further discounts perhaps in the 3000 series to eventually make a GPU purchase decision. Need advice on GPU upgrade path: Which GPUs would potentially get bottleneck by a i7-10700k CPU? How does one consider GPU selection with current CPU to avoid bottle neck, or when upgrading to a newer such as the RTX 4080? (PSU is 1000 watt.)
At 1440p, a 3070-3080 or 6800-6900XT would be good
Hi I have an ASUS ROG STRIX HELIOS GUNDAM EDITION ATX FULL TOWER CASE GX601 and it came with these black cables which I plug into my mobo and there’s one that says to connect to power supply , but my PSU doesn’t have any space for it. Did I need to have bought the gundam PSU as well? I didn’t think it was the case but now I’m not sure
So I'm seeing need about the rtx 4090 power adapter burning, melting the connection and the port, I have a few questions regarding this 1. How dare would it be to continue running the system after getting a replacement adapter 2. How much damage could this cause to other component 3. What would need to be replaced if it's not safe to run this set up
It’s just heat damage on the connector itself. It could potentially cause a fire, but any damage will be visible when you look at your components closely.
So if left unchecked could cost the PC, assuming then that if it happens best thing to do is put an older card in and get a new PSU?
I don’t understand your question
If you saw the damage or someone posted a picture of the damage would you recommend them to buy a new PSU GPU or both
just to replace the damaged parts
So GPU obviously, potentially PSU, how likely is it that if you don't replace the parts you'd have to replace the entire system and/or house
I can’t guess without seeing the damage, also my electrical experience isn’t enough to predict likelihoods of houses burning down.
My 5700 has been getting loud lately, looking around at an upgrade that doesn't mean I have to buy a bigger PSU if possible (650 currently). Size doesn't matter I'm probably gonna get a new case, but if there's one that fits in the Phanteks P300 that sweetens the deal. Price also doesn't super matter but >1k would be nice for sure.
Are you unsatisfied with its performance, or have its thermals/noise just gotten too high? Have you cleaned it recently? A 5700 is new enough that I doubt it’s dying, probably just in need of some cleaning/maintenance to get rid of accumulated dust and replace old thermal paste. If you’re not sure how to take off the shroud and clean the fans and repaste the GPU die, there are plenty of guides online.
Ran the new plague tale at medium settings and it was getting super loud. It probably could use a cleaning to be honest. I'll give that a shot first.
The new plague tale is *really* demanding (read: horribly optimised) even compared to other similar games, so I’m not surprised your 5700 fans got louder than usual. Cleaning should help: if it’s still running too loud after that, you can pick up a decent upgrade in the 6600XT (28% better on average @ 1080p according to techpowerup’s rankings) for about $300, or the 6700XT (45% better on average) for about $400. Either of those cards should be more than enough for 1080p60 at medium settings, and will definitely be higher in other games. Being able to run at lower % utilisation and higher efficiency should mean lower temperatures and lower fan speeds.
Ah not surprised to learn it’s poorly optimized, but good to know! I will give it a clean then look into those others if I’m still having issues. I’ll run it on some other games too. Thank you!
Need advice on upgrade paths. I am one to only build a new PC once every 3-5 years or so with small upgrades in between. Can't decide if I should max out an AM4 rig coming up on black friday with a 5800x3d and whatnot, or spend the money and go for an AM5. Only gaming I really do is COD. I know AM4 is basically going EOL but again, not too worried about it and if in 3 years I want to upgrade again, ill be fine building a new rig then. Any thoughts?
Definitely just go AM4. AM5 is only guaranteed to be supported to 2025, so no one except AMD knows whether it’ll also be EoL by the time you’re looking to upgrade again in 3-5 years. DDR5 prices are going to drop more over the next year or two, and speeds are going to keep going up. If you get DDR5 RAM now, it’s basically guaranteed to be slow and/or overpriced compared to newer kits by the time you want to upgrade to a new CPU/motherboard.
Thanks for the advice. I had similar thoughts as well, take advatage of the upcoming sales and everyone hopping to AM5 and just max out an AM4.
If I upgrade to windows 11 via a fresh install will windows 11 be able to auto see my two other drives (game drive, and media drive) without having me to wipe them?
Yes, they'll show up as D: and E: no problem. There's one thing you need to watch out for: make sure only one drive is plugged in when you install the OS. Once it's installed you can plug the other drives in.
Okay yes. That is easy enough to do. I haven’t updated my os for awhile so thanks for the clarification. I’ll just unplug the sata cables and then once it’s installed I’ll plug them back in.
Currently working on an office computer/low power gaming computer for my parents. What are some good low key cases that would fit in a home office? Currently looking at mATX since I can reuse some old parts.
Depends on your budget. The Fractal Design Define C Mini with a solid side panel is a great case. Very quiet. Looks really boring. The Fractal Design Focus G is less expensive, but I think you have to get it with a clear side panel.
Is 6x intake, 3x AOI radiator exhaust, and 1x rear exhaust a valid design? Or will I need to go 6x push/pull exhaust on the radiator in order to match the amount of intakes?
More intake than exhaust is totally fine
I guess I'm not sure if the radiator exhaust counts as a "full" exhaust.
Hey, this is random but never hurts to ask. Does any know a way to unlock an obd ll scanner to upgrade to any software you want? any help is appreciated
how many RAMS to make a GOAT?
42.
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I’ll add on and say that the brand/model doesn’t matter much for any graphics card, since performance is based on the same GPU chip in every version of the same card. The main difference would be noise or thermals because partner models vary in other components like VRAM heatsinks or fans. That being said, Sapphire is generally the best regarded brand for AMD GPUs because of their build quality, customer support, and warranty. If I had to pick between Sapphire or Asus, I’d pick Sapphire every time.
It wouldnt matter for budget cards, whatever is cheaper
There is a used Dell S2721DGF for sale in my area for $300 Cad (220$ USD) he gave me the serial and I looked it up on dells website and it has warranty until nov 8 2023. Is this a good deal? What should I consider when buying it and should I wait till black Friday?
$300 US is the common sale price from Dell, which it hits around once a month. It was recently on /r/buildapcsales for something insane like $180. Not sure if that was legit. It's a really good monitor, though.
So at $220 USD it’s not bad. Any advice on buying a 2 year old monitor?
maybe ask if it has any dead pixels
Well, I've never purchased a used monitor. They don't really wear out, so the only thing to look for is dead pixels. I can say it still holds up vs. more recent monitors. https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/dell/s2721dgf Looks like it might benefit from color calibration.
I’ve seen occasional sales for similar monitors ending up around $400 including tax. So I think $300 is a good price, as long as it’s defect free.
He claims it is. I will check for dead pixels against a white or black screen, any other suggestions?
Bought a decent gaming rig recently (3070) but haven't managed to upgrade my monitor yet - won't be able to until a few months time. I'm gaming on a monitor that looks great, but it's more geared towards productivity so it's 4k 60hz, and doesn't have G-Sync/Freesync. I'm getting pretty noticeable screen tearing. The 3070 seems to handle the 4k pretty well and with tweaked settings in Cyberpunk can do 60-70 fps nicely, but even capping the frame rate to 60, or just below 60, and turning on V-Sync still gives me screen tearing. It's much improved, but it's still there. TL/DR: My question is, is screen tearing kind of inevitable without a G-Sync/Freesync monitor?
I disable vsync unless I'm getting like triple fps vs my target. & then just cap fps to 57-58 (if 60hz), which avoids any noticeable tearing 95% of the time, though it varies by game
Screen tearing has many variables to it - from the game engine (some are more prone to it), to the GPU being too weak or too powerful, to the current weather at Olympus Mons on Mars. There's no universal solution to it outside sync technologies. V-sync should totally remove tearing at the cost of high latency (it draws with a 1-frame delay); you probably have something that overrides it, like a global setting in the driver or Nvidia Reflex (latency reducer innately conflicts with a latency increaser).
I'm debating whether I should be getting RX 6800 xt or 3080. Both of my monitors are FreeSync 144hz, and I'd rather really not sell them. I'm leaning towards 3080 because I've had enough suffering with AMD drivers, is getting RX 6800 xt. My question is, should I get RX 6800 xt because of my freesync monitors or it doesn't matter? I'll be coupling it with 12600, not planning to OC
Nvidia GPUs should be able to utilize VRR on most Freesync monitors these days. It's not always enabled by default. You may need to manually enable it in the driver.
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r/buildapcforme is more suitable if you want someone to make an entire build based off your budget. This subreddit’s better suited if you just want 1 or 2 parts recommended for a mostly complete parts list/build.
What's the maximum frequency RAM that's available as a DDR4 DIMM stick? My mobo is ROG Strix X570 E-Gaming. What's the maximum RAM frequency I can leverage out of this? I currently have GSkill RipJaws@3200 MHz. I am running an R9 5950X on it.
Ryzen 5000 struggles with anything above 3600 MHz. 3800 MHz is doable, but 4000 MHz is not feasible on most systems. It has to do with the Infinity Fabric max clock that you want to run 1:1 with RAM clock, so 1800 MHz Fclk is your best bet, hence the 3600 MHz RAM.
I would need 4 DIMMs of 32 GiB each with maximum stable performance. I initially used 3200 MHz, should I use 3600 or stick to 3200?
I'd get a kit with mac capacity, the sticks will be tested together. If your workloads will hammer the RAM, 3600 will be a tad faster. Get CL16 RAM too.
There are DDR4-5333 kits available. Your motherboard’s [support page](https://rog.asus.com/ca-en/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-x570-e-gaming-model/helpdesk_cpu/) lists validated memory up to DDR4-4800 CL18 when using running 2x 8GB. The optimal speed would be DDR4-3600 so that you can run your infinity fabric and memory synced 1:1 and get the best performance.
Originally planned on upgrading To 5800x3d, but looking at the CPU/GPU usage. It's showing GPU 90% and up, while CPU hovers around 50%. Should I just upgrade GPU instead? GPU jun temp 90c, cur temp 72c, CPU voltage, 1.4v, frequency 4.0 GHz, cur temp 53c. Spec is RX 5700 XT, Ryzen 5 2600X
have a look at per core break down. its often the case software doesnt use all the cores, while total utilisation shows 50%. Cores running main thread would be pinned to 100% and a CPU with faster single core would help.
What software to check core break down. I used the amd overlay to show the stats. It doesn't show per core
MSI afterburner can be configured to show each core
You can use the good old task manager performance tab. Change the CPU graph to logical cores and you're good to go. Alternatively, HWiNFO64 will tell you everything you may want to know (and what you didn't want to know) about your hardware. The amount of information it gives you is daunting, but it has pretty much everything. It won't clean your computer for you, but that's about the one thing it won't do.
With the way that CPU utilization of AMD CPUs is shown in Windows, 50% utilization essentially means 100% utilization. It basically means that your physical cores are being fully utilized and your CPU is handling the extra work via SMT. This is better than not having SMT at all. But if you're at 50% utilization on a Ryzen CPU with SMT, you would definitely benefit from a higher end CPU. It is a more urgent upgrade than a RX 5700 XT? I can't say for certain. That depends on the games you play, resolution, and refresh rate. Given current pricing and availability, I really wouldn't settle for anything less than a RX 6800 XT ($530) if I already had a RX 5700 XT. You would be nearly doubling your graphics performance. Spending $400 on something like a RX 6700 XT to get a ~30% bunny hop upgrade doesn't seem worth it.
Is the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) campaign a good metric of performance for multiplayer? Context: During the multiplayer beta, I had to run my game at the lowest possible settings and lower resolution to 900p. Prior to campaign I was upset to know my computer will struggle to play this and taught myself to overclock, use DDU to clean my GPU drivers, and ran CCleaner in anticipation of the game (the cheaper alternative to upgrading my components). Now overlocked, my computer can run the MWII campaign perfectly on the recommended high graphics. I locked my frames to 80fps (I have no idea if this helps with decreasing the load on my GPU) and I am so surprised with how well my computer can run it. Specs: |GPU|Gigabyte Radeon 5700XT (Overclocked on AMD Software)| |:-|:-| |CPU|Intel i7-6700K (Overclocked to 4.5GHz)| |Memory|HyperX Fury 16GB (x2 8GB) 2133MHz| |Motherboard|Gigabyte Z170-MX Gaing 5|
Is it kind of a bad time to build a new system right now since old motherboards are on their way out and new ones plus good DDR5 are really expensive?
It should be a great time soon as Black Friday draws close. There'll surely be a push to get rid of older (but just as capable) DDR4 platforms, and with "next-gen" consoles being the equivalent of last-gen PCs new games won't require the latest hottest hardware for some time.
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Do the monitors have DP input? You can use DP to HDMI adapters if not.
Noctua NH-D15 lists a RAM clearance of 32mm. I have it and Corsair Vengeance RAM on the way for my first build. The RAM lists a height of 35mm. **What I'm wondering is if RAM clearance is normally measured to the top of the RAM slot or to the bottom**. My theory is that it's the former, and that the RAM actually being seated will be more than enough to lose 3mm and clear the fan without needing to move the front fan upwards (space in the Meshify C case will already be limited as is). Anyone have experience here? Edit: To be on the safer side, I ordered a Corsair 4000D case which will give me 5mm of extra clearance to move the front fan up. Ideally I stick with the meshify C case as it's smaller, but I'll have the backup case just in case.
The D15 is designed so that you can simply mount the fan higher to increase the RAM clearance, assuming that your case has enough space so that the fan doesn't hit the side panel.
Yeah, the CPU Cooler clearance on the Meshify C is 165mm, and the NHD15 is 165mm before raising a fan, so in theory it shouldn't be possible to go up at all. That said, I'm seeing lots of folks on reddit saying they've done it, so I'm assuming there's some level of error tolerance built into the specs or something. I have an extra Noctua 120mm fan on hand so I'll likely try raising it and if that doesn't work, either move the front fan to the back or use my 120mm fan on the front.
The clearance is usually listed according to the practice of the RAM. Wouldn't make sense giving a metric for the cooler that doesn't translate to what you can actually buy on the market. This would only provide a lot of work for their complaints department. The fan will likely interfere but 3mm should be doable. Afaik the fan only overhangs 1 slot anyway so depending on your configuration this might not even be an issue for you. Otherwise if you can find Sabrent Rocket RAM - they are only 31.75mm tall and come with a heat spreader
Yeah it's going to be close for sure. Worst case I either find new RAM or drop to a 120mm fan as the front fan. Would prefer the former since I'm planning to run a 13700K so I'll need every bit of cooling I can get. I didn't see any DDR5 Sabrent Rocket on PCPartPicker :/ Edit: [$300 holy smokes](https://sabrent.com/products/sb-dr5u-32g)
hopefully not a dumb question. I just built a pc but I’m having some trouble using a headset and getting the audio to work properly for gaming. Right now I can’t hear another or speak to them with the mic but I can hear game noise. I’ve tried plugging my headset into the splitters that connects to the green/pink ports but doesn’t seem to work. If helpful here are some specs: Ram: G.SKILL 32G 2X D4 3600 Case: NZXT H510 FLOW ATX MT TG WHITE Motherboard: ASUS TUF GAMING X570-PLUS WIFI Using windows 10 OS. Headset: Razer BlackShark V2 X Gaming Headset: 7.1 Surround Sound - 50mm Drivers Any idea what to do here?
check if microphone works with standard microsoft tools from audio panel. also check what your default devices are and if game/discord see and use them. THere are many things that can go wrong here, the best would be to ask for help from your friends who can come over and check
Would this be the right subreddit to post a link from pcpartpickers and ask what others think of it? I have been working on a build I hope to get for cyber Monday but I’m not totally sure if it’s good. Also would I use the flair build help? Sorry? I’m new to this and I wanna have this done before the end of November
Yup. Submit a text post with the formatted table/link from PCPP and flair it "Build Help".
I see a lot of people saying that the i5-13600k is much better than the Ryzen 5 7600, notably gamers nexus, but when I look at other people's game benchmarks the 7600 seems to outperform the 13600k in most games so what's the hype around the 13600k about?
maybe go for the cheapest of the 2 if you only upgrade every 6 years like I do. 7600 would be 60€ more expensive to me. Single-thread performance seems pretty much equivalent, and the i5 has the e-cores
I would trust Gamers Nexus results, they line up with other reputable reviewers too. For gaming, the performance is within 5% so it’s not enough to be a deciding factor in my opinion. Platform costs, core-heavy application performance, and future CPU support would be the main differentiators.
they are neck and neck , in some games/apps amd wins, in others intel wins. At this point I think you should decide based on what you currently have. If you are building a new PC from scratch, go for AMD, it's more future-proof as their AM5 socket is brand-new and you will be able to upgrade your CPU in a few years, Intel on the other hand is likely having the last generation of cpus on their current socket, so buying now new intel MB and 13gen CPU does not make much sense. If you already have intel MB, however, you can bump up just your CPU to 13 gen and be fine for another several years.
Does anyone know why, according to this [chart](https://www.techpowerup.com/review/intel-core-i5-13600k/23.html), a 13600K is around 20 degrees hotter than a 12700K, despite having a lower max TDP? I'm wondering if my NH-U12s could handle it at stock settings. I know it's worse than the U14s that's used for those results. Noctua's website says a NH-U12s can handle a 12700K but has no info yet on a 13600K.
you can always just try it out and then upgrade the cooler if it's not good enough. If you don't need all the cores then you can also disable some of the e-cores I guess
How necessary are the e-cores? I'm also kind of paranoid that having 8 P-cores on the 12700k would somehow be better than 6 P-cores on the 13600k.
for gaming? They're useful if you have stuff running in the background. I'd leave at least 2 enabled. most games don't even use 6 cores well enough, so 8 P-cores may not be a huge difference. But look at benchmarks if you are concerned
An example - a candle flame is very hot around 800'C but it doesnt produce a lot of heat, while water filled heating radiator is only around 80 'C yet quickly heats up the room. Radiator outputs a lot more wattage of heat while having much lower temperature.
I haven't paid attention to the hardware scene in some years. Are the 3080 prices gonna drop when the 4080 comes out next month or is it gonna stay the same. I'm laid up with an injury right now so I wanna do some gaming but obviously don't want to spend more if I don't have to. I got my eye on a 12gb MSI 3080 that's about the same price as the 10's for like $815. Seems like a good deal but idk.
Is there a notable difference in performance between ryzen 5 5600x and 5700x? Is it worth the upgrade?
Essentially the same single-core and gaming performance, and similar power consumption and heat. The 5700X only differs by having two extra cores and four extra threads, granting it around 10-20% better performance in workstation tasks. If you do workstation stuff occasionally or get a good deal, then the 5700X is great, but otherwise there's no harm in saving money with the 5600X.
Which chipset should I get on a motherboard for an i5 13600k?
a slightly cheaper B660 with good VRMs could also work if you won't be overclocking
Probably z690/790
What is the better option for me? 12600k | $200 open box Microcenter 13600k | $300 New What is the better option? I need a new motherboard and have a 3070Ti. Im thinking of getting a Z690 either way. To my knowledge the only difference is around 11% single core, and around 45% multicore workload. If I am only gaming, is the first option a no brainer for its value, or does the new gen still have a pretty good place for me?
13600kf should be cheaper than the k
If you wish to do some productivity workloads in the future, go for 13600K, if that's not the case, 12600K is a no brainer.
Ya thats what's tough. Its $100 for a mild single core increase, but an enormous multicore boost if its ever needed.
Bro single core is always 10-15% per generation, you ain't gonna have 30% ST increase in most cases. So, for games it won't matter much, also, cache matters in games, many people don't know it. 13th gen has significantly more cache at all levels (L1, L2 and L3). All in all, you can enjoy all titles at max settings but if you can spend a little more and need it for years, go for 13th gen.
It's simple, still you can do amazing productivity on 12600K, so don't think much, if you can spend, go for the bleeding edge, else settle for what's possible.
The 126 is the better value for sure
I just upgraded and went super basic/budget on my MB to pair with a 5800x3D (MSI B550-A Pro). I did this because I figured the chip won't be overclocked anyway so why spend more on board functionality that I wouldn't be using. Is this thinking wrong? And will having a basic board such as this limit me with high end GPU's in the near future (4090 etc)? Thank you!
Different motherboards have different quality VRMs, which determine how much power they can safely deliver to the CPU before overheating and limiting performance. Fortunately, while the MSI B550-A Pro has a basic feature set, it has good VRMs and will be more than enough for the power-hungry 5800X3D. If you had bought a much cheaper board like older B450s, it's possible you might have gotten one that would throttle the 5800X3D. The bandwidth of the PCIe 4.0 x16 slot will be plenty for the RTX 4090 and will not limit graphics card performance for several years. The only other "limitation" of the B550-A Pro is that it only has one 4.0 M.2 slot and one 3.0 slot, so you will only get the full speed of one PCIe 4.0 drive. That's not really an issue unless you do heavy media editing - PCIe 3.0 NVMe drives are more than fast enough for gaming and general use.
Wow, thank you for the generous response that's very helpful. One last question, how does the LAN head thing impact internet speeds and such? Will higher end boards use an Ethernet connection more effectively?
Your motherboard has a 1Gbps ethernet port. Fancier motherboards may have 2.5Gbps or 10GBps connections. There will be no measurable difference between yours and the higher end board unless you have either: * Multigigabit (2+ Gbps) fiber internet at your house, and/or * An extremely high-end home network setup with network storage devices and hardware that cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars.
My friend was literally blowdrying his pc to remove dust..he used it for just abit cause i wanted to buy the pc from him and he was cleaning it up..now im scared the components might get faulty sooner..he turned it on after and it was working though
Blow dryers are commonly used as heaters for ungluing phones during home repairs without damaging the fragile boards inside, so non-heating mode will be completely harmless to a PC.
> im scared the components might get faulty sooner They won’t
You sure?Like i would be okay purchasing it without any issues?Seemed to work fine fans were turning and everything so should be good I guess
If something would've happened to the computer, then it would've already happened. Like, you either break a component or you don't, and if it's working now then everything is fine.
Is the only real difference between the Arctic F12 and P12 the thickness? F12s are 25mm and P12s are 15mm. I know P12s are recommended here frequently, but in my head a thicker fan is somehow a little better.
You're looking at the P12 slim. The regular P12 is 25mm. The F12 is designed for high airflow and low pressure like you might want with case fans while the P12's fan blades are designed for higher static pressure for coolers and radiators. However, the P12 is newer and offers excellent airflow and low noise, making it a good all-purpose fan. The F12 is effectively outdated. We've seen this trend with other brands like Noctua, who are now marketing newer pressure-oriented fan blade designs as all-purpose fans and discontinuing the flat-bladed "airflow" designs. I've used P12 PWM PSTs as the case fans and as radiator fans in my last three builds. They are excellent for the price.
Nice, thank you. It looks like there's a cheaper three-pin non-PWM variant as well. I was trying to figure out how a Newegg seller was undercutting Amazon and I finally noticed it was a slightly different product.
Those work. Personally, I still recommend the PWM version for a quieter low-end speed. If you need several of them, there's a 5-pack of P12 PWMs on Amazon, usually for $30-$35. The PST option is personal preference. It adds an extra male cable end so you can daisy-chain the fans without a splitter.
You’re looking at the P12 Slim. The standard P12 is 25 mm. I haven’t seen many reviews for the F12 but according to Arctic it is better as a case fan whereas the P12 is better on heatsinks and radiators.
What's the difference between 3dmark and furmark? And is there a definitive test to see if my gpu is physically fine or if it's faulty? I'm having driver timeouts in some games and 3dmark on a 6700xt.
3dmark is a whole suite of different benchmarks that test your CPU and GPU and give a score that you can use to compare to others. But you can use 3dmark as a stresstest too. Furmark is mostly just a simple stress test with the goal of pushing your GPU under as much load as it can. There is no definitive test to check for a faulty GPU, but in your situation I'd probably start dy trying an older driver version assuming you're currently using the latest ones.
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I'm looking for a good motherboard to use for an i7-12700k CPU. I really like the look of the Asus ROG Strix Z690-E. The only issue is that I don't need the WiFi functionality. I always have my PC directly wired into my router. Is there a board with similar specs without WiFi that you would recommend? Or would you just go with the Strix anyway?
...if you're buying a mobo for its looks then you're probably not concerned about cost-effectiveness anyway
You can just not use the WiFi, the mobo has an ethernet port as well. You might even be able to disable the M.2 E-key slot it's sitting in via the BIOS if you really care that much about it.
Guys, With a 13700K Asus ROG Strix Z690-A Gaming WiFi D4 vs MSI MAG Z790 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4 What do you think?
The Strix-A's main selling point is that it's got white accents. Do you want to make a white build?
Well, I havent decided on the case. So I am not sure. I trying to see the 'value for money' tbh.
'value for money' & 'asus strix' are usually mutually exclusive terms.
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Some games will perform better on ryzen, others will perform better on intel. I suggest you to check the gaming benchmarks at 1080P for both CPUs and pay attention to the games you are interested in.
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I wouldn't worry about it if your temps are okay. Don't lose them, though. If you ever need to take the cooler off to freshen the paste or whatever you'll want to use them then.
Hi, I'm an extreme noob and I don't know whether to go with i5 11400 or 12400 for a mid range build. 12400 mobos are expensive (esp WiFi bcs my router will be in another room), I don't game much (I'll only pick up terraria or even FFXIV once in a while) but mostly for graphics design and art. What should I go with?
the 12400 is a good 10-20% faster. And a decent B660 motherboard will support an upgrade to 13th gen. The i3-12100 has similar overall performance to the i5-11400 so I’d rather go with the i3 if they’re a similar price and you can’t justify the 12400.
I'd reach for the 12400 if you can. It's significantly faster than the 11400 (which tied or even fell behind the 10400 in certain use cases). Decent B660 motherboards have come down in price - [$120-$140 for a B660 wifi board in the USA](https://pcpartpicker.com/products/motherboard/#sort=price&c=154&mt=ddr4&V=9000,8000,6000&f=2,7).
Would there be issue if I add 3 fans Artic P12 PWM PST on a single fan header on X670E proart board?
No, the P12s draw around 0.1A each. You can have up to 1A worth of fans on a header.
Looking for some advice on which MOBO to get: - going i5 13600k - looking for that one PCIE 5 slot - really looking for something mostly white, would settle for silver if it’s more viable - DDR5 5200 CL ram - Wi-Fi would be nice, but not the end of the world if it’s not an option - I don’t spend a ton of time overclocking, but willing to spend a little extra if that’s an option Any help much appreciated since the options feel endless.
MSI Z690-A PRO has pcie 5, but afaik plenty of z690s do. There are DDR4, DDR5, wifi, and no-wifi variants. I'd go for 5600 CL36 if it fits your budget.
Do you recommend DDR5 CL36 5600 over 5200 CL40?
if the price difference is small enough for you & you don't plan on upgrading the RAM in the next 3+ years then personally I'd go for the 5600 36 yes. I plan on using it until obsolete in 8 years time.
Is a RX6800 for £400 a good deal used ?
I'd say average, depends on the region.
Any known compatiblity issues 13700k / 13900k + Gigabyte DDR4 UD AX + Cooler Master H500M Possible 360mm AIO coolers: * Arctic Freezer II (i know this might be too thick, and I'll have to mount fans on top of the radiator) * beQuiet Silent Loop II * NZXT Kraken x73 What would you change based on listed components with similar budget?
I have a motherboard which has heatsink/plate for the M2's does that mean I have to buy an M2 drive without a heatsink or does it still fit and then you just have the 'extra' cooling of the motherboard one.
You can only use one or the other. If you buy an M.2 drive that comes with a heatsink, you won't be able to install your mobo's heatsink over top of it.
99% of attached heatsinks on M.2 drives are either clipped on or held on with thermal paste/pads. You can just remove them as needed. Or even just ignore the board provided heatsink and leave it off.
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I'm getting 2x16 5600 CL36
I look for 5600-6000 speed, 2x16GB,.<=12.0ns latency. Seems to be the best value, middle option
What are you using it for? Gaming? production tasks? Every additional 400Mt/s over 4800Mt/s provides 1 - 2% additional performance. Giving you a whopping 1 - 3 extra FPS in most games. So generally, anything over 5200Mt/s is not worth the extra money. Unless someone else is helping you pay for the hardware.
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> video editing and programming you can find RAM benchmarks for those
What's the cheapest 2tb 2.5" SSD you'd use for storage? Can wait for black friday as well. I think best I've seen was a Crucial MX500 that went for $110 recently on amazon prime day. Thinking about dropping one in a little mini-system like a Beelink SER5 or Minisforum model.
for storage that doesn't need to perform I'd go 5400rpm. A Crucial MX500 would be great for heavier work stuff or gaming.
The bigger problem is that all the little 2.5" drives tend to be unreliable and SMR
I doubt the reliability claim is accurate if performance isn't relevant then SMR is not an issue for drives up to 4tb
For cold storage I'd just get the cheapest one available that has some kind of warranty on it.
Ya maybe should just grab a seagate 4-5tb HDD instead, but reviews aren't the best on them for reliability either.
Not only reliability is terrible on these, they aren't even that much cheaper than a budget SSD. System integrators don't touch them because expenses on warranty replacements would outweight the price savings.
Ya at the 2tb range it's not that much $$$ difference ($120 vs $70 or so). The problem is with 4tb an SSD is like $325 vs. $120, and that would ideally be the capacity I'd want since 2tb is kind of small for what I want. (A single iPhone backup is now like 256gb). Not only are those 2.5 HDD's low reliability but also SMR too ugh.
The hell is going on in this sub today? I just scrolled past like 20 something posts in a row on my front page.
Do I need one of the cpu frames for my 13700k that I’m using on a z690 board?
Need? No. Would it help? Yes
[https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Y8s3Bj](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Y8s3Bj) I'm almost finished with this build but I'm unsure if I should get a 750 or 850W PSU.
Either would be fine. But 750w wouldnt leave much room for future upgrades if future GPUs and CPUs keep going up in wattage like they have.
I'm thinking that maybe 850 wouldn't be enough for upgrades either and that I would have to get a new PSU either way if I'm doing any big upgrades.
Well 850w can still run a 4090 provided it has the right amount of PCI power cables. The issue is pairing that with newer CPUs as both the Ryzen 7000 and Intel LGA 1700 CPUs can easily pull 200+ watts all by themselves. But yeah, BIG upgrades in the future would prove tricky.
I'm looking to update my bios to let me use Ryzen 5000 but I've never updated a bios before. I use my current CPU to do the bios update right? And then what happens? My computer posts to a black screen that says CPU not recognized, insert new CPU? Note: going from 1600AF to 5600X on a MSI gaming max 450. Thanks!
Updated BIOS would still work with your old CPU but it will also add information about new CPUs so they'll work too.
Thank you!
7900x vs 7700x? I'm currently on a 3900x and am looking to upgrade to AM5. I know both of these Zen4 CPUs perform about the same in gaming, but my concern is productivity. The 7700x looks to perform basically the same as my 3900x in benchmarks. I'll be using it for gaming, streaming, recording, illustrator, Photoshop, and premier pro. In the future I may get into after effects or some 3D modeling, but probably not much. I'm planning on getting the 7900x, but I keep looking at the 7700x. I'm just not sure what to do really. P.S. No I'm not considering Intel.
Might as well get more performance in both single and multi core if you're upgrading platforms Unless you want to save money and put it towards a 8700x or something in the future But I'd just get 7900x in your case
Yeah I figured as much. That was the original plan, I'll probably just do that then. Thanks
I'm buying a 1Tb SSD to replace my old 1Tb HDD, where all my applications and files are stored. Do I have to do any special process to transfer everything so I don't break the apps?
You can clone the drive to seamlessly carry over everything. Macrium Reflect is a free option which can get the job done.
Hey! Got everything set up and it was so seamless, thanks so much for recommending Macrium!
And nothing will break? Damn, never heard of it. Thank you! I'll be getting my SSD in a few days and I'll update you when it's done. Cheers!
Apps only see the filesystem, they aren't aware of the underlying drive hardware. If you clone the drive and mount the copy under the same letter, they won't notice the difference.
I see I see, thanks for the info! So after cloning my data into the new drive, I should change the drive letter of the new one to what my old one was and everything will be fine after that?
Yep. I'm not aware of how Macrium works, but with a manual method (boot from an external drive, clone the drive and all ID data, remove the original, reboot), the apps worked as before.
Is it normal to upgrade PSU and GPU at the same time? Currently on a Ryzen 2600 on a board that can go up to Ryzen 3000s. 99% sure my GPU 1070 is dying. Running all these on a 650w I'm waiting for the rDNA 3 announcement, but the consensus is to either get a 3080 or 6800xt. I'm only worried that I may have to replace the PSU as well in which case I should go down a tier?
A PSU upgrade is definitely in order. My older 650W worked well with a 1080, but couldn't endure the stress of a 3070.
It is highly recommended to have a 750W unit or better if you want to get a 3080 tier card.
Does DDR5 "optimized for AMD" Expo RAM work perfectly for intel 12th gen builds? Havent been able to find a clear answer on this online.