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I hope this is the right thread for this - I’m looking to get a pretty top of the line PC for VR gaming as well as music production that will last quite a while. Budget is around $3,000. I found this deal that seems perfect but it’s a haul to the nearest Microcenter, and I’m wondering if there are any places that offer shipping that come close? https://www.microcenter.com/product/645171/powerspec-g470-gaming-pc?storeid=121 My other option was a Ryzen 5950 build from NZXT but with a 3080ti it gets quite a bit pricier. I could probably go for a plain 3080 and/or 5900 but I kind of felt like Alder Lake might be nice to have going forward (potentially swapping in a ddr5 motherboard and ram when they come down in price and more software takes advantage). Any help or thoughts is appreciated
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Feb 13, 2022 02:01
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toadee posted:I hope this is the right thread for this - I’m looking to get a pretty top of the line PC for VR gaming as well as music production that will last quite a while. Budget is around $3,000. I found this deal that seems perfect but it’s a haul to the nearest Microcenter, and I’m wondering if there are any places that offer shipping that come close? So, my first thought is that I don't think you need that much PC. The 3080 Ti is like 10% better than the 3080. The 12900K is like 2% better than the 12700K in gaming and 0% better in music production, I would have to imagine. The 12900K has the same number of performance cores as the 12700K, so you can't even make any longevity/future-proofing arguments about it. So ultimately, I would strongly recommend trying to get a 12700K/3080 system instead. The 2 extra gigs of VRAM in the 3080 Ti might help its longevity a bit, but honestly? You'll be able to put the money you save toward a new GPU 3 years from now and end up better off in the process anyway. As for that prebuilt specifically, its biggest issue is the fact that it has a 750W PSU. That's too little for a 12900K and a 3080 Ti. I also don't think that CPU cooler is up to the task of cooling a 12900K under full load (but also, I don't think you'll ever push it to full load, which is why I'm recommending a 12700K instead). You can get this PC for $630 less. This is not an endorsement or recommendation, but it's a comparison point worth keeping in mind. Yesterday, there were a couple 3080 models available for $1000 in the Newegg PC Builder, and you could put together a similar system for less than $2500. There aren't any available today though, it seems. In fact, they don't have any "hot item" GPUs available right now (the GPUs that are priced at their current regular retail price instead of inflated scalper price). They'll come back though, so if you check daily, you'll probably be able to find something potentially worth buying for $2500 or less. This is a build I was putting together through that service before I realized they had no retail-priced GPUs available. They'll have "Hot Item" tags above their prices when they do become available. Dr. Video Games 0031 fucked around with this message at 13:12 on Feb 14, 2022 |
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Feb 13, 2022 03:44
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Any thoughts on EVGA PSUs? I'm looking at this guy: https://www.microcenter.com/product/646355/evga-supernova-1000-gt-80-plus-gold-1000w-fully-modular-power-supply 1000 watts is more than I need for sure but I do not like to cheap out on PSUs. I'm willing to pay for high quality and I want a lot of overhead for a future GPU upgrade.
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Feb 13, 2022 04:01
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Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:A bunch of good stuff Thanks for the thoughtful reply! So I found this 12700 prebuilt which is close to the other one in price but upgrades to ddr5. I realize that right now that isn’t going to mean much but it should potentially provide a bigger difference in the future if I understand correctly? https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categ...#tab-tech-specs
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Feb 13, 2022 08:00
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toadee posted:Thanks for the thoughtful reply! So I found this 12700 prebuilt which is close to the other one in price but upgrades to ddr5. I realize that right now that isn’t going to mean much but it should potentially provide a bigger difference in the future if I understand correctly? That is way too expensive for a system of those specs. I recommended the 12700K and 3080 over the 12900K and 3080 Ti because they're cheaper, so paying even more money for worse specs makes no sense here. DDR5-4800 is not faster than DDR4-3600—it actually may be slower, even. Faster DDR5 down the line is also unlikely to make that much of a difference with your 12700K and 3080, to be honest. The bigger difference will come from when we have faster components that can make better use of fast memory, but that presumably comes with a system upgrade anyway, so it doesn't make sense to buy a DDR5 system now just to future-proof yourself. I know you want a top-of-the-line PC here, so believe me when I tell you that a 12700K and a 3080 with fast DDR4 will be extremely performant as it is. And if you buy a PC with those specs, you will still have the opportunity to upgrade to newer, faster technologies down the line should you ever feel the need for them.
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Feb 13, 2022 08:35
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Redux will let you build a PC with a 12700K, a 3080, 1TB SSD, and 32GB of DDR4 for $2450: https://buildredux.com/pages/build-your-pc An interesting feature of Redux is that they let you opt out of purchasing a Windows license so you can provide your own. You can reuse an existing one, or buy one off of one of the SA-Mart key sellers for like $15. GamersNexus didn't like the value proposition of the PC they bought from Redux, but that's build-dependent. The actual build quality and thermal performance seemed okay. There's also obviously no bloatware with the "Remove OS" option, though it seems even with a preinstalled OS there isn't any bloatware or software fuckery, which is nice of them. Overall, Redux PCs seem decently made. You just have to be careful to not screw yourself on value too hard since they let you do that sometimes. This particular build isn't an amazing deal when you look at how much cheaper 3070 and 3060 Ti PCs are, but 3080 prebuilts for cheaper than what this site offers are extremely hard to find and usually come with some kind of catch. That's why I normally only recommend prebuilts with lesser specs as there's less of a price premium for those. But if you really want a top-of-the-line system, then this is probably one of the better deals you're going to find. And it seems like a pretty decent service as long as you avoid getting completely screwed on price (which is apparently possible sometimes). For the record, this PC is likely 4 - 5x faster than the prebuilt GN looked at for less than double the price, so it's not that bad at least.  You can cut the price further without losing much performance by getting a 12600K or a 5600X or halving the ram, but if you want something that's long-lasting, then the 12700K isn't a bad choice. Unlike the olden days when there were very few multithreaded games or applications, we've gotten to the point where extra cores are a viable way to extend the lifespan of a processor. (Though I still expect the 5600X and especially the 12600K to be very useable for a while to come) Dr. Video Games 0031 fucked around with this message at 09:52 on Feb 13, 2022 |
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Feb 13, 2022 08:52
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What do y'all do with your old PC hardware when you've built a new PC or upgraded your PC? I'm in the market to upgrade or build a new one as the last PC I built is now over a decade old, but I'm not sure what to do with it. It's still completely functional, albeit with compatibility issues.
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Feb 13, 2022 15:09
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making it into a NAS is a common project, or a media center PC. take the components out and put them in a desk, poo poo like that. get it to a stable state and give it to a little cousin or sell it for cheap on craigslist, ewaste places often take donations to refurb, oh part it out and sell it to enthusiasts on ebay for a bit of money if the parts are rare that's a good one.
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Feb 13, 2022 15:12
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My computer from three generations back went to my parents. Two gens back became a file server for myself, and my previous one will go to my niece to play Minecraft.
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Feb 13, 2022 17:20
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Dr.D-O posted:What do y'all do with your old PC hardware when you've built a new PC or upgraded your PC?
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Feb 13, 2022 17:42
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I got another monitor for it so I can use it as a backup computer. My office ended up in the finished basement, and it's nice to have a computer to use elsewhere in the house if I need a break from a fairly loud 4yo and kids shows. In theory, a new gaming laptop would have been better for that, but grabbing another okay 1440 monitor was cheaper than a worthwhile laptop.
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Feb 13, 2022 17:55
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Dr.D-O posted:What do y'all do with your old PC hardware when you've built a new PC or upgraded your PC? You go to stick it in the closet and then you discover the even older PC still sitting in there from the last time you did this.
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Feb 13, 2022 18:26
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a kitten posted:You go to stick it in the closet and then you discover the even older PC still sitting in there from the last time you did this. Please don't doxx me.
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Feb 13, 2022 19:18
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Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:Redux will let you build a PC with a 12700K, a 3080, 1TB SSD, and 32GB of DDR4 for $2450: https://buildredux.com/pages/build-your-pc Aside from not being a huge fan of the case (which I can get over), this is perfect, thanks!
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Feb 13, 2022 19:18
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Unsinkabear posted:Does the thread have a go-to darling for quiet 140mm case fans? Unsinkabear posted:Thank you! I should have mentioned that it has an unknown AIO radiator on the front intake rather than air cooling. I have no idea if it's sucking or blowing, but I'll check later. With that radiator in the mix, is the recommendation still to set the top and bottom fans as intakes and make that front radiator an exhaust, for the same general effect? Or should I make it an intake for better CPU temps and flip one of the other two fans? Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:Oh, in that case, I guess I'd just do standard front intake and top/rear exhaust. Most likely, the exhaust will move more air than the intake (since there will be a radiator blocking the intake), which means that the GPU will still be getting fresh air. Hopefully. Do you know if it's a 280mm or 240mm radiator (do they have 120mm fans or 140mm fans)? Also, how are the fans are plugged in? Do they have four pins and are connected to four-pin headers on your motherboard? Three-pin headers? Or are they connected directly to the PSU via molex? If it's option number 3, then those will run full-blast at all times with no way to control them. Options 1 and 2 can be controlled via your motherboard bios usually, so it could be that you don't even need new fans, though I dunno how many older bioses had this capability. Any fans that you can't control should be the ones prioritized for replacement. The rear exhaust slot can be 120mm, the top slot can be 120mm or 140mm, and the radiator fans need to be replaced with fans of the same size. The arctic P12 and P14 are the best value for affordable 120mm and 140mm radiator fans, and they make for pretty good general-purpose case fans too. Late follow up, finally had time to dig into this thing. The AIO is a Corsair H60 with a single 120mm fan, so it can't be new. No noise yet, but I'll keep an eye on it. Fan layout is front radiator intake (but with that single fan instead of the usual two) with top and rear exhaust, as you said. The top and rear fans seem to still be the stock NZXT case fans. And it appears that all three fans are three pin plugs connected to four pin headers on the motherboard. I'll take a look at the BIOS capabilities and see if I can control them from there, but I have a feeling those NZXT fans are just noisy bastards that I'm going to have to replace regardless. Update: yep, they spin at max no matter what I do in the BIOS fan settings. Guess I'm ordering at least one P12 and P14 for the rear and top. Should I try to squeeze another P12 in the empty front slot as well? Unsinkabear fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Feb 13, 2022 |
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Feb 13, 2022 19:23
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I'm now getting into weeds on RAM. Looking at two configs, one with four dimms and one with two: Memory Speed PC4-25600 Memory Speed (MHz) DDR4-3200 Memory Capacity 32GB (2 x 16GB) CAS Latency 16 Memory Latency Timings 16-18-18-38 Memory Speed PC4-28800 Memory Speed (MHz) DDR4-3600 Memory Capacity 64GB (2 x 32GB) CAS Latency 18 Memory Latency Timings 18-22-22-42 Second one has the higher latency, I get that means it's slower. But I'm struggling to find out if this is a slower that will actually bottleneck something, or this is poo poo that people trying to squeeze 200 FPS out of Call of Duty care about. CPU is Ryzen 7 5800X, GPU is 3060ti V2 OC.
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Feb 13, 2022 21:39
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Grand Fromage posted:I'm now getting into weeds on RAM. Looking at two configs, one with four dimms and one with two: Well Price matters a lot. But unless you have some reasonable use case (gaming is not one) 64GB of ram is near useless over 32gb. There’s also plenty of 2x16 3600@CL16 kits available.
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Feb 13, 2022 22:08
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well it comes back to how into the weeds you want to go. ryzen is so sensitive to memory timings that you can see nontrivial gains, reportedly more noticeable than CPU overclocking which is very anemic for modern CPUs, in part because the boost behaviour is so heavily influenced by the infinity clock and as such timings. there are even enthusiast tools (Ryzen Memory Calculator iirc) that walk you through finding the actual quality of the ram you buy so you can tighten as much as possible. buying CL16 3600 is a good way to increase your chances of getting decent sticks. but this is all waaaaaaaaay in the epeen bleeding edge performance nerding and would basically have to be appealing to you to do conceptually because testing, clearing cmos, stability testing etc is only fun if that's your fun.
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Feb 13, 2022 23:14
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Unsinkabear posted:Update: yep, they spin at max no matter what I do in the BIOS fan settings. Guess I'm ordering at least one P12 and P14 for the rear and top. Should I try to squeeze another P12 in the empty front slot as well? I would just stick to that layout for now. Further tweaks can be made if you decide it's inadequate.. Grand Fromage posted:I'm now getting into weeds on RAM. Looking at two configs, one with four dimms and one with two: 3600 CL18 and 3200 CL16 are basically the same speed. There are likely to be differences in the sub-timings that may give you performance differences of like a percent, but it's not worth worrying about. The simple way to do a quick and dirty estimate is to just divide the speed by the timings. And it turns out that 3600/18 = 3200/16. This is mostly supported by real-world results, too. And I agree with pilfered pallbearers, 64GB of memory for a gaming pc is entirely unnecessary. 32GB is already more than you need, strictly speaking, though it's plausible that games that benefit from more than 16GB could start coming out within the next couple years (there was already microsoft flight simulator, but they reduced the memory usage by a lot in a patch at some point)
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Feb 13, 2022 23:17
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Dr.D-O posted:What do y'all do with your old PC hardware when you've built a new PC or upgraded your PC? I ran my old desktop in my kitchen for a long time so I could browse while I ate, and right now it is being used as a secondary machine that I can take with me if I'm house-sitting somewhere and don't want to move my primary desktop. It's a Phenom II x4 965 with a 1060 6GB in it, and can still run stuff like Dying Light 1 just fine. I have gotten to the point where I don't keep two or three old desktops banging around - last year I finally parted with my Athlon 4800+ desktop.
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Feb 13, 2022 23:29
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Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:3600 CL18 and 3200 CL16 are basically the same speed. There are likely to be differences in the sub-timings that may give you performance differences of like a percent, but it's not worth worrying about. The simple way to do a quick and dirty estimate is to just divide the speed by the timings. And it turns out that 3600/18 = 3200/16. This is mostly supported by real-world results, too. Cool, that clears it up for me. Thanks.
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Feb 13, 2022 23:47
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CaptainSarcastic posted:I have gotten to the point where I don't keep two or three old desktops banging around - last year I finally parted with my Athlon 4800+ desktop. Moved recently and chucked out all my old PCs in various states of disrepair. It was very cathartic. I pulled all the HDDs and kept those for a rainy day project. I'd love to scour through my old files, especially my "funny pictures folder" and itunes library. The only other thing I would be excited to find is some old nature photography that I didn't upload to social media way back when. The oldest one is from a 2006 mac, I have never tried to pull stuff from an Apple OS of any vintage before so I bet it will be "fun" to get working I'm gonna do meme archeology 
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Feb 14, 2022 06:32
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this is not a bad OEM deal by any means although it has one particularly puzzling choice: https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/legion-t5-amd-5600g-16gb-3200mhz-ram-3060-rtx-education-store-3888811?page=2#comment-46900148 £809 with student code for a 3060 5600G system, 2x8 3200 cl16 and a B550, NVME drive. lots of fans and good ventilation/cooling, lenovo is legit enough i would expect good warranty service etc. but why a 5600G? you can see in the comments someone pasted the back and whatever super cheap motherboard solution they have had zero monitor IO support, something i have never seen before. so the 5600G can't be used as an iGPU, and because it's a 5600G there also isn't really any gain with using a b550, it's going to be PCIE gen 3 regardless. what a weird config, it makes me wonder if they're struggling to move the 5000 series APUs.
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Feb 14, 2022 09:47
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WITCHCRAFT posted:Moved recently and chucked out all my old PCs in various states of disrepair. It was very cathartic. I pulled all the HDDs and kept those for a rainy day project. I'd love to scour through my old files, especially my "funny pictures folder" and itunes library. The only other thing I would be excited to find is some old nature photography that I didn't upload to social media way back when. I've been saving my old User folders since 2003, can confirm it is a lot of fun to have a few drinks and root around
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Feb 14, 2022 09:48
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CoolCab posted:this is not a bad OEM deal by any means although it has one particularly puzzling choice: The 5600G's MSRP is cheaper than the 5600X's, and OEMs can get it for a good price. AMD is basically selling it as their low-end Zen 3 CPU because of that. (even though it is still priced pretty high) edit: that said, the actual retail price of the 5600X has dropped to around $250 now, below the 5600G's $260. I bet the 5600G is still cheaper for OEMs though. Dr. Video Games 0031 fucked around with this message at 10:38 on Feb 14, 2022 |
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Feb 14, 2022 10:08
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Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:The 5600G's MSRP is cheaper than the 5600X's, and OEMs can get it for a good price. yeah it shows up in prebuilts all the time
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Feb 14, 2022 10:09
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right but the 3600 is even cheaper afaik and would perform basically identically in this config, right? honestly i'm mostly just offended that they didn't even pair it with a motherboard which could hook an additional monitor up, or use it for troubleshooting or basically get any functionality out of it at all.
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Feb 14, 2022 10:10
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also then you could take advantage of the fact the board is a B550 for PCIe gen 4 devices, because for some reason i still don't fully understand the 3600 has more advanced PCIe than the 5600G
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Feb 14, 2022 10:12
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CoolCab posted:right but the 3600 is even cheaper afaik and would perform basically identically in this config, right? honestly i'm mostly just offended that they didn't even pair it with a motherboard which could hook an additional monitor up, or use it for troubleshooting or basically get any functionality out of it at all. It's unclear how many Zen 2 CPUs AMD is still making. Ultimately, all of these decisions are driven by availability and cost cutting. This is most likely the configuration that gave Lenovo the widest margins, so it's what they went with, even if it's not the most logical choice of parts. That's why shopping for prebuilts is a crapshoot a lot of the time, especially from OEMs.
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Feb 14, 2022 10:13
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Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:Yesterday, there were a couple 3080 models available for $1000 in the Newegg PC Builder, and you could put together a similar system for less than $2500. There aren't any available today though, it seems. In fact, they don't have any "hot item" GPUs available right now (the GPUs that are priced at their current regular retail price instead of inflated scalper price). They'll come back though, so if you check daily, you'll probably be able to find something potentially worth buying for $2500 or less. This is a build I was putting together through that service before I realized they had no retail-priced GPUs available. They'll have "Hot Item" tags above their prices when they do become available. It occurs to me that I forgot to link the aborted build list I referenced, so here it is: https://newegg.io/aa1bb3c4 Posting it now because Newegg just did a restock of GPUs for their PC builder service. There are $1000 3080s and $700 3070s, though obviously the build fee and forced windows license purchase raise those costs back up to around where other prebuilts are at (but with better components of your choice). That's just an example build with a high-end PC in mind since that's what the person I was quoting wanted. There are lots of different options that can be chosen to reduce costs, or for personal wants. Though I wish Newegg would let you use cheaper air coolers for Alder Lake already. It's still AIOs only, even for the 12400. Dr. Video Games 0031 fucked around with this message at 13:33 on Feb 14, 2022 |
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Feb 14, 2022 13:19
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Anyone wanna PM Newegg bent pins dude? Sheer modulas I think? On mobile so I can’t search for him, but GN is flying out to Newegg to basically try and force them to talk, and they’re looking for similar stories with proof to email said proof to a specific email. https://twitter.com/gamersnexus/status/1493216916915335175?s=21 IIRC his situation is near identical to GNs, except his was not open box.
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Feb 14, 2022 19:27
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Are thunderbolt addin cards compatible across manufacturers? Specifically, if I have an MSI Z690 board (that has some kind of thunderbolt addin card connector) can I use this Asus addin card: https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Thunder...247520706&psc=1 ??
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Feb 14, 2022 19:36
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Feb 14, 2022 23:55
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what's the actual total looking like?
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Feb 14, 2022 23:58
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CoolCab posted:right but the 3600 is even cheaper afaik and would perform basically identically in this config, right? honestly i'm mostly just offended that they didn't even pair it with a motherboard which could hook an additional monitor up, or use it for troubleshooting or basically get any functionality out of it at all. Are you a fool? 3600 is over 2000 less than 5600G, why would anyone buy that.
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Feb 15, 2022 00:05
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Rinkles posted:what's the actual total looking like? pretty close to the original Dr. VG provided. there was an $80 ding going from 12400 to 12600K and about a $100 ding going up to the Z series TUF gaming. the mobo was the final piece so it was worth it not to wait any longer i justify this because i got my 3080 at msrp
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Feb 15, 2022 00:06
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functional posted:pretty close to the original Dr. VG provided. there was an $80 ding going from 12400 to 12600K and about a $100 ding going up to the Z series TUF gaming. the mobo was the final piece so it was worth it not to wait any longer looks like a great system I'd consider a 1440p monitor, if you have the money
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Feb 15, 2022 00:08
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Lol I wasn't expecting to open this thread and see myself characterised as the devil on someone's shoulder but I'll take it
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Feb 15, 2022 00:10
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Rinkles posted:looks like a great system honestly, it's pretty fuckin sick and I'm just posting here to thank Dr VG once it's not romantic evening day i'll post a full trip report of Infinite Jest length
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Feb 15, 2022 00:11
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functional posted:honestly, it's pretty fuckin sick and I'm just posting here to thank Dr VG are you also planning on getting a new monitor? the pc seems like overkill for 1080p.
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Feb 15, 2022 00:14
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