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I built a Zen 3 5600x machine last year. Initially I carried over my ancient Radeon HD 7950 Boost, but gave that to my dad and replaced it with a GeForce 710 2GB card because I don't PC game anymore. That was the most basic card I could get last year and is all I needed. I get UI stutters sometimes so I'm wondering what current entry level GPUs are recommended, since the horrors of the past 2 years GPU market have started to recede.
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Jun 3, 2022 12:53
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Here folks, got a general question before diving in the more serious hardware stuff. I'm looking to change my rig and my question is: should I or should I wait a bit? I'm willing to spend between 2 and 3k on a new rig in canadian dollars. Don't know if I'll get a prebuilt or not (getting a sketchy vibe on those), but I'm tempted because I don't want to deal with the hassle of building one. I'm using it for gaming. Lot's of gaming and play all sort of different games. My current tower (I5, Nvidia 1060) cuts it at min spec for most titles I play... sometimes if I'm willing to deal with the lag. Read on Reddit that some new products are going to be announced in the summer/fall of this year and that it could be worth to wait, the GPU craze seems to have slowed down too. I'm on the fence and want to hear about your thoughts.
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Jun 3, 2022 14:40
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There's always something new on the horizon and the GPU insanity might pick up again when the new cards start coming out. There's no telling what the future holds. I say you build now.
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Jun 3, 2022 14:50
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As always the advice is buy whenever your current system isn't doing what you want it to acceptably anymore. There's always something new and better around the corner. If it's a month or two from release and you can eke out what you have until then, then OK there's more of an argument for waiting. However we don't currently have release dates for the new GPUs and it's very difficult to predict what supply and demand is going to look like for them, so by waiting you could gently caress yourself given current gen GPUs are now mostly back to sane prices and have good options available. At the top end of your budget, if you were building yourself you'd be into overkill territory. If you're getting a prebuilt it would get you a very high end system. If you don't have a good (high refresh rate, 1440p or 4k) monitor then you need to factor that into your considerations or else you'd be pissing money down the drain. also as always, gently caress reddit. Butterfly Valley fucked around with this message at 14:55 on Jun 3, 2022 |
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Jun 3, 2022 14:53
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Yeah I already got a 4k monitor as a gift and I just can't use the potential. Thanks for the advices, gonna upgrade! And yes I do agree, eff Reddit.
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Jun 3, 2022 15:04
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So hey, I'm also thinking of upgrading my rid. I got a 1440p monitor last Christmas because I forgot 1080p would look lile poo poo and now my GTX 970 ain't doing so hot. But since I also have to upgrade more stuff (the CPU could use a boost, need a new PSU, wanna upgrade to a bigger SSD because my hard drive is slow as hell and full) I was looking into getting a whole new PC. The thing is, would you guys recommend buying any prebuilt ones? I actually have some anxiety problems and also am terribly clumsy so I'm terrified at the idea of building one, but I don't want to have problems with future upgrades. Budget is actually not a problem: I have a lot saved up and I'm willing to pay a markup for a prebuilt one. I'd go up to 3000€ for a high end rig for 1440p gaming that would last me for a while, so I'd like to know what cards/CPUs to look for.
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Jun 3, 2022 15:09
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Its that time posted:Yeah I already got a 4k monitor as a gift and I just can't use the potential. Thanks for the advices, gonna upgrade! And yes I do agree, eff Reddit. I would say at the high end the price difference between prebuilt and DIY becomes more exponential. For bang in the middle of your budget I reckon you could build a 3080ti system (which is very high end/pushing overkill) whereas I think you'd struggle to find prebuilts with the same card within that budget range. With a 4k monitor you'd actually be using that GPU power too. GiantRockFromSpace posted:Budget is actually not a problem: I have a lot saved up and I'm willing to pay a markup for a prebuilt one. I'd go up to 3000€ for a high end rig for 1440p gaming that would last me for a while, so I'd like to know what cards/CPUs to look for. For a high end 1440p system you shouldn't be looking at more than €2k for a prebuilt. Link some prebuilt manufacturers in whatever EU country you're in and we can give you an idea of what's decent value.
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Jun 3, 2022 15:23
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GiantRockFromSpace posted:
you know that also would describe me just a few years ago. i had never done anything more complex than adding an SSD to a computer and didn't understand any of it. here are two totally true stories: when I first replaced a GPU I literally needed to stream it to discord with some reassuring friends because I was sure I was going to fry it, lol. and it's progressive too; later when I was much more confident, a friend very sweetly sent me a totally overkill cooler when he upgraded, and because I'd never changed a cooler I let it sit there and made excuses for not installing it for months. sure I was gonna bend my pins. knew enough by then to be specific in my anxieties at least, lol in both those instances it was fine! and like literally anything else in this world you start bad and get good with practice and I made plenty of mistakes on the way. but you know these devices ultimately are designed to be user serviceable in this way (dangerous stuff is in the isolated PSU, don't go in there) and quite often is pretty robust. there's also a wealth of resources, often including quite detailed videos from high production value tech YouTube or the manufacturers themselves to figure it all out. and advice or support if you want it of course. nothing wrong with going with a prebuild but like most of us keep paying attention to this stuff for the same reason there's a hit PC building sim game; it's kinda fun? adult Legos but with FPS.
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Jun 3, 2022 15:28
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Assembling a PC from parts is easier than building LEGO, gently caress buying prebuilt now that pricing is starting to normalize on GPUs and such.
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Jun 3, 2022 15:30
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On the other hand OP mentioned anxiety problems and has the budget for a prebuilt, it's a perfectly valid route and you shouldn't make them feel bad for it
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Jun 3, 2022 15:36
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now I switch CPU coolers with such casualness I don't even pay attention or notice I've put it on backwards, like at least half of the time. everything is impossible until it is easy, in my experience. again nowt wrong with a prebuild if you don't want the hassle or anything else, but if it's that specifically I'd say building confidence in my ability this way significantly reduced my net anxiety around computers by quite a bit. even though there were some scary bits along the way.
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Jun 3, 2022 15:42
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GiantRockFromSpace posted:So hey, I'm also thinking of upgrading my rid. I got a 1440p monitor last Christmas because I forgot 1080p would look lile poo poo and now my GTX 970 ain't doing so hot. If budget is not a problem look at like corsair or origin PC or maingear but stay away from HP and Alienware. https://youtu.be/UnvxSkqJ8ic Vs https://youtu.be/MGQbkpNy39o
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Jun 3, 2022 15:45
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IMO people exaggerate how easy building is. And these are expensive things. There were a number of moments where I was nervous I was gonna break something. And I think I did bend one of the power pins to the front panel, even if it works.
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Jun 3, 2022 15:49
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CoolCab posted:now I switch CPU coolers with such casualness I don't even pay attention or notice I've put it on backwards, like at least half of the time. everything is impossible until it is easy, in my experience. again nowt wrong with a prebuild if you don't want the hassle or anything else, but if it's that specifically I'd say building confidence in my ability this way significantly reduced my net anxiety around computers by quite a bit. even though there were some scary bits along the way. There's a huge difference between your definition of anxiety and what I think OPs might be. Anxiety defined as most of society sees it, like 'oh I'm so anxious about this test!', 'oh I'm anxious I said something silly last night while I was drunk!' then no its not serious at all and shouldn't be an impediment to building. However actual anxiety disorders are totally debilitating and don't remotely compare to any casual worries that most people see as anxiety, and if OP gets that from the idea of loving around with expensive electronics and wants to avoid it by buying a prebuilt then that's absolutely valid.
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Jun 3, 2022 15:51
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Butterfly Valley posted:There's a huge difference between your definition of anxiety and what I think OPs might be. Anxiety defined as most of society sees it, like 'oh I'm so anxious about this test!', 'oh I'm anxious I said something silly last night while I was drunk!' then no its not serious at all and shouldn't be an impediment to building. However actual anxiety disorders are totally debilitating and don't remotely compare to any casual worries that most people see as anxiety, and if OP gets that from the idea of loving around with expensive electronics and wants to avoid it by buying a prebuilt then that's absolutely valid. no sorry i'm referring to literal, clinical anxiety. i am trying to say: if you think having an anxiety disorder would prevent you from doing something like this i can provide a counterpoint.
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Jun 3, 2022 15:54
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CoolCab posted:no sorry i'm referring to literal, clinical anxiety. i am trying to say: if you think having an anxiety disorder would prevent you from doing something like this i can provide a counterpoint. OK, me too, but I think we're going beyond our remit here. Obviously this is a building thread so we prefer and recommend that but if people have valid reasons not to then we can and have been helping with prebuilts too. Exposure therapy can be very useful but OP just wants to buy a PC and that's fine.
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Jun 3, 2022 16:03
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Butterfly Valley posted:OK, me too, but I think we're going beyond our remit here. Obviously this is a building thread so we prefer and recommend that but if people have valid reasons not to then we can and have been helping with prebuilts too. Exposure therapy can be very useful but OP just wants to buy a PC and that's fine. right, and again i've recommended prebuilds many many times itt and will many times in future because, politely, i do repeat for the third time that there is absolutely nothing wrong with a prebuild. but they were also identifying they will need to maintain or upgrade their device - there will be a need have at least some of this understanding and confidence doing that. in my opinion the best way to develop that ability is by doing and i was speaking to my lived experience here; i wasn't intending to be presumptuous and apologize if it came across that way. there are pitfalls and again scary bits but nothing was as scary as before when it would not work and i would have no understanding of why that could be.
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Jun 3, 2022 16:19
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For me what makes messing with my PC easier to handle is knowing I have a backup PC that I can use if I screw something up. Back in the days of only having internet through the one PC so if that got messed up you have nothing... that was more stressful. If you have a lot of anxiety about this sort of thing maybe buy some super cheap old used thing or the cheapest possible parts just to have something to practice on and mess with? I definitely am also in the camp of 'if it works it works so don't touch it in case that changes' but it is kind of fun to challenge yourself and succeed and expand your comfort zone.
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Jun 3, 2022 16:27
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Thanks for the kind responses! For context it's the "constant nervousness and overthinking with sporadic panic attacks" anxiety, which is why I want to make sure I make the right choices and am leaning towards a prebuilt. Also it's mostly the idea of building from zero that gives me anxiety: I did upgrade the GPU from the original build albeit with some trouble because the manufacturer had welded bars on the back cover and taking them off was a bit messy. (But I had to since I had a GTX 645 so yeah). Upgrading parts from an already built computer doesn't give me the same feeling, which is why I'm leaning prebuilt. I'll be sure then to post a link once I find one that looks good. I guess I should look for a 3060Ti/3080 for 1440p futureproof going by posts on this thread?
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Jun 3, 2022 16:36
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i was the kind of kid who took apart random old electronics for fun and put them back together so i've never really understood the anxiety around building a PC but like... the point is to have a PC to play games/do whatever. if you don't think that building is going to be fun for you and you are willing to deal with price premiums and other antics around prebuilds, don't build a PC!
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Jun 3, 2022 16:43
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Are PC stores where you can pick out the parts and have them assemble the unit for you not a thing in the US? I paid the equivalent of $10 to have my store put things together for me over here and they did a better job than I could have.
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Jun 3, 2022 16:48
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GiantRockFromSpace posted:I'll be sure then to post a link once I find one that looks good. I guess I should look for a 3060Ti/3080 for 1440p futureproof going by posts on this thread? 3060ti is the minimum for acceptable 1440p gaming now, a 3070 would be better and a 3080 would give you more longevity yes. Beyond that you're into the realm of hugely diminishing returns. CPU matters less but it needs to be something that's not stupidly over or underpowered for the GPU Regarding your feelings about building, I'll say that I think building from scratch can actually be easier than replacing parts in a prebuilt, especially given your experience there. Prebuilts are full of all kinds of weird things designed to make it difficult for the consumer to incrementally upgrade. If you build yourself, you're in total control of everything that goes into it.
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Jun 3, 2022 16:49
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anakha posted:Are PC stores where you can pick out the parts and have them assemble the unit for you not a thing in the US? I paid the equivalent of $10 to have my store put things together for me over here and they did a better job than I could have. They are but OP is in the EU.
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Jun 3, 2022 16:51
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If you get all the parts from the same store, I'd ask if they can assemble it and if there's a fee/waiting period (for testing and whatnot)
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Jun 3, 2022 17:02
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My 8 year old PC showed its age this week by failing to start up (power button lights up for a sec, system makes a buzzer sound, fans get enough juice to start but then stop, and keeps looping that with no display), so figured it’s time to put together a new one. I’m going to be using it mostly with games in mind. My old monitor is 60hz 1080, though I think I might get a new one later on. PCPartPicker Part List CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Amazon) Motherboard: MSI A320M-A PRO Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($54.99 @ B&H) Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($59.99 @ Amazon) Storage: Samsung 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($116.57 @ Amazon) Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6 GB Video Card Case: Fractal Design Meshify C Mini MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($114.98 @ Newegg) Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2021) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($110.99 @ Amazon) Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($99.60 @ Amazon) Total: $757.11 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-06-03 12:21 EDT-0400 The 1060 GeForce is from the old system. Though its only four years old, Im not sure if to keep using that or replace it. Similar thing with my storage. I was planning on using my two year EVO860 SDD which I had barely filled up, with my much older EVO 840 and Western Digital HDD temporarily connected to move old files. For Windows, I’m guessing i’ll have to get a preinstalled usb drive.
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Jun 3, 2022 17:42
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anakha posted:Are PC stores where you can pick out the parts and have them assemble the unit for you not a thing in the US? I paid the equivalent of $10 to have my store put things together for me over here and they did a better job than I could have. Artelier posted:If you get all the parts from the same store, I'd ask if they can assemble it and if there's a fee/waiting period (for testing and whatnot) Good idea, I'd have to check. But given the state of the market I'm not sure I'd find one with a 3080 on stock, but I can still try. As an addenum, what do you guys usually do when moving stuff from an old PC to a new one? I was planning to move the stuff I want to keep to an external HD (that I can use then as a backup) and then to the new PC; and reinstalling the programs I use. But I was wondering about stuff like AppData or things like that that aren't as obvious. And I'm not keen on doing like a full transfer copy even if possible both for the risk I transfer hidden malware and because it'd be a good way to throw out programs I never use.
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Jun 3, 2022 17:48
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GiantRockFromSpace posted:Good idea, I'd have to check. But given the state of the market I'm not sure I'd find one with a 3080 on stock, but I can still try. I just transplanted all my drives over and booted from my existing windows install, had zero issues 
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Jun 3, 2022 18:00
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I got mega anxiety that was already clinically significant but worsened substantially more after my fam's bout with COVID-19 last year, to the point that when I build (and I've been working inside PCs and building them since about the year 2000 when I was 13!) I end up spending probably an hour or two just on watching videos of things I completely already know how to do to make SURE SURE SURE that I am doing it right and not about to break poo poo worth a couple grand or more all together. But it does feel very good overcoming the fear and making a system that works, triumphant feeling honestly. I know building a PC is "easy" but it is scary to me anyway, I can't just swing a new one if I break stuff and some parts of it are nerve wracking to me like seating the CPU. No matter how many times I do it I always feel like I am certainly about to break crucial expensive parts. This time was the worst - previously I built with CPUs in the $300-$400 range, but this time I was putting a 12900K in and just like... holy poo poo,  , BUT IT WORKS and it feels good putting the knowledge to use and coming out with a great result. Which you probably will, if you're careful and do it properly. Fear does not make bad imaginings real, it just makes them seem real.That said there are levels to this anxiety game and it might genuinely be more than a person wants to deal with, I would never shame somebody for paying for expertise and a warranty as a way around truly insurmountable worry over doing it themselves. But, if you want to try, I think you can and I can say from experience it's a good feeling when it boots up which, so far, it always has for me. It's a further good feeling when it's more than a decade later and the old system still works when you turn it on, even reliable to the point of hours a day of usage as I'm getting from my Sandy Bridge and Haswell builds that serve different purposes now than my main workstation. Agreed fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Jun 3, 2022 |
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Jun 3, 2022 18:05
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Cercueil posted:My 8 year old PC showed its age this week by failing to start up (power button lights up for a sec, system makes a buzzer sound, fans get enough juice to start but then stop, and keeps looping that with no display), so figured it’s time to put together a new one. First things first, I strongly recommend a better motherboard. A320 is a very poor fit for gaming machines due to its limitations. It offers no overclocking support at all, which I think means not even basic XMP profiles for your memory? You should get a B550 motherboard with a 5600X, such as maybe the Gigabyte Gaming X: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/KxFbt6/gigabyte-b550-gaming-x-v2-atx-am4-motherboard-b550-gaming-x-v2 (or this one if you really want to go mATX for some reason, since I've just noticed you picked an mATX case) Also, you're going to have to replace your GPU eventually even if it's not now, and you'll need a beefier PSU if you want to keep your options open. $110 is also probably more than I'd pay for a 650 PSU. Maybe something like this EVGA Supernova GA 750 for $80: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/4ZFKHx/evga-supernova-ga-750-w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-220-ga-0750-x1 Get a windows key from SA mart, not a retailer. They're available for like $15 from multiple sellers there. I have a hard time imagining 500GB will be enough storage, but you know more about your needs than I do, and you can always expand later I guess. These days, everyone is getting NVMe drives due to how much faster they are. (e.g. the SN570) edit: That A320 board doesn't even have any m.2 slots. Yeah, no, do not buy that. Dr. Video Games 0031 fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Jun 3, 2022 |
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Jun 3, 2022 18:14
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GiantRockFromSpace posted:Good idea, I'd have to check. But given the state of the market I'm not sure I'd find one with a 3080 on stock, but I can still try. If you get a big external USB drive you can just copy everything you think you need (photos, documents) and your whole Users folder onto that. For me moving between computers is a chance to get rid of stuff I think I need but actually don't, especially with Steam game saves being in the cloud these days. Then after you're all done you can use the HD for backups.
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Jun 3, 2022 18:27
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GiantRockFromSpace posted:So hey, I'm also thinking of upgrading my rid. I got a 1440p monitor last Christmas because I forgot 1080p would look lile poo poo and now my GTX 970 ain't doing so hot. My first build was 10 years ago and I was anxious as hell about it. Luckily, the UK site I bought most of the components off, Scan, offers low-cost insurance that covers accidental damage, even dropping stuff in water. I've now built 4 machines but I don't know if I'd have attempted it the first time without the insurance. Anything similar available to you?
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Jun 3, 2022 18:33
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:i was the kind of kid who took apart random old electronics for fun and put them back together so i've never really understood the anxiety around building a PC but like... the point is to have a PC to play games/do whatever. if you don't think that building is going to be fun for you and you are willing to deal with price premiums and other antics around prebuilds, don't build a PC! It is very true that computers are basically adult legos designed to prevent you from doing stupid poo poo that will make it break. But, there are a lot of weird small things that can go wrong. They don’t tend to actually break the computer but they will prevent the computer from turning on and that could be very frustrating if you can’t really take it to any store because you built it yourself. You have some techy friends or relatives that know how to build computers though there’s a much lower risk of getting stumped by something. My very first computer that I built I never plugged in the 4pin CPU power plug because I assumed a giant 24 pin into the motherboard with powered everything on the motherboard and I didn’t see the CPU plug under the cooler. There was about an entire day of me scratching my head before my friend was able to come over, look at the cable coming out of my power supply, and laugh at me. Very recently I updated the BIOS on my computer and it caused my computer to not be able to see my M.2 drive. I had to end up changing some setting in the bios that I have never heard of before but it really took me a long time on Google to find the correct solution. Obviously you can post problems on the forum so we can take a crack at it but if you’re the kind of person that just wants to have a company that you can call or send it back to is something that you can pay for. Just don’t pick Dell holy crap they’re tech-support is torture. spunkshui fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Jun 3, 2022 |
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Jun 3, 2022 19:08
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Its that time posted:Here folks, got a general question before diving in the more serious hardware stuff. Memory Express and Canada Computers have good pre-builts/build services if you don't want to do it yourself.
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Jun 3, 2022 19:22
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Whatever you do, just remember to put the IO shield on, and don't let the little metal tabs fold into the ports. It doesn't really matter, but it's such a pain the rear end to fix that most people just go "gently caress it". It's particularly frustrating after you've built a few PC's but still forget. 
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Jun 3, 2022 19:31
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The most important thing to remember when building a computer is to remember to make the proper sacrifices to Chupaclops, the Mighty Spider, so that he will bless your build.
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Jun 3, 2022 19:38
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There are some indications GPU prices might be going back up so if you've been hovering on building I'd go for it right now.Rinkles posted:IMO people exaggerate how easy building is. And these are expensive things. There were a number of moments where I was nervous I was gonna break something. And I think I did bend one of the power pins to the front panel, even if it works. Yeah building is an enormous pain in the rear end for clumsy people like me, even though I've been doing it for almost 30 years at this point. Part of it is that it's not really a skill you practice unless it's your job? Like yeah I know how to do it but I do it once every four years, not a lot of reps. That said it's not that bad and there are good guides on YouTube you can follow along with. It's easier than ever to build, both because of the help available and the improvements in the tech/case ergonomics/etc. And computer electronics are a lot more robust than you might imagine, it's hard to break them.
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Jun 3, 2022 20:01
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Lazyhound posted:Is an Arctic Freezer 34 enough cooling for a 5800X3D? I’m going to add a second fan to the cooler and give it a shot, I guess.
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Jun 3, 2022 20:04
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Grand Fromage posted:There are some indications GPU prices might be going back up so if you've been hovering on building I'd go for it right now. May I ask what those indications are and where I can read more? I'm interested in the details!
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Jun 3, 2022 20:13
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Building the first time is not easy even if you watched 5 hours of Youtube tutorials like I did. It probably took me half a day to get mine up and running because I was nervous about the tiny wires and I had trouble with some screws on the motherboard. But my second build only took like 90 minutes and it's way easier now.
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Jun 3, 2022 20:14
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Mu Zeta posted:Building the first time is not easy even if you watched 5 hours of Youtube tutorials like I did. It probably took me half a day to get mine up and running because I was nervous about the tiny wires and I had trouble with some screws on the motherboard. But my second build only took like 90 minutes and it's way easier now. Now I feel old, I built my first computer before Youtube existed. You know, the olden days Just to answer the obvious questions, YES we had cars, NO we didn't have to walk in front of them ringing a bell so they wouldn't scare the horses. They repealed that law a year prior.
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Jun 3, 2022 23:43
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