PC Building Megathread - "Released" is a nebulous term...

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nnnotime: Sep 30, 2001; Hesitate, and you will be lost.

I finally decided to build a new PC after 5 years. I'm looking for a good full tower case recommendation. My current case is a Thermaltake Armor Revo Full Tower:

Article with pictures of my dated Armor Revo case:
https://www.eteknix.com/thermaltake-armor-revo-full-tower-chassis-review/3/

What I liked about the Armor Revo case was the following:

* The power buttons, fan control and USB 3.0 ports on the top front of the case;
* Having a tall case since I sit the computer on the floor next to my chair, under the table. Made it easy to reach the case controls mentioned above;
* Lots of room inside the case;
* Has mounts for large fans. I have found the large fans keeps the case pretty quiet compared to builds with smaller fans;
* Easy to get screws off for the side panels, using big thumb screws
* A number of built in dust-covers for the fans;

What I did _not_ like about the Armor Revo case was the following:

* It would not fit the Corsair dual-fan hydro radiator 2x140mm. I thought from measurements the cooler and fans would fit but to no avail. I had to give the cooler to a friend and buy a non-stock CPU fan instead;
* The front of the case has gimmicky steel flaps. I had to take one flap off since I kept hooking my chair into the flap and pulling off the case front cover. All the flaps do are add unnecessary weight and get in the way of any peripherals installed in the front (for which I did not have many: just the DVD drive);
* The top of case does not have any dust filters for the fans. I had to order custom fan dust-covers from a South-African company named DemciFlex (website: https://www.demcifilter.com/). But at least the custom dust covers I ordered were nice and have soft magnetic edges that let them stick almost anywhere over the fans on the case;
* The side panel 140mm fan has an embedded dust cover that cannot easily be removed for cleaning.

Another negative for many is that the Armor Revo case is also heavy at 25 lbs without anything installed in it, but that didn't bother me too much.

TL:DR: Basically I'd like to find a tall case like the Armor Revo, ideally made of aluminum, with the controls and ports in the top front of the case for easy access.
And the case should also fit any of the popular liquid-cooling radiators and fans for the CPU. For the GPU I'm fine just using stock fan-cooling.

The only upgrades going forward on the computer would be replacing graphics cards every 2 to 3 years. That's all I did with my build from 5 years ago, was upgrade the graphics card two times, and install an extra 1 TB SSD.

# ¿ Nov 13, 2019 05:59

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# ¿ May 12, 2024 19:29

nnnotime: Sep 30, 2001; Hesitate, and you will be lost.

Stickman posted:

Do you need the ODD bay and giant HDD stack? Because the Fractal Design R6/Meshify S2 (which come in a variety of flavors) or the Cooler Master H500P Mesh are fantastic cases with excellent airflow and plenty of room, and putting them up on a small platform to would help reduce dust a bit, too!

Thanks, as those are nice selections. Last time I was building a PC I did not like the CoolerMaster and Fractal Design's case selections, but that was five years ago. Since then both companies have improved their case-product lines.

Your link to the H500P appeared to be for one of the Fractal cases (copy/paste error). Is this the correct link you meant for the H500P?
https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/cases/mid-tower/mastercase-h500p-mesh-white/

My brief scan of the full tower cases for both Fractal Design and Cooler Master gave many appealing choices. Cooler Master has many more nice options these days!

nnnotime fucked around with this message at 07:10 on Nov 13, 2019

# ¿ Nov 13, 2019 07:07

nnnotime: Sep 30, 2001; Hesitate, and you will be lost.

For Intel CPU's, what's the story with the i9-9900KS, verses the i9-9900K? I was reading the KS was built as a limited run, and saw that Microcenter near me did not have the KS in stock. But NewEgg has a KS for $799, while the regular K is $489.

Does the performance increase in the KS justify the extra $310? I assume not, as that seems like a crazy premium.

I see there is also a 9900 X series, but that appears marketed to builders who need up to 128GB RAM.

Here's a NewEgg i9-9900 product search for price references.

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=intel+i9+9900

# ¿ Dec 22, 2019 17:48

nnnotime: Sep 30, 2001; Hesitate, and you will be lost.

VelociBacon posted:

The KS is just a higher binned 9900K. Simply put, this means when they're making the chips they pop them into a setup that tests if they can overclock well and then if they do they're sold as KS. The ones that don't get sold as K. This sucks because it means your chances of getting a 9900k that overclocks well is close to zero because they're being differentiated at the factory. I picked up my 9900K before they started this poo poo thankfully and can do 5GHz all core with relatively low voltage.

I don't know what to recommend. It is absolutely not worth it to pay that much more for a KS. The base level 9900K with no overclock is still plenty.

eames posted:

The normal price difference should be closer to $75 and it's worth mentioning that the 9900KS only has one year warranty instead of the regular three year warranty.

If you just want the fastest CPU available feel free to buy the KS at $600 max. Overall the regular 9900 K is better value. Be aware that the new Intel Desktop platform is expected around April (10 cores, new socket).

Ah, thanks for the info. That's nuts that the higher-binned chip gets only a 1-year warranty? Intel is not rewarding their customers very well that happen to be enthusiasts.

Interesting there will be a new CPU and socket by April. But I'm guessing there won't be a huge performance increase over the April 2020 Intel CPU release and the 9900K series. I'd wait for a price drop but wonder if supplies of the 9900K will hold up until then?

# ¿ Dec 22, 2019 19:08

nnnotime: Sep 30, 2001; Hesitate, and you will be lost.

eames posted:

9900K supply shouldn�t be a problem. You are right that it won�t be a big step forward, however Zen 3 details should also be out around then.
There are rumors that Zen 3 will be a big leap forward in total performance which would put a lot of pressure on Intel to compete on pricing.

You might be able to pick up a locked 10th gen 8C/16T CPU plus budget board for the price of a 9900KS in summer, whether that is worth waiting for is of course up to you. I think the main advantage would be a new upgrade path but who knows what Intel is up to win their sockets.

The 9900K/S is still a very good CPU if the ongoing performance losses from security updates don�t bother you. There�s always something better around the corner.

Hmm, good point about the CPU security flaws: I had forgotten about Spectre and Meltdown. Do you think the new Intel CPUs will have those flaws eliminated in the firmware? Might be one good reason to wait, though I read one article that the patches for Spectre and Meltdown don't have a big impact on gaming performance.

My current CPU is an i7-4770K, so even with a patched i9-9900K I may not notice a slow down from security patches, though I would prefer to have a CPU not hindered in any fashion by firmware patches.

# ¿ Dec 23, 2019 05:14

nnnotime: Sep 30, 2001; Hesitate, and you will be lost.

For a new build, does anybody have a good suggestion for a large tower-case that has the following characteristics:

1) Has a power-button on top, or top-side of the case, as I stand my cases on the floor, under my desk;
2) USB 3.0 or 3.1 ports on top, or top-front side;
3) Has enough space for a "thicc" graphics card, like the recently announced Nvidia 3X-series cards.
4) I won't be doing liquid cooling so having space for tubing and radiators/pumps is not a requirement;
5) Having a clear-side panel so I can see inside once in a while, would be a nice-to-have, but not a requirement.

My current system was installed in a Thermaltake Armor Revo full-tower case.

The following Amazon page has pictures of the Armor Revo case. I guess I could try to find this old case online for sale, but it's pretty heavy at 25 lbs. Yeah, the case had a lot of fans, but being under my desk I did not notice the fans' sound:
https://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Armor-Tower-Cases-VO200M6W2N/dp/B007OX1RX0

The Armor Revo case has a lot of room, but one problem I had with the case was the top fan mounts were not the right size to install a Cosair radiator on top, so had to revert to a Noctura cpu fan (which has worked out well).

EDIT: I found these full-size cases by Cougar on Amazon that may fit the bill. The larger cases in their product line would fit one Nvidia RTX 3090.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F13WPCB/?coliid=I1XFKT1N3E6Q9P&colid=34GEU2PO3GDRN&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it&th=1

nnnotime fucked around with this message at 17:40 on Sep 6, 2020

# ¿ Sep 6, 2020 04:16

nnnotime: Sep 30, 2001; Hesitate, and you will be lost.

future ghost posted:

Look at the Phanteks Enthoo series. Covers basically all your requirements although they're not exactly light-weight. Might have to reposition drive cages for the GPU but they're modular.

Thanks for the suggestion. Here is the vendor's site link for everyone else: Phanteks has a lot of sleek and nicely designed cases, many with interior color options, which I have not seen before from a casemaker:

http://phanteks.com/Enthoo-Series.html

Further questions about cases and USB 3.2: the latest motherboards I am looking at have USB 3.2 gen1 and gen2 ports. But most of the cases I look at have only front connectors for USB 3.0 and 2.0.

Would the full USB 3.2 genX throughput work on the older case's USB 3.0 front ports? (I assume the answer is No). Or if I want full USB 3.2 front-port functionality would I need to somehow wire in newer USB 3.2 cables in place? Or would I need to get a USB 3.2 hub (assuming it exists) and cable it somewhere near the front or top of the case?

EDIT: I found a front-panel USB 3.1 genx hub, which is also adequate, but would prefer something mounted on top of the case (just due to my under-the-desk setup):
https://www.amazon.com/EZDIY-FAB-5-...0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

nnnotime fucked around with this message at 16:58 on Sep 7, 2020

# ¿ Sep 7, 2020 16:54

nnnotime: Sep 30, 2001; Hesitate, and you will be lost.

I had a question about USB ports and the ports available in the front of many cases.

The motherboard I'm thinking of buying (ROG Maximum XII Hero) has the following USB 3.2 ports listed. There are also USB 2.0 ports available but I left those out as I don't care about them:

Rear USB Ports:
4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 port(s)(3 + Type-A +1 + USB Type-C�)
4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 port(s)(4 x Type-A)

Front USB Ports:
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 front panel connector port(s)
2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 port(s)

I don't know if the case will have connectors in the front panel or top for the specific USB types on the motherboard. Many of the popular cases I see still have only USB 3.0 ports listed.

If the case doesn't have matching front USB ports, can I buy a USB hub, to connect to the motherboard's rear USB 3.2-Gen2 ports and attach it to the front-top of the case?

Also if I wanted one front-port for stand-alone USB 3.2 Gen2 support would I need one dedicated hub for 3.2-Gen2, then a separate hub to support all the other USB 3.2-Gen1 and lower devices?

Also, I won't need to put the USB Type-C on the hub, unless I can discover a use-case for it.

I'm still doing research so will update my post here with more details if I manage to answer my own question.

# ¿ Dec 26, 2020 18:37

nnnotime: Sep 30, 2001; Hesitate, and you will be lost.

Ugly In The Morning posted:

If you can get a prebuilt that uses all regular parts instead of OEM stuff, that would be an absolute no-brainer to me.

IIRC, places like IBuyPower and cyber power are all stock parts. Dell and HP have OEM motherboards and GPUs.

I'd go with iBuyPower or Cyberpower as you have better customization.

I was going to buy a Dell Aurora R11, but this reviewer stated the 140mm liquid cooling wasn't enough to keep the system stable at overclocked settings, at least for the high-end Aurora with an intel CPU and an RTX 3090. And due to the case design you would not easily be able to install a 280mm solution yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgd5s6GWMnQ&t=228s

At least with iBuyPower and Cyberpower you would not have any cooling limitations in your custom configuration.

# ¿ Feb 28, 2021 17:31

nnnotime: Sep 30, 2001; Hesitate, and you will be lost.

I'm tired of F5-ing for a Nvidia 3090, and spotted this prebuilt system on NewEgg to consider. The system is from the builder ABS, which appears to be subsidiary of NewEgg. Does this look like a good deal for $4499?

I know NewEgg is buyer-beware at times, but the included Asus Strix 2090 card (White version) currently retails for $2200-$2300, and the scalped price is around $3500. The system also has a mostly Corsair and Asus components.

It's odd they are putting a white card in a black case, but maybe that's all they had to equip it with. Also odd ABS has a bunch of white ASUS ROG Strix to use for prebuilts.

NewEgg also has an ebay listing for this same ABS system, claiming to have 10 or more in stock:

https://www.newegg.com/abs-ali492/p/N82E16883360087?Description=abs%20legend&cm_re=abs_legend-_-83-360-087-_-Product&quicklink=true

Ebay listing of the same ABS system:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ABS-Legend...dEAAOSwZrJgQhT3

The part list, copied from the listing. Again the price is $4499 before tax and shipping:

pre:

Brand	ABS
Series	Legend
Model	ALI492
Processor    Intel Core i9-10900KF 3.70 GHz
Motherboard  ASUS ROG Strix Z590-E Gaming WIFI
Chipset      Intel Z590
Memory 	     CORSAIR Vengeance Pro RGB 32 GB DDR4 3600 MHz
Storage      2 TB Intel 660P M.2 NVMe SSD
Graphics     ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 OC 24 GB (White)
Power Supply CORSAIR RMx 850W 80 Plus Gold
Case	     CORSAIR Obsidian Series 500D RGB
Cooling System	CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H115i RGB Platinum 280MM Liquid Cooling
Case Fan:    CORSAIR RGB 4 x LL120 RGB and 2 x ML PRO 140mm
Operating System Windows 10 Home 64-bit

Here's ABS's website, where I don't see the same system listed in their product pages, which makes me wonder if it's some exclusive with NewEgg:
https://www.abs.com/

# ¿ Mar 6, 2021 20:30

nnnotime: Sep 30, 2001; Hesitate, and you will be lost.

spunkshui posted:

I was going to suggest corsairs� website but honestly I think that might even be a better computer.

You�re paying a lot but at least they didn�t seem to go cheap anywhere on the actual build.

I think it really depends on if four grand is a lot of money to you and how well your current computer works.

If you can wait a year I think prices are going to be better.

I�m not in love with my 1070 but it just doesn�t make sense to upgrade right now since it still works.

Good points. I went ahead and bought the system since I've been out of touch with the latest gaming titles the past two years, and I'm ready to get back into it. Also I'm tied up with work and other life issues that get in the way of studying how to build the system I want, so paying a little extra is the compromise for the lack of free time.

pre:

Brand	ABS
Series	Legend
Model	ALI492
Processor    Intel Core i9-10900KF 3.70 GHz
Motherboard  ASUS ROG Strix Z590-E Gaming WIFI
Chipset      Intel Z590
Memory 	     CORSAIR Vengeance Pro RGB 32 GB DDR4 3600 MHz
Storage      2 TB Intel 660P M.2 NVMe SSD
Graphics     ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 OC 24 GB (White)
Power Supply CORSAIR RMx 850W 80 Plus Gold
Case	     CORSAIR Obsidian Series 500D RGB
Cooling System	CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H115i RGB Platinum 280MM Liquid Cooling
Case Fan:    CORSAIR RGB 4 x LL120 RGB and 2 x ML PRO 140mm
Operating System Windows 10 Home 64-bit

Here's the New Egg listing again: the system is now sold out but they have a new ABS prebuilt model for sale with a similar configuration but different case and more RAM, if you search their website:
https://www.newegg.com/abs-ali492/p/N82E16883360087?Description=abs%20legend&cm_re=abs_legend-_-83-360-087-_-Product&quicklink=true

I got this ABS Legend prebuilt ASUS/Corsair system delivered today, and it managed to survive the shipping, even after I caught the UPS guy being rough with the box on delivery, which I game him a hard time about.

I opened the case and all the cables looked seated, and the system posted OK on powerup. The provided [b]CORSAIR Obsidian Series 500D RGB[b] case was bigger than it's photo and was a little heavier than I expected. But the case has magnetic latches for the side doors and I was able to get to all the cable mounts easily to check if seated properly.

The only issue was the ASUS bios was showing the RAM clocked at 2133 Mhz instead of 3600 Mhz. For this NewEgg/ABS build I don't think the ABS technicians did anything in the bios settings, and just allowed the bios to set everything to default.

The bios had an added tool called "Memtest86", which confirmed the installed RAM was 3600 Mhz. So I dug around and found in the AI tweaking settings I had to set the AI Overclock Tuner to "XMP 1". Then after the reboot the computer posted and the RAM showed the expected 3600 Mhz speed. There was a setting for XMP 2 but will experiment with that later.

I had tried to set the memory manually in another screen to 3600 Mhz but the bios didn't like that, and the screen went dark on the reboot for a while. But fortunately the system finally rebooted and posted back to the last good settings, which perhaps was a recovery feature in the motherboard's bios.

The Corsair cooling fans did seem to get a little loud at times, even though set to Quiet mode. I'll have to research how to optimize the cooling settings better, or see if I need to buy quieter fans. The top of the case for the radiator exhaust is metal so that probably helps to increase the fan sound a bit. I could buy some soundproofing foam to stick on the side doors, if that won't contribute to heat or disrupt the airflow.

Anyhow, so far so good, and I was extremely relieved that the system even posted after being delivered roughly.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2021 04:11

nnnotime: Sep 30, 2001; Hesitate, and you will be lost.

spunkshui posted:

There should be a setting called "fan delay" or something similar that will make the case fans wait for a prolonged heat.

Outside of running a benchmark or playing a game the fans should be able to stay near silent.

Playing a demanding game will make some serious heat with that setup so I wouldn't aim for silence then.

Thanks, I'll look into that. I was surprised the fans were throttling high just browsing the web and looking at the desktop settings.

I'll wind up putting this system under or away from the desk, and hopefully that will also help make the noise less noticeable. I will also be wearing 7.1 headphones which should help suppress a good portion of any excess fan noise.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2021 06:52

nnnotime: Sep 30, 2001; Hesitate, and you will be lost.

spunkshui posted:

They are reacting to the CPU temporarily getting hot.

If you set the fan delay to like 20 seconds on the case fans in the bios then the fans should not rev at all unless the cpu stays at a high temp for a while.

You also want to make sure that your AIO fans are actually listening to your AIO water temperature in icue.

A commander pro is a turn key solution to letting you control case fans off almost any temp, even the GPU. Some people like to tie all of their case fans to the temperature of their AIO. Makes for very smooth changes in fan speed.

I�m controlling all my case fans with my AIO water temps but I�m just using a fan splitter and a fan hub to do it instead of a commander pro.

Thanks for these tips. I had a tough time getting the fans and water-cooler calibrated, as the ASUS bios had Q-fan in Autodetect-mode, with no option to disable (odd), My system has a Corsair case with the Commander Pro hub already setup by the builder (ABS). It appears the water-cooler's two Corsair fans were also hooked up to the Commander Pro.

I was trying different settings in the bio's Q-Fan setting, but also left the I-Cue enabled, so I'm sure I-Cue was stepping on the bios settings, and resulting in very noisy fans. I didn't realize at the time I needed to use either Q-Fan or I-Cue, and not both. Since the builder had all the fans hooked up to the Corsair fan hub I assume the builder intended for the I-Cue to be used instead.

The I-Cue menu system was not intuitive, but I eventually figured out how to setup a custom profile and curve to tie back all the fans to the Corsair AIO, following what you said above that some people were already doing,

One forum I read gave advice to set the Cooler Pump speed on extreme settings, and to then link the fans back to the AIO sensor. But after doing so the pump sound was too loud, so I dropped the Cooler Pump profile down to the Quiet-curve settings. In the ASUS Bios, there was no option to disable Q-Fan, so I just set back all fan settings to Automatic.

Then after the reboot everything sounded quiet again, and I'm assuming now i-Cue is recognizing all the fans are driving by the AOI sensor, and that Q-Fan is no longer interfering.

One problem with I-Cue is that it does not give options on delays to when fan speed changes had to be triggered by the curve. But so far the fan-shifts sound OK under I-Cue with my new settings.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2021 22:16

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# ¿ May 12, 2024 19:29

nnnotime: Sep 30, 2001; Hesitate, and you will be lost.

Alan Smithee posted:

How does puget factor in shortages for pricing?

Here's a prebuilt from NewEgg's builder, which goes by ABS. They've somehow managed to get supplied the EVGA RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra cards for the builds. A few weeks ago they had white Asus Strix 3090s featured for similar configurations. But I didn't see any ABS builds on NewEgg's site with the 3080.

https://www.newegg.com/abs-ali500/p/N82E16883360095?Description=abs%203090&cm_re=abs_3090-_-83-360-095-_-Product&quicklink=true

# ¿ Mar 22, 2021 07:06

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > Comedy Goldmine > The Goodmine > PC Building Megathread - "Released" is a nebulous term...