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I think I'm finally doing a new build this coming year. My current build is from 2015 and has somehow weathered all the crap I've put it through. It's really showing its age though. My plan is to have it set up before the new FFXIV expansion releases next summer. I'm gonna start putting together builds and comparing prices soon. One thing I wanted to ask about while I do that: I noticed Costco of all places is starting to sell prebuilt PCs. Has anyone had any luck with these, or done any research into them to see if they're worth it? I've been noting the prices and components but haven't taken the time to compare them to self-built prices yet. The local Costco has been offering two builds from two different suppliers, one with an RTX 30 series and one with a 40 series. Just wondering if anyone else has seen them.
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Oct 15, 2023 14:04
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Wibla posted:No, but if you post some links or photos of the spec sheets we might be able to give some recommendations (most likely: run away) Here's the latest two they had. Hopefully at a glance you could just say "lol no" and that's all I need to know.  
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Oct 15, 2023 14:41
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Had a thought while working on new builds. It's been a while since I've bought anything from Newegg. I remember they used to be the place to buy PC parts from (my first build was done in 2004 using basically all parts from Newegg), but I seem to remember something changed in the last several years about them. Are they still okay in certain situations or should they be avoided now?
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Oct 29, 2023 15:47
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Thanks for the Newegg tips. I live fairly close to a Micro Center (about an hour drive to Paterson, NJ). Sounds like it'll be well worth it to check their selection when I do start finalizing a build. I got a decent amount of my 2015 buld parts from one of two local Micro Centers when I lived near Atlanta. I worked near the Marietta one and lived near the Duluth one. 
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Oct 30, 2023 20:08
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change my name posted:Perhaps a dumb question, but if I put together a gaming PC for my GF, could it also pull double duty as the house NAS if the accessible drives are kept wholly separate from the Windows OS and games/anything run locally? Personally I wouldn't do this. Make a PC for your GF and have it be only that.
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Oct 30, 2023 21:53
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I am planning a new build this year so I'm looking for suggestions! What country are you in? - USA  Do you live near Microcenter? - Yes! I'm an hour away from the Paterson, NJ store. What are you using the system for? - Primarily gaming. Aside from that, just watching Youtube and Twitch. All of my work is done on a separate PC. What's your budget? - Trying to stay under $2000, including the monitor, but open to suggestions regardless. If you're gaming, what is your monitor resolution / refresh rate? How fancy do you want your graphics, from “it runs” to “Ultra preset as fast as possible”? Seriously answer this. It drastically changes the recommendations you will get. I'd like to get as fancy with the graphics as I can within my budget. I don't expect to do another full build for several years. The most graphics-intensive game I currently play is Final Fantasy XIV which is easy to max out framerates on with maxed-out graphics settings, but is heavily CPU bottlenecked when there's tons of players on screen at once. A little googling suggests that a more modern CPU would address that. As for modern games, I plan on picking up FF16 and FF7R at some point, so those would be a target for modern graphics. There is also a graphical update coming with the next FFXIV expansion in summer, but I don't expect that to be more intense than the other games. I'm also planning to upgrade my main monitor to QHD (3440 x 1440). I added one to my part list as a baseline. My current monitor is 1440p @ 144Hz and will become my side monitor. I threw this together as a general idea of what I'm going for: PCPartPicker Part List CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($369.00 @ Amazon) CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler Motherboard: Gigabyte B650 GAMING X AX ATX AM5 Motherboard ($189.99 @ Amazon) Memory: G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory ($106.99 @ Amazon) Storage: Western Digital Black SN850X 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($297.02 @ Amazon) Video Card: MSI RTX 3060 Ventus 3X 12G OC GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card ($297.00 @ Newegg) Case: NZXT H5 Flow ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.99 @ Amazon) Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($134.99 @ Amazon) Monitor: LG UltraGear 34GP63A-B 34.0" 3440 x 1440 160 Hz Curved Monitor ($380.61 @ Amazon) Total: $1870.59 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-02-20 12:12 EST-0500
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Feb 20, 2024 18:29
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Butterfly Valley posted:Requoting this post from recently which applies to you too. Get the micro centre bundle and you'll have plenty on your budget for a monitor and for god's sake don't saddle that system with a 3060 lol Awesome, thanks! I'm not planning to purchase until sometime in April or May so I'm trying to get some ideas. This helps a lot. I'm thinking I will most likely do the 4070 so I can get the monitor. If I really need a bump in a few years I can probably get away with just upgrading the GPU. I wasn't aware the 3060 was that bad but I probably should have guessed that by the price. I mostly threw it in as a baseline. I ignored GPUs for several years thanks to all the crypto poo poo. DizzyBum fucked around with this message at 01:36 on Feb 21, 2024 |
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Feb 21, 2024 01:26
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I got some annual budget poo poo to work out over the next couple weeks, but once that's all settled I think it's time to start shopping.  I'll post an updated build based on the earlier recommendations I got and see if I get some final opinions before I start pulling triggers.I think I'm gonna hold off on the new monitor for the time being. I already bought a new one last year to replace an older one that died on me. It's 16:9, 1440p, 144Hz and I have zero reason to upgrade again so soon. I'll look into a curved WQHD screen another time when I have more disposable income. PC is more important.
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Mar 17, 2024 17:40
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Reposting this to get one more look and possible suggestions before I finalize. It's basically unchanged from the earlier suggestions; I just took out the monitor. I'm gonna let this simmer for a couple weeks until I've got my budget sorted out and then I think I'm good! Micro Center local pickup for the CPU/motherboard/RAM combo (and I'll probably get a tube of thermal paste while I'm there since I can't find my Arctic Silver). Best Buy local pickup for the PSU. Online for everything else. My browser shopping extension snagged a $10 off code for the card on ASUS's website so I might order the GPU through there. Seems to be same shipping time either way, about a week. Not in a rush, but I prefer not to wait a super long time for a $600 piece of electronics to safely arrive. PCPartPicker Part List CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($469.99) CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($33.90 @ Amazon) Motherboard: Gigabyte B650 GAMING X AX V2 ATX AM5 Motherboard ($0.00) Memory: G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory ($0.00) Storage: Acer Predator GM7000 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($124.99 @ Amazon) Video Card: Asus DUAL GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB Video Card ($599.99 @ Newegg) Case: Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ B&H) Power Supply: Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Best Buy) Total: $1398.85 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-03-19 09:40 EDT-0400 I did have a question about airflow in the Pop Air case. It comes with 3 120mm fans. Looks like 2 intake in the front grill and 1 exhaust in the back. Is that Good Enough (tm)? I remember years ago it was heavily frowned upon to use any built-in case stuff, but I know part quality in general seems to have gotten better over time. I'm happy to grab some number of 140mm fans if that would be better for airflow and noise.
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Mar 19, 2024 14:58
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Butterfly Valley posted:With the included fans and those parts you'll be totally fine for thermals and noise, with some tweaking of fan curves. You could drop a couple of degrees if you bought noctuas or whatever but it really isn't worth it unless you must have the Quietest Possible System. Cool, thanks! I definitely need to remember to tweak my fan settings in the new system. I have a habit of getting lazy and just letting everything run too loud.
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Mar 19, 2024 16:03
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I forgot that PCPartPicker lets you browse builds with combos of parts so you can see parts in action before you commit. Such a great feature for sanity-checking something and making sure it'll look and fit okay before trying to buy it. And it's nice to browse through other people's projects.  Jeremor posted:I'm convinced, I'll try building that one Dizzy posted above. It's cool that the build you guys gave me is inspiring others now!  1440p is a very nice upgrade from 1080p, especially for the price points. You'll notice an improvement immediately.
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Mar 19, 2024 16:09
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Any thoughts on this Gigabyte branded 4070 Super vs. the one I have saved in my planned build? I wouldn't mind picking up the GPU in-person because it's the most expensive component, and I would hate to just wait for a $600 GPU to show up on my doorstep or possibly get stolen. It would be like a $10-20 difference. I checked the Gigabyte card and it's compatible with the rest of the build. Current picked part - https://pcpartpicker.com/product/hfjRsY/asus-dual-geforce-rtx-4070-super-12-gb-video-card-dual-rtx4070s-12g Micro Center instore - https://www.microcenter.com/product...0-graphics-card
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Mar 20, 2024 16:07
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Branch Nvidian posted:It's going to come down to aesthetics and cooling performance. I believe the ASUS Dual cooler is supposed to be one of the better custom cooler designs, but the Gigabyte may be just as good or I'm wrong about the ASUS' cooling superiority. Personally, I don't like how Gigabyte cards look, so if I had a see-through side panel I'd avoid their cards simply on that basis alone. If you don't mind how it looks then I don't see there being any issue with going with it over the ASUS really. Oh yeah, this isn't a build for aesthetics, I don't give a poo poo how the inside looks aside from cable management. I'll likely do the in-store pickup, then. Thanks!
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Mar 20, 2024 16:27
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I guess I'm showing my age because I didn't even realize the Gigabyte mobo for my build has built-in wifi. I'm used to having to install a separate card or use a USB adapter if I want wifi. Might be better suited for the Networking thread, but is there any recommended antenna extender for these? I need an extension, otherwise the little stick antennas will be shoved in a corner with bad signal. I'm looking at things like this: https://www.amazon.com/Eightwood-Antennae-Extension-Computer-Bluetooth/dp/B09XHBFXXH
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Mar 22, 2024 15:06
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Butterfly Valley posted:I think they're all much of a muchness. Thanks! Also, I learned a new phrase today!
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Mar 22, 2024 15:26
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Posting it one more time in case I missed anything but I think I'm ready to start ordering parts! https://pcpartpicker.com/list/dt84kJ I'm planning to pick up the CPU/mobo/RAM combo plus the GPU from Micro Center early next Saturday (since they might be closed on Easter Sunday). I'll order the rest online and give it time to get here. That'll also give me time to clean my office and prep the space for the new bundle of joy.  e: oh man I'm gonna get a bundle of cute li'l Micro Center branded USB flash drives when I go there, I've been desperately needing a bunch of blank flash drives for boots and rescues 
DizzyBum fucked around with this message at 13:36 on Mar 24, 2024 |
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Mar 24, 2024 12:59
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DoombatINC posted:Everything here looks solid in case you needed reassurance Good, 'cause I already started ordering parts yesterday! I figured if anything was out of place someone would have said something already, so thanks again for all the help everyone! I'll remember to do the traditional picture of a bunch of boxes before I put the thing together.
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Mar 25, 2024 16:58
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Thanks again for all the suggestions! I picked up everything at Micro Center today and spent the rest of the afternoon putting everything together, and it's so lightning fast compared to my previous build. I managed to get all the drivers working and Steam can see everything okay, so I think that's the major hurdles cleared. Now I just need to pull stuff off my old drive and I should be good to go.
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Mar 31, 2024 06:26
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Figured I'd update again since it's been a couple weeks with the new build. I was having some issues with the GPU randomly crashing and I was worried I'd have to RMA it. After a bunch of testing, I found the culprit: a bad/loose power cable. Managed to discover it when I had a flash of inspiration and I nudged the PC case, and then the GPU "crashed" again. So I swapped out the cable and make extra sure everything was properly seated. Haven't had any issues since. The GPU crashes were marked by the loss of display, both CPU fans suddenly going up to 100% speed, and the system itself remaining up (I could still hear audio). The system would log it as "xid 79 GPU has fallen off the bus" with unknown process pid/name. Scribbled notes for anyone that might be searching for my particular error in Linux: quote:Possibly solved! I noticed that when I slightly nudged my PC case, I got the GPU crash. Removed the NVIDIA-branded 12VHPWR cable adapter & the two 8-pin PCIe connectors that came with the PSU. Swapped out with the 12VHPWR cable that was included with the PSU. DizzyBum fucked around with this message at 18:21 on Apr 23, 2024 |
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Apr 23, 2024 18:18
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