Your Rig

[TheMightyEthan]

Good, because I looked into getting more, and to get another 16 GB that matches what I currently have (on a previous build I got screwed by mismatched RAM, so now I'm paranoid about not getting the exact same sticks) would cost $124. The 16 I have now was $80 when I bought it 2.5 years ago...

[Mal]

I'll give 16 GB about 5 years (which is a long ass time) before developers goes crazy and bloat up their RAM needs to 32 GB. Hell, it might even happen sooner but hey...

[TheMightyEthan]

I give it until the next generation of consoles.

[CorgiShinobi]

I'm looking into PC upgrades now. I've got the CPU in mind and a few comparisons for Mobo and CPU cooler.

 

What I can't decide on is the case. My graphics card just barely made it in, so I've got to consider a new case. What brand or particular case would you guys recommend?

[Mal]

All I can say is that airflow is king. I won't consider a case if it has subpar airflow. Hell, it's why I'm keeping my current case for a while longer. 

[MetalCaveman]

Corsair has some pretty good options, the 680X looks cool and has decent airflow. If size isn't an issue and you want AIRFLOW then the HAF-X from cooler master is pretty neat.  

[Mal]

Do they even make modern HAF-Xs with say USB 3.0 and stuff like that? I thought it would be all old new stock. 

[MetalCaveman]

Yup, mine has the old-style where you had to run the cable to the back of the motherboard, but since then they're released an update that has the internal USB connector.  

[CorgiShinobi]

I think one of the deciding factors is if I still want a 5.25 bay for my CD/DVD drive. On one hand, without it I have more room and better airflow. On the other, I lose the ability to use older disc material or help out family who still use CDs.

 

To think the hardest part for me is the case. I was momentarily struggling between upgrading to the Intel i5-9600K or swapping to AMD's Ryzen 2700. I'm sticking with Intel as you get more out of it even at 6 cores. If I was a streamer and video editor I would have gone for the Ryzen 2700. Pretty much if I'm not working with my PC, I'm solely playing a game on it and if I need to do anything else, I have my smartphone on me.

[TheMightyEthan]

I abandoned my DVD drive when I upgraded my motherboard and the new one didn't have an IDE slot, which meant I would have had to buy a new DVD drive and fuck that. It's been 3 years and I haven't missed it yet.

[Mal]

Just get an external DVD drive if you really need one.

[MetalCaveman]

I do have a DVD drive on my PC, but I've come to realise I could've just gone with an external one as the only thing I use it for is to rip movies/albums.  

[CorgiShinobi]

So I guess I'm a bit of a liar because I've change my mind on... everything. I did a lot more research, compared pricing, and even looked at my local stores to see their stock.

 

While the Intel i5-9600K is technically more powerful, I'm liking that the Ryzen 2700X is right up there with it at 8 cores 16 threads. The CPU Usage is usually much lower, so even if you're getting 10-20 more frames with the i5-9600K, it might be because CPU Usage is at 80% instead of 50%. Also, we're calling about the 100-200 framerate range and my goal is to get a smooth 60 fps (though 120 might be nice). The stock cooler is actually useful and will allow you to safely OC to a moderate level.

 

Part of this change of heart is that I discovered I can configure my case to make more room for my GPU. It might not be as easy as a newer case, but I rather save $50-80 by reusing my current case. The other part is that my local Best Buy carries the Ryzen 2700X and MSI B450 Tomahawk motherboard. While Newegg might not apply sales tax, it would be nice to drive 5 miles and return a potentially faulty board versus dealing with shipping. The motherboard fits my needs without being overkill, though the MSI X470 Gaming Plus is a great board. I just don't ever see myself using SLI on my budget.

[Mal]

SLI? Crossfire? I bought into the theory years ago but not anymore. Nobody in PC gaming should be doing SLI or any duel card configuration. Practically no one supports it in any meaningful fashion, especially now.

[TheMightyEthan]

Yeah, my understanding is that SLI is finicky at best, and rarely worth it, because of a lack of support.

[Eleven]

What kind of motherboard do you have? Do you want a small case?

 

I was planning on upgrading, but after looking at the cost a 2nd time (costs about $600 to switch my current rig to a Ryzen 2600x from an i5-6500), it wasn't really worth it right now. I can wait.

 

I did find a cheaper case that's pretty good though. The Phantex P350x. Tempered glass side panel, captive thumb screws, RGB support, radiator support (in front i think) if you watercool, and magnetic dust filters.

I'm only linking this below because I like the picture, but check out a review on YouTube!

https://www.windowscentral.com/phanteks-p350x-pc-case-review

 

Another one that looks good I think is the NZXT H500. But I'm not sure how well it performs with air cooling (is it even supported? I've only seen these water cooled). But I really like the look of it.

 

Even if you don't like those, I would suggest look for one with the same features. I like my small case right now, but I hate opening it (and cables are a mess!).

[CorgiShinobi]

Well, I've finished upgrading and it nearly gave me a heart attack.

 

So the first "Oh Please No" moment of the night was when the Ryzen 2700X processor popped out of the plastic packing and fell on one of my sticks of RAM. Not even a full foot difference, but it was metal-to-metal and I could see a slight bending on the outside pins of one side. I was tempted to try pushing them in place, but as soon as I laid my finger tip on the pins I knew that would only bring more trouble. They were only slightly bent, so with a little push in the socket, it corrected them (or at least enough for the processor to fit).

 

Then I discovered my old RAM was in fact DDR3 and the new board needed DDR4. Ran to the store, dragged an employee back to the PC components, and raced back home where my PC was still on the operating table. Got Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB 3000MHz. Definitely not bad and the store (Best Buy) had them for the same price as Amazon and Newegg. Low profile so you won't have a fancy metal sheath nearly touching your air cooler.

 

The 2700X's heatsink is fantastic and a pain in the ass to get on. Had to take it off and flip it around because the clamp is biased for a certain fit (or at least easier for the user). Thermal paste was already spread, but it still stayed on the processor so I'm not worried about any damage.

 

Accidentally installed Windows on the wrong drive, so I had two instances of it. I already had everything I needed backed up, so I said screw it and formatted my drives and did a real fresh install. However, the Windows profile/boot was still on D drive, so I had to use msconfig to delete it. After downloading I don't know how many drivers and dealing with the Windows 10 experience, my PC is at a basic setup right now. The RAM isn't at it's fast speed, but I updated the BIOS and it's using all 16GB instead of 8GB now.

 

Now I won't have to do this again for another 6-7 years!

[CorgiShinobi]

Alright, final build for my sister and brother-in-law.

 

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor
Motherboard: MSI - B450M BAZOOKA V2 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 760 2 GB TWIN FROZR Video Card
Case: Cooler Master - MasterBox Q300 MicroATX Mini Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply 
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus - PCE-AC55BT B1 PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter
Case Fan: Cooler Master - MasterFan Pro 140 Static Pressure RGB 3 in 1 with RGB LED Controller

 

So I upped the processor since I'll be giving them my old GPU. If he ever fancies playing a gamer, he's set. Not to mention the processor will future proof them for a good while. I was tempted to give them 8 GB of RAM, but that's become the standard and I'd rather give them enough breathing room for their applications (and maybe games). Saved money going with a SSD rather than a NVMe because while the board supports it, nothing justifies spending the money on it for them. The power supply is overkill, but it's also on sale and Corsair is top notch. The wireless adapter is the same one I use for my desktop to give it Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and it's been good over the last couple years. Lastly, those case fans are dirt cheap on Amazon from a third party seller. I didn't know the difference between Air Flow and Static Pressure at first, but given that they'll be in a Micro ATX case, I don't think there will be much difference in performance. It's not a decked out gaming rig that needs air flow at specific areas or components.

[deanb]

 

Peak PC Building action.

[TheMightyEthan]

I love the confusion about which way to put the CPU in. Very relatable.

[MetalCaveman]

Current System

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900x

Motherboard: ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Hero

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB SL 64GB (4x16GB)

Storage: Samsung 980 Pro nvme 500GB, Crucial 2TB SSD, Seagate 4TB HDD (x2)

GPU: ASUS ROG Strix 3090

Case: Corsair 5000D Airflow with Noctua NF-S12 Fans

PSU: BeQuiet! Straight Power 11 1000W Platinum

 

 

Should be good for the next decade or so.

 

CPU and GPU where just what I could get my hands on, as everything else sort of just vanished from existence as soon as it was available, 2020/2021 not a good year to upgrade or buy anything PC related.

 

The motherboard was an interesting case, lower tiers from brands like ASUS, Gygabite, MSI and others were almost twice the price, because they were imports.

 

Similarly, the RAM, was cheaper than 32GB of other brands, and even cheaper than some 16GB options, yay for import fees!

 

Thinking about setting up a NAS, or using my old PC as a server of sorts, but in the meantime, I wanted as much storage as I could fit in this case, which is, sadly, not that much, with only two HDD bays available.

 

Case does look pretty neat though, and I like how the white/grey combo looks, plus, it seems to have decent airflow and easy to clean filters.

 

Was looking at the recommended 750-850W PSUs, but it seems like a fair amount of them have problems with the 3090 series, apparently it has some rather aggressive spikes that can trigger overcurrent protection on those units, causing the system to shut down, since I couldn't find a good list of which brands/models work fine, and some of the more recommended models were hilariously expensive (30,000 pesos for a 750W psu!!) I went with a higher wattage, higher rating and cheaper priced unit (5,600 pesos for this one).

 

Originally, I planned for a more mid-range build, but things worked out in such a way that I had a bit more money to spend on it, and since I use my PC for work, games, media, and basically everything else I need/want to do, it ended up like this.

 

One good thing came out from these stock shortages though, I learned there are now way more PC component stores than I remember, some of them have ridiculous prices like PCEL, TodoCheap, but others have better prices, better stock and relatively fast shipping, I was glad to see how well DDTech packaged my stuff, with things like the GPU being shipped inside a box, inside a box, inside a box, all with soft foam and bubble wrap covering them. Specially important was how the outer box was just cardboard, with no branding on it or anything, that was neat IMO.

 

Still, probably the worst possible time to try and upgrade or build anything, hunting for stock and trying to still get a fair price on things was not fun, and it seems like it'll get worse before it gets better. Specially in countries were import fees and other related taxes apply.

 

[Mister Jack]

I'm a friggin dumbass. I got my new 165hz monitor out of the box and hooked it up with the HDMI cable and tried playing some Killing Floor 2 with it. My first impression was "Whoa! This is so smooth!"

 

Oh but wait. The variable framerate isn't turned on in the game settings. Okay so I turned it on. "Whoa! This is so smooth!"

 

Oh but wait, I looked at the monitor manual and it says you need to use the DisplayPort cable to get the full refresh rate. Oops. So I unhook the HDMI and hook up the DisplayPort cable and try the game again. "Whoa! This is so smooth!"

 

Oh but wait. The monitor's hardware menu says it's only putting out 60hz. I forgot to change my windows display settings to allow for higher refresh rates. So I changed the control panel options to raise it to 165hz and checked the monitor's on-screen menu. Now it says 165hz. 

 

Is it okay to think it's smooth now?

[MetalCaveman]

First thing I did after reading this was check my monitor and system settings... All at 144hz.

[Mister Jack]

I'VE NEVER HAD A DISPLAY WITH A HIGHER REFRESH RATE BEFORE I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE PLEASE UNDERSTAND 

[TheMightyEthan]

I've got my eye on a 120Hz VRR TV, but I probably won't bite until Sony enables VRR support on PS5, because so few games support 120 on console and even fewer actually manage to lock to that rate.