PC Tech Thread

I recently discovered that it's really easy to make a disk image of an existing machine (I was using Disk Genius) that can then run in a virtual machine. No more having to keep random old machines running in case I need something from them.

Ah ta. Had mine delivered a couple of weeks ago.
Did order the CPU and Motherboard from them last night though and it turned up this morning.
Was planning on building it this afternoon then remembered I needed the adapter for the Noctua fan before I could fit it to the motherboard.
So that's somewhere between Germany and here with nothing useful on the tracking... ah well

I'll have an Dell/Alienware Aurora with an 8700k in it that needs selling sooner or later. And potentially a little 8th gen Intel NUC, but I keep thinking I should be able to find a decent use for it as it's such a slick little bit of kit.

No more having to keep a separate windows / linux / some other OS machine.

Just spin up a VM and do whatever on there.

Have multiple user / work / school accounts all open at the same time.

I love overpowered desktops.

In a couple of weeks I should be proud recipient of a Scan 3XS build with following spec:
Fractal Design Meshify 2 case (grey/light tint)
Asus ROG STRIX z690-A mobo
i7 12700k processor
noctua nh-d15 cooler
32gb ddr pc-3000 ram
1tb pci4.0 m.2 samsung 980pro drive
EVGA 3060ti ftw3 ultra gfx

This is roughly what I'm thinking of buying for the guy doing his cooking for mum (see the end of my "kitchen's kitchen" thread).

Please let us know how it performs... i.e. just how good is the gaming, etc.

Do you have a link to it?

it's based off the intel 3070 spec 3xs "pro-gamer" build. with a lot of tweaks.

https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/shared/e84cf5b1-813c-43fe-9fec-ab4c43b5096e?utm_source=3xsconfigshare&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=copypaste

price has jumped up a little as i think the 3060ti was a black friday deal so about 120 cheaper when i ordered I also jumped up to the 3070ti now it's in stock (losing my 3060ti discount... doh)

I'm thinking of building a sim racing rig next year.

I know @Brun has a nice setup.

Was originally going to just use it for PS / Xbox but quickly realised I don't want them out of my main living room and the rig will have to be squirrelled away in another room. Might as well build a PC.

Things I need to think about:

1. Wheel / pedal set - thinking the new Fanatec CSL DD
   
2. Rig - @Brun did you build your own aluminium frame? Any advice?
   
3. PC - if I'm doing iRacing, Asseto Corsa etc and running to a 4k OLED, what's the min spec I can get away with? 3070?
   

Thanks for that.

I had set a budget of £1,300 to buy a gaming capable computer that will last at least 5 years for a 12-yr old boy to use it all the way through to when he goes to Uni.

But frankly that budget was reasonable 4 months ago, but looks silly now. It will only buy the absolute budget machine and doing so won't allow it to age well.

He's gone from dreaming of building a PC, to thinking of pre-configured gaming machines, to "maybe Dell or HP have something"... and those look more like office machines and I know he'll be bitten by lack of PCIE slots, lack of RAM slots, and USB-C that isn't Thunderbolt.

So I'm going to see if I can help him bump the budget back up.

Speaking of which, does anyone have a spare monitor? For him to game on... a 24" or 27" that works fine? Spare as in... freecycle?

If I can eradicate some of the things he has to buy then more of the budget can go to the CPU and GPU which dictate most of the PC price at the moment.

so glad you asked me this... i noticed the 3000 speed ram in my build is now 3600 as it's on offer (as noted by spotter) so i asked how much to change to faster ram on my build...

total cost... £1 refund.

£1 refund

Winning at life

Yep. It's all here... https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/new-80-20-rig-design.164984/

Benefit of mine over the off-the-shelf options are that it collapses pretty small. Other than that something from sim-lab or similar would be a good starting point. Any aluminium profile rig should be easily customisable/extendable.

The new Fanatec stuff seems pretty highly regarded, don't think you can go wrong there.

A 3070 might be up against it at 4k/60. Original Assetto Corsa should be fine (it is seven years old) but more recent or future titles could struggle.

Thanks - remember that looking smart at the time but looking at it again, it's ace. Really great build. Any idea of the rough cost, inc seat?

Will re-think monitor situation. I have a currently unused CRG9 sitting around so could just re-purpose that. 5120 x 1440 120hz possible or still needing a 3080 / 90?

£450 without the seat, and pre-brexit. Think I mentioned in the RD thread that it's rather over-engineered but that was a difficult thing to estimate when designing it.

4k @60hz = 500m pixels/sec
5120x1440 @120hz = 900m pixels/sec

Thanks.

I guess I could have done the maths myself on that but at least it's only 450m pixels at 60Hz...

My dell inspiron 7051 warranty 'ran out' on 31st august (1 year old). There is no way I can see to contact dell? The Intel UHD on the motherboard is fucked, keeps resetting and the screen shitting itself.

Not a good look for dell, absolutely zero way to contact them unless I cough up cash.

Have you checked your home and contents?

I'd have guessed:

Basic Hardware Support and Expired Warranty Services
Call: +44 (0)800-028-2660
+353 15073904 (Toll)
8 a.m.– 6 p.m. Monday to Friday

from here
https://www.dell.com/support/incidents-online/en-uk/ContactUs/Dynamic?spestate

Thanks, I missed that as its phone only. I wanted to email. Will try. I did find a complaints email ill send to also.

No not yet, though I will if it gets that far.

Might be worth looking into the Consumer rights act, as warranties aren't the be all and end all.
You should expect a laptop to last more than 15 months, and as such are covered by the CRA (formerly Sale of Goods act)

Yeah which is partly my point, they call it warranty and shut me out of technical support contact. Unless I want to call them or pay money upfront for technical assistance.

It's soured my dell experiance for sure and I'll question if I'll buy another.

May be that you'll need to go the complaints route, mentioning the CRA.

Mentioning that you're not raising it as an expired warranty issue, but that you'd reasonably expect the machine to not fail so soon through normal use etc.

This stuff
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange/
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/how-to-complain/

Did you buy it with a credit card? That might be a route if Dell are unhelpful and you've shown that you've given them an opportunity to do the right thing.

Yeah I did a chat and emailed got an their complaints department.

Any thoughts on this build? Anything I'm missing?

Looking like it'll come in at just under £3k including build / delivery / warranty with Scan. I could build myself but could I build it cheaper?

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could build myself but could I build it cheaper

I feel the question is better 'could I be bothered?' warranty is pretty tempting to me these days are trouble shooting a build earlier this year.

Do you just want to get on and do stuff or do you enjoy /wish to build?

Moar disk?

Possibly because of old habits (and multiple OS partitions) I have one fast drive for the OS, and on big drive for storage.

Additional usb / thunderbolt etc. ports on a separate card?

I don;t see much point in self-build these days - as CYOA says, warranty. Plus effort.