PC Tech Thread

chip shortage will get worse now.

Because of the Ukraine sitch?

A lot of rare materials come from Russia.

.

Also got the go ahead for my similar machine!

Can anyone make sense of which of these motherboards I should opt for?

Edit: pairing with a Ryzen 9 5950/RTX 3080 Ti/4TB M2 and 64Gb DDR4 RAM

https://www.asus.com/product-compare?ProductID=11010,R_10677&LevelId=Motherboards-Components-Motherboards

looking for a new gpu, I have a 3440x1440 screen

ideally looking for something around the 400 mark

does the RTX 2060 12gb seem right?

I would have thought a much lesser card would drive that monitor without too much trouble. I think I read somewhere that 2000 rtx cards don't represent great value at today's prices.

ended up going for a 3060ti - bit pricier than the 2060 but hopefully will last me longer

For gaming or just general stuff?

Gaming

PC ordered.

At least... everything except the GPU which I'll carry over from my existing machine to start with.

nice!

Wildly better choice.

Very good to know

Added a GPU to the order
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Graphics-Cards/TUF-Gaming/TUF-RTX3080TI-O12G-GAMING/ and it should be able to cope with Dota 2 on a 1440p monitor 🤣

Still deciding whether I want to push the RAM to 128GB now, the only reason to do it will be that it's easier to do now as the CPU cooler is going to cover the RAM and make it a pain to upgrade later. The big reason not to do it is that I have 64GB spare I can use already, although it's 4x16GB rather than 2x32GB.

Any thought process begins specing that cooler? Seems like PC specialist have that one in stock so I may go for the same. 125 TDP vs the 110 required for the processor so should be enough. Going to spec 2 extra 120mm case fans also.

I like Noctua, their fans are high quality, a lot quieter than others.

On the heat pipe spreader... that's fairly standard, nothing unique.

But the fans they've fitted are larger than usual so push more air at a lower fan speed, meaning equivalent cooling can be got for quieter. I'd usually hesitate at their beige / brown aesthetic, but the black is nice.

I like air cooling too, as when idle the fans can spin down whereas with water cooling the pump still has to run, the fans will still spin (they can't react as fast when needed and are generally run at a higher base speed constantly).

Noctua also got something else right with that cooler... 1 fan in the middle, and the side fan that would be over the RAM can either be removed or run at a higher height to avoid spacing issues.

Basically... looks good, should be quieter due to being larger. The difference in pricing for air coolers means it's a no brainer to jump for that one.

Oh I changed something in my spec. Dropped the PSU to 750w. Fractionally more efficient, runs quieter, and for what I've gone for I won't need the extra overhead for a very long while if at all.

You sure that's a good idea? I'm forever telling people they don't need as much PSU as they think, but 750W for a 5950X and 3080Ti sounds pretty close to the minimum.

It might be ok, but I wouldn't be comfortable risking it. Doesn't seem worth it for the very minor benefits.

Reasonably sure: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/buro9/saved/jpq3wP (with the current spec of actual components I have selected)

Component Estimated Wattage
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor 13W - 105W
Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler 5W - 10W
Asus ProArt X570-CREATOR WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard 17W - 70W
Crucial Ballistix 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory 29W
Crucial Ballistix 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory 29W
Seagate FireCuda 530 4 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive 2W - 10W
Asus GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 12 GB TUF GAMING OC Video Card 87W - 350W
Fractal Design Prisma AL 103.85 CFM 140 mm Fan 1W - 5W
Total: 608W

🤦‍♂️ I think I was reading my own spec instead of yours. Pretty set I want air cooling now too (noise not a massive concern as it'll be in a noisy office anyway but reliability a concern with water cooling). I might see if they'll ship it without a cooler or with a stock one and we swap it out ourselves.

Agree that the numbers suggest it'll be fine. I'd just be more comfortable with a little headroom.

Only ordered things yesterday, but already received the CPU, the cooler, case, and motherboard.

This is very different to my last component build about 18 years ago where it took 2-3 months just for everything to slowly arrive from lots of different places.

Anyone seen a decent deals on PC laptops recently? Been using Mac's for ages, but want to switch to windows for various reasons. Use for photo editing, occasional video editing maybe a bit of CIV6 every now and again.

I'd quite like it to be DP and potentially SD card reader. Ideally under £500 for now. I'd consider a PC, but the portability is quite important.

Thoughts?

I'd probably look at the Dell Outlet store and see what they have. Doubt you'd get DP though, most stuff has HDMI nowadays (or just USB C).

Any recommendations for a portable monitor? HDMI, not USB. Preferably powered by either USB or with a battery. A reasonable resolution but doesn't have to be HD. Not really fussed about accurate colour or sharp picture.

Really just want it to occasionally to plug into my server when I want to change BIOS settings or need to troubleshoot something so the cheaper the better.