PC Hardware Talk Megathread - Page 152 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Mazrim · 10-18-2023, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by btimbit

edit: Only other thought on your build, I just upgraded my mobo, cpu and ram last month and found the ol' trusty 212 evo ran really hot. I'm sure it'd be fine on a 12600, but if it'll fit I recommend the Thermalright Peerless Assassin to everyone after seeing all the yootoobers test and praise it. Was about $20 cheaper too. Keeps my 13700k colder than my watercooled 9700k, which is nuts since 13th gen runs super hot

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BN628JRY?...roduct_details

Wow, this thing is massive. I'll have to see if it fits but thanks for the heads up!

Muffins · 10-18-2023, 03:30 PM

Welp, my plan to upgrade to a new PC in a year might have to go out the window.

With Starfield barely getting by and the word that Cities: Skylines 2 is gonna be a beast to run, It's looking like this year.

Question is, do I wait to see if there are any good black Friday/cyber Monday deals, or snap up some of the current deals?

MemEx has a pretty good bundle going with the 7800X3D which is the processor I was looking at anyway.

DownInFlames · 10-18-2023, 04:56 PM

Cities: Skylines 2 is going to be a beast because they're releasing it before it's optimized. I've got too many games to play so I'll be skipping it until it's actually finished.

Black Friday deals seem lamer these days. 7800X3D is a great choice and it's up to you whether you want to take a chance on it getting cheaper.

btimbit · 10-19-2023, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Wow, this thing is massive. I'll have to see if it fits but thanks for the heads up!

lol yeah, she's definitely a big girl. Does a great job for the $ though, I love this thing

Ironhorse · 10-19-2023, 02:32 PM

Can anyone recommend a place for laptop repair? My son's 4 year old MSI gaming laptop has a hinge that is starting to come apart. Looks like the repair involves taking the screen apart?

Hack&Lube · 10-19-2023, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

Can anyone recommend a place for laptop repair? My son's 4 year old MSI gaming laptop has a hinge that is starting to come apart. Looks like the repair involves taking the screen apart?

What model MSI laptop is it? You might be hard pressed to find spare parts but I might have something.

Aegypticus · 10-19-2023, 03:39 PM

Does anyone have any experience with mini PCs? I'm looking to give my parents an (extremely overdue) upgrade for Christmas. Their current PC is one I assembled myself and is probably a little over 10 years old now. Even though their use is limited pretty much to Office (Outlook, Excel, Word) and some light browsing, it's starting to feel a bit sluggish even for them.

Mini PCs seem to be just about right for them. They don't really want to see the computer, so the smaller the better, but they also don't really want a laptop because they'd be looking at a pretty sizeable unit to get a screen large enough for them to view comfortably, and when they travel they are completely comfortable with their iPads.

The problem I'm having is with finding something suitable within the mini PC space. The units from the likes of Dell, HP, and Lenovo that I've briefly looked at seem really expensive and also all look like miniature workstations from 2008

On the other hand, units from the likes of Minisforum or Beelink seem priced almost too good to be true by comparison, and generally look a lot nicer. But their websites are a confusing mess, and Reddit seems to be either absolute praise for how amazing these computers are, or dire warnings of QC nightmares and DOA units.

photon · 10-19-2023, 04:40 PM

What about assembling one yourself, or getting MemEx to assemble one? There's some really nice small cases out there. I love the Fractal Design Terra Mini ITX though it's pretty expensive. But a Cooler Master NR200 is pretty nice.

Or the InWin B1 if you don't need a GPU and want something that looks kinda weird.

Probably bigger than the ones you were talking about but you'd have control over the components.

Ironhorse · 10-19-2023, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

What model MSI laptop is it? You might be hard pressed to find spare parts but I might have something.

I think it is a Raider GE73? From what I've gathered on Youtube, the fix involves taking the screen off the base, and then prying the screen open to get at the broken hinge. The hinge then gets JB Welded it seems? Taking screens apart is above my comfort level, and I'd rather have someone with much more expertise take a crack at it.

rubecube · 10-20-2023, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubecube

That said, I have started encountering some issues, and I can see why the price is what it is. They're fairly minor issues, but still annoying. For example, the card seems to struggle with spatial audio. Quite a few drops and pops while gaming.

I will say that Intel support has been very good. They're very attentive to their support forums and usually try to cook up a patch when something isn't working properly, but I do feel a bit like I've paid to be a beta-tester at times.

So this issue has definitely gotten better with the last couple of patches. The drops are less noticeable, but still there. If you don't have sound system that uses Atmos, it's a non-issue. Plugging the PC directly into my TV or disabling spatial sound when it's connected to my soundbar totally resolves the issue.

That said, neither Nvidia nor AMD have these issues with Atmos, so Intel needs to get their #### together.

White Out 403 · 10-22-2023, 09:02 PM

ok i know this is going to be an annoying question, but, i need to put together a build with memory express, or, maybe go prebuilt somewhere.

i have no clue what im doing, i haven't built a computer since 2016. amd vs intel? whats a good value CPU right now?

as far as my overall macro view of what i want/need, im a value buyer. im not loyal to any brand, just best bang for my buck with a mid to mid-high end system. the guy at mem ex suggested:

KC3000 PCIe 4x4 NVMe M.2 SSD Solid State Drive, 1TB
RyzenTM 5 5600G Processor
Radeon RX 6750 XT MECH 2X 12G V1 PCI-E w/ HDMI, Triple DP
PRIME B550M-A WIFI II mATX Motherboard w/ DDR4-3200, 7.1 Audio,

edit: Maybe one place im a snob is asus mobos, but, im not married to that ide
Edit 2 I'm also now looking at the Intel Core i5-13600KF Tom's has it ranked really highly and it seems to be a little bit cheaper than the AMD but also perform the same or better

btimbit · 10-23-2023, 07:55 AM

The nice thing these days is that both AMD and Intel are good options. If you're looking to buy pretty much right away though AMD stuff is on sale at the moment

White Out 403 · 10-23-2023, 08:02 AM

Well that settles it then because I am looking to build this week

White Out 403 · 10-23-2023, 09:20 AM

So my old computer is about 7 years old and I have a new SSD card compared to the actual build it's only about 4 years old. I have a buyer for $500 so I'll be spending about $1,100 on a new computer. Memory Express will ship it to Nova Scotia for me. I feel like 7 years is a decent amount of time to have gotten out of my current computer. I'm so indecisive I'm having a tough time deciding to build or not

DownInFlames · 10-23-2023, 02:29 PM

I’m sure the guy at Memory Express told you but that Intel motherboard is the deal of the day so you better decide quick.

Sluggo · 10-23-2023, 03:11 PM

Been running that ASUS board with a 5600x for 2 years now no issues and with a AMD 6750XT for the last year no issues gaming at 1440p

White Out 403 · 10-23-2023, 06:28 PM

went to memex and I think I'm going to go with a prebuilt. it seems like a crazy good value, albeit you lose some customizability.

https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX00127099

This one looks like the one I'm ready to pull the trigger on

https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX00125807

this one is more but seems to have a fancier CPU

Thoughts on doing a custom build vs a memex pre built?

DownInFlames · 10-24-2023, 08:53 AM

MemEx prebuilts are supposed to be fine if you’re not super concerned about every component or future upgrades.

The 4060ti is worth paying extra for but it’s up to you if it’s worth $500 for it along with the other marginal upgrades and keyboard/mouse.

Building your own gives you the ability to get a PC that meets your needs without compromises, so that’s why I usually recommend it. A lot of people are satisfied with a gaming console and the same can be said for a prebuilt. It all depends on the type of person you are.

White Out 403 · 10-24-2023, 09:21 AM

Ya tbh after looking at the parts on the 1300 dollar machine I didn't love it. I'm likely looking at spending a few hundred more and picking a better case, Samsung ssd and better memory.

That said there is a guy in Cape Breton selling a pretty great machine that was built in March for a very good price I'm just reluctant to buy used computer. Especially from a stranger

Hack&Lube · 10-24-2023, 11:53 AM

In my experience, the case, SSD, and memory are areas not to spend on - you can save money here as you get more performance benefit by putting the extra dollars into CPU and GPU (most important) if gaming is your objective.

Why Memory Express if you are in Nova Scotia? No shops out east? I know MemEx is vastly expanding across Canada though and your closest ones are in Ontario.