PC Hardware Talk Megathread

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by photon

What would bug me if I was in the market for a laptop is these days the CPU/GPU doesn't seem to matter as much.. it all depends on the power budget. A 3070 laptop with a lower CPU can outperform a 3080 if it has more power.

I feel bad for consumers.

I’ve been window shopping for a laptop of late. As I’ll be between cities, I’d like it to game too.

Reading about the mobile editions of the 3070, overclocking them has had mixed results.

[CroFlames]

Just putting it out there if someone gets a 3080Ti Founders Edition, I will gladly buy it off you. Add a bit of a handling fee if you want.

I just am so busy these days I can't watch stuff closely enough.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Just putting it out there if someone gets a 3080Ti Founders Edition, I will gladly buy it off you. Add a bit of a handling fee if you want.

I just am so busy these days I can't watch stuff closely enough.

At this point the handling fee would likely be double the cost, I found one on ebay for the low price of $2600.00

3080Ti on ebay

Ships from Edmonton

[CroFlames]

I won’t use a scalper. Not yet anyway.

I just mean if one of my CP friends acquired one they would part with, I’d love to buy it. Face value plus some handling fees.

Long shot I know. But I’ve seen some of you fine folks sell PS5s and new Xbox’s at face value so I am hoping

[DownInFlames]

How hot do your m.2 drives get? My OS drive is a 970 Evo Plus and it’s around 65C most of the time and Samsung Magician says that too high. Is this something to worry about? It’s under a heat spreader but that doesn’t seem to make a difference.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by DownInFlames

How hot do your m.2 drives get? My OS drive is a 970 Evo Plus and it’s around 65C most of the time and Samsung Magician says that too high. Is this something to worry about? It’s under a heat spreader but that doesn’t seem to make a difference.

When I was plotting for Chia my WD SN750 and Rocket PCIe4 would routinely hit between ~65-67c, but for general usage and idle it's only around 45c-50c if I remember correctly.

Heat in M.2s is a weird one, and there's not insubstantial evidence that heat spreaders actually make the problem worse by focusing more heat on the controller module.

For what it's worth, all three of my M.2s are under spreaders so :shrug:

[DownInFlames]

It's weird. I never noticed my 960 EVO ever getting that hot and I just got a new Kingston drive that's at 38C and it's even partially covered by the GPU. The 970 doesn't get that much hotter under load either so it's probably nothing to worry about.

Oh yeah, I should mention I was in Memory Express and they had a bunch of Asus 6900XTs in stock. Only $2500.

[ComixZone]

I just added the LG 38GN950-B to my battlestation, and I'm definitely impressed.

[moncton golden flames]

I'm looking for a new laptop for work purposes and would like some guidance. I am not a computer 'nerd' despite using one everyday, so some help would be great!

I intend to use this laptop, docking to monitors at home, but still want the ability to be mobile for travelling. Ideally, I need a 17" screen for when I do travel to ensure I have a decent screen size to work with (tiling views). Also, I would be wiling to start with 16GB RAM but need the ability upgrade to 32 later.

I use a program called Revit (BIM) and it's minimum requirement specs are;

64-bit Microsoft® Windows® 10.
Intel® i-Series, Xeon®, or AMD® equivalent. 2.5 GHz or Higher.

Highest CPU GHz recommended.
Autodesk® Revit® software products will use multiple cores for many tasks.

Memory 32 GB RAM
Usually sufficient for a typical editing session for a single model up to approximately 700 MB on disk. This estimate is based on internal testing and customer reports. Individual models will vary in their use of computer resources and performance characteristics.
Models created in previous versions of Revit software products may require more available memory for the one-time upgrade process.

Video Display Resolutions
Minimum: 1920 x 1200 with true color
Maximum: Ultra-High (4k) Definition Monitor

Video Adapter DirectX 11 capable graphics card with Shader Model 5 and a minimum of 4GB of video memory

Disk Space 30 GB free disk space, 10,000+ RPM HardDrive or SSD

.NET Framework Version 4.8 or later.


Is it as simple as making sure any laptop has these specs? Are there other hidden things I should consider (screen type, keyboard etc?) when finding a laptop? Is a gaming laptop like Alienware worth the price? Is extra warranty worth it?

Anyway, hoping for a little help, thanks!

[TorqueDog]

Moncton: Dell Precision is probably your best bet given that you're using Revit. You can also get the HP ZBook Studio G7 with 32 GB of RAM and a Quadro card, but they're about a grand more.

Because you're using professional software, you'd benefit from the driver optimizations for Quadro cards over the gaming-oriented GeForce cards, and you should enjoy better stability in those applications.

[CASe333]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Moncton: Dell Precision is probably your best bet given that you're using Revit. You can also get the HP ZBook Studio G7 with 32 GB of RAM and a Quadro card, but they're about a grand more.

Because you're using professional software, you'd benefit from the driver optimizations for Quadro cards over the gaming-oriented GeForce cards, and you should enjoy better stability in those applications.

Is a quadro gpu card that important for Revit or AutoCad? I understand that the quadro cards are designed specifically for those programs but they are pretty expensive and I wonder if a 3060 or 2070 gpu based laptop would outperform a quadro t1000 workstation.

I just wonder if its a bit of a gimmick that these "professional" cards cost 2-3x as much when a quadro t1000 is relatively comparable to a 1660. What do these professional laptops or workstations bring for 3-4k vs a comparable mid range gaming laptop 1-2k bring?

For comparison purposes this seems like a pretty good option for $1550:

ryzen 7 5800h
rtx 3060
16gb
512ssd
https://www.dell.com/en-ca/shop/gami...htJjyg7f5cp6jT

[moncton golden flames]

Originally Posted by CASe333

What do these professional laptops or workstations bring for 3-4k vs a comparable mid range gaming laptop 1-2k bring?

I would love to know the answer to this question.

I have been looking at gaming laptops, assuming they will have the specs and graphics I need for my Revit projects.

[Galakanokis]

They way it was explained to me from Nvidia during a meeting last month is that the difference between geforce or the gaming line vs the Quadro or pro line is not so much performance but robustness. Better components better manufacturing techniques so the cards are speced to run 24/7/365 vs more occasional use on the gaming side. So little to do with performance and more to do with quality.

[TorqueDog]

Precisely, reliability and quality. The drivers typically go through a certification process as well.

[Snuffleupagus]

Although stupid expensive memoryexpress are starting to get stock of high end video cards.

[DownInFlames]

I’d be stupid to buy this, right? Right?

https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX00117573

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Yes. It's basically triple the MSRP of the founders 3080, and it will barely outperform that card. The thing is probably worth maybe $1200? So a $1000 premium? So yeah, that would be stupid.

... It also might be your only option if you need a new, high end card, so maybe you're forced to be stupid here.

[BlAcKNoVa]

Been tempted to buy one of those 6800XT's but I think they are all roughly 300 bucks over MSRP. I'll keep waiting lol

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I just think DLSS is too much of an advantage to consider buying a Radeon card for a desktop. In a laptop where you're not going nuts anyway, sure.

If FSR catches on and every game has it that narrows the gap to a significant degree but I kind of forsee a world where almost all games have one or the other but not both. And since FSR works for NVIDIA GPUs can use both, but Radeon GPUs can only use FSR, that again weighs in favour of the RTX line.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by DownInFlames

I’d be stupid to buy this, right? Right?

https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX00117573

That's really about the best you can do these days without camping outside Best Buy for their occasional drops at near MSRP or buying a Dell system just for the video card.