PC Hardware Talk Megathread

[steveo]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Asus TUF, the cheaper one not the OC so it's probably the one that was ordered the most.

64 days and counting!

btimbit, I read up that a lot of the lower end models aren't being shipped out as often as the more expensive versions of stuff. not sure if it's true though..

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

i5 9500 is on sale for $200 at memex right now, that's a great deal for a starter.

https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX81046

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Would this be enough cpu to do a world of warcraft build around? My 920 i7 isn't able to run shadow lands. I got 10 years out of it, time to upgrade.

Originally Posted by btimbit

Absolutely

So something like this?

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/CswTPV

This would be my first build so any observations/help/criticism is welcome. I'd like to stay around $800 give or take and have some headroom to upgrade it in the future.

Keep in mind I'm only playing warcraft at 1080p for now.

[btimbit]

Yeah something like that would work great for you

[sl888]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Asus TUF, the cheaper one not the OC so it's probably the one that was ordered the most.

64 days and counting!

Originally Posted by steveo

btimbit, I read up that a lot of the lower end models aren't being shipped out as often as the more expensive versions of stuff. not sure if it's true though..

This is very true. Memory Express has removed all ASUS non-OC models from their website.

[Cliche]

Power outage at Micron Taiwan fab may impact global DRAM supply

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20201204PD206.html

Expect to see an increase in memory prices next year, may also affect SSD prices.

Never mind that TSMC is increasing wages for all of their workers as well, with 5nm wafer costs higher than 7nm

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by Cliche

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20201204PD206.html

Expect to see an increase in memory prices next year, may also affect SSD prices.

Never mind that TSMC is increasing wages for all of their workers as well, with 5nm wafer costs higher than 7nm

1 hour or permanent damage?

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

So something like this?

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/CswTPV

This would be my first build so any observations/help/criticism is welcome. I'd like to stay around $800 give or take and have some headroom to upgrade it in the future.

Keep in mind I'm only playing warcraft at 1080p for now.

Are you 100% Intel or would you consider AMD? You could do a Ryzen 5 3600 (non-X) and a B550 board and you'd be able to move to a Ryzen 5000 series later on and get a huge uplift in performance.

[Ironhorse]

With all of this talk about fancy new video cards, is there a market for used 2-3 year old cards? I'm looking to give my 2 year old PC (decent spec) a bit a of a boost for when my son plays on it, but I don't have the big budget some of you guys seem to have. Can something decent and reliable be had in the $100-200 range that hasn't been crypto-mined to death? Where could I look? What do you guys do with your old cards?

[TorqueDog]

Search for GTX 1060 and GTX 1070 cards on Kijiji, they’re right in your price range. If going for the 1060, make sure it’s a 6GB card.

And at this age, it might not be the worst idea to unscrew the fan shroud and heat sink from the video card and clean off / re-apply new thermal paste to the GPU die. You can pick up a small tube of thermal paste like CoolerMaster MasterGel or Arctic Silver from MemX. Mine was dried out on my 1080ti when I picked it up and renewing the thermal paste dropped temperatures by about 10-15°C.

[Blaster86]

So, I've just started to look at doing a PC upgrade and.... y no gfx cards anywhere?!

[nfotiu]

I'm building a gaming pc for my son. I got frustrated looking for a decent video card and came across StockX having semi reasonable pricing, and they seemed to check out. Bought the 3060 for $575. I hope its legit!

I was trying to keep it under $1k, but I think that put me around 1300 for a case/ryzen 7 3700x/1 tb ssd/power supply/16 GB ram. I assume that should be good for the games kids play these days? I don't really keep up with this stuff except for helping build the kids PCs every once in a while.

How do people buy Windows licenses these days?s

[Muffins]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

I'm building a gaming pc for my son. I got frustrated looking for a decent video card and came across StockX having semi reasonable pricing, and they seemed to check out. Bought the 3060 for $575. I hope its legit!

I was trying to keep it under $1k, but I think that put me around 1300 for a case/ryzen 7 3700x/1 tb ssd/power supply/16 GB ram. I assume that should be good for the games kids play these days? I don't really keep up with this stuff except for helping build the kids PCs every once in a while.

How do people buy Windows licenses these days?s

Technically you don't have to, you just get that annoying "activate windows" message every now and then, plus you can't change your windows themes.

[PsYcNeT]

You can also buy legit OEM licenses online for like $50. Problem is if it gives you crap after installation you have to touch base with MS by phone. They usually just wave their wand and authorize it however.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Also if you manage to get your hands on Windows 7 or 8 and install that first, you can still upgrade to Windows 10 fully licensed. It's not advertised anywhere, but the free upgrade never went away

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Also if you manage to get your hands on Windows 7 or 8 and install that first, you can still upgrade to Windows 10 fully licensed. It's not advertised anywhere, but the free upgrade never went away

Also true. I am using upgraded Win 8 licenses for 2/4 of my PCs, though I somewhat recently bought a Windows 10 Enterprise Upgrade license for my primary PC.

[BloodFetish]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Also if you manage to get your hands on Windows 7 or 8 and install that first, you can still upgrade to Windows 10 fully licensed. It's not advertised anywhere, but the free upgrade never went away

You don't even need to install Win7 8 first, just give Win10 the Win7 or 8 license key and it works.

At least it did 5 months ago when I did it.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by BloodFetish

You don't even need to install Win7 8 first, just give Win10 the Win7 or 8 license key and it works.

At least it did 5 months ago when I did it.

Well you don't even need a license key if you install Windows 7 or 8, upgrading either of those even if they're in a trial status will give you full Win 10

[Sluggo]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

Bought the 3060 for $575. I hope its legit!

3060's don't exist yet, I hope you or the seller abbreviated the 3060ti which is available and just a 3070 with some cores disabled.

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Search for GTX 1060 and GTX 1070 cards on Kijiji, they’re right in your price range. If going for the 1060, make sure it’s a 6GB card.

I was really hoping to stay away from Kijiji. Too many dodgy sellers on there, and no recourse if your card is a dud or was crypto-mined into early retirement.

[btimbit]