Hey all! Looking to upgrade to a new build, but I am not familiar with newer hardware. Would appreciate any advice! I am shopping from Canada.

Requirements

I have 2 main uses for my PC:

Software development

• compiling extremely large codebases (most of an OS daily)
• running multiple VMs
• often having several IDEs open at once
• several Firefox windows with hundreds/thousands of tabs open (most discarded, but yeah I know; I have a problem 😂).

Gaming

I also have my PC hooked up to a 4K TV via a long HDMI cable, in off hours I use it as an HTPC and I play games on it. Some of the more demanding examples of games I play are: Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, God of War, Assassin's Creed Odyssey/Shadows, emulating console games including Switch, etc.

I've been playing things like Witcher 3 at medium to low settings @ 1080p; I don't need to play at 4K, but I would like to be able to run these sorts of games at at least 1080p with high/ultra settings, without dipping below 60 FPS (barring game engine issues, of course).

My thoughts

• Large, fast NVMe for the system drive (I was thinking 4TB).
• Powerful CPU
• 128GB RAM
• Case: USB-C port(s) on the front would be nice if possible. I've been using a Phanteks Enthoo Pro (ES614P_BK), and been quite happy with it. I like the look of it, and it has a lot of room for airflow and cable management. I only thought I would buy a new case so my current setup can be given as a hand-me-down.

Budget

I see parts have gotten more expensive, I am guessing probably somewhere around $2000-3000 CAD, but I am not up to date on hardware info enough to know exactly what I need. I could go to 3k, but I also don't want to spend just for the sake of it. The most important thing is that this machine will be able to handle my workload without stumbling, and that it will be able to last me a few years before I need to upgrade again.

Misc

• I only need a case and the components, I will be reusing peripherals.
• AMD for CPU and GPU (GPU drivers are better for Linux).
• In general I would prefer brands that have a good reputation for quality, reliability, warranty/RMA, and support.

Previous build

• AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
• MSI PRO B550-A PRO
• 32GB RAM (DDR4 3600, 2x16GB, G.Skill Ripjaws V)
• MSI AMD Radeon RX 580 ARMOR OC 8GB PCI-E w/ Dual HDMI, Dual DP, DVI
• Kingston 1TB A2000 M.2 2280 NVMe
• Phanteks Enthoo Pro (ES614P_BK)

Attempted parts list

I tried to put together a parts list, but as I say I am not up to date on hardware and I don't have the time & energy to research everything:

PCPartPicker Part List

(I like Memory Express and being able to go in store if needs be, but items don't have to be from there.)

Hey guys, please review my upgrade considerations.

Goal: good bang for the buck upgrade. No need for high end. Just a cheap but good step forward. Does my choice make sense or do you think this little step is not worth it? I am a little flexible on the budget. Is there something more valuable in that range?

Duties:

• mostly workstation / office / many browser tabs / hobby programming (small projects) / a couple apps incl. electron apps running at the same time
• little gaming (grand strategy). So far the GPU and RAM are ...fine, i guess. I will upgrade them some time in the future, to play KCD2
• no video editing, almost no 3d modeling, little virtualization, no Image processing

Current system:

• i5-7600K CPU
• MS-7A71 mainboard
• 16 GiB of RAM (slow 2133 MT/s)
• Radeon RX 480 Graphics

Low cost upgrade idea:

• AMD Ryzen 5 5600 6x 3.50GHz So.AM4 90€
• • there is a 5600X for 100€ but just 1% faster in benchmarks
• Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2 AMD B550 So.AM4 Dual Channel DDR4 ATX Retail € 106
• • There are B550s for 10€ cheaper but this one supports my old DDR4-2133 RAMs and up to DDR4-3200

196€ for a good upgrade doesn't sound too bad. I probably need a new cooler too because of the new socket. I could get faster RAMs but figured that i would probably not feel the difference. These give me upgrade options in the future but don't cost much right now, since i hope to keep all other parts (PSU, midi tower, etc.). Is it correct, that i don't need a new PSU since the power consumption does not increase (for now)? And does the old PSU cable fit the new mainboard?

What else do i need to consider?

Thank you :-)

Hi there, I'm starting to look into what PC I could get to (slowly?) migrate over from primarily console-based gaming. I would be buying from Canada fwiw.

Requirements

• 1440p would be the sweet spot most of the time. I have a 240Hz VRR 1440p screen which I would be playing on 80% of the time. I could go up to 4K at times (TV gaming).
• A compact PC would be ideal, I have little space on my desk or behind my TV.
• Primarily using Linux for gaming, but I might periodically use Windows for Game pass stuff.
• It would likely be used as a HTTPC every once in a while.

Budget

I could go up to $2,000 CAD, but wouldn't mind spending less (I'm not really aware of current components prices).
I already have all required peripherals at the ready.

Expectations

Coming from a setup with Xbox Series X, PS5 Pro and Steam Deck OLED, I'm essentially hoping to retire the first two in the process, but would keep the Deck.
Anything around or better than PS5 Pro performance and visuals would be great.
Re specific games, I'd like to play various new and old releases comfortably (BG3, Cyberpunk 2077, KCD2, etc) and would love to be able to emulate most consoles (Xbox 360, PS3?, Switch, etc).

Potential build?

PCPartPicker Part List

No price for the GPU, but I've seen it at around $950 - that would make it all around $2,200 before taxes.
I'm certainly not opposed to buying used, even partially.

Thanks in advance for your help!

I got tired of manually updating my spreadsheets every time a friend of mine wanted to build a pc and wanted to know what the best price to performance parts were. So I'm slapping together this little website. It's not up yet, but I have the url reasonablegamingpc.com. I'm utilizing open benchmark data for the relative performance of cpus and gpus, and plan on updating prices daily from any retailer that will let me. No ads, no tracking on my end, just affiliate links to pay for the upkeep. Ideally I want the landing page to just be a list of all parts necessary to build a complete computer, with each part being the best for the price in the category based on the days prices. That way you don't need to crawl through a ton of reviews for each part.

CPUs and GPUs are pretty easy to compare, but other parts are a bit more fuzzy. It really doesn't look like there is a ton of performance to be gained by fast ram, contrary to popular opinion. The difference in testing between DDR5 4800 and 6000 with the same timing looks to be about 3%, which really doesn't justify the extra cost of the higher speed ram, despite 6000 being the consensus sweet spot for AM5. I suspect that differences in timings would yield similarly minimal differences.

Motherboards are another tricky part. They make very little difference to performance, so instead I'll probably put together a minimum spec list of features and components, and toss up whichever board is cheapest that meets that criteria. PCIE Gen4 is the current cut off, as that really does make a significant difference in performance; particularly with GPUs utilizing only 8 lanes, which is going to be most low and midrange cards these days.

Cooling probably falls into a similar category as mobo and ram. If the cpu comes with a stock cooler I probably won't recommend getting anything more than that, and whichever fan cooler meets the thermal requirements at a reasonable cost will be recommended if not.

Storage will stick to NVME Gen4 x4 as that does have significant impact on load times and performance when gaming. Whichever part has the lowest price per GB while meeting the minimum spec will be recommended.

The common recommendation is not to cheap out on your power supply. As such I will have a minimum cut off of efficiency, probably 80+ gold, and a white list of manufacturers that haven't caused any fires recently. As such the part recommended will be the cheapest that meets those requirements and the estimated peak wattage of the above parts plus 10% rounded up to the closest 50w.

I genuinely have no idea what to recommend for cases. As I build out the parts database I intend to do size checking to make sure the recommended parts fit in whichever case is recommended. But as far as ports, features, minimum included fans, sizing, etc I really need some feedback as to what the minimum spec should be.

Anyway let me know what you think, whether you'd use or recommend a site like this, and what the must have aspects of pc parts (particularly motherboards and cases) are.

(all the information in the screenshot is for mock up and testing purposes and not intended for actual advice)

I have a Precision 3260 Compact (https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/workstations-isv-certified/precision-3260-compact-workstation/spd/precision-3260-workstation/s106dpt3260us_vp) with no standalone GPU. I also have an aging gaming desktop with a GTX 1070 and an i5 inside. I am trying to figure out a way to get the 1070 to work inside the Precision and it's driving me nuts.

The Precision doesn't have a standard micro-ATX motherboard, so I can't simply mount it in my larger case. Even if I could, the pcie slot is much shorter than the standard. On top of that, the GPU is longer than the entire case.

I'm willing to get creative, but I'm out of ideas.

I'm looking to build a reliable, basic, no-frills computer primarily for Internet browsing and watching movies. Not sure if it matters, but it would be running Linux Mint. I may also look to do some amount of photo and/or video editing on it at some point too, but i don't have any real needs for gaming with it. There's a million choices when it comes down to the mobo and cpu and all the rest of it, though i think i know which case i want to get so i think that may help narrow my options. (Fwiw, it's a Fractal Designs North model case I'm considering)

Any advice, please?

Edit: thank you all so much for your responses, I'm really glad i posted here! I have a much better sense of which way to go now. I really appreciate the time y'all took to help me out. 😄

Hey guys! Okay so here's the deal, my current PC Tower is from a deal back when Dell was giving away a free Xbox 360 if you buy a computer. About 8 years ago, I upgraded the graphics card to a 1050 and dropped in an SSD, but this thing's very much on its last legs.

I'm thinking of trading it out for a gaming laptop, because some of what I do needs the portability, but for the most part I'd like to dock it at my desk.

I'd like to do some light gaming, and I'm considering getting a 3D printer, so some CAD work.

From what I've researched, I'd like 32 gigs ram, and I think 1 terrabyte SSD. I'm also planning on having an external drive stack to load games from to save space, and to keep mobile gaming to a minimum..

Y'all have any recommendations? I looked at MSI, but I've heard they have heat distribution issues. I like Acer and Asus, but I don't really know what's good.

Only other stipulations, I would love to have an HDMI out, and keep the whole build under $1,500.

Hey everyone,

I found a deal for a brand-new HP OMEN 40L GT21-1011nl with the following specs:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (12-core) RAM: 64GB DDR5-5200 XMP RGB Storage: 1TB SSD PCIe NVMe Gen4 GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 24GB GDDR6X OS: Windows 11 I’m looking for advice from anyone with experience using HP OMEN builds. How is the cooling and airflow on this case? Any issues with thermal throttling, noise levels, or upgrade potential?

My last self-built PC has an RTX 2060, and it's getting quite slow, especially for my work (Revit, Twinmotion, rendering). I need a solid upgrade that can handle these workloads efficiently.

The deal I found is €2800 (without tax). Do you think this is a good price for the specs, or would I be better off with a custom build?

Appreciate any insights! Thanks.

So to get it out of the way here's what I intend to cram into a case: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/TCWFYd
Budget: $100 to $200.

Asside from the obvious factors (like fitting the GPU) I'm really only looking for 2 main things:

• Airflow, not looking for a fancy glass fronted case I'm just looking to minimize temperatures and maximize component health.
• Dust filters, magnetic for easy cleaning would best, same reasoning as above (2 cats in the house)

Basically I'm looking for something like a Liancool 207 only that case can't fit my PSU and likely wouldn't be happy with the cables to feed the Red Devil either. I've seen good things about the Fractal Focus 2 but its description as entry level has me worried if those good thermals stay good for this kind of GPU/CPU combo, its front filter is also reportedly not the greatest.

So I thought I'd ask you guys to help me pick a nice cold and dust free box to keep my magic thinking rocks/sand in.

Edit:
Thanks to everyone for the advice particularly putting me on to GamersNexus (looking at you @[email protected]) and encouraging me to look at more Fractal cases. Ended up going right to the top end of my Budget with a Fractal Design Torrent as it appears to have the best overall thermal performance. Figure its going to be worth it in the long run for that ultimate goal of maximizing component lifespan.

Currently using a 1440p 27", looking at upgrading to a 4K model mostly for dev work. I do occasionally game though but only have an rx6600 which obviously can't handle native 4K gaming. I'm wondering though if I just make use of FSR/Radeon Super Resolution I should be able to at a minimum get the same picture quality I'm getting right now with no loss in performance. Is that right?

Also quick question, what [tag] should I put in the title for troubleshooting? Thank you

Issue: pc does not display with upgraded cpu

Build/parts available:

• Asrock b550 phantom gaming (PG) velocite. Updated bios to v3.4. its PDF manual linked here
• Amd ryzen 5 5600x, trying to upgrade it from a ryzen 3 of the 3000 series. Both are AM4. The ryzen 5 requires a gpu for display, the ryzen 3 has integrated graphics
• 1060 gpu (temporary, eventually going to be replaced with a secondhand Nvidia gpu, possibly 2070)
• HDMI cords available atm only
• 750w psu
• 2x16 ddr4 (~2800 or so) ram

Sorry for some of the imprecision here. It's a fam's pc, and I could get the part #s later as suggested.

When powering on pc with the ryzen 5 cpu, all fans spin (even the gpu's), all rgb lights turn on, but nothing displays through the gpu. There is a red led display showing changing 2-character codes during boot; it stops and hangs on code F9 with the ryzen 5 cpu. This is ASROCK's Dr Debug code display to help diagnose issues. The manual for this particular mobo does not list F-series codes. The above build works fine and automatically outputs display through the 1060 with the ryzen 3 cpu installed.

Things I've checked:

• PSU is on, cables plugged in fully, all devices needing power cables (SSDs, mobo, cpu, gpu) are seated well
• Reseated gpu and ram. No change in outcome with ryzen 5 cpu.
• Updated drivers up the wazoo, windows 10 OS.
• CPU power pins on motherboard: only the 8 pin half is plugged in on the mobo. Pc does not power on with the additional 4pin socket plugged in for either cpu.
• Bios updated to version 3.4 to ensure 5000 series cpu should work with this mobo. Bios update flashed using the old CPU. The bios gave no error messages, and said it updated successfully. I don't remember what the old bios version was, but the power on process hung at Dr Debug code F9 for the ryzen 5 both before and after updating the bios. No display before or after bios update.
• Debug code F9: the only sources I've checked out so far were this one listing the codes and this one person with a similar code output.. I'm not sure what more to do with this information, unless I just try flashing the bios again? From v3.4 to v3.4 again? Idk? But it seems like a lead only because I have done so much physical troubleshooting already.
• Reset cmos by unplugging psu/turning off, and removing cmos battery and jumping the cmos-reset pins for a few minutes.
• Display output settings: checked if the BIOS settings had a setting to switch/force use of gpu for display; I found no such thing for this mobo. I couldn't tell if windows has any such feature, not that I think it would matter since the pc couldn't get to boot with the ryzen 5.

I've switched out the CPUs so many times trying different configurations, I'm down to the watery last of my thermal paste tube. I even loaned my AMD gpu, and we're getting the same outcome: lights and gpu/case fans working, debug code F9, & no display. I left the ryzen 3 in just to at least leave the pc in a working state. Before I drop by the store to pick up paste, I'd rather have an action plan.

Hoping someone has advice for things I haven't tried yet. Thank y'all for reading this far.

Edit: clarity, my bad

Sorry I'm asking this without specs at hand; I'm away from my desktop at the moment.

I built a PC a few months back, and went through this long, irritating ordeal of installing Win 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC (a driver wasn't working for the video card; eventually the driver got updated, and now it's great; otherwise, MASGrave is fantastic). I have a 2Tb PCI-e drive. But. Any time I try to install an old 3.5" 7200rpm SATA drive, it won't even start. As in, nothing at all happens when I push the power button; it won't even get to BiOS, so I'm pretty sure that it's not an issue with trying to boot from a volume with no operating system.

The same hard drives work when I used them in a powered USB enclosure. They're slow, because it's over USB, but they work.

I think my power supply is 800W. My gut feeling is that my power supply is insufficient for the added power draw of a traditional hard drive. Does this sound correct?

I'm planning on building a workstation with the 7955WX, but I can't find it for sale anywhere except sketchy CPU resellers and eBay.

But I can buy a Lenovo ThinkStation P8 with one, and that honestly seems like the better deal after pricing out a custom build. I'd be bringing an AMD 6800 XT and an Nvidia 3070 Ti over, so no GPU required.

Thoughts or advice?

Building a pc and need input of whether on not this is the best bang for the buck I can get. Budget is from 1.2k - 1.35k euro.

I'm using only one specific site in my country because it's the most reliable one here.

Link to the build

The site I'm using is Futura-IT which has 10% on anything you buy.

Only thing I need here is the ryzen 5 7600x because I need it for rpcs3 emulation, so the fact that the cpu is stronger than the gpu in the list is intended because of the kind of stuff I do and play. Otherwise I wanna play games at 1080p 144hz but willing to play games at 60fps with high settings.

I have an AM4 based desktop with the following current configuration:

• Ryzen 2200G CPU
• 8 x 2 DDR4 3000 MHz RAM
• RX 7600 GPU
• Gigabyte B450M D3SH motherboard
• Corsair RM550 PSU
• 1 GB M2 NVME disk
• 2 HDDs - 1 mirroring the NVME and the other as data drive
• Acer FullHD flat panel with FreeSync

Goals are casual gaming at 1080p or slightly lower resolution, target fps 30+

Please give me suggestions for:

1. Best AM4 CPU available now (a) with no integrated graphics (b) with integrated graphics.
2. How would you rate Ryzen 5700G for this setup? It is available and budget friendly.
3. Can I buy 3200 MHz RAM to fill the 2 vacant RAM slots in my motherboard so that I can continue to get dual channel benefit? 3000 MHz RAM seems to be no longer available from the brand/locally.
4. 1 GB SATA SSD for cheap purely to store game installations (Crucial BX) but there is no spare SATA port in the motherboard, is there a way to connect 2 HDDs to same SATA port?

EDIT 1: I think there are 3 HDDs and 1 DVD drive occupying all 4 motherboard SATA ports. I erred in the post above earlier.

Hi

I'm planning to upgrade my RX 6600, i found a nice offer for RX 6750 XT Reference card (pictured), that's apparently made by ~~XTX~~XFX, it's hard to find reviews for that specific variant, some customers reviews in item listings mention loud fans and coil whine but it's not prevalent, can anyone confirm that? is fan noise an effect of default fan curves? is coil whine really that problematic? i mean i have trouble hearing anything in sample recording, I'm 40, so maybe it's more noticeable for young people as higher frequencies often do?

UPDATE: got the card 2 weeks ago, just forgot to update, the coil buzz is definitely here, varies from game to game, the cooling issue is more problematic though, to the point i just lower the power limit or ingame settings to make it heat up less, but i think it'll get better in Fractal Ridge in few months;-)

Hello, I'm thinking of building a gaming pc next month and as such I'm looking good cpu + gpu combo.

The total cost of the PC* I could prob accept up to 1.5k euro to 1.7k as total maximum I can't go over.

Please use german amazon for prices cause I live in eu country and german amazon is cheapest when it comes to hardware prices/import fees for me.

I'm only accepting nvidia gpu as an option because O have bad experiences with amd gpu's both in hardware and drivers and don't mind spending a bit more on nvidia to get similar performance as some 40% less expensive amd card.

The card doesn't need to be running every game at ultra setting 160 fps 1080p, should be able to run most games at 60 fps atleast medium setting for next year or two.

I was looking into 4060ti 16 gb version which is about 700 euro, mostly because I'm thinking about trying local llm's also.

As for the cpu both intel and amd are fine but would prefer amd because I heard of some problems with intel cpu in never gens.

NOTE: used market here for gpu's is almost non existent where I live, so it isn't an option.

I have a spare pc that I am thinking about repurposing for arcade emulation. Preferably I would be using a crt, but hdmi to composite adapters seem to have a lot of issues.

Are there any good options for a GPU with actual composite output, that wouldn't be a massive downgrade in power from my gt 710?

My wife and I planned to upgrade a couple of HP desktops we had. Due to a bunch of proprietary HP stuff we ended up buying new motherboards, GPUs, PSUs, and processors. We kept the old RAM sticks we had and the hard drives. With one computer we got everything installed incrementally and is working great so far. With the other computer, I put everything together at once and we had a problem booting up Windows. I ended up reinstalling Windows but now it needs to be activated. I can't find the original product key to activate Windows and I'm starting to worry I'm gonna need to buy a new Windows key. Do I have any other options here? This is getting really frustrating. To be clear, I'm looking to do this all legally, it's just really annoying that I already was using Windows and now I can't.

New parts:

MSI B550 Tomahawk Max Wifi

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT

AMD Ryzen 7 5700X 8-Core

The main idea i had was to individually sleeve these and potentially remove the split part as i don't like the idea of buying extensions and stuff even more cable inside my case.

On the other hand i would be ok with removing the combined sleeve and 3d print some combs to make the cables look better, especially since the mobo cable has a huge piece of heatshrink making it nearly impossible to look good.

But i have no clue what that little component is and if it only exists for the split that is in the cable.

Not so much looking to build a PC as buy one, because I'm lazy these days. My old one is forever old and filled with randomly upgraded parts and HDDs. I've also got an old and under performing NAS for Plex. Looking to turn my current PC into my new NAS, and buy a mini PC for my new rig. (I don't game on PC anymore).

The problem is, I want one(ish) large capacity drive on the mini PC. Not 100% tied to a mini PC, just like the idea of being minimalist on this rig.

Any suggestions? 2 monitors. Not much else special.

Maybe an external drive? Or drive bay? Speed isn't critical on the large capacity.

Thoughts?

I'm interested in setting up something to act as a file server. Think of it as "the cloud" but local. I've never built (or bought) something specifically for this, so it's a big foreign to me.

I think really all I would want is something that can store a lot of TB of data easily. It doesn't need to be fast. It doesn't need to be able to stream media anywhere. It really only needs to be able to act as an SFTP server, maybe run sync thing (new to that), and maybe act as a NAS. My gut feeling is something like 10+ TB might be a good amount to start. Something that won't fill up quick and that I can put big things in (like a full system image of another computer) without concern.

What would be a good way to go about this? Building a computer like normal but getting very cheap stuff? Getting something pre built or used (like surplus office stuff)? I'm just not really sure where to begin.

Hiya folks, the last PC I built had a top-of-the-line ATI Radeon 9800 in an AGP port. I'm on a PowerSpec prebuilt now, which is working fine.

My kids are ready to graduate from the spare laptop to an actual PC, and I want to build it with them so they learn about ESD and the joys of thermal paste. I plan to have the kids upgrade these in pieces over the next few years as/if they grow to need more power.

They mostly play minecraft, fortnight, and roblox. They don't care about max graphics or AAAA games or max FPS yet, but maybe they will in the future. I still don't.

I'm trying to keep it under $800, and I already have OK but not great 1080p work monitors.

Here's my first draft: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/vxcfFZ

I'm very open to suggestions on any front!

I just learned about this cool PC case a couple days ago (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqyQeCbq4YA&t=221s), and I kinda want it over my boring aluminium and glass box. I like both the idea of an old looking sleeper and the horizontal pizza box form factor (or pizza box adjacent as it's whole 4U thick).

So I started thinking about possibilities. The FLP01 is just an off-white version of silverstone's normal HTPC case with a different front panel. So what if I got the case and modded it in a similar manner?

I could 3D print this, and probably post-process the surface finish to look as if it were legit. It will probably go nowhere as I can't justify buying a new case just for fun, but I wanted to share this thought anyway.

So I have a Corsair 4000D air flow, and the top of the case is like full of holes to allow airflow (with a dust filter on top of it).

Thing is, I put the case more or less below where my hand is touching the mouse, to the right of my feet.

And, well, I could wash my hands or otherwise have my hands be slightly wet at some point, so I am afraid, those holes would be easy for a drop or two of water to fall down on the PC components.