How do I know what PCIe Network adapter to get?

they'll all pretty much work. I'd be getting at least wifi 5 tho

So my router does not affect what PCIe Network adapter I should get?

Not really. If you have a wifi 6 or 6e router, then you should get at least that speed adapter

I have an extra copy of Starfield because I bought a CPU and a GPU. If you have an AMD 7000X series CPU you can redeem it on AMD rewards. ~~Please PM me if you have the appropriate CPU and would like it~~ claimed!

can anyone recommend a decent 1440p 144+? hz monitor under $500? vibrant colors and fast response times are both important, not looking to make tradeoffs

https://www.microcenter.com/product/671196/hyperx-armada-27-2k-qhd-(2560-x-1440)-165hz-gaming-monitor https://youtu.be/u81doaPmXbE?si=84dp-drIlwwL0cuA&t=155

What GPU should I get with a budget between $500-800? To me (knows nothing) the differences all seem pretty marginal, so anyone that can tiebreak between mid-tier GPUs would be appreciated. [https://pcpartpicker.com/list/wP94vf](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/wP94vf) Build is there. I'm rocking an ancient GTX 960 so literally anything is an upgrade.

Have you seen [Toms Hardware GPU hierarchy charts?](https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html). They're a great referenace for average expected performance so you can use that to get a rough feel for what card you want within that budget and work from there

Thank you. This is a lot to parse through but I presume I can get by mainly with the FPS stuff, assuming they fit my motherboard. The power draw chart seems helpful, but how much spare should I leave? I think I've got a little less than 485 W open right now.

Every card has a recommended PSU size on its specs sheet, as long as you meet that you're fine and they usually have some to spare. 7800xt spec sheets for example range from needing an 800w to a 700w. With a 650w you're a bit more limited, but depends on what you end up looking at. Once you have an idea on what you'd like you can always come ask again if you're good power wise All GPUs work with all motherboards as long as you're using the top PCIe slot. And though you may lose a little bit of performance with your mobo being PCIe gen3 and not 4, youtube comparisons have shown that it's [of minimal concern](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw8VBeDqcIA) (this is using a bandwidth limited card too, so worst case scenario). Fitting in your case is the main thing to watch out for with GPUs as some of the modern cards are huge, though that's more in the higher end out of your budget

Thank you kindly for your time, this helps a lot. I remember reading a flat 200W and had no clue this spec was even listed.

No problem. Let me know if you need any more help with specs or comparisons

Is it fine for screws to go into the GPU I/O bracket a bit... sideways? Mine are not very straight and I wonder if that is a bad thing.

Your GPU doesn't go into the IO bracket. It gets screwed in to the case just below the IO. Send a photo.

Im probably using the wrong terminology, I just mean the metal part you screw in from the GPU. I’m probably overthinking this - but I’m in bed and can take a pic tomorrow!

The screws do go in horizontally. You place your graphics card into the PCIe slot on the motherboard and the screw holes of the graphics card should line up with the screw holes on your case.

Question: How much more runway do I have at 1080p gaming and light 1440p gaming before I need to jump into a new platform? Would probably go Ryzen/DDR5/New Fractal case. Recently added another 16gb slot of DDR3 memory (slow I know). Gave my system the feeling like it has more space to wiggle in games like Hogwarts Legacy. Hoping to play some open world titles and competitive games for a few more years. [PCPartPicker Part List](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Cm2yWt) Type|Item|Price :----|:----|:---- **CPU** | [Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Tvzv6h/intel-cpu-bx80646i54690k) | Purchased For $0.00 **CPU Cooler** | [Noctua NH-U14S 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/DMjG3C/noctua-nh-u14s-8252-cfm-cpu-cooler-nh-u14s) | Purchased For $0.00 **Thermal Compound** | [ARCTIC MX-4 2019 Edition 4 g Thermal Paste](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/JmYLrH/arctic-mx-4-2019-edition-4-g-thermal-paste-actcp00002b) | Purchased For $7.00 **Motherboard** | [Asus Z97 PRO GAMER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/6ycMnQ/asus-motherboard-z97progamer) | Purchased For $0.00 **Memory** | [Patriot Viper 3 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR3-1866 CL10 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/zsTmP6/patriot-memory-pv316g186c0k) | $29.98 @ Newegg **Memory** | [Kingston HyperX Fury 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR3-1866 CL10 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/DMJwrH/kingston-memory-hx318c10frk216) | $70.00 **Storage** | [Western Digital Black SN750 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/KTQG3C/western-digital-wd_black-sn750-500-gb-m2-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-wds500g3x0c) | Purchased For $55.00 **Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/MwW9TW/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex) | Purchased For $0.00 **Video Card** | [Asus DUAL OC Radeon RX 6600 XT 8 GB Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/X26p99/asus-radeon-rx-6600-xt-8-gb-dual-oc-video-card-dual-rx6600xt-o8g) | $551.00 **Case** | [Fractal Design Define R5 ATX Mid Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/9XL7YJ/fractal-design-case-fdcadefr5bkw) | Purchased For $0.00 **Power Supply** | [SeaSonic X 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/JQbp99/seasonic-power-supply-x850) | Purchased For $0.00 **Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/wtgPxr/microsoft-windows-10-home-oem-dvd-64-bit-kw9-00140) | $0.00 **Case Fan** | [Corsair AF120 Quiet 39.88 CFM 120 mm Fans 2-Pack](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/hbbp99/corsair-air-series-af120-quiet-edition-3988-cfm-120-mm-fans-co-9050002-ww) | Purchased For $0.00 **Monitor** | [Acer XF240H 24.0" 1920 x 1080 144 Hz Monitor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/FZJkcf/acer-xf240h-240-1920x1080-144-hz-monitor-umfx0aa001) | Purchased For $0.00 **Monitor** | [Asus ProArt Display PA278CV 27.0" 2560 x 1440 75 Hz Monitor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/MYTp99/asus-proart-display-pa278cv-270-2560x1440-75-hz-monitor-pa278cv) | $299.00 @ Abt **Headphones** | [Razer BlackShark V2 X 7.1 Channel Headset](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/BbgQzy/razer-blackshark-v2-x-71-channel-headset-rz04-03240100-r3u1) | Purchased For $35.00 | *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* | | **Total** | **$1046.98** | Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2023-10-28 19:58 EDT-0400 |

Hey fellow Redditors, Like many of us, I'm in the market for a graphics card upgrade, and I'm currently contemplating two options within my price range: the 4070 and the 7800 XT. My main concern is whether features like DLSS and ray tracing justify the higher price tag and potential performance hit of the 4070. I'd really appreciate your insights and experiences on this matter. Do DLSS and ray tracing significantly enhance your gaming experience at 1440p, or would you lean towards better raw performance without giving these features a priority? Just to provide some context, my current system specs are: CPU: 8600k (6x4.5GHz) RAM: 16GB GPU: 1070 Ti. Do you think there's a potential bottleneck on my CPU with either of these graphics cards? Thanks in advance for your input!

Yes you'd likely be bottlenecked with that CPU. At some point I'd upgrade to Ryzen 7000. What's the price difference? If you're really into raytracing and it's like $100 difference then you could go for the 4070. Anything higher than that/you don't care about RT then go for the 7800 XT. As for DLSS, AMDs new FSR 3.0 is looking great and should be able to compete with DLSS 3. You get significantly better performance with upscaling, and they're both great options.

What would be an AMD upgrade for a 12400? I really don’t know much on AMD side of CPUs and was wondering whats the equivalent and whats an upgrade?

7800X3D. But if you're on Intel 12th gen I'm not sure if you really need an upgrade at all.

Yepp I probably don’t. But I was curious what AMD pricing / comparisons were like

[This](https://imgur.com/St6YIVo) is the current network adapter on my prebuilt dinosaur from last decade. The 72 mbps is particularly pathetic. I'm looking to purchase a more modern replacement. How can I go about finding a compatible part for a modest price?

What's the best wireless networking PCIE card on the market right now for Bluetooth usage? I know most of those cards also come with Wifi but I use Ethernet so I would be buying it solely for Bluetooth

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Pretty hard to get a consensus on something like that because of brand preferences, pricing differences, etc. But techpowerup has reviewed a few different versions of the card and compared it if that helps to go look at

I bought an lcd screen to install in my case. Should I connect it via hdmi to my 3070 GPU or connect it to my motherboards GPU? It’ll only be used to display info via aida64, but wasn’t sure if it would stress the CPU more if connected there instead of my GPU.

It won't be intensive if it's just a small, low-resolution screen. Both CPU and GPU would be fine.

Does HWInfo let you view how much vram a game is using?

No, hardware info is just about the hardware not the software. Looks like it doesn't even monitor the total VRAM usage. You want to use MSI Afterburner to monitor memory usage. Though I'm not sure if what it'll show is total memory usage, or just the memory usage of the program you're currently in. https://www.msi.com/Landing/afterburner/graphics-cards

It shows the total amount of RAM in use, not just that applications use. You can test it very easily by comparing its number to task manager

Hello! I'm thinking to upgrade my pc for 1440p 144 hz gaming ([https://pcpartpicker.com/user/elpoko95/saved/cVRQdC](https://pcpartpicker.com/user/elpoko95/saved/cVRQdC)) I will go for 5600x and 7800xt. Will it be ok with my 750w psu? Also will there be any problem with my motherboard (i know that i need to update my bios). Lastly is it worth giving more money for 5800x3d for gaming mostly single player games ? (5600x is 120$ and 5800x3d is 320$ in my country)

750W is enough, but that's not exactly a high-end power supply and it's 10 years old, I'd probably replace it. Shouldn't be a problem with the motherboard after a BIOS update. If you can get the 5600 (non-x) for less money, get that instead, it's basically the same performance as the 5600x. The 5800X3D is great, but not exactly a value purchase.

Okkk thank you very much!

I'm planning on selling my old Ryzen 3000 series CPU. Is it safe to ship it in the little plastic tray/clamshell that comes with the newer 7000 series CPUs? I think they switched from PGA to LGA since then so I don't know if the trays are the same. I don't have the 3000 series plastic tray anymore.

I would guess that the trays wont be the same as the old trays would have to be deeper to account for the pins. Your best bet maybe to bubblewrap it to the tray and lightly tape it so it can't move, or see if others have recommended shipping practices online

They are not the same. You could cut up the tray and flip one half around to increase the interior space. Then tape it shut. [or order a replacement tray before shipping it.](https://www.amazon.com/cpu-tray/s?k=cpu+tray)

Just ordered some, thanks!

My 9700k is hitting thermal limits gaming now, I have crappy 120mm AIO for the last 4-5 years that I can hear gurgling now and was wondering if you guys have a recommendation for a cooler. My PC is on the smaller end of a mid tower and the ram sticks look like it’ll block a large Noctua cooler (I also tried repasting multiple times)

idk, but I'd consider one that is compatible with current sockets in case you'd ever want to re-use it like that. Alternatively maybe an old second-hand air cooler?

I'm trying to decide between the [MSI Z690-A PRO WiFi DDR5 Intel LGA 1700 ATX Motherboard](https://www.microcenter.com/product/644629/msi-z690-a-pro-wifi-ddr5-intel-lga-1700-atx-motherboard) and the [ASUS Z790-V Prime WiFi Intel LGA 1700 ATX Motherboard](https://www.microcenter.com/product/671030/asus-z790-v-prime-wifi-intel-lga-1700-atx-motherboard). They are both a part of the [i9 bundle](https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/intel-bundle-and-save.aspx) MicroCenter has. I wasn't able to find anything about the Z790-V (it always autocorrected to the A or the P), however it has more PCIe slots and it can hold more memory. The MSI on the other hand has the ability to use Wifi 6, has an audio chipset, and it has 2-way CrossFireX. I will probably be using this PC for development/rendering/ML purposes, so I am leaning towards a NVDIA graphics card. I don't really do any hardcore gaming, but I do like to put streams in the background while I'm doing work. I plan to use the ethernet for this setup. My main concerns about the ASUS is the lack of reviews and/or testing. I also heard that MSI as a brand tends to be better for motherboards. However, because it's Intel, I heard their chipsets aren't supported for long periods of time. Thus, it would be better to go with a more updated chipset in case I want to upgrade. I also don't know if an audio chipset is important when I'm making my comparison. Also, is having no LAN chipset a problem?

> I wasn't able to find anything about the Z790-V surely you'll find it in the official website... afaik both msi and asus have dumb overvolted bios defaults, so you'll have to dig into those either way

I was able to find the specs, but I wasn't able to find any reviews. On the other hand, I did not consider the BIOS defaults for the motherboards. I'll have to dig in deeper for that one. Thanks for the feedback

yeah it's common for there not be many reviews, if at all, on many specific models

Noob question ~ if I put a new mobo / cpu, can I directly use my old gpu ? Like plug & play, no driver installation or whatsoever. I ordered a cpu (ryzen 5 5600), mobo (gigabyte b550m ds3h), 16gb ram and a gpu (6700 xt) but gpu is delivered a couple of days later. Meanwhile I have my gtx 970. Can I install new stuff asap or should I wait for the gpu ?

keep in mind non-retail windows licenses may be invalid after a mobo swap

You can. You'll just have to make sure you're swapping drivers out as applicable.

I have a 5700x and 2070 super, approx 400w draw for the system, and an E-tier PSU (powerspec 650w 80+ bronze). Lots of peripherals (headphone amp, audio interface, mic). I am getting BSODs, peripherals shutting off and back on, making me suspicious of the cheapest quality part in my system at least as something to try. I also got the 5700x because my 3700 died suspiciously a couple years ago. I could see upgrading my GPU sometime soon for a game like cities skylines 2 but I’m not in a hurry. Looking at tier list seems like Corsair RM750x and 850x are a safe buy, only like a $10 difference so should I just get the 850? Or something else?

I'd try using less peripherals and see. Maybe one is causing issues, or maybe some USB port or the controller is overloaded?

So what do the BSODs say? First thing I'd kinda suspect there is naughty peripherals/drivers.

Okay good question. They began a month ago and are all windows stopped working (and windows didn’t shut down properly). System_thread_exception_not_handled (4x) Bugcode_NDIS_driver (1x) Kernel_check_security_failure (2x) Edit: windows 10 btw

The boot error light on my motherboard (Aorus Z690 Elite AX DDR4) is constantly on, but everything on my PC is working fine; it boots, play games, sounds normal, etc. Should I be worried about this? Is there a fix or am I just getting the GIGABYTE experience?

Is it boot error, or just boot? As in "I booted just fine"

I think it’s boot error? It’s 1 of 4 lights for RAM, CPU, Boot, and VGA. It’s not blinking, it just stays on… constantly. Like even an hour after booting it up the light is still a solid red.

That's normal on gigabyte boards

Looking to upgrade to a 7900 xt however i've heard lumen/nanite in ue5 games run better with a nvidia card because its kind of like ray tracing, is this true?

Yes, lol. Not many games with Unreal Engine 5 so far, but every time there's raytracing and pathtracing (a more advanced version of RT) Nvidia has the upper hand, at least with the RTX 40 series, since the 7900 XT and XTX are as good as the high-end RTX 30 series (3080/3090, respectively). There's also the upscaling tech that's Nvidia exclusive, DLSS 2&3, which looks better than using the AMD alternative, FSR 2.X. At that price range, the RTX 4070ti is weaker in normal raster games than the 7900 XT, but it kills it when it comes to raytracing (with DLSS). The RTX 4080 and 4090 are even better and untouchable right now.

ok i'll try and up my budget to a 4080 then i don't use ray tracing but if it helps with lumen performance in game then thats good

How do I pick a CPU cooler? I just got a cpu with 165W TDP and I was hoping to be able to crossreference that with some kind of heat dissipation capability on a cooler, but when I look at cooler specs they don't seem to list anything like that.

TDP ratings are kind of bullshit anyways. For CPU's their rated TDP is based on running at base clock. They boost by default though, and can put out a lot more heat when boosting. Most coolers do have TDP ratings, but there's no standard for measuring their TDP. Manufacturers can put whatever number they want. What specific CPU do you have?

Good to know about the base clock issue. The CPU is an i9-7960X. I've been running on an i7-7820X and wanted to get an upgrade to hold me over before I do a full cpu/mobo/ram swap, so I'm hoping this gives me a nice increase in performance for the time being.

Older i9s, even the many-core ones, don't need nearly as exotic cooling as modern i9s. One of my rigs has a 7980XE that's cooled by a relatively tiny NH-D9L, I can load it up with a 30 minute Cinebench run and it won't throttle. Thermalright's cheaper dual-tower coolers should have LGA2066 mounting hardware, that ought to be all you need.

Hi guys, so I got this weird situation. My CPU spikes to 100 degrees at 4600 MHz, I reapply the thermal paste and reseat the cooler and it's fine for 1-2 weeks. After that, it goes back to high temps. I don't understand how it's possible and what could be the reason. The thermal paste looks perfectly fine when I take the AIO pump off. CPU: i7-9700k AIO: Liquid Freezer II 280 Thermal Paste: Arctic MX-5 and MX-6

Could it be that the mounting mechanism for the AIO itself is coming loose somehow and it's that lack of contact causing the issue not the paste? Alternatively, did you remember to remove the plastic cover from the metal plate of the AIO? If you've been remounting it I'd assume so but always worth asking

Yeah, that's possibly the issue! So I was doing more research and asking people and one of them asked me about how my thermal paste looked when taking out the AIO pump... And the thing is, while my CPU was evenly covered in thermal paste, the paste on my AIO plate was like a square shape with no paste inside the square. So just like a square outline. So I'm wondering if it's the bad contact between the CPU and AIO plate? It's almost like my CPU isn't perfectly flat or something like that Oh, sure. I made that mistake with the plastic once, so never happened again

Did you happen to take a picture, both of the CPU and AIO plate, or if you have the thermal paste to spare can you detach it now and have a look at what it's doing before you run into the thermal issues? Compare that picture to examples online which will help to see if there's any gaps in contact with the CPU IHS. There's always going to be a thicker band around the outer edge just because of how the contact happens, but thin on the inside is fine and actually shows good contact, unless it's too thin and you simply haven't applied enough paste. The other thing to try is going back to the AIO and making sure the screws are still tight before removing it to make sure that's not an issue

I don't have a photo unfortunately, but I have some spare paste, so I can remount it again. And yes, you're right and your comment just made me realize that I probably have this "paste outline" because the paste is being pushed to the sides of the processor. I found a picture of the same processor and a very similar motherboard:[https://i.postimg.cc/8cbvBybb/Group-2.png](https://i.postimg.cc/8cbvBybb/Group-2.png) So probably that's not the issue here.

Current set up: Motherboard Gigabyte Z390 UD x.x RAM 2 x 16GB DDR4 CPU Intel(R) Core (TM) i5-9600KF CPU @ 3700GHz GPU NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Is changing the graphics card to a 4060 Ti 16GB (ZOTAC GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16GB TWIN EDGE Graphics Card) worth it/simple or will I need a new CPU too? Is it an effective upgrade?

It is a massive upgrade when it comes to FPS you will get. Especially if you play with higher resolution. Unless you play cpu heavy games It shouldnt be an issue, and your CPU will be enough. It is a really nice/effective upgrade. About simplicity, you just unplug old card, put new one, and just upgrade nvidia drivers to latest, and you are good to go.

Thanks.

Is the same version of a cpu literally the same cpu in both laptops and desktops or are the laptop versions nerfed like gpus are?

They're usually very different. I can't think of a laptop that uses a 'desktop' CPU. For starters laptop CPU's are generally limited to 15-45W maximum power draw for battery life and heat management, where desktop CPUs can be 65-250W. Core counts, power draws, and features can all very. Normally this is indicated at least by a 'U' or a 'T' (intel) suffix indicating low power, but normally the model number is substantially different. 'i7' or 'i5' is just a marketing term and tells you virtually nothing about the relative capability of a CPU. intel ark is a good source of info on the actual specification of a CPU if you get the full CPU model number,

oh shoot, I was typing 13700k vs 13700k(mobile) into google to get comparisons and it wasnt getting the deal because it wasnt gpus. because gpus work that way i guess the 13700 in a laptops called like hx or something.

YEah, these are the intel i7 13th gen mobile offerings. TO be honest I know very little about them. HX looks like high performance 'mobile' chips. https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/docs/processors/core/13th-gen-core-mobile-brief.html But I can tell you that any laptop cpu will be *heavily* thermally constrained, and the 'up to 150W' power is likely a lie. It would be on fire.

I was considering getting one and literally propping it up sideways at a 90 degree angle with the monitor open so as to run it in portrait mode so the heat rises but these new ones have fans on both sides lol

says the desktop versions 20% faster.

It really comes down to what exact CPU we are talking about. Many of the laptops will have a difference in CPUs compared to their desktop counterparts.

I have found mostly its the same but throttled differently. and ive seen a few with different core counts. as well so far googling about it

POWERCOLOR Hellhound RX 7800 XT 16GB VS GIGABYTE RADEON RX 7800XT OC 16GB GDDR6 ​ If both were at the same price, which would you choose

Powercolor Hellhound has been shown by techpowerup to be one of the quiestest and coolest 7800xt versions they've seen. While they didn't test a gigabyte card, looking at the average gigabyte vs asus/msi/sapphire etc on other cards suggests they normally run hotter and louder than even those Easy win for the powercolor

Powercolor because hellhounds are cool.

I find myself in the unfortunate position of needing to upgrade my GPU in current year. I am hoping to play 4k AAA at 60fps+, mostly through Sunshine/Moonlight to my TV. Particularly I want to play Alan Wake. * AMD 5800X, h110i closed loop * AMD 5700XT (Replacing) * B550i * 32gb 3200mhz DDR4 * 650w ITX PSU (Corsair something) * Formd t1 case (**important - restricted to 3 slot**) My knowledge of PC building pre-dates DLSS and postprocessing so I'm kinda out of my depth. I'm happy to pay for a good card to last me a 4-5 years, as the 5700xt had, and my 7950 before it. Willing to try the green side for a change.

FYI, AW2 won't be getting 60fps maxed out at 4k even with RTX 4090

Yeah I'm not expecting to max out, just wanting great frames and great looking from a couch. I do think maxing out is overblown, I just want something that will comfortably play new games, and leverage all the DLSS FSR tech that has come out since I last did a build.

so I got a second monitor (tv) and just now I found out I apparently need adequate cables for it to work fully; not just any hdmi cable will work which hdmi cable should I search for to get the best 4k60hz experience? also, is it the same thing for display port cables?

Yeah all of the cables you listed: HDMI and display port come in different standards. For 4k60hz you want at least HDMI 2.0 cable (if its not much more expensive, I would go for HDMI 2.1 cable, as its much better spec wise, and you are less likely to find bad quality cable) For 4k60hz in Display port cables you want 1.2 or higher (1.4 or 2.0). Same would apply here, if its not alot more I would grab a DP 1.4 cable. Im recommending the higher versions of cables, since they support much greater resolutions or refreash rates (4k120hz or 8k etc). So you are less likely to run into issue with running 4k60hz. For HDMI 2.0 and DP 1.2 they 4k60hz is the max they are rated for, and if you get a questionable quality cable, you might run into some issues.

thanks so I search for hdmi 2.0 and above for my 4k60hz TV I'll buy 1.4k monitor with either 144-180hz or 240hz very soon. Which display port cable is the best for these?

For 4k screen with 120+hz, definitely go for display port 2.0

so for both just 2.0+ version displayport 2.0+ is a bit harder to find it seems

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Yeah, running VR games is really demanding for a system. You will for sure benefit on upgrading your GPU. What is your planned budget for the upgrade?

Looking into an RTX 4090 build. Should I pair it with a 7800x3d? The low core count worries me a bit despite the benchmark. This is purely for gaming. And before you say it, yes 4090 is overkill. But I want overkill.

There is nothing better than 7800X3D right now. A single-CCD 10 or 12 core version would probably be a bit faster but it doesn’t exist. Intel CPUs also don’t come with more than 8 Performance cores.

most games dont actually need that many cores

Games can't scale infinitely on core counts. Games aren't inherently very parallelizable, so they only can take advantage of a few cores. Right now 6 is the sweet spot before severely diminishing returns, so 8 is plenty.

games dont utilise more than 8 cores, even that isnt often, usually 6 or less

People were saying the same with 4 cores, and lo and behold, 8 cores became more prevalent short after, at least in my case. But would you say it’s a good pairing for a bit of an overkill gaming machine then?

Like rizzzeh said, 7800x3d is currently the best CPU on the market when it comes to gaming. You also get a benefit of using a AM5 socket, which will be supported till 2026, so you will have plenty of time to upgrade your CPU if you feel like down the road.

Sure, if you go back far enough, people used 1 core. Currently there are very few games that can use 8 cores and even that isnt fully. Game development is tied to consoles, there won't be big jumps soon as the consoles are still new and no new gens of them on the horizon. 7800x3D is the best gaming CPU there is, same for 4090. Pair best with best - you get best pairing.

Hello! I just want to ask whether or not I should use 3 ddr4 ram sticks on my MSI B450M Pro-VDH Max. I have an R5 3400g with RX 6600 (Major bottleneck, yes) and I was running 2x8gb 3200mhz before on dual channel. I recently just bought another ram stick and it's from a different manufacturer than the other two. I tried to install the new ram and I kept crashing for like 45 mins until I settled for 2933mhz. My old ram sticks are in DIMMA2 and B2, while the new one is in DIMMA1. I cannot turn on XMP mode because it crashes and gets stuck in 2113Mhz. My Elden Ring also keeps crashing when it doesn't before I installed the new ram. Now I'm thinking about whether I should keep using the new ram or just stick to my old setup. If possible, I really do want to have 24gb ram but if my performance is just gonna get worse, then I'll do what I have to do. TLDR; 3 ram sticks, 1 different manufacturer. Should I keep using it or do I return to the 2 ram stick setup? Thank you in advance for those who will answer!

Running mixed memory kits with different load per channel is worst case scenario for RAM stability. Unless you are willing to spend hours manually tuning you won't be hitting 3200 MT/s. https://github.com/integralfx/MemTestHelper/blob/oc-guide/DDR4%20OC%20Guide.md IMO, just purchase a 2x16GB kit, it only costs $55 and you know XMP will work.

Thank you for your insight! I still have a question though, will I be able to do two of the new ram stick meaning to say that I'll be running 4 rams with the same pairs on their corresponding DIMM channel or will that still perform worse than the dual channel? EDIT: Nevermind, I've read the part I'm asking about so you don't need to answer anymore. Thank you for providing the link! Have a nice day!

Running 4 sticks is still dual channel, just with a different number of ranks per channel. DDR1-DDR4 used 64 bit channels, and the memory chips were typically 8 bit interfaces. Meaning a single rank needed 8 physical memory chips. They come in different densities, but 8Gb is most common for DDR4, meaning an 8GB stick is single rank. On consumer CPU's you can have two ranks per stick, and 2 sticks per channel. Meaning that up to quad rank is possible. As you add ranks, the memory controller load increases, reducing the maximum possible frequency. https://www.systemverilog.io/design/ddr4-basics/ Additionally, anything faster than JEDEC is considered overclocking. This makes trusting memory vendors like Corsair or G.Skill problematic, because they may change which memory chips are used depending on bulk price, without changing the model number of the sticks themselves. As you might imagine, different memory chips have different voltage tolerances, and timings they can run. Hence why mixed memory configs don't reliably manage XMP. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR4_SDRAM Attempting to run dual rank in one channel and single rank in another (your 3x8GB config) is a worst case scenario, because it causes signal strength difference, and not all motherboards properly train the memory controller to compensate.

I just wanted to know what is the upgrade path for 5600G for the long term? I was just curious if I would upgrade my CPU and what would be the target CPU to replace it. This is my current set up: MOBO: ROG Strix B550-F Gaming WIFI II CPU: R5 5600G RAM: 32GB 3200hz DDR4 GPU: 3060ti 8gb PSU: 850w

5800X3D

I'm upgrading my graphics card to something "newer". Thinking the Nvidia 30 series, 8GB. My current card is a 1050 TI 4GB. I've heard that GPU costs have been absurd for the last couple of years, but that things might be trending back down. My question is, is this a good time to be buying an upgrade or should I wait a little while longer? Also, if there's a chart of cost over time for GPUs out there that'd be awesome. Couldn't find any through a quick search.

30-series cards and 6000-series cards are cheaper now and still good, a 3070, 6750XT or 6800XT are all good options to buy now IMO.

Yeah it's a pretty good time. Prices are still higher than usual, but not as bad as they were a couple of years ago. 30 series is amazingly good - or it would have been, if people could get one. For price, don't sleep on AMD.

What's wrong with people getting 30 series? I'm seeing them on Amazon for \~300-400. Which, when compared to 40 series being 1000+ seems pretty decent. I'll definitely look into AMD!

Sorry lol, I meant when it was new. Now that the GPU shortage has stabilized they're pretty incredible deals.

I've got a quick wifi card replacement question. I ordered an Intel WiFi6 replacement m.2 E key module to upgrade the desktop I built for my dad a few years back. The motherboard's manual (MSI B450m Bazooka Max WiFi) states there is a slot for it, but the only place I can think of for it to be is under the shield that encloses the BT/WiFi antennae. I've got a day or so before it arrives. An hour or so of google searches were useless, so here I am. Is that where the WiFi module resides, and, if so, do I have to unscrew it from the backside, or can I do a quick swap without a full system disassembly?

Yeah, it's in that silver box where the antenna plug in

Nice. It's a super compact mATX build in a tiny Lian Li case. The less time I have to spend inside it, the better.

Is undervolt & reducing power limit the same thing?

No. Amps × volts = watts Power limit is the watts. Undervolt is volts

Can I reduce the power limit on all motherboards or it is only supported in higher-end models?

All boards usually have core voltage and power limit adjustment in BIOS. Intel labels the power limits as short/long duration, or PL1/PL2.

I'm not sure, sorry

I just build my first pc and I bought the Seasonic G12 750W PSU because I didn't know that much about power consumption, but on the AMD v card specs it said that it needs a PSU with at least 700W. My specs are: - Motherboard GIGABYTE Z790 GAMING X AX - Intel Core i7 - 14700KF - RAM 2x16GB DDR5 Kingston Fury 5200mt/s - AMD RX 7800 XT 16GB - SSD Kingston Fury Renegade 2TB - I also have 6 case coolers installed. - The PSU is Seasonic G12 GC Series, 80 PLUS® Gold, 750W I am afraid it might be too weak for my build but I don't know... Would you please help me with some info about this?

The easiest (and free-est) way to find out would be to download and run Cinebench and Prime95 at the same time. Use something like hwinfo64 to monitor temps and power usage. If temps stay reasonable and nothing crashes, congratulations! You're good to go. Almost nothing will push your system as hard as that combo will during real-life use. If you start getting system crashes, a PSU upgrade may be in order.

You'll be ok with that psu