PC Sherdog PC Build/Buy Thread, v6: My Power Supply Burned Down My House

[avenue94]

I must say, my frustration with laptop manufacturers especially microsoft is palpable. LIke their price configurators are outright bizarre and I guess adjust to reflect to their stock on hand or something. Like serious, sometimes lesser spec'd machines are more expensive than higher specs. Sometimes something as innocuous as wanting 16 GB of RAM instead of 8 GB results in like a $800 price increase. It's flat out absurd.

Microsoft is notoriously half in half out on hardware always. Was there a specific models' pricing you were looking at?

 

[SakurabasEar]

Hi, newcomer to pc building

Do you guys have any recommendations for upgrading my Compaq Presario 6000 so that I can play that cyberpunk game?

Also if you guys are interested in buying I'll have you know that it can play dvds

Thanks

 

[Unknown Pleasures]

Microsoft is notoriously half in half out on hardware always. Was there a specific models' pricing you were looking at?

I was browsing their portable surfaces as my travel laptop (surface go 2) is showing its age. It's like an eighth gen dual core i3 processor with 8GB of RAM. Oddly the ram seems more limiting than the processor. I love that it's fanless and it's portability. Bezels are annoyingly thick when keyboard attached but understandable in tablet mode.

I'm willing to go up to 13 inch Ultrabook/ultraportable but I want something silent and touchscreen.

 

[idrankyourbeer]

Hi, newcomer to pc building

Do you guys have any recommendations for upgrading my Compaq Presario 6000 so that I can play that cyberpunk game?

Also if you guys are interested in buying I'll have you know that it can play dvds

Thanks

it's even rocking the 3.5 inch floppy drive. dude your rig is balling.

 

[avenue94]

I was browsing their portable surfaces as my travel laptop (surface go 2) is showing its age. It's like an eighth gen dual core i3 processor with 8GB of RAM. Oddly the ram seems more limiting than the processor. I love that it's fanless and it's portability. Bezels are annoyingly thick when keyboard attached but understandable in tablet mode.

I'm willing to go up to 13 inch Ultrabook/ultraportable but I want something silent and touchscreen.

Yeah, if you're willing to go for a non-tablet, you'll get more bang for your buck since the Windows market for tablets is so small. Having said that, your best bets on sheer parts to price, is still Microsoft unfortunately. There just aren't that many manufacturers that play in that size, and those that do usually focus on really premium stuff (XPS, etc).

If you're willing to forgo Windows, a Macbook Air isn't a bad bet. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until Snapdragon Elite X ultrabooks arrive late this year. Those will have pretty heavy discounting and aggressive pricing out of the gate.

 

[asharak]

it's even rocking the 3.5 inch floppy drive. dude your rig is balling.

not to mention the front line-in and FIREWIRE

 

[Joe_Armstrong]

With these new GPU's, is it still needed to install codec packs ?
Or do modern GPU's play x265, H264 and avi without external software support ?
Been experimenting with with different sized 4K videos of events

 

[Madmick]

With these new GPU's, is it still needed to install codec packs ?
Or do modern GPU's play x265, H264 and avi without external software support ?
Been experimenting with with different sized 4K videos of events

Depending on the software you'll probably still have to install a codec pack. Just because the hardware is natively capable of decoding a certain codec doesn't mean the software it is running is properly instructing it how to handle a file. After all, you always need "external software" to open a media file. Windows has built those packs into WMP. The packs are automatically fetched and downloaded by the Microsoft store unless you turn off updates like you would turn off Android/iOS updates on a phone.

 

[Joe_Armstrong]

So when W10 isn't suppported anymore in 2025,
I need a new PC, what GPU's are out halfway 2025 ?
Will there be a 5000x series ?

And I rarely hear about AMD GPU's.
Are there any good videocards by AMD ?

 

[Madmick]

So when W10 isn't suppported anymore in 2025,
I need a new PC, what GPU's are out halfway 2025 ?
Will there be a 5000x series ?

And I rarely hear about AMD GPU's.
Are there any good videocards by AMD ?

We don't know what GPUs will be coming out. They issue a roadmap, but timetables aren't exact. Their current series is the Radeon RX 7xxx series. RDNA 4, the successor architecture to this series, is supposed to release by the end of 2024.

Left is new, Right is older. Up/Down is performance level. Sometimes older more expensive cards perform better than newer, less expensive cards. But there are some potential caveats. They'll lack certain features, and are more likely to have an amount of VRAM that is aging out, and will sooner be inefficient/inadequate.

GPU Benchmarks and Hierarchy 2024: Graphics Cards Ranked

We've run hundreds of GPU benchmarks on Nvidia, AMD, and Intel graphics cards and ranked them in our comprehensive hierarchy.

www.tomshardware.com

 

[avenue94]

So when W10 isn't suppported anymore in 2025,
I need a new PC, what GPU's are out halfway 2025 ?
Will there be a 5000x series ?

And I rarely hear about AMD GPU's.
Are there any good videocards by AMD ?

RTX 50 yes, but it's most likely not getting launched in 2024, even if that breaks the usual 24-month update cycle for Nvidia. There's still a lot of RTX 30 and RX 6000 GPUs floating around in the channel and RTX 40 has barely stretched its legs saleswise. I'd expect RTX 5090 H1 2025, with their midrange GPUs arriving just in time for holidays 2025. I also haven't heard much from PC OEMs on new GPUs, but it's also a bit far out for even product managers.

You'll most likely get Intel Arc Battlemage in H2 2024 if that's of interest. RX 8000 is harder to say, I think they'll do it, but RX 7000 sales have been horrific because AMD fucked itself by making too much RX 6000.

 

[Dirt Road Soldier]

Hi, newcomer to pc building

Do you guys have any recommendations for upgrading my Compaq Presario 6000 so that I can play that cyberpunk game?

Also if you guys are interested in buying I'll have you know that it can play dvds

Thanks

Funny I should see this, I just found my old store bought Compaq rig at my parents place in the shed. Fired it up, it actually worked! Windows 2000 and everything! Still even had DAoC installed on it.

 

[SakurabasEar]

Funny I should see this, I just found my old store bought Compaq rig at my parents place in the shed. Fired it up, it actually worked! Windows 2000 and everything! Still even had DAoC installed on it.

Time to fire up C&C Red Alert my friend

 

[Dirt Road Soldier]

Dear god no.

 

[KOPPE]

hello friends. what's the general opinion of single fan gpus?

 

[Madmick]

hello friends. what's the general opinion of single fan gpus?

They're usually just fine. I always try to find a review for a specific AIC, and look at its temps. The most thorough reviewers will run longer tests and see if there is any throttling after a half hour, or so. But typically these run just fine, often with no difference between 2 or 3 fan variants in temps, surprisingly, at the Boost Clock where the board partner chooses to set the card.

It's overclocking, if you ever get into that, where these tend to struggle. But usually anyone seeking a single-fan variant is trying to obtain a card that will fit into a smaller form factor PC, so they're not preoccupied with overclocking, they're trying to keep overall heat output down, anyway.

 

[KOPPE]

They're usually just fine. I always try to find a review for a specific AIC, and look at its temps. The most thorough reviewers will run longer tests and see if there is any throttling after a half hour, or so. But typically these run just fine, often with no difference between 2 or 3 fan variants in temps, surprisingly, at the Boost Clock where the board partner chooses to set the card.

It's overclocking, if you ever get into that, where these tend to struggle. But usually anyone seeking a single-fan variant is trying to obtain a card that will fit into a smaller form factor PC, so they're not preoccupied with overclocking, they're trying to keep overall heat output down, anyway.

Im getting this for a mini itx build for my TV (I refuse to get a console )
I'v heard that 3 fans are better than one but It could be redditors talking out of their ass

 

[Madmick]

Im getting this for a mini itx build for my TV (I refuse to get a console )
I'v heard that 3 fans are better than one but It could be redditors talking out of their ass

Most posters on Reddit PC subs are freshly powdered babies who are excited to share. Three fans have more cooling power than one fan, yes. But three fan units take up more space. That's why they're not ideal for Mini ITX builds. Ultimately, every choice depends. What is the case, what are you putting in there, and what other options for a 4060 (or whatever GPU) will fit given those plans. Unfortunately, most of the major reviewers who have a long list of reviews of the 4060 (ex. Techpowerup) which would offer a deeper context for comparison haven't reviewed the Solo. But surprise surprise, a website focused on SFF builds has:

Nvidia RTX 4060 Review – Testing ZOTAC GAMING’s RTX 4060 SOLO 163mm Long GPU for the Small Form Factor Market – SFF.Network

smallformfactor.net

To test the stock coolers headroom I set the GPU to max out at 50% fan speed which resulted in the fan turning at 675RPM. I also set it to a 104% power setting, and +125 Core / + 300 Memory OC. I then ran F1 2022, with the same settings as before, for 30 minutes. This pulled up to 137 watts, though 120 to 135 watts was the more common range. Exhaust air, measured at the rear of the card, had a temperature of 54C. Core temps rose to 78C, which is still well within RTX 4060 limts. The core ran as high as 2820MHz, but was typically in the 2,685MHz to 2,775MHz range in this test.

 

[jefferz]

Im getting this for a mini itx build for my TV (I refuse to get a console )
I'v heard that 3 fans are better than one but It could be redditors talking out of their ass

What case are you using?
I've really been thinking of switching to an itx build, and there's so many boutique case options out there.

 

[KOPPE]

What case are you using?
I've really been thinking of switching to an itx build, and there's so many boutique case options out there.

you cant go wrong with a NR200 but im looking for something smaller



this is a good list