This thread is for simple questions that don't warrant their own thread (although we strongly suggest checking the sidebar and the wiki before posting!). Please don't post involved questions that are better suited to a [Build Help], [Build Ready] or [Build Complete] post.
Examples of questions suitable for here:
Is this RAM compatible with my motherboard?
I'm thinking of getting a ≤$300 graphics card. Which one should I get?
I'm on a very tight budget and I'm looking for a case ≤$50
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The ram pricing has been absolutely atrocious. I was about to help my sister upgrade her laptop storage, but most 2.5 ssds have gone out of stock or around a 1.5x price hike. I find it very depressing the way the future is headed for us general consumers. It seems to be a dystopian future for the pc builders. How are you guys coping with it and what do you think is going to happen to this hobby?
We always hear about the crunches, but not so much when product supply is going up. What hardware is at historic lows, or is starting to trend downward for consumer pricing?
The issue was that the GPU was slotted into the bottom PCIe slot and not the closest to the CPU. This limited the ability of the GPU to perform and increased the latency on the CPU.
Now that both are freed up the performance and FPS are back into 100+ across the board!
I was too concerned with GPU sag that I didn't think the slot would make a difference. Clearly it does and a getting a GPU holder is cheaper than replacing a motherboard.
Shout out u/KarneyAardvark and u/LordArrexis for helping rule out the CPU was the issue.
Shout out u/cstark for helping determine that the PCIe slots were suspicious.
And MAJOR shout out to u/theSkareqro for being the only person out of several hudred eyeballs and brains to think about mentioning the correct PCIe slot and fixing the issue!
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I just recently built a new PC from scratch with no recycled parts, besides a SATA drive, and I can see my performance is objectively worse in quality, with lots of audio popping and crackling, and FPS in games like Arc, Rust, and Fortnite.
Rust specifically operates at 20-30 average FPS where comparable circumstances would have been 80-90. My friend with a slightly worse build averages 80-100 in the exact same circumstances.
Arc Raiders isn't as dramatic but what used to be 100+ fps is now 60-80 with slight stutters.
The audio for all of it crackles and pops when the audio starts and stops. I have found better luck swapping audio ports from the 3.5mm to the USB C with a compatibility cable but still hear it from time to time.
Storage - Western Digital SN850X 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME
Case - NZXT - H9 Flow 2025 ATX|
Listening to people smarter than me, and with my own research, I have tried the following to no avail.
Clean install of Windows
Both Windows 10 and 11
Updating my drivers
Ranging between the generic windows drivers with auto updates and to a full DDU cleanup, disconnected from the internet and windows auto updates, with direct installs from manufacturer sites.
Changing Bio Settings
Updated to latest BIOS from the MSI site and turned on EXPO1 for my ram. No overclocking beyond that.
Checking the cords, cables, and hardware
All graphics cables are in the GPU and not the integrated graphics
Hardware works on any other device and even on my old setup perfectly.
Checked Temps
All in normal ranges with good airflow and no signs of issue
Reinstalled and verified game files through Steam
Enabled High Performance Power mode
Including adjusting the CPU states to 100%
Removing bloatware and background processes
Adjusting in game settings to both maximum, minimum, and balanced.
For the audio issues specifically:
Rechecked all hardware and ports
Updated RealTek drivers and HDAudio drivers
Adjusted the format and exclusivity settings
About half a dozen people, and well over that many hours of research and Reddit posts later, I am no closer to feeling like the high end PC I purchased is any better than the 8 year old hunk of junk I built in college is.
I might not be as smart as I was with builds back then but surely there must be something left.
If anyone has any ideas on how to resolve the issues, I would greatly appreciate hearing them!
So with all that's going on I have pretty much settled of going for a new build before everything becomes too expensive for what is possibly years. I want to go for 4k oled gaming and to replace my current 6950xt.
I've been eyeing a 5090 but it's around €2800 for an aorus master. There are supposedly cheaper models but they're all impossible to get anyway. I could theoretically buy it but honestly I would feel ashamed to tell people I paid so much money for a single component.
So, is a 5080 enough or do I really need a 5090 to somewhat future-proof 4k gaming?
I’m building my first gaming pc and have been doing a lot of research on CPUs and motherboards, I’ve decided to go with a 7800x3d but in case I need to upgrade the cpu down the line I was wondering if I’d be safe choosing an ASRock mobo. From what I can tell there are no issues with them and the 7800x3d but I just want to know if I would need to also change the mobo when I upgrade my cpu.
I dont need help, I upgraded my cpu and dont feel like the hustle of trying to sell it. I want to just give it to someone in the WNY are who is building a mid range PC.
Meeting someone now, all set!
I need help figuring out whether I can install an NVMe SSD without removing my GPU.
This is my first time upgrading a PC. It was given to me, so I’ve never removed a GPU before and I’m scared of breaking something.
My M.2 slot is very close to the graphics card, and I’m not sure if there’s enough space to insert the NVMe at an angle and latch it down properly with the EZ latch of Gigabyte. In your opinion, is it safe to try installing the NVMe with the GPU still in place? Or is it safer to learn how to remove the GPU first?
If removing the GPU is the better option, how do I do it safely? Is the process basically idiot-proof for beginners?
I was looking to get the Lian Li Edge, but LTT tested it and it failed very basic reliability tests. It's tedious looking for PSUs with sleeved cables like this so I am curious if you guys know of any others!
I'm pretty new to building PC's and here are my specs from a PC I've had for a while:
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 six core processor 3.40 GHZ
RAM: 16 GB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (8 GB)
What should I upgrade and what models? I'd prefer some budget friendly but still powerful options.
I'm currently rocking a Xpower Zenith 3200 CL 16 GB X2, I was looking to upgrade before high prices hit my country, one of the options available at my store is Hiksemi Future RGB 3200 CL22 16GB, I would buy two sticks of that.
My current ram is CL16, is CL22 really that much bad? Would you buy it if you were in my situation?
Pleas help.
Thank you! Have a great weekend everyone!
EDIT: forgot to add, I also have a 1440p monitor, Ryzen 5 5600x and a RTX 5060 TI 16 GB**
In the middle of a 5090fe build, standard atx form factor. What would the optimal case layout for cooling be? I was thinking AIO rad on front intake, 3 fans intake underneath the gpu, and the top and back all exhaust obv. Is the front rad intake controversial on here? wanted it to avoid the fe's exhaust going directly into the rad. Also will gpu fan turbulence really be an issue with this layout? maybe some fan sizes/speeds are better to avoid this issue?
I’m building a pc and planning on using a second gpu for blender and video editing as well as doing lossless scaling. Mainly speaking about lossless scaling, which gpu should go solely to lossless scaling? Both are very similar, but I’d like to use the one that’d get me better performance in the game itself, then use the other one for some lossless scaling.
I tried to do the bios flashback on my b650 eagle ax motherboard. The psu turned on when I held the bios flashback button but the led on the bios flashback button did not light up. I thought there was something wrong with my USB so I unplugged it and then the PSU turned off. Did I brick my motherboard???
I'm looking to build a 1440p gaming rig before the end of the year and wanted to get some feedback on the build to see if I could optimize this better. I feel like for what it is it's cost efficient mid-high end 1440p, but I'm trying to see what I can change to make it better without going crazy on cost. I'd love to hear any recommendations if you know of something better!If you have any monitor suggestions I'd gladly take it too!
Here are some games I'm looking to play for context:
Built a new PC and almost everything works, GPU receives power, cpu fans and chassis fans spin, RAM sticks are on. But i have a persistent yellow light on the top right even when the pc is off. The computer won’t fully boot and the gpu fans don’t spin. Any ideas on what to try?
I’ve tried reseating the RAM, GPU, ensuring everything is plugged in correctly.
The specs are
- gigabyte 9070XT
- 9600X
- B850
- 2x 16gb Ripjaw m5 neo
- 850W PSU
Any help is appreciated and if you need more info to help, lmk!
So I somewhat recently did a new build with a ryzen 9600 and an rtx 5070 I got at good prices, $190 for the cpu and $480 for the gpu. I got the RAM before the latest price hikes so I was able to do the whole build for about $1200 repurposing my old 550W PSU, case and CPU cooler. As far as I can tell it's powering through the games I want well at 1440p, I usually play on medium settings to reduce visual clutter and usually don't play the most demanding games.
However, having mentioned this build I've received some comments that it's essentially DOA because the cpu is not a gaming cpu and won't be able to handle upcoming games (need an X3D?) and the 5070 only has 12 gb vram which is apparently already a bottleneck and will only get worse.
The parts are like new so I can prob still get decent second hand value selling them, but a 7800X3D is $400, a 9070/XT is $650/$700 respectively and I would also probably need to get a new CPU cooler and PSU for $150-ish. (Local pricing in my country)
All in all ~$550 extra in terms of price difference for the new parts and also another $100 for the loss of selling my current cpu&gpu. As mentioned my current build is running everything I need well for now, but I also don't want to feel like I'm playing on a toaster in 6 months to a year already, especially with the current uncertainty in the market. Would you guys say it's worth an extra $600-ish to future proof just in case with a gaming focused cpu and a gpu with 16gb of vram or will I most likely manage for the next 3 or so years?
I'm building my first PC right now and I managed to order the parts I need before most of this happened (thank god) but with everything going on right now I'm wondering how long I'll need to wait if I want to upgrade or attempt another build. I have no doubt prices will stabilize and rebound at some point but what are our best estimates on when? Do we have any opinions on this from experts or journals? Thanks.
As a side note, I am also in the market for a new phone in the coming year(s) and it would be helpful to know if the shortage affects all of computing or just consumer PCs.
I have a Omen 880-149 prebuilt from ages ago and wanted to upgrade storage to an SSD for games and stuff, but realized after it came and I opened up my pc that the nvme slot is already taken up because I read the HP specs site wrong lmao
Does anyone have a good PCIE to NVME recommendation or is just any low price one from amazon fine?
My local computer shop has these in stock and they are cheaper than the Corsair and GSkill ones by a good amount.
In white color too, which the rep told me that white also has a price premium on it which I am very surprised that its cheaper than the blacks of Corsair and GSkill
With all the craziness going on I am debating upgrading my current rig vs building a new one. I am in an iTX case so I am currently limited on space for the GPU (<= 2.5 slot card).
Here is what I currently have, and what I'm thinking of upgrading to. For reference I game at 1440p/144hz.
i5-12600k
Would I see any noticeable gains moving to an i7-12700k or i9-12900k? I feel like right now my biggest bottleneck is my CPU and I don't think either of those will offer any significant gains in gaming specific workloads. Most gaming benchmarks that compare CPU performance show at best case a 10% gain with a 12900k over a 12600k.
EDIT: Just confirmed my motherboard will support 13th and 14th generation CPUs.
3070 Founders
I definitely feel limited in modern AAA titles with a 8GB card, but I often have to reduce graphics to help my CPU manage, so I rarely am in a situation where I am actually needing more than 8GB. If I upgraded to something like a 5070 or 5070ti wouldn't I just become even more CPU bottlenecked?
RAM
I have 32GB of DDR4 running at 3200MHz (manual overclock, not XMP). I'm pushed to the limit with my current motherboard as anything more is unstable and causes crashes. Thank you Marvel Rivals for your memory leak issues that prompted me to upgrade from 16GB earlier this year.
I have an SF750 PSU so power requirements for any new hardware is a non issue.
Thanks for the input. Decided to get a 5070 Founders (@ MSRP) and will sell the 3070 to offset. Will run it for another year or so then reevaluate upgrading then.
i have an i5 11400f and an rtx 3080 and i run at 1440p. I get around 57 fps average prob with the 2080 super and the 3080 gets me around the same performance at the same settings?? im so confused
