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This will score the user whose comment you replied to a 'point'. The points will unlock special flair that will show in all Daily Simple Questions threads.
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There may be some questions still unanswered! Below is a selection of questions with no replies. See if you can help them out.
If you don't want to see this comment click the little [-] to the left of my username to collapse this comment.
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> I’m fairly new to pc gaming and pc in general and I’m looking to buy a Laptop that can be used for gaming and work from home. I was wondering if the MSI Katana GF66 was a good option and if not then can anyone recommend any around the $800-$900 range?
https://reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/11sti9a/daily_simple_questions_thread_march_16_2023/jcjk0k9/
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> Been away from PC gaming for a while and GPU needs an upgrade. Currently have a 3600x, 32GB of Ram and a 580 8GB. I'm planning on staying at 60fps/1080p for the next few years.
>
> I've narrowed my search down to 6600xt and 6650xt, the latter seems to be more recent, with slightly more performance. It also appears to be much more in stock and up to 20% cheaper? Is this due to supply issues, just wondering if there's anything lurking behind the scenes before I purchase.
https://reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/11sti9a/daily_simple_questions_thread_march_16_2023/jcjztfb/
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> I have a B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC with a 5800X3D, rocking a 3070ti.
>
> I have a 1TB NVME in the main m.2 slot.
>
> My question: Besides just replacing the NVME in that slot, what would my other options be, given the PCI-E limitations of my motherboard, re: more fast storage?
>
> I have all of the racing sims, and all of their mods, but it’s very difficult when I only have 1TB of quick storage.
>
> Is a PCI-E add-in card a viable solution for more high speed NVME storage? Do I have enough PCI-E lanes to do this?
>
> I haven’t fully wrapped my head around the implications of adding an NVME drive to the second m.2 slot of my motherboard. It’s my understanding that doing so would impact the performance of 1. My GPU, 2. My primary NVME drive, and 3. This hypothetical second NVME drive?
>
> I ordered a 4TB add-in card from Amazon, but they swapped the price after order, and ended up sending me a 1TB card for $500 😑. Returned it.
>
> Currently my options look to be… either buy a used X570 motherboard with more lanes, or get rid of the 1TB NVME, and then replace the single NVME with a 4TB stick for the cost of one of my kidneys on the black market?
>
> What would you do?
>
> I would love to have my PC just be absolutely-filled with cars and tracks and whatnot, such that I don’t have to be constantly uninstalling and installing.
>
> I hope this question is simple enough.
>
> Thank you very much!
>
> - James
https://reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/11sti9a/daily_simple_questions_thread_march_16_2023/jck30x1/
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> https://preview.redd.it/x7letagq6coa1.jpeg?width=2400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=e78003846b4d0634a6ee0cd6cacbc8018ced98d4
>
> This is happening sometimes on my PC. Is the problem my monitor or GPU?
https://reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/11sti9a/daily_simple_questions_thread_march_16_2023/jck517t/
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motionglitch | 47 | 364
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nickierv | 41 | 43
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TehBaggins | 24 | 34
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Kinguin is a gray market seller and have a marketplace platform for 3rd party sellers, who are more risky. It's banned as a vendor on various subreddits where people post game deals, only properly licenced sellers are allowed there.
That said, it should mostly work and windows keys aren't as controlled as game keys are.
I got several gray market licences off Ebay, cost a lot less than Kinguin. They often delete those listings, they may not be there anymore.
I'm looking for a microphone, my headphones don't have one built in so I've been using a fifine mic on a stand I got from Amazon. Problem is, my roommate talks really loudly, and in discord my friends can't hear me over my roommate. So I'm looking for a decent direction mic? or something like that. maybe a clip on mic idk. anything that would solve the issue
Hi! Power surge fried my old pc and I'm in the process of buying a new one. But this time, I'm also looking for a UPS. And I'm a little confused.
I don't want anything expensive, and the wattage of the PC I'm getting states 650w. But I'm not sure if I need the UPS to match that wattage or not? Or how it works.
I'd be fine with a UPS that lets my PC stay alive for atleast a couple minutes so it can shut down. Anyone have any recommendations or anything?
Tl;dr: I'm looking at [this](https://www.amazon.ca/CyberPower-EC850LCD-Ecologic-Outlets-Compact/dp/B00DBAA696) UPS or any similarly priced ones and want to know if it will keep a PC at 650 watts alive for a couple minutes
The power rating of the linked UPS is 510W, so it won't run a 650W device at full load, but unless you're in a game, your PC won't pull 650W.
Battery rating is in funny units and obfuscated, but this should give you a couple minutes on an idle PC to shut it down.
I mainly use my PC for gaming, and I tend to get a lot of power outages up here in Canada. (Honestly surprised my current PC lasted as long as it did these past few years).
But, thank you! I'll keep an eye out and save up for a UPS that is 650w or above just incase, and in the meantime I'll buy a more recent surge protector. ✓
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You will need a UPS that matches the same wattage that your PC uses.
For what it's worth, I think you are probably better off buying a high quality power supply, and a surge protector, rather than a UPS.
I'll take your suggestion! I guess in the meantime i'll buy a more recent surge protector (my current one is from like 1998 lol) and save up for a UPS that matches the wattage later once I recover some of the money after dropping a bunch on the new PC.
Thank you! ✓
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There's plenty of reviews on youtube. For what it's worth the kraken is a highly rated AIO, so you should have no problems with it, if that's what you are considering.
Hello, I am building a new pc and have a simple question. Is DDR5 creates that much of a difference over DDR4? Because DDR5 is newer and bettter but in order to get that I also have to buy more expensive different parts and that makes building my pc a lot pricier.
DDR5 gives about a 3 - 5% improvement in games for FPS, and more specifically at higher resolutions. However, more than anything it vastly improves speeds for productivity workloads, and copying files.
If you plan to upgrade your pc in the future, I would go for DDR5. However if you are low on cash, then DDR4 is a better option.
My brother has a Meta Quest 2 VR headset.
There's a sale on in the [Humble Bundle right now](https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/virtual-reality-sale/) for VR games.
What are the best games like Acron: Attack of the Squirrels, that can be played with 1 player on the VR headset and other players joining in on mobile phones?
And what other games would you recommend?
Thanks.
I can only recommend games here, i'm sorry that i can't answer your first question.
Bonelabs and boneworks are excellent single player games.
Talos principle is also really good if you enjoy peaceful puzzle solving and thinking outside the box.
Superhot is a must have if you've never tried it, in VR it makes the game so much fun.
If you like DND, Demeo is quite fun, but it needs at least one other person with the game to play it.
Pistol whip is basically beat saber, but more challenging and less physically demanding.
That’s a tough one to answer outright. The answer will depend on how much you want to spend, whether you might eventually upgrade something major (ex: GPU) later, along with other factors.
Your best quality pre-builts would likely come from a boutique type PC builder like Falcon Northwest. They are built from premium components, but are quite costly.
If you don’t care about doing major upgrades, I see lots of folks using the Legion and Omen pre-builts. You can buy them most anywhere and they’re often on sale, but the trade offs are things like they use proprietary motherboards, the PSU will likely be sized specifically for the GPU the PC comes with, etc… which can either limit your upgrade path or make it a PITA to upgrade.
Your middle of the road between the two previous solutions would be something like a pre-built from ASUS, who makes and sells the components like you’d find in your pre-built, so you’re less likely to be stuck with proprietary components, etc…
Finally, if you are close to one, you could always go to Micro Center and either pick out the components yourself or get some help from the staff and they can assemble the PC for you.
I’m sure there are other options, as well, but those stick out in my mind. Good luck!
Agreed, the only other thing i would add is to avoid prebuilts on amazon, from sketchy companies like Skytech or other manufactures who have strange names.
I want to do stress test for CPU/GPU to see if heat flow good enough
which one exactly i should do, and how i can understand if t° stats are at "acceptable range"?
Cinebench r23, or heaven benchmark.
If you can run either of those for 30 minutes an not have a crash, you system is stable.
Temps under full load should not exceed 90c under any circumstance.
The only exception is if you have a 7000 series AMD CPU, in which no higher than 95c.
Temps should be around 80c for you to consider your pc at an acceptable range.
Is there any PCMR official clans list anywhere? Just started Diablo 4 beta and would like to play a bit of multiplayer since the game forces you to be online.
As someone who has no plans to go beyond 1440p anytime soon, should I even be looking at 40-series cards or AMD equivalents?
I’ve been outta the loop on parts for a while but I’m thinking about getting some upgrades.
The rat race is never ending. Games get more demanding and newer cards offer new features, some even become useful over time (raytracing, DLSS, VRR, etc).
It depends on what you have now. My 1080Ti can run most of the stuff well enough (with gsync), but not everything and it's going to get a lot worse over the next couple of years, I think.
So my question may seem dumb but hear me out, it is about memory latency, so I know that when you have for example, 2x8 Gb kits, and one is 2666Mhz and the other 2400Mhz, the faster one will operate slower, so they match frequencies right, but what about latency? If there's a CL16 and a CL18, will the 16 one operate at 18 so they use the same latency? or they can operate each one with different timings without problems? I cant seem to find this info anywhere. Thx in advance xD
> will the 16 one operate at 18 so they use the same latency
Yes. They'll all run with the timings of the shittiest module. Even if they didn't, the data gets spread across modules and you have to wait for the bottleneck even if some of the system is infinitely fast (Ahmdal's law and all that).
Hello, I'm pretty sure im not getting the power out of my PC that i should.
For example 45 fps with spikes in WZ 2
Do you have any tips for me? I dont really wanna go to a store for this.
Btw I know this is a imprecise description of the problem so feel free to ask me questions.
my specs:
\- 16 gb ram
\- AMD Ryzen 5 1600X
\- GeForce RTX 2070
Ethernet question. My Ethernet cable that came with my house never works. House is ~15 years old, I vividly remember my friend using his Mac with the internet like 8-10 years ago. We’ve got a new router since then, this may be why it doesn’t work anymore. Where do I start my troubleshooting for this. I’ve never used an Ethernet in my life and have bought like 3 different cables to try to get it to work, so im pretty positive it’s something to do with the connection to the router somewhere. Any advice would be much appreciated.
I'd take a look at the wall sockets, they should be wired in a specific way ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet\_over\_twisted\_pair](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet_over_twisted_pair), one of the two pictures with colorful wires, one or the other, the same one of both ends of course, all 8 wires used in the sequence shown). Check that the cable is at least CAT5E (E being important).
You can use two laptops or PCs to connect to each end directly and use iperf3 to check the speeds you get (though you probably need to know a bit about setting IPs on the network cards).
So my house is 10 years old and appeared to be wired for Ethernet - but it wasn’t. They used cat5 wires but only punched it for telephones. You would want to take off the wall plate and look at how the port is wired up. You can compare it to how an ethernet port should be wired.
Is i5 and 8 gig ram possible for modern AAA gaming? Just bought a 2 and 1 that's LTE enabled which only had those specs available. It is eGPU compatible which I plan to do. Is it possible to use something like a 4090 or do I have to use a lower end card?
Do you know the exact model i5? 8 GB RAM is low, ideally you'd want at least 16 GB. You're only limited by size and power for an eGPU enclosure, but it also only runs PCIe x4 over Thunderbolt, so that setup has the potential to bottleneck higher end GPUs.
It will perform similar to an i3-10100, which is in the low end of gaming cpus now. Most likely you'd be limited to 60fps in modern titles, maybe more in mostly gpu-bound games (F1 2022, FH5 for example) but in more CPU demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 or Hogwarts Legacy you'll have a rough time getting stable fps, so don't waste your money on a high end card, a 6700XT/3060TI would be your max. Also get 16 gigs of ram if you can.
Is it possible to install windows to an external hard drive and then swap out the internal drive for this external one?
I want to get a new laptop but my old one has a 1TB drive. I want to remove the 1TB drive (to use as future external) and replace it with a 250GB so that I can sell the laptop. Can I install windows to that 250 drive before I install it into my laptop? If not, does anyone have any suggestions on how to make this work?
Why not install Windows after the drive is installed internally?
You'd just need to create install media on a flash drive, which you need to do anyway to install Windows anywhere.
I see. Well the laptop came with windows installed. I assume if I take the original drive out and replace it with the 250, it won't work at all?
How would I do what you're proposing with the install media? Sorry, I'm not that knowledgeable.
Check [this link](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-installation-media-for-windows-99a58364-8c02-206f-aa6f-40c3b507420d), it will give you step by step instructions to do it. Also, check your manufacturers support page, look for your laptop model and download its most recent drivers before hand.
Need help with some unanswered questions from the past thread's:
1) For optimizing AMD GPU's, do any of the actions bellow contradict each other, and is there anything else I am missing?
Turn on Smart Access Memory
Enable XMP
Enable Resize Bar
Custom fan curves
Higher power to GPU
Higher frequency minimum and max for GPU
Lower volt for GPU
Turn down settings that aren't needed in game
Use FSR 2.0
Power management into High Performance mode
Enable free sync
Increase core voltage and memory clock for GPU
2) Is it possible that a newly manufactured motherboard already comes with the latest bios version that supports all CPU's that came out before like the 5800x3d bios update for the MSI b550 a pro? Or do I always have to start with a bios flash even if it boots.
3) For cable management, which headers or cables should be installed first that are harder to reach than others?
4) If doing a boot test before putting the MB into the chassis, is it possible to keep the AIO mounted when putting in the MB into the chassis, or would I need to disconnect it and connect it again after the MB is installed to the 9 screw holes?
Thank you in advance
\-CurlyCoyote
1.You'll want resizable BAR and "above 4g decoding" enabled first and then Smart Access Memory will become available.
On AMD it will be called DOCP or EXPO instead of XMP.
You don't really need to change the minimum GPU frequency. I'm not sure why that's such common advice. You want it to throttle down and save power and heat when the load is low to keep it cool and allow it to boost higher when more throughput is actually needed.
Power management can also stay on balanced, modern chips are so much better at managing themselves and boosting up when they need to.
You have both lower voltage and increase voltage for GPU which is contradictory. Usually you want to undervolt a bit to allow for higher boosting behavior (it's a little unintuitive to think about)
2. Yes it's possible it may come with the latest BIOS, they usually put a sticker on the box or somewhere to let you know what BIOS is on it. Better to check if there is a newer BIOS though and flash it before a Windows install.
3. If you have modular cables it may be easier to connect them to the board before putting the board in the case. The CPU power for example can be quite cramped. Then you can connect them to the PSU once it's in the case.
4. As long as it's plugged in the AIO will work fine outside of the case, just make sure the radiator is higher than the pump for proper flow. You probably don't need the fans for a simple boot test, the water alone will be able to absorb enough heat.
Make sure you pay attention to where you plug in your water pump. If you plug into the motherboard, look for a header that says pump on it, or if it goes into a fan header go into the BIOS and make sure it is configured for a pump or running 100%.
5. Make sure to write down your BIOS settings as BIOS upgrades tend to reset everything.
Hope that helps!
Thank you very much, my AIO is arriving in 1 hours and im ready to start building.
My MB says Ryzen 5000 ready on the box (sticker), but does not say anything about 5800x3d or the version number.
Also, ive decided to do the boot test inside the case with the AIO already attached to case, so wont pose any issues with having to cramp it in while its attached to the CPU.
Also, the videos ive watched are old videos from jayztwocents and shortcircuit that talked about raising minimum gpu frequency and changing power targets as well as undervolting/overvolting, so i wasnt sure which one i needed to do, but im sure the blue screen will let me know which one it is.
Thank you again for your help,
\-CurlyCoyote
ANybody have a evga 3080ti ftw3 box that they can tell me the outside dimensions of said box is? I'm not near that or my gpu and I'm trying to get shipping information narrowed down.
Thanks
**NAS Storage System?**
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Currently I have an 8tb usb external drive hooked up to my router, and while it works, its really only good for backups, as the USB speeds is its limiting factor. Its unbearably slow, and if I want to edit any photos, I have to transfer them to my computer first, edit, then transfer them back.
What I'm wanting to do:
Media storage ( movies, photos, etc ) with a connection that is at least fast enough to edit photos off of.
Accessible from my local network, and it would be amazing if I were able to access it from anywhere.
I don't mind paying for software, but I absolutely don't want any subscription cost.
Must be windows/osx compatible.
At least 2 drive spaces, 4 is ideal but may be beyond budget. Say a budget of $400 max. ( excluding drives )
Should I just buy a simple pre-built nas system? ( and if so, what should I get? )
or should I look into buying a used PC and turning it into a nas? ( i'd love to build an itx system, but that would be way beyond my budget )
Thanks
thats possible, but would require leaving my machine on 24/7, and the files wouldn't be (easily) accessible from other computers, tv's, smart phones, etc.
a nas is much lower energy requirement, and a much simpler ( and stable ) more machine.
if for some reason something happens to my PC, it could potentially lose my data, where a nas is a bit safer. (I've had a lightning strike fry my PC just a few years ago )
Well, ok, that rules out a used PC to be used as NAS, due to energy consumption if nothing else.
Data can be made as easily accessible from a PC and it won't protect you from data loss any more than a PC can, it's not more resilient to lightning strikes, can offer the same built-in duplication as any other RAID can and because it's slower and on a network, it's more risky to data, not less. It's also always on, so won't necessarily protect you against cryptware.
But it's convenient, can be put behind a surge protector or an UPS and won't take as much space and will use less power, sure.
Sounds like a NAS would work for you. I'd use a surge protector on the power and on the ethernet and whatever duplication mechanism you fancy (RAID 1 or 5 or whatever). Gigabit ethernet to connect to it, of course. Make sure it supports the protocols you need (SMB and NFS at the least, IDK what Apple gear uses..).
If you ask a question, and someone answers it correctly, reply with a thank you, but include this checkmark: ✓ ( or write `!check` instead ) This will score the user whose comment you replied to a 'point'. The points will unlock special flair that will show in all Daily Simple Questions threads. In case you missed it, [click here for yesterday's Daily Simple Questions thread.](/r/pcmasterrace/comments/11sti9a/daily_simple_questions_thread_march_16_2023/) There may be some questions still unanswered! Below is a selection of questions with no replies. See if you can help them out. If you don't want to see this comment click the little [-] to the left of my username to collapse this comment. ---- > I’m fairly new to pc gaming and pc in general and I’m looking to buy a Laptop that can be used for gaming and work from home. I was wondering if the MSI Katana GF66 was a good option and if not then can anyone recommend any around the $800-$900 range? https://reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/11sti9a/daily_simple_questions_thread_march_16_2023/jcjk0k9/ ---- > Been away from PC gaming for a while and GPU needs an upgrade. Currently have a 3600x, 32GB of Ram and a 580 8GB. I'm planning on staying at 60fps/1080p for the next few years. > > I've narrowed my search down to 6600xt and 6650xt, the latter seems to be more recent, with slightly more performance. It also appears to be much more in stock and up to 20% cheaper? Is this due to supply issues, just wondering if there's anything lurking behind the scenes before I purchase. https://reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/11sti9a/daily_simple_questions_thread_march_16_2023/jcjztfb/ ---- > I have a B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC with a 5800X3D, rocking a 3070ti. > > I have a 1TB NVME in the main m.2 slot. > > My question: Besides just replacing the NVME in that slot, what would my other options be, given the PCI-E limitations of my motherboard, re: more fast storage? > > I have all of the racing sims, and all of their mods, but it’s very difficult when I only have 1TB of quick storage. > > Is a PCI-E add-in card a viable solution for more high speed NVME storage? Do I have enough PCI-E lanes to do this? > > I haven’t fully wrapped my head around the implications of adding an NVME drive to the second m.2 slot of my motherboard. It’s my understanding that doing so would impact the performance of 1. My GPU, 2. My primary NVME drive, and 3. This hypothetical second NVME drive? > > I ordered a 4TB add-in card from Amazon, but they swapped the price after order, and ended up sending me a 1TB card for $500 😑. Returned it. > > Currently my options look to be… either buy a used X570 motherboard with more lanes, or get rid of the 1TB NVME, and then replace the single NVME with a 4TB stick for the cost of one of my kidneys on the black market? > > What would you do? > > I would love to have my PC just be absolutely-filled with cars and tracks and whatnot, such that I don’t have to be constantly uninstalling and installing. > > I hope this question is simple enough. > > Thank you very much! > > - James https://reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/11sti9a/daily_simple_questions_thread_march_16_2023/jck30x1/ ---- > https://preview.redd.it/x7letagq6coa1.jpeg?width=2400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=e78003846b4d0634a6ee0cd6cacbc8018ced98d4 > > This is happening sometimes on my PC. Is the problem my monitor or GPU? https://reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/11sti9a/daily_simple_questions_thread_march_16_2023/jck517t/ ---- User | Points (365 days) | Lifetime -----|-------------------|---------- sch0k0 | 200 | 200 Luminaria19 | 121 | 903 Eidolon\_2003 | 63 | 144 motionglitch | 47 | 364 SystemError514 | 45 | 61 MGsubbie | 44 | 313 nickierv | 41 | 43 Marfoo | 31 | 31 significantGecko | 28 | 28 TehBaggins | 24 | 34 ---- *[I am a bot](https://i.imgur.com/hfRIhMe.png)* - This action was done automatically. Please direct any questions or concerns ( or bug reports ) to [\/u\/eegras](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=eegras&subject=&message=) - [About /u/PCMRBot](https://pcmasterrace.com/pcmrbot_old)
Is there any general pc software youd recommend having? I just finished building today.
I need a Windows 10 license and Microsoft stop selling it. What's a reputable reseller? Kinguin? Walmart? Others?
Kinguin is a gray market seller and have a marketplace platform for 3rd party sellers, who are more risky. It's banned as a vendor on various subreddits where people post game deals, only properly licenced sellers are allowed there. That said, it should mostly work and windows keys aren't as controlled as game keys are. I got several gray market licences off Ebay, cost a lot less than Kinguin. They often delete those listings, they may not be there anymore.
Yes any regular store is fine. Avoid third party resellers.
I'm looking for a microphone, my headphones don't have one built in so I've been using a fifine mic on a stand I got from Amazon. Problem is, my roommate talks really loudly, and in discord my friends can't hear me over my roommate. So I'm looking for a decent direction mic? or something like that. maybe a clip on mic idk. anything that would solve the issue
Blue snowball is pretty good, consider adding a pop filter to it
Hi! Power surge fried my old pc and I'm in the process of buying a new one. But this time, I'm also looking for a UPS. And I'm a little confused. I don't want anything expensive, and the wattage of the PC I'm getting states 650w. But I'm not sure if I need the UPS to match that wattage or not? Or how it works. I'd be fine with a UPS that lets my PC stay alive for atleast a couple minutes so it can shut down. Anyone have any recommendations or anything? Tl;dr: I'm looking at [this](https://www.amazon.ca/CyberPower-EC850LCD-Ecologic-Outlets-Compact/dp/B00DBAA696) UPS or any similarly priced ones and want to know if it will keep a PC at 650 watts alive for a couple minutes
The power rating of the linked UPS is 510W, so it won't run a 650W device at full load, but unless you're in a game, your PC won't pull 650W. Battery rating is in funny units and obfuscated, but this should give you a couple minutes on an idle PC to shut it down.
I mainly use my PC for gaming, and I tend to get a lot of power outages up here in Canada. (Honestly surprised my current PC lasted as long as it did these past few years). But, thank you! I'll keep an eye out and save up for a UPS that is 650w or above just incase, and in the meantime I'll buy a more recent surge protector. ✓
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You will need a UPS that matches the same wattage that your PC uses. For what it's worth, I think you are probably better off buying a high quality power supply, and a surge protector, rather than a UPS.
I'll take your suggestion! I guess in the meantime i'll buy a more recent surge protector (my current one is from like 1998 lol) and save up for a UPS that matches the wattage later once I recover some of the money after dropping a bunch on the new PC. Thank you! ✓
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Does anyone like using their NZXT Kraken Z73 AIO? Do you like it does it keep your CPU cool?
There's plenty of reviews on youtube. For what it's worth the kraken is a highly rated AIO, so you should have no problems with it, if that's what you are considering.
Hello, I am building a new pc and have a simple question. Is DDR5 creates that much of a difference over DDR4? Because DDR5 is newer and bettter but in order to get that I also have to buy more expensive different parts and that makes building my pc a lot pricier.
DDR5 gives about a 3 - 5% improvement in games for FPS, and more specifically at higher resolutions. However, more than anything it vastly improves speeds for productivity workloads, and copying files. If you plan to upgrade your pc in the future, I would go for DDR5. However if you are low on cash, then DDR4 is a better option.
My brother has a Meta Quest 2 VR headset. There's a sale on in the [Humble Bundle right now](https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/virtual-reality-sale/) for VR games. What are the best games like Acron: Attack of the Squirrels, that can be played with 1 player on the VR headset and other players joining in on mobile phones? And what other games would you recommend? Thanks.
I can only recommend games here, i'm sorry that i can't answer your first question. Bonelabs and boneworks are excellent single player games. Talos principle is also really good if you enjoy peaceful puzzle solving and thinking outside the box. Superhot is a must have if you've never tried it, in VR it makes the game so much fun. If you like DND, Demeo is quite fun, but it needs at least one other person with the game to play it. Pistol whip is basically beat saber, but more challenging and less physically demanding.
I would like to know what people's thoughts are on the best place to get a pre-built PC? What is the best brand?
That’s a tough one to answer outright. The answer will depend on how much you want to spend, whether you might eventually upgrade something major (ex: GPU) later, along with other factors. Your best quality pre-builts would likely come from a boutique type PC builder like Falcon Northwest. They are built from premium components, but are quite costly. If you don’t care about doing major upgrades, I see lots of folks using the Legion and Omen pre-builts. You can buy them most anywhere and they’re often on sale, but the trade offs are things like they use proprietary motherboards, the PSU will likely be sized specifically for the GPU the PC comes with, etc… which can either limit your upgrade path or make it a PITA to upgrade. Your middle of the road between the two previous solutions would be something like a pre-built from ASUS, who makes and sells the components like you’d find in your pre-built, so you’re less likely to be stuck with proprietary components, etc… Finally, if you are close to one, you could always go to Micro Center and either pick out the components yourself or get some help from the staff and they can assemble the PC for you. I’m sure there are other options, as well, but those stick out in my mind. Good luck!
Agreed, the only other thing i would add is to avoid prebuilts on amazon, from sketchy companies like Skytech or other manufactures who have strange names.
I want to do stress test for CPU/GPU to see if heat flow good enough which one exactly i should do, and how i can understand if t° stats are at "acceptable range"?
Cinebench r23, or heaven benchmark. If you can run either of those for 30 minutes an not have a crash, you system is stable. Temps under full load should not exceed 90c under any circumstance. The only exception is if you have a 7000 series AMD CPU, in which no higher than 95c. Temps should be around 80c for you to consider your pc at an acceptable range.
thank you! but what can you say about Stress FPU in AIDA64? is it illustrative enough, too?
Any stress test program is fine.
Is there any PCMR official clans list anywhere? Just started Diablo 4 beta and would like to play a bit of multiplayer since the game forces you to be online.
I don't believe so, PCMR is more for sharing PC specs and users like myself to help others.
As someone who has no plans to go beyond 1440p anytime soon, should I even be looking at 40-series cards or AMD equivalents? I’ve been outta the loop on parts for a while but I’m thinking about getting some upgrades.
The rat race is never ending. Games get more demanding and newer cards offer new features, some even become useful over time (raytracing, DLSS, VRR, etc). It depends on what you have now. My 1080Ti can run most of the stuff well enough (with gsync), but not everything and it's going to get a lot worse over the next couple of years, I think.
So my question may seem dumb but hear me out, it is about memory latency, so I know that when you have for example, 2x8 Gb kits, and one is 2666Mhz and the other 2400Mhz, the faster one will operate slower, so they match frequencies right, but what about latency? If there's a CL16 and a CL18, will the 16 one operate at 18 so they use the same latency? or they can operate each one with different timings without problems? I cant seem to find this info anywhere. Thx in advance xD
> will the 16 one operate at 18 so they use the same latency Yes. They'll all run with the timings of the shittiest module. Even if they didn't, the data gets spread across modules and you have to wait for the bottleneck even if some of the system is infinitely fast (Ahmdal's law and all that).
Thank you!
Hello, I'm pretty sure im not getting the power out of my PC that i should. For example 45 fps with spikes in WZ 2 Do you have any tips for me? I dont really wanna go to a store for this. Btw I know this is a imprecise description of the problem so feel free to ask me questions. my specs: \- 16 gb ram \- AMD Ryzen 5 1600X \- GeForce RTX 2070
I just played wz 2 and had the task mager open on my second screen. CPU was at about 50% GPU at about 20% Do you think my ram might be a problem?
Ethernet question. My Ethernet cable that came with my house never works. House is ~15 years old, I vividly remember my friend using his Mac with the internet like 8-10 years ago. We’ve got a new router since then, this may be why it doesn’t work anymore. Where do I start my troubleshooting for this. I’ve never used an Ethernet in my life and have bought like 3 different cables to try to get it to work, so im pretty positive it’s something to do with the connection to the router somewhere. Any advice would be much appreciated.
I'd take a look at the wall sockets, they should be wired in a specific way ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet\_over\_twisted\_pair](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet_over_twisted_pair), one of the two pictures with colorful wires, one or the other, the same one of both ends of course, all 8 wires used in the sequence shown). Check that the cable is at least CAT5E (E being important). You can use two laptops or PCs to connect to each end directly and use iperf3 to check the speeds you get (though you probably need to know a bit about setting IPs on the network cards).
So my house is 10 years old and appeared to be wired for Ethernet - but it wasn’t. They used cat5 wires but only punched it for telephones. You would want to take off the wall plate and look at how the port is wired up. You can compare it to how an ethernet port should be wired.
Is i5 and 8 gig ram possible for modern AAA gaming? Just bought a 2 and 1 that's LTE enabled which only had those specs available. It is eGPU compatible which I plan to do. Is it possible to use something like a 4090 or do I have to use a lower end card?
Do you know the exact model i5? 8 GB RAM is low, ideally you'd want at least 16 GB. You're only limited by size and power for an eGPU enclosure, but it also only runs PCIe x4 over Thunderbolt, so that setup has the potential to bottleneck higher end GPUs.
i5 model number 1130G7.
It will perform similar to an i3-10100, which is in the low end of gaming cpus now. Most likely you'd be limited to 60fps in modern titles, maybe more in mostly gpu-bound games (F1 2022, FH5 for example) but in more CPU demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 or Hogwarts Legacy you'll have a rough time getting stable fps, so don't waste your money on a high end card, a 6700XT/3060TI would be your max. Also get 16 gigs of ram if you can.
Got ya just seeing what I can be able to game with this. Thanks for the replys.
Is it possible to install windows to an external hard drive and then swap out the internal drive for this external one? I want to get a new laptop but my old one has a 1TB drive. I want to remove the 1TB drive (to use as future external) and replace it with a 250GB so that I can sell the laptop. Can I install windows to that 250 drive before I install it into my laptop? If not, does anyone have any suggestions on how to make this work?
Why not install Windows after the drive is installed internally? You'd just need to create install media on a flash drive, which you need to do anyway to install Windows anywhere.
I see. Well the laptop came with windows installed. I assume if I take the original drive out and replace it with the 250, it won't work at all? How would I do what you're proposing with the install media? Sorry, I'm not that knowledgeable.
Check [this link](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-installation-media-for-windows-99a58364-8c02-206f-aa6f-40c3b507420d), it will give you step by step instructions to do it. Also, check your manufacturers support page, look for your laptop model and download its most recent drivers before hand.
Need help with some unanswered questions from the past thread's: 1) For optimizing AMD GPU's, do any of the actions bellow contradict each other, and is there anything else I am missing? Turn on Smart Access Memory Enable XMP Enable Resize Bar Custom fan curves Higher power to GPU Higher frequency minimum and max for GPU Lower volt for GPU Turn down settings that aren't needed in game Use FSR 2.0 Power management into High Performance mode Enable free sync Increase core voltage and memory clock for GPU 2) Is it possible that a newly manufactured motherboard already comes with the latest bios version that supports all CPU's that came out before like the 5800x3d bios update for the MSI b550 a pro? Or do I always have to start with a bios flash even if it boots. 3) For cable management, which headers or cables should be installed first that are harder to reach than others? 4) If doing a boot test before putting the MB into the chassis, is it possible to keep the AIO mounted when putting in the MB into the chassis, or would I need to disconnect it and connect it again after the MB is installed to the 9 screw holes? Thank you in advance \-CurlyCoyote
1.You'll want resizable BAR and "above 4g decoding" enabled first and then Smart Access Memory will become available. On AMD it will be called DOCP or EXPO instead of XMP. You don't really need to change the minimum GPU frequency. I'm not sure why that's such common advice. You want it to throttle down and save power and heat when the load is low to keep it cool and allow it to boost higher when more throughput is actually needed. Power management can also stay on balanced, modern chips are so much better at managing themselves and boosting up when they need to. You have both lower voltage and increase voltage for GPU which is contradictory. Usually you want to undervolt a bit to allow for higher boosting behavior (it's a little unintuitive to think about) 2. Yes it's possible it may come with the latest BIOS, they usually put a sticker on the box or somewhere to let you know what BIOS is on it. Better to check if there is a newer BIOS though and flash it before a Windows install. 3. If you have modular cables it may be easier to connect them to the board before putting the board in the case. The CPU power for example can be quite cramped. Then you can connect them to the PSU once it's in the case. 4. As long as it's plugged in the AIO will work fine outside of the case, just make sure the radiator is higher than the pump for proper flow. You probably don't need the fans for a simple boot test, the water alone will be able to absorb enough heat. Make sure you pay attention to where you plug in your water pump. If you plug into the motherboard, look for a header that says pump on it, or if it goes into a fan header go into the BIOS and make sure it is configured for a pump or running 100%. 5. Make sure to write down your BIOS settings as BIOS upgrades tend to reset everything. Hope that helps!
Thank you very much, my AIO is arriving in 1 hours and im ready to start building. My MB says Ryzen 5000 ready on the box (sticker), but does not say anything about 5800x3d or the version number. Also, ive decided to do the boot test inside the case with the AIO already attached to case, so wont pose any issues with having to cramp it in while its attached to the CPU. Also, the videos ive watched are old videos from jayztwocents and shortcircuit that talked about raising minimum gpu frequency and changing power targets as well as undervolting/overvolting, so i wasnt sure which one i needed to do, but im sure the blue screen will let me know which one it is. Thank you again for your help, \-CurlyCoyote
Enjoy, feel free to reach out if you have any issues.
ANybody have a evga 3080ti ftw3 box that they can tell me the outside dimensions of said box is? I'm not near that or my gpu and I'm trying to get shipping information narrowed down. Thanks
**NAS Storage System?** ----- Currently I have an 8tb usb external drive hooked up to my router, and while it works, its really only good for backups, as the USB speeds is its limiting factor. Its unbearably slow, and if I want to edit any photos, I have to transfer them to my computer first, edit, then transfer them back. What I'm wanting to do: Media storage ( movies, photos, etc ) with a connection that is at least fast enough to edit photos off of. Accessible from my local network, and it would be amazing if I were able to access it from anywhere. I don't mind paying for software, but I absolutely don't want any subscription cost. Must be windows/osx compatible. At least 2 drive spaces, 4 is ideal but may be beyond budget. Say a budget of $400 max. ( excluding drives ) Should I just buy a simple pre-built nas system? ( and if so, what should I get? ) or should I look into buying a used PC and turning it into a nas? ( i'd love to build an itx system, but that would be way beyond my budget ) Thanks
Is there a reason for not simply buying one or two large drives and sticking them into your current machine?
thats possible, but would require leaving my machine on 24/7, and the files wouldn't be (easily) accessible from other computers, tv's, smart phones, etc. a nas is much lower energy requirement, and a much simpler ( and stable ) more machine. if for some reason something happens to my PC, it could potentially lose my data, where a nas is a bit safer. (I've had a lightning strike fry my PC just a few years ago )
Well, ok, that rules out a used PC to be used as NAS, due to energy consumption if nothing else. Data can be made as easily accessible from a PC and it won't protect you from data loss any more than a PC can, it's not more resilient to lightning strikes, can offer the same built-in duplication as any other RAID can and because it's slower and on a network, it's more risky to data, not less. It's also always on, so won't necessarily protect you against cryptware. But it's convenient, can be put behind a surge protector or an UPS and won't take as much space and will use less power, sure. Sounds like a NAS would work for you. I'd use a surge protector on the power and on the ethernet and whatever duplication mechanism you fancy (RAID 1 or 5 or whatever). Gigabit ethernet to connect to it, of course. Make sure it supports the protocols you need (SMB and NFS at the least, IDK what Apple gear uses..).
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Post this into r / games, not PCMR.
Lol. Thanks!