The PC Building Thread

Yeah, there’s generally more damage from thermal cycling than sustained heat on modern electronics. I guess the fan bearings would be closer to end of life? Shouldn’t be a huge concern.

I’m generally really in to super efficient hardware, but just based on TDP vs other specs I think most of the efficiency gains in the 2080 are probably from the move to GDDR6. That’s nice but not something that I’m going to drop that kind of money on, especially if there’s piles of 10 series cards from retired miners floating around.

My five year old computer is crashy as fuck these days. I’ve replaced the power supply within the last six months and swapped out all the fans, but alas no avail. That means upgrade time!

The last two crashy computers I had were due to RAM. I replaced the RAM with sticks that were specifically listed as compatible in the motherboard manufacturer’s documentation. I also made sure to use XMP to get the memory timings exactly right. That solved all problems. Highly recommended.

Then again, 5 years is the right amount of time for a desktop to live, and you can probably afford a 2080 that should last > 5 years.

I have a 980ti that I’m going to keep between the builds, probably will upgrade the GPU later. Mostly focusing on upgrading to a NVMe drive and i7-8700k (even though the new Coffee Lake upgrade is around the corner)

I upgraded. Yes, I went gucci.

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I guess if you’re gonna get tacky LEDs you may as well go all in.

I have the same CPU, GPU, PSU and mobo I did in January 2011 and it all runs fine. Just upgraded to SSD and bought more RAM since then. Runs Overwatch and pretty much any game I care about.

Yeah, I found it also sticks you into a single vendor because there is no real interoperability between vendors and their RGB lighting software stack

I’m almost certainly going Mini ITX for my next build. I never have any PCIE cards other than a video card so one slot is fine and I’d like to have a PC small enough to fit pretty much anywhere.

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I’ve become a huge fan of the CoolerMaster Elite 110:

http://www.coolermaster.com/case/mini-itx/elite110/

Definitely recommend a modular PSU with it - otherwise, shit gets crowded in a hurry. It can fit many full-length GPU’s.

The Elite 130 is larger, but can definitely fit the largest modern GPU’s. I shied away from it because I wanted to stay smaller.

Don’t do what I did and try a minibox build. You will not be satisfied.

I am now seriously considering buiding a new HTP. Budget is about 500€. This is what I have so far:

Memory: D4 8GB 2400-15 Signature K2 PAT - 76,44€
Case: Shark Zone C10 ITX - 40,56€
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power 10 300W ATX24 44,76€
Storage: SSD 240GB 500/520 High Perf. SA3 ITO - 58,39€
Blu-Ray Drive: BD-RW LG CH12-NS40 retail black - 54,86€

As you notice the above list doesn’t include the core of the system as I am still deciding between going Intel or AMD. A co-worker recommended going with an AMD Ryzen 3, however finding a good, cheap motherboard for that thing is a bit annoying as the cheapest ASUS board for it is close to 200€. I found a workable alternative in a MSi B350I Pro AC. The Intel version would be a Intel Pentium Dual Core G5500 on a MB ASUS PRIME H310I-PLUS. This would also be 20 to 40€ cheaper, but I don’t think that money is really moving the needle one way or the other.

Anybody got any thoughts or recommendations?

That is actually exactly what I was looking at. It’s the perfect size and doesn’t need any odd size components. I don’t have the dosh to actually do it right now but hopefully in the near future I will.

@Apreche
Microfractures in the solder can also develop over time & use. It’s how my last video card died. And yes, you can bake it in the oven but that’s sketchy af.

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I mean if the GPU is already kinda toast, why not give it a shake-n-bake just to see if it can be recovered for at least a little longer?

But yes I wouldn’t go and buy a card that’s pre-toasted when we can get a fresh one for minimal upcharge.

it true. :one: :five:

3 of my last 5 laptops were ones I got for free because they didn’t work and were revived with a toaster oven. I do have a modified oven in my workshop specifically for that kind of thing though. There’s a little more to it than just “get board real hot.”

I’m pretty sure BGA solder issues that can be fixed with a reflow peaked around 2008-2010. I still give it a shot if I have a flaky board lying around, but that was like a 90% fix 5 years ago and now it’s more like 50% success.

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My HTPC has been using the integrated video card for quite some time now without issue. The thing is, I have been playing a few more Steam games on there, and some frames get lost here and there. Any meager video card should suffice, probably a 1050. Also, I really want 2xHDMI ports again to make streaming easier. I need that second HDMI for the extra monitor to show the chat and OBS and such.

The thing is, 1050s are still $200.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125913

The original MSRP for these things was $150. Should I suck it up and pay $50 or keep waiting?

If you can get up early there’s usually a sale at (3 AM?) on evga’s b-stock page. It’s a gamble though that there will be stock, etc. $120 has happened before.

Does your case have room for a 970? https://www.ebay.com/itm/EVGA-GeForce-GTX-970-FTW-GAMING-ACX-2-0-1-Year-Warranty-/263974142853

Why don’t you just steam stream the games from your desktop?

That still doesn’t solve the 2 HDMI port problem.