Off-Topic Thread V3.0

silverharp

If buying a gaming PC, are there any Irish companies worth looking at, I see a few adverts thrown at me from time to time but havnt looked in detail how their prices and whats offered here compare to UK companies?

K.O.Kiki

https://twitter.com/Count_Kiki/status/1315584686106775554

New keyboard.
Xtrfy K4 Retro

^^ I have the mouse that goes with that. It's in a drawer though. Just not a fan of Ergo's.

TitianGerm

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

https://twitter.com/Count_Kiki/status/1315584686106775554

New keyboard.
Xtrfy K4 Retro

Have you ever considered building your own keyboard?

I recently moved from 60% to a Steelseries Apex Pro TKL. Maaaaan, those omni point switches are like velvet.

Squidgy Black

TitianGerm wrote: »

Have you ever considered building your own keyboard?

I've looked at it, but to be honest the price is absolutely mental for decent switches and a half decent pcb + case and then keycaps. You're talking north of €150 at least for anything half decent. Whereas you can get some really nice keyboards for less than that (for example my ducky one2 tkl with a metal case, decent keycaps and cherry browns cost 100) or even a cheaper 60% with gateron browns like the drevo seer pro for 50 quid.

That and I haven't touched a soldering iron in a couple years and couldn't be arsed risking it!

awec

I've a Steelseries Apex Pro too, tis magnificent.

Andrew76

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

https://twitter.com/Count_Kiki/status/1315584686106775554

New keyboard.
Xtrfy K4 Retro

That's my main kb also, although I swapped the stock keycaps for some PBT ones. Have an F60 from iQuinix also and while 60% is too awkward for work, I could never go back to a full size kb.

errlloyd

Lads, I think I've ****ed the threads on one of the screws on the brackets that come preinstalled around the CPU on my new motherboard. I used the wrong size screw driver and didn't press down hard enough. I've got the other three out, but this one seems damned? Any tips?


Edit: Found a better screwdriver. Thank ****

errlloyd

awec wrote: »

I've a Steelseries Apex Pro too, tis magnificent.

Have you ever seen one on sale. Really want one, but sickened to pay 200e!

K.O.Kiki

TitianGerm wrote: »

Have you ever considered building your own keyboard?

I'm not fluid enough for that

Also after having used multiple keyboards, I think the standard TKL layout is nearly perfect anyway - just small enough to be good for mouse aim, but not so compromised in terms of function buttons as most 60% layouts.

Mr Crispy

I've been toying with the idea of building something like the ErgoDox meself. I used a Merc Stealth for years until it went kaput, and going back to a regular keyboard has been hard. They're okay for typing (especially the amount I do), but I hate gaming on them - they're just so unergonomic!

EoinHef

Mulling over what to do with my old qnix monitor. It has a quirk where you have to plug it out when your done using it otherwise when you turn it on from standby the next time you get horizontal rainbow lines. Unplugging ot then plugging it back in fixes it.

Its been like that since I got it but has worked fine. Overclocks to 100Hz @1440p no hassle. Tried 120Hz and it worked but left it at 100Hz as I havent got a gpu to power most games at 144hz @1440p

kearneybobs

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

https://twitter.com/Count_Kiki/status/1315584686106775554

New keyboard.
Xtrfy K4 Retro

Didn't got for the Wooting one/two in the end then? Looks nice.

Squidgy Black

Anyone pick up anything interesting from Prime Day? Got a 2tb crucial ssd to replace a noisy seagate barracuda, other than that didn't really spot much outside of storage.

jonski

Has anyone here ever bought and used a Gaming Keyboard/keypad thingy , like the Orbweaver or Tartarus ? I always wanted to try one but never did or needed to as I usually only play the one game but now I have 3 on the go and my feeble brain is getting the keys mixed up .

Robert ninja

jonski wrote: »

Has anyone here ever bought and used a Gaming Keyboard/keypad thingy , like the Orbweaver or Tartarus ? I always wanted to try one but never did or needed to as I usually only play the one game but now I have 3 on the go and my feeble brain is getting the keys mixed up .

Tried that razer orbweaver yoke. For my setup it was completely useless so I returned it to CEX the same day. All it made me do was rest my arm in awkward ways and have unnecessary travel time to and from my normal keyboard for when I wanted to type messages in-game or alt-tab to do other things etc. I can only imagine its very niche usage suits something like a space flight sim, at least that's the only thing I can think of me ever using it for.

Personally haven't had too many issues with remembering keybinds myself. Most genres have very similar controls and if there's something off you can rebind them to suit your needs. In FPS I like crouch bound to C and set to toggle instead of hold. I only use CTRL for crouch in Warframe because of the slide jumping muscle memory. I suggest customising your keybinds because it's just what you'd have to do with the gaming keypad things anyway.

z0oT

I never really cared too much about power consumption of processors or graphics. I always thought reviewers placed far too much emphasis on it given electricity prices aren't expensive enough for it to really matter.

However, having recently bought a newly built house that's much better insulated than where we used to live - My new home office gets extremely warm after a long gaming session, I often have to open the window now as a result.

Whatever my next system will be, I'll certainly be paying more attention to power - I'll want the power to be the same or less than my current gaming desktop (3700X & 5700XT).

Rules out the RTX 3080 for me!

errlloyd

I bought a Lian Li case and Ryzen 5 3600XT over the last few weeks - as a I prepare for the 3080 I am never gonna get!!

Anyway, I have no case fans, but I was keen to put it together in some spare time, and I threw my old 1060GTX into it.

There are no case fans. So with just the Processor Cooler, the PSU Fan and the Graphics card fan I decided I'd tepidly give it a go gaming. It's warm, some components running up around 80c when I am on Warzone, but for a completely uncooled case it does just fine.

How much of PC cooling is pure coolness fetish, how much if it is actually important?

Squidgy Black

errlloyd wrote: »

I bought a Lian Li case and Ryzen 5 3500XT over the last few weeks - as a I prepare for the 3080 I am never gonna get!!

Anyway, I have no case fans, but I was keen to put it together in some spare time, and I threw my old 1060GTX into it.

There are no case fans. So with just the Processor Cooler, the PSU Fan and the Graphics card fan I decided I'd tepidly give it a go gaming. It's warm, some components running up around 80c when I am on Warzone, but for a completely uncooled case it does just fine.

How much of PC cooling is pure coolness fetish, how much if it is actually important?

Definitely important to an extent, the hotter your components get (specifically CPU and GPU) the more they start to throttle and decrease boost frequency. Also you run the risk of reaching any thermal limits for components and blue screening or crashes.

Even a single intake and exhaust would probably suffice to take in some cool air and push the hot air that's being left in your case from the gpu and cpu.

Homelander

I assume you mean the 3600XT? There is a Ryzen 3500 as well but it's a bit of a waste of money.

80c is perfectly fine with zero impact on performance for the GPU. A Ryzen CPU at 80c would be far from ideal though.

wotzgoingon

I'm currently in 23rd position in the world on the leaderboard for a single 5700 XT when searching under graphics score. With a graphics score of 10812. https://www.3dmark.com/spy/14507705

My best overall score is below but couldn't reach the same graphics score. What pushed it up is the CPU score is higher than above. https://www.3dmark.com/spy/14522835

wotzgoingon

Here it is here:

errlloyd

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Even a single intake and exhaust would probably suffice to take in some cool air and push the hot air that's being left in your case from the gpu and cpu.

Planning the vanity fans either way! Gonna go for some relatively minimal black ones I think, but I am yet to full commit.

K.O.Kiki

z0oT wrote: »

I never really cared too much about power consumption of processors or graphics. I always thought reviewers placed far too much emphasis on it given electricity prices aren't expensive enough for it to really matter.

However, having recently bought a newly built house that's much better insulated than where we used to live - My new home office gets extremely warm after a long gaming session, I often have to open the window now as a result.

Whatever my next system will be, I'll certainly be paying more attention to power - I'll want the power to be the same or less than my current gaming desktop (3700X & 5700XT).

Rules out the RTX 3080 for me!

You can undervolt & memory-OC the RTX 3080 for no noticeable performance loss.

gooch2k9

Do people still order from MindFactory? I see most of the build threads recommend UK sellers.



Last time I was buying Hardwareversand were still on the scene!

Mr Crispy

gooch2k9 wrote: »

Do people still order from MindFactory? I see most of the build threads recommend UK sellers.



Last time I was buying Hardwareversand were still on the scene!

CaseKing and Computer Universe are the only German outfits I've used recently. Amazon seems to be my main go-to nowadays though, just for the peace of mind with returns.

Coyler

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Definitely important to an extent, the hotter your components get (specifically CPU and GPU) the more they start to throttle and decrease boost frequency. Also you run the risk of reaching any thermal limits for components and blue screening or crashes.

Even a single intake and exhaust would probably suffice to take in some cool air and push the hot air that's being left in your case from the gpu and cpu.

Machine starting crashing a little while back after adding a fan and moving the others about. Noticed the glass on my case was hot to the touch. After a little investigation I realised I had put the exhaust fan in backwards. I basically turned my machine into a fan oven. Flipped it and Frostpunk ran rock solid again and everyone lived happily ever after.

Moral of the story: Airflows certainly helps but be aware that poor fan configuration can hurt

My PSU failed recently. Now that I think of it, I wonder did I strain it a little...

Wonda-Boy

errlloyd wrote: »

I bought a Lian Li case and Ryzen 5 3600XT over the last few weeks - as a I prepare for the 3080 I am never gonna get!!

Anyway, I have no case fans, but I was keen to put it together in some spare time, and I threw my old 1060GTX into it.

There are no case fans. So with just the Processor Cooler, the PSU Fan and the Graphics card fan I decided I'd tepidly give it a go gaming. It's warm, some components running up around 80c when I am on Warzone, but for a completely uncooled case it does just fine.

How much of PC cooling is pure coolness fetish, how much if it is actually important?

As was said here the only real thing I would be spending money on is a proper cooler for the CPU. The rest is only really important from an overclocking point of view in so far as the cooler the components the better the overclock you will get especially with the newer tech as it thermal throttles when it reaches certain temps.

If you have no intention of overclocking then I would recommend just 2 case fans along with the cooler to move the air and exhaust it out. One on the top or back for exhaust and one on the front to take cool air in....the 2 biggest problems with PC hardware is dust and heat, nothing will kill a PC quicker (apart from hardware failure)

No doubt you have seen my build with the 9 fans but they are the German made Alpenfohn brand and extremely quiet. The only ones I have actually above 50% are the ones on the rad, and for a 3900x OC to 4.5ghz all cores its very cool.

Wonda-Boy

gooch2k9 wrote: »

Do people still order from MindFactory? I see most of the build threads recommend UK sellers.



Last time I was buying Hardwareversand were still on the scene!

I ordered my full ryzen 9 build of Casekings.de and apart from a hiccup that was not their fault they are very good to deal with. And when the stuff gets to Ireland it is delivered via An Post so its usually 1st thing in the morning by your local postie.