Off-Topic Thread V3.0

TheDoc

Coming to that time of year again where I get real itchy about upgrading the PC. In a weird space that with the new build only in last Dec, nothing really jumping out.

Thinking of maybe grabbing an NVME and maybe upgrading my HDD to 1TB+. Running two SSD's are 512GB (always full) and a HDD at 500GB( always near full)

Also looking at maybe a modular PSU. Mine is like ancient, looking at a Corsair rm650x in the hope I can run the Mobo power around the back of the case, instead of over the front as I've had to do for years

Shlippery

TheDoc wrote: »

Coming to that time of year again where I get real itchy about upgrading the PC. In a weird space that with the new build only in last Dec, nothing really jumping out.

Thinking of maybe grabbing an NVME and maybe upgrading my HDD to 1TB+. Running two SSD's are 512GB (always full) and a HDD at 500GB( always near full)

Also looking at maybe a modular PSU. Mine is like ancient, looking at a Corsair rm650x in the hope I can run the Mobo power around the back of the case, instead of over the front as I've had to do for years

If you've slots for m.2. fill em up! SSDs have come way down in price past while. I've gotta swap out a few of mine, it's a cable management nightmare at the back of my case...too many 500gb SSDs all overflowing.

Andrew76

Hey folks, are scan.co.uk or cclonline safe enough to order from? I see them mentioned here a bit but have no direct experience myself. I'm looking at a particular 1660 super that Amazon are out of stock of. Do they post to Ireland or do I need to use Parcel Qizard etc? Cheers.

SickBoy

Andrew76 wrote: »

Hey folks, are scan.co.uk or cclonline safe enough to order from? I see them mentioned here a bit but have no direct experience myself. I'm looking at a particular 1660 super that Amazon are out of stock of. Do they post to Ireland or do I need to use Parcel Qizard etc? Cheers.

I ordered a case last week from Scan and it shipped about an hour after I placed the order and arrived within 3 days. Very impressive.
They ship direct to Ireland so no need to use any third party postal services.
Have no personal experience with cclonline.

Both are fine and use DPD i think.

Andrew76

Cheers folks, just ordered from scan.

gooch2k9

CCL are also good. I ordered off them a few weeks ago at 14:40, and the package arrived the next day at 12:30.

TitianGerm

For anyone who's returned something to Scan do they give you a prepaid label?

So far I've just been told to write the address clearly on the box and ask for a receipt from the courier to prove it was collected.

BurntAsh

Not a fan of CCL at all. They messed up an order a few months ago and their customer service was very lacking.

MidlanderMan

BurntAsh wrote: »

Not a fan of CCL at all. They messed up an order a few months ago and their customer service was very lacking.

I have the opposite experience. I ****ed up by ordering RAM that wasn't compatible with my mobo ( couldnt get rated speeds) and they were easy to deal with, instant refund once I sent it back.

BurntAsh

MidlanderMan wrote: »

I have the opposite experience. I ****ed up by ordering RAM that wasn't compatible with my mobo ( couldnt get rated speeds) and they were easy to deal with, instant refund once I sent it back.

I suppose we have different ideas of service. I would expect a refund as the bare minimum nowadays. My order was delayed by a week because they didn't communicate they were missing a part. Then after I contacted them sold me a more expensive product to speed things up, only for them to not bother putting through the order at all in the end despite taking my money. Yes they were prompt with the refund but they seemed clueless about what was happening and the customer service was shocking. I don't think they even said "sorry for the hassle" regarding any of the issues on their end. What a waste of time and it left a terrible impression.

BloodBath

Dell have that monitor back in stock and it's still on sale. The model number is revised but it's the same.

Rated as the best 27" 1440p IPS gaming monitor on the market.

https://www.dell.com/en-ie/shop/dell-27-gaming-monitor-s2721dgfa/apd/210-axrq/monitors-monitor-accessories?AID=100023255&cjevent=2a32ad9f1f9d11eb80cb01970a18050d&gacd=9694607-23736398-5750457-266319267-127795103&dgc=af&VEN1=12578053-100023255-61111X1383796X3067c8a61053f615b6d24cbe647d8e59&dclid=CKGSit-R7OwCFTJjFQgd4LsBlA

wotzgoingon

Anyone know what courier service elara.ie use? It is a large item.(just thought I'd mention that as they may use different companies depending on size).

Overheal

Recommendations for a PSU?

5600X + RX 6800, will do overclocking.

BloodBath

A decent 750w gold rated should have you covered. A 650w would probably do but you might as well leave some overhead for potential upgrades.

I'd say that system would peak at around 500w.

Averages would be reasonably lower.

K.O.Kiki

Overheal wrote: »

Recommendations for a PSU?

5600X + RX 6800, will do overclocking.

5600X: 67-109W https://youtu.be/01EhbmJAW-k?t=1446

RX 6800: 250W TDP

750W is overkill unless you're running a custom loop. 500-550W is good enough; 650W Gold is probably the sweet spot for silence/value.

BloodBath

250w base on the 6800, overclocked who knows, in the range of 300-350w for sure though. 110w for an overclocked 5600x. I'd allow around 100w for the rest depending on how many sticks of ram you have, fans, SSD/HDD's, etc. That's over 500w peak which granted it won't be at very often but gaming will push it close.

500-550w will most likely work but it's pushing it tight. Would be fine for a non overclocked system. You don't want to push that close to the limit. Higher load = higher heat which = lower PSU lifespan as well as reduced efficiency.

There's not much efficiency gains to be had with a good PSU only varying by around 3% between low, mid and high loads with peak efficiency usually somewhere around 30-70% load.

I'd do 650w to be safe, 750w if you think you might upgrade to even meatier parts down the line.

Andrew76

Hey folks, is there any difference between the below sets of RAM? I was originally thinking of getting the Crucial one but might go with the Corsair instead since there's a few other bits I need from scan so can get them all together.

Will either work ok with the 5600X and ROG STRIX B550-I mini-itx mobo?

Crucial Ballistix DDR4 16GB 3600MHz CL16 £69.59 from Amazon.

Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 16GB 3600MHz £68.99 from scan.

Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 16GB 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned £71.99 from scan.

Not sure what "AMD Ryzen Tuned" actually means other than costing £3 more.

SickBoy

Andrew76 wrote: »

Hey folks, is there any difference between the below sets of RAM? I was originally thinking of getting the Crucial one but might go with the Corsair instead since there's a few other bits I need from scan so can get them all together.

Will either work ok with the 5600X and ROG STRIX B550-I mini-itx mobo?

Crucial Ballistix DDR4 16GB 3600MHz CL16 £69.59 from Amazon.

Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 16GB 3600MHz £68.99 from scan.

Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 16GB 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned £71.99 from scan.

Not sure what "AMD Ryzen Tuned" actually means other than costing £3 more.

The Ballistix is better as it's CL16

GHOST MGG

you need to check the ram against your motherboard QVL list..dont rely on AMD saying its compatible.as i have had 2 occasions recently where the above ballistix ram same size and CL16 would not work with a asus x570 pro motherboard but would with a msi tomahawk x570 wifi board

Overheal

Seasonic, Corsair, Other? (PSU)

SickBoy

Overheal wrote: »

Seasonic, Corsair, Other? (PSU)

EVGA

Overheal

SickBoy wrote: »

EVGA

Why

wotzgoingon

I had a coolermaster PSU for over 10 years used everyday and still in use by my nephew as I gave him my old system. I would have bought another but I got a RMx 850 for a good price so picked that up instead.

Overheal

tldr it doesnt matter does it

other than rosewill just because I think the brand itself looks ugly and im shallow.

I guess I will go with this seasonic. Could it have something to do with this sponsored video? Maybe. I can't deny that, when it makes so little else difference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_xftS6ydXQ

MidlanderMan

Overheal wrote: »

Seasonic, Corsair, Other? (PSU)

Brands aren't super important, specific models are.

But over all seasonic tend to be top of the pile. NZXT PSUs are all rebranded seasonic units as well.

If you're really specific about wants check out the Linus tech tips forums PSU rankings table.

Overheal

Alright, so it's coming together. Here is muh build

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X $299.99
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V DDR4-4000 2x8GB 15-16-16-36 $169.99
Mobo: Asrock Taichi X570 Wifi ax $269.99
GPU: Radeon RX 6800 TBD
PSU: Seasonic Focus GM-750 80+ Gold $109.99
Storage: Sabrent Rocket m.2 NVME 1TB PCIe 4.0x4 5 GB/s read 4.4 GB/s write $159.98
Case: be quiet! Pure Base 500DX Black $99.90

$1,109.84 + GPU

Kinda want to see what overclocking I can do with the stock wraith cooler which some reviews rated very well, and its only a 65W CPU. Else I will pick out a Noctua cooling tower.

Got the 4Ghz RAM because the 'sweet spot' for the Zen 3 infinity clock is reported to be 2000 Mhz (Double Data Rate, x2, 4000 MHz), although also reportedly there may be issues achieving that at launch pending BIOS updates. I really would like to hit 4 Ghz base speed with the CPU as well, and see what kind of performance I get with that 1:1:1.

I was looking at some Trident Z that was RGB, a bit cheaper with a slightly higher clock, but a CL 16. Wasn't sure if I'd be able to tighten it up if I underclocked to 4Ghz. Maybe I made a dumb choice if I want RGB (wah). Order already placed.

This was the tightest timing for RGB RAM above 4Ghz I saw on newegg. 16-19-19-39

https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-16gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820374035?&quicklink=true

Runner up, 17-18-18-38

https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-16gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820374038

wotzgoingon

That stock cooler is not so great. I'm pretty sure this gen they are even stocking the 5600X with a worse cooler than they gave with the 3600X.

Overheal

wotzgoingon wrote: »

That stock cooler is not so great. I'm pretty sure this gen they are even stocking the 5600X with a worse cooler than they gave with the 3600X.

We'll see!

I don't see why it wouldn't be the same wraith cooler though. There's been no indication otherwise. Form factor is all the same. Thermal design is the same. It even sips slightly less power than the predecessor according to some reviewer scores

Squidgy Black

If it's the wraith stealth, they're absolute muck and similar to the old intel stock coolers. The spire is decent for stock, and then the prism is the gem of them all.