Random Hardware topics

[Colif]

Part of future goes dark

 

[neogunhero]

I really want to upgrade my GPU. Currently I have an RTX 2060 6GB that has served me well for the past 5 years. I’m not planning on going to 4K or even 1440p just yet, mainly because I want to budget. I’m giving myself around a $300 allowance to spend on a GPU, and hopefully I can get one by the end of the year.

I’ve always been an Nvidia guy, but I’m starting to lean towards AMD for my next card. Nvidia cards are great, but they have gotten too expensive, perhaps because they are going all in on AI and Ray Tracing components. I personally don’t care too much for processing AI workloads on my computer, and I sure as hell don’t give a crap about ray tracing. AMD cards tend to offer more powerful rasterization at better prices, but lag behinds on AI and RT.

So far my contenders are the RX 6750 XT and the RX 7700 XT. Current street prices for the 6750 XT are around $300, the 7700 XT is closer to $400, however there have been a few deals for the 7700 at around $350. The 7700 XT overall is stronger, but according to Toms Hardware, only averages around 15% performance increase average across 18 games tested at 1080p Ultra settings. But if I’m thinking of longevity, keeping this card for at least 2-3 years, that extra performance may be worth the money. Surely when the big end of the year sales come around, I could easily nab a 7700 XT for around $350.

So many decisions and things to think about! I just want to play my games without stuttering and ultra smooth FPS!

 

[Brian Boru]

5 years

Is the rest of your PC also 5y old? Might be no harm to make a thread with your PC specs so our experts can advise re any other potential issues, eg power supply.

 

[neogunhero]

Is the rest of your PC also 5y old? Might be no harm to make a thread with your PC specs so our experts can advise re any other potential issues, eg power supply.

Just about! RAM, Mobo, PSU, and one of my SSDs are all from the original build. I forgot what specific GPU I started with, but only a few months after finishing the build I picked up the RTX 2060. Only other changes besides new SSDs is going from the Ryzen 1600X to a Ryzen 5700X.

I’m going to hold off on starting a new thread until I consider upgrading more seriously. Right now I’m just dreaming essentially

 

[Colif]

But if I’m thinking of longevity, keeping this card for at least 2-3 years, that extra performance may be worth the money. Surely when the big end of the year sales come around, I could easily nab a 7700 XT for around $350.

which one for 2-3 years? the new one or the one you have now? It should easily last 3 years... most of mine last that long,

7700xt about 50% better than a 2060 and 40% better than a 2060 Super

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT Specs

AMD Navi 32, 2544 MHz, 3456 Cores, 216 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 12288 MB GDDR6, 2250 MHz, 192 bit

www.techpowerup.com

ram difference is slightly more important these days, 6gb to 12gb. One won't run out of resources as fast.
7700XT uses more power but its price/performance rating is still higher than the 2060

RX 7700 XT vs RTX 2060 [6-Benchmark Showdown]

Comparing NVIDIA RTX 2060 with AMD RX 7700 XT: technical specs, games and benchmarks.

technical.city

this is 4k as no one tests in 1080 like this anymore

I went from a 2070 Super to a 7900XT, that was noticeable jump if only to allow GPU to exceed refresh rate of my monitor meaning I always get 144 unless its a hard to drive game or it had RT.
it was 131% faster than a 2070 Super though.


use this to show us what you have when you ready to post

Pick parts. Build your PC. Compare and share.

pcpartpicker.com

 

[neogunhero]

which one for 2-3 years? the new one or the one you have now? It should easily last 3 years... most of mine last that long,

The new card. I’ve had my RTX 2060 for 5 years now, got it at the beginning of 2019. Currently the only major upgrade I’m thinking of doing is getting a new GPU that can last me at least 2-3 years until I can do a full system upgrade. I’m still on AM4 now, would like to upgrade to AM5 in the future and take advantage of all the new tech, but I think stuff like that is still quite expensive, especially AM5 mobos and DDR5 RAM. Not many good budget options in that space just yet.

ram difference is slightly more important these days, 6gb to 12gb. One won't run out of resources as fast.
7700XT uses more power but its price/performance rating is still higher than the 2060

VRAM is increasingly a big concern to me. I’ve been running into issues on some newer games where the raw performance of my GPU seems to be able to handle a game but it runs out of VRAM, causing me to lower settings. I’ve noticed this most recently in Kunitsu-Gami, my VRAM was exceeding its limit and the game was crashing. Once I set textures to Low, it ran fine but looked like garbage. Have had similar issues in a few other games too.

I’ll also have to make sure my PSU will support a new card. No idea how to test it, gonna have to research that. I have a 600W Gold PSU, but don’t know how much of it im using currently.

 

[Colif]

I’ll also have to make sure my PSU will support a new card. No idea how to test it, gonna have to research that. I have a 600W Gold PSU, but don’t know how much of it im using currently.

Custom PC Builder | PSU Finder | CORSAIR

www.corsair.com

Power Supply calculator - calc for silent PSUs from be quiet!

be quiet! is a premium brand manufacturer of power supplies, cases and cooling solutions for your desktop PC.

www.bequiet.com

Wattage Calculator

Use our Wattage Calculator to determine the ideal PSU for your system. Enter your components to receive accurate wattage recommendations.

seasonic.com

Make/Model of PSU you have might be good to know. 7700XT seems to only need 550w (but models can vary. If they have rgb might need more)
I used those myself to work out what I needed for this GPU

I would hope a 7700xt can easily last 3 years.

Seasonic shows I only need a 700. thats funny, as 18 months ago it suggested an 850, I just grabbed a 1k to be safe. Now I have spare I don't use. Yay... and a spare PSU as well.

 

[Brian Boru]

MUO article: Most Commonly Faked Tech Products

These Are the Most Commonly Faked Tech Products: Watch What You Buy

If it feels too good to be true, it probably is.

www.makeuseof.com

Phone Chargers
Headphones
Power Banks
USBs and External Hard Drives
Charging Stations
Smartwatches
All-in-One Travel Adapters
Games Console Controllers
Spare Batteries

 

[Colif]

Headphones

From what i can tell, this is mostly people finding Apple headphones online for really nice prices just to find they bought fakes

I am not in market for Apple headphones anyway. Fashion items more then music devices.
If you in the US, buy from here... they won't sell you fakes, and have a 365 day return policy... wish they were international shipping with that

Headphones.com - Shop the best headphones and home audio

Find the best headphones, speakers and home audio. 365-day returns, free shipping over $100 and legendary customer service!

headphones.com

USBs and External Hard Drives

don't need to tell me

Really, it depends who you trust. I am careful with who I choose as a retailer. Up until recently I wouldn't even use Amazon, it depends on the seller there.

 

[Colif]

this is a fun problem

At startup, one of my AIO fans stops working (in that it stop spinning) after windows has taken control of the fans (so its fine while BIOS has control) and after staying still a short time, starts spinning and is fine for rest of the day. Even if I restart PC, it is fine.

Now I am not asking for help (or I would have posted this as a question). Since it happens after windows starts, its probably the fan control software I use. It only started doing this last Saturday and the program updated on Friday.

What I can do is disable the program from controlling AIO fans on one shutdown and see if it still happens on restart. I expect it won't.

just flicking green switch next to AIO disables program from controlling it. Lets BIOS run it.

I need the program as I don't need the AIO fans running full speed all the time. Also controls my case fans. Might need to uninstall it and reinstall again. Been meaning to do that anyway as its only program left on my hdd.

Doesn't help it lacks an uninstaller. All I need to do is delete a setting in task scheduler and then delete folder. Not doing that at 3.30am, I have self imposed rules regarding doing anything on PC after 12am. Not wanting to be up all night and all.

 

[Brian Boru]

problem At startup … task scheduler

What can help boot gotchas sometimes is to delay them at startup. Either put a delay in the startup properties—if app allows that—or else take it out of startup and put in Task Scheduler for say a minute after boot up.

 

[Colif]

I think its the fan now which is an unneeded expense right now, but only costs $25 so its not a big issue.

Since I remembered to disable fan on shutdown, it showed me today its not cause of the fans behaviour. Fan seems okay in BIOS but as soon as windows has control the top fan starts to slow down, and become noisy.

I enabled and disabled the software a few times and it eventually stopped fan, and restarted it... and its back to normal now... until tomorrow.

PC was meant to be trouble free this year. Fan itself is only 10 months old.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

That reminds me I should give Fan Control a go again. When I moved to AMD from Intel it stopped recognizing my fans properly, been a few years now so I guess they have had time to update it. It was better than the Asus and Gigabyte motherboard software Ive used, when it worked.

Its weird to me how limited fan control software options are or were, there was Speedfan which I always found awful, then Fan Control came along, and the manufacturer made stuff, otherwise youre stuck messing in BIOS.

Havent looked into it for a bit, probably should.

 

[Colif]

I used speedfan until I swapped to Ryzen. It has no idea about sensors on my motherboard since it stopped being updated in 2016.
Fan control offers way more control. I need to use it for my top 2 chassis fans as if I let them run at the same speeds I get a weird noise that took a few weeks to figure out. Long before this video showed I wasn't mad.

Also, the AIO pump is matched to 40% fan speed. I have set it up in fan control so slowest fans go is 40% so that pump always at 100%

 

[Colif]

Lesson for today:
Don't buy Corsair Pre made PC

This is second one they made where their own cooling fails

 

[Brian Boru]

@Colif if I recall correctly, you don't like Razer due to their software—so maybe of interest:

Razer Synapse 4 finally turns into the app we always wanted it to be, as its lengthy beta period comes to an end

Razer has given it a UI overhaul and made it much snappier to use, while reducing the amount of system resources it will gobble up.

www.windowscentral.com

 

[Colif]

too early to tell if it is better. I remember reading about Beta 4 last year.

 

[Colif]

Video causes more questions than it answers, for me.

1. Who sells used USB drives?
2. Who buys them?

Why? I must be the complete opposite of others, I don't sell anything I buy, and I wouldn't buy used storage as you don't know what is (perhaps hidden) on it - could be virus or one of those USB that kills what ever its put into, and you don't know if its actually the size it says it is, or if it will even work.

New USB drives are cheap, why buy used.

Same applies for any storage really. Its potential life span is unknown when you buy used. My data is worth more to me than to use just anything.

 

[Colif]

Happy accident is when you watch a video about fan bearing types and discover you have put the best type of fan possible in the top exhaust position - Ball bearing fans last the longest in this orientation. Less chance of leakage.
Shame only Noctua seem to use those.
Other types seem to prefer vertical mounts

My AIO currently has cheapest type, but they only cheap fans, that makes sense

One exception is Mag Lev fans, they don't care which way they facing.
I should rescue the two I have off my old AIO. Might be useful some day. Wouldn't have helped last week when I had to replace one on AIO, as it wouldn't have matched up.

It was one of those two.

 

[Colif]

My AIO currently has cheapest type, but they only cheap fans, that makes sense

Their cheapness seems to be biting me. I replaced one dead fan last week just to now hear another one of them making noises whenever fans change speed - so most of the time.

My belief in not buying cheap things is working at me again.
I could keep buying $25 fans to replace the ones that break or

I could buy a 3 pack of these and replace them all:

they all link together, only need 1 power cable to run RGB & PWM on the fans. So much simpler

they make a version of the fans with a lcd screen in each fan hub as well, but its too expensive and really doesn't make a lot of sense in my case as no where to really put it where I can read it. Better suited to the cases with vertical fan mounts on one side of the case, many new cases have that now.

after reading more, the lcd screen ones are a little troublesome I don't mind missing out on something I wouldn't see anyway.

Sure, they cost more but might last longer. I want to just ignore PC this year, it clearly didn't like that idea.

Just need to work out how to connect the controller unit, it comes with its own fan hub that can run up to 16 fans off one cable. cable length might be an issue.

They also quieter, cooler and better than the ones I have now.

I will buy reverse blade versions, meaning the direction the air goes through the fan is reversed to normal. Normally front of fan is where it sucks air through, on a reverse fan it blows through the front.
Beats looking at the back of a fan if its in pull on a radiator
means I also get full benefit of the rgb although strips are on both sides anyway.
reverse direction fans run slower than normal but the top speed is still higher than current fans.

Essentially, these fans are better in almost every way to what I have... which isn't hard.

Hardest part is working out where to put controller so it reaches everything. Probably just next to fans behind part of my case where hdd are now, is best place to reach up to CPU_FAN and ARGB connector, and down to the usb 2 header on motherboard.
more or less in line with top of my gpu here

fan power connector will come out bottom of the group of 3 fans so that should work well.

Fan controller can run up to 16 fans, but i only need 3. My 2 Noctua exhaust fans are staying where they are.


Funny, they just released these

They not as good as the TL and its not really wireless, just the controller is. Still need to attach all fans to mb

I wonder how many days I can last before I just order them. I guess I can listen to music and ignore it until it stops working completely.

 

[Brian Boru]

Intel CEO assures users x86 is “thriving” as it finally partners with long-term rival AMD

“Rumors of my death are severely exaggerated” — Intel CEO assures users x86 is “thriving” as it finally partners with long-term rival AMD

Intel and AMD announce x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group

www.techradar.com

Is this new 'partnership' a sign x86 world is seriously worried about Arm's future impact?

 

[Colif]

Intel CEO assures users x86 is “thriving” as it finally partners with long-term rival AMD

“Rumors of my death are severely exaggerated” — Intel CEO assures users x86 is “thriving” as it finally partners with long-term rival AMD

Intel and AMD announce x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group

www.techradar.com

Is this new 'partnership' a sign x86 world is seriously worried about Arm's future impact?

that is the speculation and big announcements to come in future that might explain it. (I don't know anything)
I watched a video on it yesterday.
X86

I don't want to know, don't want to learn new crap. ARM needs to work with games before its a big threat on that side. Business probably eating up ARM laptops. They can have Co pilot... all they like. I see AI as spies... wonder if its locked down in business. It needs to be locked out.

 

[Colif]

Steve would have words about this.

Its got 3 radiators in it but all the fans covered by glass.
Only one of them is at all useful. CPU runs hot unless you take side panel off.

It looks expensive with all the painted sides and glass, but it doesn't perform expensive.

For $8k I would want better really. As Jay says, I don't see where the value is. You paying for parts that aren't helping

I changed fan curves on my AIO fans and for last two days they been quieter. It might just be a temporary fix as on warmer days they will run faster, but it might let me buy their replacements in a few weeks, and not right now. If they behave I won't buy anything...

 

[Colif]

It seems I might as well pay the extra for the LCD versions of the fans I was after, as the reverse blade version of the TL120 non LCD has the worst air pressure of all 4 types. Air pressure matters more on radiators than Airflow.

I guess I just use screens to show

1. CPU temp
2. GPU temp
3. Fan RPM

I am willing to get 3rd at best Air pressure, its still better than the fans I have now. Top 2 air pressure versions would require me to see back of fans, and that gets old after a few years.I have been doing that for 4 years.

It has worst airflow but that makes sense, its not designed to push air into a system, its designed to pull air in, whether that be a side or bottom intake, or on the back of a radiator as pull.... where I will be putting mine.

It having worst airflow means its special purpose, and should dissuade people from looking at them if they after intake fans for front of pc, and they make some people wonder why they even exist.

These people who only think an AIO should go on top of a case as exhaust wouldn't see the screens... whereas if Radiator is mounted on front of case, having reverse blade fans in pull inside case, suddenly makes sense. I blame all the videos of new computer builds where every time the rad is in roof of case... over a 4090, and people wonder why CPU always running hot in games, I have had to explain a few times already that actually, having it on front can be better than on top... fresh air beats hot air any day.

Only 2 logical places for these fans, as intake fans on side of case drawing air into case, lian LI 011D cases have such placement, or on the rear side of an AIO mounted on front of case. Like how I am doing it. They don't make a lot of sense on bottom of case as intake as you wouldn't see screen. Possibly in side wall of some cases, as some allow intake below the glass... that 8k case above comes to mind.

And yet I see people wanting to buy these as intakes on front of case. Don't put these on front of pc unless you using the front of the case as the exit for hot air... I have seen it, but its not how cases are designed to be used.

The fans I am replacing it with must be reading these messages as they been okay the last few days. I changed the fan curve on them so they less reactive to temp increases until a point then they react. I doubt I be able to use it over Summer but this gives me time to pay other bills off before I buy them.
No rush. I keep using money for more useful things.

Fans come with 8 rubber covers to go over fan holes and make fans look better... now, I understand 4 of them as they cover the top, but there is no way to attach the other one as that side is screwed into the case/radiator... Style points: 10... thinking? 7 as at least half of them are useful and they are spares in case you lose others.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Had a bit of a situation the other day. Picked up 32 GB of RAM on sale and got it installed. Didnt boot, so went to update BIOS and see if it would help. In order to get BIOS file to show up in UEFI USB thumb drive must be formatted in FAT 32, and apparently Windows 11 no longer formats things to FAT32, at least according the the drop down menus.

Wasnt too much of a problem because I have AOMEI Partition manager installed and could do it through there, but was stumped for a few minutes.

Maybe just a thing with non current motherboards? I think I used to have use the same file format the same with older Intel systems. RAM worked fine after that anyway.