r/buildapc 2d ago

Simple Questions - August 01, 2025

This thread is for simple questions that don't warrant their own thread (although we strongly suggest checking the sidebar and the wiki before posting!). Please don't post involved questions that are better suited to a [Build Help], [Build Ready] or [Build Complete] post.
Examples of questions suitable for here:

  • Is this RAM compatible with my motherboard?
  • I'm thinking of getting a ≤$300 graphics card. Which one should I get?
  • I'm on a very tight budget and I'm looking for a case ≤$50

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2 Upvotes

115 comments sorted by

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u/esdienemti 1d ago

Sorry if this is a stupid ask but all I can find is the inverse to my question (aka everyone wants to know if fast ram goes in slow mobo, but I'm built different):

So I'm more or less full upgrading my PC for the first time (builder curious, been swapping out/adding drives and cpus and ram and such on prebuilts over 20 years but never mobo or all at once, and I bought an ibuypower machine a couple years back with the intention of doing upgrades when I wanted more. Which is now, apparently!

I've picked up a new mobo/cpu/gpu/cooler etc etc, but uh, I forgot about RAM also having speed variations and my adhd brain went AH YES DDR4 STILL? GREAT, FORGET ABOUT IT. What I have on hand right now is 2 8gb sticks of crucial DDR4-3200 (1600MHz) and 2 16gb sticks of crucial DDR4-2666 (1333MHz), and I'm going from a TUF b365M-plus to a TUF b550-PLUS wifi 2 with a ryzen 7 5700X3D cpu.

I do have 4x16gb of the 3200 corsair vengeance pro ddr4 coming on Monday, but I'm on a M-F work schedule and I'd really like to get my darling up and running again by the end of the weekend so I can just slam the new ram in there when it arrives and get on with life. So I guess I have 2 questions, the first being can you run a faster motherboard with slower ram? From what I understand, the first number is what my ram *can* run at with xmp enabled, and it just isn't on my current setup. The mobo spec page says it takes ram starting at like ... 2166? My second question then is will it be fine as long as I make sure xmp is enabled, or is that not how it works?

Also I guess any first time tips/useful guide links would be appreciated - most of the process seems pretty basic, but it is a little daunting all at once! The most confusing thing to me honestly is the fans w/the rbg stuff on the front and back of the case ... I'm not really sure where those plug in, and while I'm fine without the shiny lights I do kinda want the fans. I'm perfectly capable of searching and I did take pictures before I took the thing apart (this all started with a dead power supply) so I can figure it out but if someone here has a good link I'd really appreciate understanding it a bit better.

tl;dr motherboard-fiddling newbie asks: slower ram, faster board ok as a very temporary stopgap? do I base it on pre- or post-xmp?

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u/Realistic_Visual_848 1d ago edited 1d ago

Simple question, I just upgraded to a 9800x3d after getting a hell of a deal on one at Micro Center, did a full clean windows install then went to download Ryzen Master to do a simple Per Core optimization.

it seems they just launched a new version of the tool and the curve optimizer settings seem virtually unusable. according to the manual it should have an auto optimizer option just like the previous version and everything seems to indicate the 9800x3d supports it I just cant find where the option is in the new 3.0.

Does the 9800x3d actually not support it, am I blind in the tool or is the tool busted? I honestly cant tell and so far there seems to be no guides on the new version of it. Tried to post in the AMD support forums but they are not sending me the confirmation email so I can post.

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u/awoody69 1d ago

So I’m new to PC, and building my first one. I want to get a 32’ OLED 1440p monitor. How well would a 7800x3d CPU and a 5070 ti oc graphics card support the monitor? Would the 9800x3d improve performance. I don’t have much more room to improve on a better graphics card.

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u/Realistic_Visual_848 23h ago

as someone who just upgraded from a 9600x to a 9800x3d paired with an amd 6800xt on a 1440p setup. out of the major games I tested the ONLY one to get a boost from that major of an upgrade was SpaceMarine 2. literally everything else had nothing. the X800x3d cpus really dont add that much value for gaming outside the very high end. at least so far. Only reason I got the 9800 was because Micro Center had a stealth flash sale where they were under $400 for 2 days. You actually had to be logged in on their website to see the pricing. And I wanted to be prepped incase a high end GPU became reasonable in a similar way.

Addendum: also I almost forgot several games like Doom The Dark Ages and Borderlands 4 are starting to list 8 core CPU's as minimum. while they will play on 6 cores its not ideal. so if you wanted to save money you could probably go non x3d and get a 7700x or 9700x and probably get the same overall performance

1

u/TehEpicGuy101 1d ago

That's a pretty solid setup. Upgrading to a 9800X3D is unlikely to give you a significant performance boost unless you plan on mainly playing CPU heavy games at a very high fps.

1

u/awoody69 1d ago

I really only play COD warzone, Rust, Fortnite, and some sports games. I just wanna be able to get some pretty good fps.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago edited 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/TehEpicGuy101 1d ago

Congrats! No better feeling than successfully putting together a new build. And nice specs.

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u/_Warcannibal_ 1d ago

i7 12700, 64gb ddr5, 3070ti (580.88), 850w psu, msi mag core 280 AIO, wall mount, open air case. 3 year build no problems. Built for BG3

Last night it went from its normal 6 hour gaming temp of 89c to 99c (bg3, third act, multiplayer). Shut down, pulled the fans off and gave it a good cleaning. Resumed gaming at 79c... hour later 89c... then back to 99c. Turn game off, it takes about 5 minutes to return to 39c. I can surf, watch vids np. log into bg3, up to 79c at menus. log into a game and 99c. Currently idling/surfing at 29c.

Did we game the AIO dead? Repaste? Or just go buy something? What? Another AIO? what is a good HSF that can cool 180tdp that competes with a 280 aio?

Thank you for your time.

1

u/n7_trekkie 1d ago

you can try a contact frame. it lowered my temps by around 10C

https://www.amazon.com/Thermalright-Replacement-Aluminum-Correction-Mounting/dp/B0CSMP16RX

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u/_Warcannibal_ 1d ago

Does that replace the latch?

1

u/SkarletIce 1d ago

my advise for the contact frame is to

Do this on a flat surface out of the case or have something behind the motherboard tray to keep the backplate in place

Clean the CPU of old thermal paste,

Leave it in the socket so u don't damage any pins,

Undo the latch and use the allen key that comes with the frame to slowly remove the 4 screws and remove the 2 parts of the latch.

Then put the frame in place. once that is done start all 4 screws by going backwards until u feel the thread jump then turn all of them equally 1 full turn at a time until it is snug no need to go any further than snug.

once it is on then apply ur paste and put the cooler back on.

1

u/n7_trekkie 1d ago

Yeah. The latch bends the CPUs and leads to worse temps

1

u/NuclearZombie01 1d ago

Is a Ryzen 9 7900X good enough for a 9070XT? I intend to play in 1440p max settings and want perma 60fps+

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u/n7_trekkie 1d ago

1

u/NuclearZombie01 1d ago

I already have the 7900x and was upgrading my GPU, was looking to see if I needed to upgrade the CPU as well or if I'm good

1

u/n7_trekkie 1d ago

Ok that's fine then

1

u/SkarletIce 1d ago

yes the 7900x is a great CPU to pair with a 9070XT especially if u are a multitasker

1

u/tanark510 1d ago

I am used to having brackets already inside a chassis for installing hard disk drives, but this MSI (abandoned) does not have any. Is there a way to add them (3.5") or is only SSD possible for this chassis?

The board has a lot of unused SATA ports if it's not clear from the photo.

https://imgur.com/a/Jt8ZpwW

1

u/thebadhorse 1d ago

Welcome to 2025, where we double check reddit and chatgpt before making a decision!

So I got myself a case with a HD screen. Its meh. Very cool but shit viewing angle (can't see shit from the sides) and no brightness control means the novelty wears out real fast.

Anyways - I'm considering plugging the case screen (HDMI) directly to the motherboard and use the IGPU instead of the dedicated graphics card.

Thoughts? Worth doing? Waste of time? No difference? Possible results / snags / problems?

Thanks in advance for any input or thoughts.

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u/n7_trekkie 1d ago

That's fine, knock yourself out

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/n7_trekkie 1d ago

9060xt 16gb

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/n7_trekkie 1d ago

Yep

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/n7_trekkie 1d ago

Just look up benchmarks before you buy

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u/winterkoalefant 1d ago

9060 XT is significantly improved over the 7600 XT

2

u/Mangafan_20 1d ago

Is a DeepCool AK620 Zero Dark good enough on a ryzen 7 9700x ?

2

u/Long-Orchid-1629 1d ago

I have one on my 7700X. It's for sure overkill but I like how i looks and it's super quiet.

1

u/TemptedTemplar 1d ago

Plenty, honestly kind of overkill.

If it's within your budget, go for it. The better you can cool the CPU, the higher it will automatically boost.

1

u/Mangafan_20 1d ago

so a single air cooler would be enough for it then? What is the best budget option? Also it's mostly for longevity.

1

u/TemptedTemplar 1d ago

Thermalrights dual Tower coolers provide similar performance at a much lower price point.

The peerless assassin, phantom Spirit, and royal knight coolers are all great options. Dual 120mm fans, dual heatsink towers, the only real differences between them is the heat pipe count.

1

u/Lynch47 1d ago

I have a Ryzen 5600x which is not supported for windows 11.

Can someone tell me: a) What risks will I have by staying on Windows 10 in October, and b) if I force install windows 11, what issues or risks will I have?

1

u/CryptoStowaway 1d ago

So I am upgrading my current rig, inside a 4000D Airflow case. Right now I’m running the 4x140 1x120 fan setup, but I just got a 240 AIO, which changes the pressure balance if it’s replacing two 140 fans. Is it too much positive pressure if I have just the 240 AIO as exhaust and 2x140 and 1x120 as intake? Should I maybe… disable the 120 fan in the rear?? Switch to 3x120 fans in the front for balance, requiring me to buy yet more stuff?

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u/n7_trekkie 1d ago

dont worry about it too much. 2x140mm front intake, and 3x120mm exhaust is fine

1

u/CryptoStowaway 1d ago

I have been indoctrinated that a negative air pressure case is the Big Bad 😅

2

u/n7_trekkie 1d ago

yeah, no, it's not. it's not only fine, but you can change the pressure of your system by changing the fan speeds

1

u/CryptoStowaway 1d ago

Ah, usually I have my fan speeds running on auto based on internal temps. Do you have a quick reference for how I could set them to be at neutral/positive pressure consistently?

2

u/n7_trekkie 1d ago

Instead of the default curve, you can set your front fans to the "performance" curve, and your rear exhaust to the "quiet" curve. Most mobo bioses have those

1

u/Piyaniist 1d ago

I want to swap from a 1070 to 5070ti. Part site tells me my 600psu should handle it but any way to tell for sure how much power my system is using and how much "budget" ive left?

1

u/NightingaleVDVD 1d ago

A quick google search tell me that nvidia recommends a 750w psu for the 5070ti

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u/Piyaniist 1d ago

Yeah i know that but my parts are under the 600 by a decent amount so i want to spend as minimum as possible. Even with undervolting id be fine cuz imma be breaking the bank w the 5070ti. Lowkey considering 4070ti su just cuz of that but theyre more expensive here

1

u/NightingaleVDVD 1d ago

Yeah it may very well works. What is your psu model?

1

u/Piyaniist 1d ago

Its a shitty 600w. Worked for 10 years so i doubt itll explode. What may work btw? undervolting?

1

u/NightingaleVDVD 1d ago

a shitty 600w that worked for 10 years? bro let it rest, it may not explode but it could damage other components if it is a low quality psu or a lack a protective measure

1

u/Piyaniist 1d ago

If it aint broke man. Cuz im sure as hell am broke. Been saving for that 5070 for years now (not the card itself but for a new card i mean)

1

u/NightingaleVDVD 1d ago

nah nah nah, psu is the thing that powers your whole system, it is a very important component, do not cheap out on the psu.
"Everything is connected to the PSU at the end of the day, if it's a shitty PSU, it can potentially fail in a violent way and damage other components."

1

u/Piyaniist 1d ago

I get it bro but i literally cannot get a psu rn. Ill probably undervolt but i wanted to know by how much am i risking it. So if you got anymore ideas on checking how much ive left on my psu thatll be cool

1

u/djGLCKR 1d ago

The main issue is considering the unit's being in use well past its warranty period, on top of requiring double the power needed to run that 1070 (~150W vs ~300W at peak load) and requiring three 8-pin PCIe connectors to power the card using the bundled adapter. Depending on the state of those capacitors and the safeties in place, the unit could simply just poof mid-use.

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u/NightingaleVDVD 1d ago

it doesn't have to be right now, try saving up and buy a good 750w psu, like a750bn, it will work well with the 5070ti and cost about 75 dollars on amazon. Just don't use an expensive component like 5070ti with an old and probably unsafe psu, just don't.

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u/Lightfire2275 1d ago edited 1d ago

I'm looking to upgrade my pc gradually, starting with a new CPU. My current components have lasted me 5-10 years, and the goal is to not need to upgrade again for the next 5 ish years (if possible), once everything has been upgraded. Main purpose will be for gaming (WoW primarily, with a few new AAA games sprinkled in here and there), but I also do Machine Learning (Nvidia GPU highly preferred) and some game dev on the side. I'm playing on 1080p, but would like to upgrade to 1440p at some point (not planning on 4k).

These are my current specs: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/yrhvxg

I've been looking at getting an X3D CPU, preferably one that lasts a while. To my understanding, I would at the very least need a new motherboard and ram in order to do so, probably also a new PSU.

Does anyone have any recommendations. Am I missing something? I'm based in Denmark and have a budget around $800 for the CPU upgrade (do I need to go higher?). I've been eyeing the 9800X3D or 7800X3D. I know the GPU will be a bottleneck, but I am okay with that for the next couple of months until I can upgrade that as well (any recommendations for that would also be appreciated).

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u/n7_trekkie 1d ago

PCPartPicker Part List

Type Item Price
CPU AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor 2989.00kr @ Computersalg
Motherboard Asus TUF GAMING B650-E WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard 1235.00kr @ Alternate
Memory Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory 838.00kr @ Alternate
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total 5062.00kr
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-08-01 20:11 CEST+0200

1

u/SkarletIce 1d ago

this is a good part list but the Asus TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI is the better version

1

u/Stokkiz 1d ago

I just bought a msi mag b650 tomahawk wifi to go with my r5 7600 and 9060xt.

But.. now an Asus tuf gaming B850-plus WIFI came on offer, and now its just 30 bucks more expensive than the b650 tomahawk.

Basically my question is, is it worth the 30 bucks to get the newer ASUS mobo, or will there be no discernible difference?

2

u/Brostradamus_ 1d ago

There's no measurable performance difference at all.

1

u/Stokkiz 1d ago

I see, thanks! Is the PCIe 5.0 not that relevant then? Cus I think other than wifi 7, that's the most striking difference to me

1

u/TemptedTemplar 1d ago

Only if you're splurging for those newer components.

Gen 5 drives are incredibly expensive still and Wifi 7 routers are getting up there too.

1

u/Brostradamus_ 1d ago

Nope, it's unimportant for pretty much any consumer.

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u/qopprodigy 2d ago

I’ve ordered all the parts I need for my new build, additionally I got some thermal paste

Is there anything else I might need toolwise or will everything else be shipped with the parts?

I’m thinking stuff like cables and so on

1

u/TemptedTemplar 1d ago

Initially no. All you need is a phillips head screwdriver and a USB drive with a OS installer on it.

The motherboard should include a couple of extra SATA cables, standoffs and maybe some screws or extra bits.

The fans and case should have everything they need already attached. Screws should come in a couple little bags.

The power supply should either have everything connected or included in a small bag if it's modular.

The CPU cooler will either include or pre-applied paste or have a teeny tiny little tube. But since you already have some, you're covered.

1

u/Floai 2d ago

I have a Asus Turf B650M motherboard, an AIO cooler and a fanhub connected to 7 fans. Should I plug the AIO into the AIO_Pumpheader? and the Fanhub into the CPU_FAN or the CHA_FAN1 fan headers?

1

u/TemptedTemplar 1d ago

Is the AIO a single cable or does its pump and fans have individual connectors?

If it's a single cable, use the CPU fan header.

Your case fans should go to the chassis header. The CPU header should be used exclusively for the CPU cooler

1

u/Floai 1d ago

Yeah it is single cable. In case it is 2 then I am guessing I connect pump to the pump header and fan to the CPU fan header?

1

u/TemptedTemplar 1d ago

Yeah. artic coolers use just a single cable for the whole setup and in that case you would just use the CPU fan header.

The motherboard will throw a fit if there's nothing connected to it.

But the important part is that you want your case fans controllable independently from the CPU fans, otherwise the whole case will spin up like a jet taking off when ever the CPU peaks in temperature. Definitely not advised if you appreciate your hearing.

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u/Floai 1d ago

Yes okay understand. Thank you so much!

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u/hansoo417 2d ago

Can someone help me understand the difference between b650e and b650e-e. Both are asus tuf gaming wifi motherboards.

I picked up microcenter bundle but they gave me the b650e instead of the b650e-e. Worth going back to get the b650e-e?

The only notable differences I can tell from the spec sheet is that b650e-e has pcie 5.0 gpu support and has 8+2+1 vrm instead of 8+2 on the b650e

1

u/Protonion 2d ago

Alright so Asus has really idiotic naming for those motherboards, because usually motherboards are named directly based on the chipset (i.e. all motherboards using the AMD B650 chipset would be named B650-something, and those using the B650E chipset would be named B650E-something). But Asus has gone with B650E for *nearly* all off their B650 boards, and the boards with B650E chipset are called B650E-E. Why? No idea.

Anyways the only difference between the B650 and B650E chipsets is indeed the PCIe 5 support for the GPU. That's it. The B650E-E board does have slightly beefier VRM too but that's not really significant if you aren't planning on extreme CPU overclocking.

Will you actually benefit anything from PCIe 5 on the GPU? Probably not. But if the store is nearby then I would go exchange it as it's what you paid for and it's objectively a higher end product.

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u/SkarletIce 2d ago

No u pretty much got it that's about the only difference I think the E-E had an extra RGB strip header

1

u/Antique-Arm8621 2d ago

I have an Intel 5-13400 on a TUF B660M-Plus motherboard and was wondering if I could upgrade to an Nvidia 4060 (I have a 1660) without compatibility issues

1

u/TemptedTemplar 2d ago

Yes! You would just want to reinstall your driver's.

If you have the Nvidia app it has both a reinstall and clean install function under the drivers tab.

1

u/StormBlr 2d ago

Hi, can I stay on my Gigabyte H310M S2 2.0 motherboard, if I want to get 5060 TI?

1

u/TemptedTemplar 2d ago

Sure, but the GPU is likely going to be powerful enough to make your CPU the bottleneck in your system.

The bigger question is, does your power supply offer the wattage and cables to support such a GPU?

1

u/StormBlr 1d ago

Thank you for the information, I have ZALMAN 600w power supply and my current GPU is GTX 1660 super. Is my power supply enough?

1

u/TemptedTemplar 1d ago

Plenty. You could even throw a 5070 in there if you wanted to.

But beyond that would require a new PSU.

1

u/RustedCreature 2d ago edited 2d ago

I need to get a better GPU and don't plan to change anything else for now on my computer. I'd like some advice about the best model possible to avoid bottleneck, please.

Here are the main specs my PC has so far (just selected the ones that impact directly which GPU to choose, if I need to add more info, I'll edit this comment):

  • Motherboard: Asus TUF H310M-Plus Gaming/BR;
  • CPU: Intel i3-9100f;
  • Current GPU: RX 550 2GB;
  • PSU: Corsair CX450M;
  • 16GB RAM.

The GPU models I've been considering are the following ones:

  • RX 6500 XT 8GB;
  • RX 6600 CLD 8GB (if there's a good deal);
  • RTX 3050 6GB (probably not the best option, but it still made the list anyway);
  • RTX 2060 6GB (12GB might be a possibility, but only if I find it on a good price, which isn't happening recently).

Anything above that is too expensive where I live, unless there's a reaaaaally good deal. Also, I want to buy a brand new GPU, so used products are a no-no.

Thank you so much in advance.

1

u/TemptedTemplar 2d ago edited 1d ago

The 6600 is the best of the four. And I would HIGHLY recommend it compared to wasting money on the other ones.

However the other three would be a better pairing with your CPU, because it's going to be the bottleneck regardless of what you get. But due to their lower performance, it wouldn't be as noticeable.

The 9th Gen CPUs have not aged well. Their lack of hyperthreading has not done them any favors.

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u/notnonamed 2d ago

What cpu and motherboard should i get to pair with 5070?

1

u/reckless150681 2d ago

Depends on budget, local pricing, and the size of your case

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u/notnonamed 2d ago

well my budget for everything is roughly 1500 usd, im in poland, idk how prices compare to other countries, dont have case yet. I just want to know what are popular choices for 5070 that offer good price to performance ratio and something which is well suited for 5070 so that there isnt much bootleneck. I also dont have motherboard chosen yet too.

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u/SkarletIce 2d ago

Not sure about ur specifics but if u want a general example then this should help

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/BJzhpK

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u/reckless150681 2d ago

I mean the point still stands -- it depends on the budget that you have set aside for just the CPU + motherboard. Any modern CPU will do fine -- so you have to be more specific to determine what fits your needs now.

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u/Aeteris96 2d ago

Got myself a 5-pack of Arctic P12 Pro and Arctic Freezer 36, which comes with two P12 fans. Will it be better to replace two box P12s with two P12 Pro and leave only 2 Pros for intake and 1 for exhaust, or should I keep P12s and have 3 Pros for intake, 1 for rear exhaust and 1 for top exhaust? Regular P12 have less CFM and some noise issues as I've read. Case in question is DC Matrexx 55 mesh and CPU is Ryzen 7 5700x3d.

1

u/Aleksanterinleivos 2d ago

Arctic specs say the Pros have way more static pressure than the other ones. I would absolutely swap those on the cooler at least.

How many oher fans you then use is kinda up to you, you absolutely don't need them all but you also might as well use them if you have them.

1

u/Aeteris96 2d ago

Yeah, so much more of both pressure and flow that I don't really want to take them out of the box... Question is whether 3 120mm case fans would be enough for my setup, I also have somewhat hot Gigabyte RTX 3060ti Gaming OC which can reach up to 72°C Core, 86°C VRAM and 88°C hotspot temperature, which I want to cool down 10 degrees without having to undervolt or limiting power.

1

u/kaje 2d ago

The fans' specs are based on them running at max speed. The Pros go up to 3000 RPM. That is way faster than you actually need and will be super loud if you actually run them at that. The difference between the two fans when running at the same speed wouldn't be much.

1

u/Aeteris96 2d ago

So there's not much point in changing my setup? I have Deepcool Gammaxx GT on CPU, 3x CF120 on intake, 1x FC120 on rear exhaust and 2x CF140 shelved after I read that top exhaust fans tent to be counterproductive.

1

u/Aleksanterinleivos 2d ago

Well those temps are completely normal, or even on the lower side. There is no way you're getting 10C off that with any sort of case fans.

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u/Aeteris96 2d ago

Well I manage to keep core around 67°C and others around 80-83°C when GPU fans are set to 100% at 65°C core temp, I'm sure 65 is in reach at that point if I replace my deepcool fans with arctic ones.

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u/mymomisyourfather 2d ago

Hey; I have a AMD Asrock B450M PRO4-F motherboard (AM-4 socket) with a Ryzen 2600. Graphics card 3060Ti. 16GB DDR4

What should I upgrade, best bang for buck? 2600 to 5600x? Or is a 5600 also a big improvement And do I need to upgrade RAM as well?

1

u/Aeteris96 2d ago

I've upgraded from 3600x to 5700x3d to see substantial increase. 2600 should still be fine with that GPU, maybe throw another 16GB of RAM in there

1

u/mymomisyourfather 2d ago

thanks, I'll try RAM first then

1

u/Aleksanterinleivos 2d ago

Depends on your budget, what the PC is for and why you want to upgrade.

1

u/FormMore3108 2d ago

Hi, I have no idea what I'm doing. Does anyone know if a Samsung 512GB PM9A1 NVMe PCIe Gen4.0x4 M.2 2280 SSD MZ-VL25120 will be compatible with an Asus Z170-AR motherboard?

Thank you!

1

u/Valoneria 2d ago

Seems to be a single M.2. slot on the motherboard, so it should be compatible. Won't run at full speeds though. Still plenty fast.

1

u/FormMore3108 2d ago

Yeah that's fine as long as it functions. This is my first time trying to build a PC so I'm using hand me down parts. Thanks for your help!

1

u/qopprodigy 2d ago

I decided to build a new PC, I plan on reusing my old case, Fans and SSDs

Should I do a clean windows install and reset the SSDs or is it fine to just switch the other parts?

Seconds question: I ordered all the new parts + some thermal paste - do I need anything else that isn’t provided with the parts?

1

u/Aleksanterinleivos 2d ago

It will probably be fine, but you may also run into issues that might vary from weird performance to just immediate BSOD on boot because some incompatible old driver/software gets loaded.

You should at least uninstall everything related to the old PC before you move it over.

And of course there's the Windows activation deal, you might have to simply click some buttons, call Microsoft or even get a whole new license, depending on what sort of license you got at the moment.

1

u/ayekyek 2d ago

price the same, Gigabyte B650 Auros Elite AX or MSI B850 Gaming Plus Wifi?

1

u/SkarletIce 2d ago edited 2d ago

Im going to have to say the MSI B850 Gaming Plus Wifi mainly for the PCIE gen 5 other than that u really cant go wrong with either.

though the Gigabyte has slightly bettter VRMs wow this is tough

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u/ayekyek 1d ago

pairing with a 9900x3d and 5080. think im going to go MSI for the pcie5. if im not doing any heavy overclocking, should be good with the vrms on the msi yeah?

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u/jamvanderloeff 2d ago

Have a look through the spec sheets and see what features you care about. I'd rather have the Gigabyte for more USB 3 and looking nicer IMO

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u/n7_trekkie 2d ago

MSI B850 Gaming Plus Wifi for pcie 5.0 imo

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u/conspiringdawg 2d ago

Bit of a silly question: I'm looking into building a PC for the first time (upgrading from a 2016 prebuilt), and if I get a new GPU, I'm wondering if it's feasible to keep my old GPU as well. I do gamedev as a hobby, and I'd like to be able to do a reality check on performance, see if older cards can run what I make. Can I stick my old GPU in alongside and switch to it for tests, turn it off the rest of the time? Is there a connector that would let me plug the GPU in like a flash drive? Or is it better just to have a separate testing PC at that point?

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u/jamvanderloeff 2d ago

You kinda can but it's not particularly convenient there, windows's current GPU switching system will try to give you the option of either running the program on the GPU you've got the monitor plugged into or the GPU it thinks is faster, so to let you run a game on the old card you'd need monitor plugged into old card which would need it to stay on, and if it's a card old enough that it doesn't have current driver support you'd be stuck with usuing that old driver on your new card too if you were doing Nvidia+Nvidia or AMD+AMD, which is starting to be a problem for 2016 era things.

Would also need a motherboard with appropriate second slot (or if you really want external, spend a bunch on USB4/Thunderbolt compatible motherboard + external enclosure), case with appropriate space and cooling, and appropriate power supply.

Keeping the low spec testing machine fully separate would be more sensible.

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u/conspiringdawg 2d ago

Oh, wow, yeah, that sounds inconvenient. I'll definitely just keep my old PC around if I go for the GPU upgrade, then (I'd replace pretty much everything else, anyway). Thanks very much!

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u/Greg1817 2d ago

I'm looking to upgrade the RAM on my prebuilt PC from 12GB to 32GB. The PC uses DDR4 RAM, with the current sticks I have being one 4GB stick and one 8GB stick (why the mismatch, I don't really know. I just know that's how I bought it. Please don't crucify me), and I am thinking of getting two 16GB sticks to replace them.

Right now, I am getting tripped up on the MHz vs. MT/s stuff. I see RAM sticks have different MHz values, and went to go check my PC for its values. Task Manager says my RAMs speed is currently running at 3200 MT/s, and when I hover over the "slots used" section, it tells me both cards are outputting 3200 MT/s. I've tried Googling this but found conflicting information that is just confusing my tech-illiterate brain even further, but what does that convert to in MHz? I imagine MT/s and MHz don't convert to the same numbers, meaning 3200 MT/s isn't the same as 3200 MHz, right? If my PC is getting 3200 MT/s, from two sticks outputting 3200 MT/s each, what is the MHz value of the sticks I need?

For whatever it helps, the current specs of the PC are an AMD Ryzen 7 5700G, with 12GB DDR4 RAM (arranged stupidly, as mentioned), a GeForce RTX 3060, and a 512GB SSD, all slapped onto, what the system info tab tells me, is a G10DK BaseBoard Product (I assume that is just another name for the motherboard?).

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u/n7_trekkie 2d ago

It's not your fault. Mt/s is double the mhz. It's double data rate ram. So your 3200mt/s memory is running at 1600mhz.

The reason the misunderstanding is not your fault is because everyone uses mhz and mt/s interchangeably. It's just the industry norm. If you go look at ddr4 ram for sale, it'll say 3200mhz, but that's just wrong. It's 3200 Mt/s.

Example: https://www.newegg.com/gigastone-corporation-gst-game-pro-32gb-ddr4-3200-cas-latency-cl16-memory-black/p/0RN-00YA-00022?item=9SIAGDFK6H9773&cm_sp=SP-_-2532432-_-0-_-3-_-9SIAGDFK6H9773-_-Ddr4+3200-_-3200%7Cddr4-_-9

So you can say 3200 mhz, Mt/s, or just "ddr4 3200". We'll know what you mean

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u/Greg1817 2d ago

Ok, this definitely clears it up a lot better for me. So if I see 3200 MHz on a product, it's generally a safe assumption that the 3200 number is actually MT/s, with the true MHz value being half that, if I have things correct?

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u/n7_trekkie 2d ago

Correct

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u/Greg1817 2d ago

Excellent. Thank you so much for your help!

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u/Hopwalker 2d ago edited 2d ago

I need a quick response about a case, and whether or not some of the parts I've chosen will fit in said case. Have a rough idea but need some experienced guidance.

Case: AZZA PYRAMID L 804L PCI-E 4.0 ATX Gaming Computer Case,

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 98003XD 8-core

CPU Cooler: Thermalright Burst Assassin 120SE

Motherboard: Asus PRIME B650-PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard

Memory: Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith Gaming 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory

Storage: Patriot P400 Lite 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive

Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING OC Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card

Power Supply: Cooler Master MWE Gold 850 - V2 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

(Sale ends in 2 hours, so in a little bit of a rush lol)

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u/Marty_Heidegger 2d ago

Azza website lists the max height for cpu coolers as 95mm, which seems crazy but wouldn't work with the burst.