Post your setup!

[BTGBullseye]

1 hour ago, ScumCoder said:

I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee

 

I as well used to think that ASRock is a great combination of low price, good peripheral functionality and feature-rich BIOS, but their motherboards fail me so reliably that it crosses any and all boundaries of statistical uncertainty. I had to deal with five (all different models), and not a single one of them worked for more than a couple years. Last two of them failed one month after the warranty ran out. I swear, there are some engineering geniuses working at ASRock's Planned Obsolescence Department.

Was that also back when they were a subsidiary of ASUS and were relegated to the lowest-end parts? Also, did you contact their support for that barely out of warranty failure, or did you just assume they wouldn't be decent people willing to help you out? I've had a few interactions with their support team, and no bad experiences yet... Heck, I flat out told them that I basically fried my motherboard and CPU due to accidentally setting an overclocking voltage WAY too high and letting it run like that for over a month, and they still replaced the motherboard for free. (AMD replaced the CPU with an upgraded one as well, even with the same story of essentially voiding my warranty)

 

So far ASRock is also the only one to make Micro-ATX boards for the higher-end chipsets that aren't extortionate in pricing. (like the X570M Pro4)

[Dash Lambda]

Oh! Oh! Hardware!

 

My machine's specs:

CPU: Ryzen 7 1700X (@4Ghz)

MOBO: ASUS Crosshair 6 Hero

RAM: 32GB G-Skill Trident Z RGB (Two separate kits bought before and after the pricing debacle, one's Samsung and the other's SK Hynix)

GPU0: Corsair Hydro GFX 980ti

GPU1: MSI 980ti Gaming (Pretty much never in SLI, this card is for more monitors and GPGPU compute)

Storage: Samsung 970 Pro 256GB, Sandisk [something] 120GB, WD Red Pro 4TB

PSU: Corsair HX1000i

Cooling: Corsair H110i GT on the CPU, stock on the cards

Case: Cooler Master HAF XB Evo

 

Funny story about the RGB RAM: I actually didn't intend to get it at first. I looked for a store with normal Trident Z in stock, drove out, looked for about 15 minutes, called someone over, he went in the back and looked for about 10 minutes, then they gave up and gave me the RGB RAM for the same price as the normal kit. Now I kind'a like it.

 

Anyway, something I've had on my mind: Anyone remember when NVidia bumped the price of the Titan to $1200 a couple years ago? Remember how mad everyone was, how much discussion it generated? I've been looking at GPUs again, and there's a $1300 x80ti card that people seem perfectly okay with.

The 780ti was $700, my 980ti was $650, the 1080ti was $700, now the 2080ti is $1300? In two generations they doubled the price?

 

The 2080ti is about twice as fast as the 980ti, which means there has been literally no net change in price to performance on the high end between now and 2015. This is insanity.

[BTGBullseye]

Well, I just got a few upgrades for my system... 1TB HP EX950 NVMe drive. (12th fastest drive available at or above 1TB in size) https://www.newegg.com/hp-ex950-1tb/p/N82E16820326041

 

And, Logitech Powerplay mousepad. https://www.newegg.com/logitech-943-000109/p/N82E16826980031

Edited May 16, 2020 by BTGBullseye
Better wording. (see edit history)

[BTGBullseye]

Another awesome addition to my system... A GMMK keyboard with Kailh Pro Purple switches and 40A thick o-rings. (I also got the Kailh Speed Silver, but decided to start with the Purple because they felt like they'd be better for typing, and they definitely are)

 

My KPM has gotten much faster with this keyboard, and I'm making far fewer typos. (though just as many "I should say this a different way" mistakes that I have to correct, as that's a brain related issue, not hardware)

 

I may end up putting down some stories now that have been roaming in my head for decades... I have a keyboard that makes me want to keep typing, for the first time ever.

[Prominer44]

Hey, I haven't posted in this thread for... 6 years! Anywho, here's my current setup, peripherals and all:

 

Tower:

CPU: AMD R5 3600X (3.79 GHz Base, 4.4Ghz Boost)
CPU Cooler: ID-COOLING SE-224-XT (push-pull config)
Motherboard: Asrock B450M Pro4
RAM: G.Skill Aegis 32 GB (3200 MHz)
Video Card: MSI RX 5700 Evoke OC
SSD: Intel 660p NVMe SSD (1 TB)
HDD: Seagate Momentus Thin (500 GB)
HDD: Western Digital Blue (1 TB)
Case: Fractal Design Focus G Mini (Black)
Power Supply: EVGA BQ 500W
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit)

Peripherals:
Keyboard: Cooler Master CK552 (Gateron Reds)
Mouse: Logitech G203 Prodigy (Mercury Sensor)
Microphone: Blue Snowball (on Neewer Boom Arm w/ Pop Filter)
Headphones: TaoTronics SoundSurge 46

Monitors:
Primary Monitor: LG 22EN43T-B (1080p @66 Hz)
Secondary Monitor: ViewSonic VA1903wb (900p @ 75 Hz)

Edited June 16, 2020 by Prominer44 (see edit history)

[BTGBullseye]

Upgraded my CPU from a Ryzen 5 3600 to a Ryzen 7 5800X. Tangibly faster and smoother experience in almost everything. (browsing the internet is the sole exception)

 

Removed tons of extremely minor glitches I was experiencing as well. (apparently they were caused by either the CPU or the BIOS)

[Im_CIA]

3080 restock when. If the stimulus is quick enough I might as well get it from a scalper 

[BTGBullseye]

10 hours ago, Im_CIA said:

3080 restock when.

When they feel like it...

10 hours ago, Im_CIA said:

If the stimulus is quick enough I might as well get it from a scalper 

Please don't. It's hard enough to get them now, and every dollar you give to a scalper will make it even harder for everyone in the future. (even you)

[Im_CIA]

6 hours ago, BTGBullseye said:

When they feel like it...

Please don't. It's hard enough to get them now, and every dollar you give to a scalper will make it even harder for everyone in the future. (even you)

But they are saying the shortage my continue until March. Who know what else may happen to by then

[BTGBullseye]

On 12/30/2020 at 7:06 AM, Im_CIA said:

But they are saying the shortage my continue until March. Who know what else may happen to by then

The shortage will happen until they either outlaw scalping, or until they produce more cards than the scalpers can buy. I'm personally for them outdooing the scalpers and forcing all of them to have wasted money by scalping, and have it be illegal, rather than neither because people are paying a scalper to make this problem permanent.

[Im_CIA]

18 hours ago, BTGBullseye said:

The shortage will happen until they either outlaw scalping, or until they produce more cards than the scalpers can buy. I'm personally for them outdooing the scalpers and forcing all of them to have wasted money by scalping, and have it be illegal, rather than neither because people are paying a scalper to make this problem permanent.

How do you outlaw scalping? Banning resale for two years after original purchase?

[SPECTER50]

This was my first build about a couple years ago, and I'm pretty happy with it.  The only thing I wish I had was a beefier GPU and maybe a better CPU, but I rarely notice it since I have so many old titles to get through still.  I did get a PiMax 5k+ and it definitely needs more power if I want to get consistent frame rates without throttling, Black Mesa looks great in VorpX though!

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 @ 3.4GHz

Cooler: Scythe Mugen Rev B (Overkill, but whenever I get a new CPU I'll be ready, and who doesn't want a massive piece of steel protruding from their PCB?  It also barely ever gets over 1,000 RPM since the radiator's so massive so I never hear it)

GPU: MSI RX 580 8GB Gaming (Hoping for an RTX 3060 Ti when stock finally becomes attainable, but that could take awhile if scalping continues to be feasible and if demand stays the same)

RAM: 16 GB Corsair DDR4 @ 3000MHz (From what I understand, frequency is big for Ryzen, so I'll probably get higher clock speed whenever 16 GB becomes obsolete, worst case I always have New Vegas)

Headphones: Sennheiser Game One (Cheapest headset I could find that was reported as durable and having a serviceable mic)

PSU: Corsair CXM 550W

Motherboard: MSI B450 Tomahawk

OS: Windows 10 Standard

Monitor: ASUS 1920x1080 144Hz (1080 works great for me since I'm not too far away from the screen, and being able to run programs at 144 Hz is such an improvement, though I hear after 200 FPS the difference starts to become negligible, 90 Hz I think is still a massive boost though, 144 is just all I'll ever need)

Storage: 1 TB Samsung 860 EVO, 512 GB Samsung 850 EVO (Boot drive), 256 GB NVMe SSD (unsure of the type, salvaged from laptop, I wanted to get a high capacity HDD but I'm too attached to my PC being dead quiet besides the GPU)

Mouse: Razer NAGA left handed (I have nerve damage to my right arm so having a left handed mouse with 12 buttons makes everything so much easier, and I can already feel the pain of my future arthritis being alleviated, it was very pricey though, and clicking with my pointer finger on the right button feels so weird.  I feel like I've been conditioned to live in a lower form of UI interaction)

Keyboard: Logitech G610 Orion Cherry MX Brown (Can feel a little bit loose but the mechanical switches are still nice)

Case: Corsair 200R (Looks like a monolith, I love it, though I wish it had more SATA ports, a measly 4 is all it has)

 

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by SPECTER50 (see edit history)

[BTGBullseye]

On 1/1/2021 at 4:19 AM, Im_CIA said:

How do you outlaw scalping? Banning resale for two years after original purchase?

Same way they do with tickets for sports... Limit resale price to no more than $1 + service charges over the MSRP. If exceeding that price, it's illegal.

7 hours ago, SPECTER50 said:

This was my first build about a couple years ago, and I'm pretty happy with it.  The only thing I wish I had was a beefier GPU and maybe a better CPU, but I rarely notice it since I have so many old titles to get through still.

I'd say to get a better CPU before trying to upgrade the GPU. The CPU will be the more limiting item in that build. An RX 580 8GB is able to run virtually everything at medium settings with playable framerates.

7 hours ago, SPECTER50 said:

RAM: 16 GB Corsair DDR4 @ 3000MHz (From what I understand, frequency is big for Ryzen, so I'll probably get higher clock speed whenever 16 GB becomes obsolete, worst case I always have New Vegas)

Frequency is a big plus, but only because it allows a higher frequency form the Infinity Fabric without decoupling it from the RAM frequency. If you want to increase the RAM speed above 3200, you're gonna need a new CPU. If you want it to exceed 3600, you're gonna need at least a B550 motherboard and a Ryzen 5000 CPU. (I'd wait for the lower priced ones to come out in a few months)

 

Apart from the Infinity Fabric effects, latency is the next most important part of RAM performance. The 16-16-16-36 timing numbers after the speed are part of what determines that, and lower are always better. If it's already decent timings, then using 4 sticks instead of just two will almost always perform better than "faster" RAM.

7 hours ago, SPECTER50 said:

Monitor: ASUS 1920x1080 144Hz (1080 works great for me since I'm not too far away from the screen, and being able to run programs at 144 Hz is such an improvement, though I hear after 200 FPS the difference starts to become negligible, 90 Hz I think is still a massive boost though, 144 is just all I'll ever need)

Anything over 120Hz is effectively negligible for anything except ultra-competitive e-sports "gaming". I'm using a 165Hz monitor right now, and I can not see any difference between 165Hz, 144Hz, and 120Hz in the vast majority of games.

 

Apart from that, a nice build.

Edited January 4, 2021 by BTGBullseye (see edit history)

[SPECTER50]

On 1/3/2021 at 8:30 PM, BTGBullseye said:

Same way they do with tickets for sports... Limit resale price to no more than $1 + service charges over the MSRP. If exceeding that price, it's illegal.

That's clever!  You'd probably catch flak from the laissez-faire crowd though, and maybe the lobbyists?  Since it's giving them reason to ask more upfront, and apparently a tariff exemption on GPUs expired, which could raise prices by 25% https://www.tomshardware.com/news/gpu-tariff-asus-priceincrease, so that's nice.  I hope the older generation cards actually depreciate at some point.  People are still trying to sell their 2080s at around MSRP, like double the "cost" of a 3060 Ti, even though the 3060 Ti is faster, and retails at like half the price.  I guess graphics cards follow the financial model of real estate now.

 

On 1/3/2021 at 8:30 PM, BTGBullseye said:

I'd say to get a better CPU before trying to upgrade the GPU. The CPU will be the more limiting item in that build. An RX 580 8GB is able to run virtually everything at medium settings with playable framerates.

Would that apply to VR too?  That makes sense though, 3.4 GHz is not the greatest clock rate, despite the six cores.  Although I was hoping to hold off on upgrading the motherboard, though I might just go with the latest AM4 chip, if the 3900x got cheaper after a couple generations I wouldn't mind staying on B450.  In your opinion is the higher frequency worth it for B550?  I'll probably get another couple of 8 GB sticks when DDR5 comes out, hopefully that drops the prices even further, maybe I'll even get 2 16s and never worry about memory again!  Though I would love more SATA ports, maybe I'll look for the 16 port B550 dream RAID machine.  I'll probably just pretend it's in RAID though, since I barely have any data I'd want to keep redundant copies of.   Like maybe 100 MB.

 

On 1/3/2021 at 8:30 PM, BTGBullseye said:

Apart from that, a nice build.

Thank you!  I kept it under $1500 and it does everything I need.  I sometimes lament not going for a white or some vibrant color scheme, but I do respect its utilitarian nature.

[BTGBullseye]

On 1/6/2021 at 11:11 PM, SPECTER50 said:

That's clever!  You'd probably catch flak from the laissez-faire crowd though, and maybe the lobbyists?

Actually, so far as I can tell, the people behind those are all for it. Even the lobbyists. (it massively hurts overall sales and company image both short and long term if only scalpers can purchase your products, something lobbyists would be thoroughly against)

On 1/6/2021 at 11:11 PM, SPECTER50 said:

Would that apply to VR too?

While the RX 580 isn't great for VR, it is still quite capable at lower settings. The CPU will be a huge bottleneck for VR, as it has a ton more CPU-side processing it has to do in VR than in regular rendering. It's highly likely to start stuttering with a severely mismatched GPU/CPU. (and not just occasional small stutters, think like a couple 100+ms stutters per second, despite maintaining a much higher average FPS)

On 1/6/2021 at 11:11 PM, SPECTER50 said:

Although I was hoping to hold off on upgrading the motherboard, though I might just go with the latest AM4 chip, if the 3900x got cheaper after a couple generations I wouldn't mind staying on B450.  In your opinion is the higher frequency worth it for B550?

B550 and any of the Ryzen 5000 series CPUs would be ideal, alternatively a B550 and a Ryzen 5 3600. (about $80 less expensive until AMD releases the 5600)

 

At this point in time, I would not intentionally go for a B450. The B550 is on a technical level the best AMD motherboard chipset available. Of course, I recommend watching a few of Buildzoid's videos on which B550 motherboards to get. (some are on his youtube channel "Actually Hardcore Overclocking", and some are over on "Gamers Nexus") However, you can start with a Ryzen 5000, and upgrade the motherboard later if you wish, as there is a BIOS update that will allow the 5000 series to work in your motherboard.

On 1/6/2021 at 11:11 PM, SPECTER50 said:

I'll probably get another couple of 8 GB sticks when DDR5 comes out, hopefully that drops the prices even further, maybe I'll even get 2 16s and never worry about memory again!

I'd suggest to do it sooner. Prices generally go up when new RAM architectures come out, mainly because most manufacturers are no longer making the older stuff. I would also recommend a better set of RAM rather than just more sticks, as it can quite significantly affect your CPU performance. (on systems that have a CPU bottleneck, it can increase FPS by as much as 15%) Just make sure you're not mixing and matching RAM, even if it has all the same specs. (unless they're the exact same in every regard, down to PCB revisions that aren't ever advertised, you'll be leaving performance on the table) Right now, NOTHING beats the Samsung B-die in the G.Skill 4000 15-16-16, even if other RAM can go "faster". (but those are $190 for a pair of 8GB sticks or $390 for 4 matched sticks, so not that great a purchase idea when on a budget)

 

I'd suggest a currently $240 kit from G.Skill, TridentZ 4x8GB 3600 16-16-16-36. https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232584

It's basically the same RAM I have in my system, just with a $50 discount from what I paid. (though the exact RAM I have would be the same price now, if it were still available, the only difference is the heat spreader)

On 1/6/2021 at 11:11 PM, SPECTER50 said:

Though I would love more SATA ports, maybe I'll look for the 16 port B550 dream RAID machine.  I'll probably just pretend it's in RAID though, since I barely have any data I'd want to keep redundant copies of.   Like maybe 100 MB.

Better to get a board with dual NVMe, and stick a pair of 1TB drives in there. They're faster than any SATA RAID is physically capable of, (and less likely to lose data than any spinning rust drive) and it's only a single drive with no cables about the size of a RAM stick. If you really need redundant, or really want to try a RAID, (like I did) then don't try a large drive array. It takes way too long for the system to rebuild the array if there is a discrepancy between the drives. (I have a pair of fast 2TB drives RAIDed, and they take almost 24hrs to rebuild when an unexpected shutdown or crash happens)

On 1/6/2021 at 11:11 PM, SPECTER50 said:

Thank you!  I kept it under $1500 and it does everything I need.  I sometimes lament not going for a white or some vibrant color scheme, but I do respect its utilitarian nature.

I've always thought "that $50 RGB strand that glows in a cool pattern looks kinda cool, but it just distracts you from what's on that $300+ RGB array that you're interacting with, so why are you paying more for a distraction?". Besides, sleeper builds are a thing, as is comfort of actually using the system.

 

Would having it be white or really colorful help you in any way, either with gaming or for psychological reasons with decor matching? If not, then it's better to save the money you'd spend on that for better hardware that will improve the experience of actually using the system.

 

It's just an opinion, but it's the right one.

[BTGBullseye]

Well, one of my NVMe drives just died on me... The one that was for games... I just lost all my games. Now I have to wait until next week for the replacement to arrive.

 

On the plus side, I paid less for the new one, and it's a better drive. Mushkin Pilot-E 1TB.

[SPECTER50]

41 minutes ago, BTGBullseye said:

Well, one of my NVMe drives just died on me... The one that was for games... I just lost all my games. Now I have to wait until next week for the replacement to arrive.

Goddamn, well, it seems like the news will be interesting at least for you.  Do you at least have minesweeper on your other drive?

 

On 1/9/2021 at 3:29 AM, BTGBullseye said:

At this point in time, I would not intentionally go for a B450. The B550 is on a technical level the best AMD motherboard chipset available. Of course, I recommend watching a few of Buildzoid's videos on which B550 motherboards to get. (some are on his youtube channel "Actually Hardcore Overclocking", and some are over on "Gamers Nexus") However, you can start with a Ryzen 5000, and upgrade the motherboard later if you wish, as there is a BIOS update that will allow the 5000 series to work in your motherboard.

Yeah, I feel like I'd go crazy if I upgraded my MoBo before my CPU, because my brain thinks of the CPU as the command calculator, so I have an innate need to improve it first.  Though I'd really like more PCIe slots for an audio card, at the moment my GPU blocks the only other one I have besides the port with the network card in it.

On 1/9/2021 at 3:29 AM, BTGBullseye said:

I've always thought "that $50 RGB strand that glows in a cool pattern looks kinda cool, but it just distracts you from what's on that $300+ RGB array that you're interacting with, so why are you paying more for a distraction?". Besides, sleeper builds are a thing, as is comfort of actually using the system.

Oh yeah, and it's usually a vibrant neon type of color, so instead of appearing as some sort of high power generator of mathematics, it's more of a customizable glowstick.  Though yeah, there's something satisfying about having an unassuming exterior with massive hardware capabilities.  My Grand Marquis may look like a grandpa car, but it has a 4.6L V8!!

On 1/9/2021 at 3:29 AM, BTGBullseye said:

I'd suggest to do it sooner. Prices generally go up when new RAM architectures come out, mainly because most manufacturers are no longer making the older stuff.

What would you say for farther down the line?  I'm probably going to wait until I get a new CPU and GPU, which could take a couple years. 

 

[BTGBullseye]

3 hours ago, SPECTER50 said:

Goddamn, well, it seems like the news will be interesting at least for you.  Do you at least have minesweeper on your other drive?

I managed to fit a few games on my primary NVMe. It is 1TB after all. Avorion, Battletech with the Roguetech mod, Cyberpunk, MWO, Project Genesis, Civ 6, STO, Stellaris.

3 hours ago, SPECTER50 said:

Though I'd really like more PCIe slots for an audio card, at the moment my GPU blocks the only other one I have besides the port with the network card in it.

The only way you're going to actually improve quality over normal integrated audio in 400 series or newer motherboards, is with an external DAC. Integrated audio cards are really incredibly good now, and add-in audio is not an improvement if you don't just need it for more connectors. You'd also need really good speakers or headphones to appreciate it.

3 hours ago, SPECTER50 said:

What would you say for farther down the line?  I'm probably going to wait until I get a new CPU and GPU, which could take a couple years. 

Honestly, G.Skill tends to have the most reliable and highest performing DDR4 RAM. I'd keep an eye on that if looking to the future. If you need to save a few bucks, (and I do mean a few, like $10 or less over 4 sticks) then OLOy is surprisingly good. (they just recently moved to consumer RAM, they used to be exclusively enterprise server RAM)

3 hours ago, SPECTER50 said:

Oh yeah, and it's usually a vibrant neon type of color, so instead of appearing as some sort of high power generator of mathematics, it's more of a customizable glowstick.  Though yeah, there's something satisfying about having an unassuming exterior with massive hardware capabilities.  My Grand Marquis may look like a grandpa car, but it has a 4.6L V8!!

A nice car, and a good analogy. lol

[SPECTER50]

On 1/21/2021 at 2:26 AM, BTGBullseye said:

A nice car, and a good analogy. lol

Oh yeah, the sound of the engine alone is worth it, though climate change, ya know.

 

On 1/21/2021 at 2:26 AM, BTGBullseye said:

Honestly, G.Skill tends to have the most reliable and highest performing DDR4 RAM. I'd keep an eye on that if looking to the future. If you need to save a few bucks, (and I do mean a few, like $10 or less over 4 sticks) then OLOy is surprisingly good. (they just recently moved to consumer RAM, they used to be exclusively enterprise server RAM)

I'll have to get one of their understated models, I'm not ecstatic about it being disadvantageous to mix and match though.

 

On 1/21/2021 at 2:26 AM, BTGBullseye said:

I managed to fit a few games on my primary NVMe. It is 1TB after all. Avorion, Battletech with the Roguetech mod, Cyberpunk, MWO, Project Genesis, Civ 6, STO, Stellaris.

Nice!  Is Cyberpunk treating you well?  Avorion sounds like Arma, where you could put a thousand hours into it and not feel routinized. 

[BTGBullseye]

31 minutes ago, SPECTER50 said:

Nice!  Is Cyberpunk treating you well?

It actually was better BEFORE they started patching it. 0 bugs prior to the first patch, tons of bugs after.

32 minutes ago, SPECTER50 said:

Avorion sounds like Arma, where you could put a thousand hours into it and not feel routinized. 

More like a cross between "From The Depths" and "Between The Stars". Not as complex of a building system as From The Depths, with much better controls, and nearly as much "depth".