Want help? >State the budget & CURRENCY >List your uses e.g. Gaming, Video Editing, VM Work >For monitors include purpose & graphics pairing >NO Speccy or "bottleneck checkers"
CPUs based on current prices >Athlon 200GE - HTPC, web browsing, bare minimum gaming >R3 2200G - Light 30-60fps gaming(dGPU optional). 2400G if you want a CPU which can last into a GPU upgrade >R5 2600/X - Good 60fps+ gaming & multithreaded use >9700k - Wait for new patched benchmarks >R7 2700/X - Best value high-end CPU on a non-HEDT platform >Threadripper - HEDT
>BE AWARE that Microsoft, Apple, and others recommend disabling hyperthreading on Intel CPUs. Be aware that Intel tried to bribe researchers to delay releasing the vulnerability by an extra 6 months so they could do another stock sell off and release you scam 10th gen CPUs with HT.
>Avoid buying CPUs for the next week as zen 2 based CPUs are being announced in less than 10 days
RAM >NEVER use only a single stick >8GB - very light use, and/or if you don't mind closing programs regularly >16GB - standard amount. If you have to ask if you need more, you don't >CPUs benefit from fast RAM; 2800MHz+ is ideal. Check "more" for true latency formula
Graphics cards based on current pricing: 1080p >RX 570/580 - value. >1660 - Slightly better perf for more demanding games on high/maxed 60fps+; > 1660Ti / 1070 / Vega56 - higher framerates 1440p (WQHD) >1070Ti / Vega - 60-120fps+ in most games on high/maxed >2070 Overclocked or Radeon VII - Worth considering >2080Ti - higher framerates 2160p (4k) >Radeon VII - weaker than 2080ti >RTX 2080Ti - good, but poor value.
Other >Consider a larger SSD (better GB/$) instead of small SSD & HDD >M.2 is a form factor, NOT a performance standard >PLAN BUILD AROUND YOUR MONITOR IF GAMING
So I have the G.SKILL Flare X Series 16GB F4-3200C14D-16GFX module, it runs at 2400mhz right now. When I built my PC ages ago I set it to run at 3000mhz but for some reason after checking recently it skedaddled back to 2400mhz. I tried to manually overclock it to 3200mhz and set the latencies accordingly as described by the manufacturer and set the voltage to a recommended 1.350v, now I noticed curiously at the time that the voltage of the DRAM was only 1.2~v. Anyways fast forward to booting up I got a glore of start-up issues and BSOD's of various registry files and VGA issues and had to switch to HDMI to get any video. This instability disappeared after I set back my RAM to 2400mhz and higher latency clocks.
How do I get my RAM to run at the advertised speeds? XMP and memory try it! don't work. I'm afraid manually overclocking again might send me into another maelstrom of issues and instability
Should I buy an RTX 2060 or Vega 56? I haven't overclocked/undervolted in my life, but I am willing to learn if it will give me significant increases in performance.
Andrew Anderson
How many intake fans and exhaust fans are ideal in a gaming PC?
if you just want 1080p high fps out of the box, 2060. If you want to OC, play at 1440p, and have more wiggle room because of extra VRAM, V56.
Austin Price
I have the sapphire pulse v56, it's pretty good. Adjusting clocks and fan speed is easy with AMD wattman. Plus it's like 30-60 bucks cheaper than the 2060 now.
John Foster
Anyone here tried Silicon Power's SSDs? How are the NVMes in comparison to other brands, like Adata?
