Hallowenman

Thanks to everyone for the feedback, tips and recommendations! Taking all the feedback into consideration, and also a nice chat with an experienced PC builder, I'm pretty sure I ended up with something much better, and also cheaper, than my first draft. Just thought I'd share the final spec for anyone interested: PCPartPicker Part List CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor (kr5090.00 @ Proshop) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler (kr1449.00 @ Proshop) Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (kr2390.00 @ Proshop) Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (kr1602.00 @ Proshop) Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (kr791.00 @ Proshop) Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (kr2044.00 @ Proshop) Video Card: MSI SUPRIM X GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Video Card (kr17599.00 @ Proshop) Case: Fractal Design North ATX Mid Tower Case (kr1581.00 @ Proshop) Power Supply: Corsair RM850e (2023) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (kr1690.00 @ Proshop) Case Fan: Noctua S12A PWM chromax.black.swap 63.27 CFM 120 mm Fan (kr319.00 @ Proshop) Custom: Noctua NA-STPG1 - Thermal Paste Guard and Cleaning Set (kr129.00 @ Proshop) Total: kr34684.00

Thanks for pointing that out! I have run into this problem a few times before, I was lucky to always have enough room to be able to raise the outer fan, but this time I think I'll not take that gamble even though it should be some clearance. So it looks like it'll be the Fractal Design North Charcoal Black or Chalk White. For the lower profile RAM I think it'll be the Corsair Vengeance DDR5-6000 C30 DC - 32GB (AMD EXPO). A bit cheaper with 32GB instead of 64GB, but that should be plenty. I'm also thinking that the ProArt GPU isn't worth it, saving a little bit with the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X. Also I noticed upgrading the SSD's to PCIe 4.0 isn't that much more expensive, so with some room in the budget I was thinking why not go for the Samsung 980 PRO SSD PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 - 500GB plus the Samsung 990 PRO SSD PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 - 2TB or the 980 PRO PCIe 4.0 version, not a big difference in price on those two, and taking advantage of PCIe 4.0 for boot drive and game drive.

Really appreciate all the feedback and build suggestions, I see that my first 'draft' for a new build was definitely overpriced and not optimized. I am leaning more towards AMD after some reconsidering, atleast for the CPU, so I have made a new parts list, although its probably not going to be the final spec. I don't have much experience with AMD, so I'm not sure which chipset is the best choice for my budget, currently I have chosen X670 for a potential AMD build, which is probably not necessary. Also I'm not too familiar with RAM for AMD, how much speed matters etc. CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D (5 090,00 kr) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black (1 449,00 kr) Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX X670E-F GAMING WIFI (4 690,00 kr) Memory: G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB DDR5-6000 BK C30 DC - 64GB AMD EXPO (2 489,00 kr) Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD M.2 2280 - 500GB (559,00 kr) Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD M.2 2280 - 2TB (1 438,00 kr) Video Card: ASUS GeForce RTX 4080 OC - 16GB GDDR6X RAM (18 390,00 kr) - not final descision, a bit pricey, but boost clock seems good Case: Fractal Design Torrent Compact - Black TG Dark Tint (1 419,00 kr) or Fractal Design Meshify 2 - Gray TG Light Tint (1 589,00 kr) or Fractal Design North (1 677,00 kr) - not decided yet Power Supply: Corsair RM850e V2 (ATX3.0) (1 690,00 kr) Not included case fans as I have not decided on a case yet. Total 36472 NOK (depending on case) Comfortably within the budget, and still room for case fans or other changes if necessary. Nothing ordered yet, not my final spec, but probably close to it.

Thank you for the feedback! After several recommendations AMD looks like a much better option than I first thought. Going back a year or perhaps two years when I built a different PC (not gaming PC) I didn't see any advantage going AMD instead of Intel, at least with the pricing at that point here in Norway, AMD wasn't as competitively priced here at that point compared to the US. But with the current pricing, performance and recommendations I see that it is an option I definitely need to reconsider. They might have great fans, but I dont have first hand experience with Fractal Design cases or the fans they use. My experience with included case fans is that they usually aren't that great and manufacturers might be trying to save some money there, but I might be wrong about an upper-end case. I have used Noctua fans and coolers in several builds, and they have worked great for me. But I still haven't made my choice about which case I want, and I'll probably build the system with the included fans and then upgrade later if I'm not happy with cooling and/or noise. Thank you for the PSU recommendation!

Thank you both for the feedback so far. Currently my list (as I tried to share in the original post) looks like this: CPU: Intel Core i7-13700K CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX Z790-F GAMING WIFI Memory: Kingston Fury Renegade DDR5 6400Mhz 32GB (2x16GB, Intel XMP, CL40) Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 NVMe SSD 500GB Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 NVMe SSD 2TB Video Card: ASUS ROG Strix OC GeForce RTX 4080 Case: 1. NZXT H7 Flow Midi Tower or: 2. Fractal North Charcoal Black TG Clear Tint Mid Tower or: 3. Fractal Design Meshify 2 TG Power Supply: Corsair RM850x 850W Total: kr40 527,09 if I get everything from Komplett.no (slightly over budget but I have some wiggle room in the budget, and I also would like to add some good quality fans to replace all fans in the case I end up with, preferably Noctua, as my experience with Noctua is really good performance and noise levels)

Budget (including currency): Preferably not over 40.000 NOK, but some wiggle room if its worth it for the extra performance. Country: Norway Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Mostly gaming, maybe streaming. I play a lot of simulators (iRacing, Assetto Corsa Competizione, MSFS 2020 and more), but I also want to play new titles such as Starfield and similar games. I want to play at high setting for most games. No need for 120+ FPS, as I am keeping my 75Hz 3440x1440 monitor. I might upgrade this later, but if so it'll likely be larger a resolution ultrawide rather than higher refresh rate. Other details No peripherals needed, I am just upgrading my PC. I dont want to upgrade my current PC (listed in my forum signature), so I am looking for a 100% replacement (tower, storage, everything). I will be shopping for parts in Norway because shopping abroad is too expensive with import fees, tax, etc. from what I've seen. Here is my current thoughts: https://www.komplett.no/wishlist/shared/e79f4bd4-511a-4e10-8b07-5c72faa1ab13 The cooler should be compatible with the mobo/cpu combo: https://ncc.noctua.at/motherboards/model/ASUS-ROG-Strix-Z790-F-Gaming-WIFI-5697 I dont want to go lower than RTX 4080, but maybe that particular GPU is a bit overpriced and not worth it? I also want 32GB RAM as a minimum because of the simulators I play. I also like to experiment with virtual machines. No RGB necessary, performance over looks (although black Noctua fans/coolers is a plus). The idea for storage is one smaller SSD for the OS + programs, and one larger for my games. 250GB for OS + programs should be enough, but I went with 500GB to get a Samsung drive from that store. Samsung might not be the cheapest, but I've had nothing but excellent experience with Samsung. In the future I might add more storage for backups, personal files etc. For the tower I haven't decided yet, currently I have narrowed it down to 3 options. Airflow/Cooling is very important, and also a minimum of 2 USB A ports on the front: 1. NZXT H7 Flow Midi Tower - Looks like good airflow, easy to clean (flat surfaces), a bit tall and wide for the space I have available, but there is room for it 2. Fractal North Charcoal Black TG Clear Tint Mid Tower - Closer to my current tower size 3. Fractal Design Meshify 2 TG - Airflow/cooling looks good I haven't added thermal paste yet (recommendations appreciated), and I will probably replace all case fans with Noctua fans as I am really happy with Noctua fans in terms of performance and noise (recommendations also appreciated here for which Noctua fans to get for the case) I haven't upgraded in a while (still on 9th gen i5 and 10-series GPU), so all feedback for such a big upgrade is very appreciated!

Update: Noticed that when playing for example Forza Horizon 5, the GPU usage (according to task manager) is never above 30%, usually its around 10-20%, which seems really low. Lowering or increasing video settings (in-game) makes no difference, made sure to save settings, close the game and relaunch it, no difference. When I am at the desktop, with for example Google Chrome in the foreground, GPU usage is around 1-2%, when having the Steam client in the foreground the GPU usage goes up to and stays at around 36-40%. Tried to change power mode in Nvidia control panel to maximum performance(?) (option is called "Ønsker maksimal ytelse" in norwegian, directly translated "Wishing maximum performance). Seems to be something causing the GPU to not be fully utilized. Tried updating GPU drivers today, recently tried DDU (within last 14 days).

I am out of nowhere experiencing lower performance from my computer in video games. It happens in pretty much any game, the only exceptions seems to be games that aren't graphically demanding (2D games, "light" games). A lot of stuttering (in some games) and lower FPS in many games, physics slow down (in some games). Not unplayable (in most games). I haven't done any performance testing, not able to compare any test as I haven't really done any tests before this happened. I would guess ~30% lower FPS in most games, and stuttering (worse in some games). Running same in-game settings as before in every game, and lowering setting helps a little, but not a lot. Not sure when this started, haven't been gaming a lot recently, but happened suddenly. Tried running DDU, installed latest drivers. Seemed to help in for example iRacing and a little in American Truck Simulator as a test, but problem is still present. Other games like Forza Horizon 5 is stuttering really badly, lots of physics slow downs. See attachment, screenshot from task manager whilst playing FH5 today. CPU usage stays between 38% to about 80%, some spikes to 100%, but not often. GPU usage kinda seems a bit low(?) for a AAA game, RAM usage steady at 48%, (lots of background programs open as I always have, worked fine even with lots of programs running in the background before this problem appeared). Disk activity low, most games are on SSD. Specs: CPU i5-9600K @ 4.9GHz (all cores) w/ Noctua NH-D14 cooler MOBO ASUS ROG Strix Z390-F GAMING RAM 32GB HyperX Fury DDR4 3200MHz (8GB x 4 - believe its HX432C18FB3K2/16 CL18 (18-21-21)) GPU EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti SC (08G-P4-5671-KR) PSU Corsair TX650M (650W CP-9020132-EU) Samsung 970 EVO Plus 250GB SSD (NVMe M.2) (Boot/Windows) Samsung 850 Evo 250GB SSD (Other game drive, non Steam games) Samsung 870 EVO 2TB SSD (Steam drive / general game drive) 2TB Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM008 Windows 10 Pro 64-bit - 21H2 - 19044.1645 - Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.4170.0 (Versjon 10.0.19044 Bygg 19044) BIOS-versjon/-dato American Megatrends Inc. 1401, 26.11.2019 GPU driverversion 30.0.15.1259 in msinfo32 (says 512.9 in GeForce Experience, 04/26/2022, installed 04/29/2022, game ready driver) HWMonitor.txt

I have a HP EliteBook 850 G8 laptop that doesn't boot when anything is connected to the left-hand side USB A port (same side as a smartcard would be inserted). When anything is connected to that specific USB A port I get a completely black laptop display, and on my external monitor I get a small white and blue icon, no text or any indication that it is starting up. If I disconnect whatever is in that USB port, it boots fine. Another issue with this laptop is the laptop display suddenly not working anymore. External monitor connected directly to the HDMI port works fine with the laptop, but the laptop display appears dead. Camera above the display works. Unplugging the HDMI external display makes no difference, and a reboot doesn't change anything. It worked fine very recently with both the external display and laptop display on simultaneously. Also Windows doesn't even detect the laptop display, only the external display. No errors or indication that there are missing drivers, drivers hasn't been updated when it suddenly stopped working. The backlight on the laptop keyboard also doesn't work, and the FN keys (volume up/down, display brightness, etc) doesn't work either. Any ideas?

I am experiencing some problems with VirtualBox. When booting up a newly created VM it runs for a short amount of time before running into errors. If I try to install a Windows VM it will always BSOD and VirtualBox will give an error message along the lines of "...memory could not be read". I get the same error with Linux machines, and I also tested ReactOS which goes through the installation, but when it reboots after the installation and I select "ReactOS" I would get the ReactOS logo and a loading bar, then the VM has a black screen and nothing happens. I have tried reinstalling the latest version of Virtualbox, same issue. Uninstalled and then deleted all Virtualbox folders still remaining (.Virtualbox in the user folder, anything left in Program files), installed a slightly older version of Virtualbox (6.1.10), same issue. I considered trying out VMware, but during the installation I was told by VMware that it is not supported on my version of Windows at the same time as HyperV is installed, either uninstall HyperV or update Windows. I was at the time on Windows 10 1909, which I have now updated to 2004. Tried Virtualbox again after updating Windows, but still the same issue. However I don't get errors in Virtualbox anymore (memory could not be read), I only experience the issues within the VMs (Windows BSOD, Ubuntu stops on installation due to HDD or DVD error, general error message, ReactOS same issue as before). When checking task manager I noticed that the HDD which is where I have the VMs and ISO files stored is running at 100% disk activity the entire time when the VMs try to install. Response time seems to be acceptable, but not great. So I tried storing the VMs and ISO files on an SSD that works well, but still same issue in Virtualbox. I have tried a lof of different VM settings in Virtualbox, but can't get anything to work. I mentioned HyperV which I have installed on my system. HyperV has worked perfectly fine the entire time with the same ISO files, same HDD and SSD, no errors at all, and running multiple VMs on the same slow HDD with HyperV has worked fine the entire time. But Linux support on HyperV isn't great, which is why I would like to get Virtualbox to work as I've had great experience with Virtualbox in the past. Any ideas?

Finally found this on another forum; https://www.overclock.net/forum/6-intel-motherboards/1637288-asrock-z170-pro4s-fixed-voltage-setting-not-working.html Seems like it might be a VRM quality issue with the ASRock Z170 Pro4s board?

The only setting related to LLC I seemed to find was to set it to Auto, Level 1, 2 or 3, where Level 1 should be the best for voltage and overclocking according to the help text. I might have missed something, I could check the mobo's documentation. But shouldn't it at least get close to the fixed vcore value when the system is idling? Right now when I am not stressing the system I get 1.355 to 1.360 max, which is still not close to 1.380?

I have some questions about overclocking as I am not very experienced with it. For some time now I have been running my i5 6600k at 4.4 GHz without any problems, not a single blue screen or other issues. Temps are fine, and I have been running it daily like this for over 6 months. To get to 4.4 GHz I simply used the auto overclock feature in the bios, and didn't change a thing. The auto overclock has a setting for 4.4, 4.6, 4.8 and 5.0 I think. Trying any auto setting over 4.4 results in immediate blue screen once I get past the bios during startup. But now I am trying to do better with manual overclocking. I can get it to boot into Windows without any issues, but give it some time and I get a blue screen. At 4.6 I have tried adjusting vcore a lot to see if I can find a stable setting, but it doesn't seem to work. I have set vcore to "fixed" in the bios, and I still got blue screen when going for 1.4 vcore. When comparing to other users on different forums it seems like a lot of people manage 4.6 at 1.4 or less, but I do understand that not all chips will be able to do this. However I noticed in HWMonitor, CPU-Z and ASRock A-Tuning that it reads a lover vcore value compared to what I set it to. Right now I am testing 4.5 at 1.38 to see if it will run stable, but all programs read lower values, anywhere from 1.312 to 1.360, but never higher. During AIDA64 stability test it was at about 1.328 for most of the time even though it is set to fixed 1.380. What am I missing here? In the bios I have all cores on 4.5 at the moment, 4.3 cache ratio, fixed vcore at 1.380 and Speedstep off. Everything else is on Auto I think. Minimum cache ratio might also have been set to 43 or Auto, and BLCK Frequency might be on Auto or 100.0

Hi! I recently purchased a HP ProLiant ML110 G7 server. It has two SATA controllers as far as I understand, where the 4 drive bays in the front are connected to one controller, and the SATA connectors on the motherboard is connected to a second controller. I have a Samsung 840 Evo 120GB SSD plugged in to the motherboard, and two 1TB HDDs in the front drive bay. What I would like to do is to run the two 1TB HDDs in raid 1, and run Windows 10 Pro from the SSD, but I'm not sure how to do it. In the BIOS I have the option to select controller mode; Legacy, AHCI or RAID. When selecting legacy mode I also have the option to select which controller it is going to boot from, so I can select controller #2 to boot from and get into Windows without problems. The other drives will show up in Windows. But when switching to raid I no longer see any option to select which controller to boot from. All drives still show up during boot and in the B110i raid menu, but the system will no longer find a drive to boot from as the HDDs are there only for storage, no OS. After some research on different forums I still can't find a clear answer. Thanks for any suggestions!

Thank you for sharing your knowledge about this! I was considering the Meshify C as a second option, however I found that YouTube video I linked to where someone put what looks like the same CPU cooler as I have in the same case without problems. Also, I contacted Silverstone directly to ask about the tolerances, and they sent me this: "Many thanks for your request. Unfortunately we cannot 100% confirm that your CPU cooler will fit into Redline RL06 chassis. Normally it might fit as there are some tolerances in dimensions of CPU cooler as well as with our chassis, but we cannot guarantee it." Then I took many measurements to see if there was any hope, and after some promising results from carefully measuring everything I decided to just put the motherboard with the CPU and cooler in the new RL06 just to check if it would fit before proceeding with the rest of the build. And it did fit, with several millimeters to spare. I have the RL06 with acrylic side panel, not glass, so it can bend a little. If I try to push a little on the side panel right over the CPU cooler it still won't touch the cooler, so there was more than enough clearance in this case. So with my specs it fits just fine actually, no need to return the RL06 and order a Meshify C.