21rkosta

Budget (including currency): Relative, though generally $200-300 Country: USA Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Emulation, 4k gaming on old titles, 4k modern gaming eventually, Other details: Existing parts: 2 x 8gb HyperX DDR4 (Not sure the speed?, will check and update), GTX 970, EVGA 650w PSU. microATX case Question: Looking at doing a cpu upgrade. My current cpu is a 6600k so no meaningful upgrades on the current socket. Local to a microcenter so looking mostly at their deals, open to any options that would be cheaper elsewhere. Want to get others opinion on best options price to performance wise. My budget is not super tight, it's more of a price to performance and price to upgradability path consideration. I would go used but used CPUs don't seem to be that good of a deal, and I've had enough motherboard hassles to know that I want a new motherboard with a warranty. Upgrade Options 3600 / Gigabyte B450M DS3H - ($85 + $80 - $20): $145 5600x / Gigabyte B450M DS3H Bundle - $192.18 12400f / ASRock B760M-HDV - (160 + 90 - 20): $230 12600k/ ASRock B760M-HDV /Some CPU cooler - (170 + 90 - 20 + 20): $260 5600x3d / ASUS TUF Gaming B550 Plus / 16gb DDR4 - $299 (I already have ram but it happens to more or less match this kit so I could switch from 16gb to 32gb, I would also have to get a case but would probably pick up some cheap used thing for like $20) Usecase: Emulation is a main usecase which is why a CPU upgrade is more pertinent then GPU upgrade. Also even on games which the 970 can handle relatively fine (40-60 fps), theirs definitely some cpu-based lag especially if I have other tasks running like discord. I will probably upgrade my GPU soon but figured I would wait until I actually have a list of new games I want to play (just got into gaming again so still working through the back catalog). When I do upgrade GPU it will most likely be more 4k 60hz and 1440p 60hz rather then high refresh rate gaming (my monitor is 4k/60hz). I do want to make sure I'm not missing out on any features crucial for GPU performance (resizable bar, pcie generation, etc) and will not be a bottleneck for any current gpu (probably will get something used roughly ~3080-esque but not sure yet). I may use it as a general workstation in the future, if so I would benefit from the additional cores (I fairly frequently have workloads in my work that scale linearly with core count, less dependent on IPC). Though that said this is not top concern for now. The upgrade path to a higher core count cpu if necessary in the future is definitely a consideration, should I ever need to start using this machine as my primary workstation. Thoughts: Im currently leaning towards the intel platform just as I would have a clear upgrade path, with at least 13th gen and likely 14th gen (depending on if 14th gen supports ddr4). Not sure how much ddr4 speeds or ddr4 vs ddr5 effect performance, and if thats something I should take into consideration. 3D vcache seems interesting, and could be potentially very useful in binary translation tasks and texture upscaling of emulation. If I decide against a major GPU upgrade it might be nice to have saved that extra bit for a smaller GPU upgrade (used 1080s are about $100 right now), again thought less of a strict budget more of a price to performance thing. Having 4 ram slots on a motherboard might be nice to allow easier ram upgrades, though again not necessary (plus ddr4 is getting pretty cheap so I could always just get 2 x 16gb kit). I probably don't plan on overclocking, maybe late stage owning the CPU to squeeze a bit of extra life out of it, but I don't want to spend the money on a nice cooler to do so. As other features go, I like having integrated graphics for debugging purposes but not really necessary, same goes with dedicated bios reset button. USB C and >1GB ethernet are definitely cool to have, but I'd most likely never use them.

I agree. However I wonder what is your friends usecase? Would he still benefit from a good CPU with integrated graphics (does he do any CPU intensive work). CPUs aren't too expensive right now if you find a good deal so you could always build now and add GPU later. Though if your friend doesn't need CPU power and already has a system that works for general use (ie: a good laptop) then I'd say definitely wait.

Whilst a static discharge could have damaged the card, it could also be many other things. If you havent already I might take out the GPU and put it back in (unplug computer first). Thus you will powercycle the GPU which may fix some of the static discharge issues. Also, issues may have been caused by displacing dust into the pcie socket (unlikely but possible), finally computers are weird so who knows what will work lol. What CPU are you using. Is it an intel CPU with integrated graphics. If so it may be a good idea to test your computer using its integrated graphics after removing the GPU to ensure the problem doesn't exist somewhere else.

I was looking at IBM power 9 cpus because having a new ISA sounds fun Most of them are just listed with their SKUs (IBM SKUs) and I cant really find any datasheets matching SKUs to specs. Does anyone have or know of a datasheet matching these SKUs with their specs. raptorcs.com had some of the cpus listed along with their specs for sale but clearly not all of them. The particular one that caught my eye was the 02AA453. Thanks

I'd guess its probably a smaller flash drive like some no name 8gb that costs like 2 dollars. But yeah do what @dizmo says unless your building like a huge flashdrive raid or something. If that is what your doing then you could prob make like a python script or something to calculate the absolute cheapest per gb price.

Whats the problem with MSI motherboards? I honestly don't have a large enough sample size to dispute claims but my experience has been great. My evga motherboard isnt nearly as good (to be fair my EVGA motherboard older so that kinda makes sense). Also I agree on the ssd, buy something like a crucial mx500 1tb. Samsung is faster but you dont need that speed unless you happen to like have a fast nas or something. It may also be slightly more reliable but back up your important data anyway cuz no matter what a drive can fail

Team linux lets gooooo. I would say maybe spend a bit less on the cpu but for complex calculations I get it (I am assuming non of these can be gpu accelerated), I have literally considered buying a nice new ryzen just for faster compilation and synthesis lol. I own a very similar version to that PSU and it's been rock solid. SSD is a good choice. I hear pop-os is the way to go for gaming because it has the best gpu drivers (amd's linux drivers are pretty good though). I'm a fedora guy but if I did gaming I would probably go pop-os.

Don't worry your doing great (including Pcpartpicker list is much better then a lot of newbies). That's a pretty solid build. I would say unless your having any specific issues (really long load times, heat issues, et cetera) the most obvious upgrade would be a cpu upgrade (GPUs are flat out too expensive right now especially because the one you have is pretty decent). That said, what kind of monitor are you using. An upgrade to a 1440p 144hz monitor may be a much better investment then any other kind right now. If your monitor is 1080p 60hz then it's definetely your biggest weakpoint.

I wouldn't go for the 665p at that price its got a few known speed problems at higher capacities. I'd go maybe for a crucial mx500 or something comparable. For ssd comparison newmax's tier list is great (IDK if I'm allowed to link it because its not on this forum but you can google it if your interested).

Im not sure how fan mounting works on your air cooler but if you have the ability to mount a second 120mm fan either by whats provided with cpu cooler or diy with something like zipties than yes you can mount any type of fan you would like so long as its the right size (right size being the size of the fan it came with)

You could always velcro it to wall right above desk or something. I had mine setup like that for a while and it didn't look too bad. I personally just think this model is pretty expensive and may possibly be lacking in features like reaching symmetrical gigabit but I'm not sure

Ram could be a useful upgrade, especially if he went used because used DDR3 is so cheap.Their might be a slight cpu bottleneck but nothing too major

My worry would be not being able to upgrade individual components if they don't work for you well. Personally I'd rather go with a singular AP and router unless your house is like really big

the availible in certain countries message is my guess. Are you VPNed into anywhere?

Like @Genwyn iterated could you please specify in greater details your use case. Do you allready own a copy of windows on a certain computer and are trying to switch a new boot drive for that system?

Banned for using text illegible in dark mode

@LukeSavenije Banned for using black text

Banned for lying, because they are slightly legible

Banned for discrimination

Banned for assuming I don't use dark theme

Banned for mentioning an outdated technology

have you tried phyiscally removing the gpu then plugging into the igpu?

dumb question but your display cable is plugged into the gpu correct

where you using all this hardware on a different motherboard beforehand and did it work then?

is it staying on post code b4 after going through those other ones?