Nervly

Hello, I just purchased an used Noctua NH-D15s so it doesn't bring Noctua's stock thermal paste, which means I'll have to buy the paste separately. What is the best one I can get for this cooler hooked up to a 3700x? Thank you!

Hey, everyone! My job consists of mostly video editing and some motion graphics. I mainly use Premiere and After Effects for this end. I usually work with either 1080p60 or 2160p30 footage, and sporadically 4k at 120fps too. I'm from Portugal. My current setup is as follows: - CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700x - RAM: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16GB (2x8GB) 3200Mhz CL14 - GPU: NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti - MOBO: Gigabyte X570 AORUS ELITE - SSD #1: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB - SSD #2: Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 1TB - HDD: Western Digital Blue 1TB 7200RPM - CPU Cooler: ADM Wraith Prism Stock Cooler (which can get loud and am planning on replacing it with a Noctua D15 in the future) - Case: Kolink Observatory w/ Stock Case Fans (which make a big portion of the noise) I'm looking to upgrade my case since I did the terrible mistake of getting a Kolink Observatory 3 years ago without knowing what airflow is, and let me tell you, this case's airflow is BAD, at least with the stock fans. It was a budget case, so there's that. When idle or under light load (Opera, Discord, Telegram, Voicemeter Banana) my CPU runs at 60ºC - 70ºC and my GPU at ~60ºC the whole time. When under heavier load (SteamVR (don't even need to boot up a game), exporting a project in Premiere/After Effects), they'll typically go up to the 75s - 80s ºC. Because of this, my computer constantly sounds really loud, even at idle. Switching just the case fans wouldn't quench my thirst of getting rid of this case, so I'm looking to get an entirely new one with a good balance between airflow and silence, that doesn't have a glass front panel like my current one does. Yes, I know you can't have a case that excels at both, but a good balance between the two is mostly what I'm looking for, something that doesn't sound like an airplane taking off once I boot up SteamVR or exporting a video. I've looked at a few but I'm never really sure what the best option would be. I have preference over white cases with tempered glass on the side. Fractal Torrent has a nice design and seems to be at the top of the charts with good temperatures with its stock fans (in fact, slapping Noctuas in it increased the temperatures), according to Gamers Nexus, but it is AWFULLY loud at 50db with its stock fans at max speed, though noise-normalized to 36db keeps it at pretty acceptable temperatures (CPU 45´ºC & GPU 54ºC over ambient, which I think is around 20ºC for their tests. This would put them at 65ºC and 74ºC at max load, which is what my stuff runs at when idle). The problem is this case is very expensive and kinda out of my budget, costing 236€ where I live. Lian Li Lancool 215 seems to be a pretty good option from what I've seen. It's a bit loud with its stock fans at 38db, noise-normalized to 36db keeps the temperatures at 46ºC for CPU and 52ºC for GPU over ambient (so add ~20ºC to those) which is also pretty acceptable, especially when compared to my current situation. This case is within my budget at 95€. The problem is, I'm not really sure how loud (in db) my case is and if it is louder than this one would be or not. Fractal Define R6 is a case I've been eyeing for around 2 years now. Its noise levels with stock fans at max speed are only 33db, though temperatures can go a bit high at 56ºC over ambient for both the CPU and GPU, so around 76ºC for both, which is around the same and sometimes a bit less than what I get right now at load. If ambient is truly 20ºC, then that means these, at idle, run at less than 30ºC, which are temperatures I've never seen with my current computer in any situation. This case is at pretty much the limit of my budget, stretching it eversoslightly, at 165€. So the thing for this one is, getting only 33db at max speed is really heccin' good, but I'm worried if getting 75ºC+ temperatures on both my GPU and CPU might make them throttle during video editing and stuff? I'm not extremely worried about exporting times but mostly their performance while scrubbing the timeline (although I'm aware the type of storage I use has a lot more influence but I wonder if CPU/GPU thermals can be a significant factor aswell). The case is pretty, I like that the front panel can be opened easily like a door so I can lower the temperatures that way if I absolutely need to and I'm not sacrificing tempered glass for less noise. One other question I absolutely want to ask is, about the Fractal Define R6 still, its review at Gamers Nexus doesn't have their standardized fans test (where they replace the stock fans with 2x NF-A14 in the front and 1x NF-F12 in the rear) so I was wondering if replacing its stock fans with Noctuas would keep the noise levels at ~33db but lower the temperatures further? I'm mostly asking because that's clearly not the case with the Fractal Torrent (or at least in their scenario) so I'm wondering if this case would benefit from it. I think those are mostly my questions, basically I'd like a case for my video editing rig that's not super loud when at load but doesn't throttle my components either, and that it's actually quiet when idle. Feel free to suggest other cases as well. I've messed around the speed curves in the BIOS but I can't get anything to make them work properly. I notice that my CPU's temperature is always going down to 58ºC which makes the fan immediately ramp up to 68ºC and then it cools down to 58ºC, rinse and repeat. No amount of changes I made to the speed curve made it stable so I'm guessing the case is a big problem here with the airflow. This has been a thing from the start so I don't think it's the thermal paste needing replacement either, though I'll definitely be applying new one when I replace my CPU cooler. Here are the videos I took most of my information from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtyWUAjmmZA&t=953s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHGAJYcgBHI&t=713s Hopefully I'm not forgetting any details but feel free to ask any questions if needed and sorry if any of this sounded dumb! Thank you for your attention!

Thank you so much for your help, very clear and informative! Super appreciate it! ^^

Thank you so much for your reply! 1. I'm in Portugal! 2. Ohh, this is great to know! I wasn't aware scratch space had so much influence in performance. Is it more important to have a faster SSD for scratch than for the video files I'm working on then? Up to this point, I've been using my 970 for scratch, alongside footage and project files. I'm looking at a Gigabyte Aorus NVMe Gen4 500GB SSD M.2 at a seemingly really good price, 60€ down from 110€. I initially immediately thought it to be a good jump in performance, especially being Gen4, but looking at its specs versus the 970, it raised some questions: - Gigabyte Aorus READ Speed: Up to 5000MB/s & 400.000 IOPS | WRITE Speed: Up to 2500MB/s & 550.000 IOPS - Samsung 970 READ Speed: Up to 3500MB/s & 600.000 IOPS | WRITE Speed: Up to 3300MB/s & 550.000 IOPS My questions are: a. Does scratch space favor READ or WRITE speeds? Since Premiere is grabbing info from scratch files, I'm assuming READ? In which case the Gigabyte is better. Is this correct? b. Other than Gigabyte's READ speed, the Samsung 970 Evo Plus seems to excel at everything else, although it isn't a Gen4 SSD. Are there any other factors at play I'm missing? c. If this Gigabyte Gen4 SSD isn't a good choice, what specs would I want to look for in a Gen4 SSD to outperform the 970 for scratch space? Thank you!

Hey, everyone! My job consists of mostly video editing and some motion graphics. I mainly use Premiere and After Effects for this end. I usually work with either 1080p60 or 2160p30 footage, and sporadically 4k at 120fps too. My current setup is as follows: - CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700x - RAM: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16GB (2x8GB) 3200Mhz CL14 - GPU: NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti - MOBO: Gigabyte X570 AORUS ELITE - SSD #1: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB - SSD #2: Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 1TB - HDD: Western Digital Blue 1TB 7200RPM - CPU Cooler: ADM Wraith Prism Stock Cooler - Case: Kolink Observatory w/ Stock Case Fans (including my case and cooling setup because this case has godawful temperatures at load and even too high for idle due to front tempered glass and likely terrible case fans, case is also constantly super loud even at idle, so am also accepting suggestions for a good balance between airflow and silence, having looked at cases such as Fractal Define R6, Fractal Torrent and Lian Li Lancool 215) I'm about to completely format my computer for a fresh start and I'd like to organize and optimize my storage as best as possible for my current workload. Up until now, I've been using my 970 Evo Plus to store pretty much everything - from project files, to scratch disk, to footage, etc. However, it is of my understanding that this is not good practice. I find myself quickly running out of space on my 970 EVO Plus due to all the videos and projects that build up in my drive after I'm done with them. I've had issues before to where I needed to export something to ProRes so Premiere could handle it significantly more easily, but didn't have enough free space as those files become huge, sometimes up to 250GB. I'm also never really sure if I should delete stuff after I'm done with the final export since I fear I might need 'em in the future. I've considered looking into getting a 4TB HDD to store all my finished projects, but I'm unsure if, for that end, I should get a 5400RPM (which are the more affordable ones at 99€) or go for exclusively 7200RPM which ups the price by 70€, and I also wanted to know if I can optimize what I currently have to a point where I don't actually need to acquire new storage. G-Drives and RAID stuff is all out of the question as I don't currently have the budget for it due to other responsibilities. Upon formatting my computer, I was thinking of using the 850 EVO for OS and programs. Considered creating a smaller partition (maybe 128GB?) for the OS alone and keep the other partition for just software, mostly because I'd like to have it tidy and organized. As for the rest, I'm at a complete loss. I'm not sure what I should store in the HDD and in the M.2, should the footage be all in the M.2? Should the Scratch Disks stay in the HDD or do they go in the M.2 as well? Should I delete the projects I'm done with or move them to the HDD? And should I move the footage I used in those projects from the M.2 to the HDD as well or do I just delete all of it? But then what if I need to revisit that footage in the future for whatever reason? I've tried searching around but nothing of what I find really clears up my mind on these questions. Also, what do you think is the best practice when it comes to resources used such as audio files, images, etc.? As in, should I keep all music and graphics I use in one project within that project's folder, and then if I ever re-use them in a different project, duplicate them into that new project's folder, so everything is always together (which is good if I ever have to move stuff between drives or external disks)? Or is it better to have one single "global" folder for all assets and just have projects grab stuff from it? Though, in that situation, I'd more easily encounter MEDIA OFFLINE issues, but it also takes up a bit less storage. I'd like to hear your advice and thoughts on these things, maybe even your own workflows within the subject. All of what I know about video editing is self-taught and understanding storage hasn't been my forte when it comes to postproduction, so I apologize if this is a dumb question. Also, as an extra question, which is not related to storage but thought I'd ask here as well: I've been wanting to upgrade my hardware. Not sure if now or in the near future, but I've been eyeing the 5950x which is currently on a crazy sale at a local store, from 885€ down to 570€, until the end of May. I know I want to upgrade to 32GB of RAM and I'll likely be making that jump within the next week but am wondering if it's worth jumping to the 5950x as well. Mostly looking for better performance while skimming and watching the preview video in Premiere without it lagging too much, as currently even with 1/4 or 1/8 resolution and FX off it still gets frustratingly stuttery a lot of the times. Exporting my files to ProRes first usually helps significantly but I'll still have issues occasionally. Thank you for your attention!

Hey! I'm looking to upgrade my RAM to 32GB for After Effects, Cinema4D and Premiere work. My current setup is as follows: - AMD Ryzen 3700x - G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16GB (2x8) 3200Mhz CL14 - Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti - Gigabyte x570 Aorus Elite I'm looking at the G.Skill Trident Z Neo RGB 32GB (2x16) 3200Mhz CL16 and the HyperX Fury RGB 32GB (2x16) 3200Mhz CL16, at 198€ and 170€ respectively. I'm planning to sell my current RAM sticks for maybe something around 85€. I'm aware 3200Mhz at CL14 is ideal for this CPU but the prices skyrocket way out of my budget and I've heard CL16 is also a pretty solid choice. My question is, is there a difference between the HyperX and the G.Skill sticks considering they have the same frequencies and latency or can there be differences in performance between the two due to different brands? If so, is it noticeable at all? Does the HyperX work as well with this Ryzen as the G.Skill does? Or do you have any other recommendations? Thank you!

Hey! I do 3D Modeling/Rendering as well as Video Editing at 1080p60. I'd like to upgrade my storage as I currently only have one SSD for my OS and a 1TB HDD. My budget is ~200€ I'm torn between these two SSDs, the Sabrent is a Gen4 SSD (I've got a PCIe 4.0 Motherboard) while the Samsung is Gen3 and from what I've seen the former has faster read/write speeds but I also don't know the brand. How do these two compare to each other? Is there a better different option you'd recommend? Sabrent SSD Samsung SSD Thanks!

Thanks for your help, appreciate it! So even if I overclock, 650w will be sufficient, correct? Do you also know how the Seasonic Focus Plus 650W Gold and the Corsair RM650x compare to each other? They seem to be both very well balanced but people seem to like Seasonic better so I'm curious.

Thank you for your insight! Appreciate it! I actually did look at the RM650x and the Seasonic Focus Plus 650W Gold as well as their 750W counterparts. Do you have any experience with Seasonic? What's your opinion on both PSUs?

Hey, everyone! Planning to do a massive upgrade to my computer at the end of this month. Here's what my rig will mainly focus on: - VR Gaming; - Streaming; - Digital Art; - Light Video Editing; - Light Blender & Unity. My current build looks like this: My planned build looks like this: Naturally, anything marked with 'Purchased' in either build means I've already got it in my current setup. RTX 2080 Super's price taken from NVIDIA's website, under their EU MSRP. Now, a few questions: 1. I didn't want to go too much over 1500€ and I was originally planning on keeping my current RAM sticks, at least for now. I understand the 3900X works best with 3600MHz 16CAS, which is what I went for on the planned build but it also hurts me to pay 202€ for that. I've seen there's a formula to calculate the speed in nanoseconds and apparently my current one sits at around 11ns whereas the 3600MHz 16CAS would sit at around 8.88ns. How much of a difference am I actually going to notice between both speeds when it comes to VR gaming, streaming and video rendering? Is it safe to keep my current RAM for now and then upgrade later if necessary? I've also been suggested at some point getting 3200MHz 16CAS and overclock that to 3600MHz. Is this safe to do and does it require extra cooling? Is it a difficult procedure? 2. Regarding the power supply, I see the EVGA SuperNOVA is very popular and seems to be a great choice. According to pcpartpicker, my planned build would sit at around 434w. Now, I have two options: EVGA SuperNOVA G3 750w for 141,90€ or EVGA SuperNOVA G3 650w for 115,90€. Would it get too tight if I got the 650w to save some money, or is it definitely recommended to go for the 750w instead? 3. So far I've never OC'd my CPU and have always used the stock cooler. The 3900x brings a stock cooler and I'm not sure I'll be OC'ing as I've never done it before and don't know if I'll actually need to. Is it recommended to get a separate cooler even if I don't OC? If so, what threats does using the stock cooler pose? If I should get a separate cooler, which one would you recommend? I've heard very good things about Noctua, so I think I'd go for those. Can I actually notice significant improvements in my use case upon overclocking? 4. Lastly, and this is an unimportant question so feel free to skip it, I will be selling my old parts. Considering I'll be upgrading everything except for the storage and possibly RAM, I might as well just sell my whole computer (still pondering on that because I'd have to get a new case, although I could just buy the same I have right now for 40€). Does 400€ sound like a fair price for the CPU, GPU, Motherboard, RAM, PSU and Case? Everything in their original boxes and with stock cooler. Where I live, the CPU, GPU and Motherboard go for about 100€ each, give or take, second-handed and I was aiming for 50€ for the RAM, 25€ for the case and PSU each. If I sold everything for 400€ that'd drop the costs below my budget and I'd feel more comfortable going for the new RAM instead. I think that's about every question I have, will edit if I think of more. Should you need any extra information or anything just ask and I'll try to fill you in as much as possible. Thanks in advance!

Greetings!I'm looking into upgrading my VR Rig, which will be used to play VR games(duh) and stream some of them. I don't exactly plan to overclock and I'd like to be able to pump the Supersampling in VR games up to anywhere between 1.5x and 2.0x. (but as they say, the more the merrier)I live in Portugal (Europe) for pricing reference.My current specs are as follow:CPU: Intel i5-6500 GPU: MSI GTX 1060 3GB ARMOR RAM: HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-2400MHz 14CAS PSU: SeaSonic S12II 80+ Bronze 430W MOBO: Z170A Gaming Pro CarbonCASE: Nox Hummer MC Zero EditionHMD: Oculus RiftMy planned specs are as follow:CPU: AMD Ryzen 3700X or higher GPU: RTX 2080 or RTX 2080Ti (Probably EVGA 'cause of their customer support but I'm open to suggestions) RAM: G.Skill Trident Z/Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-3200MHz 14CAS (Accepting other suggestions)PSU: EVGA Supernova 1000 G3 1000W 80+ Gold MOBO: Still haven't done researchCASE: Nox Hummer MC Zero EditionHMD: Valve IndexI've been told the 2080Ti is too overpriced and it's honestly not a pretty price to look at. I'd like to stay future-proof and get the most performance I can get from VR, especially with increased Supersampling. Supersampling benchmarks on RTX cards seem to be scarce however, it's hard to really know if there would be a huge difference between the 2080 and the 2080Ti in that regard, but considering I'd also have to upgrade my CPU, Motherboard and PSU, the 2080 might be more worth it going for because of its reduced price. What do you think however, do you have any experience or information on this type of comparison regarding Supersampling and these two cards?How should I choose the motherboard? Besides the basics, I'll need at least a free PCI-e slot for my Inateck USB 3.0 Expansion Card, hopefully the GPU wouldn't block it. I've heard VRMs are an important thing to look at, what are these exactly? Will there be much difference between different motherboards that'll support the new Ryzen CPUs or are they going to be minimal?Finally, ever since I got my i5-6500, I've always used its stock cooler. I don't plan on overclocking so will the Ryzen's stock cooler be enough? I would otherwise get the Noctua NH-D15 everyone seems to worship ahah But I'd rather save that money if I can get by with just the stock cooler.I think that's about every question I have, will add more as they come to mind. Let me also know what you think of my planned build.Thank you!

Cheers! To make it easier for you, I resorted to a little form that'll make my needs easier to understand: Budget: Up to 165€/175€ ($188/$199) Usage: Mainly for my Nintendo Switch, I mostly play Super Smash Bros. and Octopath Traveler. May use it as a second monitor for my PC as well if it brings 2 HDMI ports but it's not a deal breaker if it doesn't. Monitor Size: ~24" - 27", looking for something with a width of 54cm - 60cm. Resolution: Full HD or higher Other Features: 1/2 HDMI Ports | Built-in Speakers | VESA Mount of 75x75/100x100 | Bezeless, if possible | Black ___________________ So far, the monitor that's caught my eye the most was the ASUS VP249H (5ms, 24" Full HD, 2x 1.5w Speakers, 1x HDMI, Bezeless, 1x HDMI, 54cm Wide, VESA 100x100), what do you think of this option? Another monitor I found intriguing was the ASUS VP247H (1ms, 24" Full HD, 2x 3w Speakers, 2x HDMI, Larger Bezels, 56cm Wide, VESA 100x100). I honestly don't think I'll notice the difference in ms but do you think it's worth it? What's your opinion about this display in comparision to the VP249H? I like that it has a better response time and speakers but the larger bezels puts me off a little. Then again, I've never seen either monitor live and it could be something I won't be noticing. Finally, there was one last monitor I saw: BenQ GL2580HM (1ms, 25" Full HD, 2x 2w Speakers, 1x HDMI, Bezeless, 56cm Wide, VESA 100x100). I like that it is both bezeless and has a response time of 1ms. The speakers are also better than the VP249H but worse than the VP247H. How's this monitor brand wise? I've heard BenQ had a great time way back when but that they haven't been doing as well lately. ASUS seems to be almost worshipped, on the other hand. What's your take on this monitor when compared to the previous two? Thank you for your time!

After debating a lot on whether to get a 2700x or a i7 8700/9700/9900k, I think I'm finally going to consider the 2700x, especially because of prices: 465€ 2700x w/ Cooler + Motherboard 705€ 9700k + Cooler + Motherboard 665€ 8700k + Cooler + Motherboard 865€ 9900k + Cooler + Motherboard The difference is just too big and according to some benchmarks I've seen, the difference in FPS (both average and 1% low) just doesn't justify paying over 250€ extra. What I'm wondering is if it is worth upgrading from my i5-6500 right now to a 2700x and then later on upgrade to the new AMD 7nm CPUs or if I should just wait for them instead and make the switch then. Since I also want to upgrade to those once they come out, it'd likely be wise to get a motherboard that'd be ready for those and that can still take a 2700x. With that in mind, do you have any MOBO recommendations? What should I look for in a motherboard for this end? I'm not too sure if I should overclock the 2700x or not, I've never OCd before and I wasn't really thinking on buying a separate cooler for the CPU and just use the stock one (which I heard was pretty good) but I wouldn't mind on giving that boost to the CPU if I could keep its stock cooler. I'm mainly going to be playing VR games and I do some video editing now and then as well as screensharing. I use Blender and Unity from time to time for VRChat creations and also do some Photoshop and digital drawing. The heaviest games I play mostly are VRChat (which seems to be CPU heavy), SairentoVR, SkyrimVR and Seeking Dawn. I currently also have 2x8GB HyperX Fury 2400MHz 14CAS but I heard the Ryzen really likes specific types of RAM like 3200MHz 14CAS (which seems to be related to Samsung B-Dies, which I'm still not too sure what it means) or 3000MHz 16CAS. Would it be worth upgrading my RAM to something like those? Is there a noticeable difference that'd justify paying extra for new RAM or would I be fine with my current sticks? Finally, just in case it matters, I'm running a GTX 1060 3GB, though I'd also like to upgrade that eventually Thank you in advance!

I currently own an i5-6500 with 8GB RAM and a GTX 1060 3GB. My motherboard is a MSI Z170A Gaming Pro Carbon. Most games I play are alright though sometimes I experience a lot of ghosting when spinning my head due to the FPS drops and some actually stutter when something faster's going on in the game. I've checked my Task Manager and it seems to be my CPU. On VRChat, when I'm in a room with maybe over 12 people, it'll start lagging really bad and my CPU usage is usually way up there when that happens. I was just playing Seeking Dawn with all graphical settings on max and my GPU was at 20% iirc but my CPU was constantly between 90% and 100%, my RAM at ~4,5GB used. I experienced a lot of ghosting and during battles it would sometimes stutter. On SairentoVR I need to pull all settings down so it doesn't stutter while fighting too and even then it still lags sometimes. I didn't check Task Manager with this game yet but considering my previous experiences, it's probably taking a toll on the CPU as well. What do you guys think? As for the CPU, I was considering on upgrading to the i7 7700k. I heard the 8700k would be a good choice too but I'd need to upgrade my motherboard as well which means having to basically rebuild my whole computer from scratch which is not something I'm really willing to do besides spending the extra money. Now, I'm a bit indecisive between the i7-7700 and the i7-7700k. If I got it right, then the difference should be that the K variant is ready for overclocking and has a slightly higher clock speed than the non-K variant. Does this make a difference in VR? I've never overclocked anything before but I don't think it's something I'd mind trying out if it makes a big difference, though I'd certainly need to get a good cooler. I'm currently using my i5's stock cooler and I'm aware the 7700k does not bring a stock cooler so if I did go for it, what cooler would be a good choice? Is this choice worth over going with the 7700 and its stock cooler? Pricing wise, I can get the 7700 for 350€ (~$405) and the 7700k for 379€ (~$440) and I wouldn't need to get a new motherboard. The 8700k runs for 430€ (~$500) but I'd also need to get a new motherboard which would likely be the Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon, which goes for around 180€ (~$210). So I'd be spending a little over 200€ ($230) extra if I went for the 8700k.

Thanks for all your replies! The 860 definitely sounds like a really nice SSD, it is 50 bucks more than the 850 however, which will likely make me unable to get it. I will still look into it though and see if I can find it cheaper somewhere. Size wise, it's settled and I'll be going for the 500GB variant. Thanks for all your help!