Jay Deah

sounds like the Vendor is talking out his bum. 

still worth ditching the 4GB module and swapping for an 8gb.
 
CEX sell DDR3 super cheap
https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail/?id=smem9qaeb
 
just buy the same speed as your other 8GB stick. you dont need a matched kit

as for PC upgrade vs Xbox... choose this based on what you want from a machine, not from the hardware specs. both are 2 different platforms with their own unique pros and cons. and cannot be directly compared. If you want to have your cake and eat it youd own both and xbox and a PC for best of both worlds...
 
as for the 4K question, neither the 2060 or 1080 are aimed at 4K AAA Gaming. Yes yoi will get them to run on those resolutions by lowering the graphics quality, but if you're doing that it kind of defeats the point of going for a super high resolution. Based on ZERO experience and just stuff i've read on the internet, if i was to choose between those 2 cards i'd go 2060 as its a newer platform, and potentionally DLSS could mean 4K becomes achievable in the future even tho right now its really not a thing.

no

buy cheap, buy twice

I think your system is pretty much at the top end of what you’ll get without wasting cash. I would reccomend you look at over clocking as this will get you a big performance boost for little (if any) spend!
 
if you want your pc to be quicker you really want to look at selling up and going for a 6th gen or up platform.
 
problem is your system isn’t actually that Crap so there are no easy/cheap wins

there's videos out there where people tried this and basically its a waste of money.
 
unless you wanna put it in another system you'll use you're far better off selling it on the used market youll likjely get back half of your money back!

...

Get the 1080 Ti and don't even look behind.  Who even cares about looks? Cooling of 1080 Ti is good enough

you know, i think you're onto something... lol
 
i've probably spent all my "profit" money on little sundries and touches... lol
 

A 3770 isn't old

I'm going to oversimplify things, but you can think graphics as the result of two steps:
Figuring out what to render Actually rendering it The CPU deals with (1) by interpreting what's going on in the game and telling the GPU what to render. The GPU then renders what it's told to.
If the GPU is very fast at rendering, it may be waiting for your CPU to process more data and send more orders. In that case, your FPS will depend on your CPU (on how fast it can send new orders to the GPU).
If your CPU is very fast at sending orders, your GPU may not render frames as fast as the CPU can send new ones. In that case, your FPS will depend on your GPU (on how fast it can render frames).
Therefore, it usually doesn't make sense to build a very unbalanced PC (Athlon x4 + 1080ti, i7-8700k + GT1030) as you won't benefit from the most expensive component. 
 
Notice that whether the GPU is "fast enough for the CPU" will depend on graphical settings (with very few exceptions that are CPU-driven), so even the Athlon+1080ti example could be "balanced" for 8k, all the AA, all the eye candy situations, although typically it won't.

welcome to the Linus Tech Tips forums!
 
physically it can fit with modification. but functionally, not a chance.

In case anyone sees this from a search - the 3 frame-to-motherboard screws were too tight.
 
After re-watching der8auer's video about it, I noticed that he did not tighten them very much (he stops when they are tight enough to move the free-standing motherboard). After seeing that I pulled my water block, cracked all 3 loose and re-tightened them using only my index finger and thumb to gently twist the short end of the included star wrench just until there was resistance.
 
Remounted the block (thank you liquid metal for not having to redo TIM), fired her up, changed RAM speed in BIOS back up to 3200, save and reboot. Voila, problem solved.

It should work, i would advise you to put small pieces of electrical tape under those nuts just in case of any shorting. 

as for PC upgrade vs Xbox... choose this based on what you want from a machine, not from the hardware specs. both are 2 different platforms with their own unique pros and cons. and cannot be directly compared. If you want to have your cake and eat it youd own both and xbox and a PC for best of both worlds...
 
as for the 4K question, neither the 2060 or 1080 are aimed at 4K AAA Gaming. Yes yoi will get them to run on those resolutions by lowering the graphics quality, but if you're doing that it kind of defeats the point of going for a super high resolution. Based on ZERO experience and just stuff i've read on the internet, if i was to choose between those 2 cards i'd go 2060 as its a newer platform, and potentionally DLSS could mean 4K becomes achievable in the future even tho right now its really not a thing.

Ok so regarding the PCI slots. the 660 will fit and work fine, but put it in the slot nearest the CPU as this is the only PCIe3.0 x16 slot. without a case on any size card will fit, the SFF part only matters about the height of the original case. any mATX/ATX aftermarket case will fit the 660 perfectly.
 
shorting the power pins will indeed boot the board, but its a pain to live with. i'd recommend you get a power button adapter from MODDIY to make your life so much easier. personally i made my own with some jumper connectors as i did it before i discovered MODDIY
 
you'll also NEED at least 1 fan adapter for the CPU fan header otherise you cant plug in the CPU fan. i'd also reccomend one for the SYS_FAN header as without it the board will erro on post so you get a "press f1 to continue" prompt
 
expect to get POST errors without the front panel connectors plugged in. you'll want to EITHER  short the ground pins on the front panel connector to make it detect it's plugged in or rig up your own custom adapter to plug in the front panel audio, USB etc.
 
any more questions, just ask. I still have the PC in my house, my son uses it for gaming with a 1050ti stuck in.
 

^^ like he said...intel i7-3770 or better
AMD Ryzen 5 1600 or better.
R5 2600 would be ideal.

If you're going that low, I would honestly recommend buying a prebuilt or refurb PC from your nearest electronics retailer, it's just not worth the hassle. And at that low of a price point you'll probably get better specs with an OEM machine (unless your dad won't question the "purchase windows" mark in the bottom corner and not being able to change backgrounds)

theres not really a "best" for virtualisation. it depends on your use case.
 
the 9900k has 8 cores, if you ran 4x VMs with 1vCPU each you've still got at least 4 full physical cores completely spare for the host OS. which is like still having a 7700k there! ANd i say at least as you still dont lose the core when you allocate it to a VM, it's all shared.
 
for most home users it will be fine, and if you were doing heavy virtualisation of many servers then you wouldnt be looking at consumer grade stuff anyway you'd be looking at real servers with proper processors.
 
hell a few years ago we used to run VM Hosts with 2x dual core Xeons so youre talking 4 cores, 8 threads at like 2Ghz... that would still run a dozen light VMs!

It also looks like you are using a screw that is slightly too big for the standoff. Just saying so that you hopefully don't do it again.

use pliers from either side and un screw it

this temp in idle looks like the cooler is NOT in contact with cpu!!

You can do that, but nope the ML fans don't perform as well as the EK Vardars. They might look better I don't know or care, but Vardars are one of the best fans for radiators and not something the ML can beat in the Vardar's turf.

Sounds pretty normal to be then, if it's under 80C stable at 5ghz during full stressing you really have nothing to worry about.

When I see a 980Ti getting 30FPS I assume a different culprit. CPU more than likely.