Dayglorange

@AustinJ I'm fairly certain the Dominator kit I have is Samsung B-die, as well as the Vengeance LPX I just picked up. I'm starting to suspect it may not have been the RAM, but I have more tests to run today. So far, what I've done today is pull my GPU and repaste it again (I got some new thermal pads for the VRMs because that was what it had before but when I initially cleaned it, I didn't have them. Thank you Amazon Prime) and before I popped it back in I also pulled the m.2 and instead plugged in a empty sata SSD. Went to install a fresh copy of Windows on that and so far only one small problem as of yet, that being the install itself went fine the first time...but during account setup, it completely flashed back to the beginning of the setup right as I was about to finish. Like, no BSOD, no restart, just instant one moment I was on selecting the tracking options and the next I was back at country selection. Went through again, it wouldn't let me use the same account name (as if it already existed, except I never completed setup technically) so I just went back and re-installed Windows again. This time it worked. I'm now sitting on the desktop and seem to be fine so far. Gonna start throwing tests at it again soon as I get them all loaded from my laptop onto my USB. I basically went out and found every test I could find to stress each part of my PC to try and narrow this down. I'll have updates later probably if I turn up anything.

I got ahold of some new RAM today (Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR2400 16 2x8GB kit) and swapped it out. Already have had 2 crashes, both black screen restarts. I'm starting to suspect it could be my GPU, but boy do I really hope it isn't. I have a few things I have yet to try. I gotta nail this problem down before my return/exchange window is up cause then I'm really screwed ?

I'm still working on trying to figure out what the problem is. This is probably the most frustrating problem I've encountered, and I work in IT! I just tried swapping the RAM in my rig, with no luck. Going to try pulling the m.2 and swapping for a fresh SSD and new install. My next strategy is going to be running Linux from a USB drive with no other drives in the system and see if it comes up with any crashes or errors. I unfortunately don't have a spare mobo to test but I'm starting to worry that might be my problem. I really just want my computer to work!

I got the BIOS updated. Still having crashes. It seems to be stable at idle, I just left the house and left it on the desktop and its still fine. I have a spare GPU somewhere, I'd have to dig it out. I'm probably going to replace the RAM, I have an RMA through Newegg, and see if that solves it. I just don't wanna go any longer not being able to use my computer to game and stuff I guess I'll update once I get the new RAM and stuff.

So, sort of a long story here, the tldr; is I upgraded from an A8 7600 to a Ryzen 5 (total platform change, so the mobo, CPU and RAM are all new) and everything is completely unstable, on both a brand new install of Windows on a new Samsung 970evo m.2 and my old install on my PNY SSD. Lots of BSODs. Tested the RAM for a day and it checks out, SSD checks out according to Samsung Magician. I'm very confused. Long story: Originally I pulled my old system and swapped the parts last week, and verified the new parts would POST before I did the swap. Seemed fine outside the case so in the case it went. Once I got it up and running again, before I installed Windows 10 Pro on my new m.2 I ran off my old SSD for a while just to test things a bit. It was pretty unstable, BSODs and crashes randomly, but I figured this could be down to wrong drivers and such since the SSD came from my old system. I pulled all my drives, including my storage drives, and went to install Windows on the new m.2. Problem: it blue screened during install. Restarted it. Managed to get through the install this time. More BSODs. I tried reinstalling again. Same thing. I think I'm now sitting on the 5th reinstall on the new drive. Its marginally more stable now, but the moment I try to do anything I get a random BSOD. Sometimes I see what the error is, sometimes it flashes so fast I only see blue and then its already rebooting. Right now, I'm letting it download Windows updates before I try to do anything else. I installed my wifi drivers, my graphics drivers, m.2 drivers, and Samsung magician to check the m.2. I've swapped the m.2 from the top mobo slot to the bottom one, but still have had some BSODs since doing that. I've run memtest and my RAM checks out, I opened up my GPU and cleaned and repasted it today just in case. I've been sitting on my laptop Googling every different BSOD as they come up. So far, I've had at least one if not more of each of these: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED APC_INDEX_MISMATCH UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE KERNEL_AUTO_BOOST_INVALID_LOCK_RELEASE SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION KERNEL_THREAD_PRIORITY_FLOOR_VIOLATION I've tried using WhoCrashed to see what drivers are failing, and it always shows fltmgr.sys and ntoskrnl.exe are the culprits. I've tried running Windows built-in driver verifier but it doesn't seem to show the crashing drivers when I run it, and its a pain to turn off. Basically, I'm at my wits end. I bought a new case to put everything in but currently the system is just sitting on my desk using the mobo box as a test bench because I'm afraid I may have to send something back. Problem is, I just can't figure out what's faulty, if anything, or if I got a corrupted install of Windows, or what. Pls halp. System specs: ASRock X570 Steel Legend Wifi ax Ryzen 5 3600 / stock cooler Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 32GB (4x8) DDR4 3000 Sapphire R9 Fury Nitro Corsair CX750M Samsung 970 EVO NVMe m.2 Windows 10 Pro, 1903 EDIT: I can grab dmp files and anything else if needed, right now I don't dare touch it in case it crashes before Windows updates can finish.

Happy to say that yes, the parking ticket and everything got worked out thankfully and I made it home with no parking enforcement chasing me across the border or something. ?

I never got the chance to say goodbye to or thank some of the people I met at LTX, some of whom saved my poor butt this weekend. I am TERRIBLE with names, but if you helped me get food, pay for parking, lent me an ethernet cable, kept me company, gave me snacks, talked to me in lines, got me Madrinas, or anything else, please shout out here so I can say thank you! I had an absolute blast this weekend but were it not for the kindness of these people I met, these people who were literally strangers to me, I would not have been able to enjoy it nearly as much. Seriously, I am so grateful to everyone that helped me in any way this weekend. I also want to say a huge thank you to @CPotter and @RILEYISMYNAME for just being so gosh dang nice and easy to talk to about everything. And the rest of the LMG staff for pulling off such an insane event so well. I hope you all get a good few days to rest and recover and I cannot wait to see what you do next year. I also hope to see more familiar faces next year, and if you were one of the people who helped me out this year I owe you dinner or something.

I'm driving up from the US, and I'm more than likely not going to bring my desktop with me after all. I've basically been waffling about it for months but, I am so worried about breaking my poor computer (and its not doing so well performance-wise anyway because it needs an upgrade BADLY) that I'd rather not take that chance. At least with my laptop, I can carry it in my backpack, safely packed away, and I can keep it with me since its light enough so I won't have to worry about theft. As long as your laptop can play the games you plan to play, it should be fine. I don't even know how customs is going to be, but I haven't been across the border in like 18 years so I figure just taking a laptop is playing it way safer than your whole desktop setup.

Done and done. Thanks for all your help and handling all the volunteer coordination!

Thanks, I finished all my finals with flying colors thankfully! And yes indeed I did put my Discord handle into the signup thing. I also added you on Discord. I'm guessing its just a matter of waiting now, then? I seriously can't wait for this. So excited to meet you guys and see what you've got in store for us.

I'm finishing up my degree right now, and over the course of it I've gotten the CompTIA A+, Security+ and Cloud Essentials certs and will be taking the Network+ exam this week. I have a cert for Windows 10 from Microsoft, as well. The most likely things to get you in the door of a company are Network+ and A+, and practical experience. If your program doesn't provide you with hands-on experience, I'd start looking for some way to get that either through your current job by taking on different responsibilities if they'll allow it, or look for an internship with a company more closely aligned to what you want to do. I'm not gonna lie, my end-goal is to work at LTT ? so I may or may not really know what I'm doing but essentially just seek out every opportunity you can. There are a lot of free resources, too if you know your Google-fu ?

Corsair Scimitar is a good option but it does have an arseload of buttons...I used it for a while when I was still playing MMOs regularly and its great for that, but once I transitioned back to FPS and other games I found the buttons to be a pain in the butt. So, I switched to the new Ironclaw right when it was released and I'd been using that up until today when I purchased the Nightsword and I think I've found my dream mouse. My hands are sort of in-between size, so smaller mice usually make my hand cramp because I have to clench my fingers around it and larger mice tend to have the buttons located in such a way that I have to shift uncomfortably to use them. The size of both the Ironclaw and the Nightsword is similar, though the Nightsword has a more pronounced thumb rest and isn't as tall as the Ironclaw. The Ironclaw has 7 buttons (9 if you go for the wireless version) and the Nighthawk has 10 which are positioned pretty much perfectly for me to where I can easily press them all without doing hand acrobatics. I'd say its very similar to the G502 HERO, which I returned to purchase the Nightsword, but where the G502 felt too skinny in my hand and made the buttons harder to easily press, and had a couple sharp angles where the plastic jutted into my hand due to the funky design, the Nightsword has none of those problems. Also, the Nightsword has tuneable weights and it also has real-time display within iCUE of the center of gravity and weight placement. I've never seen that in any other mouse with tuneable weights before. I love the way it looks and feels and definitely recommend if you can, give it a try and see how it feels for you. But I also honestly believe that any of the other mice I mentioned are indeed great mice, and you may just have to try them all like I did before you settle on the perfect mouse for you. I wish you luck!

@CPotterSo I know that volunteer applications are currently being looked at, but I'm an anxious stress-ball and its finals week and I signed up for 1 shift Saturday and 2 shifts Sunday and was just wondering if the shifts are the full 8-hours because if that's the case I'd have no time to go experience the event or anything...and it would just ease my mind to have some sort of answer or response cause I'm probably going to explode waiting for this convention. I'm literally so excited for this and my lack of planning always bites me in the butt so I'm trying to make sure that doesn't happen this time.

I'm getting a list of people who want my ticket if I end up not going/not needing it, lol.

I mean, you're not wrong, I would not mind staying in Canada, just like...I'd want to be more prepared for it

I also recommend Python. I'm actually in school for IT and one of the classes I took last year was a basic Python class and as ridiculous as it sounds, the book we used was called "Python for Kids" and it was actually a really good resource since my instructor was mostly crap ? I'm now going into SQL, and that's a very in-demand skill in a lot of jobs so that would be another great one to learn in general.

It was literally just an anecdote. I don't know what really killed those PSUs but I know my CPU is a power hog, and its also dying and I don't have the money to replace it. Its got other problems. Really, why does it matter? Its like I was just sharing my own experience and point of view or something...I never claimed it to be fact that AMD chips kill PSUs or anything. Just my system seems to have gone that way. Some people like MSI. Every experience I've had with them has been crap. *shrug* I guess maybe I should have been more clear and specified that I don't believe my CPU was responsible for killing two PSUs but it sure could seem that way to someone who didn't know any better.

Here's the thing, everyone here has different opinions and different facts to back up those opinions. So sure, we could argue about it all day and still not be of any help to the OP. So instead of trying to shove my opinions on someone who's obviously not familiar with PC building, I chose to share what I've experienced and recommend something I would build if I were in their shoes. All that should matter is that the person building the system gets a system that they will be happy with.

He doesn't seem to be as concerned about the budget as whether or not it will perform appropriately; I tossed the cooler in as an afterthought. Its not necessary with that system but it does match with the case. AMD is also notoriously power-hungry, and I can attest to that as I have an AMD system that has ruined 2 power supplies already. I like to go a little higher than normal with the PSU, plus I have never had a Corsair PSU let me down. In any case, my builds are only suggestions - OP doesn't have to take ANY of our suggestions, honestly. Something that no one here has really seemed to understand.

I sent you a PM as well @HulkyThicc but here is a build I would suggest that's still within your budget. I left off the graphics card since you've already chosen that, so these parts + the GPU should be right around your price range of $1700 (unless that GTX 1080ti you found is still ridiculously expensive) for the whole system. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions that I can answer for you! PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Amazon) CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i RGB PLATINUM SE 63 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($169.99 @ Amazon) Motherboard: ASRock - Fatal1ty B450 GAMING K4 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Amazon) Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($155.98 @ Newegg) Storage: Western Digital - Black NVMe 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($104.89 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital - BLACK SERIES 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($105.99 @ Amazon) Case: Thermaltake - Core X9 Snow Edition ATX Desktop Case ($168.84 @ Walmart) Power Supply: Corsair - HX Platinum 750 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($128.89 @ OutletPC) Total: $1129.56 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-25 06:36 EST-0500

I have an HP Envy x360 with a Ryzen 5 CPU that I absolutely love. I use it mostly for school, upgraded my RAM from 8 to 16 GB so I can run VMs on it. It doesn't have a detachable screen, but rather it folds around so the keyboard ends up under the screen and I honestly prefer that design to the detachable ones. There's a bunch of different models of the Envy x360 at different price points, so I'd say its worth a look if not having a detachable screen isn't a deal-breaker.

^ I can attest to this. I run an AMD system with a 4K monitor and aside from my CPU pooping itself in only the newest titles it absolutely kills otherwise. (I really want to get up to Ryzen asap as I'm still on an FM2+ socket APU)

AMD Ryzen's second generation Zen cores

@HulkyThicc That's a very decent build for a gaming system. Honestly, I'm a camp AMD kinda person but even I know that Intel is the best around for gaming. Sadly, not the best on your budget most of the time, but that's kinda what happens since Intel's only competition in the CPU market has been AMD and only recently has Intel began to sweat at what they're putting out with Ryzen. I want to see better from both sides. Anyway, tell your friend that they're an idgit and build your computer and smoke them in all the games.

Idk, there's always the slight possibility that I do everything I need to and they still send me back, I mean I haven't been to Canada in over 10 years - back when you only needed a copy of your birth certificate to cross the border and back ?....or, even worse scenario, I get trapped in Canada cause the US won't let me back in ?