Puddleduck

Found this on the convention center FAQ: I left something behind after an event. How do I reach the Lost & Found department? A. Please email (LostAndFound@vancouverconventioncentre.com) the date you believe you left the item, a description of the item and your contact information. Items found following events at the Vancouver Convention Centre will remain in Lost & Found for 30 days, after which time they will be donated to one of our designated charities.

The raffling/giveaway of swag could be more organized or sped up. Assuming that attendance will increase greatly, the barrier to entry for giveaways could be increased so that only those willing to put some effort in will get a chance. This decreases the number of hopeful but inevitably disappointed people, and helps make it so that only those that really need/want computer parts and peripherals will try for it. For example, PAX has "PAX XP" where you scan QR codes at scavenger hunt-like locations. If the convention center doesn't have cheap/reliable wifi, you could just have people take pictures of hidden items/stickers/labels.

This video benchmarks and compares all the 1060 6GBs if you're interested: I think his summary was that the EVGA SC one was the best for value, since they're all quiet and run about the same - unless you like manually overclocking.

I am strongly considering the other budget phones, but I'm wondering if the Essential phone is better value. Unfortunately anything like the Mate 10 seems a little out of my budget. I do wonder how the speaker compares to other phones; you don't normally see stereo speakers

I received my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 as a gift almost five years ago and I've loved it since. The big screen, removable battery and SPen have been nice-to-haves. I'm currently running LineageOS for Android 8.1 on it and it seems to have very little issues. However, I came across the Essential Phone on sale for about $410 CAD ($315 USD) new and it even comes with a free bluetooth speaker. If I only use my phone for Youtube, podcasts and other light media consumption, is it worth upgrading? I would normally never think of buying any flagship phones, seeing as they're $1000+ in Canada and I'm not sure how big of an upgrade one would be...

Thanks for the tip! I've been watching for 1060 6GBs, and they do seem to be lowering in Canada as well. I heard it's best to get a model with more than one fan for noise reduction, so I'm wondering if I should pull the trigger next time one drops to around $350 CAD (which is still $30 CAD over MSRP). Or should I not be picky and go with something like this one? ($304 usd, 14 day return window) Edit: It's so tempting to throw budgeting out the window and go for a GTX 1080 at $600 USD...

@JoostinOnline The most I could justify spending on a GPU is probably $400 CAD (~$300 USD). Not so comfortable with buying used though, especially since the cards in my area still seem to be in high demand (prefer having warranty and travel is inconvenient for me). I see Wanted's trying to scoop up all 1060/1070/1080s still, and a broken 1060 6GB is going for $150?? I watch Scrapyard Wars wishing I could still get cards for the same prices...

Thank you Unleashed and Yoola for your advice. I was hoping that wasn't going to be the truth, but it does seem like the best option. In fact, I might pass this build to a family member and start mostly from scratch, since I have learned a bit more about what parts I want, and am more confident in building. Here's to hoping I can pick up something from this year's LTX!

So my first build has held up well over the years, but I've realized I can no longer play games (ie. Final Fantasy 15, Vermintide 2) in 1080p. I'm looking to upgrade my GPU, but considering how expensive all the higher end cards are; I'm not sure if I should get a GTX 1060 3GB/ or 6GB, or wait until prices drop/GTX 11XX comes? Especially under the Canadian ruble. After reading a bunch of benchmarks, it seems that even a GTX 1060 6GB can barely hold steady at 60 FPS for high/ultra quality in Final Fantasy. So I'm wondering what decision would be the best value. I can be patient for a while longer, since I mostly play Overwatch and it's already been so long since I built this. But it would be nice to get a new card at an ideal time. CPU: Intel - Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor (OC @ 4.5GHz) CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO Motherboard: Biostar - TZ68K+ ATX LGA1155 Memory: Corsair - Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Storage: Samsung - 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" SSD, WD - 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card Case: Antec - One Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case Power Supply: Corsair - 500W 80+ Bronze Certified