pstarlord

Thanks for the advice. That's what I was figuring about the thermals. I don't often pay attention to the lap top space, so I was just making sure I didn't miss some massive advancement in cooling haha. The metal housing is totally personal preference, it's shallow of me I know, but I like the way it feels better. haha. Thanks again.

I'm a music producer, a number of years ago I was able to run my studio on a Macbook Pro, but at a certain point it (and other laptops at the time) just weren't powerful enough to really handle bigger projects. So I've been using a desktop that I built in like 2015(ish) with an i7 7700k, it's 4.5Ghz works fine on most projects, but bigger (and more lucrative) projects are giving it some problems. I'm seeing that there are laptop processors that claim 5+ Ghz single core speed, and I'm wondering if that's legitimate. Are they actually able to hit those speeds, and is the cooling solution able to keep them running for an extended period of time? If that's so, then I'd be interested in a laptop that can check the following boxes. What I'm looking for: Preferences: -Laptop - PC or Mac, don't care - with as much raw, single threaded CPU power as possible -Variety, and or quality of ports is preferred. Multiple TB3 or USB4 would be the preference. I'm not adverse to using dongles if need be. -14" is big enough, if specs dictate a larger model, I'm open to it. (i.e. some 15 or 16" models have more ports than the 14" variant, or support a better CPU) -Metal housing, I don't like plastic housing with a bunch of flex. Not Important: -GPU doesn't matter at all. There is a very slight chance that I'd get into video editing, but I could figure that out later if need be. -RAM is a non issue, looks like most that I've seen offer plenty of RAM at reasonable prices. (aside from Mac prices on RAM obviously...yikes! haha) -Storage isn't an issue, most of the time projects are stored on external drives. Obviously, if you think its just not likely that they'll suite my needs, then by all means do let me know. Thanks in advance!

Thank you so much! That worked.

I'm not sure how long this has been an issue cause I rarely need to use the Adrenaline software, but I needed it today to make some game specific adjustments. When I click on the app, my PC goes through all the normal looking processes of starting to run an app, yet it doesn't open. Usually it shows up in my "hidden icons" tray of my toolbar, and I have to right click on it there to open it, but it's not there. I uninstalled at and reinstalled it, but no luck. Any suggestions? Thank you very much in advance.

Like 6 weeks ago, I had to send my mobo in for warranty work because it had stopped working. I got it back, and for the most part my PC is working fine, but certain games, or processes that used to take seconds now seem to take minutes or hours. As an example, I have a game called The Messenger, it's a 16 big pixel graphic platformer. Very low intensity game to run. My laptop fires it up in seconds and runs no problem. My desktop, since getting the mobo back takes 2 minutes to open the game and even then it'll crash on the title screen. Installing a 16gb patch on another game is taking almost 2 hours to install. Other games seem to run just fine, obviously I haven't gone through my entire library. System: Ryzen 3700X Aorus Master Mobo 16 GB G Skills RAM 3600 Sapphire Nitro 5700XT GPU 2x 1tb SSD M.2 I'm not 100% certain if I put the SSD's back in the exact same spots, would that make a difference? Thanks in advance!

The other day, I was doing a little gaming before work, powered down my PC like normal before leaving, but when I got home it doesn't power back on. I was hoping that it's the PSU, but I did the little "paper clip" test and the PSU seems to be working, however my Mobo is non responsive. When I press the power button, there is no reaction at all from the PC. I have an X570 Aorus Master Mobo, and it's been rock solid since day one. I've built a handful of PCs now, but I've never had anything like this happen. When a Mobo goes down, is this commonly how it happens? Just...dead one day? haha. I have checked the physical switch on the Case, and made sure the front panel connectors are working as well. Before I go down the warranty road with Gigabyte, is there anything else I should try? Thanks! -Patrick

Just curious, what resolution and settings are you using? RTX?

No problem at all. Let me know if you run into any snags along the way. I'll see if I can help out.

So often, these problems are memory related. Try booting with one RAM stick like Tofu said. Even try it in different locations. Once you clear the CMOS and remove the memory it can take a while to initiate the boot sequence. Like and uncomfortable amount of time, like 3 minutes or more. So just make sure to give it the time it needs. You said the RAM lights up, does the rest of the system give signs of life? Like any other lights coming on, or fans starting up, that sort of thing? Also, do consult the manual and check to see if your motherboard is displaying an error message or debug code in one way or another. Sometimes it just a series of small red lights that can point you in the right direction.

Music producer here, I got you. haha. Finding benchmarks for this question is next to impossible, but I can give you my experience as a professional producer/engineer. GPU = not needed if the CPU has integrated graphics. Recording software is not graphically demanding at all, so the absolute cheapest video solution is the right solution. For the CPU, I've been using an i7 7700k for the past few years now, with no issue and I rarely utilize 50% of the CPU. That's recording up to 32 individual audio tracks and once, and playback track count can get in the 70s sometimes, while using plug-ins. I'd say that pretty much any 4 core, 8 thread CPU should be more than enough for music production. If your friend is going to be using Virtual Instruments and recording with MIDI, then you may want to stock up on RAM. Virtual Instruments can chew through RAM pretty quickly. I have 64 gigs in my production PC, but 32 is fine. If your friend is going to be focused more on recording audio, and mixing audio more than MIDI and virtual instruments, then 16 Gigs of RAM is probably enough. Double check with your friend what type of connection the recording interface uses. USB C, and Thunderbolt 3 are very popular in the higher end of the consumer level products, but there are still plenty out there using Firewire (if you can believe that) but a majority are using standard USB 2 or 3.

Usually, when I'm helping one of my friends with a build, I'll ask them a few questions about what they want from the motherboard. So, I'll ask you the same questions. 1-What do you want out of it? It's your build, so there are probably a few things you want. Overclocking stability? RGB? Overall color? etc. 2-Is i/o important to you. I/O is very important to me. I've never had a computer with enough USB ports until my most recent build. While the chipset will determine the total amount of band width that can be used by the ports, they can vary on how they divvy them out. 3-What's your internet connection situation? Wireless or plugging into the wall? If your plugging in, does your connection speed warrant (or your use case warrant) getting a faster Ethernet port? This is a good way to narrow your options down. It seems most people default to suggesting either B450 or B550 because pricing, and if you're looking to get the most mileage out of your dollar, then that's a good choice. But do make sure to take into account the other options. If you get a less expensive motherboard, but you end up needing to buy a wireless card, and a USB hub, then you're not really saving money. So, I like to tell people to find out exactly what you want, then go from there.

Update, in case anyone else has this issue. The Asrock AIC Card, according to the mind bendingly terrible and rude tech support, does not work with a TB2 to TB3 adapter for some reason. On a side note, I'll never purchase another Asrock product, their tech support was so awful and rude. I even reached out to Asrock to bring up the issue to someone else, with no response.

Hey, just passing along my experiences and what I've seen. I've had a 3700x since a month or so after launch, on an X570 board with no issue. I remember quite a few posts, even on this forum, of people having trouble with B450 and Zen 2 chips early on. (and not just the BIOS update) As I said in my post, I suggested to make sure to do the due diligence and just be certain it's a good fit. I didn't say it wouldn't work, and I didn't say it wasn't a popular choice. Just said to do the research first.

For the money, the Ryzen 3, 4 core CPU's are unbeatable IMO. Basically the power of an Intell i7 7700k for a fraction of the cost. I do hesitate to suggest B450 with Ryzen 3000 processors though, I've seen a lot of people have trouble with that combo....BUUUT, if you do go B450, just do your due diligence and see how that specific board has worked with Ryzen 3000. Entry level B550 and X570 boards aren't much more than B450 boards, and will have no problem running the R3 chips. (like $25 - $50 price increase, if you can swing it, its worth it to me)

If you're wanting to drop $700 on a CPU, you better be prepared to spend some money on cooling it.

Yeah, exactly. I have never needed my web cam until the lockdowns started. Oh well, aftermarket webcams aren't that much. Thanks for the help.

oh well that's wonderful. haha. Maybe I'll pop it open and see if something came loose. (I'm much more of a hardware person than software) Thanks for the help.

ohhhh, I'll try and see if that's an option.

Just checked. I don't see anything listed specifically with the word "camera"

One thing I'll add, that I haven't come across, forgive me if it's been mentioned already, is that for your friend buying a used 7700k (unless you basically give it to him) isn't a good value with when he could do his build with one of the new 4 core Ryzen 3 CPU's available. So, for that purpose, I'd say keep your 7700k and if you are still wanting to swap to Ryzen, then sell your current stuff to other people. Unless, you're like me, and you want to hook your buddy up with a good deal and just enjoy upgrading. haha.

I can't say anything bad about the 3600. I've built two systems for friends using at, and it's been great. Especially now, with how often its on sale.

Hey everyone, got a Razer Blade 15 (2018 model I believe) and it's been fantastic for the last few years. But, the other day, my web cam just stopped being recognized. Got any tips on what I should do to trouble shoot? I believe that I have the most updated drivers etc, but other than that I'm not sure what to do. Most google searches talk about trouble shooting 3rd party web cams. Any help, very appreciated.

All the cables work fine. I connected the interface to my laptop that has a TB3 port, and everything connected and worked fine.

I have an Asrock Z270 Taichi mobo, with the Asrock AIC Thunderbolt PICE card installed. I work in music production and I upgraded to a Thunderbolt audio interface. The interface connects via TB2 cable. The card has two TB3 ports, a display port and a mini display port. I have the interface connected to the AIC Card's TB3 port via TB2 to TB3 adapter (all apple cables) The interface is registering that is not connected to a Thunderbolt port (it has a screen that displays it's connection, and it switched from USB to Thunderbolt) but the PC isn't finding it. I've checked in the BIOS, and made sure Thunderbolt Support is turned on, with no security limit. AIC and AR AIC options are Enabled. And the Dual Port options is also selected. Within the BIOS there is a graphic that shows all the connections to the mobo, but the PICE slot with the TB Card does not show up. I didn't think too much of that because the Firewire card that's been in there and functioning for years also doesn't show up. Any suggestions???

My bet is there is an error in the Memory for some reason. Check and see if any fault codes come up on your mobo. Try booting with one stick of RAM, or try even swapping the ones you have. Memory issues seem to so silly and random. I'm sure they aren't, but swapping them usually works IMO. Don't ask me why though. haha.