James300

I'm looking to create a NAS/Plex Server in the coming months, and have been trying to decide between buying a dedicated NAS solution with the required grunt for hardware transcoding, or leveraging any of the cheap used workstations commonly mentioned in the TinyMiniMicro series on STH. While I'm looking currently for NAS/Plex (So thinking TrueNAS if a workstation), I'm looking to learn programing in Python this year, so I'm somewhat leaning towards a workstation to host anything. Are there any considerations I should be aware of, or preferred solutions? Thanks

Not really. AMD have their chips pretty wello optimised, so there generally isn't much performance to be squeezed out of them through overclocking. Precision Boost does a good job of getting the most of it too

The issue is the value proposition offered by Apple - Generally well built but uninteresting hardware with well optimised software sold at eye-watering prices The recent video on the iPad Pro made me think: Can the iPad Pro justify the Pro moniker, especially if it needs additional hardward to become truly usable? If I needed to splash extra money for a useable daily driver device, why wouldn't I get a MacBook Air? Wait, the base MacBook Air is only dual core and exorbitantly priced for the hardware. Why wouldn't I just buy a Zephyrus G14? Apple has amazing mainstream coverage, and that's by design. If you want the tech YouTube community to put them up on a pedestal, then they have to innovate. Nice trackpads, good build quality and a big ad budget only go so far when you do things like putting an i3 in a £1000 laptop, or that an iPad is your next computer, selling it at computer prices rather than as a media consumption device.

I've had one delivered today (The delivery driver was named Mario, it was perfect!), and they're like goldust. I ordered from Currys at 1am yesterday morning, so not sure if their stock got updated at midnight. In the UK, your best bet is to check hotukdeals regularly as the usual suspects (Argos, Currys, Very, Smyths) seem to have regular deliveries, but are selling out quickly. The community are great at posting up whenever anyone has stock

I'm getting slightly excited at AMD's product stack at the moment. They seem to be playing at every level in the market, though I definitely agree with the comments above that they seem odd products without an on-board GPU. That said, pairing them with a 1660Ti or some flavour of 2060 could make for a great budget gaming rig I'm still undecided on buying a Shield Pro or holding out for the 4000 series APU's to potentially build a HTPC in the future.

Thanks! I've always had a plan to turn a converted garage (Current storage room) into an office/ second lounge/ mancave, so this is a useful kick for me to get around and decorate it I reckon some LMG displates would look cool on the walls. I might have to post a battlestation pic when it's all finished. The works have been delayed by a couple of weeks, so based on the timings on other users, it may be May/June before a switch on. There are also 100Mb and 500Mb options that might be a bit more sensible for my uses, but more is more!

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll hold off until the service is installed and run cable through the house. I'll likely end up getting Mesh wifi to address the spotty wifi as well

I'm lucky enough to live in area that's currently being cabled for gigabit internet in the coming weeks (Probably 2-3 months until go live). I live in a 60's built house, and currently use powerline to connect to my router, though the wifi in my house provided by my ISP provided router is pretty dreadful. My powerline adapters can sometimes be a little temperamental at times (Dropping down to 2 Mb down/20Mb up on speed test), but nothing that isn't fixed by a reset. I'm more than happy to buy some new powerline adapters or invest in a mesh wifi set up. What's the hivemind's opinion as to the best option to move forward with? I'm not a massive gamer so could live with a bit of latency, however would like the option to transfer large files, so don't want to hamstring the connection with a wifi setup that can't handle the data Thanks!

Thanks for prodding me to google a bit more into the case dimensions. CoolerMaster claims that the case will accept coolers up to 165mm, with the DRP4 coming in at 162.8, so it'll be a bit cozy but should be fine

Thankfully I've not got any RGB RAM, so there should hopefully be no issues there. I'll probably pay a little more to buy from somewhere with a no-questions return policy

Perfect thanks! I suspected it should be fine, but after the hassle of dealing with AMD's RMA policy I'd like to make sure before I jump. Fingers crossed for a nice drop in temps and a lot less noise

There's not much headroom for overclocking on Ryzen 3000. I'm running a 3700X on a B450 Tomahawk with no issues

I've been more than happy with the performance of my Ryzen 3700X build of late, but the only thing that's irked me is the noise coming from the Wraith Prism cooler I've been looking at alternatives, and debating between going down the AIO route or getting a high end air cooler. Figuring there's no point messing around, I'm looking at getting a Dark Rock Pro 4, and looking at pictures, it's a pretty thicc boi. I've got a full size ATX case (A Cooler Master MB511), am I likely to encounter any clearance issues with the case or other components? It appears to overhang the RAM slots in some images, but I doubt that'll be an issue with my Ripjaws V kit Thanks!

I think @LukeSavenije is spot on in his comment. It's between a 2070 and 2070S in terms of performance. Avoid a reference edition (Blower model) 5700XT and get an AIB model, but stock may be difficult to find. I've got a FE 2070S and have been very happy with it so far. I was hoping that the 5700XT moving to 7nm that heat and subsequently noise wouldn't be an issue, however it looks like they're not quite there yet

Okay, that's pretty much as expected/feared. As far as noticable upgrades go, look to buy 16GB of DDR3-1600 RAM (Assuming you don't have the enthusiast CPUs that begin with a 5). I made a similar upgrade on my old i7-4790 machine and it's definitely something you'll feel the benefit of. Before looking to upgrade the CPU, I'd potentially look at getting a new PSU. A bad PSU can cause untold damage to a system, so look to invest ina good one if you're looking for longevity from your system