maximumzero

Yeah, curious how this turned out in the end? Don't think I'd want to risk my GPU, but I'm intrigued nonetheless.

Keeping mind here that the 16GB 3600/16 is the "old" RAM, and the 32GB 3200/16 is the "new" RAM, are you still recommending sticking with the old? I actually don't think either kit is on my motherboard's QVL list, to be fair.

Hey guys & gals, Back in 2020 when I built my current PC I picked out a Ryzen 5 3600 to power it and multiple resources recommended DDR4-3600 CL16 RAM as the "sweet spot" option, so I went with a 16GB kit (2x8GB) and dropped it into my motherboard. Keep in mind I'm not doing any sort of overclocking outside of picking out the proper XMP speed in my BIOS. Fast forward to 2022 and I've recently upgraded to the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. I've heard through the proverbial grapevine that the 3D's extra cache memory makes it less reliant on system RAM speed & latency. I have a 32GB kit of DDR-3200 CL16 RAM left over from another project and I'm thinking of replacing my current RAM with it. Would I see any performance decrease in going from my 16GB kit of 3600/CL16 RAM to 32GB of 3200/CL16 RAM, or should I just stick with the 3600 RAM for now and wait it out to upgrade to 32GB of that same speed in the future? Thanks.

Unfortunately that one is a bit too long to fit in my current PC case, though I am eyeballing a Powercolor Red Dragon 6800 XT over on Amazon for $554.99. I was concerned that the Red Dragon was Powercolor's budget line, but after a bit of research I found out it's they mid-range line, which I am totes okay with. Still weighing that, the RX 6800 version of the Red Dragon, or just going used as mentioned in the opening post.

Found an image that's similar to my situation for reference. Many thanks for your input, guys and/or gals. I've only seen it get up to the mid-70s in gaming, though obviously something like Cinebench just has it pegged at 90c continuously. There may still be a Dark Rock Pro 4 in my future, but I feel okay sticking with what I have for now.

I'd like to pick up a RX 6800 XT for my PC, but with inventory more or less having dried up at this point, it looks like going used is my only real option. Problem is that I don't want to end up buying a GPU that was mined on, nor do I want to support anyone who was involved in mining. It's easy to dodge some users, as they straight up have actual mining hardware listed for sale, but others just have 10+ listings for GPUs, which screams to me "miner" and not "Gaming enthusiast that likes to collect them all." Unfortunately eBay doesn't allow you to outright block users, so I've been doing my best to screen those that I can.

While replacing my R5 3600 with a R7 5800X3D recently I discovered that the surface of my Be Quiet Dark Rock Slim has a small nick in it, as if something had chipped it somehow. I initially thought it was a fleck of thermal paste that had dried up and stuck to the surface, but after liberal use of isopropyl alcohol it remained, and sure enough, when I ran a small toothpick over it I could feel it slightly “drop” into the chip. I’m not entirely sure how or when this happened, as I’ve only pulled it off a handful of times, primarily to upgrade the BIOS of friends and families PCs that I’ve assisted them in building. I’m assuming and hopefully that the thermal paste will “fill in” this chip and that it’s small enough that it won’t seriously affect performance. How concerned should I be? Don’t worry about it or make this an excuse to upgrade to a Dark Rock Pro 4 finally?

So...swapped out the GTS 450s with a GTX 680 and the Folding@Home client is reading "Disabled" for the slot that I attempt to add. Is that GPU not supported either? Nevermind, had to restart the computer after the driver install.

So basically what you're saying is that the Nitro+ is a nicer product but probably not necessary?

My case doesn't have a clear side panel, so I guess Pulse it is.

This issue is that going up to a 6900 XT would mean I'd have to invest in a new PSU.

Seriously considering picking up a RX 6800 or RX 6800 XT, especially if prices drop. I see Sapphire Technology makes a "Pulse" and "Nitro+" line, does anyone know what the real differences between these cards are? I presume the Nitro+ has better cooling, higher clocks, and maybe a bit better overclocking headroom, but how much does all of this translate to real-world performance? I'm looking at $618.77 for the Pulse RX 6800 and $654.99 for the Nitro+ RX 6800, a difference of $36.22. The Pulse RX 6800 XT is $710.59, with the Nitro+ RX 6800 XT at $785.98, a much bigger gap of $75.39. There would have to be a something above a minor performance bump to justify the premium on this one I would think.

So any suggestion on what to do with the GTS 450s short of recycling them?

Helped my brother-in-law build a new computer over the weekend. His GPU hasn't arrived yet so we pulled a GPU out of an old Alienware PC (GTX 680) as a temporary fix to get everything else up and running for the moment. In the process he dug out two even older GPUs out of his closet including a SLI bridge. They were unbranded (they were the cards that originally shipped with said Alienware PC) so I was unsure of what they were, but I took them off his hands, excited that I would finally have GPUs to fold on. After pulling off the cooler, I discovered they were GTS 450s. Over a decade old at this point, but I presumed they would be enough to at least get a handful of points daily, moreso than the CPU folding I was doing on some of the older computers anyway. This morning I slotted them into an appropriately older PC and booted it up, only for Folding@Home to tell me they're "disabled". Am I to presume that these GPUs are just too old for Folding@Home and are pretty much useless? Oh well, he told me when his new GPU arrives that I can have the GTX 680. Maybe that one will work at least.

So now that the 5800X3D is on store shelves (in spirit anyway) any updated thoughts on this?

Had to pull the CPU out of my personal PC to update the BIOS on another motherboard that I was putting together for a family friend and I was reminded how much it sucks having to work around the CPU cooler. I noticed a bent fin on the heatsink and I dunno if I did that this time or a previous occasion. Hopefully it doesn't hinder performance too much. With as annoying as this is, I couldn't imagine trying to work around something like the Dark Rock Pro 4 unless you plugged in all your devices and then installed the cooler last, which I'm not a fan of.

$800 is tight, but doable. Do you have any accessories to use from a previous PC (Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor/TV) or are we starting from complete scratch?

AsRock's DeskMinis are great. Depending on how light your "light" gaming is this may be the ticket. When the RDNA2 APUs drop they'll be even better. PCPartPicker Part List CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700G 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor ($387.50 @ shopRBC) Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory ($100.99 @ Amazon Canada) Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($151.94 @ shopRBC) Custom: ASRock DESKMINI X300W ($252.99) Total: $893.42 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-03-07 15:29 EST-0500 The jump from to the 5700G from the 5600G isn't really worthwhile for gaming, but if you plan on doing any sort of content creation or productivity those extra cores and threads can't hurt. Otherwise feel free to drop down to the Ryzen 5 5600G. Of course upgrade or lower your storage as you see fit, and the ASRock Deskmini fits two 2.5" SSDs if you want to shave off a bit of cost there as well. I was gonna recommend dropping a ITX motherboard into a InWin Chopin so you can pull it out of there and into a larger case if you ever decide to attached a discrete GPU but those appear to be out of stock everywhere on the Canadian verison of PCPartPicker. PCPartPicker Part List CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G 3.9 GHz 6-Core Processor ($231.47 @ Adorama) Motherboard: ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard ($205.84 @ Amazon) Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($94.99 @ Corsair) Storage: Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($103.73 @ Amazon) Case: In Win Chopin HTPC Case w/150 W Power Supply ($142.58 @ Amazon) Total: $778.61 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-03-07 15:35 EST-0500

Well this is patently false. Not everybody needs a 3080/6800XT level card and you can easily put together a $800 build that will play games just fine.

If you haven't bought yet, NewEgg has a Sapphire Pulse RX 6600 for $429. Probably the best price I've seen for the card, though it's still easily $100 more than it would be in a pre-pandemic world, obviously. It's basically the entry point for GPUs assuming you don't want to go for actual trash-tier products like the RX 6500 XT.

Well it's literally between no rear fan and using the Wraith Stealth fan. I don't really think a rear fan is necessary, so I don't feel a need to buy one, but if I have a freebie fan that only works "half good", then "half good" is better than "not at all".

I'm gonna dig around my bag of screws and hopefully find something that works so I don't have to resort to zip ties, but worse case scenario I'll do just that.

To begin with: Yes, I've Google searched this, and I've found various instances of folks asking this same question but I never quite found a definitive answer on the matter, so I thought I'd ask again. I'm building a fairly basic PC for a family friend in a Fractal Design Core 1000. I wasn't planning on mounting a rear exhaust fan, as the components aren't particularly powerful, (R5 5600G, RX 6600) relying solely on positive pressure and letting the front intake fan to bring in fresh air and letting the PSU spit out some hot air. I'm using the Wraith Stealth that ships with the 5600G as a CPU cooler, but I have a Wraith Stealth that shipped with my R5 3600 in the closet that's just sitting there unused. While the rear fan mounting point on the case is intended for 92mm fans, there are screw holes for a 80mm fan as well, which is what's on top of the Wraith Stealth. I know it's likely a static pressure fan since it's sitting right on the heatsink of the CPU cooler, but I figure free's free, and the fan is otherwise just sitting unused, how much could it hurt? Thoughts?

If I'd be willing to go for something that big and expensive I'd just go for the Dark Rock Pro 4 I mentioned in the opening post, honestly.

Thanks for your responses Unfortunately the "motherboard check" feature on the Be Quiet website says I may have RAM clearance issues with the Dark Rock 4, and I dunno if I want to play the return & exchange game. That just leaves the Dark Rock Pro 4, the Dark Rock TF2, and the Dark Rock Slim out of Be Quiet's "Dark Rock" lineup. The TF2 is neat but I like the idea of the tower cooler lining up with the exhaust fan out of the back of the case, so that's out. Maybe someday I'll get the testicular fortitude to jump in on the Dark Rock Pro 4, but I may as well see how the Dark Rock Slim fares first. Edit: Also not thrilled at the idea of pulling off and replacing the cooler I have now for that matter. I felt like I had to really strain to get the bracket down to the point where I thought I was gonna break traces on the motherboard. I wonder if the screws they included with the bracket were accidentally too short or something. And of course I'm always second-third-quadruple guessing myself on thermal paste application, but c'est la vie.