I put off buying additional storage and now I'm regretting it. However, I had a kernel error and realized I needed reliable backup.

However, an M.2 2tb drive I bought for $120 two years ago now goes for $215?!?!?!?

Should I still buy the Silicon Power 2tb or are there better options for that price?

Hi! I've been fantasizing about building a gaming PC for nearly 5 years now and have been saving up for it.

This is my planned build so far, I've spent the past weeks ping-ponging between tons of sites and consulting with AI, I'd like to hear your thoughts on it.

About the individual price parts, I've compared them to other sites in my country, my country is just super expensive; these are prices if I buy from a VAT-free location.

Name --- Price (Converted to USD):

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D AM5 Tray --- $488
CPU Cooler: be quiet! PURE ROCK PRO 3 Black --- $56
Motherboard: Asus PRIME B850-PLUS WiFi --- $229
Memory: Klevv DDR5 32GB (2x16GB) 6000 CL30 BOLT V Grey --- $593
Case: Fractal Design Pop 2 Air - Black TG --- $125
Case Fan: Noctua NF-A12x25 G2 PWM 120MM Fan --- $39
PSU: Corsair RM1000e 1000W ATX 3.1 Gold Modular --- $193
GPU: Palit GeForce RTX 5080 GamingPro OC 16GB --- $1766
SSD: Samsung SSD 2TB 990 PRO NVMe M.2 --- $418

For a monitor, I was eyeing the Gigabyte 27" QHD 240Hz 0.03ms USB-C OLED Gaming Monitor but the site I'm using to buy the parts from stopped displaying any monitors larger than 24.5", so I'll buy monitors from somewhere else....

What are your thoughts? What should I change if my main goal is better performance at roughly the same price range?

I was just thinking that during the RAM crisis it'd make sense for 24gb RAM to become more common as a viable in-between as 16gb is often not enough but 32gb costs your first born child, but I looked into it and it's just kind of a pain to find 24gb plus I've never seen anyone talk about it

I’ve been “about to build a new PC” for probably a year now.
Current system is a Ryzen 5 3600, RTX 2070 Super, 16GB DDR4 and a couple of SSDs. I built it in 2020 and at the time I assumed I’d get maybe 4-5 years out of it before something started feeling painfully outdated.
Well... apparently nobody told the PC.
I play at 1440p. Most of what I actually play is stuff like Baldur’s Gate 3, Helldivers 2, older RPGs, strategy games and whatever random indie game steals two weeks of my life. I’ve had to turn settings down in newer games, obviously. I’m not pretending a 2070 Super is secretly a 5080. But I launch a game, change a couple settings, and then... it works.
And that’s the problem.
Every few months I get the upgrade itch. I watch benchmarks, build a parts list, convince myself that this is finally the year. New CPU would be nice. 32GB would be nice. A modern GPU would be REALLY nice. Then I look at the total, go play something on my current PC, and within five minutes I’m thinking “wait, what exactly am I trying to fix?”
Well...kinda funny that I can afford a new build now much more comfortably than I could when I built this one. I actually want to build one. Half the fun for me is picking parts and putting the thing together.
But spending a few thousand dollars just to turn settings from “high” to “ultra” and watch an FPS counter become a bigger number feels harder to justify than I expected.
I always thought upgrading would happen because my old PC became unusable. Instead it’s slowly turning into this weird negotiation where the old bastard keeps doing just enough to survive another generation.
I’ve even caught myself almost rooting for something to finally struggle badly enough that I can upgrade without feeling stupid about it.
For now I keep closing PCPartPicker tabs and telling myself “maybe next generation,” which is exactly what I said last generation

I recently built my wife a new PC. I was going for a smaller, mATX form factor so it’s all inside a Lian Li A3.
After running the PC for a few days with no issues, I realized that I had installed the fans in backwards and were intaking when they should be outputting and vice versa. An easy fix, so I unplugged the PC, popped it open, fixed the fans, and then plugged the PC back in and turned it on to test the fans. Zero issues, everything ran great.

When it came time to plug the peripherals back in, however, I let my wife help with that. Here’s where I think I fried the PC. After the PSU was already plugged in and everything, my wife was plugging peripherals into the MB I/O panel and mistakingly also plugged in a 65w usb-c charging cable (brick to usb-c) for her laptop that was also plugged into the wall. It was after this that the standby light on the motherboard turned off.
Now I didn’t realize it at the time, so where I suspect I made it worse was I kept turning the PSU on and off to get the standby light to stay on all while the usb-c charger was still plugged in.
What would usually happen is the standby light would turn on, flicker, I’d hear a buzzing noise, then I’d get freaked out and turn the PSU off. Eventually the standby light would only flicker occasionally or not at all.

Here’s my component list in case it helps:
MB: ASUS ROG STRX B850-G mATX
CPU: Ryzen 7800X3D
RAM: 32GB DDR5 Corsair vengeance (I had to sell a kidney for that)
GPU: Radeon ASUS 9060XT
SSD: Samsung 9100 pro 2TB n.vme
PSU: Lian Li SP750
4x Lian Li case fans
AIO: NZXT kraken 240mm

I have already tried unplugging everything from the PSU and MB except the 24-pin connector that connects the two to try and run power to the MB. When I did that, I would occasionally get a flicker of the standby light but that’s about it. I also got a red blinking light which I believe is the MBs way of indicating there’s no power going to the CPU.

Be honest, am I cooked? I’d really like to salvage this build if possible but if not then it’s not the end of the world. Any and all advice or ideas for how to fix the problem are welcome.

I'm growing a little concerned with CPU prices following the trend of RAM and memory prices exploding due to AI horseshit. My original plan was to wait until end-of-life AM5 and upgrade to a -800x3d at that time. However, after playing RE4 Remake for the first time on a 7500f w/ 9070xt, I have finally experienced the single digit 1%-lows that I see folks (understandably) complaining about.

I see a couple listings for 7800x3ds on AliExpress around $285-ish vs. Amazon at $350, but they don't appear to currently allow shipping to the US (due to tariffs?).

I purchased a 7500f via AiiExpress last year and it arrived without issue. My overly optimistic hope is to catch a coupon-stacking/Rakuten deal and walk out the door with a $225 (or less) 7800x3d. I'm aware of the risks of getting a dead chip, but I've never had an issue with credit card chargebacks for similar online purchase issues.

Just curious if anyone has had recent luck going this route?

A few weeks ago, I had a flickering power outage only in the area where my PC is located, frying the motherboard and the CPU. Even though it was plugged into a surge protector, this had happened and I want to prevent this going forward as I have a pretty modern PC build and do not want to have to replace parts like this.

How popular are UPS's and should I invest into one? I never really heard of any of my friends or others who have a decent pc and own one of these. Is it overkill or preventative from possible future hardware from being ruined?

Hi guys,

Looking to get into Wow:Forever at launch after playing classic Wow years ago. Have not gamed on PC in a longtime. Was looking to ask for recommendations on the most budget friendly option was out there for a gaming PC. It will litterally only be used for Wow:Forever. Based out of UK, budget is £600-700 Thank you in advance!

I'm heavily debating between a used custom build 7800x3d + 9070xt + 1tb SSD + AIO for 2600 CAD vs a sealed Lenovo prebuild 7950x3d + 5070ti + 2tb SSD + air cooled for 2850 CAD. The rest are quite similar.

Can someone smack some senses on me on which one is better values? (Let's assume the lowest settings is enough for my usage).

One big caveat is that the custom built has been stressed test while the Prebuilt is sealed and can't be tested without breaking the seal. Both came with receipt and warranties on all components (the Lenovo has like 1 year left in warranty).

Hi from Australia. Always been wanting to get a PC to game at home since I use a Macbook mostly for school. So I've been saving up to build my first PC.

Did a little bit of research (mostly just youtube or Tiktok) and picked some parts that looked cool (sorry).

I don't want something really insane but just casual 1080p gaming or even some light 1440p.

Is this okay? I dont know much. Budget sub 2500$ AUD. The following is my build I did on PcPartPicker.

Total around 2225$

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks :)

I’ve just built my first PC and curious what are some essentials you always make.

Currently using a Quest 2 device and triple QHD monitors.

On triples, with DLSS Balanced, I have usually no problem hitting my monitors' 120 Hz refresh rate, and because of the high pixel density, I'm not seeing any smudging or artifacts.

However, I've been eyeing the RX 9070 XT purely for its ~25% raw performance lead and the extra 16GB VRAM, but I'm on the fence about whether the swap actually makes sense for my specific use case.

my typical game rotation:

Skyrim VR (FUS modlist), Fallout 4 VR (Essentials Overhaul), No Man's Sky, Automobilista 2, ETS2, and ATS.

Lighter/Modern VR: Half-Life: Alyx, Into the Radius 2, Titanfall 2 VR mod, F.E.A.R. VR, Beat Saber, Eleven Table Tennis.

My dilemma:

Since I use Virtual Desktop (SSW disabled,no ASW), I'm worried about losing DLSS/DLAA in heavily modded DX11 titles like Skyrim VR FUS or No Man's Sky, where FSR historically struggles with shimmering on foliage. For flat gaming on Triples, AMD Eyefinity seems without FSR 4 in some older titles, I'm afraid FSR 3 won't look as sharp as my current DLSS Balanced setup at 7680x1440.

Given that my 4070 Super can still push 90 FPS in most of these VR games with optimized settings, is the 9070 XT a gamble worth taking right now, or should I just sit tight and enjoy my stable setup?

MB: ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2

CPU: Ryzen 7500F

GPU: Zotac Twin Edge 4070 Super

RAM: 2x16 Gb 6000 Mhz CL30

PSU: Fractal Ion+2 Platinum 660W

FAN: ARCTIC P14 140mm x 3

DISPLAY: LG ULTRAGEAR 32GN650-B 32" 165 Hz. 1440p +

DELL S3222DGM + DELL S3222DGM 165 Hz.

PC CASE: Zalman X3

VR: Quest 2

- I'd probably have to spend an extra 200 EUR after selling. (a quarter of my monthly income)

I'm upgrading my Ryzen 3600 to an 7800x3d, because my Zotac RTX 5080 solid core is bottlenecked by it and I want to future proof my PC in case the next 2-3 years won't get better for pc pricing. I need a new mainboard, pc case (old one is missing some mainboard screws and is ugly) and maybe a cpu cooler if it doesn't fit. The case shouldn't be over 200€ (Germany).

I'm undecided about the formfactor. I would like to have a small case, but the GPU should be visible and I don't want to sell my Be quiet Dark Power 14 1000W PSU which is probably the limiting factor for smaller cases.

I really like the Fractal Define One and Summit for their design and integrated GPU support, but they are quite large. The mainboard should have 2 slots for nvme ssds. Wi-Fi is optional, because I have a TP Link repeater connected with LAN. Mainboard should not be more expensive than 250€

Thanks :)

Hi I'm thinking of doing a pc upgrade and need some thoughts as to what to buy...

Current Specs
AsRock 320M Motherboard
Ryzen 3 2300x Cpu
Radeon 570 Gpu
32gigs DDR4 (Thankfully)

I don't exactly know what to upgrade into and was thinking about upgrading both my Cpu and Motherboard for a start.

List of Maybes..??
Ryzen 5 5600x3d
B550M Motherboard
Keep Gpu
Keep Ram

I know I have enough Ram and my old motherboard won't support cpus past 65 watts so I just need some input on what I'm thinking about buying or what else I could buy...
(I also do know my gpu isn't good I just want to start off upgrading these parts first before looking at Gpus I want to buy )
Help would be appreciated please and thank you!

Been using this cheap (bundled free actually) MSI B350M gaming pro from like... 2017, which still surprisingly works. I've updated it before to fit my 3700x and now I'm thinking of doing that again with a new 5600x3d.

Is that a silly idea or is a new mobo in order? Thinking of making the drive to MC and adding a mobo drops it another $10 so idk if I should do that...

Hey everyone,

I'm thinking of upgrading my gpu in my pc and looking for some feedback on my component choices and expectations. I have an Intel i5-12600KF, specifically looking at the RX 9070 GRE (there's a $120 USD price gap between it and the standard RX 9070 in my market, so the GRE seems like a much better value right now).

My main goal is playing competitive shooters at 1440p aiming for 240 FPS, but I also want to play some single-player games on the side.

Here is what I'm expecting based on my research, but I wanted to see if the community agrees:

- Competitive Shooters (R6, CS2, Apex, Fortnite): Since I'll be running competitive/optimized settings, the GPU load should be lower. The i5-12600KF seems fast enough to push 240+ FPS.

- Single-Player Games: I'm not going for 240 FPS. My target is a consistent 120 FPS at 1440p. It seems like the GRE will hit 90-100+ FPS on High/Ultra in heavy titles, and I can utilize FSR 4 or Frame Generation where needed.

Does this setup make sense, or am I overestimating what the 12600KF and 9070 GRE can do at 1440p? Is skipping the standard RX 9070 to save $120 the right call for my use case?

Also should I buy now, or wait till black friday sale, or will there even be a reprieve for GPUs on blackfriday in general?

On an extremely tight budget. I purchased a optiplex 3050 MT for $45. I want to upgrade it to be a somewhat decent 1080 gaming experience for her as we would mainly play friendslop games. I have had a 32 GB stick of RAM collecting dust and will throw that in there. What are your thoughts? I know I will need to dish out another $50 for a SFX ATX PSU & a conversion cable which leaves me only maybe $50 left to budget for a used gpu.

I came across a corsair rm850e gold on Best Buy clearance for 72.99. I’m wondering if the golds are good or should I just get the rm850x for 139.99. My sons pc has the rm850x in it and I’m building mine similar to his ( 9800x3d and 5070 ti with 32 g ddr5 )

With their announcement and the discontinuation of disks, I'm finally going to move away from consoles and build a PC. I am so ootl it's not even funny. The last PC I owned, I was playing Unreal Tournament, lol.
So, find the holes in my build, please.
I'm big on fps and single player open world games, but want as few restrictions as possible.

PCPartPicker Part List

So I'm in the middle of my first server build. The specs look like this:

MOBO: SuperMicro X9SRI-F

CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2696 V2

RAM: 8x8GB DDR3 ECC

GPU: Asus GTX 1060 3GB (basically just works as a display adapter)

SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB

PSU: BeQuiet L8-500W

plus a bunch of disks that I've not gotten to yet.

Right now I can't get past the POST phase. It gives me a flashing red light (about 1 second intervals), two beeps and then one higher pitched beep a couple seconds later. The flashing red light remains flashing even when the system is turned off.

Now, I can't find any documentation on what a higher pitched beep means. The only thing I've found is this: https://my.mbuzztech.com/portal/en/kb/articles/supermicro-servers-error-codes-sound-visual which is not really helping my case. Don't get me wrong, I've considered the continous/two-beep errors but I don't even know what a parity failure could entail, and most of the results when trying to look it up just leads me back to the same page.

Right now the rig is very barebones, to eliminate as many variables as possible. It consists of the MOBO, CPU, heatsink, CPU fan, SSD and one stick of RAM in the DIMMA1 slot. Still, to no avail. The problem remains.

What could be the issue?

Hello wonderful internet people,

I have for you today two builds. One is the build I send to the supplier, the other one is him upselling. I would like you to have a look at both, and let me know if I should spend the 300$ more. Also, if there are any glaring issues with either build, that would be great to know before I spend this kind of money. I am not well versed in building myself.

My goal is to replace my 15 year old gaming pc with one that is equally future proof. Doesn't have to play the latest games a decade from now, but will last me a good while at least. Longevity is key, alongside fast loading times (looking at you WH:3).

Both builds share:

• ASUS TUF Gaming B650-PLUS WIFI
• Powercolor Hellhound AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
• Kingston Fury Beast Black DDR5 - 32 GB: 2 x 16 GB - 288-PIN - 6000 MHz
• Lexar NM790 2TB
• Chieftec APEX AIR case

And then there is either

• AMD Ryzen 7 7700
• Arctic Freezer 36 (Black)
• Corsair RM650e

or

• AMD Ryzen 7800X3D
• Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black X Duo
• CORSAIR RM750e

I am pretty lost at this point, so I hope the power of the internet can aid me in this.

Hi guys I want to know is it possible to move the parts of this prebuilt into a normal case? the fans on this thing are super loud because it's so compact. I don't know if this thing has custom part that don't fit into normal cases which is why I need help.

thanks in advance!

Hello, I'm looking to build a PC to pair with a 360hz monitor to play competitive R6 on 1080p with lowest settings.

I know R6 is a pretty CPU heavy game I first wanted to go with the Ryzen 7 7700X since it does well on benchmark on low 1%.

But since it requires an AM5 and DDR5 I think it's cheaper to get an Intel CPU that has similar performance but take DDR4 RAM instead to lower the overall cost, here is the math :

i5-14600K + 16Go DDR4 = ~250€
i7-14700KF + 16Go DDR4 = ~370 €
Ryzen 7 7700X + 16Go DDR5 = ~530 €

Does it work like that and should I do that?

As the title says, I have a 3440x1440p monitor that goes up to 165hz.

I previously had an hdmi cable which only allowed up to 100hz, no problems there.

Now I have a new dp cable and it works fine for a few minutes, but then the screen suddenly flashes green (almost looking like an artifact) and the display ceases to work. After I replug the dp cable it would work again (whether I replug it in the gpu or the monitor). I don’t think it’s my gpu because I tested it on furmark w the artifact checker and I got nothing, could this be a faulty dp cable?

Been upgrading my system over the last few months got a free gpu upgrade to a 3070. All I have is the pigtail pcie for my RM650 Corsair psu. Looked on the official corsair site and theres no options anymore is 3rd party safe for pcie to get a more stable power draw or should I stick with the pig tail cable?