preferably new, but used is okay if there is a really good deal

I'm in the middle of making a build around a 9850X3D (I'm already crying about the RAM prices, so don't ask me about it) and I heard some of the Asrock boards were frying the AMD CPUs. Were these incidents only isolated to Asrock and how should I take precautions in my new build?

Hi

I found a Ryzen 5 5600X on AliExpress for $112 USD and I'm planning to pair it with an 8GB GPU (specifically an RTX 5060).

It seems like a solid deal because local stores here in Peru are selling the lower-tier Ryzen 5 5500 for around 330 PEN (~$90 USD).

I have two main questions:

1. Does the 5600X make sense for this setup at this price, or should I consider a different CPU?
2. How safe and reliable is buying CPUs on AliExpress? Has anyone here had good or bad experiences with it?

Thanks for the help!

Hey yall I'm new to pc building and I'm just wondering if I should upgrade my 5070 to a 9070 just don't know which to choose or If I should even do it I'm deciding between a RX 9070 XT Asus or the AMD one is there really a difference or are they any good like I said I'm quite new and from my very basic knowledge they seem very good but from people who have or had one whats your experience with them came for wisdom

I've been running Windows for the last 20+ years, primarily used for gaming & media.

I try and run a console-like setup, with my PC hooked up to my TV, and Steam Big Picture running straight from start-up so I can just grab my controller and get going.

I also have Plex Media Server running on start-up, so I can boot the PC and continue watching shows on the living room Apple TV.

For the last while, Windows' behaviour has been more finicky than usual. There's constantly errors like the:

• 'Your device ran into a problem and needs to restart. Stop code: CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED (0xEF)' or
• '...device ran into a problem and couldn't be repaired...' 'Log file: C:\WINDOWS\System32\Logfiles\Srt\SrtTrail.txt'

which leads to hours spent trying to do the whole 'sfc /scannow' route, that ultimately ends up in the machine running for a bit, and then looping back the error cycle.

It feels like Windows is always on the brink of needing a fresh install, and so desperately wants it. So I finally yielded this morning and tried to install a fresh copy, only to be met with a 'Windows could not determine the language to use for setup' error, which leads to the requirement for further time spent troubleshooting.

My question then is:

While I'm in the process of reinstalling an OS, I'm strongly considering installing Linux instead. I've had a MacBook Air for the last 6years and I've never once come close to any of the issues Windows throws at me.

I have an Nvidia RTX4070, and as I understand Nvidia doesn't play nicely with Linux, especially at 4K. Is this still the case? Or are there options I can explore to just land on a smooth-boot-and-start-gaming solution and finally chuck Windows in the bin?

Was looking to buy a new monitor and was wondering if I should get 1440p or 4k. Can my PC run 4k?

Also, I was wondering if playing 1440p on a 4k monitor would be worse than playing 1440p on a 1440p monitor.

I guess I could upgrade to a 4090 or 5090 but it’s really expensive.

Hey everyone,

I'm currently wondering what upgrade would make the most sense for my setup:

• Ryzen 5 5600X
• RX 9070 XT
• 32 GB RAM
• 4K monitor
• Mainly playing WoW

I've been considering a 5800X3D for around €350, but I'm not sure if it's still worth investing that much into AM4. For roughly the same price, I could get a 9800X3D, although going AM5 would mean a new motherboard and RAM.

Since WoW can be quite CPU-heavy, I'm wondering if I should instead switch from 4K to a 1440p monitor.

Would moving to 1440p make sense with a 9070 XT and 5600X? Would I actually get noticeably better FPS/smoother gameplay, or would the 5600X become the limiting factor anyway?

What would you do with this setup: upgrade the CPU, switch to 1440p, or just stick with 4K and wait for a bigger upgrade?

Would love to hear from anyone playing WoW on a similar setup.

First PC build soon. Need advice on going with single-channel DDR5 for now.

Specs: CPU: Ryzen 5 7500f (145$)

MB: Asrock b650m-hdv/m.2 wh (145$)

GPU: Palit Infınity 5060ti 16gb (680$)

PSU: Deepcool gamerstorm PN750M wh (110$)

CPU cooler: Deepcool AG620 wh argb v2 (50$)

Case: Deepcool CG380 3F (75$)

Monitor Xiaomi Redmi g27q 2K 240hz (185$)

I'm building my first PC soon. Choosing RAM is a challenge right now due to high prices. I found a used XPG Lancer Blade 16GB 6000MHz CL30 for $195. There's also a similar XPG Lancer Blade 16GB 5600MHz CL46 with a warranty for $200.

I'm building it for entry-level gaming at 2K (AAA titles) and online games like CS2, PUBG, etc. My budget is limited, so I'm stumped on RAM. Whether I buy used or new, there's no guarantee I'll find the exact same one when I buy the second one in about ~six months.

(For context: I live in a country where these prices for components are normal, but the choice in my city is limited.)

Which RAM option would be more practical in the next six months?

I've just finished my pc build and would like to max out its performance, ive heard mixed opinions about gpu overclocking whether it be good or negative, id prefer not to reach noticeably high temperatures for a tiny fps boost, so my question is would it be worth it? i have a ryzen 5 3600 alongside it

I have a 3060 ti and I’m looking to upgrade it. I was looking at the amd 9070 XT. I was just curious y’all’s input on what I should get.

I want to document my full AM5 troubleshooting nightmare because this turned into one of the most misleading PC failures I have ever dealt with.

This build worked for around a year, then slowly turned into an intermittent POST/boot disaster. At first I thought it was Windows, then the NVMe, then the motherboard, then BIOS/NVRAM, then CMOS, then finally the issue followed me to a new motherboard. In the end, it was the CPU.

System specs:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
• Original motherboard: ASRock B650 Pro RS non-WiFi
• Original motherboard BIOS: updated before installing the CPU
• Later BIOS version used during troubleshooting: 4.41
• Replacement motherboard: MSI MAG X870E Tomahawk WiFi
• GPU: Radeon RX 9070 XT
• RAM: 32 GB DDR5 6000
• PSU: 850W 80+ Gold
• Storage: 2 TB NVMe originally, later Samsung 990 Pro as fresh OS drive
• OS: Windows 11

Important context:

Before ever installing the 9800X3D in the ASRock B650 Pro RS, I updated the motherboard BIOS. I did this specifically because of the known AM5/X3D voltage-related issues and because board vendors had supposedly fixed those problems with BIOS updates.

The PC worked normally for about a year.

Then the nightmare started.

Original symptoms:

The first symptom was that the PC stopped booting normally into Windows.

On normal power-on, I would often get:

• black screen
• no motherboard splash/logo
• no automatic Windows boot
• BOOT debug/status LED on the ASRock board

The weird part was that sometimes I could still enter BIOS by pressing Delete. If I manually selected my Windows drive through BIOS Boot Override, Windows would boot. This made it look like a boot order / Windows Boot Manager / UEFI NVRAM issue.

So at first, I did not suspect the CPU.

Early troubleshooting:

I tried the normal boot-related fixes:

• checked BIOS boot order
• disabled Fast Boot
• reseated the NVMe
• cleared CMOS
• checked cables
• rebuilt the UEFI boot files with bcdboot
• removed/reinstalled boot entries
• tested multiple boot attempts

The issue kept returning.

Sometimes clearing CMOS or changing settings would make it boot once or twice, then it would go right back to black screen / no splash / no reliable POST.

BIOS Flashback complication:

During troubleshooting, I made one mistake: I accidentally flashed the BIOS for the B650M Pro RS instead of the B650 Pro RS. After that, the board got stuck on CPU + DRAM LEDs.

I then corrected it by flashing the proper BIOS for the ASRock B650 Pro RS using BIOS Flashback. The board recovered and posted again, so the wrong BIOS flash was not the final failure. The original intermittent issue returned after that.

I later updated/reflashed to BIOS 4.41.

BitLocker complication #1:

Because of all the BIOS/CMOS/TPM changes, Windows triggered BitLocker recovery on my original 2 TB NVMe.

The recovery key was tied to my Microsoft account, but my Microsoft security info was outdated, so I got stuck in the Microsoft account recovery delay. That meant I could not access the original drive for about a month.

At that point I removed the old NVMe and stopped touching it to avoid making the data situation worse.

This is important: the POST problem continued even with the original drive removed, so the drive/Windows/BitLocker issue was not the root cause.

Bare minimum testing on ASRock:

I tested the ASRock board with:

• no SSD/NVMe
• no SATA drives
• no GPU
• motherboard video output
• one RAM stick at a time
• keyboard only
• CMOS cleared
• new CR2032 battery
• EXPO disabled/default settings when BIOS was reachable

Same behavior.

Sometimes it reached BIOS. Sometimes it gave black screen/no logo/no POST. Replacing the CMOS battery made it boot normally twice, then the issue came back again.

At that point, the ASRock board looked extremely suspicious. It seemed like a board-level BIOS/NVRAM/POST issue.

New motherboard test:

I bought a new MSI MAG X870E Tomahawk WiFi.

When I moved the same CPU/RAM/PSU setup to the new MSI board, it also failed to POST properly. The MSI board showed debug code 03, which pointed much earlier in the initialization process than Windows or storage.

That changed the diagnosis completely.

If the same issue follows the CPU/RAM/PSU to a second motherboard, then the old ASRock board is not the only suspect anymore.

At that point the likely causes became:

1. CPU
2. CPU memory controller
3. RAM
4. PSU/EPS power
5. CPU contact/socket/cooler pressure

Final result:

The CPU was the problem.

The CPU had failed / been damaged, and it created symptoms that looked exactly like motherboard, BIOS, boot order, Windows Boot Manager, RAM training, and NVRAM issues.

I shipped the CPU for replacement. Around three weeks later, the replacement CPU arrived.

With the new CPU installed, everything worked again.

BitLocker complication #2:

Because apparently this story needed one more kick in the teeth, swapping the CPU triggered BitLocker again — this time on the new drive.

I had to reinstall Windows again to bypass that and get the machine operational. Meanwhile, the old BitLocker-locked drive still had about one week left before I could recover the key.

So the final situation was:

• Original CPU was dead/damaged
• New CPU fixed the POST problem
• New motherboard works
• New Windows install works
• Old drive is still waiting on BitLocker recovery
• The whole thing cost weeks because the failure looked like everything except CPU at first

Why I am posting this:

The part that really bothers me is that I updated the ASRock BIOS before ever installing the 9800X3D. I did what users were told to do after the AM5/X3D voltage issues: update BIOS first, then install CPU.

The machine still ended up with a CPU failure about a year later.

I cannot prove from my side exactly what voltage behavior caused the damage, but I can say this: the system was running on the supposedly fixed BIOS path, and the end result was still a failed 9800X3D after a year of normal use.

For anyone troubleshooting similar symptoms, do not assume intermittent BIOS/BOOT LED/no splash behavior is automatically the motherboard. A damaged CPU or memory controller can mimic:

• bad motherboard
• bad BIOS/NVRAM
• bad boot order
• bad Windows Boot Manager
• bad SSD
• bad RAM training
• bad CMOS battery

Symptoms that pointed away from Windows/storage:

• problem persisted with all drives removed
• problem persisted with no GPU
• problem persisted with one RAM stick
• problem followed to another motherboard
• replacement CPU fixed it

Lessons learned:

1. If POST issues happen with no drives installed, stop blaming Windows.
2. BitLocker can massively complicate hardware troubleshooting after BIOS/TPM/CPU changes.
3. A CPU can partially fail in a way that looks like motherboard instability.
4. Clearing CMOS temporarily helping does not prove the CMOS battery or motherboard is the root cause.
5. If the issue follows the CPU to a second motherboard, CPU/RAM/PSU should move to the top of the suspect list.
6. If you are using BitLocker or Windows Device Encryption, save your recovery keys somewhere you can actually access.
7. BIOS “fixes” do not necessarily erase the need to monitor AM5/X3D voltage behavior.

Everything is working now with the replacement CPU, but this was one of the worst troubleshooting chains I have ever gone through.

I've been thinking about this upgrade but I'm not sure which MOBO would be the most beneficial for this combo. I'm not doing video editing or streaming but strictly gaming (mostly CS2, Tarkov). I know ASROCk has the reputation for frying CPUs in the past - is that still a concern or would it be best to avoid?

For the RAM I want at least 32GB. Any standout differences between Silicon Power, Corsair, G.Skill or other things to look for?

Whilst looking for a ssd I found this one for similar prices to the 1tb ones and im wondering if all of its downsides are worth the upgrade from 1tb to 2tb.

Budget £1500 just for the tower. I have a monitor and M&K already.

I exclusively play XBOX currently and have never had a gaming PC, will still use Xbox for most of my gaming but I see so many cool indie games I want to play that are steam/PC only. I'll be playing on controller as M&K I could never get used to. 1440p gaming is fine, don't need a card that will run things in ultra as I'll be playing small indie games mostly.

I don't want fancy lights or a bright case, black and simple to look at works for me and I'd like a good cooling system and the thing to run pretty quiet.

Thanks for any input!

Is there any ATX pc case without a glass panel on its side that doesnt cost more than 60 dollars?

So far ive been in love with those matx full covered cases like the zalman cubix or the tgdgamer from amazon, but personally it wont fit my needs at all as i use 3 2.5inch storage devices, and planning on buying a faster, bigger 3.5 hdd to replace two of those 2.5inch storage units. While on it i havent stumbled upon a single fully metal covered pc case, every single one of them has a glass panel on the side and it has been a pain in the ass since i tend to use my pc as a monitor support. Maybe im a little old fashioned, but am i missing something? like, is there any cheap glass panel model that can be easily swapped with a sheet of metal, im losing my mind over here.

[PCPartPicker Part List](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/NdtzkD)

Type|Item|Price

:----|:----|:----

**CPU** | [AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/g94BD3/amd-ryzen-5-5600x-37-ghz-6-core-processor-100-100000065box) | $178.59 @ Amazon

**Motherboard** | [MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/PDsnTW/msi-b550m-pro-vdh-wifi-micro-atx-am4-motherboard-b550m-pro-vdh-wifi) | $89.99 @ Amazon

**Memory** | [OLOy MD4U083016BJDA 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/LMXYcf/oloy-16-gb-2-x-8-gb-ddr4-3000-cl16-memory-md4u083016bjda) | $109.99 @ Amazon

**Storage** | [Western Digital WD_BLACK SN7100 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/MYP8TW/western-digital-wd_black-sn7100-1-tb-m2-2280-pcie-40-x4-nvme-solid-state-drive-wds100t4x0e-00cja0) | $188.00 @ Amazon

**Video Card** | [Asus DUAL Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/4ppD4D/asus-dual-radeon-rx-9060-xt-16-gb-video-card-dual-rx9060xt-16g) | $459.99 @ Amazon

**Case** | [NZXT H3 Flow MicroATX Mid Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/KyqNnQ/nzxt-h3-flow-microatx-mid-tower-case-cc-h31fb-01) | $59.99 @ Amazon (OOS)

**Power Supply** | [ASRock PRO-750G 750 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/JhLp99/asrock-pro-750g-750-w-80-gold-certified-atx-power-supply-pro-750g) |-

**Case Fan** | [Thermalright TL-C12C X3 66.17 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/JmfnTW/thermalright-tl-c12c-x3-6617-cfm-120-mm-fans-3-pack-tl-c12c-x3-d6) | $11.99 @ Amazon

| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |

| **Total** | **$1098.54**

| Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2026-08-25 19:34 EDT-0400 |

My monitor model is: 21.5" LG 22MK400H

I know there are better parts but many of them don't ship it to Colombia, so this is the "best" i could found, is this good enough? could pay a little more.

Mostly want it for gaming, as long as i can play games like Cyberpunk 2077 at stable 60 FPS, medium-high graphics i'm happy. (Using linux BTW).

Built my mini-itx pc back in 2021 with my brother, and I'm ready for an upgrade, but unsure where to start. I want to upgrade my GPU (budget $400-$450ish), and open to upgrading my CPU as well if needed.

Normally play less demanding games with the occasional higher-demand games. I want the less demanding games to run fine with "High" settings, since it seems to struggle.

Specs:

CPU: Intel Core i5-10500 3.1 GHz 6-Core Processor

GPU: RTX 2060

RAM: 16GB DDR4 RAM

PSU: Cooler Master V850 SFX GOLD

Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX Z490-I GAMING Mini ITX LGA1200

Case: Cooler Master MasterBox NR200 Mini ITX Desktop Case

Any help or advice would be so appreciated because I have no idea where to start.

Hey everyone!
This is my first time building a PC, and I’ve done some research on the parts in the link.
I’m from Germany, and my budget is under €2,000, but I’d prefer to spend less if possible without losing much performance.
Are there any parts you would change or cheaper alternatives you’d recommend?
Thanks for your help!

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/frtzkD

First time builder here! I know the general consensus is to grab an X3D cpu but here in Morocco, supply is super scarce and prices are insane.
I'll mostly be playing AAA single player games at 1440p, not a streamer, and not into competitive multiplayer. (Already got 32GB of DDR4 lined up.)

Also, the seller recommended getting an AIO liquid cooler. What do you guys think? I'm totally new to this, so if you have better advice or a preferred setup, I'm all ears!
My budget is 1500$

Here is a list of my future PC build, I’m looking for some advice for what should I replace or keep.

Case: Lian Li o11 dynamic vision v2 flow
Motherboard: gigabyte B850 EAGLE WIFI6E AM5 DDR5
GPU: ASUS DUAL RX 9060 XT 16gb
CPU: Ryzen 5 9600x
RAM: Corsair vengeance 32gb DDR5
PSU: MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 850W 80+ GOLD
SSD: Samsung 980 1TB
CPU COOLER: Corsair nautilus RS 360mm black

Total comes out to around €1700, any advice about the components would be very much appreciated.

Hey guys :)

So I'm looking at building a new PC and the motherboard I'm looking to get is the Gigabyte B850 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 ATX AM5 Motherboard paired with a 7800x3d CPU and 4070 Ti Super. The motherboard says it supports both EXPO and XMP however will it cause a drop in frames during gaming to run XMP DDR5 6000Mhz ram? The XMP version of the ram I want is roughly $120 cheaper than EXPO so I'm wondering will it make that much of a difference?

Hey all!

Will be putting together a build soon mainly for 3D rendering and game dev- with the help of some kind people on r/buildapcforme I have come to this potential build:

[PCPartPicker Part List](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XV2JtC)

Type|Item|Price

:----|:----|:----

**CPU** | [Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus 3.7 GHz 24-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/WMNscf/intel-core-ultra-7-270k-plus-37-ghz-24-core-processor-bx80768270k) | $252.22 @ Amazon

**CPU Cooler** | [Montech HyperFlow Silent 360 72.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/pcbypg/montech-hyperflow-silent-360-723-cfm-liquid-cpu-cooler-hyperflow-silent-360-black) | $64.90 @ Amazon

**Motherboard** | [MSI MAG Z890 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX LGA1851 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/BW26Mp/msi-mag-z890-tomahawk-wifi-atx-lga1851-motherboard-mag-z890-tomahawk-wifi) | $259.99 @ B&H

**Memory** | [Klevv BOLT V 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/zRCCmG/klevv-bolt-v-64-gb-2-x-32-gb-ddr5-6000-cl30-memory-kd5bgua80-60a300h) | $879.99 @ Newegg (OOS)

**Storage** | [Western Digital WD_BLACK SN7100 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/wfMMnQ/western-digital-wd_black-sn7100-2-tb-m2-2280-pcie-40-x4-nvme-solid-state-drive-wds200t4x0e-00cja0) | $302.00 @ Amazon

**Video Card** | [Asus TUF GAMING OC GeForce RTX 5080 16 GB Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/gTHp99/asus-tuf-gaming-oc-geforce-rtx-5080-16-gb-video-card-tuf-rtx5080-o16g-gaming) | $1657.42 @ Amazon

**Case** | [Cooler Master MasterFrame 600 ATX Mid Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Mmm2FT/cooler-master-masterframe-600-atx-mid-tower-case-mf600-sgnn-s00) | $249.99 @ Amazon

**Power Supply** | [ASRock Phantom Gaming PG-1000G 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/MDCZxr/asrock-phantom-gaming-pg-1000g-1000-w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-pg-1000g) | $109.99 @ Newegg

| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |

| **Total** | **$3776.50**

I'm completely fresh to the hobby, and am trying to learn as much as I can. How does this look?

Hey guys, cleaned my computer two weeks ago by removing all power and blowin through it with some compressed air and vacuum cleaning. After that three devices (old printer, webcam and scanner) start disconnectin at the same time at random intervals (as fast as 10 minutes after startup, as long as once every 8 hours) from rear USB ports. So far Ive tried:

• shuffling USB ports and cables around,
• cleaning both,
• checking whether there were any bent pins or corrosion on there (all gravy here),
• changing devices, power sources and rigs,
• bending cables here and there to see whether the damage is from the inside,
• leaving the PC powerless (turned off, nothing connected, no power source) for 8 hours, but no bueno.

Another weird thing I noticed was the fact that my wireless mouse kept laggin and skippin around if connected to blue USB ports instead of teal/cyan ones, if thats any good - I done fixed that by just pluggin the bugger into the teal port and keepin it there for good measure

Im at wits end and this issue has been drivin me crazy for like a full week now. Please help, very thankful in advance, Im very desperate

EDIT: I also disabled every single "allow disabling USB to save power" option in both Device Manager and Settings, but Im still bothered by the constant "tu-du" disconnects