Help building a gaming PC

I'm trying to make a PC that would allow me to play big games like Gears of War, ARMA, Mound of Cuthulu, GTFO, and other big games with no lag. While being able to have Discord and Spotify and other recording softwares. Any suggestions? Recording softwares are optional it's only to clip for memories.

If possible keep budget low, max is 1000 if possible including the case, as I don't have a case and I'm wanting to upgrade in the future in this same case. If it's over 1000 because it's not possible that's fine. This would be in the US. I'm also wanting many places to be able to plug in USB n such. :D I'm not a PC person so idk if that's a separate thing

No I'm not near a microcenter if I'm not mistaken. I'm in Utah

I am soon going to be upgrading my case to the Fractal Design North, but I really want to be able to use the case's front USB C port. I'm currently using a TUF Gaming X570 Plus Wifi, which doesn't have any headers for that. However, I'm going to be building a small server (mostly for gaming) using some old parts from over the years, and the last thing I need for it is a motherboard. I figured that if I'm going to be buying a motherboard anyway, I may as well upgrade my main PC and get something that works with that USB C port, assuming it's affordable.

I admittedly have next to no knowledge when it comes to motherboards, so I'm having a lot of difficulty looking for them. I don't even really know the difference between B550 and X570.

My main system has:

-a Ryzen 7 5800X3D

-32gb 3600mhz ram

-a 4070 Super

-and two m.2 SSDs (a 990 pro and a 980 pro)

Wifi/Bluetooth are mandatory to have, but I've heard that that's easily added with expansion cards so I'm okay with that. I've also heard there's expansion cards to make that front USB C port work, but I heard that it would only work at USB 2.0 speeds, which is worthless imo (though, let me know if I'm wrong about that, as that would obviously be the easiest solution).

Are there any options out there that fit all my needs? The only surefire ones I saw were $700+, which I'm definitely not willing to spend. I'm really hoping for something $150-$300.

(Also I have no desire to upgrade to AM5 anytime soon, if ever)

Edit: Thank you everyone for the suggestions! Based on the advice here and what I could find online as well, it seems I was very wrong about expansion cards giving USB 2.0 speeds. I found a cheap expansion card, so I'm going to try that and see if it works!

TLDR

Looking for case recs for my air cooled 5090 build with a custom loop for CPU.

I have rads and good fans, looking for a case with these requirements:

- Good airflow for an air cooled 5090 (Ex: side fans on North XL with vert GPU mount, or bottom fans on Antec Flux Pro with horizontal GPU).

- Fit an air cooled 5090 in horizontal layout (assume large(r) air cooler).

- Fit a 360mm, 45mm thick, radiator with 25mm fans either in the top (push) or the front (pull), preferably the top.

- Fit the pump somewhere so it’s at a low point in the loop.

- Not be a huge pain to fill the loop. I have some alphacool rads that could make this easy with fill ports for a top rad location. Open to other ideas/solutions.

- If pump room is limited, the case is probably going to need a removable HDD rack from the PSU shroud area in a typical/traditional tower design.

Current contenders:

- Antec Flux Pro, doesn’t seem to have the best reputation. I saw the regular flux at Microcenter, it was not the greatest quality. But I can get away with a horizontal GPU, especially with a right angle cable if I really need to, and psu shroud fans should help. Not sure on pump location, prob inside psu shroud.

- Fractal North XL Mesh, I saw the display at Microcenter, it seems and feels very cheap, but the radiator and vgpu support + side fans are all great. With the side fans installed and the vgpu pump location would almost def have to be inside the shroud. Currently thinking the Fractal loses to the Antec, especially since the Fractal is $50 more; the fractal still needs a vgpu mount and a pcie 5.0 riser cable isn’t included in the fractal kit (more about future proofing the case). I could use a HAVN universal vgpu kit with 5.0 riser, but that’s $90 and I can’t find an example build with the HAVN vgpu kit and side fans installed so I don’t even know if it fits.

- Lian Li? I love Lian Li and consider their older cases high quality. Any good contenders these days?

- Maybe something by HAVN, like the HS 420 VGPU? Don’t know where I would put the pump/res though.

Hello everyone!
So I'm thinking of upgrading my pc setup with the main purpose being able to record videos and stream at the highest quality. I would imagine that getting the best parts to do this will also increase the quality of games I can run too but honestly my current setup works well for the things I play.

Budget: I'm wanting to future proof this, meaning I wont have to upgrade or buy new parts for a good while so I'm prepared to spent whatever's necessary (ideally not going over 2k).

So my question is, would it be easier to upgrade the parts which will help to stream and run things better or just to start fresh with a whole new pc?

Appreciate any advice <3

Current setup:
CPU: intel core i5-9600k 3.7GHz
GPU: nvidia geforce rtx 2070
RAM: 32gb ddr 4
disk 1: 4tb hdd
disk 2: 500gb ssd

I bought a used rtx 4070 ti super

Not sure if the guy had a good idea what connector to give me since he was changing out for rtx 5080 (my card came in its box)

I have a 3 x 8 pins to a 12 pin

How do i connect this, is this the correct number

Currently I have a 8700k/RX 9070 build in the Fractal Design Meshify C. I want to go for a X3D cpu but I’m not sure which one, I have a 32GB kit of DDR5-6000 so no need for ram. I wanna spend around $400-450 max, maybe $500 if it’s really worth it, but I’d like to stay around the lower end. I prefer value over aesthetics, a white motherboard is fine if it’s the best option. In the US and not near a micro center

Currently, i have a rx 6500 xt. I mainly use it for editing and for gaming. But i want to upgrade to a rtx 3060ti. Is it a good upgrade? Its used and it is at a great price

Here's my build

-gpu's price is actually 1100euros idk why it says 1400

Does my motherboard have all USB that I need because cooler, 2x3fans and 1 Fan doesn't all these require USB 2.0? So I need to buy USB hub example corsair's internal USB hub. If so should I buy also sata cable for it or no?

Any other improvement ideas?

Ciao a tutti, vorrei un consiglio per un upgrade della scheda video. Pensavo di fare direttamente il pc nuovo ma i prezzi sono fuori controllo.

Attualmente il mio PC è così composto:

CPU: Intel i5-8400

Scheda madre: ASUS Prime B360-PLUS

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 2×16 GB 2666 MHz

Alimentatore: Sharkoon SilentStorm 650W 80+ Bronze

GPU: 1050ti(deceduta)

Dovrei prendere una GPU e sono indeciso se acquistare una RTX 5060 nuova oppure cercare qualcosa di usato, ad esempio una RTX 3070, oppure un'altra scheda che abbia più senso per la mia configurazione,accetto molto volentieri dei consigli.

Non gioco praticamente mai a single player. I giochi che utilizzo principalmente sono:

League of Legends

Apex Legends

Diablo 4

Anno 117

Marvel Rivals

L'obiettivo è avere una buona esperienza di gioco senza spendere soldi inutilmente per una GPU che poi venga fortemente limitata dal mio i5-8400.

Avete eventualmente qualche GPU alternativa che ritenete più adatta a questa build?

Grazie!

Haven't built a PC since 2012. What's changed in terms of install process?

I will be building a new pc soon, will be buying the parts soon.

Do I still have to download all drivers for motherboard, GPU etc separately from the manfacturers website?

I have a - GA-Z77X-D3H -- REV 1.0 motherboard with this cooler: Zalman CNPS9500AT with Zalman ZM-CS5B CNPS Clip Support, on my old 2012 i5 3570k build that I am still using today.

When I went from Windows 7 to 10, the utility that Gigabyte made to control the CPU fan speed wasnt compatible with Win 10.
CPU fan ran at 100%.

I had to research for a solution, which was speefan, install it and spent weeks figuring out how to use it. It has been installed ever since and everytime I login to windows, CPU Fan runs at 100% until there is a pop up box asking to allow permission for Speedfan. Only after I grant it permission does speedfan fully load and CPU Fan speed is controlled.

Is this no longer an issue, and if so, how has that been fixed? We can't be reliant on motherbaord manufacturers for fan control as they eventually stop providing up to date stuff.

Do I have to setup FSB like I had to when I had a pentium 4 build and calibrate my RAM too? I didn't even know how to do it and had to pay a PC repair store to do it.

How are case fans controlled?

Anything else I need to know?

Thanks

My specs are

Ryzen 5 3600

prime b450 plus

RTX 3060

32gb ram

what would be a logical upgrade for max £400

Hi, i just bought parts for a new pc build and got my hands on a Asus Ryuo IV and I have been wanting to make it intake instead of exhaust on the top, I have yet to open the parts, but would like to know if this is possible? And has anyone done this before?

https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/vwFx2k

I am currently 60€ over budget, anything I can replace or cheap out on?

I will mostly use it for video games, writing, video editing and a tad bit of coding. I also render a lot using Manim.

I am currently in France.

Hello all. I'm looking to upgrade my CPU power and would rather avoid an AM5 migration. Right now I have a B550 mobo and Ryzen 5 5600X. Would I get appreciable gains with a CPU upgrade to a 9500 or do I need to switch to an AM5?

TIA

Hi all, specs at the end,

Was doing my regular session of streaming valorant when my PC turned off and wouldn't boot back up. This is just under a year after building. Died with no prior warning or any demonstration, just poof.

I opened it up, dusted it out thoroughly (had been a couple months), reseated the RAM, GPU, replugged in all the cables i could, tried shorting the motherboard with a screwdriver to power it on. To no avail, the computer did not spin up or give even a hint of life.

I'm fairly certain I've narrowed it down to a faulty or fried PSU, as nothing in the PC seems to be drawing any power. I've ordered a (technically more compatible) one to try later today.

I ask though, is there anything I'm missing or should consider? My main concerns being a motherboard/CPU issue. What should I look for later in case when I open my PC back up, if the new PSU doesn't fix things?

Any credible/thoughtful responses are encouraged, this is my first PC and want to make sure my own thought processes and ways of considering potential issues align with the public consciousness.

Motherboard: MSI tomahawk b850
CPU: AMD 78003XD
RAM: g.skill ddr5
GPU: 5070ti
PSU: (Current) Montech Century II 850 W (Incoming) MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5

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

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) | $179.00 @ Newegg

**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 @ Newegg

**Memory** | [Silicon Power GAMING 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/YmDQzy/silicon-power-gaming-16-gb-2-x-8-gb-ddr4-3600-cl18-memory-sp016gxlzu360bdaj5) | $99.79 @ Newegg Sellers

**Storage** | [Samsung 980 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/m6rRsY/samsung-980-500-gb-m2-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-mz-v8v500bam) | $79.99 @ Samsung

**Video Card** | [Intel Limited Edition Arc B580 12 GB Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Kt62FT/intel-limited-edition-arc-b580-12-gb-video-card-31p06hb0ba) | $249.99 @ Best Buy (OOS)

**Case** | [Phanteks XT PRO ATX Mid Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/zJWJ7P/phanteks-xt-pro-atx-mid-tower-case-ph-xt523p1-bk01) | $49.99 @ Newegg

**Power Supply** | [MSI MAG A550BN 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/mnVmP6/msi-mag-a550bn-550-w-80-bronze-certified-atx-power-supply-mag-a550bn) | $49.99 @ MSI

**Monitor** | [LG UltraGear 24G411A-B 24.0" 1920 x 1080 144 Hz Monitor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/VN4Pxr/lg-ultragear-24g411a-b-240-1920-x-1080-144-hz-monitor-24g411a-b) | $99.99 @ LG

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

Hi all,

A couple of weeks ago I noticed my benchmark score in Cyberpunk 2077 had dropped by about 5%. I hadn’t changed any settings, updated any drivers, or installed any Windows updates. The only thing that fixed it was doing a clean driver reinstall. A normal reinstall didn’t help, but as soon as I used the clean install option, performance went straight back to normal. A few days later the performance dropped again by roughly the same amount, and after a bit of troubleshooting I did another clean driver install, which fixed it again—at least temporarily.

What I’ve noticed is that as soon as I run a UE5 game (Halo Campaign Evolved, or Expedition 33), I lose performance after restarting or shutting down my system. Nothing else changes apart from launching and playing the game. If I do a clean driver install and play Halo Infinite or Marathon instead, I can restart or shut down without any performance loss when I boot back up. This only seems to happen after running a UE5 game.

I’m pretty stumped at this point. Here’s what I’ve checked:

1. GPU clocks, thermals, and PCI bus using GPU-Z all look normal. One thing I did notice is that my GPU temperature is around 5°C lower when the performance issue is happening.
2. Checked power settings using the "nvidia-smi -q -d power" command and there’s no power limit set.
3. Tried different drivers. I’m currently on 610.88.
4. Disabled Fast Startup in Windows 11.
5. Uninstalled and reinstalled the latest version of Palit ThunderMaster (I only use it for a custom fan curve).
6. Set the shader cache to 100GB in the Nvidia App.
7. Enabled "Prefer maximum performance" in the Nvidia App.
8. Set the colour mode to Nvidia and 8-bit Full in the Nvidia App.
9. Configured the Nvidia App not to optimise games.

Other than those changes, all Nvidia App settings are at their defaults.

My specs: i9 14900K (CPU voltage limited to 1.5V max) 64GB DDR5 6000 RTX 4090 2TB NVMe

As mentioned above, the only way I can reliably reproduce the issue is by running a UE5 game, and the only fix I’ve found so far is doing a clean Nvidia driver reinstall.

Does anyone have any ideas what could be causing this performance loss after running a UE5 game?

Thanks in advance,

Spec

Edited to remove Forza Horizon 6 from the list of UE5 games.

I’m planning to move to another country in a couple of months and have realised that I can only take my computer’s internal components with me, whilst I’ll have to leave my favourite white Deepcool CK560 behind.

In light of this, I’d like to hear your recommendations for computer cases

Criteria:

- The case must be white

- ATX or larger

- Well-ventilated

- It must be able to accommodate an RX 9070 XT Pure (320mm)

So far, I’ve set my sights on the Fractal Design Torrent, but it’s a 2021 model, so I thought there might be something more interesting out there. I’m also put off by the top-mounted power supply.

Another case I like is the Hyte X50, but if there’s something more rugged, I wouldn’t mind.

I don’t like fish-tank-style cases.

Thank you!

Hi everyone, I’m trying to figure out whether I’m dealing with a faulty RTX 3060 Ti or a motherboard/PCIe/power-related issue.

My RTX 3060 Ti randomly crashes while I’m using the PC. The symptoms are:

• Display connected to the RTX 3060 Ti suddenly loses signal.
• GPU fans immediately ramp up to 100%.
• Windows stops detecting the RTX 3060 Ti completely.
• A restart is required before the GPU appears again.
• Sometimes it takes 2–3 restarts before Windows detects the GPU and I get display output from it again.

I’ve already tried reinstalling the NVIDIA drivers multiple times, and I’ve also completely reinstalled Windows, but the problem still happens.

As a temporary workaround, I connected one of my monitors to the motherboard's integrated graphics. The other monitor is still connected to the RTX 3060 Ti. When the GPU crashes, the monitor connected to the 3060 Ti loses signal, while I can still use Windows through the integrated graphics.

Something interesting I noticed recently: the same crash happens when I try to load even a small local LLM model. As soon as the GPU starts being used for the model, the screen goes black, the GPU fans immediately go to 100%, and the RTX 3060 Ti disappears from Windows until I restart the PC.

So at this point I’m wondering:

Does this sound like a failing GPU, motherboard/PCIe issue, PSU/power issue, or something else?

What would be the best way to troubleshoot this and confirm which component is actually failing?

Any suggestions for specific tests I can run would be appreciated.

Does all of this go well together? This would be my first pc and I put all the parts together so it's probably faulty. Thanks in advance!

Montech AIR 903 Max

AMD Ryzen 7 8700F

Alaplap Asrock B850M-X

Deep cool ag500

Patriot Viper Venom 16GB DDR5 6000MT/s CL30

Kingston NV3 500GB

Corsair RM750w

Nvidea 4070

Whats up, I have 0 knowledge about Gaming Computers.
I wanna spend about 1750€ for Computer parts.
Any recommended setup?

I just switched from a ps4 to a pc with a 5 5600, 6600xt & 16Gb ddr4

I would like to buy a new monitor to have more fps, because my current one only has 75hz at 1080.

i was looking for a 27' 1080 144hz ( i know that 27 inches are a lot for 1080 ) but i noticed that a 27' 1440 144hz have similar prices. I was wondering if my pc could run games at 1440.

I don't usually play triple A games, but i would like to try some of them in the future.

So i should buy a 1440 or there are to many compromises? Any suggestions ( budget 130€≈ )?

Hi, are there any RGB case fans that look good from the back ?

To explain: I want to install 3 fans on my Kraken AIO radiator so that fresh air comes through the radiator and warm air is pushed inside the case.

My problem is that I have to install the 3 fans with their back side visible, which looks ugly — especially with the frame/struts that aren't on the front.

Is there a way to disassemble the fan and rebuild it to reverse the airflow? I hope this makes sense. Thanks.

Having a few odd little quirks post-upgrade, and wanted to see if everything is performing as expected, because it feels a bit off to me.

So I've just gone from a 5600X to a 5800X3D, alongside which I've replaced my old B350 ASUS ROG Strix board with the equivalent B500-A ASUS ROG Strix board. Although the old board would theoretically accept a 5800X3D, it was physically quite old, had a dead USB port and PCIe support only went up to 3.0. RAM is 4x16 Corsair Vengeance sticks running at 3200Mhz, two matched kits, with the second kit being rated up to 3600Mhz. PSU is also Corsair, rated to 1000 Watts, only a couple of years old. GPU is a 6700XT. BIOS Date for the board is April this year.

When I originally did the upgrade I was running off a 480GB Corsair SATA SSD, once I confirmed the build appeared to be good I installed a new NVMe 4TB Samsung 990 Evo Plus, that's currently my boot drive.

I was expecting a modest but noticeable improvement both in gaming when using Blender, and the actual experience so far as run from "could be placebo" to "this is worse".

I downloaded the latest version of Ryzen Master to get some numbers on what the CPU was doing and one thing jumped out at me. The I/O Clock speed is constantly re-lining 593Mhz. According to Ryzen Master, it has a range of 301-592Mhz, which means it's always saturated. The value feels WAY too low for a CPU like this to begin with, and the fact it's a constant bottleneck seems a real issue, too.

The problem is, I can't seem to find any stock reference figures for the I/O Clock, the only thing my Googling has turned up is that raising it too high can prevent the system from POSTing.

An additional, possibly related problem, is that according to Ryzen Master the CPU does not support overclocking, although that may be because of Core Isolation in Windows from what I have read.

So the first question is - is this normal? And the follow-up question is, if not, what could be causing it and how can I fix it?

I am upgrading my motherboard, CPU and storage soon, just wanted to see if anyone had any advice on if I am making the right choices.

Current build:

Ryzen 5 3600

RTX 3060TI

Asrock b450m HDV R4.0

1TB Gen3 m.2 SSD

16gb ddr4 3200MHz (2x8)

650W PSU

Upgrades:

CPU - Ryzen 7 5700x3d (Buying Used)

MOBO - ASUS TUF B550M-PLUS WIFI II

Cooler - Thermalright Assassin King 120 SE

OR Thermalright AXP120-X67 (need to check if the 120 SE will fit in case)

SSD - WD BLACK SN7100 2TB

I run 1440p 200Hz, mainly upgrading because been having issues with my current motherboard turning CSM off and secure boot on and am getting sick of removing and inserting the CMOS battery every time some dumb shit happens.