PC Building Guide and Discussion #11 (everything is expensive...)

[SolidSnakeUS]

Intel Officially Confirms: Entering Dedicated GPU Market In 2020

2020? C'mon...

I seriously do hope they come out swinging though.

 

[Natey]

Picked this up... Thought the price and specs are decent for the price. Any thoughts?

Looked at getting a second desktop but the price of video cards is insane right now. My desktop is decent with a 1060, 6gb, but could use a CPU/Mobo upgrade.

https://m.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...d-12gb-ram-windows-10-fx53vd-bs51-cb/10573737

 

[Kestrel]

Picked this up... Thought the price and specs are decent for the price. Any thoughts?

Looked at getting a second desktop but the price of video cards is insane right now. My desktop is decent with a 1060, 6gb, but could use a CPU/Mobo upgrade.

https://m.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...d-12gb-ram-windows-10-fx53vd-bs51-cb/10573737

It looks reasonable based on the prices out there. I haven't looked too closely at that laptop, but you may want to see if you can add an SSD drive without having to swap out the hard drive. Even if you can't, it is probably the first thing I would upgrade if and when you feel you want to squeeze some more performance out of it.

 

[Natey]

It looks reasonable based on the prices out there. I haven't looked too closely at that laptop, but you may want to see if you can add an SSD drive without having to swap out the hard drive. Even if you can't, it is probably the first thing I would upgrade if and when you feel you want to squeeze some more performance out of it.

Yes, it has a spot for an SSD (without removing the 1TB)! I'll be buying a 120 SSD for Windows and a couple of my frequently played games. I may have to take it somewhere to install it as I'm not really sure how to clone the standard drive after installing.

It also has room for up to 32 GB ram, but 12GB already with 4GB vram should suffice while this laptop is useful.

 

[Kestrel]

Anyone know much about the Intel/AMD joint APUs yet? @SniperHF heard anything yet? Chuwi has just come out with their HiGame, and I'm semi-seriously considering it. Their early bird pricing is about what I expected - with an i5-8305G and a 128 GB SSD, it's $800 USD, or the i7-8709G with a 256 GB SSD, it's $1000 USD (both versions come with 8 GB RAM). They are claiming the i7-8709G outperforms a 1060 Max-Q - I'm not sure what that particular variety of 1060 is, or if the claim is credible. These things have 2 RAM slots, and do take 2.5" drives as well as having an m.2 slot. Anyone who wants to look can check out the following link:

HiGame PC - Mini Workstation for Gamers & Creators

I would definitely be curious to hear opinions.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Apparently the box they made is pretty good (the Intel/AMD one).

Intel NUC 8 Enthusiast Kit NUC8i7HNK - Newegg.com

 

[Kestrel]

Yes, it has a spot for an SSD (without removing the 1TB)! I'll be buying a 120 SSD for Windows and a couple of my frequently played games. I may have to take it somewhere to install it as I'm not really sure how to clone the standard drive after installing.

It also has room for up to 32 GB ram, but 12GB already with 4GB vram should suffice while this laptop is useful.

I would say I would lead you through the process, but after having a bad couple of experiences that don't make sense with the software I use, I would rather have anything that goes wrong be on someone else's head

 

[Natey]

I would say I would lead you through the process, but after having a bad couple of experiences that don't make sense with the software I use, I would rather have anything that goes wrong be on someone else's head

I've installed HDs in my pc. But the cloning of drives seems above my head lol

 

[Kestrel]

I've installed HDs in my pc. But the cloning of drives seems above my head lol

Cloning isn't too hard, you just need decent software. I'm sure you could do it by yourself, but if you're more comfortable getting someone to do it, there's nothing wrong with that either.

 

[Kestrel]

Apparently the box they made is pretty good (the Intel/AMD one).

Intel NUC 8 Enthusiast Kit NUC8i7HNK - Newegg.com

After looking more, I could get the barebones i7 kit for $1000 Canadian, and add my own RAM, SSD, and OS - the only drawback over the Chuwi, is no ability to throw in 2.5" drives. It's not a deal breaker, but would have been nice to have. I'm intrigued though.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

Anyone know if it's possible to transfer Windows from a HDD to a new SSD? I would still use the HDD for storage and stuff but use the SSD for the OS?

 

[SniperHF]

Anyone know if it's possible to transfer Windows from a HDD to a new SSD? I would still use the HDD for storage and stuff but use the SSD for the OS?

Absolutely. That's basically what natey was just asking about earlier. You'll need to clone the drive.

What SSD did you buy (or are looking at)? A lot of them come with some type of clone software that will do the job.

What type of HDD do you have ?


Also another note, while it might be a bit more work, you can just straight up install Windows 10 again (I assume you're talking about 10?) on the SSD and it should activate the exact same license of the one you are using on the HDD. It will pull that information from the motherboard.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

I'll get back to you tommorow, as I'm at work. The SSD is a 256gb SanDisk one, and the HDD is the WD Blue 1TB I believe.

 

[Commander Clueless]

Finally, the Radeon gaming GPU we've all been waiting for:

AMD Radeon Pro V340 presentation slide spotted

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Come the f*** on...

 

[Natey]

@SniperHF
@Kestrel
Or anyone

So I had another opportunity come up. A guy I bought my old PC from offered me this (3 1/2 years ago. still use it. Only upgraded GPU for VR). The laptop would struggle with most VR that I ordered but some would be okay. The system, a desktop, I was offered would run everything better than even mine. He buys used parts and builds PCs. He sells for a very small profit. I can still cancel the laptop as it hasn't shipped.

Laptop
12GB RAM
I5-7300HQ
GTX 1050 4GB
1TB HD
$882 CDN
$669 USD

Desktop
ASUS Z370P Prime
i3-8350K OC to 4.3Ghz
16GB DDR4
250GB Adata NVME boot drive
1TB SATAIII MLC SSD
Brand new case
AIO cooler
Brand new 600watt PSU
MSI GTX1070 8GB
$1125 CDN
$854 USD

Thoughts?

(Yes, I own an HTC Vive).

 

[Kestrel]

@SniperHF
@Kestrel
Or anyone

So I had another opportunity come up. A guy I bought my old PC from offered me this. The laptop would struggle with most VR that I ordered but some would be okay. The system, a desktop, I was offered would run everything better than even mine. He buys used parts and builds PCs. He sells for a very small profit. I can still cancel the laptop as it hasn't shipped.

Laptop
12GB RAM
I5-7300HQ
GTX 1050 4GB
1TB HD
$882 CDN
$669 USD

Desktop
ASUS Z370P Prime
i3-8350K OC to 4.3Ghz
16GB DDR4
250GB Adata NVME boot drive
1TB SATAIII MLC SSD
Brand new case
AIO cooler
Brand new 600watt PSU
MSI GTX1070 8GB
$1125 CDN
$854 USD

Thoughts?

(Yes, I own an HTC Vive).

Just taking a quick look - that MLC SSD, and the GTX 1070 alone make up a big part of the purchase price - looks worth it to me.

 

[SniperHF]

Desktop

What's your current CPU?

The i3-8350K is a very fast 4 core CPU but it's still only 4 cores.

Price wise it all seems pretty fair but the main upgrade on your current system is probably the GTX 1070, the rest of the parts would be a pretty marginal upgrade most likely.


For the laptop, seems about normal price wise to me. 12GB of RAM is nice to have over the ones with 8.

 

[Natey]

What's your current CPU?

The i3-8350K is a very fast 4 core CPU but it's still only 4 cores.

Price wise it all seems pretty fair but the main upgrade on your current system is probably the GTX 1070, the rest of the parts would be a pretty marginal upgrade most likely.


For the laptop, seems about normal price wise to me. 12GB of RAM is nice to have over the ones with 8.

I have;

I5-4670
GTX 1060
16 GB RAM
Asrock pro4 micro mobo
120 ssd
Then a couple regular HDD

 

[SniperHF]

I have;

I5-4670
GTX 1060
16 GB RAM
Asrock pro4 micro mobo
120 ssd
Then a couple regular HDD

So the new CPU is 8-24% faster depending on what you are doing. But it's still core limited and you might find you need to upgrade it at some point.


Seems like good value otherwise. And you could sell your old stuff to recover some money.

 

[Natey]

So the new CPU is 8-24% faster depending on what you are doing. But it's still core limited and you might find you need to upgrade it at some point.


Seems like good value otherwise. And you could sell your old stuff to recover some money.

Hmm, I thought it would be much better since its generations newer and able to be overclocked.

I should mention I'm 100% fine with the 4670 still. I have no issues with any game I want to play. I wouldn't update it even for years.

Is the ASUS Z370P Prime mobo any good?

 

[SniperHF]

Hmm, I thought it would be much better since its generations newer and able to be overclocked.

I should mention I'm 100% fine with the 4670 still. I have no issues with any game I want to play. I wouldn't update it even for years.

Is the ASUS Z370P Prime mobo any good?

The 8350k is a really nice CPU for the money in some ways. But since it's not a huge upgrade on the 4670 I'm just managing expectations
CPUs don't advance all that much these days in raw speed. It's still good enough to do the job, but if I were buying a system right now I'd be looking for a 6 core.

Overclocked it would certainly do better. But the upper end potential still isn't much due to the 4 cores.
A super crude example, you have a 4 seater car and you need to get 5 people to the movies. If you drove 20 above the speed limit turned around and picked up the other person it would go faster than if you did the speed limit. But you still only have 4 seats. Stuffing the person in the trunk would be faster


Going from a 1060 to a 1070 IS a pretty big jump though and it will do most of the work.

Board is fine at a glance, I'm not super up on current boards. Seems like a pretty standard middle slightly above entry level Z370 full size board.

 

[flyingkiwi]

I have;

I5-4670
GTX 1060
16 GB RAM
Asrock pro4 micro mobo
120 ssd
Then a couple regular HDD

I’d probably sell the 1060 and upgrade it, or spring a bit more for a better CPU if you wanna upgrade the whole system.

 

[Natey]

I’d probably sell the 1060 and upgrade it, or spring a bit more for a better CPU if you wanna upgrade the whole system.

I didn't want to upgrade at all. I have an HTC Vive and my gaming area is small. So I have no room for the VR. VR isn't a long session thing though, so I wanted to move to the living room, so I thought the laptop would be good. But the more I looked up, I'm not confident the laptop is the right solution. I'm pretty sure it would run VR games, but not all of them and not very well.

So basically I was looking for that. If I get this, I would move my current rig downstairs and make the above rig my new gaming rig. I expect the performance would be better with the 20% cpu upgrade, 1070 with more vram vs the 1060, and an SSD to load games on.

 

[SniperHF]

I'm pretty sure it would run VR games, but not all of them and not very well.

Right, and it would only get worse over time. Like anything does of course but it would be more apparent on the laptop.

So basically I was looking for that. If I get this, I would move my current rig downstairs and make the above rig my new gaming rig. I expect the performance would be better with the 20% cpu upgrade, 1070 with more vram vs the 1060, and an SSD to load games on.

If that's what you want it for, it will do that.
And you could potentially upgrade the CPU even down the line since the X370 platform is still relatively new.