PC Building Guide and Discussion #12

[Bocephus86]

Whelp, I had a couple during the Bs/Habs game last night and bought the 1000 Watt version of that PSU I was asking about above after the game. I then dropped the hell out of my chromebook & caught the corner of my coffee table, pretty sure I screwed up the wiring that connects the display as it won't work at certain angles and appears to be getting worse through out the day.

May now need to figure out how to cancel that over powered PSU purchase so I can put that into a cheap chromebook-web-surfing replacement haha.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Actually, here it is for cheaper. Think it's definitely worth it at $519 with free shipping and no tax?

AcerPredator XB1 XB271HU bmiprz 27

 

[Commander Clueless]

Actually, here it is for cheaper. Think it's definitely worth it at $519 with free shipping and no tax?

AcerPredator XB1 XB271HU bmiprz 27

I would say so, yes.

I don't know much about the retailer in question, but when buying any monitor (particularly an Acer in my experience - I currently own one) I would suggest a retailer with good quality control policies. It's very easy for little things that annoy the crap out of you to go wrong.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

I've had lots of good success with B&H and while I live in NY now and that means tax, I can get it shipped to my girlfriend's parents place, who are in PA and that's only 2 hours away from here, so I avoid 40+ bucks in taxes and can spend maybe $15 on gas instead.

Plus, it won't be in for another 7 to 14 days, so I could pick it up around Christmas time and that'll be fine.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

But yeah, about to get that monitor, but I now run into the issue of monitor stands. I have a dual monitor stand for my 21.5" and 23" but I have no monitor stands for either of them (their originals haha). So I need to find a VESA mount for at least one of them.

So we'll see how this goes.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

I f***ing bought it... I've been waiting for this day for a LONG time to get a legit G-SYNC monitor. This... is going to definitely different .

 

[Commander Clueless]

I ****ing bought it... I've been waiting for this day for a LONG time to get a legit G-SYNC monitor. This... is going to definitely different .

Congrats!

I'm a huge fan of adaptive sync.


I'm resisting the temptation to burst into "A Whole New World" from Aladdin right now. For the safety of the ears of the entire planet, I will restrain myself.

 

[Beau Knows]

I ordered an M.2 SSD, but I can't find the standoff and screw for it that came with the motherboard.

I contacted ASUS and they wouldn't send me any replacements and the mobo is out of warranty. I've seen some replacements on amazon and ebay, but I'm not 100% sure if they are even the exact right size, and with shipping it will cost like $30 for the screw and standoff.

Are there any alternatives for installing it? Like is the standoff necessary or will it likely short out or lose data without it installed?

 

[SniperHF]

Are there any alternatives for installing it? Like is the standoff necessary or will it likely short out or lose data without it installed?

Well if it came out it would be effectively like unplugging it while it's on, which could be bad (more likely data loss than physical damage). Or do nothing except make it stop working. Most good SSDs have power outage protection features but they aren't perfect.

Without the screw they usually don't actually clip down completely either so it may just not actually work at all.

Why not just make some sort of standoff yourself? I'm thinking a machine screw through the bottom, plastic washer on each side. Nut on top to keep the chip in place.

Or if the hole is threaded which seems more likely now that I think about it, you'd just need to find a machine screw that's the right size and maybe a few plastic washers for the bottom.

 

[Beau Knows]

Well if it came out it would be effectively like unplugging it while it's on, which could be bad (more likely data loss than physical damage). Or do nothing except make it stop working. Most good SSDs have power outage protection features but they aren't perfect.

Without the screw they usually don't actually clip down completely either so it may just not actually work at all.

Why not just make some sort of standoff yourself? I'm thinking a machine screw through the bottom, plastic washer on each side. Nut on top to keep the chip in place.

Or if the hole is threaded which seems more likely now that I think about it, you'd just need to find a machine screw that's the right size and maybe a few plastic washers for the bottom.

That seems like the way to go, thank you.

 

[Osprey]

I don't think that the standoff or screw are necessary. You seem to be worried that the stick needs to be grounded, but it's basically like a RAM stick, just horizontal. I think that the screw is simply to secure it so that you don't need to worry about it coming loose, though I don't see that happening in a stationary desktop. I, personally, wouldn't have a problem with installing one and not securing it.

 

[Beau Knows]

I don't think that the standoff or screw are necessary. You seem to be worried that the stick needs to be grounded, but it's basically like a RAM stick, just horizontal. I think that the screw is simply to secure it so that you don't need to worry about it coming loose, though I don't see that happening in a stationary desktop. I, personally, wouldn't have a problem with installing a m.2 stick and not securing it.

Yeah I don't really know anything about the M.2 slots, I've never used them before so I have no idea if it would stay in place or not.

 

[Kestrel]

Yeah I don't really know anything about the M.2 slots, I've never used them before so I have no idea if it would stay in place or not.

Sniper's idea is the way I'd go - plastic washers as spacers, and just a machine screw to hold it down. That way, you know the connection is good, and that if the computer is bumped, the connection will still stay good - should be able to get the washers and screw at your local hardware store quite cheap.

 

[Beau Knows]

Sniper's idea is the way I'd go - plastic washers as spacers, and just a machine screw to hold it down. That way, you know the connection is good, and that if the computer is bumped, the connection will still stay good - should be able to get the washers and screw at your local hardware store quite cheap.

I actually managed to find these for super cheap, which I think are the right parts:
https://click.intel.com/m-2-screw.html
https://click.intel.com/m-2-standoff-2x-screws-per-order.html

 

[Kestrel]

I actually managed to find these for super cheap, which I think are the right parts:
https://click.intel.com/m-2-screw.html
https://click.intel.com/m-2-standoff-2x-screws-per-order.html

They look right, you're probably good to go.

 

[Bones Malone]

Wondering what some of you would do in my position...

My PC is basically just for gaming and internet.

Currently my hard drives are setup as such:

256GB SSD is my C drive, basically just has windows, steam, nmm, and photoshop on it

2TB HDD for storage, mostly just for backing up steam games so they don't have to download again

So...

Getting sick of moving files back and forth and making hard decisions as to which games I'm actively playing more than others to keep on C or move I just picked up a 1TB SSD on black friday.

Not sure what would be the easiest/smartest/best way to go about this. Do I just put in the 1TB and move steam and nmm over to it and install games there from here on out and go with that or would it be more beneficial to get windows on that same drive as well?

Seems the easiest would be the first option. Thoughts?

 

[SniperHF]

etting sick of moving files back and forth and making hard decisions as to which games I'm actively playing more than others to keep on C or move I just picked up a 1TB SSD on black friday.

Not sure what would be the easiest/smartest/best way to go about this. Do I just put in the 1TB and move steam and nmm over to it and install games there from here on out and go with that or would it be more beneficial to get windows on that same drive as well?

Seems the easiest would be the first option. Thoughts?

What I would do is set up your 1 TB SSD solely as a steam/game drive. Set up a steam library on the 1TB Drive and keep your current 256GB SSD as your OS Drive. You can even leave the main steam installation on the 256 GB Drive since the new library just acts as a second location for Steam to store stuff.

Then going forward you install all games to the 1 TB SSD steam library.

If both drives are of comparable speed you would not see much / any benefit from taking the extra effort to move your Windows install over to the 1 TB drive. Even if the old drive is a little slower I probably wouldn't bother with the effort. Save that for next time you have to do a total reinstall.

 

[Bones Malone]

What I would do is set up your 1 TB SSD solely as a steam/game drive. Set up a steam library on the 1TB Drive and keep your current 256GB SSD as your OS Drive. You can even leave the main steam installation on the 256 GB Drive since the new library just acts as a second location for Steam to store stuff.

Then going forward you install all games to the 1 TB SSD steam library.

If both drives are of comparable speed you would not see much / any benefit from taking the extra effort to move your Windows install over to the 1 TB drive. Even if the old drive is a little slower I probably wouldn't bother with the effort. Save that for next time you have to do a total reinstall.

Right on, thanks. I will do that. Old/new should be relatively same speeds. Samsung Evo 850 for the 256GB and 860 for the 1TB.

 

[mouser]

What I would do is set up your 1 TB SSD solely as a steam/game drive. Set up a steam library on the 1TB Drive and keep your current 256GB SSD as your OS Drive. You can even leave the main steam installation on the 256 GB Drive since the new library just acts as a second location for Steam to store stuff.

Then going forward you install all games to the 1 TB SSD steam library.

If both drives are of comparable speed you would not see much / any benefit from taking the extra effort to move your Windows install over to the 1 TB drive. Even if the old drive is a little slower I probably wouldn't bother with the effort. Save that for next time you have to do a total reinstall.

That's pretty much what the setup on my main gaming PC is. 120GB SSD boot, 500GB SSD game drive, 2TB spindle drive for media and other storage that doesn't need SSD speeds.

Occasionally need to clean up the boot drive, largely from games that put saves under documents. Could create some soft links and move those but hasn't been enough of a problem yet to justify the change.

Could always pick up a larger OS drive I suppose. Have a NAS backup system so would be pretty easy to restore on a fresh OS drive.

 

[Bones Malone]

BTW the Samsung 860 EVO SSD are $73 USD for the 500GB and $128 USD for the 1TB on Amazon currently for anyone in the market.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

f***, I paid $380 ish when the 1TB first came out.

Now if a 4TB cost $380, I'd probably buy one.

 

[mouser]

Got the new 1070Ti installed. Dang that thing is huge. I have a pretty big case and still had to jockey stuff around to fit it in.

Have a pair of decade old BenQ 1200p monitors that I still love. Have DVI/HDMI support on them and have been running both on DVI. Now the new GPU only has one DVI and one HDMI. I know there's no big deal splitting them one each, but it offends me on simple OCD principles.

 

[SniperHF]

Got the new 1070Ti installed. Dang that thing is huge. I have a pretty big case and still had to jockey stuff around to fit it in.

Have a pair of decade old BenQ 1200p monitors that I still love. Have DVI/HDMI support on them and have been running both on DVI. Now the new GPU only has one DVI and one HDMI. I know there's no big deal splitting them one each, but it offends me on simple OCD principles.

Did you get an unusually large model or something? Like a FTW edition or a tripple fan.

It's pretty rare anymore to have a 2x DVI card though I think there are a few non ref modified versions floating out there.

2x HDMI is more common but still usually non-ref.

Most reference configs are 1DVI+1HDMI+3 DP.
Which I think is sort of funny because you can usually daisy chain display port on the new ones....

 

[mouser]

Did you get an unusually large model or something? Like a FTW edition or a tripple fan.

It's pretty rare anymore to have a 2x DVI card though I think there are a few non ref modified versions floating out there.

2x HDMI is more common but still usually non-ref.

Most reference configs are 1DVI+1HDMI+3 DP.
Which I think is sort of funny because you can usually daisy chain display port on the new ones....

Yeah, got the FTW version. Triple wide slots, dual fan.

Of course now my HDMI doesn't want to support the native 1920x1200, only giving me a max option of 1920x1080. The monitor on DVI is running fine at 1920x1200. Currently researching.

 

[SniperHF]

Of course now my HDMI doesn't want to support the native 1920x1200, only giving me a max option of 1920x1080. The monitor on DVI is running fine at 1920x1200. Currently researching.

Maybe you can trick the monitor by getting a DVI to HDMI cable and putting the DVI end on the monitor. Amazon basics sells one for like $6. Very handy cables in general even if it doesn't work for you.

You could also try creating a custom resolution in the driver settings. Not sure what Nvidia calls it but that's what it's labeled in AMD.