/u/JetJaguar124 /u/Integralds

So first thing's first, Windows: ~$130 for Home Edition.

Okay, so things to keep in mind:

1. If you go Intel, overclocking isn't too great on 9th gen intel, especially if you don't have a beefy aftermarket cpu cooler. So if you don't plan on doing that at some point then you don't need a K series CPU and an overclocking motherboard. So your motherboard should primarily focus on giving you decent I/O options.
   
   
2. You also probably want to aim for 1080p or 1440p tops, given your price range.
   
   
3. Related to #1: If you don't plan on overclocking then a basic-ish mobo will do fine, and you mainly want to focus on I/O and other features. If you are getting Intel doubly so, as, as I mentioned before, intel 9th gen doesn't overclock well due to relatively low headroom to begin with. For intel overclocking boards are "Z" while non-overclocking boards are "B". For AMD they are "X" and "B" respectively.
   
   The GPU you should be seeking to use is the 1660 Ti, which is basically a slightly gimped RTX 2060 but without the raytracing stuff. If you are willing to spend a bit more then you could get an RX 5700 instead, which is nearly ~30% faster on average.
   
   That'll put you at $270 - $360 depending on the model you pick. Yes, it's a third of your budget, but the GPU is the single most important part of your build.
   
   Secondly you'll want a decent CPU to go with that.
   
   The Ryzen 5 3600 looks like a pretty good CPU, its a bit under $200, its fairly beefy and extendable so it's somewhat "future-proof" - in that it shouldn't cause much bottlenecking and you could upgrade your GPU past a 2080 Ti before needing to change the processor.
   
   This MSI Tomohawk Mobo looks good for the 3600.
   
   So we're at ~$320 for that, or about $640 total. Plus windows that is ~$730.
   
   The RAM Inty recommended before should be fine. You only really need 16 GB. This will set you back ~$80. If you find yourself wanting more RAM later down the line you can always add another pair of sticks later and double up your RAM.
   
   That puts us at around ~$800.
   
   $80 for a 750W Fully Modular Corsair PSU is basically a steal. It's refurbished though, although that shouldn't be a problem - especially with a PSU.
   
   We're at ~$880.
   
   Some good thermal paste for your CPU.
   
   We're now at ~$890.
   
   Storage depends on what you want to do. Do you install a lot of stuff and files at once? In which case you might want to get a nice sized SSD plus a big HDD.
   
   For your system drive. Plenty of space, good price, AND its an nvme SSD.
   
   That makes for ~$990.
   
   If you need lots of extra space
   
   If you need extreme extra space
   
   Keyboard and case are up to you, decide as you please. For the case just make sure that it can support an ATX mobo, as the mobo listed here is full ATX. Mechanical keyboards are crack, but they tend to be more expensive so they're probably out of range. This will be another $100 to $150 depending on what you pick.
   
   Something to keep in mind though: Your case and your monitors are basically "future proof". In other words, they won't really get "worse" with time or cause future performance issues. So monitors and case are things where you want to consider what you'll eventually want and buy ahead, even if you have to stretch a bit.
   
   This just leaves your monitor. I would NOT recommend a 1080p monitor above 24 in. Honestly, if you can go for a 1440p monitor then do it. I'm a bit of a resolution whore tho, so if 1080p works for you then that's fine. I would also avoid TN panels - they tend to look more washed out, tinny, and have worse viewing angles . . . although they also tend to be a fair bit cheaper than the good panels (namely IPS panels).
   
   I used to own one of these . . . it was vvy vvy gud. This is a relatively artsy monitor, so if color gamut correctness or whatever is important for you for photo or video editing or whatever, then this is a good pick. It's a bit expensive, yeah, but also super gorgeous. It also goes up to 75 Hz. Conversely, get a freesync monitor, and this one is probably good - haven't done much research on it, but Dells are generally pretty good in my experience (my current 4K monitor is a Dell too). Freesync will allow you to basically eliminate screen tearing and will provide a smoother feeling experience because it will even out frame rates better.
   
   One last thing to keep in mind: Shopping around on ebay and other sites can save you a fair bit. My rule of thumb is to never, ever buy sensitive parts like hard-drives, cpus, or motherboards second hand or refurbished. But everything else is fair game. So refurbished GPUs, Monitors, PSUs, Cases, etc. should be fine. Pre-owned? Ehhh . . . that I'm much, much more sketchy on - personally I wouldn't, but that's just me.
   
   So in total it'd be somewhere in the range of $1500 including monitor, OS, case, and keyboard. The system itself is around $1000. But you can perhaps knock off a hundred bucks or two by shopping around and looking for where you can buy these parts cheaper than Amazon.
   
   But again: investing in a good monitor and case can be worth it. It means you won't have to replace it if/when you do upgrade. And worst case scenario you can offload your monitor as a side/secondary monitor when you upgrade your monitor to a new one.

>-Previous threads here-
>
>
>Objective:
>Going back to the original - The $500 build from /u/JDM_WAAAT. Since then, many of those parts prices have drastically increased in price or are unavailable. So new objective, build it better, for less! And oh man did we ever.
>
>
>Rules for buying used server-grade parts on eBay:
>
>1. Buy from highly-rated, reputable sellers
>2. When "Or best offer" is available, use it. Sellers will likely discount parts, often up to 30%.
>3. Shop around. There are many resellers selling the same exact parts on eBay, find the one with the best price.
>4. Scrutinize the details of the auction. For example, make sure CPU stepping / revision is correct to what you need. Make sure components are listed as functioning and not "for parts only".
>5. Do not, under any circumstances buy QA/QC/QS/ES labled CPUs. Only buy official used / refurbished Intel Xeon CPUs. Chips with this label are not guaranteed to work, and might break functionality with something as simple as a BIOS update.
>6. Check sources other than Ebay. /r/buildapcsales can be a huge help with this. Amazon or Newegg often have huge sales on some of the new parts. Shop around people!
>
>Build
>
>http://i.imgur.com/X1NzK7Z.png
>
>http://i.imgur.com/r2d3lQp.png
>
>http://i.imgur.com/AHQJmto.png
>
>Type|Item|Price (eBay) | OBO? | OBO price
>:----|:----|:----|:---- |:----
>CPU | 2x Intel Xeon E5-2650 2.00GHz, 8 core 16 thread | Incl w/ MOBO | |
>Motherboard | Supermicro X9DRi-LN4F+ Dual Socket | $281.98 | YES | $260
>RAM | 16GB (4X4GB) DDR3 ECC REG x 2 | $29.89 ea | YES | $25.00 ea
>CPU Cooler | 2x Arctic Freezer i11 CO | $19.22 ea | |
>PSU | EVGA 450W BT | $24.99 | |
>EPS Splitter | 8 Pin to Dual 8 Pin EPS Splitter | $6.00 | |
>24 Pin Extention | 12" 24 Pin Power Extention | $9.99 | |
>Case | Phanteks Enthoo Pro | $79.99 | $15 MIR | $64.99
>Thermal Compound | Gelid GC Extreme | $12.99 | |
>Other | Tax, shipping, fees | $3.60 | |
>Total | | $517.76 | after OBO | $471
>Optional Extras | Sata cable 6 pack | $7.49 | |
>Optional Extras | Sata power splitter | $6.27| |
>
>---
>
>About this build:
>
>There you have it. If you recall, the original $500 build actually used this same CPU. BUT ONLY 1!. Here, we used 2, gave it more RAM, and all for over $50 less!
>
> General: I recently completed almost this exact build, same mobo, case, etc. Just ended up with different RAM config, and used dual E5-2630L CPU's that i got for a steal. This build will be using two Intel Xeon processors on Intel Socket 2011 motherboard with Quad-Channel DDR3-ECC RDIMM memory. It does not include specifications for SSD or HDD.
> CPU: The Intel Xeon E5-2650 is a high power, 8 core, 16 thread CPU that came out Q1 2012. 2.0Ghz clock, 2.8 Ghz turbo. It has a counterpart, the E5-2600L series who are also 8 cores, but low power. If you don't need quite as much Passmark power, these are also a power saving option at a slightly lower price point. MSRP when it was released was around $1100.00 USD Each. Plex Transcoder has true multi-threaded support and will take advantage of all 32 threads. So while this CPU might not be clocked as fast as what most of you are used to, the sheer amount of cores/threads will more than make up for it. Dual E5-2650's will score 15000 on passmark. Another thing to consider is that since the CPU is so cheap, you won't have to worry about it when it comes time to upgrade in the future. You can replace it with any V1 or V2 E5-2600 series cpu's. Dual E5-2660 V2, 10 core 20 thread, 2.20GHz base / 3.00 Ghz turbo in the future for about +4000 extra passmark score.
> Motherboard: Supermicro X9DRi-LN4F (Link to Supermicro Product Spec Page) This motherboard has dual 2011 sockets with a whopping 24 DIMM slots. With this build we'll be using only 8 of those available DIMMS, so there's a possible future upgrade. 6 SATA ports are standard, along with 2 SAS ports, for a total of 14 available SATA connections. Quad Gigabit NIC is also standard, plus IPMI.
> RAM: Here, we're using 8x4GB DDR3 ECC REG for quad channel support, and a total of 32GB of available memory. 32GB is a good value here. Another 2 sets would fill all 24 slots, for a total of 96GB.
> CPU Cooler: There's not much to say here. It's compatible, it's quiet, and it works. We won't be overclocking, so there's not much to worry about so long as it works. Also designed for continuous operations.
> PSU: It's cheap, powerful enough, and works. Not much more to say.
> Case: This case has full SSI-EEB+ (E-ATX with specialized mounting) support. Supports 6 3.5" hard drives two 2.5" SSDs, and two 5.25" bays natively. It's an all-around wonderful case, and it's really well-constructed (I have one, it's great). Also, one of the few cases that actually will fit this massive MOBO. In the front is a MASSIVE 200mm intake fan. Didn't even know they made them that big.
> Splitter/Extension These are necessary with the parts listed above to work. The power supply listed only has 1 8 Pin EPS connection for the CPU. Since we have 2, need a splitter. If you use a different PSU, check on the # of EPS connections. If it has 2, this part is not necessary. This board BARELY fits in the case. I know, I have both! Here's some pictures to show. Because of this, wiring the power can be a bit tricky, and to get it done in a clean way, need the 12" extension.
> Thermal Paste This is the best non-liquid metal thermal compound out there, hands down.
>
>Cautionary notes, other details
>
>1. Server equipment is stripped down to the bare minimum for compatibility and reliability. Because of this, features you are used to having might be missing - for example, some server motherboards don't have onboard audio. Also, most will use VGA onboard.
>2. Use a SSD for your host OS. This is likely where your Plex metadata will live, so if you're going to generate thumbnails and you have a sizeable library, make sure to get an appropriate size. I have about 20TB of media with thumbnails turned on, and 500GB is starting to feel tight. About 250GB is a good start for most people.
>3. Familiarize yourself with the BIOS options. Some may be different than consumer models. Make sure Hyper-threading is turned on in the BIOS. When in doubt, clear the CMOS / reset to default. You should verify that all 24-threads are showing in your host OS.
>4. Almost any OS will work. Includes ESXI, unRAID, FreeNAS, Linux, and Windows of course.
>5. Evaluate your RAID options. This motherboard has capabilities for onboard RAID, but that isn't for everyone.
>
>Upgrades, other parts
>
>1. Cheap storage in the form of $33 refurbished 2TB Hitachi Ultrastar hard drives. These are Enterprise level drives, great for use with RAID arrays.
>2. Sell the pair of E5-2650's & get Dual E5-2660 V2, 10 core 20 thread, 2.20GHz base / 3.00 Ghz turbo for 19,000 Passmark score. At time of posting these were $249.99 OBO w/ free shipping, extremely great value currently. If you're more concerned about power consumption, consider a pair of E5-2650L's for $41.50 each OBO at the time of this post, for a sweet ~14k passmark at only 70w TDP each.
>3. MORE RAM!
>4. Liquid cooling - If you plan on upgrading to V2's this is a good idea. Can get Corsair H55's for $60 each.
>5. DO IT ALL! If you want more power right now, sell the CPU's that come with the mobo for ~80 and grab a pair of E5-2660's for $240. Triple the RAM for an extra $100. Liquid cool the PSU's for an added $80. Finally, upgrade to a 550w semi modular 80+ gold psu for an extra ~$30 (one's on sale @ Newegg for $55 after MIR currently). Grand Total: around $840.
>
>FAQ
>
> Q: Aren't used parts unreliable?*

Hi. I'm going to suggest you cut back on some things that don't make much of a difference in order to shift some of the $ toward other things that will:

• cooling is sufficient, yes, but that cooler is overpriced for what it is. HR-02 Macho cools about the same or a bit better and is much quieter. Alternatively, NZXT Havik 140 costs $10 more and cools very slightly better, but is a bit louder (still much quieter than that Tuniq). You might prefer the looks though (if that matters to you). If you want to overclock very high (or just want the best cooling available save for a full custom water loop), look at the Thermalright Silver Arrow, Noctua NH-D14, and Phanteks PH-TC14PE. They all perform about the same but I listed them in order of quietest to least (but all are still low and very acceptable noise levels).
  
  
• mobo is really over the top. It has a ton of features that you're paying for but I'm 100% sure you're not going to end up using. The P8Z77-V LK is probably fine for you. EDIT: Or maybe the P8Z77-V if you want a few more features like built-in WiFi
  
  
• 16GB of RAM is not useful at all for gaming; 2x4GB is fine. On this kind of budget, get 1600MHz RAM.
  
  
• put some of the savings made so far into a bigger and faster and more reliable SSD. You have the money so you might as well get a 256GB Intel 520 series, or Plextor M3. These two have 5yr warranties and are very reliable and fast. Other good options are the Samsung 830, Crucial M4, Kingston HyperX (not the 3K version), and Corsair Force GT.
  
  
• your games can easily be maxed by a single 680 (and by maxed I mean actually getting 120FPS for that monitor, I have it by the way and it's very good - I'll talk to you about calibration later). I don't feel the 680 FTW is worth it though. It costs a whole $150 more than the 670 FTW - that's 35.7% more - but performs only ~8% better on average. A terrible value. You're better off saving the $150, getting a 670FTW, and putting the $150 toward another 670 in the future, as more demanding games are harder to maintain 120FPS with a single card.
  
  
• Cosmos II is an expensive monster but a good case. If it's your dream, go for it. You'll end up keeping it virtually forever.
  
  
• PSU is not the best you can get for that money. Get this Corsair HX: it's excellent quality (SeaSonic-made), has a longer 7yr warranty, and 750W is already a ton of power for overclocking the CPU and 2 video cards. http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cmpsu750hx

Just wanted to give my thoughts on the case:

I like it better than the previous case I had (Smraza), but mainly for its aesthetics. The fan is a little louder than the Smraza, which was completely silent and had more ventilation slots, but both function the same as far as cooling. I can audibly hear the fan moving but it's not distracting once game audio kicks in, apparently it was even louder before it was recalled in February. Also, be careful of which heat sinks you use with this case. The fan gets pretty low to the board and my LoveRPi heat sinks did not fit. I had to instead go with the Mudder's, which again seem to function just as well. I have not overclocked with them yet but playing Gran Turismo 2 on PSX stays below 50 degrees C. Most importantly for me, the case is sexy, I love the wood and etched looked. I definitely recommend cleaning the plastic with some alcohol beforehand because it will arrive a little cloudy but clears up quite nicely. All in all it's a good looking case and will keep it cool, the Smraza may have a little more ventilation for better cooling, but this case is sturdier, feels like it can survive a drop, and looks much better.

Just my opinion, I am no expert, but these seem like the best choices as they are popular, and consideration how much work it would take to design them.
Also check the most popular on Amazon, Newegg and PC part picker.

CPUs from one socket look almost the same right?
So a LGA 1151 and AM3+ CPUs.

For RAM, classic PCB with black chips, maybe another one with a very simple heatspreader in different colors, as it would take quite a lot of work to create realistic heatspreaders for little benefit IMO.

Any HDD, they all look similar.

For SSDs, Samsung are the most popular and very simple to do.

Three most popular CPU coolers prolly are CRYORIG H7, Hyper 212 EVO, and Corsair H100i, maybe with addition of a single fan AIO like Corsair H55.

GPUs are tougher:

• definitely MSI twin frozr, they use them for most cards
  
• ASUS new strix
  
• Gigabyte G1 Gaming as for 1070 and 1080 and Windforce for smaller cards
  
• EVGA hates you, it seems like they have a different design for every card, but the most popular for enthusiasts could be ACX 3.0 used with 1070 and 1080
  
  Motherboards and cases: the hardest parts to pick, almost every one part is completely different from the other.
  Just go by the most popular.
  
  Anything I forgot?

You really can't go wrong with any of these or these cases. They all have good airflow and cable management. I'd probably go for the Source 210 Elite, Tempest 210, or HAF 912 and put the rest of my money into a better heatsink or nicer case fans.

For the heatsink, I'd recommend one of these and this Thermalright if you're looking for cheap and good. The Xigmatek, Gelid, and Zalman are the quietest of the bunch and perform as well as the Hyper 212 while being cheaper. The A70 is the clear performance winner, especially for its price, but is louder. The Thermalright is the best generalist of the bunch, performing well an pretty quiet, but also being the most expensive. If you're willing to spend a little more these or the Thermalright True Spirit 140 and HR-02 Macho are better and quiet. Personally, I'd pick up the Prolimatech panther or Thermalright True Spirit 140 since they're quiet and are great cool overclocking heatsinks.

Lastly, if you want to add more case fans, I highly recommend Cougar fans. I have some and they're great. They have a high CFM and static pressure and aren't too loud. They have rubber pads on the feet, so they really don't make any vibration noise. The only noise you hear from them is the air rushing. Noctua, Thermalright, Prolimatech, and a few others are also highly regarded fans.

No problem, glad to help!

> I think I'm going to grab a USB-C to HDMI cable so I can hook my MacBook up to the TV

Quick thing, consider getting a Thunderbolt 3 hub, like this one, for example. These little devices allow you to get the most out of your MacBook's Thunderbolt ports buy expanding them to several supported ports, whilst still including at least one full-bandwidth Thunderbolt 3 port. this way, instead of having to get specific USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 compatible wires or adapters, you could just natively connect whatever wires you have to a hub. There's plenty of options for your to choose from, some of which focus on multi-screen output, some of which focus on data transfer, and some that feature a general-user port selection.

> Do you just play on your MacBook sometimes? [...] What games do you mainly play on MacBook with your wheel?

Personally, I pretty much only play PC exclusives on my Mac. I do play Euro Truck Simulator 2 on my MacBook, but unfortunately, The Thrustmaster T80 and T300 wheels I have aren't compatible with macOS or Linux, so I just use a PS3 controller.

However, I can confirm that the G29 [is compatible with macOS and ETS2](https://www.logitechg.com/en-us/products/driving/driving-force-racing-wheel.html#product-tech-specs, along with other titles on Mac.

> Do you find it gets too hot?

It used to, but not anymore.

This may be a bit more advanced, but you can manage your system's thermal performance. Step one would be to get a fan controller app, such at TG Pro, which is what I use. The main issue with thermal performance with Macs is that Apple tries to keep the fan speed as low as possible, to keep the system as quiet as possible... even to a fault. A fan controller app will let you set your notebook's fan speeds with your own custom settings, so whilst it may definitely get louder, you won't have to worry about it burning from the inside out, or at least not worry about thermal throttling.

Step 2, if you so dare, would be to replace the thermal paste in your MacBook. Apple's stock thermal paste is relatively weak at transferring heat (as a trade off for lasting longer), so you may want to consider replacing it with aftermarket, high-quality paste, such as Artic MX-4. High-quality doesn't mean expensive in this case, as a tube of good paste can have at least 10 uses' worth for 3euro - 10euro.

However, keep in mind that taking apart a 2013 and up MacBook isn't easy, and it can technically void your Apple warranty. But if you do decide to undergo the task, it'll unlock your system's full potential. I've done both of these, and now my system never goes above 90°C under full-load.

> Unrelated side note: The buyers guide and support you provide in this community is outstanding and I'd love to support you by purchasing on Amazon through your affiliate link, if that's okay?

Oh, we don't use affiliate links. All of the Buyer's Guide links are standard URLs, the same as anyone else would get. All of the work I put into the subreddit is unpaid.

I've thought about requesting affiliate links a few times so I could fund community events, but I worry about the conflict of interest, especially for when we get new moderators. I really appreciate the thought, though!

_____

^(I'd totally appreciate a gift card donation, though :P)

PCPartPicker Part List

|Type|Item|Price|
|:-|:-|:-|
|CPU|AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor|$118.00 @ Amazon|
|CPU Cooler|Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 33.84 CFM CPU Cooler|$39.90 @ Amazon|
|Motherboard|ASRock B450M/AC Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard|$84.99 @ Amazon|
|Memory|Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory|$82.99 @ Amazon|
|Storage|Sabrent Rocket 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive|$59.98 @ Amazon|
|Storage|Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive|Purchased For $0.00|
|Video Card|Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB PULSE Video Card|$419.99 @ Amazon|
|Case|Thermaltake Versa H18 MicroATX Mini Tower Case|$54.99 @ Amazon|
|Power Supply|EVGA SuperNOVA G3 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply|$94.99 @ Amazon|
|Monitor|Sceptre E225W-1920 22.0" 1920x1080 60 Hz Monitor|$76.99 @ Amazon|
||||
|Total|$1032.82||
|Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-10 11:39 EDT-0400|||

CPU: The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 with 6 cores and 12 threads should handle any workload you throw at it and gaming is a breeze. This is an overclockable chip so if you want to try doing that later on you can do so no problem.

CPU Cooler: The Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 will cool your processor easily and is a great little cooler. If you want to spend $10USD more and get a little beefier cooler I would suggest this one.

Motherboard: The ASRock B450M/AC is a great motherboard and can handle overclocking if you want to try that in the future and has wifi and bluetooth built in.

RAM: The Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB kit has the speed that Ryzen demands. 3200 is a great speed for this gen and does a wonderful job in adding performance.

Storage: The Sabrent Rocket 512GB M.2 SSD is a great boot drive in a small M.2 factor with no SATA cables going to it leaving less for cable management.

Video Card: The Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB PULSE is a great card and you should be able to game at 1080p 100+fps easily.

Case: The Thermaltake Versa H18 Micro ATX Tower Case because it looks nice, easy to work in, has great airflow, and has a tempered side panel window like you asked for.

Power Supply: The EVGA SuperNOVA G3 550 W 80+ Gold will allow you in the future to upgrade your hardware and still have power left over. You can even overclock your CPU and GPU if you want and have a lot of headroom still.

Monitor: I chose the Sceptre E225W-1920 22.0" 1920x1080 60 Hz Monitor because it had good reviews, has a 60HZ refresh rate and was decently priced.

Total: $1032.82USD before tax

Total: $1118.03USD after tax (using Texas sales tax rate of 8.25%)

Everything on this list is available from Amazon so hopefully you can get it all. I'm not to sure what e-tailers you have in Spain but I hope this helps. If I went too far over your budget please let me know so I can rework your list for you! I got the best I could to fit your budget and your requests.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask!

go with 2700x instead of the 1900x. if you have a use case for high core count then i recommend the 2950x. but you probably don't need it because the 2700x is awesome. 2700x also has 8 cores like the 1900x but you can go am4 rather than tr4 and save money on your motherboard. you'll also have a lesser power draw and a more compact case. 850W seems more than enough i think you can downsize to 650W. i like to spend a little more on the power supply. by going 2700x i would spend some of the money saved on a higher rated power supply. also if you switch to 2700x the stock cooler is pretty based so you can save money by using it. for memory i suggest using samsung b-die it had better success with 1st gen ryzen.

here's a parts list for a decent 2700x build:

https://www.amazon.com/MSI-Crossfire-Motherboard-B450-Tomahawk/dp/B07F7W5KJS

https://www.amazon.com/AMD-Ryzen-Processor-Wraith-Cooler/dp/B07B428M7F

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817151172

https://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Cooling-Graphite-Thermal-Pad/dp/B07CK9SHZG

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820236027

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-970-EVO-Plus-MZ-V7S250B/dp/B07M7Q21N7

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA68V7V28503

that prices out around $1050. it does not price in a graphics card, for which the Sapphire Vega 56 card you listed is already a great pick. i think those go for around $300 today. if you can re-use your current case and already have thermal paste you can decrease the price by about $150. assuming you can get a Sapphire Vega 56 for around $300 this build prices out $1200 total.

Let me first say im not an expert in Air coolers for cpus, I have always used All in one(AIO) water coolers. AIO are definitely more expensive, but easier to install, have better cooling ability, but can be louder than Air coolers.

Air coolers tend to have better price/performance and are cheaper but tend to be harder to install.

These two below are two of the most popular due to price/performance so they are worth looking at on the AUS side of things to.

https://www.amazon.com/CRYORIG-Tower-Cooler-Intel-CPUs/dp/B00S7YA5FQ
https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-RR-212E-20PK-R2/dp/B005O65JXI

This article also has some good info on both types and good suggestions at different price points
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-cpu-coolers,4181.html

The only other thing would be to try and get a EVGA G series psu or a Seasonic G series(What i have, caught it on sale tho). If you cant find one of them Corsair makes some cool ones too. You want to get a Bronze 80 rated PSU at the very least. They are one of the most important parts of the pc and one going bad can cause damage or a lot of instability once your gpu/cpu starts kicking in.

Im not familar with the cases you choose but its important to look at the manufacturers website of the case to see how much clearance each case provides for air coolers since they can be big as hell.

That all being said I think the UMART build is the best out of the three with the PC CASE GEAR coming in second.

The UMART is only $100 AUS more than the others according to the image but with that build you get better performance with the ability to overclock later down the line if you need more power eventually.
Plus you get slightly faster ram so overall it looks better.

Remember that you can upgrade to a better case, GPU or cpu fan etc down the line if you outgrow your current selection but the CPU/PSU, and Motherboard will be fine for a lot of years so its worth spending a little more on them now.

Also sheesh man those AUS prices are no joke, that 470 would only be around $160-180 in the states

I second the MacBook recommendation. I am on one now, and it is perfect. I think the best part is that it already comes with Unix installed so you can play around with stuff that you want right from the start. If you build a pc and put linux on it, then you're good anyways. Windows is a no-go.


If you want to build a computer, (its a good idea, you might learn quite a bit) I'll help you out.
Since you seem to not know much about computers, I must fill you in. This is not a good time to do it. Ram shortages combined with super high GPU prices due to mining, and you have yourself a costly computer.

That being said, here you go. A couple things about it:

1. That processor is overkill for probably anything you would be doing. You could be saving a good bit of money by using another one. But since that is what you requested, I'll throw it in. The plus is that you probably won't have to upgrade it for a while.
   
   
2. You don't 'need' a gpu, but the 1050ti is pretty inexpensive, and if you decide to play some games it will be able to handle them.
   
   
3. 16GB of ram is plenty. 32GB is overkill. I only have 16 and I can have multiple VMs at a time, and its fine. And if you want to upgrade later, you can do it pretty easily.
   
   
4. I gave you a M.2 SSD. They are much faster than a regular sata and WAY faster than a hdd. Do you need it? Not at all. But especially for a beginner, it will be easier not having to route more cables. I have multiple sata ssds and multiple hdds, and cable management is a pain. The total comes to like $1280 but if that is too much get a 256GB ssd instead of a 500GB one. You can always add more storage later. It is very common for people to have a M.2 for booting and then all of their applications on a sata ssd or a hdd.
   
   
5. I gave you a case with places to put hdds if you want them.
   
   
6. The power supply (psu) should be plenty. I gave you 650w but you really only need 400w. I have that same psu and I have two GPUs and I'm fine. I know you'll want to get some crazy 1000w one but you don't need it.
   
   
7. The motherboard isn't the lowest level mobo, but it isn't the best. It should allow you to overclock pretty well if you care to (you won't now, but you will, and it will be a pain if you have to upgrade your mobo in a few months). It has onboard wifi, so you don't have to worry about that.
   
   
8. You don't need water cooling. At all. That processor is hot, but you won't be doing enough for it to be stressed anyways. That being said, I would go for a cryorig h7 instead. Easy to install, comes with thermal paste, and works very well for the price. I'm not at my computer now, but I have that cryorig cooler and I have my processor overclocked and it has no problem.
   
   
9. Take this all with a grain of salt. Do your own research. You should be doing plenty of research about anything you hear on the internet always, especially if it is regarding you spending money.
   
   
   Regardless of if you get a laptop or you build your own, enjoy your computer. Seems daunting to build one at first, but it is really easy. Like Legos. I was terrified at first, but I've done it so many times now that I don't even have to think about it.

Decent machine however few bits and pieces:

Cryorig H7 is 10 bucks more but is a lot better (and much easier to install) than the 212. It'll run cooler, quieter, and generally better than the 212 for 10 bucks. Unless you're super stretched thin, I'd recommend it.

The 970 is an interesting choice but I think I'd recommend either the r9 390 if you want to buy something now (gives you 8gb of vram and great performance for $300) or if you can wait a few weeks, the rx 480 is coming out. I'd wait for benchmarks to come out but at $200 for the 4gb model and $250 for the 8gb model, it looks like a beast of a card. If you can wait, that's a great card to pickup.

ALRIGHT! Sorry for just getting back to you I've been trying to reply and mobile and kept accidentally deleting what i typed while trying to format my response. So had to move to the Laptop.

Anyways when I say you should repaste I'm referring to the action of removing the heatsink from the CPU and GPU clearing the provided "thermal paste/grease" (thermal paste or grease depending to who you talk to is a thermally conductive paste that is meant to be between the CPU/GPU and the heatsink to fill the airgap and conduct heat to the sink better.) from both and applying new paste. Here is also a video guide on how to apply thermal paste it doesn't pertain specifically to your laptop but gives you a good idea on how its done.

Now when it comes to your device I took the liberty of looking up the service manual and found a video guide on how to disassemble down the the motherboard here. If you've never done anything like this before it can be a little daunting, but if you have a friend with some experience it shouldn't be more than a few hours project and the outcome should be considerably better than before.

If you are going to go this route there are a few thermal pastes that everyone recommends and everyone has their own opinions but as I stated before any of these will be better than what you originally had so buy whatever fits your budget.

Artic Silver 5

IC-Diamond

Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut

Prolimatech PK-3

There are plenty of others but any of these will do you good, with a major recommendation to the Silver 5 due to bang for the buck.

After all that and you decide that maybe you don't want to do a repaste (and even if you did repaste I'm still recommending this) you are going to want to get a laptop cooling pad. The reason is due to the nature of laptops and how compact they are sometimes depending on the surface they are laid on they do not get enough air to cool properly, dropping your performance into the shitter. I have a similarly spec'd laptop to yours (Lenovo Y50 4700hq and 860m) and I use the Notepal XSlim its not the best but it does the job and for $18 I can't complain. There are others but buy what feels right to you.

Sorry for the long winded post I hope this helps you some, and I hope you can get your laptop performance back as you have a more than capable laptop. Let me know if you need anything else!

the blue (or any color) dots are called "artifacts".

there is generally 2 reasons why artifacts happen.

1. your gpu, or more accurately your gpu memory is over heating.
   
   
2. the card is defective. (whether it be manufacturer or the user who did it). and usually its not something you can cause by watching movies/playing games and etc. its more like you dropped the card or you spilled something on it, etc type of damage.
   
   Ive heard people say bad/corrupt drivers can cause it, but i myself have never seen such a case.
   
   
   So first thing, if you overclocked you card higher then stock factory overclocks, definitely return it back to stock.
   Even if you didnt overclock the card, and its factory overclocked, try underclocking it (memory more importantly). Just to see if that fixes the problem. i mean running like 20mhz less may fix the problem and not affect performance much and is a free fix.
   
   If that gets rid of it, then its either the card isnt stable at those OC or more likely is that at that clock speed, it is running too hot. (and you can usually only monitor the temp of the gpu itself, and not things like the graphics card VRM and memory chips)
   So your gpu could be running at 50C and your gpus memory chips are running at 90C and you wont have any way of knowing (other then things like artifacts starting to happen).
   
   So another thing to want to do/try is get better case airflow. you definitely want some intake fans blowing on your gpu. (so you can do things like remove the hdd cages on some cases, or just atleast move your hdds down so the fan isnt being blocked by the physical drives).
   
   the 4850 is a pretty old card, and as old cards go, they run VERY hot compared to modern cards. and also because its old, thermal solutions are likely not being as effective as they were (like the thermal tape on your memory is probably shot and the thermal compound on the gpu is probably on its way out aswell)
   
   If you want to keep your gpu, you can try getting some thermal tape and putting it on the memory chips, or better yet get gpu memory heatsinks (the cheaper ones should be fine). something like http://www.amazon.com/Cosmos-Copper-Cooling-Heatsinks-cooler/dp/B00637X42A/ or http://www.amazon.com/Copper-Memory-Chipset-Heatsinks-Thermal/dp/B00K6YB79I/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1412465127&sr=1-2&keywords=thermal+tape+ram
   
   you may also want to think about removing your gpus heatsink, and cleaning off the stock thermal compound and replacing it with something else. (my personal fav lately has been arctic MX-2 and MX-4)
   
   But know all this could be for nothing too. and if you were to buy heatsinks and compound and maybe an extra fan, you could be out $20-25 for not much in return and still need to purchase another card on top of it.

I haven't looked at the website you linked, but just right off the top :

1. You can definitely go for a cheaper CPU cooler. For example, the Cryorig H7 is plenty good for a lower price (assuming you can get that where you're located). The Hyper 212 EVO is also a very popular budget option.
   
   
2. You don't need 3200 RAM. RAM speed will typically be one of the last things to affect your computer's performance (in terms of bottlenecking). The usual advice is to go with the cheapest set of RAM that matches what you want in number of RAM sticks, amount of memory, and aesthetics.
   
   
3. You'll hear this often, but you should definitely look into getting an SSD for your OS and main programs/games. It's the #1 contributor to making your computer FEEL fast. Load times in games will be much, much quicker, you'll boot your PC up in seconds, and moving around files/copying/installing/etc will be much faster as well.
   
   Basically, I'm recommending you save money by getting a cheaper CPU cooler and cheaper RAM, then putting that towards getting a solid SSD. I'd recommend ~250GB minimum, but 500GB SSDs on sale often offer more storage per dollar and would therefore be a better value. Plus you'll be sad if you run out of space on your SSD for your most often used programs/games.
   
   Good luck!

I haven't done it personally but I'm pretty sure others have if you search around.

The key thing to cool is the UBX controller chip which is approximately 20x15 mm.

A 15x15 mm pad + heatsink might be sufficient as that would cover most of it. For example you can see a 950 PRO covered by 15x15 mm copper shims in this article, one on the controller and two for the NAND packages, and the controller appears to be mostly covered.

But in that case they were using copper shims to conduct the heat into their metal case rather than into a heatsink.

I don't know what the thermal conductivity rating on this is, but something like this double-sided adhesive thermally-conductive tape might work.

As for the heatsink, maybe something like this. Ideally I would look for something in copper, like perhaps you could get four of these 10x10 mm heatsinks to fit in a square on the controller.

One thing to consider is whether you can remove the sticker cleanly without damaging it, and then find a thermal pad or tape that will be enough to keep the heatsink attached but will come off cleanly if you need to reapply the sticker in order to send the drive in for warranty. Or at the very least test out the drive to make sure it is working properly before removing the sticker.

I would look around on forums and see what you can find about other users who have done this. I know some reviewers have, or used a PCIe-card with a cooling solution like
this:

http://techreport.com/news/29473/add-on-heatsink-gives-samsung-950-pro-a-boost-in-some-workloads

But if you look around you can probably get some information from other users who have done this.

This is the guide I used.

They don't have assembly instructions but if you reverse what you did, you'll be fine.

You'll need a Phillips #0, a TR9 security Torx, and some spudgers. I've done it before without spudgers but its a lot easier to remove the bottom case piece with them. You might also need a pair of small needle nose pliers to help pull various power connectors. Mine were on there really tight so I had to use some, but if yours are looser you can probably do it by hand.

In addition you'll need some thermal paste and some thermal pads.

I used Arctic MX4 2019 Edition but any paste from any of the big names like Grizzly, Noctua, or Arctic should work fine. If you want to really get into it, check out this chart. Pastes near the top perform better than those near the bottom, but you can see that there's only a 1-1.5 degree difference in most pastes, so choose something that's priced right for you. The MX4 was only $8 on Amazon so that's what I went with.

Since I went with Arctic paste I also decided to go with this Arctic thermal pad. I bought the 145x145mm, .5 mm thick and they fit perfectly. I just eyeballed the size and cut them with scissors, but IIRC the actual chip is 9mm by 9mm. You'll want to cut them, peel the plastic off both sides, and apply them. I peel off one side, press them onto the chip, then peel off the other with the needle end of a spudger, but I don't know if that's necessary or preferred. It just worked for me.

For removing the thermal paste you can just use 99% isopropyl alcohol. I've used dedicated paste cleaners in the past and while they work fine, the 99% ISO seems to work just as well, and it's cheap as shit. Head to your local pharmacy and they should have some for a dollar or so.


edit

I should mention that you'll want to avoid any liquid metal pastes, as they'll corrode aluminum and the PS4 heatsink is mostly aluminum.

CPU Cooler: Buy the Cyrorig H7. It's the best in it's price point at the moment, and looks amazing. You won't need a better cooler for anything unless you want to overclock, which you really don't need to do with a CPU as good as yours.


Video Card: For 1080p@60fps, I would advise the GTX 1060 or the RX 480. Both will crush 60fps at 1080p, but if you want extra future-proofing at a higher price, go for the GTX 1070. The 1060(try for 6GB), and the RX 480(try for 8GB) are excellent cards that will run any modern game well, even at 1440p. The 1070 is even better, but only really needed if you want something like Hairworks for The Witcher 3 or intensive mods for Skyrim.

RAM:Since you have a motherboard with 4 RAM slots, get another 2 4GB sticks of your current RAM and run it in quad channel, 16GB in quad channel is amazing for modern games, although your RAM's speed isn't probably high enough nowadays.

PSU:Upgrade if you want to(I'd advise it), but I won't go advising you on any because PSU's can be so inconsistent. Just try for one above 600w that gets good reviews and few failures, unless you feel OK about your current one.

5820k is still a good CPU no doubt, but it's a couple generation old now. For around the same money, you can get 8700k if you can find one. Even if that's not available, you can also go 7800x, as that's the most recent in the similar lineup. 8700k is the best choise right now though.

Maybe you have the motherboard and the CPU, in which case, just stick with those two and you'll be fine.

And don't aim for 30+ fps at any resolution. I highly suggest aiming for at least 80~100+ fps with that kind of budget. GTX 1080 will do its job just fine.

GPUs have their own VRAM, and GTX 1080 has 8GB on its own. Your 16 GB ram choise is fine, and that's independent of what GPU you go for.

And lastly, get a differernt CPU cooler. I see that Hyper 212 EVO recommended to everyone and their brothers and sisters, but there are better coolers for the same money. I actually hate people going for that one with a budget closing in on $2000. Get a better one. Your budget is not a 600~800 range which would make me understand for that cooler.

Get something at least like this thing for i7 CPUs that can overclock. Better thermals, better acoustics, and better looks. Or you can also choose this if you still want to cheap out on cooling.

ok...the install was a bit complicated due to the fact that these cards have vrms on 2 sides of the board. the vrm that are near the IO end of the pcb are very close to some resistors, making it very difficult to find heatsinks that can fit in the narrow gap.

​

for the vram and the majority of the vrm, I used this: https://www.amazon.com/Cosmos-Copper-Cooling-Heatsinks-cooler/dp/B00637X42A

​

for the vrm in the narrow lane, I was able to use this old aluminum heatsink I had for my AMD 290 when I had the kraken on that. I do not know if they make it anymore, but it was a perfect fit. the plate of the long aluminum sink was skinny enough to fit on top the vrm without being blocked by the nearby resistors.

​

I used an old thermal pad (fujipoly...which seems a lot more sticker than phobia, which was very oily, but maybe because the phobia was new and unused...now that I think of it maybe the phobia would've worked well too if I heated it and evaporated the oils) on the bottom of that aluminum heatsink and then used seksui thermal tape to attach it to the card, and secure it even more with zipties (though this was an extreme precaution).

​

I also used seksui thermal tape on the copper heatsinks as well, even though the heatsinks come with an adhesive. In the past, no tape was strong enough to hold the weight of the heatsink, except for the seksui tape, which has very strong adhesive and great thermal properties.

​

This is the aluminum heatsink (I just used the long piece): https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835426042

​

This entire problem existed because it was not possible to mount the g12 bracket and retain the pcb plate which would've acted as a heatsink for the vrm near the IO end of the card. Later I realized I could've used my old g10 bracket and just gotten longer screws, and retain the pcb plate.

​

You can also avoid this issue by going to a local electronics store, or measuring the gap (once you have your card), and find a narrow heatsink that fits. I used my aluminum one because I had it stored away, on hand.

​

I also ended up buying a pci fan bracket, to cool the vrm on the far left of the card (near IO board, where aluminum heatsink is.

​

Here is a close up photo of where the aluminum heatsink is. you can also see the low profile ram heatsinks perfectly clear the water block. https://imgur.com/gMwQGu3

​

Here is a summary picture of everything I just said:

https://imgur.com/Mqcmxjw

​

I have no opinion on the EVGA Hybrid, but I do have an EVGA 1070 SC with the Accelero Xtreme III and Noctua NF-F12 fans (which should perform similarly to Corsair's ML120's.)

I'm very happy with my setup. It runs at 31°C at idle, and around 53-54°C at load, with a max of 60°C. I set a custom fan curve with EVGA PrecisionX so that the fans run at 10% (350RPM) at idle and 15-25% (560-860RPM) at load. The card's default curve turns the fans off at idle, but my GPU isn't getting much fresh air from the side panel fan, so the GPU temp would slowly creep up over time. At 10% fan speed, the idle temp stays stable and cool, and the noise difference is imperceptible.

And for your second question...yeah, I think you could do it. I would recommend reading the instructions completely a few times before starting, just so you understand the whole process because it can seem daunting at first. Also, buy a roll of double-sided thermal tape! It will make installing the small heatsinks way easier. Arctic wants you to use epoxy to attach them, but that gives you limited time to install the heatsinks and you have to leave it overnight to cure. The tape is better because it has neither of those issues, and it's non-permanent, in case you ever need to RMA the card.

Edit: You might also be interested in this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/sffpc/comments/6ct3cr/the_arctic_accelero_xtreme_iii_is_a_miracle_worker/

Valid concerns but trust me it’s a breeze to do. Given how hot your CPU gets you will benefit from a proper delid. Granted though you are still within safe temps. The temps are highish but they aren’t abnormal compared to most others. Higher temps do lessen the life of the CPU but we are talking a very small time span compared to the market life of the chip. I’d say you and 99% of all PC builders will have build a second or even third computer before silicone degradation even reaches minimal levels. If that makes sense. Yeah high temps kill it but it’s like saying the three cigarettes you smoked in high school took two minutes off your life when you live to be a hundred anyway. Analogy might be to the extreme but I wouldn’t worry about it.

With that said here’s some links that will help you.

Delid tool and re attachment tool:

https://rockitcool.myshopify.com

Plastic razor blades to remove stock glue (what you mentioned not knowing what to do with, yes remove it the easiest way I’ve done it was using these and a small amount of isopropyl alcohol):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D6EXLR0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_nvYleOEGfw2EO

Silicone “glue” for IHS re attachment. To be honest the very first delid I did was a 3570k using wood a vice and a hammer and I didn’t reglue it. It’s still alive too. I would personally just use a very small amount on the four corners. Just enough to stick. You are correct in your concern about the stock glue causing the IHS to not make perfect contact with the die. Remove the stock crap and use minimal amount of this and it will be a non concern:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002UEN1A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_2g9BJXXKzhp9F

Lastly, your liquid metal for the die to IHS and your TIM for the IHS to Kraken. You can use any but it’s probably safe to say Grizzly is currently the go to stuff:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011F7W3LU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_6QNoes1d24uyu

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A9KIGSI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_lBeHQg1WHWPGP



All in all it’s easy and it’s worth it. If you have any questions whatsoever message me or reply here. There are some good videos of walkthroughs (I think one really good one is on rockitcool’s website but I’m not sure). I can find them for you but tomorrow as I’m currently in bed and using a half open eye lid to write this.

https://www.amazon.com/CRYORIG-H7-Tower-Cooler-Intel/dp/B00S7YA5FQ

Can't tell you why it says preorder I bought mine from amazon and it's been out since last year but yea amazon has it for 35 which is what I paid for it. To give some context on its efficiency my cpu at idle sits at 25-30c which is amazing. When under a heavy load like watching a stream and playing a triple A title game at max settings I haven't seen it get past 60c which is super amazing.

If you do have the money now I would pull the trigger on this build its very solid. If you only have enough to get a few parts now and the rest in a couple weeks immediately get the 1070 because that will be the first thing out of all those parts to go out of stock. I've been watching the 1070/1080 stock get demolished as soon as a store has some.

• The Ryzen 5 1600 comes with a good stock cooler, and if you don't plan on overclocking, it is plenty and fairly quiet, so you don't really need a separate cooler.
  
• That thermal compound is very expensive. I recommend something like [this] (https://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Silver-AS5-3-5G-Thermal-Paste/dp/B0087X728K/ref=pd_sbs_147_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0087X728K&pd_rd_r=09ZJJJB5G87K5NHK8R7B&pd_rd_w=lUWjv&pd_rd_wg=9vejx&psc=1&refRID=09ZJJJB5G87K5NHK8R7B) if possible, even if you have to go to USA to buy it. It's highly rated, and I use it and have no problems.
  
• You probably don't need an X370 board. Consider a B350 board, which are generally cheaper and will probably offer everything you need. B350s also allow for overclocking, if you are into that, so you can always do that down the line.
  
• You really don't need an 850w PSU. A 650W will be plenty and will last through an upgrade or two, as long as you aren't planning on doing SLI. You could even go down to like 550W, but the 650W gives more headroom for upgrades later on.
  
• With all these changes you might be able to afford another level up on graphics cards, especially with VEGA release soon. I would probably wait until their release to make your final purchase, especially considering that GPU prices are high right now. You could probably fit a 1070 in there, if the prices go back to normal. And, assuming you are playing the listed games at 1080p, the 1070 will crush them.
  

• I don't know if you already have a HD, but if you don't, consider getting one. If you get a smaller one like 240GB and a 1 or 2 TB hard disk, then you will probably save money and end up with a lot more space. A 525GB won't last too long if you download a lot of games/bigger programs. Then again, you can always buy more storage down the line.
  

  
  

  EDIT: Here is an alternative build:
  

  
  

  PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
  

  
  

  Type|Item|Price
  

  ----|:----|:----
  CPU | AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor | $266.50 @ shopRBC
  Thermal Compound | Arctic Silver - 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste | $6.10 @ DirectCanada
  Motherboard | MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard | $134.99 @ Newegg Canada
  Memory | G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $174.99 @ Newegg Canada
  Storage | SanDisk - SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $115.95 @ Vuugo
  Storage | Seagate - BarraCuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $54.95 @ shopRBC
  Video Card | Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card | $502.00
  Case | NZXT - S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case | $89.50 @ Vuugo
  Power Supply | EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $124.99 @ Newegg Canada
  | Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
  | Total | $1469.97
  | Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-02 14:29 EDT-0400 |
  
  A few notes:
  
  

• I chose a cheaper case, but feel free to pick the one you like the most. It's a more personal decision.
  
• Similarly, this is the memory option that I prefer as its cheaper, larger, and you will still have room on the SSD for the OS and daily use programs. You can choose what you like and always buy more storage down the line if you want.
  
• I set the price of the 1070 to ~500, as that is the standard price of this one, but you probably won't be able to find one at this price. Either wait for prices to decrease or VEGA to release.

For my install i used the following:

https://www.amazon.com/NZXT-Technologies-Bracket-Cooling-RL-KRG10-W1/dp/B00ITTFNW4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468265285&sr=8-1&keywords=kraken+g10

Linked the white one but there is black, red and blue for a small increase in price.

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Hydro-Quiet-Liquid-Cooler/dp/B009VV56TY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468265342&sr=8-1&keywords=h55

https://www.amazon.com/Gelid-Solutions-GC-Extreme-Compound-TC-GC-03-/dp/B002P5W4RU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468265363&sr=8-1&keywords=gelid

Here is the list of compatible water coolers if you want to hunt for a cheaper or different option than the h55:

https://www.nzxt.com/products/kraken-g10-white

The EVGA hybrid option is now available as well:

http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=400-HY-5188-B1

This option is aesthetically nice and clean but at $120+plus and tax and shipping it's pretty expensive.

I can post pics of mine soon. Install is pretty straight forward, it can feel a bit nerve-racking at times taking a gpu apart but it's not as bad as you would think.

Artic Silver 5 really is a mid-grade thermal compound. You can get much better performance at basically the same price. And it looks like you are planning to drop quite a bit for a heat sink, so I would get a better paste to make that investment worth it.

I would recommend one of the following:

• Prolimatech Pk-1 5 grams: $9.99 - Excellent performance and 5 grams will last you forever.
  
• Prolimatech Pk-3 1.5 grams: $5.29 - Best performance, 1.5 grams is plenty for several applications.
  
• Prolimatech Pk-3 5 grams: $14.99 - Best performance and 5 gram tube if you want to fix up your refrigerator and car too.
  
  Also, for the amount you are willing to spend for a heat sink, there really are much better heat sinks at the price point you are looking at.
  
  

Ok, if you don't feel comfortable doing the work, then having someone else do it is best. However, it generally isn't that hard if you take your time.

I use a Craftsman small screwdriver set like that one, and have for years. Yes, there are cheaper tools. But I happen to like these.

There is a guide on how to tear into your machine, available right here.

It will take you step by step what you need to take apart. Click on the Prerequisites for section "removing heat sink assembly." It will show you what all has to be torn down to get to that part, and remove it.

Then, clean the old paste off with a lint free cloth, and decent rubbing alcohol. I avoid 70% at all costs. I prefer my 99.9% stuff, but have used 80% when in a bind. Make sure it dries completely before you continue. Pure stuff dries very quickly, less pure can take some time.

Then apply the new paste as a thin line about the length of a grain of rice. Don't smear it, try to spread it, or anything else UNLESS it is specifically designed for that (liquid metals come to mind). Then, reassemble. Be careful to ensure the heat spreader is attached evenly, with appropriate pressure.

Undervolting allows you to reduce the heat of the chip by running at voltages lower than it was designed for. Ideally, this shouldn't have to be done. Assuming a decent paste job, you won't. If you do find yourself in the position where that needs done, then use Intel XTU to adjust the voltage in small increments, and run Prime 95 in the background to monitor the results. If the machine becomes unstable, or starts throttling, you went too far.

What you need:
Screw drivers

Lint free cloth (some people use coffee filters, or even paper towels)

Alcohol

Paste (I use IC7 Diamond these days. Works very well on my machines. Arctic Silver 5 is still decent stuff, as is Gelid Extreme. There are others, and I am sure someone else will chime in with their favorites)

Clean, static reducing/non static working environment

> It won't be direct light but it seems the shape and close walls bounces the light around more efficiently

Yes, this is correct and modeling it is a lot more complicated particularly modeling diffuse white surfaces (flat white paint) versus diffuse white surfaces with glare (Panda Plastic or black/white poly film) as an example. I was trying to give a simpler answer! This is what would be used professionally for modeling:

https://www.zemax.com/opticstudio

>And are those the blue light sticks you created?

No, that is just straight up side or intracanopy lighting for photosynthesis. It's on aluminum angle that is 1/8th inch thick. I used to crack open Philips light bulbs with a remote phosphor to get to the LEDs inside and remount them. At the time it was the most economical way to get more efficient LEDs.

The prevailing theory is the "pressure flow hypothesis" that states that sugars created (sugar source) flows to the sugar sinks (new growth areas like buds) with the sugars created transported through the phloem to where the sugars are most needed in a plant.

You can only get so much yield per volume/area with top lighting before you must use intracanopy lighting and dispersing the lighting rather than just blasting from the top. But every photon not hitting the plant is a wasted photon and the basis for my critique that a lot of people need to put their lights lower.



The closet DIY would be part 4 of my lighting guide:

https://www.reddit.com/r/HandsOnComplexity/comments/1okfcv/led_and_led_grow_lights_part_4_building_your/

When mounting LEDs this is a quick and easy way:

https://www.amazon.com/BCP-Adhesive-Thermal-Conductive-Heatsink/dp/B01MSL64XG

I bought the cooler, because I found a stable 4.0ghz OC on my 1600, but the temps just weren't what I wanted, so I toned it back to 3.8. Also, a friend of mine has a 1800x he said he'll sell to me for a very good price when the new gen comes out.

I was able to get my RAM to 2933 with good timings (suppose I was lucky there), plus I got both for only $150 with sales.

As for the 1070, that's something I'm wanting. I want to sell my 1060 while prices are still a bit up, and get the 1070 when the new gen comes out, but then I'd just be left with a PC that can't do anything until then...

I also have this paste that I never used- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087X728K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Edit: I also didn't want to go fan cooler, because I am a bit of an aesthetics person, which yes, does hurt the wallet a bit, but it's so satisfying to me when I see something that I really wanted, and looks just how I'd like it to. It makes it worth it for me.

Here you go:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor | £167.00 @ Scan.co.uk
CPU Cooler | Corsair H100 92.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | £82.92 @ Scan.co.uk
Motherboard | ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard | £102.97 @ Amazon UK
Memory | Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | £29.99 @ Scan.co.uk
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | £79.74 @ Amazon UK
Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card | £328.40 @ Scan.co.uk
Case | Corsair 650D ATX Mid Tower Case | £138.98 @ Dabs
Power Supply | SeaSonic 520W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply | £67.66 @ Amazon UK
| | Total
| Prices include shipping and discounts when available. | £997.66
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-12 15:30 BST+0100 |


Two more things:

- They are not listed on Pcpartpicker (probably because they're not sold in the US), but if you can find a Bequiet! Straight Power E9 500W power supply for a cheaper price then the one I suggested, go for Bequiet!.
Edit: Found it on Scan. It's about the same price. I guess it's up to your preference. (Seasonic for better ripple controll, Bequiet! for better efficiency rating) http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500w-be-quiet-straight-power-e9-bn192-931-eff-80-plus-gold-crossfire-eps-12v-quiet-fan-atx-v23-psu

- The H100 is good but also really expensive. You can get less noise and the same overclocking potential with cheaper air coolers (for example the Noctua NH-D14). My personal advice, if you don't want to push the overclocks to the extreme would be the Thermalright HR-02 Macho, very good bang for the buck. http://www.amazon.co.uk/THERMALRIGHT-HR-02-MACHO-Ventirad-Macho/dp/B005ERSN7G

I originally had bad thermal issues on my 17R4 i7-7700HQ w/ 1070, but I did a "re-paste" stacking solution that has worked great for me. Temps were hitting 95c while playing Monster Hunter World even while lifted off surface before "re-paste". Currently I can play games for hours on end switching between Monster Hunter World, Forza Horizon 4, and Elder Scrolls Online with temps very rarely hitting above 65c. Temps usually hover around 55c - 60c and might hit 65c - 70c if it's warm in the room from the heater being on. I am also running the Alienware Graphics Amplifier with 1080ti for monitors and gaming. Those temps were CPU temps before the "re-paste" stacking. I did a "re-paste" stack on the internal 1070 as well, but I have not gamed using the internal graphics yet. I use the quotation marks on "re-paste" as I used the IC Graphite Pad, a 0.5mm Copper Shim, and another IC Graphite Pad stack on both CPU and GPU and no actual paste was used. I used this video for reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujffb2gIsS0 but instead of Liquid Metal, I used the Graphite Pad instead. The stacking process is shown at the 19:50 mark if you want to see what I mean by stacking. Hope this helps with on view because before I did this my CPU was HOT AF! Also, here are links if interested in what I used. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CKVW18G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OUJQX8K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If its a reference model, your level of risk is going to equal the reward of repasting / reseating the fans. Powercolor, in particular, is guilty of not always having molded dies, which sits a portion of the die lower than the rest--meaning you need MUCH more thermal paste, if you go that route.

​

If its a reference...you can go the Morpheus 2 mod route, and get a few static pressure fans to drastically drop the temps. That's gonna cost you, the aftermarket cooler/etc isn't cheap. https://www.amazon.com/RAIJINTEK-MORPHEUS-Superior-High-end-Cooler/dp/B071VZ7M4K

​

For thermal pads--IC Graphite is some of the best on the market, but its conductive, so you have to be SUPER careful how you cut it to make sure it fits perfectly. Works amazingly well though: https://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Cooling-Graphite-Thermal-Pad/dp/B07CKVW18G

​

With all of this--your level of investment / work is going to really equate to what you get out of it. These things are probably better geared to overclockers or gamers, but hell--the community recognizes it works really well for a reason.

120mm + bracket is $80, and you really want a 240mm AIO for the best temps, which means $100-130.
You should not need a copper shim for a 390X.

Just search for copper heatsink. Keep in mind the R9 390X has 16 VRAM modules, and they need to be low profile heatsinks to fit under the G12 bracket.

https://www.amazon.com/Cosmos-Copper-Cooling-Heatsinks-cooler/dp/B00637X42A

Yes, the noise reduction will be significant. Just make sure to use a good quality fan on the radiator.

Definitely not worth using a custom loop on an R9 390X.

IMO, just sell the card, and use the money you would spend on mods to get something better. A GTX 1660 for $210 is a decent bit faster, and far more power efficient.

Here's a copy/paste of a PM I sent somebody yesterday in regards of building a budget build. It may be worded weirdly since it was a direct message to him, buy you get the idea

_____

CPU

(and motherboard)

Are you familiar with Sandy/Ivy bridge processors? They're a godsend for budget computers (2500k/3570k). At 1080p gaming they perform near all the newer generation Intel processors.

Best thing? You can easily grab a 2500k from /r/hardwareswap for ~$100-$110. Hopefully you could find a 2500k/3570k motherboard combo for ~$180 shipped.

Pair that with a Cryorig H7 from Amazon ($35) and overclock the processor to 4.0-4.5ghz and you have a processor booming in performance for cheap!

So, to recap, look into getting 2500k or a 3570k . Both are LGA 1155 processors and share the same motherboards. Buy from /r/hardwareswap and get your motherboard there, too

PSU

It's best to buy PSU new.

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
Power Supply | SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $61.99 @ SuperBiiz

Priced great for a terrific PSU.

#CPU cooler $35

Cryorig H7

Keeps my 2500k @ 4.5ghz cool at low temps at low noise. I can't suggest this cooler enough.

#Storage

Hopefully you can find a SSD on /r/hardwareswap. I suggest this route: Get a 250gb SSD now and hold off on getting a HDD. The 250gb will hold you for a while and the money you would have spent on the HDD can go elsewhere. You can add a HDD in a few months when you actually need more storage.

#Case

You're going to be hard pressed to find a case on /r/hardwareswap due to high price in shipping. Keep an eye out on /r/buildapcsales or take a look over at Corsair refurbished (notice the tabs on the left side for components) or just but new

#RAM

Ram is cheap enough. I've noticed RAM prices over at /r/hardwareswap is near the price of new. So, your call there. If you're using a case with a window, and since you'll be using DDR3 RAM, and want some type of color scheme I suggest these (and I do suggest getting 8gb of RAM, you'd be wasting money on more and you can always add more RAM later)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
Memory | Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $36.99 @ Amazon
Memory | Kingston HyperX Fury Red 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory | $34.99 @ Amazon
Memory | Kingston HyperX Fury Red 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $40.98 @ PCM
Memory | Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $29.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory | Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory | $35.89 @ Amazon
Memory | Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory | $33.99 @ SuperBiiz
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $212.83
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-03 00:49 EDT-0400 |

There is a 1600mhz and 1866mhz variant of the three colors. I linked all of them so you'd see all the prices. Right now the 2x4gb 1600mhz blue is $30 which is a nice price, and the 1866mhz 2x4gb Blue
is $34 (Sandy/Ivy bridge love fast ram, might be worth the extra $4)

#GPU

This is where things are kinda in the grey area. Current generation GPUs are about to fall in face value like the USA housing market did in 2009. I highly suggest building the entire computer first minus the GPU. Once AMD releases the Rx 480 at $200, all current GPUs will be forced to fall in price. If the Rx 480 performs like it is marketed to, we could see the R9 390 get sold on /r/hardwareswap for like ~$180, which is insane.

So, to recap, build the PC now taking your time on /r/hardwareswap scoping out for good prices on stuff, and by the time you have the PC built GPU prices should be in your favor.


Pretty sure I covered everything there. If I missed anything or if you have any questions let me know. Again, 2500k/3570k is your ticket to performance on the cheap.

You'd be surprised how close in performance the new Skylake processors are to the older Sandy/Ivy (2500k/3570k) are. Watch this video (note: those are the i7 variants, but makes the same difference with the i5's) Used 2500k/3570k (both basically sdame processor, the 3570k vbeing a little better) i5 is the best bang for buck processor on the market.

When it comes to gaming, DDR3 and DDR4 make almost no difference, in some cases DDR3 does better with gaming. Here is Linus saying so

Sounds good my friend! Yeah, hopefully the i7 Skylakes normalize.

I prefer Noctuas myself, and I'm not sure if you've heard of Cryorig, they're a newcomer in the CPU cooling business. I sound like a salesman but I'm actually considering one of their coolers called the H7, it's almost similar to performance to Noctua U12S, but priced close to the CM 212 EVO @ $34.99, while looking great with a black top-plate. I was browsing builds on PCPartpicker with the Cryorig and I've been drooling at the aesthetics. But you can't go wrong with Noctuas! I've used the L9i & U9S and they're amazing!

Cryorig H7 on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00S7YA5FQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=A2ZKSOM6XK2G3G

Here's what I would do: MSI Krait edition motherboard + Corsair Dominator Platinum Series RAM sticks. It is a better overclocking mobo and you get the style points for a black/white build. Also, the RAM is faster so you're a little bit more futureproofed. The Cryorig H7 is replacing the 212 in terms of the go-to air cooler, otherwise the Corsair water cooling kit is a great option as well (also fits color scheme). I'm personally recommending 240GB since I've filled up my 120GB with games and programs twice now before I had to do some cleaning. I also like this case better, plus you can remove drive bays to make room for larger GPUs, if you are still undecided about which one you want. I wouldn't worry about M.2, I got that SSD and never ended up using it. If you do end up building this, please do take pics :)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor | $345.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler | CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler | $34.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI Z170A KRAIT GAMING 3X ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $149.99 @ Amazon
Memory | Corsair Dominator Platinum Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz | $109.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $49.99 @ Amazon
SSD | Kingston SV300S37A/240G | 67.86 @ Amazon
Video Card | Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB Video Card |-
Case | Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case | $54.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $89.99 @ Amazon
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | ~$903.80
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-14 19:36 EDT-0400 |

1. Before Accelero III: stock clocks on blower style cooler getting 80°+ within minutes of playing games. I could adjust fan speed to lower temps, but fan sounded like jet engine. I refused to run my GPU at these temps, so I ordered the Accelero III. After Accelero III: GPU on stock clocks never exceeds 63° and OC'd the temps never exceed 67° The fans typically run around 30% while gaming and are much quieter than the blower cooler.
   
2. While my Accelero was in route, I watched some install videos and read up on it. When I received it, I took my time installing and it went quite well. I used thermal adhesive tape instead of the included thermal epoxy. It seems to be holding really well; I cleaned the surfaces using coffee filters and 91% isopropyl alcohol to ensure a clean surface for optimum adhesion. Just search youtube for install vids (Optimum Tech video here) and Artic Install Manual
   
3. I used this fan adapter for my card. I needed this because my GPU only has 1 fan header and I didn't want to add another cable in the form of a splitter. The less cables you have to deal with in this case, the better. I used this thermal tape; I just used scissors to cut to size. I recommend some tweezers because the backing can be difficult to remove to expose the adhesive. I'm using two NF12 fans in exhaust configuration; they are connected directly to the GPU via previously mentioned adapter so the GPU controls the fans. I would recommend you have several different size phillips screwdrivers available; I used an ifixit screwdriver kit.

There's a few things, first of all Intel K series cpu's don't come with a cooler in the box, so you will need one. A good (but pricey) cpu cooler is the Noctua NH-D15. If you would like something more affordable the Cryorig H7 will work, although the temps will be higher than the former.

Yes, all desktop ram will fit into all desktop motherboards (sodimm or laptop ram will not).

The hard drive you selected doesen't have great reviews, for $8 more you can get a [WD Blue](https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Cache-Desktop-Drive-WD10EZEX/dp/B0088PUEPK

/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1537074431&sr=1-1&keywords=western+digital+-+caviar+blue+1tb+3.5%22+7200rpm+internal+hard+drive) or a Seagate Barracudda, both more reputable.

The cases you linked are good for their price, but you will most likely need 1-2 more case fans as they only come with 1. If you would like some cheap fans these will do, but they wont be as good as something like the Noctua NF-F12

Dont worry about asking questions! It's what we are here for :) I'm sure I missed something, so if you have any other questions make sure to ask!

Edit 1: Do you already have windows? If not make sure to but it, as you wont have an Operation System without it (Unless you want to run linux).

CPU upgrades are more complicated then it seems. If you buy a Ryzen 3000 now and say 2-3 years down the line you want to upgrade it's going to be a little hard. First the new AMD cpus aren't going to work on your existing board (AM4 is on it's last gen right now). So unless you can find a used higher SKU Ryzen 3, you're going to need to update your mobo as well. Maybe even RAM? That's a whole system upgrade there. If you plan to upgrade you're going to need to upgrade fairly often and quickly to expect to be able to reuse parts.


If you're just talking about the act of building a computer, there are lost of great guides on YouTube and it's not as hard as it would seem.

If you don't want to deal with paste I highly recommenced thermal pads like:
https://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Cooling-Graphite-Thermal-Pad/dp/B07CKVW18G/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=thermal+pad&qid=1569897016&s=electronics&sr=1-4 OR
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PHLJYWK/ref=psdc_2998409011_t3_B07CKVW18G
It's going to preform close to the best thermal paste but saves so much headache.

x570 has great features but you're never going to use them in a server (pci-e 4.0, overclocking features). But the same really goes for an x470 board as well (Multi-gpu. I say save money on a B450 board.

Go over to r/buildapc for more advice.

I've got an i5-750 (yes old but it's doing well) with the stock cooler on it and I'd love a new aftermarket cooler so I can try some overclocking. Gigabyte P55A-UD3 mobo.

SHould I get this cooler? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S7YA5FQ/ref=psdc_11036281_t1_B01IBSR18G

I think it will fit my mobo socket and I think it should work well.

Or is there something of better value?

You might wanna see what AMD does unless money is no concern, then sure, but really still I would wait.

Oh and its pretty easy to put in a cpu, I did it successfully with no help when I was 13, just make sure to use thermal paste.

A youtube video will do fine.

This is the heatsink I purchased, it is a set of 8 but they are pretty affordable even if you are only using 1.

Heatsink

The link you shared regarding Nidec vs Delta is correct. If you have 12 holes you are using a Delta fan at this time. 8 holes is for the Nidec fans.

Ordering and receiving the Nidec fan took about a month, I ordered it from China through this listing -

Nidec Fan

For the pads I picked up this set, yes they are 1mm-

Pads

The available sellers for that one on Amazon are gouging it like crazy.... I spent $11.75 when I ordered them, you may want to find a comparable alternative.

For your graphics question, definitely wait on the reviews for the RX 480 to see if itll handle games at 1440p. If it doesn't then consider waiting for non-founders edition cards to be released closer to the $380 msrp.

One detail I noticed is that you are going to buy a haswell refresh CPU so you should purchase a Z97 chipset board instead. It supports Haswell refresh cpus out of the box and don't require a bios update like Z87s. Also, depending on the board you buy, Z97 also supports M.2 SSDs which could be useful for potential future upgrades.

As for your CPU cooler, while the D15 is very good for what it is, the Cryorig H7 will offer just nearly the same performance for a better value.

Well, if you have the extra rad space, yeah. Still, it's only 4C cooler that the Thermalright True Spirit according to this bench mark and it's also a tad more than twice the price. I realize I'm comparing it to an air cooler, which comes with it's own set of pros and cons, but it is an expensive few degrees. Plus the H105 goes on sale too. It's a good choice if you want a AIO and have the room, but if you're just looking for a good cooler, you might get better value elsewhere.

Can confirm, I'm running my 970 SSC with a G10 and a Kraken AIO cooler. The VRMs got hot so I just searched on Amazon for "VRM heatsink", bought these.

The 970 doesn't have an on-board VRM heat monitor so I have no idea what the actual temps were, but while under load they went from "giving my finger literal first degree burns" to "like holding a semi-warm cup of coffee." I feel a lot more comfortable with it now, and my 970 idles at 26C and doesn't ever go over 50C under extreme load. It's great.

Which games are you playing competitively? Also you're going to want the fastest RAM you can get. I replaced the motherboard and RAM and took out a 1080 Ti from /u/MrTechSavvy build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor | $328.79 @ SuperBiiz
CPU Cooler | Deepcool - CAPTAIN 240EX WHITE 153.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $80.99 @ SuperBiiz
Motherboard | Gigabyte - GA-Z270X-UD5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $198.99 @ Amazon
Memory | G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3600 Memory | $189.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Crucial - MX300 1.1TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $268.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card | Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB AORUS Xtreme Edition 11G Video Card | $749.99 @ NCIX US
Case | Phanteks - Enthoo Evolv ATX Glass ATX Mid Tower Case | $174.99 @ NCIX US
Power Supply | EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $117.98 @ Newegg
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $2120.61
| Mail-in rebates | -$10.00
| Total | $2110.61
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-10 20:07 EDT-0400 |

This RAM is Samsung B-die. XMP profile will do 3600 CAS 16. You could probably overclock it even further. Those high frame rates are going to heavily depend on CPU and RAM frequency. If the games are CS:GO and Overwatch, a 1070 would probably perform the same as the 1080 Ti. The CPU and RAM speed is going to be the bottleneck. Good luck.

Edit: Since you'll want the best overclock for the CPU, you would want to delid the CPU if you are comfortable with that. Here's a couple things you'd need to delid.

Rockit 88 delid tool

Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut

Arctic MX-4

Delid guide - youtube

The Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO is basically the standard for air cooling, and cost $30. It'd be perfect for running at stock clock speeds and it should offer enough headroom for very mild overclocks.

The Cryorig H7 is extremely similar. I think I remember seeing a review that mentioned a better fin pattern or something like that so it's supposed to be marginally better than the 212. And the white fan looks pretty cool. I know that this one may or may not require an AM4 adapter kit depending whether or not it comes with the revised backplate. But you can just request that from Cryorig and they'll send on to you.

Yes artic is fine. I mostly use noctua or ic diamond for the little bit better cooling.

An easier and longer lasting method is using graphite pads like this one which is easier to use, it is reusable, and still has good performance.

Stupid Question on 2600X and 2700X.

As I understand it (src1, src2) the X varieties of these CPUS will attempt to overclock themselves by evaluating run time conditions, using XFR2 and PB2. PBO2 is additionally available but will void the warranty.

​

Educate me if the above is incorrect.

​

Questions:

• Do we (r/AMD community) have data on CPU coolers and how they influence X chip performance including the included Wraith Spire/Prism?
  
• Based on this data or general knowledge does r/AMD feel after market coolers for X models are worth the money relative the the performance gain they may bring? I will do the calculations and share back based on informal recommendations.
  
• How much extra Power in Watts is consumed by the CPU when enabling a PBO scenario v not default? One could use a ~$0.08USD/KWh model for energy cost calculation of PBO overclock per year.
  
• Are there motherboard characteristics/motherboard settings I should be aware of beyond the PWM setup if I want to attempt a PBO overclock of an X chip?
  
  ​
  
  Right now the 2600X is within $20 dollars of the 2600 - so money can be spent on a separate air cooler ($10-$30) if there is some reasonable price/performance of the cooler with or without PBO. Where as the 2700X ($299) even with a recent coupon ($270) is $50 more than the 2700 ($220) which is $40 more than the 2600X ($180). The cost of the 2700X would seem to be out of line, as it essentially better binned 2600X . Again correct me about this - as it seems the 2600 line is just a 2700 with a disabled core.
  
  ​
  
  Also I am seriously thinking about a 40x40 IC thermal Pad for $13 or a 38x38 TG Carbonaut pad if someone knows where they can be bought in the US market, which would come out of the cooler budget above. Convenience of not having to reapply thermal paste 24-36 months from now, and guarantee of uniformity of heat transfer would seem to justify the pad as an extra vs bundled pastes if any.

Basically the only difference between the 1700 and the 1700x is that the 1700x is guaranteed to clock to 3.4 GHz and Turbo to 3.8 GHz on certain cores. There should be additional overclocking headroom on top of that but it's never guaranteed. Not all 1700x's can overclock to the same frequency this is the "silicon lottery".

The 1700 is clocked at 3.0 GHz (3.7 GHz Turbo) most of the time it's overclockable to the same if not better performance than the stock 1700x but this isn't guaranteed and you'll probably need a better than stock cooler to get it there. This is partially why the 1700x doesn't ship with a cooler. It needs a beefier cooler like the Cryorig H7 which is an excellent budget option, you just might need a free AM4 bracket since they're still not shipping with one. The Cooler Master 212 is the same story, the H5 is shipping with the bracket included.

You don't need a water cooler, they are generally lower profile so if you have a small case you might need one but often the stock fans aren't much quieter than the fan on the CPU coolers I linked. In brief periods of thermal testing they outperform air coolers but for long gaming sessions the difference in CPU thermals is minimal especially given the increased cost. They do look dope though.

1600 vs 1600x

1450 vs 1600 vs 1700

A lot of great suggestions on here. In my opinion, hard drives and PSUs are your biggest concern. Everything else will work till obselesence. Don't cheap out on a PSU. Get a good one with a good warranty and you'll be fine for years. Hard drives; well they are what they are. They have a shorter life span (due to moving, mechanical parts) so they will eventually fail. One thing I haven't seen people address though is thermal paste.

Definitely needs to be replaced every 2-3 years. I found a better solution though. A graphite thermal pad works almost as well as the best thermal pastes out there but here's the best part: you just put it on and leave it. No paste. No glue. No mess. Doesn't dry out. Reusable. Make sure its only on the IHS (heat spreader) and not touching any electrical part. You can read the reviews and if you want a video for proof, Linus Tech Tips on youtube made a video about them and tested it out and showed the results.

EDIT: thermal paste/graphite pad for your CPU. Maybe you're a beginner so I just wanted to clarify that. I have also used graphite thermal pads for GPUs but thats me getting ahead of yourself. The main point is that watch out for paste. For simplicity, ease of use, pretty much fool proof, performance, and longevity, I would HIGHLY recommend checking out the graphite thermal pads.

EDIT2: I'm recommending it based off personal experience, not just reading/watching reviews.

EDIT3: Added video link

Of the motherboards you list, the DS3P and Extreme3 would probably be the better overclockers, but the ASUS is probably a bit more reliable. Both the DS3P and Extreme3 have a sizable portion of questionable reviews on newegg which makes me hesitant to suggest them. I guess if you want to stick with the LE that works but it will slightly limit your overclcoking ability, but this could be remedied by buying MOSFET heatsinks at a later date (like these )

As far as the RAM goes, literally get the cheapest you can. CAS/mhz isn't all that important as far as performance goes. Even dual channel doesn't matter that much.

For the monitor, the ACER seems like the best choice. It uses a VA panel which is like IPS, so its got slightly better picture quality than the rest which uses a standard TN panel.

Yes, absolutely reapply. If it didn't make a solid connection the first time you pretty much have too redo it. That sounds like that may be your issue.

Honestly I'd recommend going with one of these pads. I got one recently and I'm very impressed. I got the 40x40 option and i use it on an OC'd r7 1700 with a fractal 360 aio. It performs around the same as something like mx-4 does. No need to spread and it's reusable.

https://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Cooling-Graphite-Thermal-Pad/dp/B07CKVW18G

The processor should come with some thermal paste. It's usually pretty good. One I recommend is of the Cooler Master brand. I've used it on multiple builds, and I've just recently re-seated my CPU, using it again. ;)

Cooler Master High Performance Thermal Paste - (HTK-002-U1)

You can pick up another case fan too, if space allows. I recommend picking up 1 or 2 120mm case fans (that's at least decently rated) at a store nearby, so in case you don't use it... it's an easy return.

The 5800k is a pretty old CPU, I can definitely see it bottlenecking your 970.

The 6600k is a great choice and wont hold anything back. Just remember you will need a Z170 chipset to overclock the CPU. You will also need DDR4 RAM.

This MSI has built in WiFi and bluetooth at a good price.

Lastly, the 6600k doesnt come with a cooler so you will need to buy one. The Cryorig H7 is also a good one.

If you wan't something low priced that will cool better, the Cryorig H7 is pretty good for $35, and to get the AM4 mounting hardware you have to go here and fill out a short form to get one free. Most of the cheaper coolers don't support AM4 right out of the box, you usually have to contact them to get an AM4 bracket. Hopefully most of them start shipping with AM4 mounting hardware in the box soon.

amazon.

you can definitely find them cheaper elsewhere, or get a big one and cut it down. shrug. but for best effect you should pull the stock heat sink off the back and sand down the coating on the back of the board and put them there with very thin layer of non-conductive material since these chips are mounted upside down sort of. I have 10 left that I don't really need, if it were easy I'd just send them to you somehow. :)

> Molex? SATA? Are these whare you plug them in?

These are the 2 main types of internal peripheral power connectors (SATA pic, Molex pic).

> Is the 7970 still good, though or would a GTX 670 or two be better?

Price-wise it'll be easier on your wallet with a 670, and they trade blows at stock speeds. Upside of a 7970 is you'll overclock it with much more ease, and you get better results at high resolutions. Whether or not that factors in your choice is up to you. Single screen gaming (whether or not you have multiple screens used for displaying other stuff) : 670. Triple screen gaming or lots of high resolution texture stuff : 7970.

> Any suggestions?

The standard "budget" suggestion is a Cooler Master Hyper 212 (Plus or Evo). If you can order on Amazon, I'd look at a Thermalright HR-02 Macho, which is known for its quiet operation.

I ordered these copper heatsinks https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00637X42A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_t1fyDb8YAG6RD

Not pictured: I have a few aluminum ones on there now with Thermal Grizzly Minus 8 thermal pads, but they are too tall (14x14x8mm), they are getting replaced with the smaller copper ones on Monday.

Drilling... Yes. Yup. I did that. I barely enlarged the holes by say .2mm. Just a hair. I had a vacuum on while drilling, which I couldn't capture in the photo. I cleaned everything super well afterwards.

Idle is now 32C (GPU temp) with the card overclocked to 2160mhz, 1199mv, +90% power, and 910 MHz memory. Junction temp also idles at 32C.

Would I recommend doing this? Only if you are comfortable completely disassembling your expensive GPU, drilling out two holes on your card, and figuring everything out, including vram heatsinks.

I put a 2 fan to 1 fan adapter to my motherboard's AIO header, which is powering both of my pumps (CPU and GPU). Two pumps or fans should be ok on one header.

Attempt this at your own risk.

EDIT: CARD IS UNSTABLE DUE TO MEMORY TEMPS, ABANDONED IDEA

Kryonaut, Gelid Extreme and MX-4 are all good. Kryonaut is the best one imo (12,5 W/mk, that's thermal conductivity - not to be mistaken with the paste being conductive - it's not) compared to 8.5 on Gelix and MX-4. I also like how easy it is to spread around

Liquid Metal is conductive (Conductonaut). Here's a good video of doing the whole thing (especially the tape part so you don't have to deal with cleaning spillage) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGrErLzePdw

You're being way too vague. Looks like you have an FX 6300 and a GTX 960. What kind of experience are you looking for when you say PCMR dream? Is it 1080p Ultra 60fps? And in what games.

480 will do just fine for 1080p 60fps Ultra if you give that 6300 a slight overclock so until you tell me what specifically you're looking for here's what you need to improve your experience:

• Budget Cooler I highly recommend for a decent overclock
  
  
• RX 480
  
  So save $34 on top of the money for the RX480. Also save another $30 to get the 8GB version of the 480.
  
  
  *edited: Ram is fine. My bad.

4790K can get pretty when hot overclocked (I have one) but you don't need anything huge. For a Corsair Spec-02 I recommend something like the Corsair H60 (120MM AIO) if tall DIMMs are an issue else go with something cheaper like this the Cryorig H7 Tower Cooler as it has lower height restrictions and better RAM compatibility over something typical like the overrated Evo 212:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00S7YA5FQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I am, yea. I picked up a JBTek Transparent "case" which is really just two transparent acrylic plates with four posts (i.e. no walls) and a fan. (The case didn't come with instructions but the Amazon listing comments had instructions with photos from other customers which was a huge help.) I also got some a uxcell 25mmx25mmx15mm heatsink which I stuck on with Artic Silver thermal paste. Note that I mounted the fan pointing inwards which is the inverse of their photo, because it's better for cooling. (Same reasons you point your CPU's fans to blow in and not out.)

JBTek case: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M859PA6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
uxcell sinks: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N631K9O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
artic silver: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087X728K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I no longer see the temp warnings. :) Didn't involve any soldering either, which made me happy.

(Sorry for the massive delay; real-life's giving me a beating.)

I would recommend reseating the HSF to see if that fixes the issue.
When you do, be sure to replace the stock TIM with something like this and report back with results (it might help others that have the same issue).

If that doesn't fix the issue, get an aftermarket HSF that will fit into your chassis. Something affordable like the Cryorig H5 or H7 should do quite well.

If you could care less, that means you care : O

Everything looks good, prob would suggest a 480 8gb over the 1060 though. Most people are moving away from the hyper 212, cant remember what they are flocking to now... but do a quick google. Thermal paste seems a bit expensive, https://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Silver-AS5-3-5G-Thermal-Paste/dp/B0087X728K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483643670&sr=8-1&keywords=thermal+paste

Yay i save you a few dollars!

An 8600k is a great choice and it'd save you $110 so you could upgrade to a 1070ti (link) or 1080 (link) to get better gaming performance.

The k chips don't come with stock coolers anymore, and the stock coolers wouldn't be adequate anyway. Since you don't plan to OC, a Cryorig H7 (link) would fit the bill too keep it cool and quiet while still fitting in the same budget.

I'd take the review of the most trustworthy PC cooling site on the Internet over customer reviews any day, especially if they're not even conclusive.

The TS140BW is literally the quietest active air cooler ever made, not even the Noctua NH-D15 matches it. And the D15 is a fair bit better than the U14.

That leaves the TS140 more powerful, quieter and cheaper, so the only reason for the Noctua for you left seems to be patriotism.

I put a Kraken x41/g10 setup on a EVGA 1080 SC after buying and being disappointed by the MSI 1080 Seahawk X. Since these cards don't overclock worth a damn I did it entirely for silence and couldn't be happier. I just set the fans/pump to a fixed 25% and the card doesn't exceed 60c.

OP, you should consider VRM heatsinks. They aren't necessary, but they do help significantly. Most VRMs are spec'd for up to 125C, and they most definitely will hit that under full OC'd load even with the g10 fan helping out. I also have an x41/g10 installed on a 290x and that card would peg VRM1 and VRM2 temps at 125C partway through a run of Valley benchmark with the g10 but no heatsinks. Not liking the idea of 125C ambient case temps, I stuck some VRM and VRAM sinks on the card. Even with a 20% overclock and significant overvoltage, the VRM never break 85c. The 290x is a hotter card than a 1080, but the principal is still the same - those VRMs will get very hot and cause your case ambient temps to skyrocket.

I used these and these on the VRM and these on the VRAM. $25 in heatsinks to extend the longevity of a $700 GPU and to significantly drop case temps seemed like a good investment to me.

You could buy some zip ties for easier cable management maybe and possibly a magnetic screw holder so you can make sure those tiny screws don't get lost. The PSU already comes with all cables needed so no need to buy them if that's what you are talking about. The CPU comes with thermal paste already but if you'd like you can buy aftermarket paste: https://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Silver-AS5-3-5G-Thermal-Paste/dp/B0087X728K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1499488869&sr=8-2&keywords=thermal+paste. Other than that I can't think of anything else. The stuff I listed are more of just quality of life stuff and are totally not necessary so I think you are fine as is. And I'm just curious, why did you buy a mounting bracket? Pretty much all cases including the one you have listed has a place to install the SSD in.

Personally, I have some graphite thermal pads coming tomorrow. My thinking was that they should cover the entire IHS completely and help spread the heat away from the one hotspot under the core. I'm currently using IC Diamond, but the stuff was pretty old, and was pretty hard to get onto the CPU, since it kept just sticking to the end of the tube. I got a maximum of 75C on my 3700x with an H105, so I'm hoping that pad helps.

I've actually been researching this quite a bit lately but there doesn't seem to be tons of information out there. I think it depends on what current cooling solution the card has. Some cards have a heat spreader across the VRMs that can be left on under the G10 but the 670 FTW doesn't appear that way. The 670 FTW's heat spreader looks like it probably has to come off for the G10 to fit on.

I'm not sure what other people are using but I'd probably get these unless I heard otherwise:

http://www.amazon.com/Cosmos-Copper-Cooling-Heatsinks-cooler/dp/B00637X42A/

My local prices for a used mini-fridge on craigslist started at $50. I don't remember what I paid for the cooler, but I am pretty sure it rivals that. I really wanted to go the fridge route, but I also wanted to maximize space. You'd be hard pressed to fit the same amount of fermentors in a mini-fridge with the compressor taking up space.

If you really want to go automated, and I still may do this with the cooler, install a Peltier cooler. This is the tech that car fridges use. The device generates cold on one side and heat on the other. You would need a power supply, a heat sink, and a 12v thermostat. The more heat you whisk away from a peltier (with heat sink) the colder they get. They will actually form ice crystals. They draw a lot of amps so you'll need a good power supply.

Peltier Device: http://www.amazon.com/Vktech-TEC1-12706-Thermoelectric-Cooler-Heat/dp/B00E4GY0FC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426189756&sr=8-1&keywords=peltier

12v Thermostat: http://www.amazon.com/Okeler-Temperature-Controller-Thermostat-Fahrenheit/dp/B00KA42WNY/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1426189932&sr=8-8&keywords=12v+thermostat

*Power Supply: http://www.amazon.com/E-Goal-Switch-Supply-Driver-Display/dp/B007C055BK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1426190001&sr=8-2&keywords=10a+12v+power+supply

Just cut a hole in the back of your cooler with a jigsaw, glue in an aluminum plate on the inner surface of the cooler to cover the hole. Affix peltier with heatsink, and wire up. Viola.

Not sure what your issue could be, but this log entry is interesting:

2018-09-06 10:51:40,400 - octoprint.plugins.opitemp - ERROR - OpiTemp: can't determine the temperature, are you sure you're using Armbian?

The thing that REALLY confuses me is that you are having trouble when not connected to the printer. I could imagine some ways that you would have failures during a print that are related to serial communication issues, but nothing obvious should cause these kind of random lockups. I've been using this build since the day it was released and have never had a lockup, so something else must be going on.

That leads me to one of the following possible issues:

1. Your power supply or cable is not performing adequately. I heard a rumor that suggests an undervoltage warning will soon be added to Octoprint. This would help debug, but we'll have to wait for that (if the rumor is true). Since the release of the pi 3 models this problem has become somewhat more common (at least from my anecdotal experience) due to their power requirements. The only way to verify 100% that your psu and cable are working properly is to use a power meter, unless someone else knows a way to figure this out (anybody?). However, one halfway reasonable test that I've used on USB cables before I got a meter was to use it to rapid charge my phone. If the cable can't rapid charge, no way it can power a pi. When I got my usb power meter I discovered that over half of my usb cables couldn't supply the required current, and none of these cables could rapid charge my phone. It's a bit more difficult to test the PSU.
   
2. Your pi is overheating, throttling due to the high temps, then eventually shutting down or locking up. Do you have adequate ventilation and/or heatsinks (there are 2 you should add)? Here is an amazon link to a cheap and suitable heatsink, but there are MANY other places they can be acquired
   
3. Even though you've tried multiple SD cards, perhaps none of them are actually compatible. I don't have a lot of guidance here since I've never had this issue (I use samsung evo mem and either leave my pi running or shut it down properly, btw), but I have heard of these issues over and over.
   
4. The last thing I would recommend is to downgrade Octoprint to 1.3.8 to see if things get better. Definitely check items 1-3 first. If performance improves or your problems vanish, it will be time to open a ticket on the OctoPrint github issues page here
   
   Good luck! I hope you get things back up and running soon!
   
   Edit: Fixed link markup in one spot, added link markup where I didn't earlier.

So the GPU is overclocked with stock fan curve, I have one EK Vardar fan at 700rpm under the GPU and under full GPU load my max temp has been 71c with a room temp of 22c.

On the CPU side I am using the wraith spire and currently CPU is stock speed as it runs at 3.8gh all core under gaming and it maxes out at 60c, I'm using the new graphite thermal pad instead of thermal past and am loving it and it can be reused over and over again. This is the link if your interested, I got the 30x30 but the 40x40 will fit ryzen better but it probably does not make a difference.

Innovation Cooling Graphite Thermal Pad – Alternative to Thermal Paste/Grease (30 X 30mm) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKVW18G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_pWlVCbTD5FD1V

With the stock wraith stealth I was getting about 72c and under on gaming loads. And keep in mind ryzen loves memory speed almost more then pure CPU overclock. I pushed my corsair c16 3200mh ram to 3466 with no issues at all and picked up more performance then a 4gh all core overclock and less heat.

Fantastic. Great input. I'll get some thermal paste actually that's a good call.

Is this accurate for the colour?

https://i.imgur.com/Y1m1VXW.jpg

EDIT: Just to be clear I take it electrically conductive pastes are out of the question?

Trying to decide between this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermal-Grizzly-conductonaut-heat-compound/dp/B01A9KIGSI

and this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Grizzly-Kryonaut-compound-compounds-5-5g-250/dp/B00ZJSF5LM/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_147_bs_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=SZRKP3AY70WN7RNX0YK6

Heh, I already had this one in mind to suggest in case the other two didn't fit - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cryorig-CR-H7A-Tower-Cooler-Intel/dp/B00S7YA5FQ

It's also a very good cooler, performs better than the 212 but below the Scythe Mugen, so in between.

It's height is only 145mm vs the 212's 159mm so it will definitely fit. But double check of course.

But get that, it's cheap and good and fits your case.

actually, i found a cpu cooler better than the hyper 212 evo and is smaller and slightly cheaper. The Cryorig H7 is only 145mm in height, so it fits in smaller cases, looks way nicer, and performs better, ive had both of them. This cpu cooler runs at 20c idle and playing gta 5/bf4/ csgo only reaches 45c, which is REALLY good. Check it out.

Nope, this one Innovation Cooling Graphite... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CK9SHZG?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Although those you got are recommended, but I got these SIXQJZML 30Pcs 20x20x1mm Soft... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074K4CKG1?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

And used a pea size of this ( in the middle) to hold the Graphite in place. ARCTIC MX-4 - Thermal Compound... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0795DP124?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

The Graphite though you must cut to size as well as the conductivity pads to replace the old ones if needed. A Sharp blade/scissors helps. Good luck! Works wonders.

Are you running a 2080ti with the G12? I do really want to try and keep the PCB baseplate on there and it's pretty difficult to find confirmed information on whether or not it's compatible. If not, I can always order more of the copper passive heat sinks I already have. Would be even better if I can find a white G12 and mix with another white 360mm cooler setup like I have for my CPU.

I really appreciate your input, definitely helped me make up my mind.

It doesn't matter, in PSREF all 20BW boards are with vPro and 20BX only some of them are, but this is a security feature used by some business companies.Mine was i5 20BX and now I have i7 and everything works fine. If you choose to swab board don't forget to buy some Thermal compound for repasting CPU. I did a test and I bought Innovation Cooling LLC IC Graphite Thermal Pad, very easy to use and it's working great.

I've put together two mini ITC builds. One with a cpu upgrade and one that just reuses your current cpu.

1) $525: i5-9600K upgrade

• Why intel?: There aren't any b450/x470 mITX motherboards with USB bios flashback functionality. So we'd have to overspend on one of the new X570 motherboards if we wanted a 3000 series Ryzen cpu, which is not worth it. So we have to go Intel, and the 9600K is the strongest intel cpu that fits the budget.
  
• Wait for the price drop: Intel is expected to drop its cpu prices by up to 15% to compete with the new Ryzen cpus. The Ryzen cpus are released tomorrow, July 7th.
  
• Performance Improvement: The 9600K is ~33% stronger in gaming and will result in an ~11% increase in FPS over your current cpu while gaming on high settings.That number will go up if games begin to use 6 cores as is expected to occur over the next few years (because the 9600K has 6 cores and the 4590 has 4 cores).
  
• Thermal Paste: You'll need to clean the existing thermal paste off of your cpu and heatsink with 90%+ rubbing alcohol and a microfiber wipe (or a coffee filter). Then apply new thermal paste and reseat the cpu cooler. If you don't have any thermal paste, I recommend a tube of Arctic Silver 5 for $6 on amazon.
  

• Case: You can use any mini itx case, just verify that the CPU cooler and video card will fit. My personal recommendation is the node 304. I selected it because of its build quality, simple aesthetic, and lack of a window. I'm assuming you'd prefer not to have a window so that you don't have to worry about it during transport. Comes with 3 fans and a fan controller.
  

  
  

  PCPartPicker Part List
  

  
  

  Type|Item|Price
  

  ----|:----|:----
  CPU | Intel - Core i5-9600K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor | $238.90 @ OutletPC
  CPU Cooler | Cooler Master - Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | $0.00
  Motherboard | *ASRock - Z390M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard | $126.98 @ SuperBiiz
  Memory | *Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $67.89 @ OutletPC
  Storage | Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $0.00
  Video Card | EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB FTW Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card | $0.00
  Case | Fractal Design - Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case | $90.98 @ Newegg
  Power Supply | Corsair - CX 600 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $0.00
  | Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
  | Total (before mail-in rebates) | $554.75
  | Mail-in rebates | -$30.00
  | Total | $524.75
  | *Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria |
  | Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-06 09:11 EDT-0400 |
  ------------------------
  
  #2) $189: Reusing your i5-4690
  
  

• Motherboard in build is at this Ebay link.
  
• You can use any H97 or Z97 mini ITX motherboard, but the Z97s are double the price and not worth it since you can't overclock the 4590 anyway.
  

• There is a new motherboard available, but it costs $200, and it's not worth investing that much money into a platform with no real upgrade path.
  

  
  

  PCPartPicker Part List
  

  
  

  Type|Item|Price
  

  ----|:----|:----
  CPU | Intel - Core i5-4590 3.3 GHz Quad-Core Processor | $0.00
  CPU Cooler | Cooler Master - Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | $0.00
  Motherboard | ASRock - H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard | $98.00
  Memory | G.Skill - Ripjaws X Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR3-1333 Memory | $0.00
  Storage | Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $0.00
  Video Card | EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB FTW Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card | $0.00
  Case | Fractal Design - Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case | $90.98 @ Newegg
  Power Supply | Corsair - CX 600 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $0.00
  | Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
  | Total | $188.98
  | Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-06 09:11 EDT-0400 |

Could have been. I followed the directions to the T and made sure I cut it to the right size so it wasn't touch the board. I used these ones which have great reviews: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CKVW18G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1, and I had great results with normal thermal paste when I put it back together. I have built my on PCs for over 17 years and am not exactly uncomfortable doing this kind of repairs.

​

Now that I look at the page, looks like someone else tried with the same product and got the same results. When I attempted it, I couldn't find much when it came to modern consoles. Here is a review of the same product: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RCWO7CAX85JRM/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B07CKVW18G, so I'd recommend another brand maybe if you wanted to try it.

If you change the CPU like others mention it won't make much of a difference however you will have the oppportunity to clean things up and reapply new thermal compound I always use this stuff. For 8 bucks though it's not a big loss. You can run benchmark before and after to see.

Also consider you need a 64 bit OS when increasing the memory size beyond 3 GB. I assume you were loading it with four modules, you could get these instead with faster timings for gaming for about the same price. The heatsinks look cool, and in my opinion matter but others say they don't do much!

Another piece of advice is if you are faced with upgrading the BIOS to accept the chip or memory, do not flash it from an operating system.

A cheap SSD for the OS and two games would also do justice. You can use your existing drive for storage.

try dusting first this is the cheapest/easiest solution. If the problem persists then replace the paste (tons of guides online but I would recommend getting a parts tray or something before doing this as there are going to be quite a few screws).

High performance: https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Grizzly-Kryonaut-Grease-Paste/dp/B011F7W3LU

Best value: https://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-MX-4-Compound-Performance-Interface/dp/B0795DP124/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=mx-4&qid=1555675360&s=electronics&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1

Both options are non-conductive so you don't have to worry about it causing a short. If you stumble upon something known as liquid metal (popular for enthusiasts) I would not recommend it considering that stuff is mostly gallium and can cause a short.

I made a similar comment to someone just recently, but I went with the cryorig h7 myself and don't have any issues with it. I looked at this when I was making my decision initially, and in general it seemed like a great value relative to the performance.

Any other options to have something USA only shipped to Europe?

Basicly I wanted to buy https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKVW18G/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=&th=1 . No shipping to The Netherlands, not available at .co.uk or .de etc.

There is ofcourse something like; https://qwintry.com/en/calculator available which forward mail basicly but that costs another $15-25.

I really love the idea of the technology so since I haven't ordered/build my pc yet (soon!) I though I can always ask. :)

Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut is pretty much the best. Gelid GC-Extreme is the best bang for your buck

I learned to OC in the late 90' ( OK, not coiled foul). In early 2000's I started using thermal diodes on CPU, RAM and GPU. This will help you see the temps and either increase heatsink and fans or reduce your OC. A good thermal paste like Thermal Grizzly, Noctua NT-H2 or Artic MX-4. Which one you should use depends on surface. Some will damage aluminium, some have enough metal particals that can short your circuits if slopped over.

http://thermal-grizzly.com/en/

https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Grizzly-Kryonaut-Grease-Paste/dp/B011F7W3LU/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?keywords=thermal+paste&qid=1573504592&sr=8-6

https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NT-H2-3-5g-Pro-Grade-Compound/dp/B07MXFTNZY/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?keywords=thermal+paste+noctua&qid=1573504735&sprefix=thermal+paste+noc&sr=8-2

https://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-MX-4-Compound-Micro-particles-Durability/dp/B0795DP124/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=thermal+paste+noctua&qid=1573504735&sprefix=thermal+paste+noc&sr=8-3

I Hope this helps you.

I concur with other, a beefier cpu would be great, and it doesn't really have to be the latest series.
Also whatever cpu you decide I would throw in a cooler master hyper 212. It's way better than a stock cooler and you get a lot of bang for your buck.
Also use good paste, like arctic silver
https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-Direct-Contact/dp/B005O65JXI

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0087X728K/ref=pd_aw_lpo_147_tr_img_2/137-7749609-9917537?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=Y1MJXV70MCQBKFB2JBGK

> I just bought a 120 gb Samsung 850 Evo because I filled up my 64gb Crucial SSD (you were right, it's just too small) >

So is 120gb, I just ordered a 1tb SSD :)

> Office is installed on my Caviar Blue storage drive--can I just leave it there, do you think?

I doubt it, office is activated through the registry. But there are ways to find the key in your current registry. Google can help you.

> Does it make sense to slap in one of the sexy, brand-new GTX cards (A 1080 would likely be overkill for me but what about the 980?) or would a GTX 950 be a sufficient upgrade? Is there a better option I'm not considering?

Wait for the GTX 1070 or the polaris GPUs. I would get something in the $250-400 price range.

> I know I have a janky old i5; I'm not a big overclocker, I don't think--is my processor sufficient or should I upgrade it?

Overclocking the an unlocked CPU is really easy and there are plenty of guides online. Getting a $35 cooler could postpone the need for a full platform upgrade for another couple of years. Get this cooler:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4UF2DZ6565

http://www.amazon.com/CRYORIG-H7-Tower-Cooler-Intel/dp/B00S7YA5FQ

That's correct! Pretty much every SSD heatsink in existence is completely wrong! You gotta love how little known these things are. 🙃

The solution is to buy smaller heat sinks and then either use TIM to mount them on (ideally), or thermal tape that's typical included with heatsinks (a lot of bundled tape can be old/cheap though). AFAIK using TIM is more effective at displacing heat, but both will help.

Also make sure it's seated properly because the last thing you want is a heat sink falling on your motherboard and short circuiting things.

Gelid Solutions GC-Extreme

This is the BEST paste available, and it has been the best for a very long time (based on benchmarks -- you can look them up if you'd like). Do not buy anything else.

> Cryorug H7

is this one fine? link

also is that a heatsink or a solid cooler? Like I said, I don't really know much about this, would be awesome if you could clear this up before that solid cooler is ship to me.

Base model Blade 15 2018 with 1060

For best thermals:

Thermal pads and liquid metal

as well as this conformal coating to prevent the liquid metal from allowing conduction to happen.



in ThrottleStop


for performance
and for Battery

Then if you want to get even better thermals
this cooling pad giving me these idle temps and these temps in Assassins Creed Odyssey after 3 hours of play Connected to my Core X Chroma.


With 32gb of RAM and 4tb of storage between the 2tb sata and the 2tb nvme drives it's my work computer with A couple VMs running and lots of chrome tabs and my main PC when i'm home plugged into the core.

if you don't like the Razer logo on the back you can get a dbrand skin on it with no logo cutout

Dunno why it's not on PCP, but this cooler is better and cheaper. The 120mm rad closed loop coolers are just not worth it. They're loud and pretty shit.

The 1070 would be alright for 4k. If it's performance is anywhere around the 980 Ti, which it looks like it is, you'll be able to play games at 4k on higher settings with AA turned off.

Easily solved with these lol(which I did on my crappy PRo m2 motherboard. Hey I bought the board for cheap for only 50 bucks open boxed!!):

https://www.amazon.com/Enzotech-Mosfet-Passive-Copper-10-pack/dp/B004CLDIHK

But pricey, so might as well buy a better motherboard with good heatsinks haha

You're still better off getting a good aftermarket cooler. It will drop temps by a lot. Having aftermarket thermal compound such as Arctic silver is even better. Just make sure not to use CPU thermal compund on GPU. Here's the guide on GPU in case. https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/10418-how-to-change-your-gpus-thermal-paste-with-pictures/ For GPU use Arctic Silver Ceramique. http://www.amazon.com/IC-Diamond-Carat-Thermal-Compound/dp/B0042IBAOG or Arctic MX-4 http://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-MX-4-Thermal-Compound-Non-Electricity/dp/B004ULZITS/ref=pd_cp_pc_3 Make sure to read on how to apply compunds for CPU and GPU the right way. They are different for each component.

It's possible that the mounting system is coming loose or that you improperly mounted it last time you cleaned/changed the paste.
I'd start with that since it's the cheapest option of the bunch.
I'd also look at the absolute CPU fan speed (which you should be able to see in HWMonitor) and compare that to what the Internet says you should get.

If ultimately you need a better cooler, I don't know what to think about the Wraith cooler you brought up. It's probably a nice upgrade.
The Cryorig H7 is currently very well regarded in that price bracket though, both cooling and temperature wise.

Of course you can always step up even higher.

https://www.amazon.com/IC-Graphite-Thermal-Pad-X40/dp/B07CK9SHZG/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525214485&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=IC+Graphite+thermal+pad

saw this on linus tech tips. its like a 1 degree difference from competitive Thermal pastes like IC diamond and its only 20 dollars USD rounded ($19.99). might help?

Hands down the thermal paste transfer way better the heat. But is messy for an smartphone. And now we have graphite thermal pad with better heat dissipation.

https://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Cooling-Graphite-Thermal-Pad/dp/B07CKVW18G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1541345434&sr=8-2&keywords=graphite+thermal+pad

​

The MX-4 is good stuff, but imagine you have to send your phone for guarantee or whatever, and the tech store goes like: OMG, look at this :) Warranty voided!!!

if you want a decent upgrade to the cpu cooler (quieter/better looking) because of the window, highly recommend

the cryorig m9i:

http://www.amazon.com/CRYORIG-Mini-Tower-Cooler-INTEL/dp/B0177GTTB0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457930284&sr=8-1&keywords=cryorig+m9i

and h7:

http://www.amazon.com/CRYORIG-H7-Tower-Cooler-Intel/dp/B00S7YA5FQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1457930284&sr=8-2&keywords=cryorig+m9i
(both of these perform close to or better than the hyper 212, and look FAR better in a case).

they're also insanely easy to install vs a lot of other coolers.

I've had some stock intel coolers that were absolutely obnoxious when the speeds increased from idle. (edit-formatting)

The fan takes care of the VRMs. The metal plate on the PCB is probably enough to passively cool the VRAM. When I did a similar setup with my R9 290 I bought some of these for the VRAM modules.

Honestly though, I did testing both with and without the heatsinks (plus a few fell off over time), and the VRAM is completely fine without anything as well. Never saw any temps above 90.

You mean like these?

I've had a surprising amount of success with heatsinks like those on a few overclocked Raspberry Pis.

Clean out the vents on your case.

Get canned air and blow out all the dust.

Make sure all your fans are spinning.

Make sure your desktop is in a well-ventilated and air conditioned area.

Remove the heatsink, clean it and the top of the CPU and then reapply better thermal paste

Clean the video card: remove the gpu cooler and clear all the dust, clean the thermal compound with alcohol and apply new paste. If it still doesn't work, you can buy a 3rd party gpu cooler.

Thermal paste: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L9BDY3T/
GPU cooler: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005I9IM4E/

you'd need two of these, and if you'd like one of these or these (optional). Pump/reservoir/radiator recommendations are based on case compatibility. A fan controller that is compatible with water temperature sensors is recommended as well.


However, if only one card is getting that hot, have you considered taking the heatsink off and putting on better thermal compound such as Gelid GC-Extreme? I'd try that first.

Looks good. With the parts you already have, you can't really go wrong with the others.

An after-market CPU cooler is ALWAYS recommended when OC'ing. Personally I like this. But a lot of people will recommend this.

That's pretty sweet!

On a related note, has anyone tried a graphite pad with 7nm Ryzen yet?

https://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Cooling-Graphite-Thermal-Pad/dp/B07CKVW18G

Just curious as to what the results were. The reviews of this graphite pad speak highly of the product.

Edit: Ahhh, we DO have a reddit thread for that!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/cdslyf/testing_graphite_thermal_pads_with_a_3700x/

Nothing to see here. Move along!

For the undervolt you can easily push easily,

-120mV core ( moving to -150 you need to check for stability )

-100mV cache ( -120 may cause instability )

-100mV iGPU core

-100mV system agent

Make a throttlestop profile and make it start automatically. There is a ton of tutorials.

You can cut down the clock speeds since you cant see benefit above 3.8ghz .

Make 4.0ghz single core , 3.9ghz dual core , 3.8ghz quad core , or lower in a similar 0.1ghz decrease.

These downclocks will get the higher undervolting values possible , like -180 core.

​

In terms of significance Undervolt = Thermal Paste > Cooling Pad

​

​

Ok , start by watching these videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d03OQFx1b-Q ( @around 5min . )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biPpnH7KnXo full walkthrough of the previous model.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPUCYUiGWZQ general repaste video.

​

Kryonaut thermal paste

https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Grizzly-Kryonaut-Grease-Paste/dp/B00ZJSF5LM/ref=pd_cp_147_2?pd_rd_w=6QWwH&pf_rd_p=ef4dc990-a9ca-4945-ae0b-f8d549198ed6&pf_rd_r=2VQK9HCAAZZ9TZSYVQEK&pd_rd_r=ad661e5a-d062-4f33-a32c-3e1a34902b3b&pd_rd_wg=l7wzh&pd_rd_i=B00ZJSF5LM&psc=1&refRID=2VQK9HCAAZZ9TZSYVQEK

​

Gelid GC thermal paste.

https://www.amazon.com/GELID-GC-Extreme-3-5g-tooling-Conductivity/dp/B002P5W4RU/ref=pd_sbs_147_1/132-5597144-8566058?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B002P5W4RU&pd_rd_r=0c20f2a1-7946-43c7-aa06-0c33d07e377a&pd_rd_w=aSR0f&pd_rd_wg=d95GD&pf_rd_p=d66372fe-68a6-48a3-90ec-41d7f64212be&pf_rd_r=SM1GYT0DYEXKHPTNBR90&psc=1&refRID=SM1GYT0DYEXKHPTNBR90

Yeah I would definitely check out the Cryorig H7.

It is smaller, quieter, and performs better than the 212 Evo. It is also much less of a hassle to install, and will fit in the V31.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor | $369.99 @ SuperBiiz
CPU Cooler | Thermalright TRUE Spirit 140 (BW) 73.6 CFM CPU Cooler | $49.90 @ Amazon
Motherboard | Asus X99-PRO/USB 3.1 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard | $319.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory | Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $69.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Samsung 950 PRO 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $181.95 @ SuperBiiz
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $54.50 @ Amazon
Case | Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case | $72.99 @ NCIX US
Power Supply | EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $89.99 @ Amazon
Optical Drive | LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer | $39.89 @ OutletPC
Other| NZXT 5.25-Inch Hue RGB LED Color Changing Controller | $31.99
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $1281.18
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-01 13:51 EDT-0400 |

Get the cooler here.

Hi, The thermal paste we use at the Apple Authorised Service Provider I work for is this https://www.amazon.fr/ARCTIC-MX-4-2019-Refroidisseur-Dissipateur/dp/B07L9BDY3T/ref=sr_1_4?__mk_fr_FR=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&keywords=mx-4&qid=1567774785&s=gateway&sr=8-4. It is much better than the Apple thermal.

The Samsung EVO 860 you linked is an SSD we use for customers Macs, we also use the Crucial MX500, both are good SSDs.

The ram you linked is fine, we use Crucial ram but Crucial ram is normally more expensive.

u/ThunderAnt advice to make a bootable USB installer before repalcing the drive is a good idea as it won't rely on the internet during the install.

If you have the MacBook Pro 13" 2012 non retina then be extremely careful with the hard drive cable as it easily fails https://beetstech.com/blog/prevent-a1278-mid-2012-hard-drive-cable-failure

Snap a couple of fans in the front and you'll be perfectly fine.

----

As far as the solutions for the 1080ti, apart from morpheusII, if you want actual product:

NZXT G12 mounting kit

and whichever supported AIO cooler (check this list).

You will need to do some research first for both morpheusII and AIO GPU mounted though. Maybe you need some VRM/VRAM heatsinks as well or something else.

I have a graphite thermal pad sitting in my office. Been wondering if I should give that a try that on my X. My Scorpio edition runs quiet except for RDR2 :) The graphite pad intrigues me because it will never go bad or need replacing, assuming it does a good job???

https://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Cooling-Graphite-Thermal-Pad/dp/B07CKVW18G

Everytime I see this type of discussion, I have to chime in because I did it, but didn't realize you need these too, cgminer doesn't like not seeing a GPU fan speed. (connect it to the 92mm fan). Not sure if sgminer works without GPU fan speed.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160851460913

I did the red mod before receiving my g10 kraken with a thermaltake water extreme 2.0 240mm Rad, so these are my observations (copied from my other comments)

-If you don't want to use zip ties and don't want to buy the adapter (really hard to tension zip ties well)

http://www.mckeemaker.com/2014/01/diy-asetek-water-cooling-on-r9-290.html

--You REALLY need VRM cooling, one fan on top with no VRM heatsink is not enough, try these

-You should also consider VRAM heatsinks as well like this or like this

-get one of these to connect a fan to the GPU header, cgminer doesn't like if it can't read the fan speed, though you can use -T arguement to get cgminer to work.

My 290 at 100% load now hovers at 50-55C and is really quiet with 2 SP120 Quiet Editions :)

This post reminds me that I should dust out the rad when I get home.

Yeah I was looking at the Cryorig H7 Tower Cooler for a cooling solution. Only thing holding me back is my current mobo doesn't support overclocking, so I'm going to be forking out $100+ for a better one. Oh well. We'll see if it's worth it.

... I can't remember what changed but it still looks good :)

The H7 is $35 on Amazon.

You are pushing your SOC VRM way too hard, you need to add a fan. Adding heatsinks to the mosfets might help (more surface area and thermal mass), but without adequate airflow to dissipate the heat you would end up with the same 100°C eventually. A combination of small heatsinks + fan would be ideal.

With respect to the comments about your VRM cooling needs, it's not difficult to make some gains in that area.

Get these: https://www.amazon.com/Enzotech-MOS-C1-MOSFET-Heatsinks-Pack/dp/B004CLDIHK/ref=pd_bxgy_147_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=RF6KXHY2C8N48XRBQP9T

Apply them to your VRMs as illustrated here: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=134104&d=1382197078

(the 10 modules in the red rectangle to the left of the CPU socket)

You end up with something like this: http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/3oh6/evga/x58sli/small/heat-6.jpg

i am not in the US so don't really know the best options

via amazon here is the NZXT Kraken G10

here is an example of a compatible cooler, the Corsair H55

and here is an example of VRM heatsinks

i don't know if these are the best priced options just grabbed good examples of what would work

note that this is more modification than people usually do - replacing a GPU heatsink is not too common of an activity but it is not too hard if you are careful

So I ordered https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CK9SHZG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

thermal pad, and seems to have a really good reviews, would it be better to use that pad for the processor as well instead of the paste?

The way that panel comes off it would be easy to replace it with a better heatsink. I'll bet one of these would do much better.

Apparently overheating is a serious problem with this model:
https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/494982/calling-all-aspire-v-nitro-2017-593g-owners-thermal-issues-discussion

Replacing the thermal grease shouldn't be too difficult. You'll have to carefully remove the entire fan/heatpipe cooling assembly along with any attached cables, the two processors should be right underneath, to the immediate north and northwest of the memory slot.

While you have the assembly removed, inspect both fans carefully for any signs of dust/fur blockage, especially the ran blades and radiator fins. If you see any debris, you can carefully clean that with canned air or (very carefully) with some alcohol and a pipecleaner or toothbrush. If using air, use one finger to hold the fan blades from spinning - resist the urge to "whizz" the fan with the compressed air or you can easily ruin the fans. Optionally you can remove the fan covers with a jewelers screwdriver and clean them thoroughly.

When replacing the assembly, carefully tighten each of the mounting screws in sequence according to the numbers stamped into the cooling assembly. High quality thermal grease will run you about $7.

https://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-MX-4-2019-Performance-Durability/dp/B07L9BDY3T

https://youtu.be/Cz4X4f8WeHg?t=727

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002P5W4RU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Every once in a while you see a report about what is the best paste this stuff has been winning for a while

The stock cooler should be just fine if you don't plan to overclock. The stock cooler comes with pre-applied Cooler Master thermal paste, but it's always good to have some in case you need to reseat the cooler or change to an aftermarket one, I'd recommend Arctic MX-4 2019 Edition (8-year paste). The only change I'd do is to a 512GB NVMe SSD with 512MB cache for less.

Not bad!

One change: You'll get much better cooling performance with a "tower-style" cooler like this one: https://www.amazon.com/CRYORIG-Tower-Cooler-Intel-CPUs/dp/B00S7YA5FQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1500495617&sr=1-1&keywords=cryorig

The cooler you've selected right now is made for small-form-factor cases where fitting the cooler into a predetermined amount of space is more important that overall cooling performance.

I did a lot of research on Carbonaut and IC Graphite, and almost all the (professional) reviews put the IC Graphite a tad ahead of Carbonaut. But I believe this stems from mounting pressure, or lack thereof. The performance of the Carbonaut scales with mounting pressure, and my suspicion from reading reviews, is that in most cases, and with most types of cooling solutions, the average Joe like myself, won't achieve the mounting pressure needed to make the Carbonaut shine and outperform the IC Graphite.

Another thing to consider, is that, although Carbonaut has excellent thermal conductivity in the Z axis (from the IHS towards the heat sink), it doesn't have as good thermal conductivity in the two other axis as the IC Graphite does. This is because the Carbonaut has fibers, and these fibers are aligned in the Z axis specifically to make it most efficient in that axis. So it seems the IC Graphite is better at dealing with small hot-spots. If you look at images of the 3900X without the IHS, the two CCX dies are tiny in area compared to the total area of the IHS. The CCX dies are two hot-spots.

As for the customer reviews, I found that the IC Graphite not only has a lot more reviews (e.g. larger sample size), but it has much better customer reviews as well:

• https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Grizzly-Carbonaut-Pad-0-2/dp/B07PHN2ZNY#customerReviews
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Grizzly-Carbonaut-Pad-0-2/dp/B07PGLL1YX#customerReviews
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Grizzly-Carbonaut-51-0-2/dp/B07PGK47L9#customerReviews
  
  vs
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Cooling-Graphite-Thermal-Pad/dp/B07CKVW18G#customerReviews
  
  ​
  
  All things considered, I opted for IC Graphite.

I think a lot of people recommend Arctic MX-4 but personally I used Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut and it's been working great.

something like this? measure the area you need as you get bigger ones also.


you can try sticking them on with thermal pads but these tend to fall off with smaller sized heatsinks and high temps. ideally you would use heat conductive glue (like this).


note that you will still need adequate airflow (directly onto the vrm's if possible).

I have this for $85 shipped.

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-3200MHz-Desktop-Memory/dp/B0143UM4TC

Works perfectly fine with Ryzen buids @ xmp speed.

I can also include this for another $25:

https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NH-L9x65-SE-AM4-Premium-Grade-Low-Profile/dp/B01N27QWFA

Complete with original box and accessories.

Well the other day Rasberry Pi 3 Model B was $28 w/ free Shipping so:

Raspberry Pi- $28

32GB SD card- $13

2.5A Power Supply- $10

Heatsinks- $5

Case- $8

HDMI Cable- $7

_____

Total- $ 71

I'd say it's an okay deal. I'd rather buy it bundled anyway, just so it all arrives at once.

I was able to pick up double sided thermal tape almost two years ago. It was used to apply heat sinks to my GTX 1080 Ti and it works quite well. I definitely recommend it. Plus it's fairly inexpensive and there is A LOT of it. The heat sinks stay on real well and are not permanent. To take of the heat sink it only required a minor twist and they popped off with the tape stuck on the heat sinks.

You need to use thermal grizzly conductonaut. It worked like a charm for me. you can ge it from amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Grizzly-Conductonaut-Grease-Paste/dp/B01A9KIGSI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520263293&sr=8-1&keywords=thermal+grizzly+conductonaut

But make sure you know what you doing. Otherwise you will brick your laptop

Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 Premium-Grade Low-Profile CPU Cooler for AMD AM4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N27QWFA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_9jiUDbMZVRP3F
This one should fit then, and it's a way better cooler anyway. Lol

Wow, according to the claimed data the Grizzly is 4x more thermally conductive than the Diamond!

But then Arctic Silver claims numbers almost 30,000 times that. WHAT?!

http://www.amazon.com/CRYORIG-H7-Tower-Cooler-Intel/dp/B00S7YA5FQ

is this the right one wanna check before i order wrong item again haha.

and ram is already shipped. Dang wish i knew mire about these stuff. Well hopefully won't be to bad

Yeah, I got a GTX1080 and a i7-7700K(neither of which are over-clocked at the moment), but my cooler is the relatively inexpensive CRYORIG H7(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00S7YA5FQ/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). I based my build off of a freind's build (which is why I went with that particular cooler), but he got a GTX-1070 and an i5-6600K for his build, so I guess when I went for the 1080/i7-7700k upgrades I probably should have gotten a better cooler as well. This was the first time I had ever built a PC, and going with a liquid-cooling system just seemed out of my league at the moment.

You're lucky I just spent my day researching this as I plan to do it. Get the twin turbo III. Then I'm buying ram heat sinks off of Amazon and buying the vrm heat sinks from the hybrid 120 III off arctic cooling's page. From what I'm reading the vrms get fairly hot 91 celcius with just the backplate heatsink which is why I'm installing extra on the front. Also make sure there is enough clearance on your board, front fan = 53 mm, rear heatsink = 23mm.

That being said my comp needs a primary card to recognize the Rx 480 for some reason, so personally the heat sink from my quadro nvs 295 at 18mm will just touch the twin turbo rear heatsink who knows maybe that will dissipate vrm heat further. When I get home I'll link you the vram and vrm/fet heatsinks.

Arctic Cooling Twin Turbo III

https://www.arctic.ac/worldwide_en/accelero-twin-turbo-iii.html

Vram Heatsinks

https://www.amazon.com/Cosmos-Copper-Cooling-Heatsinks-cooler/dp/B00637X42A

VRM Heatsinks

https://www.arctic.ac/worldwide_en/h3-vrm-generic.html

Different cpus disperse heat differently. For example the i5 2500k and the 3570k are both different when it comes to temps.

Even if the kuhler 620 is better than the hyper 212 it still costs more and will definitely be beaten by something like the thermalright macho which is still like $8 cheaper than the antec.

http://www.amazon.com/ThermalRight-HR-02-MACHO-Thermalright-Macho/dp/B005ERSN7G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349039957&sr=8-1&keywords=thermalright+macho

I used the spread method as the paste I used came with a nifty little spreader. LinusTechTips tested each method and ultimately it makes no real difference. It's mostly personal preference. For me, I feel comforted to know that at the time I put the heatsink on, every part of the die was covered in a thin layer. With Pea/Line method there's a chance you haven't done enough, so there might be gaps on the edges - or too much and it spooges everywhere!

GC-Extreme was my paste of choice. No need to warm it up, but be patient, it's not like paint. You have to work at it slowly.
I bought from Amazon for £8.99 - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002P5W4RU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That one tube was more than enough. It'll easily do another 6-8 applications, probably more. You don't need a lot as the die for the CPU is about the size of your thumbnail and the GPU is roughly twice that.

I didn't use any tape - I'm pretty used to doing repastes as I've been overclocking desktop PC's for years. A steady hand is all that's needed.

I had the same problem when I swapped in my 3900x a few weeks ago. My old 2700x's pins got dinged up pretty bad.

I was using a high quality TIM (Noctua) but apparently over time it just melted/glued itself to the cpu and cpu cooler and didn't want to let go.

With that lesson learned - I have since switched to using these graphite thermal pads instead of the pastes / liquids. They are not as performance capable as the best TIM but I don't overclock and just want maximum stability, so the sacrifice of O/C headroom is no big deal to me.

From Amazon "Innovation Cooling Graphite Thermal Pad – Alternative to Thermal Paste/Grease (40 X 40mm)"

For the fan, something like this: https://www.amazon.ca/CRYORIG-Tower-Cooler-Intel-CPUs/dp/B00S7YA5FQ will do. Remember that liquid cooler has two parts that make sound: pump and fan. Also they are more likely to break than air coolers

>HardOCP did review both the H7 and H60.

>http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/09/22/cryorig_h7_cpu_air_cooler_review/3

>http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014/11/24/corsair_h60_aio_cpu_cooling_system_update_review/3

> It seems like the H60 wins out a little at max temperatures, but otherwise the H7 is as cool and they're equally noisy.

Mhm I see. It just looks all kinda complicated on my laptop because i need to take off like 3-4 layers before actually reaching the cpu, gpu...

Also can I buy that paste on amazon?
Like this ? https://www.amazon.ca/ARCTIC-MX-4-2019-Performance-Durability/dp/B07L9BDY3T/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1S40LGKLPHCKK&keywords=mx4+thermal+paste&qid=1564368491&s=gateway&sprefix=mx4+%2Caps%2C167&sr=8-2

Didn't know you were in Canada, that does complicate things a bit. You could try Amazon.ca as they have the Cryorig H7 in stock. /u/eluveitie93 mentioned in another comment that they have the same case as you do (Corsair 100R) and the Hyper 212 Evo fit in their case just fine.

If that's the case, you could go with Newegg.ca and get the Hyper 212 Evo from them since they also have a rebate, bringing it down to $26 after rebate.

Newegg.ca Hyper 212
Amazon.ca Cryorig H7

As far as air cooling goes, both are excellent coolers and they are only surpassed by the Noctua NH-D15 (which is 165mm tall with fans and costs twice as much).

> thermal paste replacement

Shouldn't be necessary. Some pastes have a break in period only which afterwards they perform optimally. But saying that, its good. Do what I did, put Conductonaut on there ;)

I'm joking, dont. Ask them what brand they use, then I'll judge them

Either get a new battery or try reapplying the thermal solution. This should be perfect for no hassle. Just keep hand oils off it. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKVW18G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_jsydBb96XYKGG

Most people don't need liquid metal TIM but I'd suggest Arctic MX-2/MX-4 due to their ease of application and overall thermal conductivity. There are graphite pads available on Amazon or Aliexpress which are even easier to apply (no cleanup) and have decent thermal properties.

I would get a hyper 212 and some new thermal paste. NOT arctic silver. This is very very good. All together your talking a $50 investment for a lot of peace of mind.

If you haven't looked into it, there is a graphite thermal cooling pad that is easy to install and remove. You can get them for about $10 on Amazon. They get good results without the mess and hassle of paste.

Edit: Here's the link
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKVW18G?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share