PC Building Guide and Discussion #14

[cphabs]

My 5900x and 7900xtx Nitro+ are doing just fine at 2k 240hz. If I wanted to? With this setup? I could easily go 4K.

 

[Mikeaveli]

I haven't done much gaming since upgrading my CPU but the difference in general responsiveness is surprisingly noticeable. Even programs like Visual Studio which are notoriously slow to start now open nearly instantly lol. Ableton Live still takes a few seconds but it's definitely faster than before. Overall I'm impressed.

 

[PeteWorrell]

Gamers Nexus released a mammoth video about the impact of tariffs on the industry interviewing representatives from multiple companies like Corsair.

 

[Osprey]

I upgraded the major components of my PC (GPU, CPU, MB and RAM) last month. I didn't really need to, especially since I play more older games than newer ones, but I wanted to do it while things were still relatively cheap and for peace of mind. I should be set now for the next 4 years. That said, prices may not go up quite as much as initially expected, since a few exceptions for computer parts were announced last week (and maybe not factored into the GN video), but I'm still glad that I don't have to worry about them going up even a little and regretting not buying beforehand.

 

[RandV]

Man it's kind of a mess trying to sort through video cards. My PC is about 6 years old (and I just realized that surprisingly nothings ever broken on it), an AMD Ryzen 5 2600 CPU with 8 GB of RAM, but I cheaped out on the GPU at the time and got GTX 1050 TI 4GB card. That's now bottle necking me as I'm trying to play Clair Obscur, which has a minimum of requirement of: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB / AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT 6 GB / Intel Arc A380 6 GB, and recommended of: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB / AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT 16 GB.

I search for the GTX 1060 on Amazon (not really digging into Newegg/Memory Express just yet) and they go for about $240-$280 Cdn. I'm looking at what I can find for 8GB cards which opens up a much wider price range.

The cheapest one I see is this RX 580, but at $215 that just seems off. This ASUS GeForce RTX 3050 at $350 I'm thinking maybe as that's about as high as I want to go, but I notice this is the single fan version and there's the dual fan for $520 and something they call TUF Gaming for $460. I'm wondering how much of a difference all this makes, and where does this ASUS card fall into the above Clair Obscur requirements? Or rather than an 8GB single would I be better off with a 6GB dual if the price is similar? I should note that I do have a poor airflow issue for my desktop with no way around it.

It's a long time ago by now but I really miss the old days before crypto currency and now AI.

Edit: Just looking a bit more but I'm wondering about the QoL vs performance of something like this 'Low-Profile' RTX 3050 6GB card for $300. Something that's quiet and doesn't run hot has more value to me then getting some extra framerates.

 

[Osprey]

If you have an Nvidia card (any, not just from the 50 series) and updated your graphics driver in the last few weeks to 576.02, know that there's a serious bug in it that can prevent the temperature sensor from reporting accurate data after waking up from sleep. What this leads to is the fans not spinning up as the temperature increases, which can impact performance and stability and even fry your card. I've read at least one report of someone's card being killed by this driver bug. If you're running 576.02, you should download and install the 576.26 hotfix immediately:

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5652

This news is a week old, but I just learned of it and figure "better late than never" because some of you may still be using 576.02 and in danger of cooking your cards.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

I'm nuts. I'm still on 572.60 with my 5090 FE and it's been smooth sailing.

 

[Scorofeyev]

Even after buying a new power supply to try to use a 12vhpwr cable my graphics card won't display a signal to my monitor. I tried the default cable that was running my 4070 Ti, the 12vhpwr cable and the adapter that came with the 5070 Ti. I bought the Silkland 80GBS DP 2.1 cable and tried various HDMI cables. LED lights on the graphics card light up when I power on the PC. I really don't want to buy a new mobo or mobo/cpu combo after spending $2,500 on this computer not that long ago. I don't know what else to do. It's an HP Omen 45L so it's hard to find any info or get help from people who own the same system. I've got a $1,000 paperweight just sitting on my bedroom floor for 2 months.

 

[Osprey]

Even after buying a new power supply to try to use a 12vhpwr cable my graphics card won't display a signal to my monitor. I tried the default cable that was running my 4070 Ti, the 12vhpwr cable and the adapter that came with the 5070 Ti. I bought the Silkland 80GBS DP 2.1 cable and tried various HDMI cables. LED lights on the graphics card light up when I power on the PC. I really don't want to buy a new mobo or mobo/cpu combo after spending $2,500 on this computer not that long ago. I don't know what else to do. It's an HP Omen 45L so it's hard to find any info or get help from people who own the same system. I've got a $1,000 paperweight just sitting on my bedroom floor for 2 months.

It won't display anything, not even the normal bootup logos and text before it gets to Windows (or whatever your OS is)? Also, is it just the 5070 Ti that isn't showing a signal, i.e. if you put your 4070 Ti back in, it works?

I would first try unplugging the AC power cord from the back of the power supply, removing the power connectors from the card, removing the card and then re-inserting everything in reverse. Speaking of power connectors, your power supply might've come with a 12vhpwer cable, so you might try using that instead of the one that you already have.

If that doesn't help, try resetting the CMOS. I looked up your system and there maybe a button for it on the back panel:

Try holding it down for several seconds. I don't know if the system should be on or off, so I'd try it both ways.
If that doesn't seem to do anything or the button is missing, you can try resetting the CMOS manually:

Also, it may help to unplug the AC power cord and hold down your case power button for 20 or so seconds to drain power from the system.

 

[Scorofeyev]

System powers on but just a blank screen. No boot screen to try safe mode or get into the BIOS. Correct, the 4070 works fine. The 12vhpwer cable is the one that came with the PSU. The OEM PSU was non modular I guess it's called so it had to be replaced to even try the 12vhpwer. I'll try the CMOS thing. DDU driver uninstaller is like the only other option I haven't tried at this point.

 

[Osprey]

System powers on but just a blank screen. No boot screen to try safe mode or get into the BIOS. Correct, the 4070 works fine. The 12vhpwer cable is the one that came with the PSU. The OEM PSU was non modular I guess it's called so it had to be replaced to even try the 12vhpwer. I'll try the CMOS thing. DDU driver uninstaller is like the only other option I haven't tried at this point.

DDU won't help if you're not seeing the initial BIOS bootup information that you do see when the 4070 Ti is in. It simply uninstalls Windows drivers, but it sounds like you're not getting a signal before Windows even loads.

One more thing that you can try is to put your 4070 Ti in the system, get into the BIOS, see if there's a setting for the mode of the first PCI x16 slot and set it to Gen 3 or 4. That reportedly has fixed it for a few people with a similar issue. You could also try loading the default settings while you're in there, though clearing CMOS should've already done that. Oh, and you might see if HP has a BIOS update for the system that you can download and install.

If none of that helps, you might try posting in the HPOmen subreddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/HPOmen/

 

[Scorofeyev]

Yeah, I tried the BIOS. I had read about changing from PCI 5 to 3 or 4 helped some people but the HP BIOS doesn't have anything about that in there. The BIOS is kind of limited which is why I was thinking of replacing the mobo. I'm just not going to have the funds for that for a while. I did post in that reddit and didn't get any replies.

 

[Osprey]

So, you tried the CMOS reset, I take it. Have you tried updating the BIOS? I see that one version of the HP Omen 45L has a long list of BIOS updates and the last was in January.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/desktops

Also, I see in the changelog that the 45L's BIOS has an "advanced page" with memory overclocking, so it can't be that limited. Could it be that you just didn't find that advanced page? Also, look around for a "Search" or magnifying glass button and, if there is one, try searching for that PCI gen mode setting.

If you still can't fix the issue, perhaps you should just go back to your 4070 Ti. The 5070 Ti is only 28% faster. After already buying a new PSU that you didn't need, do you really want to buy a new motherboard and have the hassle of installing it just to get that extra 28%? If money is tight, just return the 5070 Ti, if you can, or re-sell it. The way that the market is right now, you might get back everything that you paid for it. Your 4070 Ti should be more than fine for several more years.

 

[Osprey]

This tech tuber has a theory as to why Ryzen 9000 series X3D CPUs are dying mainly on ASRock motherboards. Apparently, on ASRock motherboards, when the "SOC/Uncore OC Mode" setting in the BIOS is set to Auto (as it is by default), its effective setting is Disabled, which allows the SOC voltage to fluctuate and potentially go higher than it should. When it's set to Enabled (or, on other vendors' boards, when Auto defaults to Enabled), the voltage stays constant, which is preferable. I don't really understand why the SOC voltage (and not the CPU voltage) would fry the CPU, but it does make sense that a different default for a BIOS setting could be why it's affecting mainly ASRock boards, and the few cases of other vendors' boards frying CPUs could be simply due to people manually changing the setting to Disabled for whatever reason. Anyways, if you happen to have an ASRock motherboard and a Ryzen 9000 series X3D CPU, or know someone who does, you might care to set "SOC/Uncore OC Mode" in the BIOS to Enabled just to be safe, in case this guy's theory is correct.

 

[Osprey]

Nvidia is at it again. They're hand-picking which outlets are allowed to publish Day 1 reviews of the 5060 and restricting what they can say. At least it tells us which outlets can't be trusted and that the 5060 probably isn't worth buying.

 

[PeteWorrell]

Intel used the same kind of tactics when they dominated the market.

That's why i will never understand people being fanboys and cheering for certain companies to become virtual monopolies. Customers end up with worse products at a higher cost while the media gets strongarmed into submission in a bid to mislead potential buyers.

Here is a comment under the Gamers Nexus video:

"As a former NVIDIA employee, I can confidently say that Steve has only scratched the surface here.The pressure for media coverage is not just global—it escalates in regions where AdSense revenue is lower. In such markets, many tech editors rely almost entirely on funding from hardware manufacturers to stay afloat.Beyond the press, partners are routinely pressured to limit or drop AMD—both in terms of inventory and channel visibility—under the implicit (and sometimes explicit) threat of losing their marketing support from NVIDIA.And as for vindictiveness—NVIDIA operates with it at every level, even when there’s no strategic need. I continue to feel the consequences of that behavior to this day, behavior I can only describe as petty and deeply childish."