The PC Build Thread

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Gtx Gaming

Gtx Gaming
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Trying to finalize my loadshedding ready working/gaming setup.
Pan to have gaming laptop with 1 monitor running, this way battery requirements are much less. I have the laptop just need the right monitor.

I am looking for Dell U2520D 25" WQHD (2560x1440) but seems nobody sells it anymore?

I have used it before at my clients place and it fantastic monitor to use? Is there anything similar on the market? A good 24/25 inch 1440p monitor?
 
impracticaldogg

impracticaldogg

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I'm in a similar situation to @mojoman nursing an old system but hope to take advantage of the new tech (next year if I can hold out). This system is lasting well because I pumped it full of RAM (all 8GB).
How much RAM should I buy this time? I'm happy to go with DDR4 to be able to buy more
 
UrBaN963

UrBaN963

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impracticaldogg said:
I'm in a similar situation to @mojoman nursing an old system but hope to take advantage of the new tech (next year if I can hold out). This system is lasting well because I pumped it full of RAM (all 8GB).
How much RAM should I buy this time? I'm happy to go with DDR4 to be able to buy more
Click to expand...
What do you use the PC for? If it's just gaming, go for 16GB. If you do work on it then it depends what you do, there could be an argument for 32GB.
 
impracticaldogg

impracticaldogg

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I do light gaming, browsing and office apps on it mostly atm. Have a fairly powerful laptop with 16GB RAM for work, but I use some large spatial data sets (satellite images and maps) which thrash the storage. I like being able to add large HDDs as I need them to a PC.
So I'm thinking of going for 32GB RAM, or 1 stick of 16GB and have an option to upgrade
 
UrBaN963

UrBaN963

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impracticaldogg said:
I do light gaming, browsing and office apps on it mostly atm. Have a fairly powerful laptop with 16GB RAM for work, but I use some large spatial data sets (satellite images and maps) which thrash the storage. I like being able to add large HDDs as I need them to a PC.
So I'm thinking of going for 32GB RAM, or 1 stick of 16GB and have an option to upgrade
Click to expand...
You'd want 2 sticks, otherwise you'll be running single-channel which is a performance hit. So you could go for 2x8 and add another 2x8 later (assuming you get a motherboard with 4 RAM slots), otherwise start with 2x16. RAM isn't too expensive these days and with DDR5 becoming a thing, we might see some price drops. Maybe.
 
Barbarian Conan

Barbarian Conan

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impracticaldogg said:
I'm in a similar situation to @mojoman nursing an old system but hope to take advantage of the new tech (next year if I can hold out). This system is lasting well because I pumped it full of RAM (all 8GB).
How much RAM should I buy this time? I'm happy to go with DDR4 to be able to buy more
Click to expand...

With my previous PC I started with 4GB and ended with 24GB.
I think 16GB is a good "enthusiast minimum" at the moment, I went for 32GB straight out of the gate so that I can go for 64GB eventually. I expect that in about 2 years time DDR4 will probably hit a low before becoming scarce and more expensive again.

You want to buy a motherboard with 4 slots, and start with 2 x 8 or 2 x 16 GB sticks.
 
Barbarian Conan

Barbarian Conan

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mojoman said:
Any advice for me...

I have an AMD A10-7850K that I want to upgrade...Been using it for last 8 years....
Power supply is mucking about and the HDD is quite old so I think its time...
Anyway...I dont have a great GPU...Just a 1650GTX...

Am looking at either a I3 - 10100F/10105F or a I3 - 12100F...
With a cheap mobo and decent RAM...I am leaning to the new 12th gen...specs on paper look good
I also aim for good mileage on a PC so this will have to last me till I leave in the next 5 years or less..

The price difference is about R1000 (thats for the mobo, CPU, RAM) ...
Just not sure which one to go...Any suggestions? Not a big gamer...bit of CS GO...I would like to get Flight Sim and possible have a go with Apex again...And run normal office apps....

And no...second hand is pointless...I see the second hand computer parts market is like the MTB bike parts market...people seem to think they are offering a moerse deal by selling things about R10 less than what I could buy them for brand new....
Click to expand...

As others have said, 12th gen, and specifically the 12400 is the best value you can get right now. You can go for the Ryzen 5600 as well. It might be possible to buy an AMD CPU + MB for cheaper than an Intel CPU + MB.
 
mojoman

mojoman

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Barbarian Conan said:
As others have said, 12th gen, and specifically the 12400 is the best value you can get right now. You can go for the Ryzen 5600 as well. It might be possible to buy an AMD CPU + MB for cheaper than an Intel CPU + MB.
Click to expand...
Ja, thanks all...Will most likely go with the 12 gen...I dont have a load of money available (none really but I need a PC!) so it will have to be the cheapie chippy for now.....
 
ponder

ponder

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mojoman said:
Ja, thanks all...Will most likely go with the 12 gen...I dont have a load of money available (none really but I need a PC!) so it will have to be the cheapie chippy for now.....
Click to expand...

Try for a b660 motherboard with 4 dimm slots.
 
G

Gtx Gaming

Gtx Gaming
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Takealot

www.takealot.com

Cheapie laptop cooler helped quited a bit, cpu is boosting 3ghz during gaming now from the 2.3ghz it use to do, which means im getting much better gpu usage also.
 
N

non-stop

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I built a new 3070/I7-12700 system last week for my daughter ... went with DDR4 on an MSI Tomahawk ... runs great (gives my 3950X a very good run for the money)
 
Rouxenator

Rouxenator

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It works - it's easy.

You want to know what's ugly? I only use ITX so I have to stick one of those on the back of the mobo.....
 
Rouxenator

Rouxenator

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My 2nd PC - really loving this one. AMD A6-5200 pulled from an HP OEM PC. Still waiting for the proper mobo to SATA power cables so I made my own. These failed bulldozer based AMD processors are some of my favourites. Despite the 1280x1024 monitor it handles 1440p Youtube just fine.

IMG_20220525_193144.jpg

IMG_20220525_193202.jpg
 
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