Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

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Calavera
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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

Post by Calavera »

It arrived yesterday (around 26 hours after I placed the order) Well everything but the PSU and Video Card. I put it together and it all went extremely smooth. One of the smoothest builds I've put together. I had the RAM in the wrong slots for dual channel at first but as soon as it boots it tells you they are wrong and with slots to install them in.

I always have monitoring gadgets running on my second monitor for CPU and GPU usage and temps. The CPU monitor certainly looks a lot different.
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The i5-3570k was a dual core so it showed 4 threads. With the 3600x being a six core it has 12. Imagine having a 64 core CPU and trying to run that! Also I now have 16GB total showing when on the other one it showed 15.9 for some reason. I never worried about it. I've probably never really used over 10gb or so and that is only when I have a million tabs open on Firefox and it has been running for awhile.
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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

Post by melancholy »

Make sure your RAM is showing the correct speed. You may have to enable XMP in the BIOS if it isn’t.

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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

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melancholy wrote: Sun May 03, 2020 12:27 pm Make sure your RAM is showing the correct speed. You may have to enable XMP in the BIOS if it isn’t.
Yep I did that earlier. I ran CPU-Z and it was only running at 1066mhz. I enabled XMP and it is now running at the correct 1600mhz speed.


I looked up videos of the 3600x overclocked and don't really understand it. They will overclock all cores to something like 4.2ghz and say they can't get any higher than that and really had to crank the volts up to get the high. What sense does that make when it already boosts higher than that to 4.4ghz? In the bios of the motherboard I have it has an option for a gaming performance mode that adds 400mhz to the base clock but it disables the automatic fan control and AMD Cool N Quiet so I didn't bother enabling it. An extra 400mhz isn't going to make any difference anyways.
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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

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The video card should be here Wednesday but I'm hoping for Tuesday. It was only 70 miles away from me at 6AM so I can hope! I'm glad I didn't just upgrade the PC without the video card. It wouldn't have made must sense. Sure some things run better now but the new video card should be a huge upgrade. I said the R9 ran most newer games ok and it does but Assassin Creeds Odyssey ran not so good on it. To actually get 60fps I would have to bet everything to low and even lower the resolution to 720p!

Well I was hoping for today but it was one of those kind of deliveries. It went from 70 miles south of me to 80 miles north of me! It got there at 3:18 so unless it departs in 2 hours or so it looks like I'll be waiting until tomorrow.

Also when I was putting the parts together for this build on Newegg the motherboards I picked were constantly going out of stock. I just checked Newegg and not only is the motherboard I have now out of stock but so is the CPU and the video card! Good thing I ordered when I did.
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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

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The card and power supply arrived early this morning. I've got them both installed and am currently downloading the drivers for the video card. I have one issue that I didn't even think about. This card has 4 outputs 3 Displayport and 1 HDMI. I use HDMI for my primary display but my second monitor uses DVI. Can I just use an Displayport to DVI adapter to still use the second monitor? If I can't run the second monitor it isn't a huge loss but I'd like to if possible.
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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

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Calavera wrote: Thu May 07, 2020 1:31 am The card and power supply arrived early this morning. I've got them both installed and am currently downloading the drivers for the video card. I have one issue that I didn't even think about. This card has 4 outputs 3 Displayport and 1 HDMI. I use HDMI for my primary display but my second monitor uses DVI. Can I just use an Displayport to DVI adapter to still use the second monitor? If I can't run the second monitor it isn't a huge loss but I'd like to if possible.
Yeah, any adapter should work without a hitch on a regular 60Hz 1080p monitor. They were hard to find last month because of everyone trying to get their work laptops hooked up at home.

I had to settle for VGA adapters for that extra gritty analog signal, they make those spreadsheets really pop!

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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

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pixel wrote: Thu May 07, 2020 2:00 am
Calavera wrote: Thu May 07, 2020 1:31 am The card and power supply arrived early this morning. I've got them both installed and am currently downloading the drivers for the video card. I have one issue that I didn't even think about. This card has 4 outputs 3 Displayport and 1 HDMI. I use HDMI for my primary display but my second monitor uses DVI. Can I just use an Displayport to DVI adapter to still use the second monitor? If I can't run the second monitor it isn't a huge loss but I'd like to if possible.
Yeah, any adapter should work without a hitch on a regular 60Hz 1080p monitor. They were hard to find last month because of everyone trying to get their work laptops hooked up at home.

I had to settle for VGA adapters for that extra gritty analog signal, they make those spreadsheets really pop!
This is the first new video card I've bought in around 6 years but I was surprised it didn't come with an adapter. I remember when DVI was newer a card I bought actually came with a DVI to VGA adapter. Are DVI monitors really that outdated?
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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

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Calavera wrote: Thu May 07, 2020 4:34 amThis is the first new video card I've bought in around 6 years but I was surprised it didn't come with an adapter. I remember when DVI was newer a card I bought actually came with a DVI to VGA adapter. Are DVI monitors really that outdated?
Time moves fast with technology standards. :osmile: DVI monitors aren't outdated per se, I'd venture that there are still lots of them out on store shelves. Any of my 1080p 60Hz monitors have a secondary DVI or VGA port, but my 1080p 144Hz monitor doesn't.

The biggest problem is that DVI doesn't support adaptive link standards like G-Sync, so the standard has died out among the gaming community.

The latest standards for HDMI and DisplayPort can support 4k+, better color spaces, 144Hz+ and a lot more. DVI can do some of these features, but not all of them. DP can also convert to VGA and DVI, so GPU makers can rely on adapters for legacy support (but they've stopped including them for free a few years ago).


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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

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On the Newegg page for the card it says the core speed is 1785mhz. Gpu-Z also lists the boost clock as 1785mhz, but when I run a game I'm actually getting 1905mhz. I wonder why that is? I'm not complaining obviously.

Also here is a cheap DP to DVI
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Display-Po ... Sw9fZeF4Du

Looks like that is all I need. Since they are so cheap I almost want to also get a DP to VGA just so I could hook up an old CRT for no reason!
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Dr. Zoidberg
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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

Post by Dr. Zoidberg »

AMD just announced that B550/X570 will be needed for Ryzen 4000 CPUs, so you made the right MB choice, Cal.

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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

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Dr. Zoidberg wrote: Fri May 08, 2020 2:29 am AMD just announced that B550/X570 will be needed for Ryzen 4000 CPUs, so you made the right MB choice, Cal.
Awesome! :ocool: So maybe in 10 years those chips will be affordable and I'll upgrade again! Then Mel will convince me that I need to just upgrade my whole motherboard because my current one doesn't support DDR7 ram. :olol:

Seriously though it is nice that those new chips will be supported by my motherboard. I haven't really done too much gaming with my new setup yet. I did play some Zelda BOTW on Cemu and it runs great now. It was unplayable before, getting around 15FPS or so. Assassin Creed Odyssey now gets an average of 65FPS on very high settings where with the 290X it was only getting 35FPS.

I just looked on Newegg and there are now no reasonable X570 boards in stock. Now there are just $350+ ones only! The 1660 Super I bought is out of stock. I'm glad I got the 1660 Super while the one I have was in stock. It is a big card, the same size as my old R9 290X but it has 3 fans and stays super cool. The R9 would idles in the 120s and get as high as the 190s while gaming. The 1660 Super is currently idling at 90F and I believe gets in the low 140s while gaming. A HUGE difference. Plus if I crank the fans all the way to 100 on the 1660 (which so far is not necessary) they aren't that much louder than the computer on its own. The R9 sounded like a damn vacuum cleaner at high fan speeds! It was pretty bad. I had been trying to play Shenmue 3 which I wouldn't consider that demanding of a game and the temps would rocket up to almost 200F and the fans would be screaming. I eventually slightly under clocked it keep the temp down to around 180F so I wouldn't have to run the fans so high. It is very nice to be able to play a game now and not have to keep monitoring the GPU temp.
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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

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Calavera wrote: Fri May 08, 2020 2:16 pmThe R9 would idles in the 120s and get as high as the 190s while gaming. The 1660 Super is currently idling at 90F and I believe gets in the low 140s while gaming. A HUGE difference. Plus if I crank the fans all the way to 100 on the 1660 (which so far is not necessary) they aren't that much louder than the computer on its own. The R9 sounded like a damn vacuum cleaner at high fan speeds! It was pretty bad.
As a previous owner of this exact same card, I can attest to how crazy hot and loud this card would get. It was probably my least favorite video card and I replaced it less than a year later with the 390x.

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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

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melancholy wrote: Fri May 08, 2020 3:13 pm As a previous owner of this exact same card, I can attest to how crazy hot and loud this card would get. It was probably my least favorite video card and I replaced it less than a year later with the 390x.
I've replaced the thermal paste a couple of times in the years I owned it. Made sure there was no dust blocking any of the fins, pretty much everything I could do outside of getting an aftermarket cooler and nothing would keep the temps down. They should not have been allowed to release the card in that condition which such an awful cooling solution. I don't think the Tri-X versions with 3 fans were much better. Do you recall which model you had? I had the Sapphire version.

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At one point I was considering getting a second one for Crossfire. Ha! That would have been a mess! My 630W PSU probably wouldn't have even been able to handle it with the 290X also being a power hog.
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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

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Glad to see it finally happened. Good choice on the build!
Hopefully it lasts you a long time and future CPU upgrades will be plentiful. I can’t complain about my first gen Ryzen Board (Aurus X370 gaming 5) which was supported from 2017 to even today’s CPUS, May you get a long as support cycle as the early Ryzen adopters did.

But as a mark of respect for your old card being put out to pasture. I would like to salute the 290/X. Amazing cards, and even though I went Nvidia a few years ago, the 290 still gets big marks from me.

I know more people still using 290’s and 290x’s today than any other single card.
And yes, the barrel coolers are woefully bad, but barrel coolers are bad on any card, but get a decent tri-x or wind force cooler, or fit an Arctic accelero or Kraken G10/12 with decent AIO and the cards still hold up really well for how cheap and how old the damn things are.

Sure they use more power than the Vegas strip and run as hot as a thousand suns, but god dammit if they didn’t get results!

And they never got absolutely crippled by software like the 780’s and 970’s they competed against did.

If I could have a decent high end card like that today for $500-600 I’d take it.
But NOOO, even upper mid range cards are $800+ Which is why I know why so many are holding onto their 290s until they absolutely die.

(I’ve owned 5 290’s and 2 X’s over the years, the last TRUELY great ATI/AMD GPU, up there with the 7870, 5870, 3850 and 9800)
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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

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Calavera wrote: Fri May 08, 2020 4:08 pmDo you recall which model you had? I had the Sapphire version.
I believe it was PowerColor.

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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

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ian wrote: Fri May 08, 2020 10:01 pm Glad to see it finally happened. Good choice on the build!
Hopefully it lasts you a long time and future CPU upgrades will be plentiful. I can’t complain about my first gen Ryzen Board (Aurus X370 gaming 5) which was supported from 2017 to even today’s CPUS, May you get a long as support cycle as the early Ryzen adopters did.
Thank you very much! I'm pretty happy with it. I think it should last me quite awhile.

ian wrote: Fri May 08, 2020 10:01 pm
But as a mark of respect for your old card being put out to pasture. I would like to salute the 290/X. Amazing cards, and even though I went Nvidia a few years ago, the 290 still gets big marks from me.
Oh I agree, aside from the heat issues it was a great card. It still ran many newer games very well. But don't worry it shall live on! My girlfriend wants my old PC to be able to play games at her place since all she has is a laptop. So it will still be gaming! Probably mostly running Forza Horizon 4 which it runs very well.

It won't be in as quite as nice of a case though. She says she don't care what the case looks like as long as it works, and all I have are some very old towers. 90s style possibly early 00s. Everything fit in it just fine but with it being an old case there is no place to mount any fans. So I had to get creative....




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I just put clear tape over the open parts for a "seal" and for the rear fan I have it under the video card blowing out the unused card slots. Hey don't laugh it works! Ok you can laugh a little. :olol: The R9 290X is actually running a bit cooler than it was in my case! Running Furmark for 10 minutes it gets to around a max of 185F (85C) which is a fairly normal temp for the card considering it was running totally maxed out with Furmark.
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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

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I'm hoping my Displayport to DVI adapter shows up tomorrow. After having a second monitor for so long it is annoying not being able to use it. Since the adapters were so cheap I did go ahead and also get a Displayport to VGA just incase I feel like hooking up an old CRT for no reason!
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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

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My DP to DVI came in Tuesday and the DP to VGA on Wednesday. It is nice having my second monitor up and running again. I do the usual things with a second monitor such as a video running on it while I'm doing something else on the main one. But when nothing is running on it or I'm playing a game it looks like this.


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I like to be able to keep an eye on my temperatures and GPU/CPU usage. Plus it looks pretty cool :ocool: Fun fact, a game I was playing with the R9 290X used around 100 percent of the GPU and kept the temperatures in the 190s(88-93c) with the 1660 Super that same game uses less than 50 percent and stays at around 122F(50C) that is quite a difference! When I would run the Wii U emulator Cemu most games would completely max out the CPU. With the 3600X it doesn't even come close to maxing it out! I can't remember the exact percentage but I'm thinking it is around 20 percent or so.

Since I have a displayport to VGA adapter I did hook up a CRT as a third monitor. Why you may ask. For no reason other than I just wanted to for fun. Here is a pic of them all hooked up. We got ALF running on the 4:3 CRT, Back to the Future 2 on the LCD monitor and The Terminator playing on the main TV.
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I'm probably not going to leave the CRT hooked up as I really don't have any real use for a third monitor. I had thought about hooking my giant 22" Gateway VX1120 up but I didn't feel like carrying it in. The VX1120 does 144hz or higher so if I was to hook it up would games look smoother running on it since it has a higher refresh rate? Now I of course don't plan on using it as my main display it would just be for fun since my TV is just a standard 60hz I'd like to see if there was much of a difference. It is my understanding that anything over 60fps isn't going to make any difference on a 60hz display but if I was running a game at 144fps on a 144hz display it would look much smoother.
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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

Post by Dr. Zoidberg »

Alf!

Looks like a nice setup.

The games would look smoother on that monitor if you can get them running at 120+fps. If they are just running at 60fps then there won't be a difference.

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Re: Its that time again, Calavera computer upgrade advice thread!

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Dr. Zoidberg wrote: Thu May 14, 2020 5:15 pm Alf!
He's back ... in CRT form

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