To preface this, I'm extremly ignorant about how PCs work.

I've had my PC for the last 4-5 years and have been able to run every game I've played games very well. This includes Overwatch, Marvel Rivals, Dead by Daylight, and Deadlock.

However in the last 2 months, I've had to drop all these games settings to lowest due to having egregious framerate drops throughout matches, my PC (seems) to be getting louder. These issues are still persiting even in their lower settings. And despite having minimum specs required, my PC is STRUGGLING to run Control Resonant at lowest settings as well.

These are my specs;

Processor - 12th Gen Intel Core i5-12400F
RAM - 16GB
Graphics Card - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti (16GB)

Are these components just outdated now? Is it time to build a new PC? Or is it something else going on? I dont even really know where to start, so any and all advice would be greatly appreciated <3

Hi everyone,

I have an old desktop PC that came with a genuine Windows Vista license, and I’m wondering if there’s any way to use that license to get Windows 11 for my new PC build?

Ideally, I’d like to transfer the license from my old PC to my new build rather than buy a new Windows license.

Does anyone know if it’s possible to upgrade a Vista license to Windows 11, either directly or through an intermediate version of Windows? The Vista license is an OEM.

Thanks.

I'm slowly building a gaming PC after selling my 5-year-old laptop. It had a lot of problems, so it didn't sell for much, and my budget is tight.
So far I've bought 32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5-6000 CL36 and a Samsung 990 Pro 2TB NVMe. I'm going with the RX 9070 XT because it's much cheaper than the 5070 Ti.
Now I need a CPU, and I'm torn between the 7800X3D and the 9800X3D. The 9800X3D is 70€ more today. I don't want to settle too low, but I can't stretch the budget freely either. I won't upgrade anything for the next 4-5 years, and I'm buying today.
Is the 9800X3D worth the extra 70€ with a 9070 XT, or is the 7800X3D the smarter pick?

Hi everyone! I'm having a strange RAM issue and could really use some help identifying the cause.

PC Specs:

• CPU: Ryzen 5 7600
• Motherboard: Colorful CVN B650M Gaming Frozen V14
• RAM: JUHOR DDR5 32GB (2x16GB)
• BIOS: Latest version (1022)

The problem:

My PC worked perfectly for months, but a few days ago it suddenly started crashing and restarting with MEMORY_MANAGEMENT BSODs.

What I've tested:

• RAM stick #1 in A2: PASS (4 MemTest86 passes, 0 errors)
• RAM stick #2 in A2: PASS (4 passes, 0 errors)
• One stick in B2: PASS (4 passes, 0 errors)
• Both sticks in A2 + B2: FAIL (20 MemTest86 errors at 4800 MT/s)

I've already updated the BIOS, reset CMOS, reseated the components, disabled EXPO, and even reinstalled Windows. Nothing fixed it.

Since both sticks work individually and the issue only appears when using both together, I'm suspecting the motherboard or the CPU's memory controller.

Has anyone experienced something similar?

Thanks in advance!

So I currently have an AMD RX 6600 that's like 6 years old. I don't game as much as I used to since I am busy with college and other stuff. But I have been getting into Machine Learning, and I kinda want to get an Nvidia card for model training. I don't want to sell a kidney for a graphics card so I was thinking of getting the 4070, since its $400-500 and relatively cheaper that the other card. Should I pull the trigger and get it or should I wait and see if the prices go down to get a newer card?

Hello guys.

I’ll be making a new PC since my current one will turn 8 years old soon.

I was ready to buy it in a week, but honestly don’t know if I should just wait until Black Friday at this point?
I know it’s generally a scam but sometimes there are some good deals.
Is there any possibility that prices will spike again until then or not really?
What would you guys recommend me to do?

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

My current PC I built it in 2021 and it is time for an upgrade and by that I mean full new build. I mainly use it for gaming, and I also work as a software developer, so it needs to handle programming work well too.

Current PC

• CPU: Ryzen 5 3600
• GPU: Nvidia GTX 1660 Super
• RAM: 16 GB DDR4 3000

Planned build (prices from my local retailer in Portugal)

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D (437,19 €)
• CPU cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE
• SSD: Samsung 980 1TB NVMe PCIe 3.0 (235,95 €)
• RAM: at least 32 GB DDR5 (kit not decided)
• Storage: I will reuse my old drives from the current PC
• Motherboard: not decided. The quote I have is the ASUS PRIME B850M-A WIFI (184,95 €), but I am open to suggestions.
• PSU: Seasonic Core GX-850 V2, 850 W, 80+ Gold (129,95 €), but open to suggestions
• GPU: this is where I need help

GPU options (both have 16 GB VRAM)

• Option A: Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming 16G, 949,95 €
• Option B: ASUS Dual RTX 5060 Ti 16GB, 899,95 €

The difference between the two is about 50 €.

My situation

• My monitors are 1080p, up to 180Hz.
• I plan to upgrade one of my monitors in the future.
• I want to keep this PC for several years.
• Use: mostly gaming, plus programming (general software development, frontend, backend and mobile).

My questions

1. Is the 9070 XT worth the extra 50 € over the 5060 Ti, or is it overkill at 1080p 180Hz?
2. Which card handles a future monitor upgrade better (for example 1440p or higher refresh rate)?
3. Does AMD vs Nvidia matter for my kind of dev work?
4. Is the ASUS PRIME B850M-A WIFI a good choice for a 9800X3D, or is there a better board at a similar price?
5. What PSU wattage and models do you recommend for each GPU option?
6. Is the Peerless Assassin 120 SE enough for the 9800X3D?
7. Is the Samsung 980 (PCIe 3.0) at this price a good deal, or should I look at something else?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hey everyone,

My current setup is pretty outdated: an old desktop with a 1050 Ti and a 2021 ASUS Strix G16 laptop (RTX 3060 + 32 GB RAM). I mainly do programming now (no more machine learning) and the heaviest gaming I do is 25–30 player heroic raids in WoW plus some FFXIV raiding. I no longer play AAA games. The most demanding non-MMO titles I’m interested in are things like Anno 117 (planning to buy) and Transport Fever 3.

I don’t mind running raids at lower graphics settings for smoother performance — I’m currently on minimum settings on my 3060 laptop. I also really want a wide/ultrawide monitor because the extra horizontal space helps a lot with raid frames, nameplates, meters, etc.

I recently played on a 5070 at an internet café and was surprised how good it felt, so I’m looking at a new desktop around that GPU level.

Current plan is something like:
Ryzen 5 7500F + 32 GB DDR5-6000 + 1 TB SSD + RTX 5070
Rough cost around $1,700 USD.

Upgrade options I’m considering:

• ~$165–170 → 7800X3D
• ~$280 → 9800X3D

A lot of people (and LLMs) keep recommending X3D for WoW because of the big L3 cache helping in crowded raids and cities. I’m not sure how much of a real difference it makes for heroic 25-30 man content versus just sticking with the cheaper 7500F, especially since I’m fine with lower graphics for smoother play.

I also want the most flexible option for future upgrades (AM5 platform longevity, easy GPU/CPU swaps later, etc.).

My questions:

1. For mainly 25-30 man heroic raids (not mythic pushing) + light strategy games like Anno/Transport Fever, is the jump to 7800X3D or 9800X3D actually noticeable, or is 7500F + 5070 already plenty?
2. Anyone running non-X3D vs X3D in current WoW who can share how it feels in raids (especially 1% lows / consistency)?
3. Does prioritizing future upgrade flexibility change the recommendation (e.g. going X3D now vs saving money and upgrading later)?
4. Planning a 34" 3440x1440 ultrawide — any solid recommendations that work well for raiding?

Budget is flexible but I’d rather not overspend if the X3D premium doesn’t meaningfully improve my raid experience.

Thanks in advance!

I have 5700x and Asrock B550m steel legend. The xmp profile for the ram is set to 3200mhz 1.35 volts. I think my cpu and mobo are perfectly capable on handling that so im confused why am i getting bsod

Guys i am getting an 8 gb adata ddr 4 ram with heatsink at 3750 rs, should i go for it or reduce price.

Budget for making is 35 k woth monitor. In india

Hello, I would love some information for my son he wants to buy a gaming computer and he says he wants to build the computer by himself so no computer that was built already he wants to buy the piece but me and him have no idea what we are doing so i need help to know what pieces to buy if my budget is 950-1000. He only plays games like shooter games and roblox games but he is now staring to get into games like elden ring. We are in America and are looking for high fps. We also need a monitor which will be an extra 200$ my son said so what monitor should he buy?

These are my current specs

• Case: Cooler Master Masterbox MB311L
• Mobo: Gigabyte B450 Aorus M
• CPU: Ryzen 5 3600X
• GPU: Sapphire Pulse 5700 XT
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 2 x 8 GB 3200 MHz
• SSD: Samsung 500 GB
• PSU: Gigabyte modular 750W 80+ Gold
• 3 intakes: InWin Sirius Loop ASL120
• 2 exhausts: NZXT Aer F120

I play on 1440p at 60-120 fps. Should I upgrade a piece at a time or just sell the whole PC and move to AM5? If latter, how much can I realistically get out of it here in Canada on places like Facebook marketplace?

I built this thing around 2018 to do some video editing and gaming. It was and still is a good rig for stuff from that time period, but really struggles with newer games. even at low settings, I can't reasonably play something like blood of dawnwalker, cyberpunk 2077, or similar games.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ZJcRYX

CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler

Motherboard: Asus Prime Z370-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory

Storage: Samsung 960 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive

Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING OC Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB Video Card

Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro M TG ATX Mid Tower Case

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 550 G2 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit

Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCIe x1 Wi-Fi Adapter

Monitor: AOC U2879VF 28.0" 3840 x 2160 60 Hz Monitor

Keyboard: Corsair STRAFE RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard

Is it worth it to try and upgrade? Or should I just look at getting someting new?

My friend sent me a parts for an old PC he's getting rid of.

What would you cannibalize from this parts list? I may still re-use the same tower.

Hi, my friend is building a PC soon(TM) on a low budget, I have some laptop DDR4 we plan to use in these funny adapters, so we need a DDR4 MOBO, and since my friend wants it to be upgradable and I want it to be as modern as possible, we are essentially stuck with DDR4 motherboards of socket 1700.

The best motherboard we can fit in our budget is either ASUS Prime B660-PLUS D4 or (if we get lucky) ASUS TUF GAMING B660M-E D4, so I want to ask what are reasonable upgrade limits with both of these (for now we are using i3-12100F)

Essentially the question is 'can it run 14700F at >95% regular performance?', but I would appreciate a more detailed answer for upgrade limits.

Thanks in advance.

I’ve been trying to fix my pc for over a year but it keeps randomly booting down kernel error 41.

I’ve tried replacing the psu, gpu, storage, and ram, also fixed corrupt files but the issue remains unfixed.

I installed new ram and it worked for about a month before crashing again.

I can open steam and play games but opening discord, Xbox app, epic games all crash it instantly.

Any ideas what’s wrong with it? The only parts that haven’t been replaced are cpu and motherboard and cpu shows no signs of overheating.

I have a prebuilt i bought in 2019 that I’ve been using for light gaming i recently bought a lightly used stick of ram because it only had 8gb now I’m wondering what would be good to upgrade from because the specs I have are a asrock b560m-c motherboard and a intel i3 10105f and a gtx 1650 4gb and i just want some suggestions on what cpu and gpu i should try to get im just trying to get a price for performance nothing too crazy and im not against getting used hardware?

My PC is now more than 7 years old (and even back then it was my very first build and very budget) and i really want to build a new one but obviously the prices are horrible and only getting worse. Now I thought about maybe building a new PC around my DDR4 ram that i already own and just get good parts that don't need to be upgraded for a while. Should i do that and what parts would be suitable for not too much money? Or should i just stay with my current (struggling) pc and hope things will get better in the future (which it probably won't). I don't really need the best stuff, 1080p is probably enough as i have a ps5 but i still really would prefer to play certain games on a pc (mod support or just better with mouse and keyboard). I live in Germany and my budget would probably be around 1000 Euro but a bit less than that would probably not be bad as well lol.
Here's my part list for my current pc: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/2wCqrG
i also don't need a power supply as i got a 850watt one like 3 years ago when my old one broke and i wanted to future proof that.
thanks in advance for the help! :)

I am planning to build a pc. I have decided to go with a 9700X with 32 GB 6000MT/s of DDR5 RAM. But I cannot decide on a GPU.

- Primarily gaming at 1440p. Mostly medium/high settings. No Ray tracing and minimal DLSS.

- Game dev, mostly on Unity. Blender for modelling and animation (no rendering)

- Moderate AI workflows for image processing, inpainting, composting, T2I (text to image) and TI2V (text to video, image to video)

I have already selected a few.

- AMD: 9070XT (₹90k, $950), 7900XT (₹90k, $950), 7900XTX (₹150k, $1600), AI Pro R9700 (₹225k, $2300)

- NVIDIA: 5070Ti (₹165k, $1700), 5080 (₹230k, $2400)

I have a max budget of ₹250k ($2600) but I don't want to overspend on something I may never use while getting maximum performance per rupee (or dollar).

AMD is attractive due to its high VRAM capacity but it has poor support for video/image generation (atleast till UDNA)

NVIDIA has better compatibility due to CUDA but VRAM capacity is only 16GB for what I can afford.

Country of purchase - India

Hello,

Based on feedback from this sub and r/buildapcsales I went with upgrading my current setup which in this case getting the 5800X3D.

With this chip a promo on Newegg gives me a Cooler Master Elite Liquid 240 CPU AIO Cooler (Item#: N82E16835103322 on newegg)

Is this much better than the ARCTIC Freezer 34 I currently have? I'm only asking because I saw a few posts where this particular liquid cooler got a tepid response from people and some said the pump can get loud? I do care about temps but I am also looking to keep my pc quiet.

It also comes with thermal paste but I should probably use the icepad right?

The writing speed seems wayyy lower than that it should be on my 990 EVO. It's a little over a year old now.

Whats going on guys this seems like the appropriate group to ask so im going to dive right in.

Im a competitive CoD player I previously had a

9060xt 16gb

7700x

32gbs 6000mt

I had to sell it due to a large vehicle repair. This system did exactly what i needed it to consistent 240fps 1080p low settings. im currently shopping for parts to build a new am4 system strictly due to the am5 pricing right now and the b580 has caught my attention I am interested in it due to the fact it has 12gbs of vram because I want to do some light 1440p gaming (not cod) and I dont care about fps numbers or having to use frame gen outside of cod. Im not expecting to hit a consistent 240fps but I would like to be around 180-200 is it safe to assume the b580 can get me there with upscaling (not framegen) ? Ive watched benchmark videos but results are so varied i cant decide if i want to pull the trigger on it. Build specs below:

Ryzen 5 5600x

Intel arc b580

32gbs 3200mt

B550m

Any input would be greatly appreciated i would like to make a decision by end of the week. Thank you

Heyo, I'm looking to get a new PC as the one I currently have is a pre-built and I have learned upgrading it would be a hassle. I'm looking to now build my own PC as someone who honestly doesn't know much about PCs.

This is the Pre-built i got in 2018, it has since had the graphics card blow out so I am now using a 1070 (it honestly blew in like '19/'20 i really should have had a warranty or something 😂) plus a fan change.

My coming here mainly stems from just tips I can get as a first time builder, ALSO;
- Is it even worth it for me to start from scratch
- Do we think it is possible for any of the parts from the pre-built to be moved in to the new build?
- Could I possibly just upgrade this computer and call it a day?

For some context, and reading the tips on my screen (lol) here is some more info...
I am probably in the budget of around 2.5k in the USA. I'll be using my computer for gaming, coding, and potentially photo/video editing. I presume the later 3 wouldn't be much of a problem as my computer handles them fine now. The games I play mainly consist of LoL, Rocket League, Deadlock, OW, R6, and Cities Skylines. (the latter 4 my PC either has extreme trouble running or is a risk to crash at any moment)

I believe I'm looking to atleast get a late 3000s series or likely better, but I'm not opposed to any ideas at all. Thanks for any help I can get!

i am a competitive gamer and play games like cs2, valorant, and osu but i want to start playing more demanding games in the near future. with a budget of around 400-450 dollars what should i buy, i know its a limited amount but please let me know.