r/pcmasterrace • • 2d ago

Giveaway [WORLDWIDE GIVEAWAY] Comment in this thread to win MSI MEG MAESTRO 900R + MEG CORELIQUID E15 360 in this MSI x PCMR x BuildCores event!

157 Upvotes

Hey everyone! PCMR has teamed up with MSI and BuildCores to see how you’d configure a build around the awesome MSI MEG MAESTRO 900R, and it's a WORLDWIDE GIVEAWAY!

Design your setup in BuildCores, share the thinking behind your build, and you could win a MEG MAESTRO 900R case and MEG CORELIQUID E15 360 liquid cooler!

As the centerpiece of MSI’s flagship MEG series, this case gives you room to get creative with your layout and show off your component choices.

HOW TO ENTER

  • Head to the BuildCores website (or use the app) and click the Start Building button.
  • Create a PC configuration on BuildCores featuring the MSI MEG MAESTRO 900R case, an MSI motherboard, and an MSI liquid cooler. The other parts are 100% your choice!
  • Post a comment in this thread with your build configuration in text, the BuildCores share link, a screenshot of your configuration, and a short explanation of why you chose that layout and those components.

Need a hand? See an example entry: [Example Image]

To share your build: Use the Share button in BuildCores: [Example Image]

BuildCores is currently in Beta, so you may find some bugs here or there. If you do, be sure to give them feedback on their sub r/buildcores.

THE PRIZES

  • 2 winners, with each winner receiving an MSI MEG MAESTRO 900R PC case and an MSI MEG CORELIQUID E15 360 liquid cooler.

You can enter until Oct 31, 2026! 

Good luck, and may your framerates be high, and your temperatures low!

------------------------

About the case and MSI's MEG series:

If you're not familiar with MSI’s MEG (which stands for MSI Enthusiast Gaming) lineup, it’s essentially their flagship series, aimed at enthusiast builds and overall enjoyers of higher end options.

For the MEG MAESTRO 900R being given away here, here’s what MSI is highlighting: a centered internal layout, three-sided panoramic glass, and a detachable motherboard tray that can rotate into four different orientations. That gives builders quite a few options for how they want to assemble and display their system.

MEG setup

There are also some more premium finishing touches, including aluminum panels and diamond-cut detailing.

The four-way motherboard layout is probably the most interesting part from a builder’s perspective!

If you want to see MSI’s full breakdown of the MEG series, you can check it out here: "Excellence, Refined".

------------------------

The winner will be contacted by Reddit direct message (please make sure your DMs are open) in the 7 days after the event ends, and announced on this thread as well.

One entry per Reddit account; only your first eligible comment will count.

The prize winners will be selected randomly from all eligible entries on Nov. 7, 2026.

Participants must be 18+ and reside in eligible territories.

Winners must respond within 7 days, or a new winner may be selected.

Full terms and conditions please check here.


r/pcmasterrace • • 17h ago

DSQ Daily Simple Questions Thread - October 12, 2026

3 Upvotes

Got a simple question? Get a simple answer!

This thread is for all of the small and simple questions that you might have about computing that probably wouldn't work all too well as a standalone post. Software issues, build questions, game recommendations, post them here!

For the sake of helping others, please don't downvote questions! To help facilitate this, comments are sorted randomly for this post, so that anyone's question can be seen and answered.

If you're looking for help with picking parts or building, don't forget to also check out our builds at [https://www.pcmasterrace.org/\](https://www.pcmasterrace.org/)

Want to see more Simple Question threads? [Here's all of them for your browsing pleasure!](https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/search?q=Simple+Questions+Thread+subreddit%3Apcmasterrace+author%3AAutoModerator&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all)


r/pcmasterrace • • 5h ago

Video Sonic Adventure modded into GTA V

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

2.5k Upvotes

r/pcmasterrace • • 10h ago

Screenshot Interesting times

Post image
5.9k Upvotes

r/pcmasterrace • • 15h ago

Hardware Actually won something??!

Post image
8.2k Upvotes

Summer sweepstakes 5080 win. Holy moly, first ever giveaway win and it’s this.

Edit: To rub salt on the wound, my gpu before this was a 4080 ...


r/pcmasterrace • • 13h ago

NSFMR Not in this economy please!

Post image
3.3k Upvotes

I just had to spend what I managed to save on my car...


r/pcmasterrace • • 14h ago

Video God Of War 3 Remastered- Shadps4 Eltutz Fork- Perfect 120fps No Dips, No Stutters, Pure Gaming Bliss. This Is How Emulation & PC Gaming Should Always Be. I Cant Believe This Is Real!

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

3.2k Upvotes

Full Video Here

Im honestly amazed at how well this Ran. Perfect 120 FPS. No Dips, No Stutter, No Shader Compilation it almost ran like a real PC Gaming. A light PC game at that. IDK What Black Magic Eltutz did with this fork but Holy Shit! I hope he gets with the ShadPS4 team and Makes Forks for every game or at least the heavy games that we actually care about like Infamous Second Son, The Uncharted Series, Ratchet & Clank, Etc. Etc.


r/pcmasterrace • • 3h ago

Game Image/Video Nvidea RTX 5060 to 8gb running PS5 Demon’s Souls @10 fps

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

455 Upvotes

Using KytyPs5

PC:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 8700G 8 cores, 16 threads
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8GB
Integrated GPU: AMD Radeon 780M
RAM: 32GB Samsung DDR5, 2×16GB; 5200 MT

Update: The game was indeed running in 1440 - 2160 territory , there was a patch to get the game to render at 1080 and now it’s getting 20-25 fps


r/pcmasterrace • • 13h ago

News/Article US bill threatens to turn your VPN into a piracy blocklist

Thumbnail
techradar.com
1.5k Upvotes

r/pcmasterrace • • 1d ago

Meme/Macro The slop backfires hard

Post image
26.2k Upvotes

eat that slop big corporate


r/pcmasterrace • • 19h ago

Video POV: You forgot to clean your PC.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

3.2k Upvotes

r/pcmasterrace • • 11h ago

Discussion [Bloomberg] Epic Games has delayed an unannounced shooter game featuring Star Wars & Marvel characters. Developers on the game have now been told to only use AI to write the code — “No more hand-written code”; All art for the game would be “generated with full AI workflows"

Thumbnail
bloomberg.com
579 Upvotes

r/pcmasterrace • • 22h ago

News/Article “We didn’t ask for more Microslop”: Microsoft promised to fix Windows 11, then dropped 300 AI buzzwords at its big event

Thumbnail
windowslatest.com
4.2k Upvotes

r/pcmasterrace • • 6h ago

Discussion Forgot cpu at work, boss threw away

214 Upvotes

Long story short, forgot a cpu at my work on Saturday, didn't realize until I got home. Couldnt go Sunday as we are closed Sundays.today I asked my buddy over text if he could drop it off at my place. Boss decided to go through my stuff in our office and threw away the cpu. Was a 9950x3d. Honestly don't know what to do now. Bought the CPU off marketplace on my way to work EDIT; TEXTED MY BOSS AND ASKED HIM IF HE SEEN IT, HE SAID HE NEVER SAW THE BAG NOR TOUCHED A BLACK BAG EVEN THOUGH MY COWORKERS SAID THEY SAW HIM THROW IT AWAY

EDIT SOLVED: Coworkers were trolling me, told me that after I texted the boss


r/pcmasterrace • • 17h ago

Meme/Macro This is how the PS5 startup should look now.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

1.4k Upvotes

Emulation.


r/pcmasterrace • • 14h ago

Discussion RTX 5080 24GB Rumored to Replace the 16GB Model in Q1 2027

Thumbnail
eteknix.com
664 Upvotes

Could the RTX 5080 24GB end up selling for close to, or even above, the RTX 5090’s MSRP, especially given the rumors that the 5090 has been discontinued? What’s your take?

For which games do I really need more than 16 GB of VRAM?


r/pcmasterrace • • 1h ago

Tech Support My monitor stand snapped, causing my monitor to fall and break, is there anything I can do?

Thumbnail
gallery
• Upvotes

Got a Asus nitro 31.5 inch 170hz 1440p monitor, was around 300 dollars, do I have to cough up another 300 to get a new one, or is there anything else I can do? Also why does it look like that with the blue lines along the cracks? Never seen anything like that.


r/pcmasterrace • • 15h ago

News/Article Another GPU Reportedly on the Chopping Block. Following RTX 5090 Discontinuation Rumors, RTX 5080 16GB is hitting EOL, 24GB Variant Expected in Q1 2027. Board partners still waiting for details

Thumbnail
videocardz.com
785 Upvotes

According to the Taiwanese outlet, NVIDIA is preparing a GeForce RTX 5080 with 24GB of GDDR7 memory for release in Q1 2027. The card would replace the existing 16GB model rather than be sold alongside it.

BenchLife claims that NVIDIA’s add-in card partners have not received development documentation for the new 24GB model. Partners have reportedly only been told verbally that the relevant materials will be provided soon. This suggests that the reported Q1 2027 release window is still subject to change.


r/pcmasterrace • • 11m ago

Meme/Macro Worst thing ever happened to Human Kind.

Post image
• Upvotes

Gng🥀


r/pcmasterrace • • 11h ago

Game Image/Video Native Windows port of CTR Nitro-Fueled (PS4 v1.21): 60 FPS patch, up to 240 FPS, Vulkan, no emulator

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

302 Upvotes

CTR: Nitro-Fueled running natively on Windows — v0.2.0

Update (v0.2.0): there’s now a proper launcher. Unzip, open CTR-NitroFueled-PC.exe, pick your dump folders, press Play. No Python, no .bat files, nothing to install.

I built a Windows version of the CTR: Nitro-Fueled PS4 port. The game’s own x86-64 code runs directly on your CPU, a small runtime replaces the PS4 system libraries, and the GPU work is translated to Vulkan. It’s not an emulator. It’s a Windows fork of SacredFire (the native Linux port by T3CHNOLOG1C), built on bbport and the shadPS4 video core.

What’s new in v0.2.0 — the launcher

  • Play: choose your base game and the 1.21 update. It tells them apart on its own, merges them with hard links (no extra disk space) and checks the files before launching.
  • Settings: FPS limit (30 to 240 or uncapped), fullscreen, FPS counter, monitor, presentation mode, controller, game language, PS4 Pro mode.
  • Patches: 60 FPS unlock, no motion blur, 1080p Pro mode. Drop any shadPS4-format patch .xml into the folder and it shows up.
  • Saves: one-click backups, restore, export, and import (another PC’s saves or a decrypted PS4 save from Apollo Save Tool / Save Wizard). Bring your 100% save from your PS4.
  • DLC (optional): add your own DLC .pkg files (Oxide Edition content, pre-order pack, Firehawk Kart) and the port reports them as installed. CTR NF’s DLC are license-only, so the content is already in the game.
  • Updating is painless: unzip the new version over the old one. Your settings, saves and DLC are kept.
  • English and Spanish.

Features

  • Up to 240 FPS with the 60 FPS patch, plus an in-game menu (Insert or L3+R3).
  • Xbox/SDL controllers and keyboard, local multiplayer.
  • Saves, audio, Adventure and Arcade, cutscenes.
  • Experimental option to compile shaders in the background.

Performance

  • RTX 3070 + i5-9500: 110–130 FPS uncapped in races.
  • RTX 5080 + 9800X3D (the footage): up to 240 FPS on a high-refresh display.
  • The first time on each track compiles shaders into a cache, so you’ll see a few short stutters then. Later sessions are smooth.

How to play

You need your own dump of the game (CUSA13795) plus the 1.21 update, and a Vulkan 1.3 GPU.

  • Unzip and open CTR-NitroFueled-PC.exe.
  • Pick the two folders and press Prepare the game (only the first time).
  • Press Play.

Source (GPL): GitHub/CTR-NitroFueled-PC

Status / known issues

Early release, still in active testing. On some setups the GPU can hang mid-race (Device lost). It’s under investigation. If it happens to you, please open an issue with your last_run.log and your GPU/driver. Logs are really welcome.

Credits

T3CHNOLOG1C (SacredFire), deadinside28 (bbport), Supermedo (the Windows port of bbport), the shadPS4 team (video core and shader recompiler), illusion and TroyWarez (game patches).

No game files are included, and please don’t share any here. Own dumps only. Not affiliated with Sony, Activision or Beenox.


r/pcmasterrace • • 19h ago

Meme/Macro Soldering lovers when there is nothing to solder

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

1.1k Upvotes

r/pcmasterrace • • 11h ago

Discussion honey, the 5090 was an investment

Post image
221 Upvotes

source: data is from my price tracker for EU shops

i took 4 premium 5090 models that had a price at EU shops every single week since may 18 and used the cheapest in stock offer, converted to usd, then compared it to NVDA weekly close

prices went up about 55% over that time, nvidia stock about 6.5%

these are shop prices with VAT for fancy models, not the cheapest 5090 you can find, and not what you'd get selling it used. dont buy gpus as an investment lol

what did you pay for yours


r/pcmasterrace • • 11h ago

Build/Battlestation My $555 GTA VI-ready 4K DDR3 build

Thumbnail
gallery
204 Upvotes

Preface: The text below is a translation of a post I made in a Swedish gaming subreddit earlier today.

I build good, affordable gaming PCs for people as a side hustle and hobby. My latest project came about when I started wondering how realistic it would be to build a DDR3-based Xeon PC capable of running GTA VI just as well as a PlayStation 5.

Obviously, there's no way to know for sure, since GTA VI hasn't even been released on PS5 yet and probably won't arrive on PC until late 2027 at the earliest (EDIT: Disregarding REA and such shennanigans).

What we can do right now, however, is build a PC and test it in games available on both PS5 and Windows, using settings that match the PS5 versions as closely as possible. If we can get our test PC to run, say, half a dozen different games at settings and performance levels equal to or better than their PS5 counterparts, then it stands to reason that it should be able to handle GTA VI as well (at least if Rockstar does a better job with the port than they did when Red Dead 2 first launched on PC).

To that end, I've built the PC described below. I've named it Chefen (Swedish for "The Boss").

Chefen: PC specifications

Type Component Price (all-inclusive)
Motherboard PANDL X99-XD3, bought on AliExpress Approx. $70 with discount coupons
CPU Xeon E5-2696 v3, bought on AliExpress $46
GPU RTX 2080 Ti $275*
RAM 4 × 8 GB ECC RDIMM DDR3, stock speed 1333 MT/s, tuned up to 1866 MT/s $24
CPU cooler be quiet! Pure Rock 2, bought on sale last summer $20
Storage 500 GB NVMe, bought on Tradera $59
PSU Decent second-hand Corsair 760W, bought on Blocket $25
Case DUTZO C321 Mesh TG ARGB $42

I actually got the graphics card considerably cheaper, but the price listed in the table is the average selling price of the ten most recent completed auctions on Swedish auction site Tradera.

Grand total for everything (including shipping, customs duties, VAT, buyer protection fees, etc., etc., etc.): $555.

Here's my reasoning behind these component choices:

Motherboard: PANDL X99-XD3. My trusty old workhorse. Like so many similar Chinesium "X99" motherboards, it's manufactured using a mixture of new components and chipsets salvaged from old servers. What makes this particular motherboard so good is the following: easy to add Wi-Fi if you want it, four memory channels (more on that below), an included TPM 2.0 module for full Windows 11 compatibility, based on the C612 chipset rather than inferior alternatives like the B85, and perfectly decent VRMs.

CPU: The Xeon E5-2696 v3 from 2014. The Rolls-Royce of Xeon processors. With 18 cores, 36 threads, a whopping 45 MB of L3 cache, and a maximum turbo frequency of 3.8 GHz, it's still going strong despite being old enough to make out with someone at a middle-school dance. By applying the Turbo Boost Unlock hack to the BIOS and dropping down to 11–12 active cores, you can get this CPU to run at its maximum turbo frequency 24/7.

RAM: 32 GB of DDR3 in the form of registered ECC server memory from 2011. But surely DDR3 is far too old and crappy for modern games, right? Nope! DDR3 admittedly has relatively low memory bandwidth compared to DDR4 and especially DDR5, but since we're running in quad-channel mode, we get twice the bandwidth we'd have with dual-channel memory. The cheap RAM modules I bought are rated for 1333 MT/s, but can easily be overclocked to 1866 MT/s, giving us a (theoretical) memory bandwidth equivalent to dual-channel DDR4-3733.

GPU: GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. The flagship of Nvidia's first RTX generation, although it's already eight years old. It should nevertheless be more than capable of outperforming the PS5's graphics hardware, and it also comes with 11 GB of VRAM, meaning we have some wiggle room before we run out of video memory. If you can't find a good deal on a 2080 Ti, an RTX 3070 should work almost as well.

If your budget can stretch another $60–70, you can replace the RTX 2080 Ti with an RTX 3080 (which you should be able to find for around that much extra if you're patient), thereby upgrading Chefen into Storchefen.

Gaming benchmarks

For the games in the table below, I've used the equivalent PS5 settings identified by Digital Foundry to make the comparisons as fair as possible. I've tested Chefen in a variety of demanding games to get a reasonably broad and varied selection. For some games, I've tested the equivalent of the console's Performance mode, while for others I've tested the equivalent of Quality mode, again to get a good mix.

  • The main difference/discrepancy is that I've consistently used DLSS upscaling instead of the various upscaling methods employed by the console versions (FSR 1, TSR, etc.), while trying to match the console configurations as closely as possible.
  • Gears of War: E-Day isn't coming to PlayStation, so for that game I've instead tried to replicate the Xbox Series X settings.
  • I haven't used any frame-rate caps or V-sync in any of the tests.
  • The FPS numbers are derived from PresentMon logging that I ran in the background while playing the game in question.
  • All games are upscaled to 4K (3820 × 2160).
  • Check out the screenshots I've uploaded to the gallery!
Game (release year) Emulated PS5 mode Chefen's results (Avg FPS / 1% lows)
Battlefield 6 (Redsec) (2025) Balanced (60 FPS target) 69.8 / 53.1
Gears of War: E-Day (2026) Series X Quality (30 FPS target) 36.0 / 28.0
The Last of Us 1 Remastered (2023) Performance capped (60 FPS target) 70.0 / 50.5
Resident Evil: Requiem (2026) Standard (60 FPS target) 104.5 / 73.0
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy (2026) Quality 60 Hz (30 FPS target) 57.6 / 45.5
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 (2024) Speed (60 FPS target) 57.8 / 43.2

A pretty resounding success for Chefen, then!

This post is already ridiculously long, so I'll leave it at that. But feel free to ask if you're curious about any of the tests or want to discuss PC building!


r/pcmasterrace • • 21h ago

Meme/Macro One cs2 match and throw out the whole pc table

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

1.2k Upvotes

Some mfs can’t take a meme and don’t even understand the title. I don’t even play CS2, it’s just an example because the person speaks Russian, yet people are still crying in the comments and completely ignoring the meme flair. You guys are such miserable crybabies.


r/pcmasterrace • • 1d ago

Meme/Macro Should I do it guys

Post image
15.7k Upvotes

I hate scalpers but I can buy a car with that money