Hey, thanks for all the advice so far, I think I've narrowed down what I want a little bit more, but the CPU cooler and GPU sizes are confusing me.

Wondering if anyone has any example builds or tips they can share with this broad criteria...

• Case = Fractal Terra
• GPU = rx 7800 xt (but open to suggestions)
• CPU = Ryzen 7 7800X3D
• CPU Cooler = Noctua L12Sx77

Essentially I am wanting a good mid-range build for games like Civ 6/7 and Anno. I don't want the CPU fan right next to the case because I've heard it adds noise, so I was looking at the L12Sx77. But I'm struggling to understand what size GPU I can use with this type of configuration.

Hey! You might have seen my last post here

Looking to build a living room Linux gaming desktop and I'm looking for some additional advice and suggestions.

I’m planning a Mini-ITX build centered around a Ryzen 5 7600X and RX 6700 XT. My main focus is smooth performance in late-game Civilization 7 and Anno 1800, but I’d like to keep my options open for newer, more graphics-intensive games as well. List of games are in my old post, they aren't super graphics intensive, but I might want to switch that up in the future.

Sticking with AMD for now and probably going to run Bazzite as the disto.

I don’t have a strict budget right now, I’m trying to get a solid understanding of what to look out for in terms of available space, component sizes, and cooling in a small form factor. I also want a motherboard that’s ready for future upgrades (ideally something that can handle next-gen AM5 CPUs and higher-end GPUs). I might look for a mix of Used and New components depending on the state of prices in the US.

Questions:

• What should I consider for case size and layout, especially with a 7600X and a GPU like the 6700 XT? Any specific Mini-ITX cases you’d recommend for airflow and GPU clearance? I might move it from the living room to my desk on occasion.

• What are the best practices for CPU cooling in Mini-ITX builds? Is air cooling enough? I don't think I want to go down the path of water cooling right now.

• Which Mini-ITX AM5 motherboards offer the best upgrade paths for future CPUs (like the 9700X/9800X3D or even 9950X3D)?

• Any tips for fitting in enough fans or maximizing airflow in these compact cases?

• Anything else I should know about cable management, PSU size (SFX vs ATX), or other common Mini-ITX pitfalls?

Thanks for any advice, part recommendations, or build examples! I want to make sure I get the right balance of performance, cooling, and upgradability before I start ordering parts.

NOTE: This is for the Singaporean market and all prices are in SGD and taken from this following link,

https://dynacoretech.com/image/catalog/Price%20list/Dynacore%20PL%2010th%20May2025.pdf

Some prices not shown in the list are directly taken from the store themselves.

Some of the parts recommended in North America market is simply not available some times and prices are different too. But just need your feedback on whether this build is good for generic 1080p, 60 fps gaming for the next few years or so of high end games like cyberpunk, doom and monster hunter wilds or whatever. I am already on the upper limit on my budget which is why I didn't go for the 7800x3d for the cpu or higher specs for gpu. I would like to upgrade to this at a later time but would just like a system for now that performance on an okay level.

Mobo+ CPU: MSI B850 GAMING PLUS + RYZEN 7700 $618

RAM: GSKILL X5 FLARE 32GB CL36 $139

SSD: Crucial T500 Pro 7300MB/s Gen4 Nvme M.2 1TB $110

HDD: 1 TB, taking from my prev system

COOLER: Phantom Spirit 120 SE $48

GPU: 9070 XT Sapphire pulse $1039

POWER SUPPLY: DA1000R $185

CASING: Cooler Master Elite 502 Argb Black TG Casing $82

Total: $2221

Bought a 5700X recently and was surprised to find that it came with no cooler! Luckily I had not shattered my old Ryzen 2200G cooler, so for the time being it is working. But this would have been a bad experience otherwise.

Even now I am not very happy.

I have an Acer monitor with in built speakers connected through HDMI cable to RX7600 GPU. Previously when I was on Ryzen 2200G CPU I could get sound from the monitors in built speakers. But now after the upgrade the Windows 10 says that it is sending sound to High Definition Audio Device but I am not getting any sound.

Any idea about why there is no sound now?

Hello!

Still on my server buildin journey, but I acquired a Dell Insperon 3670. The board says it's atx but everything I'm readin says it's a proprietary board, and thus can't be easily moved. My issue is I have 2 12tb HDDs I wanna shove in it without and available cradles. I have a different case was some free slots but my other concern is the psu, its also theirs and the board requires an adapter to be used with other hardware, I believe. I wanna run Minecraft and Valheim off this thing and have a GeForce 1050 I can cram in there to help, how should I figure how much power I have available to do this?

Thanks again y'all's!

I'm waiting on a standoff kit to come in the mail, as this is my next troubleshooting step

I bought this SSD to fit into a thin client. I am new to stick drives so I think it's correct that I can only insert it one way due to the M-key (my port only has one divider, unlike the memory stick).

I don't have a standoff so the stick is in but at a slight angle.

The PC has no operating system yet so is it correct that a blank drive should show up in the BIOS at least? It shows the m.2 slot as being empty currently. Or is it potentially readable as is, but needs something on it to format it?

The plan is to chuck Debian on it to boot into, via a thumb drive, but I wanted to make sure it was at least installed correctly (I mean, it isn't because it should have a standoff).

If when my standoff kit arrives, the drive still doesn't show in the BIOS what would you recommend I do next?

EDIT: thank you so much for the advice so far! I added a standoff and I can now see 500Gb in the BIOS. Truthfully it might have already been recognised, there is a section for M.2 in the BIOS which was reading empty but it also lists primary hard drive and it's showing up there. Now to install me some Debian

So I have an existing 24” (23.8”) 1080p monitor. I want to buy a 2nd one. But if I want to buy a 27” (for bigger screen) it’ll need to be 1440p. This means different resolutions powered by my laptop (mainly work and some video watching use case). Is it ok to mix and match resolutions and screen size or should both be the same resolutions and screen size?

Is it practical to use monitors with different resolutions?

My use case is home office, setup powered by my 5 years old i5 laptop.

Hi All,

I have a somewhat ridiculous setup where I have:

• 4 monitors all fully adjustable arms
• 2 totally separate PCs (one running windows for mostly work, the other debian for sanity)
• all monitors going through switches so any can be either machine with the push of a button (in any combination)
• A M&K switch that swaps my M&K from one machine to the other by double clicking the scroll wheel.

As you can imagine this takes some space. I have both boxes under my desk towards the edge, and have a three section cabinet in front of my desk to neaten everything up/hide cables. It's kind of like the one in the picture, except mine would be an isosceles trapezoid from a top view.

It works well, but I don't really use the cabinet as, well a cabinet. What I'd like to do is mount each computer in the left and right area of the cabinet. At some point, I'd get around to getting an old electric fireplace (preferably a craigslist or garage sale on that didn't work as a heater), take the door off the center cabinet, mount the fireplace in there and tie brightness to fan speed (that part I can do). As a bonus I'd put a mechanical vent switch that let me output heat to the front, or behind, where my feet are under the desk.

My question is: what do I need to do to ensure proper grounding? Also, are there any rules of thumb for air circulation? Any other pitfalls you might be able to think of?

I am also considering putting the guts of both PC's in the center section of the cabinet, but I think that would make it a bit crowded for the fireplace insert.

Hi everyone! I make this post to ask : how to get a ryzen 7 5700X3D to post on a MSI B450 Gaming pro carbon AC?

The thing is I am upgrading from a ryzen 5 2600 to a ryzen 7 5700X3D but I can't get the mother board to POST. The system posts properly with the ryzen 5 and I already cleared the CMOS, and the BIOS is up to date.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/63423629

Background

I use Mac as my daily driver for my work and personal machines, but for gaming I use my Playstation 5 for online or supposedly AAA games (think Call of Duty or Helldivers 2) and I use my Steam Deck for more indie titles. I've got some Linux experience, primarily via my old Mac Mini running Proxmox with mostly Debian VMs and messing around briefly with NixOS.

I love our Steam Deck, but it does feel a little underpowered, the battery isn't as strong as it once was and I don't love the docking experience with the official dock.

My wife is really into Civilization and similar games and I'd love to setup a desktop connected to our TV to use with a keyboard and mouse on our LG CX. Although I'm tech savvy, I'm not great with knowing what hardware/software to get. It's especially more complicated with the looming tariffs and trying to make sure I don't overspend on something I don't need.

Question

Looking for some guidance on hardware and software to setup for this living room gaming desktop. It's only purpose is to play games, primarily from Steam and it should have hardware which would benefit speed and performance for the type of games I'm going to list. Obviously we want the graphics to be good, but I don't need a beast RTX 5090.

What are some hardware and software recommendations in today's financial climate for playing these games on Linux?

What other accessories would you recommend for couch based keyboard and mouse gaming?

Honestly the game I'm most eager to get into is Dwarf Fortress, but for my wife it's having a smooth experience with Civ6 (she was playing the Switch version for far too long!)

Games

• Civilization games
  • My wife loves 6 and I'm a fan of 5, but we do want to eventually try 7, hoping it'll improve with DLC updates
• Dwarf Fortress
• Rimworld
• Battletech
• Into the Breach
• Brotato
• Vampire Survivors
• Balatro
• FTL
• Caves of Qud
• Persona 5 Royal (although I'm struggling to get into it, pushing through)
• Blue Prince
• ANIMAL WELL
• Factorio
• Return of the Obra Dinn
• Anno 1800
• Project Zomboid

This is a partial list of some of our libraries and wishlists. As you can see, some of them are more graphically, memory and processor intensive, but a lot of them are low performance indies.

I got some great responses last time i posted here looking for help finding a PC for my home. Now I've got a friend that's come to me looking for help selecting and setting up a PC for music recording with the app Reaper. I'd be installing Linux Mint and the machine would be used primarily for music recording, no other major applications. It doesn't sound like it would require a real powerhouse, so we're hoping to keep the costs down if possible. Form factor doesn't really matter in this case, we really just want something simple and reliable.

Last time i inquired here, the consensus was that I'll probably be best taking my specs/needs to the nearest Microcenter and see what they recommend. Does it sound like i should do the same in this case?

Thanks for reading! I appreciate any help you all can provide!

Hello, I have been trying 2 small ff PCs, one HP Z2 mini G9 (i7-13700) and one Lenovo P360 ultra (i7-12700). I decided I will keep the Lenovo, but though I might as well keep the more recent CPU.
After the swap, the HP booted fine, but the Lenovo didn't, the fans spin for a second then off. It never gets anything on display.
I though I had screwed up while doing the swap or reassembly, so I took off the CPU again, checked there was no damage, put it back with fresh paste again, still no luck.

I am aware that both CPUs manage different Max ram speed (4800 vs 5600) so I tried to swap, or leave just one module, no luck.

I though I fried the CPU somehow, so swapped back to each their own, and all works.

Both sockets are LGA 1700/1800 as far as I can tell. Both power supplies are identical, both CPUs are the 65w tdp versions (ie not the T or K versions). The only difference I can see is that the 12th gen is vPro, 13th isn't. Both BIOS were updated prior to the swap.

Am I missing something? Thanks for any advice.

PS. Both machines came with an nvidia t1000, and I tried with or without in case it was a power draw issue, it doesn't seem so.

Yo, trying to move the q latch (Asus thing apparently) (blue circle) to where the standoff is (red circle) is that possible at all?? There was a screw on the under side of the mobo for the q latch (still blue circle) but it didn't move at all... And I chipped the normalish m.2 standoff (red circle) trying to use pliers. Would like confirmation on movability before looking for a tiny socket ratchet...

Important Update #2: If you do this yourself there was a screw on the bottom of the motherboard that held in the longer post that the q latch goes on (with the glue that Asus used)

Update: tried a socket wrench/ratchet... Accidentally ripped it out so I just ripped out the other with pliers and am now super gluing it down where I want it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ hopefully it works fine

Current rig is an (aging) 8086K with 32GB DD4-3000 and Asus ROG Hero mobo. Last week I swapped out my old 2080ti for a 5080. Framerates in games (4K, ultra settings) are now through the roof, as desired.

However, my CPU is having a really hard time pulling this off. There were already games which pushed it to its limit (Helldivers 2, STALKER 2,...) but now with the new graphics card, CPU load in these games is anywhere from 85% to 100%. As a result, my cooling water gets hot (50°C) in about half an hour and my CPU starts thermal throttling, often leading to stutter etc.

I've selected the following components for upgrade:

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D

GIGABYTE X870E AORUS PRO socket AM5 mobo

Corsair 64 GB DDR5-6400 Kit

Noctua NH-D15 G2 LBC

This would set me back around €1.556 right now. What are the chances this is going to go up significantly in the short/medium term in the EU?

I'm also still running Win10 since I absolutely loathe Win11, so I was thinking of starting off with Linux for this one since I don't really have another €150 lying around to hand to Microsoft for shits and giggles. I have some professional experience with Linux but not in terms of daily driving it. I suppose I could also go with dualboot if need be.

Hello!

Not sure if this is the right place, so if there's a better, please let me know, but I have a Lenovo think center that I acquired that I want to use as a simple home server, got an i5 6700 in it, may need some tweaks, but should be good. My problem is it came from a now defunct company and it wants my corporate email to download the profile. This is after I tried to factory reset it and delete all of the items. When I turn it on it asks for my corporate email, when I try to type iny Hotmail it says it's wrong and gives me the option for a security key USB. I've downloaded the win 11 installer onto a flash drive, but it jus goes straight to the corporate login request. I can get to bios, but admittedly I'm not sure what to do from there, as I'm not seein the proper options.

Any suggestions on how to flash this so I can use it for Plex, Valheim, Minecraft, and personal storage would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I have a pair of hdds imma use for the storage, am I other thinking this and just need to toss the original hdd?

i posted this on linux instance, ill copy it to here too.

Hi, so I want to building a pc for a home server (?) or NAS. I dont really know whats the most appropriate term but what I intend to build is a one pc for my household. currently my requirement is one work 'pc' capable of heavy 3d modeling one light work pc. two 4k gaming tvs. (they most likely wont be used at the same time)

my knowledge of technical stuff is bretty basic so please be patient with me.

before, i used my steam deck to stream my work pc using parsec but i thought i just want to jump all in on linux and using vm to use more niche 3d softwares.

my budget is flexible as long as i dont need to use enterprise hardware. also i heard nvidia is not good for linux so i'd like to confirm if that is still the case as im thinking of using 5090 if not, i hope amd releases an equivalent capable card or if any according my quick research suggest.

as for linux, the only distro (?) i ever used is the steam deck one and i love it. im not a programmer or even remotely capable one so i'd like to avoid anything that has to be manually typing commands at terminal but im open to surface level tinkering.

thank you for your time

Dad wants a new PC. He's considering spending way-too-much on an Alienware, so I figured I'd build him something better+cheaper.

I've built a couple PCs before, but never anything this high-end or expensive so I'd very much appreciate some feedback from an experienced community.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/28083834

Windows 10/11 is a requirement because it will be a shared console, sorry y'all. I'm considering a refurb'ed model on eBay because some include Win10 Pro licenses, which would save ~$80 versus building from scratch.

The PC would be used for streaming media through Plex and maybe some light gaming via SteamLink, so specs aren't very important as long as it can handle basic web browsing and graphic output.

Has anyone here had any experience with these? I would imagine they're pretty no-fuss boxes given that they're business-class units, but I also understand that they're several years old. What' the upgradeability of them like? What specific models/SKUs would be recommended for this use / are there any other SFF PCs that are comparable?

Hi there, I'm starting to look into what PC I could get to (slowly?) migrate over from primarily console-based gaming. I would be buying from Canada fwiw.

Requirements

• 1440p would be the sweet spot most of the time. I have a 240Hz VRR 1440p screen which I would be playing on 80% of the time. I could go up to 4K at times (TV gaming).
• A compact PC would be ideal, I have little space on my desk or behind my TV.
• Primarily using Linux for gaming, but I might periodically use Windows for Game pass stuff.
• It would likely be used as a HTTPC every once in a while.

Budget

I could go up to $2,000 CAD, but wouldn't mind spending less (I'm not really aware of current components prices).
I already have all required peripherals at the ready.

Expectations

Coming from a setup with Xbox Series X, PS5 Pro and Steam Deck OLED, I'm essentially hoping to retire the first two in the process, but would keep the Deck.
Anything around or better than PS5 Pro performance and visuals would be great.
Re specific games, I'd like to play various new and old releases comfortably (BG3, Cyberpunk 2077, KCD2, etc) and would love to be able to emulate most consoles (Xbox 360, PS3?, Switch, etc).

Potential build?

PCPartPicker Part List

No price for the GPU, but I've seen it at around $950 - that would make it all around $2,200 before taxes.
I'm certainly not opposed to buying used, even partially.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Hey guys, please review my upgrade considerations.

Goal: good bang for the buck upgrade. No need for high end. Just a cheap but good step forward. Does my choice make sense or do you think this little step is not worth it? I am a little flexible on the budget. Is there something more valuable in that range?

Duties:

• mostly workstation / office / many browser tabs / hobby programming (small projects) / a couple apps incl. electron apps running at the same time
• little gaming (grand strategy). So far the GPU and RAM are ...fine, i guess. I will upgrade them some time in the future, to play KCD2
• no video editing, almost no 3d modeling, little virtualization, no Image processing

Current system:

• i5-7600K CPU
• MS-7A71 mainboard
• 16 GiB of RAM (slow 2133 MT/s)
• Radeon RX 480 Graphics

Low cost upgrade idea:

• AMD Ryzen 5 5600 6x 3.50GHz So.AM4 90€
• • there is a 5600X for 100€ but just 1% faster in benchmarks
• Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2 AMD B550 So.AM4 Dual Channel DDR4 ATX Retail € 106
• • There are B550s for 10€ cheaper but this one supports my old DDR4-2133 RAMs and up to DDR4-3200

196€ for a good upgrade doesn't sound too bad. I probably need a new cooler too because of the new socket. I could get faster RAMs but figured that i would probably not feel the difference. These give me upgrade options in the future but don't cost much right now, since i hope to keep all other parts (PSU, midi tower, etc.). Is it correct, that i don't need a new PSU since the power consumption does not increase (for now)? And does the old PSU cable fit the new mainboard?

What else do i need to consider?

Thank you :-)

Hey all! Looking to upgrade to a new build, but I am not familiar with newer hardware. Would appreciate any advice! I am shopping from Canada.

Requirements

I have 2 main uses for my PC:

Software development

• compiling extremely large codebases (most of an OS daily)
• running multiple VMs
• often having several IDEs open at once
• several Firefox windows with hundreds/thousands of tabs open (most discarded, but yeah I know; I have a problem 😂).

Gaming

I also have my PC hooked up to a 4K TV via a long HDMI cable, in off hours I use it as an HTPC and I play games on it. Some of the more demanding examples of games I play are: Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, God of War, Assassin's Creed Odyssey/Shadows, emulating console games including Switch, etc.

I've been playing things like Witcher 3 at medium to low settings @ 1080p; I don't need to play at 4K, but I would like to be able to run these sorts of games at at least 1080p with high/ultra settings, without dipping below 60 FPS (barring game engine issues, of course).

My thoughts

• Large, fast NVMe for the system drive (I was thinking 4TB).
• Powerful CPU
• 128GB RAM
• Case: USB-C port(s) on the front would be nice if possible. I've been using a Phanteks Enthoo Pro (ES614P_BK), and been quite happy with it. I like the look of it, and it has a lot of room for airflow and cable management. I only thought I would buy a new case so my current setup can be given as a hand-me-down.

Budget

I see parts have gotten more expensive, I am guessing probably somewhere around $2000-3000 CAD, but I am not up to date on hardware info enough to know exactly what I need. I could go to 3k, but I also don't want to spend just for the sake of it. The most important thing is that this machine will be able to handle my workload without stumbling, and that it will be able to last me a few years before I need to upgrade again.

Misc

• I only need a case and the components, I will be reusing peripherals.
• AMD for CPU and GPU (GPU drivers are better for Linux).
• In general I would prefer brands that have a good reputation for quality, reliability, warranty/RMA, and support.

Previous build

• AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
• MSI PRO B550-A PRO
• 32GB RAM (DDR4 3600, 2x16GB, G.Skill Ripjaws V)
• MSI AMD Radeon RX 580 ARMOR OC 8GB PCI-E w/ Dual HDMI, Dual DP, DVI
• Kingston 1TB A2000 M.2 2280 NVMe
• Phanteks Enthoo Pro (ES614P_BK)

Attempted parts list

I tried to put together a parts list, but as I say I am not up to date on hardware and I don't have the time & energy to research everything:

PCPartPicker Part List

(I like Memory Express and being able to go in store if needs be, but items don't have to be from there.)

I got tired of manually updating my spreadsheets every time a friend of mine wanted to build a pc and wanted to know what the best price to performance parts were. So I'm slapping together this little website. It's not up yet, but I have the url reasonablegamingpc.com. I'm utilizing open benchmark data for the relative performance of cpus and gpus, and plan on updating prices daily from any retailer that will let me. No ads, no tracking on my end, just affiliate links to pay for the upkeep. Ideally I want the landing page to just be a list of all parts necessary to build a complete computer, with each part being the best for the price in the category based on the days prices. That way you don't need to crawl through a ton of reviews for each part.

CPUs and GPUs are pretty easy to compare, but other parts are a bit more fuzzy. It really doesn't look like there is a ton of performance to be gained by fast ram, contrary to popular opinion. The difference in testing between DDR5 4800 and 6000 with the same timing looks to be about 3%, which really doesn't justify the extra cost of the higher speed ram, despite 6000 being the consensus sweet spot for AM5. I suspect that differences in timings would yield similarly minimal differences.

Motherboards are another tricky part. They make very little difference to performance, so instead I'll probably put together a minimum spec list of features and components, and toss up whichever board is cheapest that meets that criteria. PCIE Gen4 is the current cut off, as that really does make a significant difference in performance; particularly with GPUs utilizing only 8 lanes, which is going to be most low and midrange cards these days.

Cooling probably falls into a similar category as mobo and ram. If the cpu comes with a stock cooler I probably won't recommend getting anything more than that, and whichever fan cooler meets the thermal requirements at a reasonable cost will be recommended if not.

Storage will stick to NVME Gen4 x4 as that does have significant impact on load times and performance when gaming. Whichever part has the lowest price per GB while meeting the minimum spec will be recommended.

The common recommendation is not to cheap out on your power supply. As such I will have a minimum cut off of efficiency, probably 80+ gold, and a white list of manufacturers that haven't caused any fires recently. As such the part recommended will be the cheapest that meets those requirements and the estimated peak wattage of the above parts plus 10% rounded up to the closest 50w.

I genuinely have no idea what to recommend for cases. As I build out the parts database I intend to do size checking to make sure the recommended parts fit in whichever case is recommended. But as far as ports, features, minimum included fans, sizing, etc I really need some feedback as to what the minimum spec should be.

Anyway let me know what you think, whether you'd use or recommend a site like this, and what the must have aspects of pc parts (particularly motherboards and cases) are.

(all the information in the screenshot is for mock up and testing purposes and not intended for actual advice)

I have a Precision 3260 Compact (https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/workstations-isv-certified/precision-3260-compact-workstation/spd/precision-3260-workstation/s106dpt3260us_vp) with no standalone GPU. I also have an aging gaming desktop with a GTX 1070 and an i5 inside. I am trying to figure out a way to get the 1070 to work inside the Precision and it's driving me nuts.

The Precision doesn't have a standard micro-ATX motherboard, so I can't simply mount it in my larger case. Even if I could, the pcie slot is much shorter than the standard. On top of that, the GPU is longer than the entire case.

I'm willing to get creative, but I'm out of ideas.

I'm looking to build a reliable, basic, no-frills computer primarily for Internet browsing and watching movies. Not sure if it matters, but it would be running Linux Mint. I may also look to do some amount of photo and/or video editing on it at some point too, but i don't have any real needs for gaming with it. There's a million choices when it comes down to the mobo and cpu and all the rest of it, though i think i know which case i want to get so i think that may help narrow my options. (Fwiw, it's a Fractal Designs North model case I'm considering)

Any advice, please?

Edit: thank you all so much for your responses, I'm really glad i posted here! I have a much better sense of which way to go now. I really appreciate the time y'all took to help me out. 😄