The computer and electronics super geek thread

[mikeszekely]

10 hours ago, azrael said:

Those specs would be fine, all things considered, until we get to this:

'Don't know what BIOS revision is on that board but ASRock's reputation with burning 9800X3Ds on their X870 boards is well known. 
https://en.gamegpu.com/iron/problemu-s-asrock-officially-confirmed-platy-x870-stably-podayut-zavyshennoe-i-vstabilnoe-soc-napryazhenie

NGL, I'd consider it anyway, update the UEFI, and cross my fingers. Same GPU but a better CPU and more RAM than the Asus G700 I spent like $400 more on at the beginning of the year.

[Sildani]

https://www.microcenter.com/product/698874/powerspec-g527-gaming-pc

I've seen this one; how is it? I'd mainly use it to run Escape From Tarkov and my Steam library.

[azrael]

2 hours ago, Sildani said:

https://www.microcenter.com/product/698874/powerspec-g527-gaming-pc

I've seen this one; how is it? I'd mainly use it to run Escape From Tarkov and my Steam library.

Looks like a reasonable 1440p gaming machine. Little pricey but given the recent price hikes on RAM and SSDs, that's probably offsetting it. The 7500X3D was just released by AMD. It basically a 7600X3D minus 100MHz.

[davidwhangchoi]

PowerSpec G757 Gaming PC AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 4.7GHz Processor; NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 16GB GDDR7; 32GB DDR5-6000 RAM; Samsung 2TB Solid State Drive $1999.99

another good one from Microcenter

• AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D (4.7GHz) Processor
• Gigabyte B850 Gaming WiFi6 Motherboard
• 32GB DDR5-6000 RAM
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Graphics Card
• Samsung 2TB NVMe SSD
• Gigabit LAN, WiFi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3
• Windows 11 Home
   

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

27 minutes ago, davidwhangchoi said:

PowerSpec G757 Gaming PC AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 4.7GHz Processor; NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 16GB GDDR7; 32GB DDR5-6000 RAM; Samsung 2TB Solid State Drive $1999.99

another good one from Microcenter

• AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D (4.7GHz) Processor
• Gigabyte B850 Gaming WiFi6 Motherboard
• 32GB DDR5-6000 RAM
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Graphics Card
• Samsung 2TB NVMe SSD
• Gigabit LAN, WiFi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3
• Windows 11 Home
   

Phoenix is out of stock. But it was down to $1600. I missed it.  

[mikeszekely]

I wish I had a microcenter. Closest one for me is like a 4 hour drive.

[Sildani]

I'm lucky, I know, having one 20 minutes away. You need me to pick something up, @mikeszekely, happy to do it. Unless you just want to wander around in one...

[mikeszekely]

14 minutes ago, Sildani said:

I'm lucky, I know, having one 20 minutes away. You need me to pick something up, @mikeszekely, happy to do it. Unless you just want to wander around in one...

I want one so I can walk around in it, see good deals, and buy them on the spot. Definitely appreciate the offer, but short of seeing something cool and buying it on a whim I think I'm actually good.

[TangledThorns]

4 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I wish I had a microcenter. Closest one for me is like a 4 hour drive.

Road trip, lol. 

Seriously though, closest Microcenter to me is about 45 minutes which isn't too bad but I hardly bought anything there for my two PC builds. There was good deals during the Summer that came after my builds though. 

 

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, TangledThorns said:

Road trip, lol. 

I mean, I've done it before...

But yeah, I don't think I'd do it now.  It's far enough away that I'd have to charge my Taycan at least twice to make the round trip, and that's assuming that I just went to Microcenter and back.

EDIT: Oh, sweet, I just looked and it looks like they opened one closer.  Now I'd only have to drive two and a half hours.

Edited November 14, 2025 by mikeszekely

[TangledThorns]

Just catching up on how RAM prices exploded... RAM I bought over the Summer has gone up in price by over 2 to 3 times...

Probably a good time to jump on those MC pre-builts it seems. 

Rising RAM Prices Could Be the Next Big Problem for PC Gamers, as ASUS Warns of ‘Massive’ Price Hikes if Shortages Continue

https://wccftech.com/rising-ram-prices-could-be-the-next-big-problem-for-pc-gamers/

Edited November 14, 2025 by TangledThorns

[azrael]

4 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

Just catching up on how RAM prices exploded... RAM I bought over the Summer has gone up in price by over 2 to 3 times...

Probably a good time to jump on those MC pre-builts it seems. 

Rising RAM Prices Could Be the Next Big Problem for PC Gamers, as ASUS Warns of ‘Massive’ Price Hikes if Shortages Continue

https://wccftech.com/rising-ram-prices-could-be-the-next-big-problem-for-pc-gamers/

My recommendation is if you are in the market for a new GPU, BUY NOW. If the news that Nvidia is delaying the RTX 50 Supers till Q3 2026, the likelihood is the prices on those cards will go up. GDDR7 production will likely take a hit with production shifting to normal RAM chips. The ripple effect of RAM and NAND chips seeing price and production increases means other related components will see price increases as their supply reduces. Current GPU supplies will likely dwindle as restocks take longer to fulfill.  

[davidwhangchoi]

21 hours ago, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

Phoenix is out of stock. But it was down to $1600. I missed it.  

that was a killer deal. Lot of great Best Buy open box deals the past week as well. (Best Buy raised back up the prices yesterday)  a scar 18 rtx 5090 for $2500, lowest price i've ever seen but still too much for a laptop.  And they had a G18 with a 5080 for $1850.  With Microcenter and bestbuy, this past week was probably the best we're going to get for the holidays for the high ends pc and laptops.

 maybe be some decent mid tier laptops with rtx 5070's can drop below 1000-1100 before or on black friday. 

 

[TangledThorns]

Wasn't interested in a drone till this popped up in my Youtube feed. Probably won't be able to get in the States tho

 

 

 

[mikeszekely]

6 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

Probably won't be able to get in the States tho

As I understand it, the impending ban prevents the sale of DJI's stuff in the US, but doesn't prohibit you from owning or using DJI drones in the States.  Maybe my in-laws can get one for me...

[azrael]

AMD rumored to raise GPU prices just as Radeon RX 9070 XT finally reaches MSRP [RUMOR] (Videocardz.com)

Again, ripple effect. 

[Sildani]

Any really great deals on pre-made gaming PC's anyone aware of for Black Friday?

That Micro Center G527 with the 32GB of RAM and RX9060XT with 16GB is tough to cross-shop.

[azrael]

57 minutes ago, Sildani said:

Any really great deals on pre-made gaming PC's anyone aware of for Black Friday?

That Micro Center G527 with the 32GB of RAM and RX9060XT with 16GB is tough to cross-shop.

Besides what's been posted ☝️? Deals are coming out daily so check back.

[TangledThorns]

2 hours ago, Sildani said:

Any really great deals on pre-made gaming PC's anyone aware of for Black Friday?

That Micro Center G527 with the 32GB of RAM and RX9060XT with 16GB is tough to cross-shop.

Check out Slickdeals, Newegg for deals. But I have a feeling pre-builts may go up in price soon if not now. 

[azrael]

This post showed up on the r/PowerColor sub-reddit:

 

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

I have lost all hope about building a new pc.   I am going to Micro center tomorrow just to get a 9070xt in the hope that I might get a deal on ram during BF/CM.  If it doesn't pan out I can return the video card.  I will go with the $600 powercolor model.  With prices going up my budget is just too constrained.  I am scared of a prebuilt.  1 year warranty is a joke.  Bad psu's and lousy ram.  

 

Edited November 20, 2025 by Hikaru Ichijo SL

[Test_Pilot_2]

8 minutes ago, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

I have lost all hope about building a new pc.   I am going to Micro center tomorrow just to get a 9070xt in the hope that I might get a deal on ram during BF/CM.  If it doesn't pan out I can return the video card.  I will go with the $600 powercolor model.  With prices going up my budget is just too constrained.  I am scared of a prebuilt.  1 year warranty is a joke.  Bad psu's and lousy ram.  

 

Man, I am so sorry. This morning, Amazon had some 5070tis at a fantastic price as part of an early black Friday deal, but I just checked and they're all gone.

It was close enough in price to Microcenter's 9070xt's to where I would've recommended jumping it 5070ti immediately.

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

10 minutes ago, Test_Pilot_2 said:

Man, I am so sorry. This morning, Amazon had some 5070tis at a fantastic price as part of an early black Friday deal, but I just checked and they're all gone.

It was close enough in price to Microcenter's 9070xt's to where I would've recommended jumping it 5070ti immediately.

It was the PNY for $700 correct.  I probably my fault for waiting for so long.  

Edited November 20, 2025 by Hikaru Ichijo SL

[Test_Pilot_2]

2 hours ago, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

It was the PNY for $700 correct.  I probably my fault for waiting for so long.  

Yeah, I don't recall the brand, but the price was $699 - that deal was solid. If you're not opposed to refurb GPU's, Microcenter has fantastic deals on high quality refurbs. I know refurb GPUs get bad press, but MC does a good job of giving you peace of mind with decent return policies. You might be able to save a little green and hit your use case. Of course YMMV on what's in stock, but don't overlook them if you're amenable to it.

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

31 minutes ago, Test_Pilot_2 said:

Yeah, I don't recall the brand, but the price was $699 - that deal was solid. If you're not opposed to refurb GPU's, Microcenter has fantastic deals on high quality refurbs. I know refurb GPUs get bad press, but MC does a good job of giving you peace of mind with decent return policies. You might be able to save a little green and hit your use case. Of course YMMV on what's in stock, but don't overlook them if you're amenable to it.

Thanks I will look tomorrow if I can get to the store. 

[davidwhangchoi]

ABS Stratos Ruby Gaming PC: Ryzen 7 9800X3D, RTX 5080, 32GB DDR5, 2TB SSD $2299.99

newegg

SPECS:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 8-Core 16-Thread
• GPU: MSI EXPERT GeForce RTX 5080 16GB GDDR7
• Motherboard: MSI PRO B850-P WIFI
• RAM: Team T-Force Delta RGB 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR5 6400 (PC5 51200) RAM
• SSD: 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD
• CPU Cooler: GAMDIAS AURA GL240 V2, 240mm AIO
• PSU: 1000W ATX 80+ Gold Full Modular Power Supply
• Case: ABS Stratos II MX220 Black Gaming Case
• WiFi: WiFi 7
• Bluetooth: BT 5.4

Edited November 21, 2025 by davidwhangchoi

[davidwhangchoi]

posting one more deal before Thanksgiving week / black friday officially starts: 

Lenovo Legion Tower 5i Gen 10 Desktop: Ultra 7 265F, RTX 5070 Ti, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Liquid Cooled $1499 + Free S/H

• Processor: Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 265F Processor (E-cores up to 4.60 GHz P-cores up to 5.20 GHz)
• Operating System: Windows 11 Pro 64
• Graphic Card: NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5070 Ti 16GB GDDR7
• Memory: 32 GB DDR5-5600MT/s (UDIMM)(2 x 16 GB)
• Storage: 1 TB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 TLC
• AC Adapter / Power Supply: 850W
• Pointing Device: USB Calliope Mouse (Black)
• Keyboard: USB, Calliope, Black - English (US)
• WIFI: Wi-Fi 6E 2x2 AX & Bluetooth® 5.3
• Warranty: 1 Year Mail-in
• Operating System Language: EN:English

[azrael]

Maingear also reporting RAM shortages and they're trying to hold pricing but they are also heading toward price increases by January.

CyberPowerPC cites 500% RAM surge as MAINGEAR warns of deeper memory shortages

RAM and SSD chip manufacturers are not ramping up production because they've been burned too much of late with those massive spikes in production only then to see rapid decrease in demand. If this AI boom is in a bubble, hardware makers do not want to be caught in that bubble if or when it does burst.

TLDR; If you're gonna buy, buy now. 

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

Something good happened. I got from newegg for $800

 

amd 9800x3d 

CORASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X870E APEX AMD X870E AM5 ATX motherboard, Advanced AI PC-ready, 18+2+2 stages, DDR5, ROG Memory Fan, ...SAIR Vengeance RGB 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR5 6400 (PC5 51200) Desktop Memory Model CMH32GX5M2N6400C36 ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X870E APEX AMD X870E AM5 ATX motherboard, Advanced AI PC-ready, 18+2+2 stages, DDR5, ROG Memory Fan, ...   MSI MAG Coreliquid A15 360 Black- AIO ARGB Liquid Cooling - 360mm Radiator - Triple 120mm ARGB PWM Fans - EZ Connect.    what gpu, case and PSu shouid I get.   Where is the best place to buy windiows.

[azrael]

1 hour ago, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

what gpu, case and PSu shouid I get.

Case is purely your aesthetic choice. You want the dual-chamber? Fish tank? Good-olde rectangle? This one is up to you.

GPU and PSU kinda go hand-in-hand. With PSUs, overspec'ing is always OK. 
If you get up to a 5070 Ti or 9070 XT, the maximum you'll need is a 850W. Anything more is future-proofing.

RTX 5080? You'll need a ~1000W.

5090? Get the maximum you can for a reasonable price. Minimum of 1000W, but get bigger. A 5090 can suck up all 600W of the 12V-2x6 plug. And be sure it is a newer model which has current protection. If the 5090 fries itself, you'll want the PSU to have protection. 

[TangledThorns]

1 hour ago, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

Something good happened. I got from newegg for $800

 

amd 9800x3d 

CORASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X870E APEX AMD X870E AM5 ATX motherboard, Advanced AI PC-ready, 18+2+2 stages, DDR5, ROG Memory Fan, ...SAIR Vengeance RGB 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR5 6400 (PC5 51200) Desktop Memory Model CMH32GX5M2N6400C36 ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X870E APEX AMD X870E AM5 ATX motherboard, Advanced AI PC-ready, 18+2+2 stages, DDR5, ROG Memory Fan, ...   MSI MAG Coreliquid A15 360 Black- AIO ARGB Liquid Cooling - 360mm Radiator - Triple 120mm ARGB PWM Fans - EZ Connect.    what gpu, case and PSu shouid I get.   Where is the best place to buy windiows.

 

TBH you should have all the figured out your entire PC build plan before you started buying parts. 

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

6 minutes ago, TangledThorns said:

 

TBH you should have all the figured out your entire PC build plan before you started buying parts. 

I agree 100% but the deal came up all of a suddenly and I had to act fast.

 

30 minutes ago, azrael said:

Case is purely your aesthetic choice. You want the dual-chamber? Fish tank? Good-olde rectangle? This one is up to you.

GPU and PSU kinda go hand-in-hand. If you get up to a 5070 Ti or 9070 XT, the maximum you'll need is a 850W. Anything more is future-proofing.

RTX 5080? You'll need a ~1000W.

5090? Get the maximum you can for a reasonable price. Minimum of 1000W, but get bigger. A 5090 can suck up all 600W of the 12V-2x6 plug. And be sure it is a newer model which has current protection. If the 5090 fries itself, you'll want the PSU to have protection. 

I got an 850w Cosair. from amazon.    I am slowly getting the parts.

[azrael]

29 minutes ago, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

I got an 850w Cosair. from amazon.    I am slowly getting the parts.

Great. But what GPU were you aiming for? 

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

16 minutes ago, azrael said:

Great. But what GPU were you aiming for? 

A 5070ti but probably a 9070xt. My budget is getting tight now.

[mikeszekely]

Hmmm, I should probably buy a Beelink or Miniforum mini PC now instead of waiting. Been wanting to set up a Batocera box for awhile.