The computer and electronics super geek thread

[Test_Pilot_2]

30 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

So I'm guessing that running freecell using Threadripper is a bit pointless, huh?

What are you talkin' about... Minesweeper or bust!

[azrael]

8 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

So I'm guessing that running freecell using Threadripper is a bit pointless, huh?

That depends. Are you testing and training a local AI model to beat Freecell as fast as and as optimal as it can using as many instances of the game as possible (like a few hundred instances)? Threadripper can do that. Same goes for Minesweeper. But I think someone has probably written a simple non-AI app that does it already. 🤷‍♂️

[mikeszekely]

17 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

So I'm guessing that running freecell using Threadripper is a bit pointless, huh?

Maybe, but can it run Crysis?

Edited July 29 by mikeszekely

[TangledThorns]

On my previous build back in 2014 I cheaped out on a PSU by not buying modular model. Lesson learned. For my current build I cheaped out on slim PC case fans that just started randomly vibrating. Lesson learned again, lol. 

[JB0]

8 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Maybe, but can it run Crysis?

Yes, but not ideally since Crysis is designed for high single-core performance.

...

Actually, "not without mods". Crysis uses 3DNow! instructions when running on an AMD processor, and AMD removed 3DNow! support.

[davidwhangchoi]

Can it run Cyberpunk?

[davidwhangchoi]

Orion and Canis 

 

[azrael]

11 hours ago, davidwhangchoi said:

Can it run Cyberpunk?

Yes. And Crysis. While developing for Cyberpunk 2078/9/80/81 and Crysis 4. Along with a whole slew of other tasks. 

[mikeszekely]

11 hours ago, davidwhangchoi said:

Orion and Canis 

Meh. Haven't touched my PS5 is actual years. I'll probably skip 6 entirely as long as Sony keeps putting their games on PC.

[davidwhangchoi]

On 8/1/2025 at 11:54 AM, mikeszekely said:

Meh. Haven't touched my PS5 is actual years. I'll probably skip 6 entirely as long as Sony keeps putting their games on PC.

I'll probably get a ps6 or look at the portable. maybe it will rival steam deck 2 

[davidwhangchoi]

On 8/1/2025 at 11:22 AM, azrael said:

Yes. And Crysis. While developing for Cyberpunk 2078/9/80/81 and Crysis 4. Along with a whole slew of other tasks. 

i'm still holding off buying parts for a desktop. pc interest has really taken a nosedive these past 2 months. maybe 2026 will be different. 

Edited August 3 by davidwhangchoi

[TangledThorns]

6 hours ago, davidwhangchoi said:

i'm still holding off buying parts for a desktop. pc interest has really taken a nosedive these past 2 months. maybe 2026 will be different. 

 

There is some great advancements in SFF/MFF with mATX/ITX mobos this year, next year should be the same. I expect a huge transition away from ATX sized mobos next year. Plus RTX 50xx Super GPUs are expected later this year too. 

[azrael]

12 hours ago, davidwhangchoi said:

i'm still holding off buying parts for a desktop. pc interest has really taken a nosedive these past 2 months. maybe 2026 will be different. 

We're mid-cycle for computer parts right now. There really isn't anything big on the horizon. The RTX 50 Super lineup isn't terribly big news since it's just a new SKU to justify a price increase with. And more price increases are looming so people are trying to lock in the pricing by buying now. 

[Test_Pilot_2]

14 hours ago, davidwhangchoi said:

I'll probably get a ps6 or look at the portable. maybe it will rival steam deck 2 

My Ally X + eGPU solution destroys every game at my projector's 1440p 120-144hz point. In most games even 4k above 60hz is good, too.

All I'm waiting for is a TB5 dock.

[davidwhangchoi]

13 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

 

There is some great advancements in SFF/MFF with mATX/ITX mobos this year, next year should be the same. I expect a huge transition away from ATX sized mobos next year. Plus RTX 50xx Super GPUs are expected later this year too. 

that sounds interesting. Looking forward to 2026

5 hours ago, azrael said:

We're mid-cycle for computer parts right now. There really isn't anything big on the horizon. The RTX 50 Super lineup isn't terribly big news since it's just a new SKU to justify a price increase with. And more price increases are looming so people are trying to lock in the pricing by buying now. 

yeah the supers are not interesting at all.  2026 it is.  

5 hours ago, Test_Pilot_2 said:

My Ally X + eGPU solution destroys every game at my projector's 1440p 120-144hz point. In most games even 4k above 60hz is good, too.

All I'm waiting for is a TB5 dock.

that sounds really powerful. I hope the ps6 portable, if it gets past the rumor stage, will actually have an above minimal battery life. i hope it'll play longer than an hour.  

[azrael]

31 minutes ago, davidwhangchoi said:

yeah the supers are not interesting at all.  2026 it is. 

There's rumblings from the grapevine that Nvidia might try to push up the Supers' release to end-of-year/Q4 2025. We will definitely see them by CES  in January 2026.  

Just FYI, rumors point to the Supers having the exact same CUDA core count as the non-Supers. Differences will be increased memory clock speeds and increased memory capacities. Wattage will also go up by 10-20% due to the increased memory clock speed.

[davidwhangchoi]

lowest priced 5070 laptop i've seen.

 

Lenovo Legion 5i Gen 10: 15.1" QHD+ OLED 165Hz, Intel Ultra 7 255HX, RTX 5070, 16GB DDR5, 1TB SSD $1337.49

SPECS:

• 15.1″ WQXGA (2560 x 1600) OLED with aluminum lid, 16:10, 165Hz, <1 ms response time, 100% sRGB, 500nits, VESA True Black 600 Certified, Dolby Vision support, TÜV Rheinland Certified, X-Rite Certified
• Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX Processor (E-cores up to 4.50 GHz P-cores up to 5.20 GHz with Turbo Boost, 20 Cores, 20 Threads, 36 MB Cache)
• Windows 11 Home 64
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Laptop GPU, 8GB GDDR7, 128-bit, 115W (incl. 15W boost), up to 798 AI TOPS, 4608 CUDA Cores
• 16 GB DDR5-5600MT/s (SODIMM)
• 1 TB SSD M.2 2242 PCIe Gen4 TLC
• 5MP with Dual Microphone and E-Shutter
• 24zone RGB Backlit, Eclipse Black - English (US)
• 80Whr Battery
• Starting at ~1.9kg / ~4.1lbs
• Ports:

Left:

• USB-C® (USB 10Gbps) with Power Delivery 3.0 65W-100W & DisplayPort 2.1
• USB-C® (Thunderbolt™ 4, USB 40Gbps) with DisplayPort 2.1 (Models with part number 83F0)
• USB-C® (USB 10Gbps) with DisplayPort 1.4 (Models with part number 83LY)
• USB-A (USB 5Gbps)
• Ethernet (RJ45)

Right:

• 2 x USB-A (USB 5Gbps)
• Headphone / mic combo
• E-Shutter Button
• Rear:
• HDMI 2.1
• Power-in

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, davidwhangchoi said:

lowest priced 5070 laptop i've seen.

 

Lenovo Legion 5i Gen 10: 15.1" QHD+ OLED 165Hz, Intel Ultra 7 255HX, RTX 5070, 16GB DDR5, 1TB SSD $1337.49

 

It's a fair price, especially with an OLED screen, but I'd recommend budgeting for a RAM upgrade to go with it.

Aside from a short weekend trip I haven't really traveled lately, definitely not like I used to pre-COVID.  I'm glad I upgraded my desktop when I did, but I'm not really sure I even need a laptop anymore, at least not for the time being.  For what little gaming-on-the-go I do these days (mostly just sitting for 45-90 minutes while my daughter is in her dance class) my ROG Ally X is handling well enough.

[TangledThorns]

Yeah, 32Gb is the new minimum for a new system or laptop. I'd recommend 32Gb even for casual users too. 

[azrael]

16 hours ago, davidwhangchoi said:

...

• Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX Processor (E-cores up to 4.50 GHz P-cores up to 5.20 GHz with Turbo Boost, 20 Cores, 20 Threads, 36 MB Cache)
• 16 GB DDR5-5600MT/s (SODIMM)

Not sure about the Intel CPU. You could get away with 16GB if this year's model has extra RAM slots. If it does, then the 16GB is fine. 

[Sildani]

Hi all. I'm considering dipping my toes into the gaming PC scene for the first time in decades, mostly so I can play Escape From Tarkov. It's... dizzying, the amount of crap out there, and the outrageous names manufactures give even the PC cases they make, to say nothing of fans, RAM, and so forth. And let's not get started on the literal alphabet soup of motherboard types, GPUs, and the like. I don't want to waste my money on overkill, OR by undershooting what's needed. So I come to you, who know much.

THIS much I have gathered: Tarkov has been described as CPU-intensive, requiring more from it than the GPU. I'd like to display 1440p res with High graphics settings or better at 60fps or better. I DON'T care about RGB, or a weird transparent case since it's going to be out of sight anyway. Budget is $700, not to exceed $900. I don't mind pieceing it together myself. Just please tell me what I need, what I don't, and whatever lessons you can teach me the easy way.

Thank you, all!

[azrael]

4 hours ago, Sildani said:

Hi all. I'm considering dipping my toes into the gaming PC scene for the first time in decades, mostly so I can play Escape From Tarkov. It's... dizzying, the amount of crap out there, and the outrageous names manufactures give even the PC cases they make, to say nothing of fans, RAM, and so forth. And let's not get started on the literal alphabet soup of motherboard types, GPUs, and the like. I don't want to waste my money on overkill, OR by undershooting what's needed. So I come to you, who know much.

THIS much I have gathered: Tarkov has been described as CPU-intensive, requiring more from it than the GPU. I'd like to display 1440p res with High graphics settings or better at 60fps or better. I DON'T care about RGB, or a weird transparent case since it's going to be out of sight anyway. Budget is $700, not to exceed $900. I don't mind pieceing it together myself. Just please tell me what I need, what I don't, and whatever lessons you can teach me the easy way.

Thank you, all!

A GPU will eat up anywhere between half to all of that $900 budget. 

Ryzen 5 9600X or 7600X
B850 or B650 motherboard
16 GB RAM
1TB SSD (maybe can fit in a 2TB if $$$ allows)
750W-850W PSU
RTX 5060 or RX 9060XT

[Pontus]

@Sildani, I'll bite on that one.  For such a low budget, you might be better off going with one of the windows based gaming handhelds.  I recently went with a Steamdeck because it's purpose built with a dedicated linux gaming OS that's easier on power than Windows, but there's no support for Tarkov, so that wouldn't work for you.  But there's plenty of great options out there like the MSI Claw, Asus Rogue, Lenovo Legion (which actually has both SteamOS dedicated support and Windows, so you could dual boot), etc.  These are all within your budget iirc.  

Old school/serious PC gamers may write these off, but the tech is seriously capable now (other than battery life, get an external one), and they all have docking options, bluetooth controllers, and double as a standard PC.  Will they do 4k with ray tracing at 120hz?  Not even close, but I think most of the latest models can meet your stated expectations not to mention being portable.  Some can even connect to external GPUs, although that's not really all that practical... yet.  Asus makes a good go of that but it's expensive.  USB C vsn5 works but isn't quite up to the task, and the only one that has a PCI connection is the older Asus model.

Just my 2¢. 

[mikeszekely]

3 hours ago, Sildani said:

Hi all. I'm considering dipping my toes into the gaming PC scene for the first time in decades, mostly so I can play Escape From Tarkov. It's... dizzying, the amount of crap out there, and the outrageous names manufactures give even the PC cases they make, to say nothing of fans, RAM, and so forth. And let's not get started on the literal alphabet soup of motherboard types, GPUs, and the like. I don't want to waste my money on overkill, OR by undershooting what's needed. So I come to you, who know much.

THIS much I have gathered: Tarkov has been described as CPU-intensive, requiring more from it than the GPU. I'd like to display 1440p res with High graphics settings or better at 60fps or better. I DON'T care about RGB, or a weird transparent case since it's going to be out of sight anyway. Budget is $700, not to exceed $900. I don't mind pieceing it together myself. Just please tell me what I need, what I don't, and whatever lessons you can teach me the easy way.

Thank you, all!

It's a little over your budget and not the most cutting edge hardware, but this is about as low as I'd go on the CPU for Tarkov, and the GPU should still cut it for your desired settings.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/thermaltake-graphite-360-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-5-5600x-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3060-1tb-nvme-m-2-black/6488518.p?skuId=6488518

Anything newer/faster is gonna cost you these days.  To put it in perspective, I spent about $1200 on my desktop five and a half years ago.  I upgraded last fall and spent double that.

[Test_Pilot_2]

Check this one out... $899.00 5060ti.

https://www.microcenter.com/product/696587/asus-tuf-gaming-t500-(2025)-t500mv-ms564ti-desktop-pc

[TangledThorns]

Try the used market, eg Facebook marketplace, to save money and you can haggle some. You'll have to research on what you find available though. 

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

I am asking all the experts here. I haven't built a pc in 10 years so I am a bit out of the loop. I would like a b850 for my next system. Which one should I choose.  I have 1 requirement it has to support a 5.1 speaker system.  I am not getting rid of my working Klipsch promedia ultra 5.1.  I an considering a 5070 ti (it will be a little more than I wanted to spend.) but the 5070 seems to be a giant step down.  and I am waiting for the super version announcement..    I wanted a 9070xt but the prices being so inflated on that card.  I am running a 24" 1200p monitor which still works.  But I will upgrade to a 32" 4k eventually.  

[azrael]

9 hours ago, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

I am asking all the experts here. I haven't built a pc in 10 years so I am a bit out of the loop. I would like a b850 for my next system. Which one should I choose.  I have 1 requirement it has to support a 5.1 speaker system.  I am not getting rid of my working Klipsch promedia ultra 5.1.  I an considering a 5070 ti (it will be a little more than I wanted to spend.) but the 5070 seems to be a giant step down.  and I am waiting for the super version announcement..    I wanted a 9070xt but the prices being so inflated on that card.  I am running a 24" 1200p monitor which still works.  But I will upgrade to a 32" 4k eventually.  

What's your budget?
The only boards that seem to still have 5.1 audio are the Asus TUF Gaming B850 line. One way you might be able to get around the lack of 3.5 audio jacks is to use a DAC and pipe the audio that way. I mentioned this way back ☝️but most folks are no longer using 5.1 systems because more folks are using headsets and a good pair of monitors(speakers) do much better than a 5.1 system. Yes, some people like the immersive sound, but in most current markets, folks are just not using multi-speaker sets anymore. 2.1 systems are more than enough. 

Whether you go with a 5070ti or wait for the Supers is up to you. The Supers, at least according to leaked specs are the same GPUs but with more and higher clocked memory. The Supers will get you farther but there is no real spec bump beyond memory. Nvidia is lowering prices of current GPUs to make room on shelves for the Supers. Rumor has it they might be the same MSRP-ish (we all know MSRP doesn't exists with any GPU). So if you buy now, you might get it for a decent price (i.e. MSRP 😱). If you wait, you will get a slightly better card for roughly the same price...roughly. 

[TangledThorns]

13 hours ago, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

I am asking all the experts here. I haven't built a pc in 10 years so I am a bit out of the loop. I would like a b850 for my next system. Which one should I choose.  I have 1 requirement it has to support a 5.1 speaker system.  I am not getting rid of my working Klipsch promedia ultra 5.1.  I an considering a 5070 ti (it will be a little more than I wanted to spend.) but the 5070 seems to be a giant step down.  and I am waiting for the super version announcement..    I wanted a 9070xt but the prices being so inflated on that card.  I am running a 24" 1200p monitor which still works.  But I will upgrade to a 32" 4k eventually.  

 

I recently built my first PC in over ten years too. Went with 850M mATX as I don't think we need larger systems any more since almost everything is built into the mobo or can be installed on it, namely NVME drives. Going 4K means more pixels which means more power in GPU, minimum is a RTX 5090 these days imo. Recommend going for 1440p which is a nice medium with OLED displays. 

See my recent post in this thread on what I built. 

Also, take your time do a ton of research before making your purchase. There is a wealth of Youtube videos that helped me in my decision and build plans. I think I spent over two months researching before I settled on my build parts. 

EDIT: I found Christopher Flannigan's videos to be easy to watch and learn from for my new build. 

https://www.youtube.com/@ChristopherFlannigan/videos

More edit: Recommend MSI mobos right now, they seem to be leading the pack when it comes to stability and features. Don't cheap out on important no name parts like the PSU and fans. Check out ID Cooling for cooling parts, they're way more affordable than the competition too. 

Last, skip the RGB crap. RGB does nothing for your system's performance and can add frustration if it doesn't work right. Learned that from my old system and skipping RGB for my new build made it soooo much easier. 

 

Edited August 19 by TangledThorns

[Test_Pilot_2]

16 hours ago, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

I am asking all the experts here. I haven't built a pc in 10 years so I am a bit out of the loop. I would like a b850 for my next system. Which one should I choose.  I have 1 requirement it has to support a 5.1 speaker system.  I am not getting rid of my working Klipsch promedia ultra 5.1.  I an considering a 5070 ti (it will be a little more than I wanted to spend.) but the 5070 seems to be a giant step down.  and I am waiting for the super version announcement..    I wanted a 9070xt but the prices being so inflated on that card.  I am running a 24" 1200p monitor which still works.  But I will upgrade to a 32" 4k eventually.  

I would recommend aiming for a nice 1440p monitor that works at a high refresh rate. I'm also seeing better prices on packaged, pre-made PCs than parting out. Just find a brand that is friendly for DIY upgrades.

You'll get more bang for your buck and you don't get sucked into the 4k/8k bs. High-refresh 1440p with all of today's graphics tech is fantastic.

Also much more affordable.

I game on a 150" 4k/1440P projector that runs at 144hz. Even at that size the smoothness and additional bells and whistles I can run at 1440p make the experience much better than 4k freesynced to anything 60-90hz.

[Seto Kaiba]

Random Q for the performance/gaming aficionados here... have you any thoughts on the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K as a processor for a gaming rig?  

I know Intel's kind of on the outs with that community due to the issue with the 13900 and 14900, so I was wondering if that chip has any major drawbacks.

Edited August 19 by Seto Kaiba

[azrael]

1 hour ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Random Q for the performance/gaming aficionados here... have you any thoughts on the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K as a processor for a gaming rig?  

I know Intel's kind of on the outs with that community due to the issue with the 13900 and 14900, so I was wondering if that chip has any major drawbacks.

The Core 9 285K is a mixed bag for gaming. It does about as good as the 14900K; anywhere from 1-5% uplift from the 14900K. 

There aren't any major drawbacks (it's not going to self-destruct like the 13900K and 14900K) but it's not a performance topper either. 

[pengbuzz]

1 hour ago, azrael said:

The Core 9 285K is a mixed bag for gaming. It does about as good as the 14900K; anywhere from 1-5% uplift from the 14900K. 

There aren't any major drawbacks (it's not going to self-destruct like the 13900K and 14900K) but it's not a performance topper either. 

I think at this point, reliability might be a bigger draw than a top-performer that chokes and burns itself out with dismal regularity. 

[mikeszekely]

5 hours ago, Test_Pilot_2 said:

I would recommend aiming for a nice 1440p monitor that works at a high refresh rate. I'm also seeing better prices on packaged, pre-made PCs than parting out. Just find a brand that is friendly for DIY upgrades.

You'll get more bang for your buck and you don't get sucked into the 4k/8k bs. High-refresh 1440p with all of today's graphics tech is fantastic.

Also much more affordable.

I game on a 150" 4k/1440P projector that runs at 144hz. Even at that size the smoothness and additional bells and whistles I can run at 1440p make the experience much better than 4k freesynced to anything 60-90hz.

Pretty much this, but I think one of the biggest mistakes I made was buying a 4k 60hz display back in the day.  Granted, it depends a lot on whether you prefer higher frames or higher fidelity, but I today I have an RTX 5080 and a 240hz display that runs at 32:9 5120 x 1440, which is double the pixels of a standard 16:9 1440p display but still roughly a million pixels less than a 16:9 4k display.  I play mostly single player games and I like to turn the graphics up; I average between 60-90 fps in most games, and occasionally hit the 120 mark.  Despite using different cables, both HDMI and Display Port, I had weird glitches with the desktop running at 240hz and wound up setting the display to run in 120hz mode.  Before, with an RTX 2080, I had to use DLSS and turn down a lot of settings to stay in the 45-60fps range at 4k, or if DLSS wasn't supported it was a choice between looking good at 1440p (or even 1080p) or looking like butt at 4k.

3 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Random Q for the performance/gaming aficionados here... have you any thoughts on the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K as a processor for a gaming rig?

Kinda depends on what you're running, I'd think, if it's more CPU-bound or not.  My setup came with an Ultra 7 265KF, and 99% of the time I'm fine.  I did notice playing Assassin's Creed Shadows, though, that I'd get some dips in towns where the CPU was driving a bunch of NPCs.

[kajnrig]

Right, the 285K is actually a bit worse than the 14900K in terms of pure gaming performance, but it consumes less energy to do so. I think something like 70-80% the power draw for 90-95% the frames, generally. It also doesn't (seem to) suffer from the same degradation issues that plague the 13th and 14th-gen parts.

It's also better overall in productivity tasks. Not by too much, but it's better while consuming less energy.

If I were buying for myself, I wouldn't feel comfortable getting ANY 13th-/14th-gen Intel part, new or used. The 285K wins by default.

Purely gaming-wise, AMD's X3D parts offer 20-30% better performance for sometimes half the power draw. Across a wider range of use cases, the AMD 9000 and Intel 200 parts tend to trade blows, though the AMD parts consume less energy. But I imagine the AMD chips are demanding a pretty premium at the moment, so if you can get a 285K for fairly cheap, I don't think you can go wrong.