Help me build my PC 2020 Catch All

MannishBoy wrote:
bighoppa wrote:

You'd have to replace your tuners with the ones supported by Plex (can't recall the name at the moment) but should be doable.

Plex doesn't support CableCARD encryption. Only place that ever did was WMC*. Partly because it was MS Playready encryption.

*Just remembered that there were some HDHomeRun tuners that worked with CableCARD, but they had a crappy DVR solution last I checked.

I still have an HDHomeRun with CableCARD. I use it for live TV on any device on the network that can run a compatible app (PCs, iOS, Android). But I never did get a DVR solution working to replace my old Plex solution, so keep it around mainly due to inertia. I should probably return it to Comcast and save the rental fee.

My PSU fan seems to be dying, making lots of noise. Looking for something that is modular, 550-750 w, under 150. Looking at the Corsair rmx series. Thoughts?

*Legion* wrote:

Seasonic Focus GX-750

going to get from Amazon, they only have the px but it's not much more. Can't see any downside to it though! And I assume the sizes of PSUs are pretty standard? I'm using the silencio 352, which is an mATX case.

Chairman_Mao wrote:

And I assume the sizes of PSUs are pretty standard? I'm using the silencio 352, which is an mATX case.

These are standard ATX power supplies, which according to the Cooler Master site is what your case supports.

Thank you. Ordered and prime delivery has it coming... April 22nd #covidblues

My old 1920x1200 monitor appears to be dying. I've had it for umpty years and it was a refurb or resale of a HP display with stickers over the branding, so it's had a pretty good run. I'm looking to replace it with another 1080p (1440p is possible if affordable) monitor. I have a RX580 so I figure I want Freesync. I'd like to spend no more than $300 including cables.

I've narrowed things down to these two. Both are 1920x1080 and work at 144Hz with Freesync:
* Acer Nitro VG271 - flat IPS panel
* MSI Optix G27C2 - curved VA panel

Both are listed at $300, marked down to $200 and $220 respectively, but I'd need to buy a displayport cable for the Acer so it comes out the same. Does anyone have opinions on these or another I should be considering in this range?

I've read a bunch of online reviews, but I can't really tell if the issues they bring up are something I would notice or not- I don't need split-millisecond precision or perfect colors, I just want a monitor that'll look OK and last a few years.

You could check this page out. It might help.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor

I blame this thread for making me impulse buy a MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio. I regret nothing.

Thank you, GameGuru!

I am really digging the new NZXT H1 case. It has been making the rounds in the tech youtubers and they all seem positive about it. Price is a bit high (says the guy who built a server in a CaseLabs case lol) at $350 US but that includes the case, a 650W PSU, AIO cooler, PCIe riser, and custom length PSU cables. It is a clean case that is smallish without being too tiny to work in and unlike many smaller case it seems to have great airflow. I don't think it is shipping yet though.

IMAGE(https://www.nzxt.com/assets/v5/overview/h1/products-gallery/h1-2-d49255fe8ebefe803a186370276ae319aa8e4c42ae666ba3bbfb2daba223af58.png)

That's just an Xbox Series X case, you can't fool me.

PSU arrived yesterday, swapped it in last night. Other than trying to re-use the SATA power cables from the previous PSU (just because they look the same, they aren't the same!) it's working just fine. Tried some WWZ on Ultra at 1440p and the benchmark was hitting just above 60fps average with my ol' 970 and 4690k now overclocked.

*Legion* wrote:

That's just an Xbox Series X case, you can't fool me.

I haven't been able to find exterior dimensions but it looks slightly larger on the x and z and a good bit taller on the y axis, But yea Linus thought so too and titled his latest video to reflect that:

Honestly I wish there were more console-replacement case options.

I haven't looked in years, but Silverstone was doing some really classy pizzabox cases, once upon a time. They looked more like a high-end audio component than a computer.

The Fractal Design Node 202 had caught my eye but the thermals on that case are not great. Not sure when/if I will get to do it but I had a build planned in the Fractal Design Define Mini C, but the H1 is temping. The price difference is minimal and the only real downside is that there doesn't appear to be room for a 3.5 inch drive in the H1 as I was planning to move an external drive I have internal.

My friend bought one of these for his HTPC, and it looks ok with his components... Cooler Master HAF XB EVO

Malor wrote:

I haven't looked in years, but Silverstone was doing some really classy pizzabox cases, once upon a time. They looked more like a high-end audio component than a computer.

Silverstone is exactly what I used for my HTPC. The case I have is a lot bulkier than a console, but that was by choice so that I would have something that could take full-size parts after I've cycled them out of my main machine. It's definitely more audio receiver sized than set-top box sized, though.

There's plenty of cases that are good for "oversized" console replacement systems, but far fewer when it comes to making truly console-sized systems. Though if the new Xbox is any indication, "console-sized" might not longer be what it used to...

Old Man Pi wrote:

My friend bought one of these for his HTPC, and it looks ok with his components... Cooler Master HAF XB EVO

That's my current case. I'm digging it. I'm not enough of a guru to really analyze the pros and cons, but I liked mounting the motherboard to a separate panel that slid out and thumbs-screwed in.

In troubleshooting a lot of bum components, the layout of everything presented accessibility ups and downs. The power supply and hard drives were a little harder to access because they're under the rest, but the rest is easier to access. This was extra annoying while troubleshooting a power supply that was killing hard drives.

Also the internal connectors for the removable hard drive bays seem flaky looking, but I don't intend to use the bays. It's been like twenty years since I last cared about removable hard drive bays, so maybe what I consider flaky is the norm and fine?

*Legion* wrote:
Malor wrote:

I haven't looked in years, but Silverstone was doing some really classy pizzabox cases, once upon a time. They looked more like a high-end audio component than a computer.

Silverstone is exactly what I used for my HTPC. The case I have is a lot bulkier than a console, but that was by choice so that I would have something that could take full-size parts after I've cycled them out of my main machine. It's definitely more audio receiver sized than set-top box sized, though.

There's plenty of cases that are good for "oversized" console replacement systems, but far fewer when it comes to making truly console-sized systems. Though if the new Xbox is any indication, "console-sized" might not longer be what it used to...

Yeah, if you want to stick with nice cheap reliable ATX power supplies, you can't get them terribly thin. Other form factors can probably get a lot smaller, but I like sticking with standard parts, so that replacements are easy to find and cheap. The last one I built (retired long ago) was about 1.5x the thickness of an old standard VCR... not tiny, but not obtrusive, either. It blended in quite well.

PC YouTubers were all abuzz over the new Fractal Era. Looks kind of like a fat Xbox 360 made by IKEA. The airflow (or lack thereof) is likely to be a real problem for a gaming build but I think it's true purpose in life is to make a stylish HTPC.

Middcore wrote:

PC YouTubers were all abuzz over the new Fractal Era. Looks kind of like a fat Xbox 360 made by IKEA. The airflow (or lack thereof) is likely to be a real problem for a gaming build but I think it's true purpose in life is to make a stylish HTPC.

Doesn't look horrible from an airflow perspective. Looks like the whole top can be mesh and is designed for a 240mm rad:

IMAGE(https://www.fractal-design.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/EraITX_Front_Above_Blue_Mesh.jpg)

After looking at it a bit more nevermind. The GPU is definitely going to be running hot in that case. A blower style card might be ok but any card that doesn't vent outside the case like a blower card is probably just going to be recirculating the same hot air around all day. It might be ok if you put enough strong fans in the top with the mesh top to creative negative pressure but with the holes in the sides I am not sure if it would pull enough air from the bottom vents or not.

MannishBoy wrote:
Chairman_Mao wrote:

Looks like there are a few YouTube videos about it and this article may help. Says the main issue is getting USB to work

Thanks. I'll try to read up and see if it's worth the risk. Luckily the motherboard has a PS2 port still to get through setup. Believe I still have a PS2 keyboard (or adapter) around, too.

Doing more research, it seems the Ryzen 3 3200G and other third gen Ryzen chips have ACPI problems with Win 7. Intel integrated low power chips don't seem much better with Win 7 support.

Grrr.

Windows 7 is EOL, unfortunately these are the kinds of things you're going to run into.

*Legion* wrote:

Windows 7 is EOL, unfortunately these are the kinds of things you're going to run into.

I hadn't heard.

MannishBoy wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:
Chairman_Mao wrote:

Looks like there are a few YouTube videos about it and this article may help. Says the main issue is getting USB to work

Thanks. I'll try to read up and see if it's worth the risk. Luckily the motherboard has a PS2 port still to get through setup. Believe I still have a PS2 keyboard (or adapter) around, too.

Doing more research, it seems the Ryzen 3 3200G and other third gen Ryzen chips have ACPI problems with Win 7. Intel integrated low power chips don't seem much better with Win 7 support.

Grrr.

dang. What about a Ryzen 2? Same issues?

Chairman_Mao wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:
Chairman_Mao wrote:

Looks like there are a few YouTube videos about it and this article may help. Says the main issue is getting USB to work

Thanks. I'll try to read up and see if it's worth the risk. Luckily the motherboard has a PS2 port still to get through setup. Believe I still have a PS2 keyboard (or adapter) around, too.

Doing more research, it seems the Ryzen 3 3200G and other third gen Ryzen chips have ACPI problems with Win 7. Intel integrated low power chips don't seem much better with Win 7 support.

Grrr.

dang. What about a Ryzen 2? Same issues?

I haven't dug that deep yet. Got frustrated and lost focus.

Rykin wrote:
Middcore wrote:

PC YouTubers were all abuzz over the new Fractal Era. Looks kind of like a fat Xbox 360 made by IKEA. The airflow (or lack thereof) is likely to be a real problem for a gaming build but I think it's true purpose in life is to make a stylish HTPC.

Doesn't look horrible from an airflow perspective. Looks like the whole top can be mesh and is designed for a 240mm rad:

IMAGE(https://www.fractal-design.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/EraITX_Front_Above_Blue_Mesh.jpg)

Rykin wrote:

After looking at it a bit more nevermind. The GPU is definitely going to be running hot in that case. A blower style card might be ok but any card that doesn't vent outside the case like a blower card is probably just going to be recirculating the same hot air around all day. It might be ok if you put enough strong fans in the top with the mesh top to creative negative pressure but with the holes in the sides I am not sure if it would pull enough air from the bottom vents or not.

Yeah, the top can be mesh but most people I dare say are going to want that slick looking wood panel instead. The video I watched had, I think, a GTX 1660 of some flavor and it was running at like 66 degrees C over ambient under load. So the reviewers are giving it a lot of heat (no pun intended) as a bad choice for a gaming build. The whole design strikes me more as an HTPC/emulation choice, though.

Apparently the new r9 4900HS processor is a game changer. One wonders if you can get one for use in desktops (next gen consoles should be interesting too):

LTT glowing review but isn't the only one raving:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYqG...