The PC thread

[T-ski]

Wife had a break in her day so checked the two monitors and one has an hdmi connection, so it looks like I just need to get an hdmi cable and we should be good.

Thanks for the help guys.

[cramx3]

Well I started the PC talk today, I guess I'll end it.  Got home from work, turned on my PC and a legit flame came out of my GTX 1080 graphics card.  No idea how that happened.  Luckily, so far it seems it was only the graphics card that fried. I popped in my old 770 that I use in my stream PC into my main PC and things seem to work.  However, buying a new graphics card these days is basically impossible.

I purchased an over priced RX 6800 to replace it.  It was the only card I could find that would ship by next week, was an upgrade, and was only $1k overpriced.      Literally the worst time for my graphics card to fry.  I will see if EVGA can RMA it, but it might be out of warranty by now. 

[faizoff]

That sucks! Indeed it indeed is the worst time to be buying a high-end or even mid-budget card. Prices are inflated like anything and stock is virtually zero. Scalpers somehow seem to be snagging whatever inventory is there maybe through bots?

I don't know if I'll ever find a 3080 FE anytime soon or a Ryzen 9 5900x, those two are the components I want to get and am willing to wait until stock becomes better.

[cramx3]

And confirmed with EVGA that my 1080 is out of warranty and there's nothing they can do  ugh, actually needed to find my purchase receipt, didn't realize I've had this card for 4.5 years now.  For some reason I was thinking 3 years max.  Damn its been awhile and I definitely needed an upgrade, I just didn't want to have to do it during a time when GPUs are so scarce.  Even mid level ones are insane.  At least the RX 6800 is going to be a nice upgrade even though I significantly over paid and wasn't the 3080 I really wanted.  Oh well.  Such is life.  I guess I should just be happy my motherboard wasn't also fried.  Looking forward to receiving the new card on tuesday and seeing the performance boost. 

But what also sucks is that I was going to stick the 1080 into my stream PC, I guess the stream PC will have to settle for the 770 which honestly seems to work well, but not sure how much longer that will last as that's really really old and has taken a beating over it's life time, but has yet to catch fire so there's that.

[ErHaO]

Buying a pc now is insane. Even old ass graphics card go for a significant mark up here. A colleague of mine just sold an old Nvidia card for almost double the price he got it for (second hand) a year ago (he was very lucky to get a preordered 3080 months late). A friend of mine bought a pc he was planning to buy late last year, only now for 600-700 euros more.

And this will not change anytime soon. It is not just cryptocurrencies and people at home wanting entertainment, there is a shortage of components at manufacturing level, something not easily solved it seems. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/21/global-shortage-in-computer-chips-reaches-crisis-point (example article, there are many similar reports).

[cramx3]

Buying a pc now is insane. Even old ass graphics card go for a significant mark up here. A colleague of mine just sold an old Nvidia card for almost double the price he got it for (second hand) a year ago (he was very lucky to get a preordered 3080 months late). A friend of mine bought a pc he was planning to buy late last year, only now for 600-700 euros more.

And this will not change anytime soon. It is not just cryptocurrencies and people at home wanting entertainment, there is a shortage of components at manufacturing level, something not easily solved it seems. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/21/global-shortage-in-computer-chips-reaches-crisis-point (example article, there are many similar reports).

Yup.  Sadly that's why I just splurged because I don't want to wait until who knows when to get a graphics card.  I feel like these prices aren't going anywhere.  I was really hoping to be able to RMA my 1080 just so I could resell it and get back the overcharge I paid.  Oh well.  At work (I work with IT hardware) we just got a notice that SSDs are going to be hard to get too.  Long lead times, which has been the since the pandemic started but it's actually getting worse now due to the shortage.  Crazy.  I'm going to see if I can get the extended warranty on my new card once it arrives.   My friend paid $60 for a 10 year warranty on his 3080 and while I used to think stuff like that wasn't worth it, with today's market, it just might be. 

What is actually amazing is my GTX 770 can actually play COD.  I have to set it to 720p and lowest graphic settings, but I was able to record this clip too https://twitter.com/Cramx3/status/1375238799089885188  I guess having a good CPU probably helps that old card out a bit. 

Anyway, I kind of rushed to get a new card, the RX 6700, and honestly after further review, it seems like I made a decent choice all things considered.  It's slightly better than a RTX 3070 but not as good as a 3080, and the scalper cost wasn't nearly as high as a 3070.  I'm worried about the AMD drivers, but if that's not an issue, I'd imagine pairing that with my AMD 3900X will actually give me significant gains over my 1080.  I'm actually pretty excited to try this out.  Should arrive Tuesday. 

[cramx3]

So I got the RX 6800 (not 6700 like I mentioned) over the weekend.... and I can't install the drivers.  Crashes my PC every time.  Now my understanding is the nvidia drivers are likely the culprit.  Even though I uninstalled them, it seems they can have some deep roots into windows.  I used DDU application and it still crashed my PC as well.  The only other troubleshooting tip I can do is a hard wipe of the OS drive and reinstall windows.  I'd rather not do that.  I happened to find a RTX 3070 on sale (5 left) that wasn't available last week when I looked so that is now on the way here.  I processed a return for the RX3800.  I was warned about the AMD drivers and I didn't think it would be a problem with today's latest hardware, and yet, here I am  Honestly, I'd rather the nvidia card so this may have been for the best. Assuming the new card works, if not, I guess I'll have to do the full reinstall to test.

[ReaperKK]

I had the same problem when I went nvidia to AMD years ago, wasn't aware it was still an issue. I ended up just doing a reformat.

I really like the new AMD stuff but my driver experience with AMD was so bad that I truly don't want to ever go back to AMD unless they come in with absolute stellar performance or price. Not to mention DLSS is some crazy wizardry.

[faizoff]

The clean OS is probably the best option, it's always a crapshoot when unplugging a GPU and replacing it with another mfg GPU. When I switched out my old Radeon HD 6870 for a RX 580, I just selected the clean install and have had no major issues. Switching from nVidia to AMD and vice versa is always a mixed bag I've read. AMD are still lagging on their driver support and from what I've read that's the next area they're trying to catch up on.

When and if I get a 3080 no doubt I'll be wiping the OS and reinstalling though honestly I'd prefer not to do that.

[cramx3]

My pc set up is quite complicated so avoiding a full reinstall will save me a significant amount of time. Honestly would rather the rtx over rx card, if I didnt see that option pop up to snag a card, I probably would have just bit the bullet. Although I feel there's a slight chance there's something else wrong (I mean there was an actual flame inside my PC, or the new card itself is a dud) and if I did a reinstall and it still didn't work, I'd probably kill someone.

[ErHaO]

My pc set up is quite complicated so avoiding a full reinstall will save me a significant amount of time. Honestly would rather the rtx over rx card, if I didnt see that option pop up to snag a card, I probably would have just bit the bullet. Although I feel there's a slight chance there's something else wrong (I mean there was an actual flame inside my PC, or the new card itself is a dud) and if I did a reinstall and it still didn't work, I'd probably kill someone.

Was it by any chance this 1080 btw? https://www.pcmag.com/news/evga-patches-graphics-cards-to-stop-them-catching-fire#:~:text=EVGA's%20GeForce%20GTX%201080%2C%201070,components%20installed%20on%20the%20cards.In that case, the cause could be explained. I was wondering so googled card catching fire, as that does not sound good.

Also, the 3070 is a beast as well. And especially if you don't mind dropping below 4k and/or use DLSS (long term), that thing should be able to power the good stuff for years to come.

[El Barto]

My pc set up is quite complicated so avoiding a full reinstall will save me a significant amount of time. Honestly would rather the rtx over rx card, if I didnt see that option pop up to snag a card, I probably would have just bit the bullet. Although I feel there's a slight chance there's something else wrong (I mean there was an actual flame inside my PC, or the new card itself is a dud) and if I did a reinstall and it still didn't work, I'd probably kill someone.

Why not just slap another HDD in there, or create a new partition somewhere, and install Windows on that?  Then you'd be able to diagnose your problem while still keeping your existing install.

[cramx3]

My pc set up is quite complicated so avoiding a full reinstall will save me a significant amount of time. Honestly would rather the rtx over rx card, if I didnt see that option pop up to snag a card, I probably would have just bit the bullet. Although I feel there's a slight chance there's something else wrong (I mean there was an actual flame inside my PC, or the new card itself is a dud) and if I did a reinstall and it still didn't work, I'd probably kill someone.

Why not just slap another HDD in there, or create a new partition somewhere, and install Windows on that?  Then you'd be able to diagnose your problem while still keeping your existing install.

Thats an idea (that I didn't consider), but I use all my SATA interfaces, it would also be a PITA to take things apart (although not as bad as wiping my current M.2), but its possible.  What would be easier is if I had a spare M.2 drive to test with, but I don't.  I'm OK with my current plan on not messing with the OS unless I need to, which I should find out tonight as the 3070 is set to deliver this afternoon because in the end, I'd rather the RTX3070 over the RT3800 anyway. 

[faizoff]

I'm that way too mostly, I don't think I've reinstalled any OS unless I absolutely have had to. In the past 10 or so years I think on my main desktop I've only reinstalled when I got a new SSD which was about 3 times.

On other new CPU release news, Intel came out with their 11th gen iCore series and it's so strange to watch them now. I was one who plunged in blind on the 2nd generation iCore series 10 years back and stuck with it for ages.AMD at the time made the misstep with their bulldozer architecture and FX series CPU.

It looks like the places have switched now from what I read by most tech reviewers. Several seem to find the 11th gen CPUs actually slower than the 10th gen counterpart. Never would I have thought I would read Intel doing that, plus many have actually said Intel appear to be the budget option these days with the i5 series. Truly a wild ride these past few years have been for them.
In fairness, they do look like they're on the path to right that ship and become super competitive again in the next 2-3 years. I just never thought I'd see that day where AMD outperforms Intel on several levels.

[cramx3]

Our Dell reps just did a presentation at work on their roadway for the next year, the intel / amd CPUs are really going to make us think about converting from intel to amd.  Also looks like hot swap M.2 drives will be a thing soon on servers. 

[cramx3]

Popped in the 3070 and everything works.  RTX on is a noticeable difference, my shadow kind of freaked me out in COD in my first game almost made me fire     1440p, 144hz, RTX on, over 100fps freesync  Now getting it to work with my El Gato capture card in my stream PC is another issue... it seems Windows is a little confused where to duplicate and output the audio.  Video capture works fine, but sending the audio through that HDMI output on the 3070 seems broken right now, I am 99.9% sure its the application/settings not the card, so overall I am a happy camper now and will play with the settings more later. 

[faizoff]

Nice! was it the FE 3070?

[cramx3]

Nice! was it the FE 3070?

No, but not far off.  It's an MSI Ventus 2x which is has a slight overclock. But it's very similar to the FE. Really just had to get what I could given the situation.  My friend got the EVGA 3080 FTW yesterday which is really what I wanted.  He did the trade in upgrade through EVGA to get that after 4 months of waiting.

[ProfessorPeart]

This video card shortage is maddening. I built my new rig last summer and was able to get the card I wanted with no issue and for a decent price. That same card is now going for more than 2x what I paid for it on the reseller market. My problem then was a MB shortage. I had to be quick on the draw to grab the one I wanted when it came in stock.

I built my son a new PC a few weeks back but I had to compromise with the video card. He has a worse one than mine, but nothing out there is even close to a decent price. The plan is to upgrade as soon as something better comes along, but that seems grim right now.

I know I could buy a PC from a company with a nice card, but I can't bring myself to buy a prebuilt machine. I love having total control over the build and the ease of repair if something ever goes wrong.

[cramx3]

If that flame in my PC damaged my motherboard, I would have just bought a prebuilt to get the right graphics card and been so upset that I wouldn't be able to build it myself.  It really sucks that we are in such a shortage, and it sucks even more that I don't know when the shortage will even end.  I paid well over 2x MSRP for my card, I'm mad at having to do that which in return supports the bots and resellers, but I just couldn't go for weeks on end without being able to game during this pandemic where I'm home most of the time and bored. 

[faizoff]

I've read there's also a chip shortage so some RAM and SSD prices are going up too. I looked up the RAM kit I bought in Sept for 64 GB 3200Mhz, I paid $185. That same exact kit now sells for $330 on Newegg where I bought mine.

The RX 580 I bought last May is now never in stock, and when it does show up it's easily 50-70% more what I paid and it's a 3 year old card!

[cramx3]

I've read there's also a chip shortage so some RAM and SSD prices are going up too. I looked up the RAM kit I bought in Sept for 64 GB 3200Mhz, I paid $185. That same exact kit now sells for $330 on Newegg where I bought mine.

The RX 580 I bought last May is now never in stock, and when it does show up it's easily 50-70% more what I paid and it's a 3 year old card!

It's insane, the prices I was seeing for cards older and worse than my old 1080 was stunning.  I'm thinking I might put my broken 1080 up on ebay and see how much someone will pay for the broken card.  Maybe someone who knows what they're doing can break it down and make use of it or part of it given how scarce these are.

[Chino]

Can someone ELI5 why card prices are what they are right now?

[cramx3]

Can someone ELI5 why card prices are what they are right now?

A few reasons.  Similar to PS5, the initial launch of the new cards were very limited.  Then there is also a silicon wafer shortage so making them has been slow.  Add in the popularity of cryptos and mining (also NFTs) these things are getting eaten up by anyone who can find one.  The silicon shortage is starting to affect other things too, motherboards/CPUs/memory/SSDs are all becoming a lot harder/expensive to get these days.  I'm sure there's more to it, but essentially supply isn't anywhere close to meeting demand right now.

[faizoff]

Yeah what cram said, to add to that I believe nVidia used Samsung's new fab process for some of their new 3000 series and the yields on certain wafers were not optimal. That along with everything else going on and TSMC being overbooked, there's just way too much demand for what the supply is right now.

[cramx3]

Also from our Dell presentation at work the other day, we don't buy these so their presentation was quick to not waste our time, but they are making these servers that can support 4x nvidia 3000 series GPUs.  I definitely wanted to learn more about those out of curiosity.  I'm guessing Dell has a some crypto miner customers they are catering to.

[faizoff]

With more and more companies now accepting crypto currencies and block chain I wouldn't be surprised if the demand shot up for enterprise mining setups. I'm curious about those too now.

[cramx3]

So now with this 3070 being so powerful, I've officially decommissioned my stream PC.  The 3070 (plus my 3900X cpu) can play at 2k 144hz ~90fps, record the gameplay at 1080p 60fps, and stream at 720p 30fps without any issues.  My 1080 was only able to do 2 of the 3 before performance would take a huge hit.  This actually frees up one of my webcams too, maybe I can set up a "cat cam" for the stream if I get a USB extension cable.

Having said that, I now have this second PC that is actually pretty powerful.  I guess it's good to have the spare in case something else catches fire 

[faizoff]

What are the specs for your 2nd PC? I hope that by the time I'm able to pick a new card, a 3080 or probably 3080ti when it comes, 4K 120hz monitors become more mainstream.

[cramx3]

What are the specs for your 2nd PC? I hope that by the time I'm able to pick a new card, a 3080 or probably 3080ti when it comes, 4K 120hz monitors become more mainstream.

Intel Core I7 6700k
16G ram
EVGA GTX 770
4x 400G SSD in RAID0
5TB SATA HDD
250G NVMe M.2 for Windows 10

[eric42434224]

Hello DTF.
I have noticed that sometimes I will be typing, and I look up, and it is all a bunch of random letters and spaces...sometimes with some numbers, symbols, and punctuation.  It really perplexed me, but I would just delete it, and retype.
Yesterday I got frustrated when it happened again, and I suddenly noticed that it was exactly everything I typed....BUT BACKWARDS!!!!
WTF kind of sorcery is this, and if anyone can tell me the simple, obvious, and stupid mistake I am making, I would appreciate it

[Orbert]

You have your keyboard plugged in backwards.  Take it out, turn it around, and plug it back in the right way.

If you're using a wireless keyboard, reverse the polarity in your house.  That should work.

[cramx3]

Hello DTF.
I have noticed that sometimes I will be typing, and I look up, and it is all a bunch of random letters and spaces...sometimes with some numbers, symbols, and punctuation.  It really perplexed me, but I would just delete it, and retype.
Yesterday I got frustrated when it happened again, and I suddenly noticed that it was exactly everything I typed....BUT BACKWARDS!!!!
WTF kind of sorcery is this, and if anyone can tell me the simple, obvious, and stupid mistake I am making, I would appreciate it

I've never heard of such a thing, have you tried a different keyboard?

You have your keyboard plugged in backwards.  Take it out, turn it around, and plug it back in the right way.

If you're using a wireless keyboard, reverse the polarity in your house.  That should work.

 

[faizoff]

Speaking of keyboards I ordered my very first mechanical Keyboard last night

The iKBC CD108









Don't remember how I wound up deciding on this but I had probably read it on several keyboard subforums how this is a good no-frills beginner's Mechanical Keyboard. Should be getting it this week. Can't wait!

Hello DTF.
I have noticed that sometimes I will be typing, and I look up, and it is all a bunch of random letters and spaces...sometimes with some numbers, symbols, and punctuation.  It really perplexed me, but I would just delete it, and retype.
Yesterday I got frustrated when it happened again, and I suddenly noticed that it was exactly everything I typed....BUT BACKWARDS!!!!
WTF kind of sorcery is this, and if anyone can tell me the simple, obvious, and stupid mistake I am making, I would appreciate it

That is really bizarre either you have some malware installed on your computer or someone is messing with you.

[cramx3]

I love my mechanical keyboard, I'm sure you will too Faizoff assuming you don't mind the clickity click noises.