Finally getting a new PC

[Misery]

I dunno if this post is particularly necessary but I'm aware we've got a few PC/tech/hardware/whatever enthusiasts here, and I'm bored out of my mind, so I figured I may as well show this.

I'd love to just post a text list of the specs but I cant find an actual text list to copy, so I'm just going to drop the stupid BestBuy link:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/skytech-gaming-prism-ii-gaming-desktop-pc-intel-core-i9-12900k-32gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3090-1tb-gen4-nvme-ssd-white/6499435.p?skuId=6499435

And yes, I know... Best Buy. Nobody else had the stupid thing (that I could find). But, whatever, I dont actually care too much about that so long as the thing arrives and actually functions.

Chose this after watching a whole bunch of reviews and such on pre-built machines. There's no way I'd be building one myself, it aint happening.

It probably aint perfect, but my almost nonexistent understanding of (and total lack of interest in) actual hardware makes the choices kinda limited, and my patience in making those choices even more limited.


I'll just be glad when it gets here. The machine I'm on now is so close to death that 99.99% of the things on it no longer work. It can load this site and also Youtube so long as I give it a complete power-down break every couple of hours or so. And it cant have more than just a couple of browser tabs open at once. With most extensions turned off. And almost everything else turned off. The fact that it's even running whatsoever is a miracle in and of itself.

Driving me crazy, it is. There's just not much else to do. I've got my Raspberry Pi emulator box, but the interface in that thing was designed by extremely drunken monkeys with a hammer (which they use to hit themselves over the head with), which means I dont have the patience to use it very often, and I've also got a Nintendo Switch, but... honestly if I'm being totally honest the Switch kinda sucks. Not a good selection of games and the shop is torture to browse in any case (I hope someone got fired for that. And then rehired so that they can experience being fired again. And then kicked by a donkey). I use it only when the PC isnt available. Really the only part I like about it is the Pro Controller, and that is almost purely used with the PC, not with the Switch itself. Honestly I doubt I'll ever buy another console past that one, they've just been so garbagey in recent generations. Last console I actually liked was... er... uh... I dont know. Not anything recent, that's for sure.

Enough "bloody stupid console" ranting though.

Gonna take a week for the PC to get here, but the order has been placed at least.

Until then, I guess I'll go... er... stare at a wall? I dunno there really isnt much else to do.

 

[Raggamuffin]

That looks like a great, high end gaming PC build.

Enjoy.

Ed

 

[Metalhead]

Well, hopefully it arrives soon. I know going without a working PC can really suck. I agree, the Switch is not a great console and I regret buying one of those for myself when the only games I really played on it are the Xenoblade Chronicles trilogy.

 

[Outdated]

Looks like a nice machine. I'm a little jealous. Sounds like an oxymoron but in a week's time we might have a happy Misery.

 

[Misery]

Looks like a nice machine. I'm a little jealous. Sounds like an oxymoron but in a week's time we might have a happy Misery.

More likely a frustrated and irritable one.

New PC is nice. New PC setup process is less nice. There's a few things that are definitely going to be a tad aggravating, like getting the controller drivers fully set up (so that it functions outside of just Steam).

On the other hand, there's some things I'm super excited to do. I really want to try the various fractal programs on it and see how much faster that is, likely they'll be WAY less time-consuming to work with. Those were the absolute most draining things on this machine and it was always kinda mind boggling to see what is indeed a powerful machine brought to its knees trying to complete a single image (even before the hardware started to come apart). Though, fractals are like that.

Also, VR. The old Oculus worked on this machine perfectly but the Index seemed to be a tad wobbly on it (though it occurs to me now, that may have actually been a sign that internal damage was present and I just didnt realize it). Either way it should work perfectly now, probably. I'll have to do the room setup though for like the 500th time. And recalibrate everything. I love VR but it can be so darned fiddly sometimes.

Well, hopefully it arrives soon. I know going without a working PC can really suck. I agree, the Switch is not a great console and I regret buying one of those for myself when the only games I really played on it are the Xenoblade Chronicles trilogy.

Yeah, that's sorta how the Switch is for me, like I've got a couple of things on there that I actually play and that's it. Primarily got it for Mario Maker. And Mario Maker really is spectacular but when that's pretty much the entire reason to even have the thing it says a lot about the device beyond that. I've got a couple of indie games and my pinball stuff on there too but they exist on Steam also (and are better there) so they dont really count.

 

[maycontainthunder]

@Misery , NVME drives can get hot and slow down. This can happen even with an aftermarket heatsink. My solution? Well...

...some people will be screaming 'NOOOOOOO' but it works.

 

[Misery]

@Misery , NVME drives can get hot and slow down. This can happen even with an aftermarket heatsink. My solution? Well...

View attachment 87434

...some people will be screaming 'NOOOOOOO' but it works.

What is it?

I know basically nothing about hardware.

 

[Atrapa Almas]

Seems somewhat better than my old chromebook.

Congratulations!! Happy gaming.

 

[maycontainthunder]

NVME is a type of solid state drive that, rather than use the traditional SATA interface, uses the PCIE graphics card interface which is far, far faster. For example a 3.5" 1tb 7200rpm mechanical drive has a write speed of around 140MB/s. Some current NVME drives are more like 5000MB/s.

What you can see in my picture is an NVME drive with an aftermarket heatsink. I've tie-wrapped a 40mm fan to it for cooling.

Below is an NVME drive sitting on top of a standard 3.5" hard drive. Both are 500GB capacity.

 

[Judge]

Yeah. So many heat issues in particular with that combination of CPU, GPU and NVMe SSD. All drawing outrageous wattage from the power supply. Make sure any and all NVMe SSD's have their own heatsinks. A quality MB will have them at least for the primary and maybe secondary slots.

And with so many storebought computers, expect the power supply to be a "no-name" manufacturer. A component that so many dismiss in terms of needed quality and reliability. Hopefully even for a no-name power supply, the one they include will be over 1000 watts minimum. If not, you have a problem. Regardless however, it should be the one component to replace, whether it works or not. Swap it out for a Corsair...something proven safe, efficient and reliable. With such a high power drain on that system you don't want to gamble the best components against a no-name product that may or may not be adequate to the task.

Just make sure you have software to monitor both the cpu's core temperatures as well as the gpu. If it gets too hot, it will throttle down and spoil gaming. And slowly fry your other valued components. If cooling is adequate, it won't happen. Just don't depend solely on fans alone to solve such thermodynamic concerns. And check to see if the AIO (all-in-one liquid cooling) is made by Asetek. That would be a good thing as well as they make many coolers under many names.

Don't be surprised if your electric bill goes up. Or that your lights dim while gaming! Whew...the latest systems and the power they drain. Oh my. Above all, make sure you don't burn your house down with the heat that thing will generate. In terms of power consumption it's simply in another league. Something very good- but also potentially very bad.

 

[Judge]

Here's what you really have to look out for. A collection of very good components, but occasionally very shoddy assembly of them. Sorry to say it's a very recent video of Steve Burke of Gamer's Nexus (take his words very seriously) about such a pre-built system. And yes, it's a Skytech.

It's not the model you purchased, however this should serve as a guide to what you should personally inspect when your computer arrives. Particularly those thermodynamics some of us have been harping about for good reason. So don't be afraid to return it, if it doesn't meet your expectations. Better to be aware of such things now than later.

"We're hugely disappointed in Skytech for not only dropping the ball, but also failing to recognize what went wrong when the answer was right in their faces. Skytech has done well in the past, but ..."

 

[Jordy]

I have an rtx 3080 and shaved of 30% of its power usage in exchange for 5% less performance, i did it with an undervolt. You should be able to do the same with a 3090.