|OT| The PC Hardware Thread -- Buy/Upgrade/Ask/Answer

[Pixieking]

I had 3 Seagates fail on me in quick succession about 8 years ago and haven't bought a Seagate since. Tbf that was their standard drives, not an Ironwolf or EXOS, but I swear by WDs for all my music, videos and comics nowadays. I just wouldn't chance Seagate with anything of value.

 

[Pommes]

I personally had no problem when I used Seagate drives (Ironwolf) inside a NAS.

But be aware that there where cases of old hard drives where the SMART values where reset and then sold as new drives (Seagate spins up a raid on a counterfeit hard drive workshop — authorities read criminals' writes while they spill the beans).
So if you see drives that are suspiciously cheap for a new drive compared to other shops or other drive models that might be the reason.

 

[d00d3n]

I got tired of waiting for Steam Machine, so I am repurposing my old gaming PC as a SteamOs machine to connect to my TV. Specs are Intel Core i9-12900K, 32 GB DDR4 RAM, and a Prime OC 9070 XT that I bought today. Hopefully, this thing will work without too much hassle.

It feels good to utilize the old RAM and several old ssd drives without paying the current prices!

This installation has hardly been a hassle free experience. The standard SteamOs repair image did not support the 9070 XT (but the latest version of the the actual operating system does), there were annoying network connectivity issues, even with ethernet, preventing me to do the initial login to Steam (solvable by forcing a reset of network settings by checking and unchecking the proxy server option), and I am currently working on adding all my storage (extra sata ssd now works, but not extra nvme ssd).

 

[Alextended]

I did a test pc build to see what the market's like and I need like ~2-2.5k for what I want (between 7800X3D-9800X3D and 9060 XT - 9070 XT 16GB with 32GB DDR5 and new OS SSD - about 1TB cos apparently anything less has significantly reduced speeds even if same model, something about internal lanes), when last year it'd be about ~1.5k for similar stuff. Including decent case, cooler, motherboard and PSU of a certain minimum standard of course. Some prebuilts are almost equal value but tend to cheap out on the ram being less than 6000/30CL, the motherboard and other stuff like that. I'm gonna wait (agaaaaaaaaain), maybe with xbox helix and shit we're gonna see what next gen requirements will be like soon so I can avoid aiming for something less than the baseline for that.​

 

[Nebulys]

I did a test pc build to see what the market's like and I need like ~2-2.5k for what I want (between 7800X3D-9800X3D and 9060 XT - 9070 XT 16GB with 32GB DDR5 and new OS SSD - about 1TB cos apparently anything less has significantly reduced speeds even if same model, something about internal lanes), when last year it'd be about ~1.5k for similar stuff. Including decent case, cooler, motherboard and PSU of a certain minimum standard of course. Some prebuilts are almost equal value but tend to cheap out on the ram being less than 6000/30CL, the motherboard and other stuff like that. I'm gonna wait (agaaaaaaaaain), maybe with xbox helix and shit we're gonna see what next gen requirements will be like soon so I can avoid aiming for something less than the baseline for that.​

Yeah, it fucking sucks right now. I did my build back in late November/early December and I felt sick paying what I did for 64gb of DDR5 RAM at 6400MT/s. But then I look at the prices now and it's even worse.

I think you're right that the safest bet is probably Helix, if it's open enough. I'm concerned it will technically play PC games, but it'll be some sort of sandboxed system that allows Microsoft to pump it full of AI and ads.

 

[MonthOLDpickle]

Just picked up a 8TB WD red plus for only 1k more than a blue 8tb

Now I just need an external adapter to transfer old days onto it.

 

[MonthOLDpickle]

I bought a 8TD WD Red PLus HDD and its not even letting me get to the boot menu of my BIOS. I am trying to replace a NON-OS HDD that is dying.


It isn't from an external storage enclosure either.


Mobo beeps with green and red light steady on and that is it..no away to boot into my BIOS or windows.


AM I doing something wrong?

 

[Pixieking]

I bought a 8TD WD Red PLus HDD and its not even letting me get to the boot menu of my BIOS. I am trying to replace a NON-OS HDD that is dying.


It isn't from an external storage enclosure either.


Mobo beeps with green and red light steady on and that is it..no away to boot into my BIOS or windows.


AM I doing something wrong?

Hmmm... Have you unplugged the new drive to see if it boots without it?

 

[MonthOLDpickle]

Yeah it boots, I think this drive is bad. It not shucked from a drive so don't think I need to cover pins.

 

[Parsnip]

Yeah it boots, I think this drive is bad. It not shucked from a drive so don't think I need to cover pins.

System should certainly POST and let you access bios without any storage so it would be wild if a new bad drive would somehow block that entirely.

Are you seeing any output on the monitor at all?

 

[MonthOLDpickle]

Zero. It just reboots.

I googled but the power thing to me seems like if you shuck it out of the premade external one.

 

[Pixieking]

Zero. It just reboots.

I googled but the power thing to me seems like if you shuck it out of the premade external one.

Hmmmm... Yeah, feels like this is an issue with either the sata or power connectors on the new drive. How easy is it to return/exchange?

 

[SpikeNeptune]

Yo, the fans in my PC case are like 13 years old. One of them failed. It was an exhaust on top of my case. Removed the fan. I found the fitted hard plastic piece for it stashed away in a desk drawer and screwed that back in. Now I'm at 2 intakes and 1 exhaust. Temps didn't change. I recall seeing a video that basically found it really hard to fuck up your airflow as long as you have at least 1 intake and 1 outtake (and functioning CPU and GPU fans).

Some times I post about things that aren't interesting at all. Live mundanely! Post the mundane! Defy being interesting! Big Interesting won't control me!

 

[Kyougar]

Fellow comrades,

I am afraid.

I bought this baby nearly a year ago and somme issues started.

• Dunno if its really an issue with this one but every few weeks, the PC needs a minute to even start into windows. A little red light indicator is on at the mainboard for a time and switches to the normal white light after a while to then start the PC (The white light is always on at a normal start)(RGB and Fans are working normally at that time)
• 2 weeks ago I had a hard crash BSOD that froze the PC and I had to manually restart
• yesterday, after finishing a game, the monitors went black for a second and came back with the sound of USB connecting, or when you updated the graphics driver
• Today when I started the PC it started for a second, all RGB lights and fans started to then get dark again (and fans stopping) to then start normally after 5 seconds without input.

 

[kio]

Kyougar

From my understanding it feels like a ram issue. Try to verify if the ram sticks are properly seated, maybe move them to different slots if possible. If it's still within warranty period try to validate it beforehand and then contact the store.
It might also be the mobo but if it works sometimes I find it harder to believe.

Don't know how plausible it is but maybe windows is the culprit. We've all heard just how broken their last updates have been but I can't see it affecting the boot-up sequence like you describe in your 4th bullet.

 

[Nebulys]

On a very old PC I had a similar problem.

Diagnosed it as something RAM related - turns out one of the slots on my motherboard died. Could just as easily been a RAM issue though.

 

[low-G]

- once an Asus bios (a few specific versions)'s XMP RAM setting caused the southbridge to dip in voltage, which caused frequent USB power dips under load (like with Oculus CV1). The solution here was a lower RAM speed profile, but there's no reason the BIOS should have mismanaged power this way (locking voltages didn't help). What did help is specific major BIOS version numbers (if I recall, version 1.x.x and 3.x.x were bad, 2.x.x worked fine, allowing me to run my RAM at full speed.

- I also had at several builds over the years that would have odd 'I won't start up' issues like that, where rarely (like once every 2 months) the system wouldn't POST etc, didn't seem RAM settings related. My previous build would get into a weird doomed state where a HDD or two wouldn't show up until I did a cold boot and things acted unstable, like the system would start up in a bad connectivity state. I reassembled that, tried all kinds of things. FWIW that never actually AMOUNTED to anything. Sometimes a few cold boots were required. Computer lived to a very old age with no problems other than this very rare occurrence.

- I've had a dying PSU, but it would at least usually drop randomly under load (playing a game, but some games would cause it more frequently than others, perhaps transient power needs?)


I only info dump because these are similar to some of your problems.

 

[Kyougar]

The hard freeze happened again :[

This time on another game (Factorio)
While playing, the game froze but the video on the other monitor continued (although with a distorted and slow audio)
after 30 seconds my alt tab was registered and I was on the desktop, I thought that was it, but then after another few seconds it hardcrashed and I got into the Black windows crash screen where it said it will collect data but the 0% never changed and I had to reset the PC.

Anyone know a good RAM diagnose program? Will have to check that first.

 

[Nebulys]

The hard freeze happened again :[

This time on another game (Factorio)
While playing, the game froze but the video on the other monitor continued (although with a distorted and slow audio)
after 30 seconds my alt tab was registered and I was on the desktop, I thought that was it, but then after another few seconds it hardcrashed and I got into the Black windows crash screen where it said it will collect data but the 0% never changed and I had to reset the PC.

Anyone know a good RAM diagnose program? Will have to check that first.

MemTest86+ is the gold standard.

But I've actually found the Windows app MemTest is quite good in a pinch. You just need to open multiple instances of the app (as the amount of RAM each can test is limited), giving each a small portion (and the last instance all unused RAM).

If it's not RAM, check your GPU isn't drawing too much power. Spurts of instability like that can also be transient power spikes.

 

[d00d3n]

What is the best way to get a more silent PC by changing bios settings these days? Lowering p core multiplier? Lowering cpu maximum watts? Undervolting? Cpu is a 12900k. Gpu is a 9070 xt.

 

[Stevey]

OK, I had been running Win 11 on 3 displays.

Main monitor (1) on DP, another (2) on HDMI, and then my TV (3) through my A/V reciever on another HDMI.

I have changed a setting somewhere and fucked everything up, so now when I turn on my TV/reciever, my main display goes black, my other monitor flicks on and off and I cant move my mouse.

Disconnect the TV and everything is fine again.

I cant change any settings for the TV (3) while its not connected because only display 1 and 2 are showing up in settings and when I connect it, I cant use my mouse or see anything.

Is there anyway to delete my settings so that when I plug the TV back in it goes back to normal?

 

[PhaZZe]

OK, I had been running Win 11 on 3 displays.

Main monitor (1) on DP, another (2) on HDMI, and then my TV (3) through my A/V reciever on another HDMI.

I have changed a setting somewhere and fucked everything up, so now when I turn on my TV/reciever, my main display goes black, my other monitor flicks on and off and I cant move my mouse.

Disconnect the TV and everything is fine again.

I cant change any settings for the TV (3) while its not connected because only display 1 and 2 are showing up in settings and when I connect it, I cant use my mouse or see anything.

Is there anyway to delete my settings so that when I plug the TV back in it goes back to normal?

I don’t know how to fix your problem, but I recommend using DisplayFusion to manage display profiles.

When I turn on my PC, I have a scheduled task that automatically loads my “Monitor” profile.
When I’m working, I use the “Monitors” profile, which turns on my second monitor.
When I’m gaming on my TV, I use the “TV” profile. It turns off my two monitors so only the TV stays on.

You can also customize DPI, HDR settings, and monitor order for each profile. It also lets you set different audio output and microphone devices, and you can assign keyboard shortcuts to switch between profiles instantly.

 

[Nebulys]

If you're not confident it isn't hardware failure, it might be worth ruling out a hardware issue by burning a live Linux USB (no install) and seeing if it drives the displays how you want it to.

If you're confident it's a config issue, Display Fusion is an essential Windows 11 application in my view and configuring it may un-fuck up your settings.

Worst case scenario, reinstall Windows.

 

[Stevey]

Thanks, I will check Display Fusion out.

It did work fine originally but I changed something and then it all went wrong

 

[Alextended]

I bought a new mouse and keyboard, guess what!

Cheapo office crap that met certain criteria in regards to disassembly and cleaning cos seriously, fuck getting a mech and removing every key to clean it, lol.

Dell KB216 + MS3220

I wanna take it apart, leave the board and put the plastics/membrane under the tap once in a while like I used to do for my Microsoft multimedia keyboard that lasted decades (until I moved from PS/2) and I can't with even the simplest gaming crap with RGB bs! For a mouse I just want thumb buttons as on my current.

I almost got the slightly nicer KB522 keyboard but wanted one that has Greek letters (even though I haven't had those in a while) and that wasn't available so eh, went for the even cheaper one and if it's a successful test I can move to that or next equivalent next time, assuming it doesn't annoy me with faulty bits like my current SteelSeries (where lack of internal cleaning may be part of the issue, the blower I use for PC cleaning doesn't do much for a keyboard).

I feel like modern higher end stuff have planned obsolescence they didn't use to with listing the millions of clicks or presses they supposedly last yet most of the keys that have stopped behaving right on my current aren't even the stuff I use the most, like right Alt key or right Shift or the numpad and arrow keys etc.

Anyway I needed to replace my current stuff cos sooner or later even the keys for my login credentials won't work right, lol. My mouse is configured with workarounds to avoid double taps and such issues that limit functionality aeons now. I had done a lot of research before and almost settled on a low end mechanical from SteelSeries, 8bitdo or even Ajazz and other brands but at the last minute went down the "what keyboards have easy disassembly like the MS Multimedia keyboard" route and the answer is, only the most basic old school office stuff, so after looking at some by Logitech etc. I settled on this pos.

I was never into pro gaming to care if the mouse isn't at the highest hz or whatever. Plus my PC is a relic now, not exactly matching high end accessories, lol.

 

[Li Kao]

Alextended Christ, yeah ! It is nearly physically painful for me to use a mouse without thumb buttons. That’s how integral to my modern desktop use it is.

 

[MonthOLDpickle]

I don't need high DPI, I need at least 7 buttons but nothing crazy like a MMO mouse. Also under 100 grams of weight.