Show us your PC Gaming Rig!

[Alin]

PSA for all people who care about dark themes and modes! I came across the BEST EVER dark mode application. It's actually an extension and it can be used on any website. The developer says that their algorithm will create the best dark mode contrast and I can definitely attest to their claim from my own personal experience. I came across it today and it changed my browsing experience completely. I'm a dark mode maximalist and I can't imagine anything topping this extension. They also care heavily about privacy, so that's another big plus! It's called Night Eye.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/...-on-an/alncdjedloppbablonallfbkeiknmkdi?hl=en

 

[Grinder34]

I never got a curved monitor. I was hoping my work would buy me one, but knew that I wouldn't get a chance to ask until this week. Turns out, no, they will NOT be buying me one. They'll pay for a last minute first-class international ticket, but wont doll out a few hundred for a monitor.

So I'm still on the hunt. Maybe some good post-Christmas deals? Also, I'll probably need to get a new video card to power the new monitor! I have a buddy who works for nVidia, maybe he gets a good discount? Haven't talked to him in a while though!

 

[Alin]

It's post-Christmas, [MENTION=652]Grinder34[/MENTION] ! :lol: Have you found any deals?!

Did anyone upgrade any computer components recently?

 

[Grinder34]

Ugggggggh, no. I've been looking!

 

[Grinder34]

Ok FINALLY got one (two). Read on for why.

First, I got a Viewsonic VP3881. 38" 3840x1600. Basically two 24" 1920x1600 next to eachother. It's "only" 60Hz...every monitor I've ever had is only 60 Hz! I've been looking for a 34"+ screen, and this came up on amazon as a refurb for $450 (MSRP ~$1000)

It's great! I have it hooked up to both my work computer and my home/gaming computer. But I noticed that with my work computer it was awful. I thought that my work laptop just couldn't cut it at that high a res. But i decided to investigate since it drove the 2x 1920x1600 ok. Ok, so the weird thing is that both my laptop and home pc only have HDMI 1.4 which *can* do 3840x1600 but only at 30Hz. HOLY SHIT. IT'S TERRIBLE. It's MISERABLE. The both have a Displayport 1.4 which can do full res @ 60Hz, but the monitor only has one input.

But that got me thinking...i've heard a lot about 100Hz+ gaming and how great it is. So today an AOC 34" (link) came back in stock. It's not 38" (which means something like 20% less area!!!), and it's only 1440px high...but it's 144Hz! If 30Hz-60Hz made that much of a difference, is 144Hz going to blow my mind? How will i feel about fewer pixels and smaller? Well, I'll let you know when it arrives!

 

[Alin]

I have no experience aside from standard, plebian, setups! :lol: So, I for one, am extremely interested in your feedback and reviews!!

 

[Grinder34]

Just ordered a third....

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-34-Inch-ED347CKR-bmidphzx-Curv/dp/B07BNPMZKX

Both are backordered to some extent, so I have time to decide between them

 

[Alin]

You've got me looking at used curved monitors on Craigslist and there are now more than I've ever seen before. Maybe I'll be getting lucky with a deal too! :tup:

This seems like the most likely bet right now, though.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsun...eesync-monitor-silver/5044701.p?skuId=5044701

https://cleveland.craigslist.org/ele/d/cleveland-samsung-27-curved-screen/7092409843.html

 

[Grinder34]

Ok so returning the 38" due to 1 bad pixel and wanting to try out 34" of 144hz goodness. Of course to get 144hz, adaptive sync, etc... i need a new GPU. So i ordered a warehouse deal AMD 5700 and a 5700XT (I'll return one).

But its crazy that those are like not-so-great cards and they're friggin $300! And then the monitor was $450. Now granted the monitor is something I'm using 8+ hours a day, so having something I like makes a big difference. But $750 on "display stuff" vs the entire rest of the build:

Silverstone Sugo SG13 case - $44
AMD Ryzen 2600x - $170
Fatal1ty B450 ITX mobo - $89 (after MIR)
ADATA 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3000 - $88
HP EX920 M.2 NVMe 512 GB SSD - $80
Seasonic FOCUS Plus Series SSR-550PX 550W 80+ Platinum $80 (after MIR)
Arctic A12 case fan - $9
Noctua NF-A9x14 for CPU cooling - $16

So: $576

Am I crazy?

 

[Alin]

Well, it is a top notch display setup. Compare that to something along the lines of an old GPU (such as a GTX 650) and an old 1080p 60Hz 24" monitor. I imagine those two in combination used would go for $100 or less on Craigslist.

We'll know if it's worth it when you give us impressions and reviews! :tup:

It could be the same thing as a $5 tie vs. a $250 tie. You wouldn't understand the difference until you experienced both. Then, you could never go back to the inferior product.

 

[Grinder34]

Here was mine with 0 overclock, and probably uncured thermal paste, shitty ITX airflow (relevant specs reposted below):

Thu Dec 13 201816:12:56

Image Editing: 168093
Time: 31.6966

Encoding: 117180
Time: 45.4685

OpenCL: 21853
KSamples/sec: 4062

Heavy Multitasking: 135302
Time: 56.4068

System Score: 110607




AMD Ryzen 2600x (high-ish end)
Fatal1ty B450 ITX mobo (high-end)
Adata 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3000 (mid-tier)
HP EX920 M.2 NVMe 512 GB SSD (high-ish end)
AMD HD6800 (~ a decade old)

FWIW my use-case is very similar to yours. I just finished Fallout 3, and have a backlog of games stretching back to 2007 that I havent played. GPU is probably not going to be upgraded for a loooong time.

New GPU:

Image Editing
140961
Time:36.095


Encoding
218077
Time:43.966


OpenCL
80346
KSamples/sec: 1963


Heavy Multitasking
156347
Time:62.553


System Score
132863

I'm not sure I understand all the results. Like OpenCl, total score went way up, but kSamples/sec went way down?

An improvement nonetheless, but given that I put in a pretty-darn-high-end GPU, I expected more? I know it's not a graphics-intensive benchmark, but still...

 

[Eagleye]

What gpu did you put in? Sorry if I missed it. My rx580 just burnt up last week and i put in a 2060 KO Ultra and 2 more sticks of ram (32gb now). On the bright side I am getting the 580 replaced so I?ll sell it or keep as a spare. I need to do some benchmarking to see where I?m at now. I was underwhelmed with the 580. It was decent but I expected more.

 

[Grinder34]

What gpu did you put in? Sorry if I missed it. My rx580 just burnt up last week and i put in a 2060 KO Ultra and 2 more sticks of ram (32gb now). On the bright side I am getting the 580 replaced so I?ll sell it or keep as a spare. I need to do some benchmarking to see where I?m at now. I was underwhelmed with the 580. It was decent but I expected more.

Got any good GPU benchmarks and reference scores? Trying to figure out if the GPU I got is bogus/broken. Its a 5700XT from Amazon Warehouse Deals.

 

[Eagleye]

Got any good GPU benchmarks and reference scores? Trying to figure out if the GPU I got is bogus/broken. Its a 5700XT from Amazon Warehouse Deals.

Unfortunately my busted card came from amazon warehouse deals too. It lasted a little over a year but ended in a fatal error. I think it was a card defect. I?ll run some numbers today and share them on here.

 

[Batmobile_Engage]

Just got one of these...

2020 ASUS TUF Gaming Laptop 15.6? IPS Level Full HD, AMD Ryzen 5 3550H Processor, AMD Radeon Rx 560X, 16GB DDR4 256GB PCIe Nvme SSD WiFi, Windows 10 - FX505DY-ES5



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086YKD26P/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_bRkNEbHF0260Z

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

[Alin]

Just got one of these...

2020 ASUS TUF Gaming Laptop 15.6? IPS Level Full HD, AMD Ryzen 5 3550H Processor, AMD Radeon Rx 560X, 16GB DDR4 256GB PCIe Nvme SSD WiFi, Windows 10 - FX505DY-ES5



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086YKD26P/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_bRkNEbHF0260Z

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

You should be finishing your car, not buying a gaming laptop! :lol: Congrats and give us a review after you've used it for some time!

 

[Batmobile_Engage]

Truthfully, I don't really have time for games these days. But due to the whole Kung Flu boondoggle, 75% of my company got laid off and in order for me to do some paperwork from home, I needed a computer ASAP. So I figured, generally speaking gaming laptops are powerful enough to be worth the money over a few years.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

[Alin]

Truthfully, I don't really have time for games these days. But due to the whole Kung Flu boondoggle, 75% of my company got laid off and in order for me to do some paperwork from home, I needed a computer ASAP. So I figured, generally speaking gaming laptops are powerful enough to be worth the money over a few years.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

I didn't look into it, but just from the specs, it definitely seems powerful to play some pretty hefty games, let alone do basic computations. You should be very satisfied!

 

[Grinder34]

You need to load up a game...for science!

 

[Batmobile_Engage]

The only thing I play on PC is World of Warships. It's not terribly hardware intensive if you have all the graphics and everything turned down, but now with this new laptop I can run pretty high quality graphics and sound without any performance issues. I'm quite happy with it.