PC Master Race

I feel this happens to everyone. Buy a PC, be happy that it's better than what it replaces, then after a few years get annoyed that's slow.

This happened to me with my now 6/7 year old Ryzen 5 1600x. It was so much faster then my FX 6100, but my workload changed, and while multicore it's good, single core leaves much to be desired, especially since my CAD software of choice FreeCAD is very dependent on single core/thread performance.

So I've been keeping an eye on the markets, waiting for a deal to be had, and I found one, with the Ryzen 5 5500 going into my budget. So I bought it thinking that my old Gigabyte B350M Motherboard would support it. I mean Gigabyte says it's supported and they've never lied about anything before... let alone deny by rebate claim for my laptop.

So I installed the CPU, booted it up, and boot loop. So I took out a stick of ram and it posted, was planning on fixing that later. Configured my BIOS to my liking, saved and restarted into my OS. It booted, for 3 seconds, then promptly black screened and crashed. Not even the power and reset buttons worked, so I had to hard kill it.

OK Troubleshooting time. Check BIOS version. 52h, hummm looks good but there is a 53, lets install that. And a reboot after, no fix.

OK let ask Google, within the dozens of responses asking for BIOS version, there was reseating the RAM. That did nothing, and underclocking the CPU to 3000MHz. That shockingly worked, and I booted into my OS. Neat, I can troubleshoot that later.

Now let's install my other stick of RAM and lets get to fixing this sucker... and it's boot looping again. I've reset the CMOS, put both sticks of RAM into all slot configurations, and nothing.

So I re-installed my 1600x to sanity check myself, and it worked, with both RAM installed. So back to Canada Computers I went to get a refund. While I was tempted by the Intel CPU's on the way out, I got new thermal paste and now I am writing this post on my PC with the 1600x.

Lessons I learned today.

1. If you are upgrading a 1000 series Ryzen stick with the 3000 series as 5000 compatibility is dodgy depending on the manufacturer.

2. The Manufacturers can and will lie about compatibility, and hardware upgradability is hit or miss depending on the Motherboard.

3. I'm not buying from Gigabyte ever again. Though I've heard Asus isn't much better.

Now PLEASE NOTE BEFORE COMMENTING. I do not have the 5500 and will not go back and get it again, so no troubleshooting, please. I just wanted to share my experience and kind of warn those who plan on doing the same.

It could just he me but I feel that people can only blame their gear so long before they should admit that they’re getting outplayed. At the same time, it’s strange how those some people will scream their chest out or slam on those keys to rage out on everyone else like they’re big and tough.

I have a triple monitor setup right now, but am thinking of trying a single ultrawide monitor. What is your preference?

Any one use an AsRock N100M? Whats idle power consumption on it like?

I have the n100dc-itx, and its about 6-8w on my home server, but was thinking of changing it to an N100M, as the n100dc-itx might be needed elsewhere.

Anyone got one? Else should I spend much more on the Odroid H4 plus?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.pe1uca.dev/post/1136490

I'm checking this mini pc https://www.acemagic.com/products/acemagic-ad08-intel-core-i9-11900h-mini-pc

It says the M2 and SATA ports are limited to 2TB, but I can't imagine why that's the case.
Could there be a limit on the motherboard? On the CPU?
If most likely this is done in software (windows) probably it won't matter since I'm planning to switch to linux.

What I want to avoid is buying it and being unable to use an 8TB drive.

Keep noticing that when taking about Linux distro recommendations (on Reddit) users recommend Mint and Ubuntu for gaming.

Now don't get me wrong, they're great distros and with a bit of work are great for games, but I feel like theres better recommendations for new users looking into getting into gaming on linux.

Wondering if my next upgrade should be an OLED screen or not. It looks amazing, but how is the current compatability with Linux these days? Anyone with one of these sexy screens that would like to share their experiences?

• What screen do you have?
• TV or Monitor Screen?
• Do you have multiple screens?
• What brand / model is recommended?

Lemmy know! 🌻

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/18941119

Microsoft Closes Redfall Developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush Developer Tango Gameworks, and More in Devastating Cuts at Bethesda

I finished my first build a few months ago, put fedora workstation on it, everything's been great so far, but there are a few games I have and love which don't work, or are incredibly unstable. so I'm looking for a small, let's say 256gb SSD, to dual boot with windows for those games as well as creative work with lightroom.

My current drive has enough storage for a windows dual boot on its own, but I do not want windows to hide the linux partition or delete it completely.

So my questions are:

• Should I get a larger SSD than 256gb?
• what would be a good drive at that size?

I was troubleshooting Bluetooth connection today and I thought that this is somehow related to software (PipeWire, bluez, bluetoothd and all that stuff). But no. Apparently Bluetooth barely works when WiFi antenna is disconnected from my ASUS motherboard.

Anyway, this might save a lot of time for someone, so I'm posting it here.

The "startup repair" Macrium offers is garbage and won't even load, so while I have all my data, I don't have an OS...

I appreciate any insights!

I am happy I could still get it in red 😋

Original RAM was Ballistix Sport LT 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR4 2400 MT/s (PC4-19200), while my new sticks are TeamGroup T-FORCE VULCAN Z 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 3600MHz CL18.

I've had my index for a year or two now, I've got both desktop and my beefy AF laptop that I play it on, but both are still super janky. The laptop is actually better for it believe it or not but I still get some hiccups here and there.

I know my bottleneck on the desktop is my GPU, CPU is ready for anything I can pair it with, what's a good one that will never let me see a frame drop again?

Come on I know you guys have suggestions

Edit: since you're all asking here's a list I made some time ago with most of my parts

Ignore the storage you see, i have like 2nvme drives and several SSD's that I didn't list

And can you disable it?

Hi! I currently have this build using the GT502 case.

I just recently got 3 more case fans. Previously it was set up like this:

I think that for some reason the temps got worse and the PC much louder. It might just be buyer's remorse but I got more fans so that they could use less RPM and be quieter, but I feel like the complete opposite has happened.

Can I change anything about this layout to optimise airflow? I was thinking of maybe switching the side panel fans to exhaust? That might starve the CPU cooler, though...

Maybe I'm just imagining things and I just need to perform exact tests to figure it out. What do you use for testing airflow effectiveness?

UPDATE:
The issue was weirder than I would've thought. The bottom 3 fans are controlled by one motherboard channel using a PWM splitter cable. The rear and side panel fans are the same - one channel for all 3. Previously I had just the rear exhaust plugged in to a single channel but now it's plugged into the splitter.

Apparently the order of the fans in the splitter is VERY important. I changed it so that the rear fan is the first in the splitter and that instantly fixed the issue. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I know Nvidia has a reputation for being bad with Linux. Is it better now? And most of all, what would be the best GPU for modern gaming on Linux (any distro)?

I'm currently on an MSI GF65 Thin 9SEXR. It has a 9th gen core i5, 8GB RAM, and a geforce rtx2060 graphics card. While it's been a great daily driver for several years now, it's definitely starting to show it's age with newer games and such.

I've currently got my eyes on the ASUS TUF series of laptops, because they seem like pretty decent quality. The chassis design seems more intuitive with where the ports are located, and other small details that make ease of use a priority. I like that it has a numberpad as well, and I'd consider this one of my necessities going forward.

My main uses will be moderate gaming, 3D design, and general browsing/productivity. I'd also like to dump windows for Linux as well, but I'm not entirely sure that I'm ready to make that jump yet. I've got very minimal experience with alternative operating systems to windows.

I don't know much about AMD's hardware, so I'm not sure how the designations compare to what I currently have. If anyone could give me an easy rundown to get me up to date I'd appreciate it too.

Total that got cut of there was £3,309. Which to be fair given what it allows me to do now will mean it should pay for itself within a couple of years worst case.

Hey all, thanks for all your replies to my previous post about the beefy machine for test renders, i am delighted to say i have gone ahead and ordered the machine after switching the gpu to a 4080 super, and getting a slighty better power supply.

I have also decided to go ahead and double the RAM to 192GB while they are still builing it. But i am getting concerned about cold boots and memory training.

How often does memory training happen? Is it every cold boot? Every manual reset?

The machine will be crashing alot, its just the nature of pushing them hard, and i dont want to be stuck waiting with that horrible feeling of if it will ever even boot at all, the next time i push the render quality a little too high in 3DSMax.

Would greatly appreciate some feedback on this from someone with experience of machines that have alot of RAM.