PC Building V4 - "ok SSDs got cheap, now do RAM next" - Hardware & Software

Motherboards are more or less all the exact same, feature-wise. You're best served by buying a peripheral USB card like drrs suggests.

That's fine in theory, but keep in mind... mATX. I have a two slot GPU, a dual 1/10G NIC, and now a capture card. That's all four of my case slots gone, I have no room left for a USB expansion card unless I get ghetto with a riser in the second slot my GPU covers, and just leave it dangling outside the case or something. So basically, at this point my options are to either get a new mobo with more USB on-board, or step up to a full ATX board and case, and there are full ATX boards with like 12 USB ports on them anyway, so the card would be redundant.

Or just get a powered USB hub. https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Port-2-5A-power-adapter/dp/B00GGYU8TC?th=1

That's the sort of compromise that you make when choosing mATX, unfortunately. Full ATX is probably your best bet.

Is bottlenecking not still an issue with 3.0 hubs?

Bottlenecking how? With the 5Gbps host speed? Keep in mind even each port on your system is sharing speed with a root hub.

Hey guys I'm looking into overhauling my PC soonish. Haven't really looked into hardware in a while outside of browsing this thread recently so some input would be super appreciated. As of right now I'm planning on reusing a good portion of my current build which will be these components jumping over to the new one: case, GTX 1070, optical drive, a 128gb SSD and a 1TB HDD for peripheral storage, sound card, 2x 1080p monitors. It's primarily gonna be for gaming on my days off, secondary uses being occasional streaming, video/photo editing, possibly 3D modeling as a hobby if I can get the time to get into it and learn it. I do want to eventually get VR but that'll be some time after I make the jump to a pair of 4k monitors at some point. Here's what I've got so far: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/DrhNvn I'm kinda iffy on the motherboard but it's got the most USB ports I can see on the IO panel, I'd be open to other solutions though if there is a better choice.

While that is a great choice of PSU, I want to make a side note that those 80 Plus ratings mean virtually nothing below 1000W or so, and can be safely ignored entirely.

The Crosshair Hero VII is basically the best X470 board you can get. I'd recommend getting good Samsung B-die ram instead of the trash stuff in the Ripjaws: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/cvGj4D/team-dark-pro-16gb-2-x-8gb-ddr4-3200-memory-tdpgd416g3200hc14adc01 https://pcpartpicker.com/product/s898TW/gskill-tridentz-series-16gb-2-x-8gb-ddr4-3200-memory-f4-3200c14d-16gtzsk

Yeah it's the 80 Plus certification itself that matters, the metal rating is pretty meaningless. I should've been clearer.

Thanks for the input guys! I'll be able to start updating the parts list and whatnot once I'm done with work for the day

you could also get a front panel with USB ports since most mobos will still have a 2 x USB 3.0 header (the 19 pin one) and one or two USB 2.0 ones. https://www.newegg.com/global/sg/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6V86JJ5461&cm_re=usb_5.25-_-9SIA6V86JJ5461-_-Product

well, crap My 1600x came in with bent pins - I'm not gonna bother trying to straighten them out, I'm just gonna return the CPU Now another issue arises - should I try and get a replacement 1600x, or is there another ryzen CPU you would suggest? & would it make sense to keep my B350 motherboard at this point, as I've read they might not be able to let me squeeze the most juice out of a ryzen 2xxx ?

Typing this from my first ever built PC. The power of technology is amazing!

Just get a replacement if you can, or look for a cheap 1700X.

Unless you got a killer deal, I'd return and get the 2600x.

If it's the same price, sure. Otherwise, the 1600X-2600X isn't that much of an upgrade without a new board, and you'd probably be better served with the extra cores of a 1700X. Just my $0.02

But if he's returning the 1600x, it's not really an upgrade. And depending on the region, a 2600x may be the same price or cheaper. I don't know how it is in Italy. If you plan on overclocking to 4ghz, yea maybe not too much. But a 2600x will go to 4.1 basically all the time on its own.

It's basically down to a 300~400 MHz boost, or 2 more cores. I'd go with the extra cores, that's just me though.

Didn't even think of that! Who says front bays are useless?

I'm still not entirely clear on what you mean here. Are you saying that efficiency isn't that important at lower wattages, or that quality doesn't correlate with the rating, or something different...?

Both, basically. It's totally fine to buy quality 80 Plus Bronze PSUs like the SS M12II.

I'd argue that a higher metal rating is indicator of better quality, but that for the price and wattage range, it's generally not worth it. You should be using sites like johnnyguru to decide if a PSU model is good anyway.

I think another way to say it is that 95% efficiency is important when you're regularly pulling 800watts and that amounts to more heat and more money lost 85% efficiency at 250watts is like having maybe a few more LED Fans on in your case. It's not a huge issue with lower loads overall. So why bother paying more if you're on a budget. But Seasonic is GOAT for powersupplies in general.

it was *the* killer deal, sadly The 2600x is actually a fair bit pricier - looking at a 30-40€ premium minimum - a 1700x would cost even more As for the motherboard, it's a Gigabyte AB350, so I reckon I'd have to flash a new BIOS on it

Efficiency above 80 doesn't matter below 700W or so, and a PSU could have 80 Plus Gold certification but deliver dirty power that fries components. It's usually not worth it to pay extra just for a higher 80 Plus rating.

can i get a laymens terms for 80+ metal for power supplies please?

80 plus is a certification on PSU efficiency, then there are "metal" levels that increase in efficiency. https://www.pcper.com/files/review/2017-12-02/28-80Plus-Chart.gif

Here's what wikipedia says on the matter: https://helifreak.club/image/20180726180656869.png Percenty bois are efficiency. 80% at 100W of output power uses 125W, 90% would use 112.5W.

It's a certification that designates that at least 80 percent of power into the PSU is converted to power out, with less than 20 percent becoming waste heat. The different metals are increasingly stringent efficiency requirements. Bronze is ~85 percent depending on load, and the highest, Titanium, is ~92 percent efficiency.