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

As someone who worked in that sector for 8 years, yes, this. It's different with asian brands though. You need to be highly persistent, as China in particular has almost no consumer protection laws, and as a result native companies are somewhat lackadaisical when it comes to things like RMA. They think they can just wait for you to forget about it, they're used to getting their way with this, and you have to prove them wrong to get results.

Anyone have good recommendations on zip ties or whatnot for cable management? I bought some insane, thick industrial ones from Walmart that are totally over-sized and unnecessary for computer cables, so I want to buy some smaller ones online but it's hard to tell their size from just pictures.

Don't use zip ties, use those reusable velcro cable management ties instead No cutting required when you need to swap or reposition something, and you can use them repeatedly over multiple builds

Smart idea, thanks. I always see builders online use zip ties so I didn't even think twice.

I broke my mechanical keyboard cleaning it and I need a new one. I don't know shit about them though. Is there a crash course guide or something? Looking over the switches I'm split between Cherry Red, Brown or Black.

MX Brown would give you a tactile response with much quieter clicks than Blue

There are a lot of companies that make mechanical keyboards, only a few use Cherry switches. These days even knockoff switches are fine, but I still prefer genuine ones. I personally prefer Ducky, and have a http://www.duckychannel.com.tw/page-en/Ducky_One_2_Skyline/ right now, after my Das Keyboard Model S pro started getting bad wear. The Ducky keyboards have lately been very affordable on Amazon, so that's an extra plus. They also have RGB versions. A lot of the Corsair and other "Gaming" keyboards that (often) have RGB usually don't have standard keycap layouts, so if you ever want to put new ones on, you can be out of luck. New switches can feel a lot harder than you want, but give them like a month and you'll both be used to them, and they'll be a bit softened out.

xfx doesnt understand that fans have to work though

IMO browns feel very mushy though, clears are another option that have tactile feedback along with no click.

Possibly dumb question but I'm having trouble finding a definitive answer, and a lot of what I HAVE found conflicts itself... I have a reverence RX570 and am considering to switch over to green team with at least a GTX1070. Comparing apples to apples (reference to reference), how does the wattage of the two compare? Some sources suggest the 570 consumes a bit more than a 1070, others seem to say they're about equal, still more claim the 1070 isn't even in the same ballpark and is way higher.

They're both 150W.

What current games aside from Battlefield 1 uses more than 8GB of RAM? I'm still torn bewteen getting a laptop or a desktop at the end of the year and I can have one at around the same price as an asus laptop with a i5 7300HQ and 1050 if I go with 8GB (build would be a R51400 + 1050 Ti)

8GB is okay if the most intensive thing you're doing is games. Workstation level tasks like high end photo manipulation, or what I call "omnitasking" (IE, leaving frequently used programs open forever instead of closing them when you're done), might benefit from 16 or higher though.

Yeah the most I'd do is gaming the most i'd keep open is i dunno about 15 chrome tabs, but i'd close them when gaming obviously

Clears are also much heavier than browns. I don't know what kind of browns you have but they don't feel "mushy" by any stretch of the imagination. Personally, browns are my favorite.

what games do you play? for a low cost pc your going to upgrade later i think a 2400G with some decent ram and assd would be a better initial choice

oh dear I got an ASUS B450 Prime shipped and it's missing an I/O shield for the rear. I thought they were included?

They are, but unless you care a ton about aesthetics or dust, they're not necessary. In personal news, just got my paycheck and splurged on a be quiet! Dark Rock 4. Very excited to replace my Wraith Spire with it, but wondering if it's worth it to remove the entire motherboard to install it, or make do with my case's backplate cutout.

Feels like all the dust in this place gathers in my room.. may as well try my luck

The lower actuation force is exactly what makes them feel that way

I gotta disagree but that's the nice thing about mechanical keyboards, for every switch someone loves, someone else thinks it's trash and both people are totally in their own right to think that. However, the one absolute truth is that TOPRE IS RUBBER DOME

Yeah but Realforce feels nice.

Another dumbass Q - what to keep in mind when it comes to... ...thermal paste!

buy Kryonaut or NT-H1 if you wanna save like $4

Right now the most I play is Fortnite but once I get the desktop I'd be playing DOOM, Fallout 4, Prey and the like

I go with Arctic MX4. It's pretty cheap, and performs within a a very small margin of the top shit excluding liquid metal. It also isn't conductive like Arctic Silver (different company), doesn't cause microscratches on the IHS like diamond compounds, and has no cure time like some of the best pastes. It's just stupid simple to use and not very expensive.

I always figure that since the prices of paste are so similar, why not go with the absolute best, which is why I recommend Kryonaut despite being overkill usually.

Oh yeah uhh not much is wrong with the build right? if by the end of the year there are cpus or gpus at around the same price with better or equal performance i'd switch it up a bit

Don't buy a GPU, new ones may be coming out LITERALLY MONDAY

this is for the end of the year as i said so its subject to change also dont the XX80 gpus come out first