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#4585142 - 11/14/21 04:22 PM New PC  
Joined: Sep 2001
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Dart Offline
Measured in Llamathrusts
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Lifer

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Alabaster, AL USA
Well, my trusty 12 year old PC has finally started to really show it's age. It's in hospice, with all manner of crashing, poor performance, etc.

I've done the deep dive on the problems and they're legion. The graphics card is glitchy, the RAM is sometimes erroring out, the processor is a bit behind the times, the sound is causing stutters, etc.

Bonus plan - the darned thing won't let me upgrade away from Win7, even with a new hard drive. Maybe it's a bios thing. And I can't do an in-place upgrade, because I have the dreaded Win7 build that refuses to allow it; and there doesn't seem to be a fix for it.

Since there's no longer any driver support worth a darn, it's that time.

I could have part-built it, but then I saw this:

Skytech Archangel 3.0
Ram Memory 16 GB (two sticks of 8GB)
Operating System Windows 10
CPU Model AMD Ryzen 7 (hooboy, I'm going away from Intel, but all the review say this is the way to go right now)
Graphics Coprocessor GeForce RTX 3060 12GB GDDR6

And the price point was about 100 bucks more than if I bought all the stuff myself. Interestingly enough, I bought the last of these directly from Skytech for a bit over a grand (with free shipping); now they're only on Amazon for 1600.

Air cooled GPU, which is good. I'm over liquid cooling; it's great for a few years, but not ten. The units are "not user maintained," which means one has to perform surgery to replace the fluid that will inevitably evaporate out of the system.

With my current system, it's so unstable that I don't even attempt flight sims. I really need to hook all the stuff up and get back into Rise of Flight, if only to shoot some touch and goes in the Nieuport 11. Plus it will be nice to play Fallout 4 without crashes.

It arrives Tuesday, so expect a review later this week.

I'm wondering what everyone else is running. I suppose I'm maybe upper-middle of the PC pack with this rig, but I saw a bunch of much more expensive sets out there.


Last edited by Dart; 11/14/21 04:29 PM. Reason: Emphasis added - I want others to participate

The opinions of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

More dumb stuff at http://www.darts-page.com

From Laser:
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#4585145 - 11/14/21 04:51 PM Re: New PC [Re: Dart]  
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,712
Dart Offline
Measured in Llamathrusts
Dart  Offline
Measured in Llamathrusts
Lifer

Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,712
Alabaster, AL USA
Oh, and to add something about people in general (I don't want to edit again), as it pertains to reviews.

RGB LIGHTS MEAN NOTHING

Good grief, people, if you're going to review a PC, the lights around the fans should be a footnote, not the first thing one writes about at length.

This is like reviewing a car and having a third of it being about the rims on the wheels.


Last edited by Dart; 11/14/21 04:51 PM.

The opinions of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

More dumb stuff at http://www.darts-page.com

From Laser:
"The forum is the place where combat (real time) flight simulator fans come to play turn based strategy combat."
#4585149 - 11/14/21 06:21 PM Re: New PC [Re: Dart]  
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 3,066
RedToo Offline
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Posts: 3,066
Bolton UK
Looks like we're upgrading at the same time and doing a reasonably similar upgrade from similar existing machines. Of course everything costs more for me as I'm in the UK. sigh

RAM - 32 GB in two sticks.
OS - Win 10 Pro.
CPU - Intel Core i7 11700F Rocket Lake
GPU - EVGA Nvidia RTX 3060 12GB
Storage - 1TB Samsung 9800 PCIe (M.2) SSD and a Toshiba 3TB HDD
Case - Fractal Design Meshify 2 - Zero RGB smile But a lot of room for expansion.

Not decided about the monitor, I really like the look of this ViewSonic but it is a bit on the expensive side.

Current PC is Win 7, works well but now getting too long in the tooth for flight sims which are all I play. I'm sticking with water cooling, had it in the Current machine from day one and it's still running fine. (Touches wood, crosses fingers.)

Hope all goes well with your new machine Dart.


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#4585153 - 11/14/21 07:08 PM Re: New PC [Re: Dart]  
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,289
Herman Online content
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Herman  Online Content
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,289
Originally Posted by Dart
Well, my trusty 12 year old PC has finally started to really show it's age. It's in hospice, with all manner of crashing, poor performance, etc.

I've done the deep dive on the problems and they're legion. The graphics card is glitchy, the RAM is sometimes erroring out, the processor is a bit behind the times, the sound is causing stutters, etc.

Take those symptoms as blessings. Your PC is giving you plenty of warning over the inevitable crash. Far better to slowly degrade and give you time to prepare a replacement, than to try and start anew from a totally dead box.


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#4585156 - 11/14/21 07:48 PM Re: New PC [Re: Dart]  
Joined: Aug 2001
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JimK Offline
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JimK  Offline
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Posts: 10,845
Spokane,WA
My gaming PC has done the same, Graphics card gave up the ghost and dropping from 4k res down
to 800x600 sucks the big one. Been pricing a replacement and its almost costs as much as new PC.
Had it custom built by I Buy Power. Cost $6500 at that time.

Still on the fence about replacing the card or new.


Erebus Full Tower:Windows 7 Ult 64bit:Intel� Core� i7
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#4585158 - 11/14/21 08:26 PM Re: New PC [Re: Dart]  
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Arthonon Offline
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California
It looks like a pretty good system, but I'll make a few comments - first, depending on what you want to play, you might want to go on up to 32GB when you get a chance, since that's almost a requirement for stuff these days. Also, you didn't list the drive (unless I missed it), but I assume it's an SSD, which is also preferred, although some come with the OS on an SSD and a second HD for the actual games.

Enjoy!


Ken Cartwright

No single drop of rain feels it is responsible for the flood.

http://www.techflyer.net

#4585166 - 11/14/21 09:16 PM Re: New PC [Re: Dart]  
Joined: Dec 2009
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AndyB Offline
Member
AndyB  Offline
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Posts: 748
Ayrshire, Scotland
Dart,

If you get this system the FIRST thing to do is disable Windows upate service.

There is currently an issue with Windows 11 where it is running AMD based system up to 30% slower than Intel based ones. There is some speculation that Intel have done a deal with Microsoft but that has yet to be proven..

If you don't disable the service you may find your system has upgraded to Windows 11 by itself. Microsoft are now sending out an automatic update where youo don't get notified before it updates.

Cheers,

Andy


Andy's simpit: http://www.simpit.me.uk
#4585171 - 11/14/21 09:40 PM Re: New PC [Re: Dart]  
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 25,138
RSColonel_131st Offline
Lifer
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Lifer

Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 25,138
Vienna, 2nd rock left.
Originally Posted by Dart

I'm wondering what everyone else is running. I suppose I'm maybe upper-middle of the PC pack with this rig, but I saw a bunch of much more expensive sets out there.



Wish you much fun with the new box, seems like a very sensible build. The performance of your GFX card will obviously depend on what resolutions and refreshrates you have available, but the 3060 is a good medium-high pick.

I'm on my i7-8700K from summer 2018 (16GB RAM, bunch of SSDs) with the 2080 Super bought two years ago (originally got a 1080ti with this system). Win10, very early version, updates disabled (too many drama reports from all corners of the internet).

Agree on the air cooling. In the same way I stay absent from dual GFX cards (SLI or crossfire), to me simplicity beats that last little bit of performance or quietness. Easier to repair and sort out things, easier to avoid hard to notice issues before they eat your motherboard.

I'm not sure there are all that many much faster systems than yours and mine around these days, at least not here in our community. RTX3070 and upwards have been either unobtanium or requiring the sale of your firstborn due to crypto mining, covid and semiconductor protuction issues. Lots of people stuck with their 20xx series or older cards because there's just no resonable priced upgrade path.


#4585173 - 11/14/21 09:52 PM Re: New PC [Re: Dart]  
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Posts: 19,381
Ajay Offline
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Brisbane OZ
My last two rigs have been water cooled, one i had for three years then gave to a mate, and current i built mid last year...now you got me eyeing my cooler Dart..thanks.


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#4585184 - 11/15/21 12:26 AM Re: New PC [Re: Dart]  
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 8,703
WangoTango Offline
Hotshot
WangoTango  Offline
Hotshot

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Posts: 8,703
Ontario, Canada
Originally Posted by Dart
Oh, and to add something about people in general (I don't want to edit again), as it pertains to reviews.

RGB LIGHTS MEAN NOTHING

Good grief, people, if you're going to review a PC, the lights around the fans should be a footnote, not the first thing one writes about at length.

This is like reviewing a car and having a third of it being about the rims on the wheels.


I HATE RGB. It's annoying.

#4585186 - 11/15/21 01:53 AM Re: New PC [Re: Ajay]  
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Dart Offline
Measured in Llamathrusts
Dart  Offline
Measured in Llamathrusts
Lifer

Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,712
Alabaster, AL USA
Originally Posted by Ajay
My last two rigs have been water cooled, one i had for three years then gave to a mate, and current i built mid last year...now you got me eyeing my cooler Dart..thanks.


Well, it's a function of time and what one is doing.

For us, flight sims are CPU heavy, meaning they get hot. So paying attention to dust on the radiator and temps after a few years is in order. Just like an air cooler, if one starts to see temps rise, the first thing is a good cleaning of both the radiator and checking on the thermal paste. I think that's why the top end liquid coolers have a way to refill them (or used to).

Liquid cooling is okay, especially if one upgrades regularly - I tend to keep and nurse along systems for a decade or more, which is probably past the recommended life of water coolers.


The opinions of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

More dumb stuff at http://www.darts-page.com

From Laser:
"The forum is the place where combat (real time) flight simulator fans come to play turn based strategy combat."
#4585189 - 11/15/21 04:21 AM Re: New PC [Re: Dart]  
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
PanzerMeyer Online centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
PanzerMeyer  Online Centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
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Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
Miami, FL USA
It's nice to see you posting again Dart. It's been a while! As for me I'll most likely buy my new Alienware PC in December. I just don't have the patience anymore to build my own PC's.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4585192 - 11/15/21 04:58 AM Re: New PC [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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WangoTango Offline
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WangoTango  Offline
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Ontario, Canada
Originally Posted by PanzerMeyer
It's nice to see you posting again Dart. It's been a while! As for me I'll most likely buy my new Alienware PC in December. I just don't have the patience anymore to build my own PC's.

My son got into PC building a couple years ago. He likes to stay cutting edge, so I bought his old one, not even a year old. It is more PC than I need.

#4585193 - 11/15/21 05:43 AM Re: New PC [Re: Dart]  
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,845
JimK Offline
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JimK  Offline
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Posts: 10,845
Spokane,WA
Originally Posted by Dart
Originally Posted by Ajay
My last two rigs have been water cooled, one i had for three years then gave to a mate, and current i built mid last year...now you got me eyeing my cooler Dart..thanks.


Well, it's a function of time and what one is doing.

For us, flight sims are CPU heavy, meaning they get hot. So paying attention to dust on the radiator and temps after a few years is in order. Just like an air cooler, if one starts to see temps rise, the first thing is a good cleaning of both the radiator and checking on the thermal paste. I think that's why the top end liquid coolers have a way to refill them (or used to).

Liquid cooling is okay, especially if one upgrades regularly - I tend to keep and nurse along systems for a decade or more, which is probably past the recommended life of water coolers.


That was my custom build,water cooled except the Titan Card. Wear it died. Just looked back on my buy. Was 2016.


Erebus Full Tower:Windows 7 Ult 64bit:Intel� Core� i7
3930K Processor(6x 3.20GHz)32GB[4 GB X8] DDR3-1866:GPU
NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan 6GB:1.5Kw PSU: 43" Sceptre 4k:
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#4585213 - 11/15/21 03:04 PM Re: New PC [Re: Dart]  
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,969
wormfood Online content
Member
wormfood  Online Content
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,969
Texas
I'm with Dart on the LEDs on components, but I'll go further and say I absolutely hate them. It's a PC that's being put together, not a rave.

#4585253 - 11/15/21 11:51 PM Re: New PC [Re: Dart]  
Joined: Sep 2001
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Dart Offline
Measured in Llamathrusts
Dart  Offline
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Lifer

Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,712
Alabaster, AL USA
PC should arrive tomorrow, so tonight I went out and bought a 1 TB SSD drive. For a hundred bucks.

I spent three times that for a 20 MB drive "back in the day," when I thought it was overkill.

"I'll never fill it up!"

Last edited by Dart; 11/15/21 11:51 PM.

The opinions of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

More dumb stuff at http://www.darts-page.com

From Laser:
"The forum is the place where combat (real time) flight simulator fans come to play turn based strategy combat."
#4585258 - 11/16/21 01:40 AM Re: New PC [Re: Dart]  
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 17,301
Nixer Offline
Scaliwag and Survivor
Nixer  Offline
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Living with the Trees
SSD's may be the coolest end user friendly innovation for PC's so far this century.


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#4585268 - 11/16/21 09:38 AM Re: New PC [Re: Dart]  
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 25,138
RSColonel_131st Offline
Lifer
RSColonel_131st  Offline
Lifer

Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 25,138
Vienna, 2nd rock left.
Did you get an NVMe SSD (those that plug directly into the motherboard)?

SATA Cables are out biggrin

#4585327 - 11/17/21 12:21 AM Re: New PC [Re: RSColonel_131st]  
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,712
Dart Offline
Measured in Llamathrusts
Dart  Offline
Measured in Llamathrusts
Lifer

Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,712
Alabaster, AL USA
Originally Posted by RSColonel_131st
Did you get an NVMe SSD (those that plug directly into the motherboard)?

SATA Cables are out biggrin


Heck, I'm unsure. I got the computer late this afternoon and my first thought was "they left out the hard drive," as I didn't see it anywhere. Then, when I added the extra drive, I was looking up the case's skirt and still didn't see it.

My old computer crashed (like normal) as I was transferring my Steam directory. I was out of the room when it did so, and didn't realize it until after putting the disk in the new computer.

I'm going to move the old drive I use for data from the old computer to the new one, too. There's a bay for it on the back side of the case.


The opinions of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

More dumb stuff at http://www.darts-page.com

From Laser:
"The forum is the place where combat (real time) flight simulator fans come to play turn based strategy combat."
#4585328 - 11/17/21 12:43 AM Re: New PC [Re: Dart]  
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 24,029
oldgrognard Online content
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Lifer

Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 24,029
USA
Don’t be using this as an excuse to not update your Nieuport build thread.


Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.

Someday your life will flash in front of your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.
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