Simple Questions - April 26, 2026
Posted by AutoModerator@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 35 comments
This thread is for simple questions that don't warrant their own thread (although we strongly suggest checking the sidebar and the wiki before posting!). Please don't post involved questions that are better suited to a [Build Help], [Build Ready] or [Build Complete] post.
Examples of questions suitable for here:
- Is this RAM compatible with my motherboard?
- I'm thinking of getting a ≤$300 graphics card. Which one should I get?
- I'm on a very tight budget and I'm looking for a case ≤$50
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To easily find previous simple questions posts, use this link.
Separate-Resist-774@reddit
Currently looking at the 7600X3D Microcenter bundle. Is it worth paying 50$ extra for the MSI B850 Pro WiFiE6 to replace the ASUS B650E MAX Gaming WiFi? I am on a budget.
TemptedTemplar@reddit
No, the MSI board is actually a downgrade as far as I can tell.
2 NVME slots vs 3 on the Asus board
No PCIE 5.0 support for the main PCIE socket.
Both boards offer a mix of USB-A and C rear/front 10Gbps max.
No Thunderbolt 4 expansion port
The thunderbolt expansion is more of an ASUS thing, they sell add-on cards. But its a nice to have feature compared to a generic TB card, which would require the X4 or X16 slot on the MSI board since it doesn't have a dedicated header.
HumanWebAnt@reddit
I am confused on the naming scheme with Intel CPUs. What happened to the i generation? What are the Core Ultras? I can't get a good answer from Google.
TemptedTemplar@reddit
They ditched the naming scheme in favor of the core ultra name and their newer CPU architecture philosophy. It's literally just branding, but how the CPUs are built is very different.
Gone are the days of homogenous Multi-threaded cores. Their latest strategy is a mix of different core types to suit differing tasks in a more effective way.
P-cores are normal hyper-threaded performance cores with two threads each.
E-cores are single threaded cores running at a very lower clock speeds and power usage.
LPE-cores are even lower powered e-cores.
HumanWebAnt@reddit
Thank you so much 🙏🫂 that makes it super obvious.
What are your opinions on the new CPUs? Would you ever recommend them for gaming, or is AMD the better choice from now?
TemptedTemplar@reddit
AMD has the lead for high-end gaming. The 9800x3d or any of the Ryzen 9 CPUs simply perform better, sometimes by a little sometimes by a lot; but do so at a significantly lower power draw than Intel's highest end options.
If you're not going for bleeding edge, Intel is a solid value. Retailers have been struggling to sell them so you can usually find a CPU and Motherboard combo for the cost of a similar Ryzen CPU. (Motherboard not included)
The problem is this current LGA1851 socket they're using is a dead-end. They canned all of their Core Ultra 300 series desktop releases, so the platform is only getting the 200 series. There won't be any upgrade options in the future, as their next release will use an entirely new socket.
So if you aren't into upgrading your PC, it's a fine option. Especially since it will likely save you money on the initial cost.
But if you want high-end and upgradability; AMD is the move.
HumanWebAnt@reddit
Thanks for noting this. Honestly it's extremely helpful as I didn't even know Intel was switching sockets.
I am planning to build a new PC in a few months, this year. I am planning for a new AMD chip but I didn't want to ignore Intel in case I can find better value for my money. Plus, the market could always change in a few week's time, so I know I'll have to double check my list before I commit to anything.
Do you have any advice when buying components online? Like finding reputable sellers, avoiding rip-off components etc.
TemptedTemplar@reddit
Newegg, Amazon, Walmart, ect online marketplaces are still reasonable places to buy PC components from so long as you are paying attention to who is selling it. Amazon and Walmart third party sellers are an absolute coin flip, so I only ever recommend them if the product is sold directly by the Manufacturer or Amazon/Walmart directly.
Newegg is less hit and miss as you're either buying from Newegg or some chinese seller. Just make sure you have protection on your purchase if you are buying from someone other than Newegg.
And always keep a note of the retail price! Paying a little more is basically the norm in this current market, but there is absolutely such a thing as paying too much AND too little. If the price is too good to be true, its fake.
Last but not least: Pay attention to your RMA/warranty windows. I get that buying a PC piece-meal is easier on the wallet and prices fluctuate pretty rapidly these days. The last thing you want to happen is finally collecting all your parts for final assembly, only to find that thing you bought first is not only Dead on Arrival, but the return window has closed too.
Make sure everything arrives within a timely manner and you can test that it functions properly before you loose out on your buyer protections.
kaje@reddit
Intel's main focus with their current gen CPUs was bringing their power consumption down. They don't perform much different than previous gen in games. AMD's X3D CPUs are the best CPUs for gaming anyways.
jamvanderloeff@reddit
"ultra" just replaces "i" as the part of the name that doesn't really mean anything, the 3/5/7/9 still exists as the vague price category, and the numbering got restarted down at 2xx series "ultra" being the generation after "i" 14xxx (but there was also ultra 1xx for mobile only inbetween)
HumanWebAnt@reddit
Thank you :))
Swaglordzzz@reddit
Is there a reason to swap a Hellhound 7900xtx for a 9070xt? I don’t have any issues with my 7900xtx but considering AMD refuses to support it further I was wondering if upgrading to a newer gen would keep it more relevant? But then again the VRAM alone will probably keep it relevant for ages.
TemptedTemplar@reddit
Slightly better ray tracing and FSR features.
Unless the swap is free, there isn't a big reason to do it. The extra VRAM capacity of the 7900xtx means it will probably function better, for a longer period of time.
And if AMD ever finally gets around to supporting newer FSR features on older hardware, then thats even less of a reason to swap.
topologeee@reddit
If I need more storage and dont mind an HDD, whats the best bang for the buck storage right now? I noticed its all up in price, even the HDDs.
TemptedTemplar@reddit
Whatever you can find.
A solid price per Terabyte for an hdd is still $15/TB, try not to pay too much more than that.
And be wary of "shuckable" external drives. Western Digital in particular loves to slow down their external drives with firmware, so they last longer. Removing them from the housing and using them internally will not increase their performance.
jamvanderloeff@reddit
A lot of cheapish externals are rather slow SMR drives too, can get very slow compared to conventional hard drives in sustained writing
vcd1500@reddit
is it still worth buying 2nd hand rx6000 series and expecting it to last atleast 5 years?
n7_trekkie@reddit
Amd tried to put driver support for these cards on the back burner a few months ago. If you're not getting game ready driver updates, it may start lagging behind its Nvidia contemporaries. Like rx 6600 vs 3060
https://youtu.be/KsjjFr9mB7w?si=8z_x64Sa5jRukaKm
Mango-is-Mango@reddit
It’s worth it if it’s a good price, as long as the card isn’t faulty it’ll function for 5 years, but it’ll be quite old by then, so don’t expect it to play the newest games [well] 5 years from now.
I’m sorry that my answer is kinda vague but it’s a vague question so that’s what happens
adagietto@reddit
Due to an Amazon mix-up, instead of 6x120mm fans I have 5x120mm and 1x140mm fans. My case accepts both sizes in the bottom (intake). I have a few questions:
reckless150681@reddit
Yes
Personal opinion. I would be annoyed, but if you don't care, then so be it
140mm fans are capable of moving the same amount of air at lower speeds than 120mm, so they tend to be quieter than 120mm. Another way to interpret this is that at the same speed, a 140mm will move more air than 120mm; this particular interpretation is more important if you are using a Y-splitter, as the same voltage signal will be sent to all fans on that particular splitter, which tends to make all fans in the chain run at (roughly) the same speed.
adagietto@reddit
Thank you very much!
kaje@reddit
More specifically, the two different fans on the Y-splitter will run at the same percentage of their max RPMs.
Ziixx@reddit
Hi, looking to build this https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Ziixx4/saved/pQcrYJ struggling with picking the motherboard. Trying to future proof it as much as i can so i dont need to go through this stressful process for a long time. Out of these 3 Motherboards which is the best or would you go with? + Gigabyte X870E AORUS ELITE WIFI7 ATX AM5 Motherboard + MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard + MSI MAG X870E TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard
Hawk7117@reddit
Just looking at your parts list I really don't see any need for an X870 board unless you have many USB devices you want connected simultaneously, for 99% of people b850(e) boards are going top be plenty for most uses even when taking future proofing into account. High end boards in the x870(e) tier mostly are just going to be upgrading your connectivity, an extra ethernet port, WIFI 7 instead of 6e (need compatible home networking to fully use), extra m.2 ports for future storage expandability. Most of these benefits don't come into play at all until you get to the "power user" tier of PC owner.
Between those options I wouldn't even be looking at the X870e options due to the price increase for nearly no useful benefit. Unless you need 2x 40 Gbps USB C ports instead of just one, or a header for internal temperature probes, or that 4th m.2 slot is very important, I would just lean towards saving $100 and grabbing something like the Gigabyte Gaming b850.
Of the options you listed, they will all serve a nearly identical purpose for your parts list, I would go with the x870 tomahawk due to the price being the lowest as well as being a phenomenal board.
Ziixx@reddit
Oh okay thank you very much! i will most likely go for your suggestion then and grab Gigabyte Gaming b850. After looking would this be the same or any better? MSI MAG B850 TOMAHAWK MAX WIFI ATX AM5 over Gigabyte B850 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 ATX AM5 Motherboard
BlackSugarBoba730@reddit
Intel 9600K, Z390M, 2x8GB DDR4 CL3200 G.Skill, RTX3070, EVGA Supernova GT 750W.
Computer gets stuck powering on with no post. I tried single stick and disconnecting everything except nvme + GPU and it worked, added a second stick and that also worked. After trying to reconnect my additional 2.5" SSDs I now run into another instance of the computer not posting.
So far I have replaced the EVGA PSU with an MSI one that's A tier on the SPL tier list but the behavior persists so I'm thinking it's either CPU or board. Is there any way to determine which is which without having spares to slot in and test?
TemptedTemplar@reddit
Well if it's strictly the SATA drives giving issues the SATA ports having gone bad sounds like the most likely cause.
Did you try using all of the SATA ports or just one SATA drive at a time?
BlackSugarBoba730@reddit
I was overly excited and plugged everything back in instantly since I thought I fixed the problem. My family member needs the system for work so I haven't had time to experiment and I don't have any spare Z390/Intel chips from that generation laying around.
TemptedTemplar@reddit
If it boots at all, then the CPU isn't the problem.
Since it's not booting with the SATA drives inserted. Those are most likely your issue.
Something in the motherboard may have died, And if the SATA ports can't be used; then youre stuck with using NVME drives, external enclosures, or you need to replace the motherboard entirely.
ironmilktea@reddit
Follow up question from yday.
I have a data sim card and a spare old phone from work (its been wiped. Its like a samsung from 5 years ago).
What's feasible the difference between:
putting that data sim in the spare phone and using it purely to tether data.
getting one of those sim card dongles, put the data sim in and directly plug into the pc.
Its both going off usb. I'm guessing...saving space since the phone has a cord and is a bit bigger than a small usb dongle? Or am I missing something?
jamvanderloeff@reddit
You mean an actual cellular modem dongle not just a SIM reader right?
Performance may vary depending on what the particular modem is vs the phone's modem specs. If you've got a particularly fast network available USB 2 vs 3 can matter too.
Goble4@reddit
Should tREFI on DDR5 be set to 3.9 or 7.8 microseconds?
StingKnight@reddit
Is it worth upgrading a motherboard? I am still rocking b350m mortar from years ago, i am using 5800x3d and rtx 4060ti with 64gb ram
jamvanderloeff@reddit
Different motherboard makes almost no difference to performance (unless you go so low end that you end up with thermal throttling / power limiting issues, but the B350 Mortar's way more than good enough there), so unless it's adding some feature that you really need, not worth doing, leave the motherboard as is until you're ready to go new CPU+motherboard+RAM upgrade all together.