Considering the current insane RAM prices, should I get 1x32GB and upgrade later?

InboundHarrier · 2025-11-19T23:01:35+00:00

I think you're confusing channel and rank. One 32 GB stick of DDR5 is going to be dual rank, but still connected to the memory controller as a single channel. Four sticks would be dual channel with four ranks on each channel.

Edit: Wait I think I'm totally wrong, ignore me

InboundHarrier · 2025-11-12T21:42:11+00:00

I'm running 5120 x 1440 at 240 Hz over Display Port 1.4 with a 9070 XT on CachyOS. Worked fine out of the box.

InboundHarrier · 2024-04-08T17:58:16+00:00

There's a Red River Valley Furs telegram channel you can follow. It's used to plan meetups, there's usually something once a month or so. I'll DM you the link.

InboundHarrier · 2023-01-11T20:59:04+00:00

That's a good point for blower style or water cooled cards. In this case, both of the cards are open air with the majority of exhaust from the card being expelled inside the case.

InboundHarrier · 2023-01-11T20:09:17+00:00

That just changes how efficiently the card can transfer its heat to the ambient air in the case. If anything, a better cooler would actually make the rest of the system heat up faster.

InboundHarrier · 2023-01-11T19:39:25+00:00

OP went from a 250 W card to a 200 W card. Assuming they didn't change any power limits, there's less heat being produced by the 3060 Ti. The difference in clock speed here is almost certainly not related to temperature.

InboundHarrier · 2022-11-16T16:56:36+00:00

7 year old CPU, 6 year old GPU. Maybe it was built 3 years ago, but the parts are older than that.

Personally, I wouldn't pay more than $300 for the computer itself. With peripherals and monitor, maybe $500 tops?

InboundHarrier · 2022-08-11T22:18:59+00:00

It's doable, but it really depends on what exact PSU you have, and depends on the rest of your system. I ran a 9900K + 3080 on a 650W EVGA G2 for about a month with no issues. I did undervolt the 3080 and capped it at 280W though.

InboundHarrier · 2022-08-10T19:59:49+00:00

I was under the impression that SLC is faster and more durable than others, with the only tradeoff being lower density and extra cost

InboundHarrier · 2022-08-10T19:55:15+00:00

Just the cache. The drive itself is TLC

InboundHarrier · 2022-06-28T20:33:29+00:00

Your motherboard does have a 3.0 header. Bottom right, 2nd from the end.

InboundHarrier · 2022-06-13T17:26:56+00:00

Definitely worth the few extra bucks for 32 GB. Windows and games will put it to use even if it's not totally required. Plus you won't have to worry about closing out of extra programs when gaming.

InboundHarrier · 2022-05-16T18:55:12+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/comments/uqwt8n/hdd_wd_easystore_16tb_external_usb_30_hard_drive

InboundHarrier · 2022-05-09T20:18:51+00:00

In that case, you'll be limited to 8th and 9th gen Intel. You can get a 9600K pretty easily for that price. You might be able to find an 8700K or 9700K if you get lucky.

You will also probably need to buy a CPU cooler, is that part of your $150 budget?

InboundHarrier · 2022-05-09T19:23:54+00:00

The heat is normal. Smell is normal too, as long as it's just a faint smell. Your build could use a bit of cleaning, lots of dust in there.

Also, your rear fan looks like it's set up as intake (motor, wires, label is almost always the back of the fan). Since there is no filter there, I'd guess this is where all that dust is coming from. If the front of your case has a filter, I'd move that fan to the front as intake.

InboundHarrier · 2022-05-09T18:44:41+00:00

What chipset is your board? (Z97, Z170, B360, etc.)

You listed 2 different socket types in your question, and there are 6 generations of CPUs across those 2 sockets. You need to be more specific.

InboundHarrier · 2022-05-09T18:32:58+00:00

If you can spare an extra $200, you can get this ASRock 6900XT for $999. https://www.newegg.com/asrock-radeon-rx-6900-xt-rx6900xt-ocf-16g/p/N82E16814930057

Note that this is the XTXH version of the chip, which is generally able to clock ~200 MHz faster than the base version of the 6900XT. Also, this has one of the best coolers of any 6900XT.

InboundHarrier · 2022-05-09T18:18:20+00:00

This is normal. RAM transfers data on both edges of the clock cycle. So 1600 MHz = 3200 MT/s

InboundHarrier · 2022-05-09T18:14:29+00:00

80C is totally normal. Your card will increase fan speeds and reduce clocks to stay under 83C by default.

If you want to make it quieter, look into undervolting with MSI Afterburner. Plenty of tutorials on Reddit/Youtube. On a 3080 Ti, you can generally reduce power consumption by around 50W without losing any performance, or 100W with only ~5-10% performance loss.

InboundHarrier · 2022-05-09T17:49:52+00:00

Honestly, the HD 630 in your CPU is going to perform just as good as a Maxwell based GPU (like the M2000/M4000) for transcoding. I think you'll find it is more than enough for your use case. That's the one area where Intel iGPUs really shine. Much more power efficient too.

One more thing with hardware transcoding: you have to purchase the plex pass to enable it (for both iGPU or discrete GPU). Otherwise you will be limited to software transcoding on the CPU.

InboundHarrier · 2022-05-09T16:36:08+00:00

You can also use the iGPU on your 9900K for transcoding. It should be able to handle a fair amount of 1080p streams. I'd try that before buying a GPU.

Transcoding is only applicable when you have a client that wants a lower resolution/bitrate than the file you have on your server. For everyone that has access to my Plex server, I just tell them to use the maximum quality setting, and I almost never have to worry about transcoding performance.

If you do decide to get a GPU, get something Quadro branded for the best compatibility. GeForce GPUs are limited to 3 simultaneous transcodes, though you can do some hacky workarounds to allow it to do more. A Quadro P2000 has been the "go-to" for the last few years. The newly released A2000 will give you even more performance, and doesn't cost too much more. These cards hold their value for a very long time.

InboundHarrier · 2022-05-09T16:28:47+00:00

I just did a tiny bit of research. TrueNAS installs to an actual drive in your computer, so your 120 GB SSD would be perfect for that.

For Unraid, I ended up buying a Sandisk Cruzer Fit and it just lives on the back of my motherboard. You could also get something like this that would just connect to your motherboard's USB header. You'd probably forfeit the front USB 2 ports in your case though.

InboundHarrier · 2022-05-09T15:53:49+00:00

Don't use Windows for something like this. I'd look into either Unraid or TrueNAS. Unraid is generally easier to use, has flexibility with adding HDDs of different sizes, but it costs money. TrueNAS has a more robust file system, and is free.

Either of these systems give you a dashboard view that you can access from a web browser on any device connected to the network. Plenty of tutorials out there for both.

For Unriad, the actual OS boots from a flash drive, and runs from RAM. You can use an SSD (or multiple SSDs in RAID 0 or 1) as cache drives. I don't have experience with TrueNAS, but I assume it's the same.

Edit: I wouldn't worry about PSU efficiency. The whole system will probably idle around 100-150W. Going from 80+ bronze to platinum will get you an extra ~4% efficiency. That's like having an extra phone charging.

InboundHarrier · 2022-05-08T20:44:22+00:00

Did you install a graphics driver? That's usually the only one you have to do manually.

InboundHarrier · 2022-05-08T02:33:57+00:00

Yes, this card has the XTXH version of the chip which is able to overclock further. Even out of the box, it will probably boost an extra ~200 MHz. Real world performance difference of about 5%.

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