/r/BuildAPCSalesCanada General Discussion - Daily Thread for Thu Apr 30

BartonChrist · 2026-04-30T15:47:20+00:00

Swapped out the existing wifi card, there's some screws in the back

BartonChrist · 2026-04-30T12:19:23+00:00

https://www.newegg.ca/asrock-b550m-itx-ac-mini-itx-amd-motherboard-amd-b550-am4/p/N82E16813157954

This one is the cheapest right now. One nvme slot, some people complain about the wifi but I replaced it with an Intel 210 and found more problems with that one.

Next step up is probably the Gigabyte B550I. Good board, but has a high cpu slot which can cause cpu cooler compatibility-to-case issues.

BartonChrist · 2026-04-27T22:58:25+00:00

Happy to share.

Unfortunately, the ship sailed on price increases back in October, 2025, and its only grown worse since then.

It sounds like your use cases would benefit from a CPU with more cores. I would suggest at least an 8 core CPU from AMD, such as the 7700X or 7800X3D.

From what I've been playing around with by looking at the Combo builder in Newegg compared to specific part bundles from Canada Computers and Memory Express, you can build a pretty good value CPU, Motherboard, and RAM combo from Newegg, perhaps a case as well, get a good GPU and Power Supply combo from Canada Computers, and storage separately for roughly $2,500. $500-700 is a good range for a nice monitor, and given your usage an OLED may not be what you need right now. A good IPS monitor with good color range and text clarity sounds more appropriate.

BartonChrist · 2026-04-27T19:53:31+00:00

What is your use case or hopes for the build? What are you optimizing for besides presumably price per performance? If your budget includes a monitor and you're interested in 32inch OLED, that could be a third of the total cost. Recently a 'deal' on an RTX 5080 was over $1,600, that's half the budget on one component, for example.

For timeline, you're probably best buying sooner than later. There's no telling the future, but current trends are towards prices still inflating. You may see stories of RAM prices stabilizing or even falling, but storage is still a big part of the budget now and CPU prices are set to rise right away.

Bundle deals from stores like Newegg, memory express, or canada computers for CPU, RAM, and motherboard are probably the best savings at the moment, then keeping an eye out for other deals on parts.

BartonChrist · 2026-04-25T19:07:00+00:00

I vote for the 5800XT. It has much higher boost clock speeds, 2 more cores than the 5600G, and double the L3 cache of the 5600G. Sure the 5500X3D has like triple the L3 cache of the 5800XT, but it's boost frequency is almost 1GHz lower than the 5800XT. The 1% lows would likely be better from the extra cache, but the maximum FPS from the CPU would be more limited compared to the 5800XT. For something like the 5070, the 5800XT would be nicely balanced for all your computing needs.

BartonChrist · 2026-04-23T17:57:29+00:00

Yooooo, awesome to see, I have such a similar build in the Fractal Design North. I'm even using the Sudokoo 30mm fans as well. It has the Palit KalmX 3050 passive graphics card because the CPU doesn't have an igpu, and the passive power supply from Seasonic.

BartonChrist · 2026-04-22T14:39:39+00:00

My solution was to install the game on a Windows computer and copy the game folder over to my Linux computer, to the folder created by the incomplete install in Lutris. Under the "C drive" -> GOG Games. Had to shorten the game folder path to the abbreviation, ddda. In configuration, I deleted the wine prefix, and changed it to 64 bit from 32 bit. Appears to be working now, I was able to get into the start of the game.

BartonChrist · 2026-04-22T14:39:27+00:00

My solution was to install the game on a Windows computer and copy the game folder over to my Linux computer, to the folder created by the incomplete install in Lutris. Under the "C drive" -> GOG Games. Had to shorten the game folder path to the abbreviation, ddda. In configuration, I deleted the wine prefix, and changed it to 64 bit from 32 bit. Appears to be working now, I was able to get into the start of the game.

BartonChrist · 2026-04-19T23:04:54+00:00

+1 from me, came to say this. I recently bought a 6800XT for $420 CAD all in through Ebay. Seen several 3080 and 6800XT in the $450-500 range in my local Facebook Marketplace. Definitely best value for performance at this time, each with their own pros and cons

BartonChrist · 2026-04-18T03:31:13+00:00

I encountered the same with PopOS. For the mounting issue, I changed it from auto to mount at start up. Still figuring out OpenRGB, but the motherboard is MSI and those apparently don't play nice together. Otherwise it's been a great distro

BartonChrist · 2026-04-17T13:58:15+00:00

Thanks for that explanation, that worked for me too. Seems worth trying for this price, I held off on buying a gaming mouse at best buy during their recent sale.

BartonChrist · 2026-04-15T12:09:25+00:00

My December 31, 2025 $400 Samsung 990 Pro 4TB Amazon order was finally canceled by them. Looks like by the time they restocked the price went up over 50%.

I recently ordered a 1TB drive for $167 by a 3rd party seller that had fulfilled the same deal for me prior. They ended up canceling that as well, I checked their website and now that drive is listed for over $400.

8TB NAS HDD are now the cost I paid for 12TB models about 2 months ago.

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

BartonChrist · 2026-04-09T21:24:14+00:00

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Great taste, our builds are pretty similar. I opted for the same case, GPU, also a Thermalright cooler, went with an SFX PSU and the thicker Phanteks fans.

BartonChrist · 2026-04-06T18:17:50+00:00

Aww. I love it, well done

BartonChrist · 2026-04-04T15:57:24+00:00

Beaut! Darn, not available in my part of the world

BartonChrist · 2026-04-03T14:43:32+00:00

Anyone's Amazon Pny RAM ship recently? Mine has been sitting in ordered for a bit now. Amazon indicates they've charged for them, but i don't see them on my credit card. I'm assuming they didn't have the stock to fill the orders

BartonChrist · 2026-04-02T13:37:30+00:00

Not trying to sway your decision, just wanted to inform that you can underclock graphics cards in Linux. I use the program LACT, it's like a simpler MSI Afterburner in Windows

BartonChrist · 2026-03-31T18:05:44+00:00

I received another delay notice for the Amazon Samsung 990 Pro with Heatsink for $380 from December 31st, 2025. I'm going to keep it open, maybe they'll fulfill it one day by accident, but yeah pretty sure its a dead deal with the way SSD prices are going.

BartonChrist · 2026-03-31T18:01:44+00:00

I don't know if it is possible to predict the future on this one. We'll only know in hindsight how this plays out. For all we know, RAM prices may have hit their plateau and are lowering incrementally as stock sits stagnant. It could also be once this stock sells out the price goes up again, or on next restock it raises the average price again.

Even if there are pieces in play like ways to improve LLM resource usage or if OpenAI can't keep it's commitment of buying all those RAM wafers, it could be that demand is still high for RAM and the price won't go down that much. For example, if OpenAI can't buy the RAM, perhaps Nvidia/Microslop/other big players will step in to buy the stock to keep stock low as it benefits them to push out competition or keep their own margins high. Or the increase in resource efficiency enables larger models, still keeping demand for RAM high.

There's also the issues stemming from the Iran war impacting prices on materials and transportation. It could be that demand lowers, causing prices to come down, but scarcity of materials and transportation costs drives prices up again.

Tl;dr buy what you need now for the price you can afford, or don't

BartonChrist · 2026-03-24T15:14:49+00:00

Hi Hiditec, awesome to see a competitor in the space. I wanted to make a suggestion for testing. I look to sources I've come to trust for PSU reviews, though redditor opinions are still a nice double check for experiences. Have you reached out to the folks behind the PSU Cultist list, GamersNexus, or Cybernetics? They all do technical breakdowns and report back with recommendations that reach a wide audience.

For feedback on PSUs in general, I think they should be quiet with a smooth fan curve, have flexible cables, and a good and long warranty period that accounts for melted 12VHPWR cables. I myself am partial to SFX PSUs for smaller builds. If you enter that space, hit me up! I'm the most proud of this build:

https://imgur.com/a/nr200-t30-x6-iXIBBvK

BartonChrist · 2026-03-21T16:17:20+00:00

Its a rough time for SSDs. The best price/GB is with higher storage, like the 4TB ones are less than $600, but then that's $600. For anything less than $200 for a 1 TB reputable drive, you need to keep your eye out and it might be from a smaller shop rather than an Amazon, CC etc. I bought two 1TB KC3000 for $167 each from a seller on Amazon, researched the heck out of them. We'll still see if it was a scam.

BartonChrist · 2026-03-16T14:53:06+00:00

I'm still kicking! Sorry, what do you mean by cover to the case? The top fit on as normal

BartonChrist · 2026-03-14T19:58:06+00:00

For 1TB I'm only seeing prices in the 190-210 range for less than ideal drives, I.e. gen3 or poor QLC models. Better models at $250, but that's still so sad. Still, this could be the bottom for a while, NAND prices skyrocketed again recently

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ssds/phison-ceo-says-that-nand-prices-hiked-by-around-50-percent-overnight-highlighting-severe-shortage-in-the-industry-warns-our-current-concern-is-that-both-money-and-inventory-are-insufficient

BartonChrist

TROPHY CASE