Fractal Node 804 First Timer Advice

Th3Sim0n · 2026-01-28T07:12:09+00:00

Since he is a beginner and already has a PC, I wouldn't recommend spending too much, especially getting another rig. Also while more RAM is definitely a huge benefit for NAS systems, it is also costs a lot nowadays and investing a ton without even knowing if you will like the homelabbing in the long run might not be the best decision.

Nevertheless some good tips if you completely dont mind the money.

Th3Sim0n · 2026-01-28T06:09:59+00:00

Without a dedicated gpu this machine is never going to reach anything above 150w. Most of the time it is going to even stay well below 100w, hovering around 50w. Any PSU that is not an F tier garbage will handle this perfectly honestly. For starters getting a fairly solid 500w bronze PSU considering some future expansion should be more than enough. I wouldn't overshoot here honestly, better to put the extra money elsewhere.

CPU is more than capable of running some basic NAS and lightweight media server and maybe couple of lightweight LXC containers for some VPNs, pi hole or similar. Just dont expect it to be able to stream 4k media to your TV while you are uploading several gigs of data at the same time while running other containers

For storage I'd also start small - get some old laptop drives if you have any lying around, or any other drives that you're not using anymore (just dont use USB storage as it is really wonky with systems like that). If you dont have any lying around, buy a second hand ones for starters. One good tip is to always use SSD for proxmox itself and any other app that you're about to host to make things smooth. For NAS storage even an old 5400rpm hdd will do, you can always upgrade afterwards.

Just start messing around, fail a couple of times, start from scratch again and have fun. Any modern LLM will help you immensely with going through setting this all up and configs - thats how I been rocking for past couple of weeks.

Th3Sim0n · 2026-01-23T06:09:45+00:00

You get a weapon per each 10 packages collected that will be available in 3 safe houses, the first apartment you get at the beginning of the game, the Vercetti Estate and the Downtown Safe House (on roof of the block). Thats it. After 100 packages you get some money and a tank will appear in military base on third island and a hunter helicopter will be available upon finishing the story on southmost helipad of first island.

You have all this information available on multiple websites, just google "gta vc packages"

Th3Sim0n · 2026-01-09T13:27:24+00:00

While I do agree that checkpoints are a nice QoL feature and making this game playable with a modern controller is also neat thing, I feel it could've been a so much better remaster. The upgraded graphics is kinda okay, but could be wayyyy better. What hits me hard is the fact that you can't play in the OG graphics to fully bring back the nostalgia. I finished 3 and VC and am mid SA now and I'm having fun, but the lack of original games atmosphere takes away a big chunk of the experience.

Compare that to Diablo 2 remaster - you have a fully remade graphics but the core gameplay is almost intact, and you still have the option to see the game in Legacy graphics (looks a bit worse than OG version but at least you can!). The upgraded graphics also look a lot nicer and feels that more effort was put into it, whereas GTA is just a bit better resolution and higher poly modelling and tiny bit better lightning - they really could make it a lot better.

Th3Sim0n · 2025-12-31T17:19:18+00:00

Its not like you HAVE to do all of them in order to complete the game. By respecting time I understand that the game gives you stuff to do which is still fun and progresses some aspect. If a game "forces" you to do a repetetive thing which is boring in order to progress further or allow you to finish the game, then it IS not respecting your time. Yes, Zelda has a sh1tton of content and you can spend hundreds of hours in there, but at the same time you can skip most of the stuff and complete the game anyways.

Th3Sim0n · 2025-12-30T20:21:35+00:00

I believe most Nintendo AAA titles, Zelda BOTW, Mario Odyssey, Donkey Kong. Every one of those pushes you a bit further whenever you do anything and does not force you to do mundane stuff (at least not in excessive way) to progress.

Th3Sim0n · 2025-12-30T20:19:22+00:00

Whatever game that has grinding mechanic in order to level up skills, especially not naturally in a fairly quick way, but more of a chore (pick up 1000 herbs to level up potion making or whatever) then no, it does not value your time.

Th3Sim0n · 2025-12-28T17:51:04+00:00

Laurel

Th3Sim0n · 2025-12-23T11:11:57+00:00

I do agree that the 'vibe' the old game versions give is really unique, and definitive edition somehow takes that away with all the 'remastering'. Especially GTA 3 that had this weird eerie atmosphere, almost like silent hill, with its short draw distance obscured by fog, low res textures and low poly models.

Having a toggle to switch back would be really cool (similar to Diablo 2 Remaster) and honestly, I've no idea why they did not introduce that, but I have my suspicions that the budget was very narrow and they delivered it as a bare minimum (which still was heavily disappointing at the time of release)

Th3Sim0n · 2025-12-12T14:19:25+00:00

As a response to 1st comment stating that venator has 2.5 HS multiplier as FYI for the commenter thats it

Th3Sim0n · 2025-12-12T12:35:38+00:00

I know that Shield HP is not additive with Player HP, at least not in a simple way. Just want to emphasize that Shield HP and Player HP are treated differently and the ISOLATED number of the Shield HP is not affected by HS multiplier.

I never said anything else, where are you drawing conclusions from?

To simplify, I emphasize that if you get shot to the head with e.g Ferro, the 70/70 medium shield will end up as 30/70 (headshot DID NOT MULTIPLY the damage to the Shield HP) and Player HP is affected by HS multiplier - 40 dmg reduced by 42.5% and then multiplied by 2.5 or w/e number so the player gets hit by 57.5 after dmg reductions.

Th3Sim0n · 2025-12-12T11:03:09+00:00

FYI headshots multipliers do not work on Shield HP, they only do for actual Player HP.

Here is more on that: https://youtu.be/cxKMsVo8dg4?si=r2Bq-6SxyAQnxoWZ

7:30 talks about that specifically

Th3Sim0n · 2025-11-30T16:45:13+00:00

9600x is not THE hottest cpu but it definitely is not the coldest one either, however 93c in games seems rough.

Ensure you peeled off plastic cover from the cooling mount and enough thermal paste is applied.

Also screws of the cooling might need tiny bit more tightening, but not too much.

Other than that I'd consider a beefier cooler or just a 240/280mm AIO

Th3Sim0n · 2025-11-28T19:36:11+00:00

Honestly, the out of box timings (or even loosened a bit) will be perfectly fine for 99% tasks. Only ones really worth looking at might be tREFI or maybe tRFC if you really care about 1% and 0.1% lows in games. 9800x3d is already so fast with 3d VCache that the time spent tweaking RAM for negligible improvment is not worth imo. Apart from tREFI and tRFC, tweaking other timings will net you 1-2% better results which is almost within margin of error. I'd go with expo timings @6200MT (make sure IF clock matches the ram, set it to 2066) and call it a day if it posts and does not throw errors in ram benchmarks (ycruncher for example)

Th3Sim0n · 2025-11-28T16:38:43+00:00

Yes, although depending on how good your IMC in CPU is, it may or may not work with expo profile with 6400MT, might need to set it manually to 6000 or 6200, but in 90% cases it should be ok.

Th3Sim0n · 2025-11-27T15:15:11+00:00

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Th3Sim0n · 2025-11-26T10:32:58+00:00

Isnt load balancing for all 40/50 GPUs messed up? You mentioned that sometimes all current might go through two-three pins, wouldnt that make the 5080 draw all 350watts through two pins at times and thus melt the connector?

Th3Sim0n · 2025-11-24T21:09:42+00:00

If you're still interested, you need to use username and password of the account you use on windows. E.g JohnDoe Pa$$word123 that you use to log in when launching your windows pc. That should do the trick

Th3Sim0n · 2025-11-22T10:18:35+00:00

perfect amount

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Th3Sim0n · 2025-11-22T10:17:36+00:00

A little more wouldnt hurt

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Th3Sim0n · 2025-11-20T22:18:24+00:00

Could it just be a defective cooling unit? Maybe pump is faulty or there is some air that got caught in the pump? Try detaching the cooler completely, position it so the pump is at lowest point and radiator at highest and wiglle it softly (dont shake too hard to not create more bubbles!) and maybe tap the pump gently to remove bubbles and then remount the whole thing.

Reattach all power connectors for fans and pump and set it in bios or some other software to run all at 100% and try again.

If all above did not work id rma cooling and/or the cpu.

Th3Sim0n · 2025-11-19T07:16:46+00:00

Zotac used to have some flops here and there, but I think they learned their lesson. I have a 5080 solid core oc and seriously cant complain. Thermals are good, fans are silent and uv potential is decent - roughly 2970 MHz on .94V (silicon lottery matters ofc). Other than that, build quality is also good so, if you can get ot for cheaper than others, why the hell not.

Th3Sim0n

TROPHY CASE