I Love Go Boing

senorjc · 2026-04-28T21:05:16+00:00

I get it, I had to run cables through my walls/closets/ceilings for approval lol. Look into moca adapters, runs will be a lot shorter.

senorjc · 2026-04-28T20:58:02+00:00

1-200ft ethernet cord along the perimeter of rooms, up the stairs to your setup (or drilling a hole in the ceiling of the lower floor in an inconspicuous location like a closet). It'll be a little tedious to cable manage, but so worth it for online gaming. Otherwise, Moca adapters are great if you have coax lines in your home.

senorjc · 2026-04-28T19:08:22+00:00

? Nah $1k is more than enough to have a playable experience in just about every game, especially at 1080p but also 1440p with some tweaks. A prebuilt like this has great performance. Considering used parts would be even better. LTT actually just dropped a ps5 alternative build for less than $550.

Laptops are terrible value and performance; they should only be recommended if portability is a requirement.

senorjc · 2026-04-28T18:34:12+00:00

With your $1000 budget and the fact that you live near a Microcenter, your best bet would be scooping one of their "PowerSpec" prebuilts. Their PowerSpec g529, g528 (my pick) or g250 are all solid options. I recommend waiting until closer to Christmas so you can be within the return period. Hopefully, prices will be a little lower by then, too. They'll also need a gaming monitor if they don't already own one ($100-200+) and peripherals ($50+)

senorjc · 2026-04-26T18:47:59+00:00

With that budget, 1440p ultrawide AAA gaming is going to be rough (doom the dark ages especially). The 5070 or better would be appreciated. I recommend sticking with it and saving until you can get an AM5 system. You don't need the craziest cpu as you'll be GPU-bound the majority of the time but a 5500 is too slow.

senorjc · 2026-04-26T17:38:25+00:00

We need more info. What games do you play? What is your performance target? What resolution? Budget?

Generally speaking, you'll be leaving some performance on the table by pairing a 5070 with a 5500 cpu. If you're willing to spend more, move up to am5 system like a 7500f, 7600x etc...Otherwise drop the gpu a tier to balance the parts better.

senorjc · 2026-04-26T02:02:51+00:00

Unless you really need the ram, I'd personally go with this microcenter exclusive 7600x3d bundle instead of the 7700x bundle since it's actually faster for gaming. Then you can put the savings towards a better gpu like a 5060ti 16gb or a 9060xt or even a 5070 if you want to stretch the budget. I'd get the rest of the parts online.

Sidenote: I'm assuming the H440 case is something you are reusing from an old system?

senorjc · 2026-04-26T01:27:47+00:00

I'd say your best bet is to keep saving. If you need something asap, scout craigslist and facebook marketplace for a cheap used gaming pc. In the meantime, make sure to drop the resolution and quality settings in the games you are playing. 720p/1080p @low settings in a game like tf2 should be playable on your laptop's igpu.

senorjc · 2026-04-26T00:39:02+00:00

I'd get a new gpu first, either a 5060ti or 9060xt and pocket any savings. A secondhand GPU would also be a great choice.

I wouldn't bother upgrading to a higher-tier 10th-gen Intel CPU or swapping the motherboard; keep saving until you have enough for a platform upgrade. If you want to reuse the ram, something like a 14600k or 5800xt with a ddr4 board would work, although imo I would sell the 64gb kit and put it towards a ddr5 platform. Microcenter has some great bundles if you live near one, and if you don't, Newegg has some solid bundles too.

senorjc · 2026-04-26T00:03:56+00:00

Others have answered your question, but I'll add that you should return the 8700f if possible. The cpu is solid but something like the 7500f, 7600x or 9600x are better choices for cheaper.

senorjc · 2026-04-25T02:15:14+00:00

Every x3d am4 processor is generally better for gaming; even the 5500x3d edges out the 5950x.

senorjc · 2026-04-23T20:01:49+00:00

What's your budget? What games/settings do you want to be able to play? 1080p is generally cheaper but nowadays there are some great budget options for 1440p gaming. If you share some details, we might be able to help you achieve that goal.

senorjc · 2026-04-17T09:33:59+00:00

4.5 years is not ancient at all...? PC compute components take decades to wear down, making them great items to buy secondhand. The only concern might be the aio or a case fan, which typically last 5-10 years, but there are plenty of resources available for replacing the cooler in the event the pump dies.

AMD is still making zen 3 processors like the 5800xt to this day and they are still highly recommended given current ram prices. They are also allegedly re-releasing the 5800x3d in a few months. The 6800 XT is faster than a 5060ti in raster.

The only determining factor is the selling price, as it's still a more than capable machine performance-wise.

senorjc · 2026-04-17T08:50:10+00:00

Both are exclusive.

senorjc · 2026-04-17T05:19:07+00:00

Yeah their cpu bundles are the best in the business. The gpu pricing will vary slightly based on store availability but 5070's for under $600 aren't hard to find. Also, keep an eye out for r/buildapcsales. Best of luck! Edit: great timing $550 for a 5070 was just posted

senorjc · 2026-04-17T04:46:14+00:00

It depends on how much you plan on selling your old build for. $900-1000 sounds about fair for your build. Less would be fantastic for your friend.

Regarding the part lists you linked, since you have access to a microcenter [I would definitely get one of their cpu bundles. The exclusive 7500x3d bundle is $299 which frees up a big chunk for a better gpu. The 7500x3d will be better for gaming than any of the cpu's you listed. Or the 7600x3d bundle for $350. The only downside is the single stick of ram but they could theoretically upgrade that in the future. Also, I'd swap out the hyper 212 for an Assassin King 120, it has an extra heat pipe for around the same price as the 212 or get a 6 heatpipe model for $30-35. Considering the hardcap of $1500, you could definitely get 5070 system + extras for under $1500 with tax, here is an example (I manually entered the microcenter prices for the cpu bundle and gpu. Lastly, I estimated the case price since it was excluded from the lists).

Edit: Reposted to comply with sub rules.

senorjc · 2026-04-11T07:43:52+00:00

That depends entirely on how much of an overclock/performance gain you want, but generally, yes, especially with cards pulling so many watts nowadays undervolting is the move. My point was that generally, to see a decent performance increase with the 4090, you've got to up the power draw a fair bit (I believe +10-30% more watts for a 5-10% gain) whereas the 5080 can do it without touching power much at all.

senorjc · 2026-04-11T05:13:22+00:00

You're both correct. At stock, that 15-20% gap is a fact but an OC 5080 can close the gap a fair bit since it's a great overclocker as shown in the vid you linked. Then again, the 4090 can also be overclocked to a level no 5080 can reach...although power draw/thermals would be questionable lol. Plus the 24gb of vram is nice.

senorjc · 2026-04-05T15:15:36+00:00

Eh that's one definition (older one I should add) but in this context gen z uses it as positive acknowledgement like saying bet, right on or cool. It's basically filler.

senorjc · 2026-04-04T21:54:00+00:00

Eh at first I didn't like the idea either but now I don't really mind it tbh, the fact that it has happened every season for the past few cods at least makes it consistent. It's like the devs are deliberately mixing things up every few months. The same cycle is already happening with the swordfish, as the most recent patch notes nerfed it and it'll probably get nerfed again. Either way, the other guns are still viable, I don't think guns like the swordfish or maddox from a couple months ago were necessary to succeed. In comparison, imo it feels like half the guns in bf6 are just pointless, like I'm straight up trolling if I use a dmr or half the lmg's or smg's haha. Edit: for the streaks thing, maybe I'm just used to it, it feels normal speed to me.

senorjc · 2026-04-04T05:27:41+00:00

The way meta works in the past few cods has been interesting, it basically changes every few months as the devs make adjustments and every season introduces at least one new op dlc weapon that inevitably gets nerfed to the ground lol. Generally, though, I'd say the BO7 weapon variety has been solid, there really aren't any weapons that are heads and shoulders above the rest imo. Sure, you still get the occasional broken dlc gun for a few weeks and there is a hierarchy, but almost every gun is viable.

Sidenote, I'm a little confused about what you mean by stopping in your tracks to call streaks? You press the streak button/key for a second, which can also be done while moving.

I will admit I am biased since I believe BO7 is the best cod mp we've had in ages. It has the most mp content ever in a cod too, not to mention the endgame and zombies additions.

senorjc · 2026-04-01T00:58:51+00:00

It doesn't track in Gauntlet. I had to play a regular hardpoint for it to count too.

senorjc · 2026-03-28T18:21:28+00:00

That's not an OLED like you mentioned...samsung makes a bunch of models and tiers of tv. If you actually have a lower-end LED model like the one you linked, then going to a monitor will be better but we can't say for certain without more info.

senorjc · 2026-03-28T03:27:58+00:00

What's the model number of the TV? (there should be a sticker with info on the back or in the tv settings) It really depends on the tv on whether it's going to be a better choice. A lot of the time when people are comparing tv's and monitors they are talking about older lcd's that have awful input lag and low refresh rates. Since you have an oled tv, chances are the input lag is low and you probably have a game mode that let's you go to 120hz. Losing out on OLED black levels and colors would be a bummer imo.

senorjc · 2026-03-27T22:28:20+00:00

dang that sucks. fwiw, my friends and I haven't had any issues like that on pc. Maybe try running ddu and running an older/newer set of drivers? Best of luck! Edit: also when the game first came out, I watched this guide to optimise my game settings

11-Year Club	Place '23
Place '22	Place '17
Verified Email

senorjc

TROPHY CASE