PC Build Advice/Review II: 3090 or Bust.

[Gredival]

"4k as in the pricetag not the screen sir"

How do these new laptops stay cool with all that horsepower? I used to have a desktop replacement in college and I switched to an ultra-portable in law school because it just wasn't feasible for me to deal with carrying it around. I currently have an enclosure for my newest laptop if there's ever a situation where I need to be away for a significant period but I can't take my desktop.

[Krandor]

Main factor is how much more power efficient hardware has become. I mean shit, phones these days have insane amounts of processing power compared to even just 5 or so years ago.

And yes 4k was my total bill on the computer, tho a big chunk was the ram and the SSDs, which will I'll be using for years down the line (the 2TB 970 Evos have 1200 TB endurance)

[Gredival]

Yeah I get how efficiency lets you shrink electronics, but one of the issues with laptops I thought has always been dealing with the heat generated in such a small space. Like modern GPUs still come with giant ass double wide coolers after all. I feel like there must have been a revolution in temperature control as well otherwise all that horsepower would be wasted by thermal throttling.

[Krandor]

Well at least with the recent uptrend in high powered super thin laptops, it has to do with Nvidia's MaxQ GPUs. Which is just a fancy way of saying they down clocked the GPUs to a lower TDP for power efficiency.

But... since modern GPUs will dynamically adjust clock rate based on temp overhead, it's really not as big of a deal as one would initially think. They'll never reach the performance level of a comparable full version, but can still put out of a good amount of horsepower.

The Pascal architecture was also just a huge increase for laptops in general as well. They improved overall power efficiency so much that the laptops no longer had to use scaled down GPUs in comparison to their desktop counterparts. They generally just had to shave down the clockrates a bit for temp concerns and it was gtg.

Desktop RTX 2080 - 1710 MHz Boost clock rate & 14k MHz memory

Laptop RTX 2080 - 1590 MHz Boost clock rate & 14k MHz memory

Max Q RTX 2080 - 1230 MHz Boost clock rate & 12k MHz memory

Identical chips, just clocked differently for efficiency.

[Silenka]

I'm trying to decide between getting a GTX 2060 or a 1660. Obviously the 2060 will have more longevity, but how much will the 1660 have? It is much more affordable by about $100. I'm only looking to run games like Nier, FFXIV, Monster Hunter and Overwatch as nice as I can get them, but I'm sure there will be games coming out in the future I'll also want to play and I don't know how demanding they will be. Since my video card budget only runs up to $360 or so, but I really want a new one within the next month or so, what is my best option?

I have been deal-seeking but it's hard to catch flash deals and there aren't any long-running discounts right now as far as I can tell. Also I don't really want to buy used/refurb because warranties are too short.

[Krandor]

1080p - 1660 Ti
1440p - 2060

[Gredival]

I'm trying to decide between getting a GTX 2060 or a 1660. Obviously the 2060 will have more longevity, but how much will the 1660 have? It is much more affordable by about $100. I'm only looking to run games like Nier, FFXIV, Monster Hunter and Overwatch as nice as I can get them, but I'm sure there will be games coming out in the future I'll also want to play and I don't know how demanding they will be. Since my video card budget only runs up to $360 or so, but I really want a new one within the next month or so, what is my best option?

I have been deal-seeking but it's hard to catch flash deals and there aren't any long-running discounts right now as far as I can tell. Also I don't really want to buy used/refurb because warranties are too short.

Right now at this moment you can get a MSI Vega 56 for 330 plus 20 MIR and RE2, DMC5, and Division 2. If you get lucky on the memory lottery you could potentially flash to Vega 64. All of that together is by far your best bang for the buck.

However it's fifty more than what this card was going for three weeks ago when Kal got his if you want to wait.

You can expect more AMD price drops as Navi gets closer.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Omnipotent]

I need a new power supply that can handle the 8 pin connection needed for the R390 and my Mobo, any suggestions? $100 or less would be nice.

[Kalmado]

I need a new power supply that can handle the 8 pin connection needed for the R390 and my Mobo, any suggestions? $100 or less would be nice.

Single R9 390? What cpu and is it overclocked?

[Silenka]

Right now at this moment you can get a MSI Vega 56 for 330 plus 20 MIR and RE2, DMC5, and Division 2. If you get lucky on the memory lottery you could potentially flash to Vega 64. All of that together is by far your best bang for the buck.

However it's fifty more than what this card was going for three weeks ago when Kal got his if you want to wait.

You can expect more AMD price drops as Navi gets closer.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I hadn't considered AMD because I had an outdated opinion that they were inferior to Nvidia, but after doing some research on this I'm sold. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Gredival]

I hadn't considered AMD because I had an outdated opinion that they were inferior to Nvidia, but after doing some research on this I'm sold. Thanks for the suggestion!

It's the same with processors. Their flagship might not trade blows with Nvidia/Intel at the top tier, but in other brackets they are usually competitive at the price point. And many it's really a lack of developer optimization that holds them back, which is ironic since most consoles run AMD now.

[Omnipotent]

Single R9 390? What cpu and is it overclocked?

Intel Core I7 920 @ 2.67GHZ

[Kalmado]

Intel Core I7 920 @ 2.67GHZ

That cpu with a single 390 you can get away with a quality 600w or higher. Preferred Seasonic, EVGA, Corsair, Antec, Enermax will do.

[Omnipotent]

LINK ME BITCH

[Kalmado]

If near a Frys and this is available, I'd buy the one below. Nice price for for rebate. Right this minute not a ton of great options for the price.

https://www.frys.com/product/8776561...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG

[Omnipotent]

What about Amazon/Newegg, I dont have anything but a Best Buy near me

[Gredival]

I hadn't considered AMD because I had an outdated opinion that they were inferior to Nvidia, but after doing some research on this I'm sold. Thanks for the suggestion!

This just dropped. If you don't want to wait for a deep discount on the MSI blower 56, this is a great deal on a well made regular dual fan cooler

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BGZNTQJ..._2tpQCbANWJWC1

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Silenka]

Thanks! I just bit the bullet on this since today is the last day of the free games code and the price can't be beaten (today...who knows about tomorrow lol). I'll finally be able to capitalize on my FreeSync monitor I guess... I still hit the limit of my budget with this purchase but I hope it'll be worth it for several years to come :D

[Gredival]

As it sits the Vega 56 comes between a 980Ti/1070 and 1070 TI. No ray tracing, but more than sufficient for 1440p 144hz AAA with FreeSync for the next few years. You're looking at ~85 FPS on ultra settings to ~100 on high settings. For Overwatch, you should be getting at least ~150 fps (I hit around 180 with 1080p on Epic settings with a stock 980Ti).

If you get lucky with the Samsung memory and want to experiment, a bios flash, undervolt, and overclock will get you a budget Vega 64 which is somewhere between a 1080 and 2070.

And you can always try to sell the games and make some money back. The two game codes have been going for around $50 so I think you can get $70 or so for a three game code.

[Silenka]

Rolled some sexy Samsung memory. Not sure if I will OC it yet (I probably don't even need to tbh) but I'll think about it. Thanks again for the help!