First build in 12 years. Please help.

swingdjted said:
Just remembered you guys like EVGA, so...

This EVGA is at $319:
https://www.newegg.com/evga-geforce-rtx-2060-06g-p4-2068-kr/p/N82E16814487486?Description=evga 2060&cm_re=evga_2060-_-14-487-486-_-Product
and this EVGA 2060 is at $389:
https://www.newegg.com/evga-geforce-rtx-2060-06g-p4-2067-kr/p/N82E16814487442?Description=evga 2060&cm_re=evga_2060-_-14-487-442-_-Product

So what would be gained at the price jump?
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Nothing. I'd get the cheaper one.

Also, I'd look at the Strix X570-E instead of the Crosshair Hero VIII. It has 95% of the same features but costs ~$100 less for some reason.
 
So really, I feel like I could make a pretty informed decision on what to buy now...

...except...

...uh...

Does anyone have a prediction as to when this stuff will be back in stock?

I still appreciate all the advice all of you have given. I'm going to try to stay patient and get the right stuff when it is available, and in the meantime, please post any further comments if you feel they would help or entertain.
 
Ones in stock so the prices are stupid high? That KO card in particular is also bit louder.
"Compared to more expensive RTX 2060 SKUs, the smaller heatsink uses fewer heat pipes, likely also contributing to the cost cutting here. We’ll find later that while it was effective at keeping the critical components cool during testing, fan noise was louder than the competition. EVGA chose not to include RGB lighting, which also helps the company hit a lower price point."
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/evga-geforce-rtx-2060-ko-ultra-gaming

Prices on the MFR (EVGA) have them at $299 and $349 (still a $50 difference). It's mostly down to components used and stuff, both will run just as well. As mentioned the cooling DOES keep it cool enough, it's just louder at doing so. This is where they decided to save money. Honestly most manufacturers are pretty good at this point and you can find people who prefer one brand over the next. You just don't hear as many issues with EVGA RMA's or support as you do some others.
 
kirbyrj said:
Nothing. I'd get the cheaper one.

Also, I'd look at the Strix X570-E instead of the Crosshair Hero VIII. It has 95% of the same features but costs ~$100 less for some reason.
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Again, it's the noise. Do you want a noisy PC or quite (I don't mean this like noisy is bad, everyones tolerance is different, I would personally save the $50 and get the KO because when I start gaming, which is rare, I don't mind some noise. Other people can't stand a noisy fan while they're trying to concentrate on their games or w/e they are doing)? That KO is louder than the SC, that is the only real difference, linked review above.

Disclaimer: I don't have both so this is second-hand knowledge, do research please!)
The x570-E chipset fan runs at like 40% all the time, while the hero viii almost never kicks on. I've heard (again, no concrete evidence for this and since it's such a subjective subject, it's hard to verify) the chipset fan even at 40% is almost inaudible, so it may well be worth saving the money. First start with the features you want/need, THEN find the board that matches. If your only need is it's gotta be ATX and fit AM4, then you can sort by price and then look up reviews of some of the cheaper stuff.
 
Ready4Dis said:
Again, it's the noise. Do you want a noisy PC or quite (I don't mean this like noisy is bad, everyones tolerance is different, I would personally save the $50 and get the KO because when I start gaming, which is rare, I don't mind some noise. Other people can't stand a noisy fan while they're trying to concentrate on their games or w/e they are doing)? That KO is louder than the SC, that is the only real difference, linked review above.

Disclaimer: I don't have both so this is second-hand knowledge, do research please!)
The x570-E chipset fan runs at like 40% all the time, while the hero viii almost never kicks on. I've heard (again, no concrete evidence for this and since it's such a subjective subject, it's hard to verify) the chipset fan even at 40% is almost inaudible, so it may well be worth saving the money. First start with the features you want/need, THEN find the board that matches. If your only need is it's gotta be ATX and fit AM4, then you can sort by price and then look up reviews of some of the cheaper stuff.
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There has to be a setting for that or have been addressed in a bios update. I had the CH8 and now the Prime X570-Pro...so essentially one board above and below in Asus' product stack. I can't say that I've ever noticed the fan at 40% on either of them. I would almost bet it's the same fan/fan control on all three boards just with different shrouds.
 
kirbyrj said:
There has to be a setting for that or have been addressed in a bios update. I had the CH8 and now the Prime X570-Pro...so essentially one board above and below in Asus' product stack. I can't say that I've ever noticed the fan at 40% on either of them. I would almost bet it's the same fan/fan control on all three boards just with different shrouds.
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It's a good possibility, that's why I put that disclaimer and said it was second hand knowledge. Either way it was described as almost inaudible (again even that is subjective) and it could have just not had good thermals applied, just trying to bring attention that it is possible and if he wants any board to do some research on it.
 
My case will be behind a big piece of furniture, which will reduce case sounds. If the video card's fan turns off when it runs at low load or idle that would help, especially in terms of energy savings. I don't know if any video card fans do that, do they? My heavy use will be while video editing and some computer case sound won't be a deal breaker. However, when I'm watching a movie for enjoyment, I'd prefer that the fans don't make much sound, although again, the box will be behind furniture and maybe that'll help some. A normal 4K or 1080HD stream shouldn't need fans just to pass through the computer to watch TV, should it?
 
swingdjted said:
My case will be behind a big piece of furniture, which will reduce case sounds. If the video card's fan turns off when it runs at low load or idle that would help, especially in terms of energy savings. I don't know if any video card fans do that, do they? My heavy use will be while video editing and some computer case sound won't be a deal breaker. However, when I'm watching a movie for enjoyment, I'd prefer that the fans don't make much sound, although again, the box will be behind furniture and maybe that'll help some. A normal 4K or 1080HD stream shouldn't need fans just to pass through the computer to watch TV, should it?
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At desktop and when idling, many turn the fan off. By default, they'll run the fan as low as possible, and as high as needed. In general, most non-work activities will not load the GPU enough for the fan to become audible, even with the case open in front of you with your ear right over it.

Load up something that can push the GPU to full load, and it might become audible; the blower-style ones can become distractingly loud due to pitch as well, but in general, this is only going to happen if the GPU is asked to do real work.
 
swingdjted said:
My case will be behind a big piece of furniture, which will reduce case sounds. If the video card's fan turns off when it runs at low load or idle that would help, especially in terms of energy savings. I don't know if any video card fans do that, do they? My heavy use will be while video editing and some computer case sound won't be a deal breaker. However, when I'm watching a movie for enjoyment, I'd prefer that the fans don't make much sound, although again, the box will be behind furniture and maybe that'll help some. A normal 4K or 1080HD stream shouldn't need fans just to pass through the computer to watch TV, should it?
Click to expand...

I don't think a fan is going to draw enough power for you to notice running at low speed vs. off, but there are several cards that turn off fans when not needed. I would think some of the low mid-range cards like a 1650 or a 5500xt would probably have that kind of a feature if you read the fine print for whatever card you're looking at. I mean if you're just looking for a 4K stream and nothing graphically intensive, there might even be passive options for video.
 
Big news (finally)...

I got impatient and bought something that isn't the lowest priced option, but it was in stock and ready to ship. Couldn't wait for lower priced but still acceptable x570 mobos to be in stock.

I bought:
ASUS x570 Crosshair Hero VIII WiFi mobo at $379.99 + tax, free ship from Newegg
AMD Ryzen 3900x CPU at $417.43 + tax, free shipping from Amazon
G.Skill Ripjaws V 64GB (2x32GB) DDR4 3600 at $259.99 (sale) + tax, free ship from Newegg
EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 KO GPU at $299.99 + tax + 3.99 shipping from Newegg

I'll try to use existing/already owned:
CoolerMaster Stacker 810 case
Corsair TX 750 power supply
Noctua NH-U12P CPU cooler if they ship me a new bracket kit
Pioneer USB3 Blu-Ray burner bought last week
Multiple HDDs for storage

Questions:
1.) Where to buy the Windows 10 key? Someone posted earlier that I could buy a legal/legit key here on the [H] forums. Can you link to that?
2.) Can old USB 2 wires from the case and old card reader attach to this new motherboard's headers?
3.) Which two slots should I use for the 2x32 RAM sticks?
4.) I still have a good amount of Noctua thermal paste from when I bought the Noctua cooler a few years ago. Is it still safe to use, or can I maybe use the paste that comes with the AMD processor and included cooler?
5.) Have power connections changed since the Corsair TX 750 was bought or will it work? I had it replaced a few years ago with a slightly newer model with a different font on the label (warranty claim), but it was still called the TX 750
6.) What brand of beer should I drink to celebrate the build when it's done?

Thanks as always for the help.
 
swingdjted said:
2.) Can old USB 2 wires from the case and old card reader attach to this new motherboard's headers?
Click to expand...
USB2 headers haven't changed; what you may find, however, is that you don't have enough of them! I wound up grabbing an internal USB2 hub to make sure that I had enough. The one I bought of several available use a SATA power header, which was my only real concern.
swingdjted said:
3.) Which two slots should I use for the 2x32 RAM sticks?
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Read the manual. Go get the PDF off the website if you like, but seriously, read it. I spent some time chasing gremlins related directly to the manufacturer not following the convention that all of my previous dual-channel boards had followed.
swingdjted said:
4.) I still have a good amount of Noctua thermal paste from when I bought the Noctua cooler a few years ago. Is it still safe to use, or can I maybe use the paste that comes with the AMD processor and included cooler?
Click to expand...
On the one hand, I do this; on the other, paste is cheap, even good paste.
swingdjted said:
5.) Have power connections changed since the Corsair TX 750 was bought or will it work? I had it replaced a few years ago with a slightly newer model with a different font on the label (warranty claim), but it was still called the TX 750
Click to expand...
I'll rate this under probably; you'll want to compare the power plug section on the top of the board with what the TX750 revision you have includes, as you want at least the eight-pin or two four-pin auxiliary connectors. My Z390 board has three of these, but worked fine with only two; it also has BIOS settings for LN2 overclocking that I'll also never use.
swingdjted said:
6.) What brand of beer should I drink to celebrate the build when it's done?
Click to expand...
Shiner Bock.

/Texan
 
1) I bought a key from the user new2019 a few months ago, which was my second one. The first one I bought in 2016 or so from him.
2) There is adapters that convert USB2 front panel connections to USB3 motherboard headers. Youll have USB2 speed out of those ports. Here is one on Amazon.
3) Check the motherboard manual when installing! No shame in that!
4) Yes as long as its not all dried out and hard. The paste that comes on the stock cooler is preapplied to the cooler, and is sometimes dried out.
5) Connections havent changed! Youll be fine on that front!
6) Cant help you there, I dont drink! :)
 
You could generate a breeze behind your heavy furniture with a thermostatically controlled fans rig like they hawk at https://www.acinfinity.com. I use their fireplace blower, a register booster, the intake and exhaust for network closet door, to keep my receiver and ham crap cool etc.
 
Thank you all for the tips. I received the processor several hours ago, but the other components will need a couple more days.

My 3900x was made in Malaysia. I hear that many are made in China and other places. I doubt it makes a difference, but I found it interesting.

I tried to use Noctua's online form to order a free update bracket kit for AM4 socket (to retrofit my NH-U12P cooler), but the site hangs when I submit, so I had to email them all the informatoin. When I looked at the CPU cooler that comes stock with the 3900x physically in my hand, it really did seem pretty small. I'm hoping the old Noctua will be a better option.

Just after typing my last post about buying the parts, I was checking a product link and found that my motherboard was out of stock again already, so maybe I bought the last one. Technically it wasn't totally out of stock as it was being sold by a third party marketplace scalper for around $650, but Newegg (and I later found that all the other major retailers too) had it completely out of stock. I guess I was lucky to buy the thing at regular price from the retailer itself. This x570 shortage is pretty crazy. Are people using x570 motherboards as toilet paper as a result of the toilet paper shortage? Seems kinda expensive and abrasive.
 
swingdjted said:
Thank you all for the tips. I received the processor several hours ago, but the other components will need a couple more days.

My 3900x was made in Malaysia. I hear that many are made in China and other places. I doubt it makes a difference, but I found it interesting.

I tried to use Noctua's online form to order a free update bracket kit for AM4 socket (to retrofit my NH-U12P cooler), but the site hangs when I submit, so I had to email them all the informatoin. When I looked at the CPU cooler that comes stock with the 3900x physically in my hand, it really did seem pretty small. I'm hoping the old Noctua will be a better option.

Just after typing my last post about buying the parts, I was checking a product link and found that my motherboard was out of stock again already, so maybe I bought the last one. Technically it wasn't totally out of stock as it was being sold by a third party marketplace scalper for around $650, but Newegg (and I later found that all the other major retailers too) had it completely out of stock. I guess I was lucky to buy the thing at regular price from the retailer itself. This x570 shortage is pretty crazy. Are people using x570 motherboards as toilet paper as a result of the toilet paper shortage? Seems kinda expensive and abrasive.
Click to expand...

You can use the stock 3900x cooler until you get your AM4 bracket. I think I have posted this article 10 times lately.

Here's the link back to that $10 Windows 10 Pro forum thread. There are other guys that sell them also. I got a couple from Kuurus that activated fine.
 
I'm a step closer. I bought an $8 Windows 10 Pro key from new2019. He had it given to me within 24 hours of payment. Thanks to those that brought up the option to do this. You saved me over $100.00.

@ kirbyrj - Keep posting that article. It could save people a lot of money considering the processor won't really perform much, if at all, better with a different cooler. I may eventually still swap for the Noctua just to keep it a tad cooler though. That may make it last longer if I were to run it under heavy load all the time, but probably not much difference otherwise.
 
Can I use my old video card until the new one is delivered? UPS says the new one is delayed due to a weather condition or emergency and won't give me an estimated delivery date, whereas everything else I will need will be here tonight. The old card is this:
https://www.newegg.com/gigabyte-gef...iption=1030&cm_re=1030-_-14-932-004-_-Product
GIGABYTE GeForce GT 1030 DirectX 12 GV-N1030OC-2GI 2GB 64-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express x16 ATX Video Card

Also, can I use a USB stick card reader with a 64GB SD card on it to hold and use the Windows install file, or will it have to be a real thumb drive? In other words, will the computer just see it as a thumb drive if I use the card reader? I don't mind erasing everything from the SD card for now, as the camera can reformat it when I'm done installing Windows 10. I don't currently have a USB drive that is at least 8GB and my burnable DVDs are not dual layer (can't hold 8GB) but I do have that little USB card reader and a 64GB SD card.
 
swingdjted said:
Can I use my old video card until the new one is delivered? UPS says the new one is delayed due to a weather condition or emergency and won't give me an estimated delivery date, whereas everything else I will need will be here tonight. The old card is this:
https://www.newegg.com/gigabyte-gef...iption=1030&cm_re=1030-_-14-932-004-_-Product
GIGABYTE GeForce GT 1030 DirectX 12 GV-N1030OC-2GI 2GB 64-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express x16 ATX Video Card

Also, can I use a USB stick card reader with a 64GB SD card on it to hold and use the Windows install file, or will it have to be a real thumb drive? In other words, will the computer just see it as a thumb drive if I use the card reader? I don't mind erasing everything from the SD card for now, as the camera can reformat it when I'm done installing Windows 10. I don't currently have a USB drive that is at least 8GB and my burnable DVDs are not dual layer (can't hold 8GB) but I do have that little USB card reader and a 64GB SD card.
Click to expand...

Yes, you can use your old card until you get a new one.

I don't see why you couldn't use a SD card in a USB reader, although I've never tried it that way.
 
Some good news. The product key worked so I'll be leaving new2019 some good seller review material. This also includes the fact that using the little card reader stick with a camera card was successful at installing Windows 10 Pro without the need for a true thumb drive.

Windows 10 is not Windows 7. I have made many changes to make it as much like it as possible, but still... SOOO much disabling of garbage during setup and later I found there's all this push for time and money wasting consumerism and entertainment and all the useful stuff needs to be unburied to be readily accessible. Shit, even getting the "My Computer" later "This PC" to be a start menu item was a process. Settings are hard to uncover, file management a chore, etc. That's another topic though.

The cooler is very fickle always up and down in speed. Luckily I'll soon have the box where I can't notice that.

The Mobo is mostly great, except my case has an overabundance of USB 2 ports up front and the mobo has very little in terms of headers for USB2. I probably shouldn't care about that though since the case will be hidden and a hub will be accessible.

RGB on mobo runs even when the computer is shut down and the onboard power button is absurdly bright even when off. You have to pull the plug from the wall or disable the PSU to make it quit. That's kinda pointless for me. I'm hoping there's a setting buried somewhere I can disable that.

I plugged the PSU's 8-pin power for the CPU, but I didn't have a 4-pin to add to it. That should be ok, right?

The case has a wire for "intrusion" logging which tells the computer when the case is opened. I didn't see a header for that, but I doubt I'll care.

The mobo doesn't have old PCI slots, so no TV card or faxmodem which means I'll need different hardware if I want to continue making digital videos for people's old VHS cassettes. I also liked it for making video clips of old Atari and Nintendo games to add to videos. At one time it made a great DVR too for my cable TV and had a remote, a remote sensor, and remote relay. Maybe I can reubild my old hardware on a bench or old case to continue that functionality. I miss the easy fax-from-PC functionality and the ability to just click a contact on the web or on outlook and it would dial the call and I would pick up while it was ringing. There might be some PCIe versions of a modem that I could use for all that though.

One partition of one of the storage HDDs turned into "unallocated" when I plugged it in after installing everything. I'm using MiniTool to try and recover it, but the stuff is mostly backed up if it fails.

The 3900x CPU gets up to around 4.3Ghz when a program puts a few cores under load; this is with no tweaks or overclocking using the stock cooler.

The RAM is still at 2666 and I need to learn how to tell BIOS to change it to the advertised 3600.

Installing all the programs that I use regularly has been an extremely long and patience-stretching experience, especially when you add drivers. Some older hardware such as an expensive Canon photo printer has to rely on Windows 7 drivers.

I haven't done any decent video production projects on it yet but I'll maybe report back when I have a chance to do that.

I threw some gripes out there, but overall, it's a good working machine so far. Thanks for all the help. I'll maybe post back when I get the video card in the mail.
 
You can set fan curves in your motherboard's uefi bios or in a fan control app that supports the pwm implementation on your motherboard, or you could use a discrete fan controller in a 5.25" or 3.5" bay. IRT the ram look in bios for AMD XMP option, if no joy manually set the clocks and timings as per the documentation for the ram.
 
Maybe this is a question for Openshot forums, but just previewing videos just in good ol' 1080P 60Hz makes the CPU work a lot harder than I thought, to the point where the preview has lots of hesitations. I bought a beast of a CPU (3900x) to avoid this, but yet it still happens; any ideas? None of the other hardware seems to be stressed much during this time, just the CPU (many cores/threads affected).
 
So ASUS customer support told me that my RAM isn't compatible with my motherboard. My RAM is G. Skill F4-3600C18D-64GVK, which is 2x32GB (64GB total) DDR3600. Does Newegg take returns if I accidentally bought the wrong RAM? I have the original undamaged packaging. The mobo is ASUS Crosshair VIII x570.

The problem here is that the third party website that checks compatibility (PC Partpicker I think) was incorrect when I selected parts. I should have checked ASUS's own QVM list for my motherboard, which is here:
https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/...Crosshair_VIII_Series_Memory_QVL_20200211.pdf
This is frustrating.

To avoid downtime, should I order new RAM and then wait until it arrives before returning the old? The old still works at 2666 Mhz for now.

Do you see any other reasonably priced 2x32GB DDR4 3600 sets that ARE compatible with my motherboard (ASUS Crosshair VIII) that I should consider?
 
Might ask G.Skill instead of ASUS, given all the marketing claims that G.Skill makes. They may very well have a solution for you!
 
So I have some frustrating and bad news. I called ASUS customer support about the RAM speed issue. They informed me that the RAM was NOT on the approved, supported RAM list, which is here:

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/...Crosshair_VIII_Series_Memory_QVL_20200211.pdf

When selecting parts, I put trust in a third party compatibility web site, which, at the time said everything I ended up purchasing was compatible. I believe the web site was PC Partpicker. So, I spent $379 plus tax for a motherboard which somehow doesn't accept 2x32GB RAM, unless I missed something looking through the list (please let me know if I'm mistaken because I was really hoping to set it up that way).

ASUS says it supports up to 128GB RAM, but I'm going to have to call BS, because I don't see a configuration on the QVL list that would allow it. 128GB would require 32GB per slot, but I don't see on the QVL anything that puts a 32 in one slot other than a single entry for a SL Link at 2666 MHz and I didn't see anyting for 64 in two slots or 128 in 4 slots.

IdiotInCharge said:
If you're going for 64GB, go for it now with a 2x32GB setup. It'll cost you. You don't want to be trying to run four sticks on any dual-channel memory controller including Ryzen without significant foresight.
Click to expand...

So should I be avoiding a 4 slot configuration? I could go 4x16, but would that reduce performance?

The current setup allows so-far stable but not supported 2666 MHz speed 64GB (2x32) RAM. Seems like I could save money by going with something else since the extra $$$ spent on the speed is going to waste. Would I be better off getting a 4x16 that can actually run at 3600 Mhz? If so, what would you recommend?

Thanks as always for your support.
 
Get ahold of G.Skill. ASUS doesn't put the whole world on their QVL because they simply cannot test everything out there. Whether it's on the QVL or not does not determine whether or not it can or will work.

It's just a means of reducing hassle all around. G.Skill claims their stuff should work with Ryzen, hold them to it, because there are really just not that many other options out there.
 
Thank you; I will try calling them during their business hours. It would be better if I could just get the current sticks to work as advertised. I had tried calling them before, but the numbers on the packaging are international (route to Taipei), and after paying for that call, I couldn't reach a real person, and most of the automated call options were not in English. Later I found 909-598-6860 which is California, USA which is better for me but wasn't able to reach anyone, so I'll try that again at a better time. If nothing else I'll email them. Edit - looks like I typed up the same message twice above. I'm sorry I made you read and respond to the same rant twice. I thought I lost it and typed it up again but really I posted it. Sheesh. Not a good night for me, and I'm sorry if it frustrated the readers here.
 
swingdjted said:
Edit - looks like I typed up the same message twice above. I'm sorry I made you read and respond to the same rant twice. I thought I lost it and typed it up again but really I posted it. Sheesh. Not a good night for me, and I'm sorry if it frustrated the readers here.
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No worries bro. Been in your shoes.
swingdjted said:
If nothing else I'll email them.
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I'd have recommended starting with that! Get them your SKUs, your BIOS settings, take pictures, etc.
 
Great news,

Although it was difficult to reach G. Skill (lots of busy signals), when I finally did, the guy I talked to had me fixed within seconds of getting to the right screen in BIOS. Simply switching D.O.C.P. from "Auto" to "D.O.C.P. Standard" automatically adjusted voltage, timings, etc. Upon saving and restarting, the Task Manager showed my memory speed at 3600. I think I'm in good shape now. I hope I can find a way to get my video editors to use all the hardware now. Once again, thank you for the help. It is greatly appreciated.
 
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