site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2373 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 21, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

3
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Anyone built a PC recently?

I'm pretty close to biting the bullet on a new high-end, pre-built system.

Before anyone jumps and says that it would cheaper to build it myself (I've been there haha), I've decided the added premium is something I'm willing to pay, especially when it comes with a warranty on parts. I've built several PCs myself, but the last time I did so, I was cursed with pernicious crashing that I couldn't for the life of me solve for good.

The two most important components I've more or less fixed are a Ryzen 9800x3d and an RTX 5080. All I really expect this machine to be used for is gaming, and I want to emphasize single-core performance as my favorite games tend to be CPU bottlenecked. I'd have loved to get a 4090, but the prices are ridiculous. I could get a 9070 XT, but my budget does go further than that. I don't think I'll be using it much for local AI, though I'm occasionally tempted to tinker.

I intend to buy models with 32gb of fast DDR5 memory, and a decent NVME SSD with room for me to buy and install more myself.

I haven't looked too closely at the various flavors of motherboard on offer, but I expect at this price range they're roughly equivalent. It might be a pain to get wired internet, so I'm willing to settle for the speed and latency hit from running wifi-only if I have to.

I intend to skimp on a pre-installed license for Windows. I can get it from [REDACTED] for free.

I haven't decided on all the peripherals yet, but I'll probably get a 100% mechanical keyboard, I own a decent mouse. I'd like a 27" or larger monitor high refresh rate monitor, with QHD being a resolution I'm happy with. I might end up splurging for 4k or an OLED if I feel like it. No need for speakers, as I use Bluetooth earphones and don't usually notice the latency.

I've been looking at an array of retailers, and most seem to provide this in the 2500-2900 GBP range.

Questions:

  1. Anything obviously wrong here? Any clearly suboptimal choices (beyond buying pre-built)?

  2. Can I cheap out on something without noticeable downsides?

  3. My impression, from watching LTT if nothing else, is that watercooling is usually not worth the hassle. I've never used it before, and would need to figure it out if I ever have to swap out parts. I think that a decent air cooler is more than sufficient for people who aren't OC maxxing.

  4. Anyone own an OLED monitor? Did you notice any burn-in? I intend to take reasonable precautions in the first place.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01J471364/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AOJUIW65VI5BZ&psc=1

That's the cheapest one with roughly the same specs. GBP 2349

FYI Gamers Nexus reviewed either that exact model or something similar from CyberPowerPC and found the CPU was hitting 95C and getting thermal throttled.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XqCweJmlZc0

You might need to either replace the heat sink entirely or remount it yourself if you get it.

Huh. Luckily the pre-built I'm eyeing (because it's cheap) has a watercooled system, so that should keep me safe.

The one tested in that video was water-cooled as well. They found a wire wrapped around one of the screws holding the water cooler in contact with the CPU that might have caused enough of an air gap to prevent heat from transferring effectively from the CPU to the cooler.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats