4 hours ago, Ski said:

This thread is just what and who I need right now...... My monitor goes black frequently with message that says "No HDMI signal from your device" I have changed out the cable with an old one and am waiting on a new one today to try. I have unplugged restarted everything several times and still get message. Any advice??

R/Ski       

If a new cable does not work, it sounds like the cable is coming loose from either the monitor or the PC. If that’s not the issue, first make sure there is nothing gunking up the cable connectors or the sockets. If that fails, see if the socket on your pc or the video card itself has come loose.

Thankfully I haven’t owned a PC in ages 

This has been an agonizing (hyperbole) process trying to decide what combination of components I want to use and trying to stay within a particular price range or buying something pre-built with a better video card option and having it cost another $100-$200.

 

If I build on my own I decided to go with a CPU with an internal GPU and compare that to an old NVidia 1030 card that I can put in there. Here's what I have so far:

 

Intel Core 15-11600k 3.9 GHz

ASUS B560-A ROG STRIX with built in WiFi

G Skill Ripjaws 2x8MB DDR4-3200 RAM

Crucial MX500 1TB SSD (I also have a HDD from my existing PC)

Thermaltake Versa J24 RGB Case

EVGA 650BQ Semi Modular PSU 

 

The build price for that is $789 (without CPU cooling). But unfortunately I need to add Windows 10 and that bumps it another $140.

 

But I'm torn on what to do with the GPU cooling. I can save some money and go with the Cooler Master Hyper 212 ($55) or go with the Corsair iCUE H100i water cooling system for $129.  If I go with the Hyper 212 I could actually save another $30 by using the ASAUS B560M motherboard instead because I won't need the pump headers.

 

With the liquid cooling the price comes to $1,044, which leads me to the build or buy decision.

 

I can pick up a Cyberpower PC for about the same price, but it has the GTX 1660 Super video card (normally about $200, but $600+ now because of chip shortages). But it has half the SSD storage, half the RAM, and more than likely cheaper components. So I think I would still rather build than buy and just add a better video card when the prices come down.

 

So, do you guys prefer the AIO water cooling solution for your builds or a standard fan / heatsink?

 

 

Corsair iCUE H100i - it doesn't require pump headers. 1 connection goes to the CPU fan header (for speed control) and it gets its power from a sata connection. Liquid coolers normally last around 5 years before you have to replace them due to permeation.

 

Your case with an air cooler is kinda tight - your cooler is is 158.8mm high and your case only allows for 160 - its going to be real close to the side panel glass.

 

Your 1030 is faster than the built in UHD 750 of the CPU

 

The cyber power pc I am guessing is this one - so so review...

 

Your CPU cooler, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 is only $40

 

Your PSU is way, way over powered, you would be only pulling 200w - this would change if you get a different GPU card.

 

I run both AIO and standard fans - AIO for overclocking, standard for I don't to screw with it. I don't run full loops since I don't want to change my water daily though I build them for people (add $1500 to the price of the computer)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7 hours ago, HenryPF said:

Corsair iCUE H100i - it doesn't require pump headers. 1 connection goes to the CPU fan header (for speed control) and it gets its power from a sata connection. Liquid coolers normally last around 5 years before you have to replace them due to permeation.

 

Your case with an air cooler is kinda tight - your cooler is is 158.8mm high and your case only allows for 160 - its going to be real close to the side panel glass.

 

Your 1030 is faster than the built in UHD 750 of the CPU

 

The cyber power pc I am guessing is this one - so so review...

 

Your CPU cooler, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 is only $40

 

Your PSU is way, way over powered, you would be only pulling 200w - this would change if you get a different GPU card.

 

I run both AIO and standard fans - AIO for overclocking, standard for I don't to screw with it. I don't run full loops since I don't want to change my water daily though I build them for people (add $1500 to the price of the computer)

 

 The build is overpowered, but that's because of future upgrades and additions, especially a good video card setup once prices come back to earth. I plan to give VR a try, and that will require more power to push more pixels. Heck, the 11 year old PC I built has a 1000W PSU. PSU's are fairly cheap, so I chose to future proof now,

 

I decided on the Cooler Master Hyper 212 for now because I changed cases and went with the ASUS TUF Gaming FT301. If I go with an AIO liquid cooling unit it would have to be a single fan on the back of the case or a dual fan on the front face as there is not enough space on the top of the case for a unit. For now I'll just put some plain 120mm fans up there. If I don;t like the case I can always drop everything in my big NZXT tower. But I like the look of the ASUS and I really don't like the big tower cases anymore.

 

I'm also probably add a second SSD for data and not use one of my HDD's. I'll see how it goes, first.

 

Everything is being delivered tomorrow, so I'll probably at least start the build tomorrow night after work. Cabling always takes the longest to figure out. I've got plenty of velcro and cable sleeves to try and keep everything nice and neat.

16 hours ago, Koz said:

 I'm also probably add a second SSD for data and not use one of my HDD's. I'll see how it goes, first.

 

 

You mean add a NVMe drive right? I don't see anywhere on your build that you are utilizing the NVMe slots on your motherboard (you have two)

9 hours ago, HenryPF said:

 

 

You mean add a NVMe drive right? I don't see anywhere on your build that you are utilizing the NVMe slots on your motherboard (you have two)

Probably another 2.5" SSD - something easy to pop out and bring back and forth to work. Thumb drives are great for transferring data. but not great for working off of. Maybe the NVMe fits that bill. I don't know - I never used one. Remember, my last build is 11 years old.

Since you are are not using your NVMe drive slots and will go the portable route to shuttle your stuff around, at least to with a USB-C portable drive, its much faster though your case doesnt support it from the front; the back has the slots.

 

Example.

 

https://www.crucial.com/products/ssd/x8-portable-ssd

It's finished and it's beautiful!

 

I did end up installing my old NVIDIA GT 1030 video card so I could utilize my dual monitor setup. My monitors are still old and use either DVI or HDMI and my new motherboard has HDMI and Displayport. It's probably time to upgrade monitors as well.

 

My cabling is a little messy on the back side, but no one sees that anyway. As you can see from the photos, it's really clean - and sparse - on the inside. The photos were taken before I installed the video card.

 

I really like the TUF Gaming case. All the interior illumination is on the stock settings, and at some point I'll go into the ASUS software and start playing around with it. 

 

Now comes the fun part of re-installing some software and transferring data and files.