r/buildapc • • 9h ago

Build Help Upgrade to am5 or stay on am4?

30 Upvotes

I have a 5600g with 32 gb ddr4 memory. Ive been debating upgrading to am5 and just making my pc so good i wont need to upgrade it for a long time. But, Im wondering if just switching to the 5800x3d is a better investment?


r/buildapc • • 19h ago

Troubleshooting Asrock 9070 caught fire. Pc won't turn on anymore.

172 Upvotes

So hello everyone.

I was with using one chrome window and one vscode window when the image turned off, I stood up to turn the pc off, heard a sparkle and then the gpu (asrock 9070 steel legend) caught fire by the power connectors. My psu is a 850w thermaltake tough power that I've been using for maybe 2 years, all original cables. The gpu was bought 2 weeks ago.

Now the pc is also not turning on.

This happened just now, I'm shaking.

Ideas for both the gpu and the rest of the pc? I never rma'd something like this, even less not living in the US / Europe. Help.

Edit: I am attaching a photo of the burnt area. It is not on the connector.

UPDATE: after struggling a bit to make the igpu work, the pc turns on.

UPDATE 2: I asked the charbot from the store I bought the gpu for help and it granted me a full refund of the gpu once I send it back.

UPDATE 3: Found another user from my country that had the same issue, same place on the gpu, also Asrock but other model. Also the store now is difficulting the RMA/warranty claim.

Would it be wise to replace the psu just to be safe?

Photo of the burnt area.


r/buildapc • • 4h ago

Build Help Building a PC for my dad who can't get down on the floor anymore. What would you change to make a PC easier to maintain?

10 Upvotes

I'm putting together a gaming PC for my dad (66), and I've realized that most of the advice I've been reading assumes the owner can comfortably crawl under a desk, move a heavy tower around, and reach behind it whenever something needs attention.

My dad had two knee surgeries. He gets around fine, still drives, walks the dog, and spends a ridiculous amount of time playing Civilization and Forza. But kneeling down or getting back up from the floor is genuinely difficult for him.

His current PC sits under his desk. Whenever he needs to unplug something or clean it, he either struggles with it or calls me.

I want the new one to be different.

Budget is around $1,500 USD for the tower, buying in the US. He already has a 1440p monitor and peripherals. I'm currently looking at a Ryzen 5 7600, B650 motherboard, RX 9060 XT 16GB, 32GB DDR5, 2TB NVMe SSD, and a decent 650W PSU. No overclocking, no RGB requirements. Quiet operation would be nice.

But I'm much less concerned about squeezing out another 5% performance than making this thing easy for him to live with for the next five years.

I'm planning to put it on a sturdy desk-height side table rather than on the floor.

That immediately raised a bunch of questions I hadn't considered before.

Are there cases where you can remove and clean the dust filters without moving the whole PC?

Would you prioritize a smaller case that's easier to handle, or a larger one with more room to work inside?

Are magnetic side panels actually convenient long-term, or are traditional screws more reliable?

I'd also like him to be able to reach the power button and commonly used USB ports without bending down or reaching behind the tower.

One thing I hadn't anticipated is that a lot of cases seem designed to look great from the front while putting everything you regularly need to access somewhere inconvenient.

He's absolutely capable of learning how to maintain his own PC. I just don't want the physical layout making simple tasks harder than necessary.

For anyone who's built a PC for an older parent, someone with mobility limitations, or even just themselves after getting tired of crawling under desks, what design choices actually made a difference?

I'm especially interested in things that seemed unimportant during the build but turned out to matter after a year or two of ownership.


r/buildapc • • 1h ago

Build Upgrade Need help

• Upvotes

Hi, i need to change my wife's GPU, and I'm between an RTX 4070 12GB and an RX 9070 XT 16GB.

I personally really appreciate having 16GB of VRAM on my RTX 5080 for Blender and some basic local AI stuff, but her main focus is professional video editing, mostly 4K and above.

She's also recently gotten interested in local AI, but video editing is her focus.

She's currently running an RX 6600 XT that randomly crashes sometimes, and that means lost work, time, and money. So stability and reliability are pretty much my biggest priorities here.

The thing is, I'm not buying this for me, so I'm having a harder time deciding what makes the most sense for her actual workflow, because I have no idea what resolve needs.

About gaming, she mostly plays BG3, CoD, and WoW forever, so gaming performance matters, but it's definitely not the main priority.

I've also also considered more budget to an RTX 5070 Ti, but at that price point, we even started wondering whether something like a Mac mini with an M6 and 24 GB of unified memory would make more sense as a dedicated editing machine.

In this scenario, what would you choose?

Please save me, I'm tired of hearing complaints in my studio.


r/buildapc • • 13h ago

Troubleshooting Amd ryzen7 9800x3D not showing 16 logical processors

28 Upvotes

My r79800x3d which is 8 core 16 threads processor is not showing 16 logical processors instead it shows 8 cores and 8 logical processors, I tried msconfig unchecking the box and restarting it didn't work , please help!! 😞


r/buildapc • • 46m ago

Full Build Req PC for teen who wants to play games cleanly

• Upvotes

Folks, it's been a long time since I've built a PC so I'm starting from scratch. Would love to get a good starter set of specs to work from.

  • Budget: $1000
  • Use-Case: Teen playing video games or anything else she wants to do on the PC. Most of the games are steam games, Among Us, indie games, maybe sims4, dressmaker, Genshin Impact, etc. Anything she really wants though she's not into bleeding edge FPS games or GTA etc.
  • Country of purchase: USA
  • Peripherals needed: None
  • misc. requirements / preferences: Just that the PC have decent ability to upgrade in the future. Prefer NVME if possible, but not a hard requirement. 1TB hard drive is probably safe. Specs can be lower if it's easy to add later. For example, 16GB ram would be fine if there's an empty slot for another stick later. Graphics can be anything that works - is AMD competitive right now?

r/buildapc • • 1h ago

Build Help AMD R7 9700 X vs 9800 X3D for a living room Steam Machine?

• Upvotes

After not having a PC for around 5 years, I am planning a following Linux-based build, mostly for gaming in 1440p and FSR4 or native 4K where possible (apart from doing some nerdy software engineering stuff):

  • GPU: Sapphire AMD 9070 XT Nitro+
  • RAM: Corsair Vengeance 2x16GB CL30 EXPO
  • PSU: CORSAIR RM850e (2025), 850W
  • Case: Fractal Design Meshify 3
  • CPU cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE

For the CPU, I impulsively ordered AMD R7 9800 X3D after watching reviews on it, AFTER I already ordered 9700 X which I initially planned as a "best before diminishing returns". Perhaps this was not a good bet, but I wanted to stick to AM5 and Zen 5 to simplify upgrading in the future. 9700 X was 259 euros, and 9800 X3D - 407 euros. I haven't done a good research on the CPUs and was mostly focused on the GPU, I knew I wanted to go a full AMD build, and the CPU did not feel like a bottleneck, but seeing a massive difference in some reviews (e.g. Gamers Nexus) got me thinking that I made a mistake.

However, I realized that most of the reviews revealing massive differences in CPU performance in gaming are based on 1080p for a reason - going to higher resolutions and better presets makes the same scenarios they show more GPU bound and the performance difference does not look that dramatic anymore.

In hindsight, after I cooled down a bit, I realized that I'd probably be satisfied with 9700 X, and going that much higher feels like the actual diminishing returns - I am afraid that I won't be able to see the difference in most of the scenarios.

Do you think it's reasonable to stick with 9800 X3D and send 9700 X back, or better save this money for the future upgrades, like adding more RAM or selling 9700 X and upgrading the processor in a generation or two? Or maybe just ordering a new Steam Controller and keeping a fifty.


r/buildapc • • 1h ago

Build Help Affordable back up drives for OS swap

• Upvotes

I'm considering swapping to Linux (i know, very original), but i want to make backups of my current OS and data, and the only price i can find for anything that's reliable is over 200USD, when something in the 100usd range is more what i can afford (and even cheaper would be nice, ngl...) I'm just wondering if I'm looking in the wrong places? I've seen some things on ebay but I've never bought from there before and only browsed. And would swapping the current internal ssd for one with Linux already installed be better, or would just backing up the current to another drive and doing a clean slate work? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!


r/buildapc • • 3h ago

Build Upgrade What PSU should i get for my 9060 XT and R5 5700X build?

3 Upvotes

I've been rocking my old crappy 350-watt power supply for way too long, promising myself I would upgrade. It's honestly a miracle it still turns on, but now the time has come to upgrade, and I'm conflicted about which one I should pick. There are many good options, but they all seem a bit expensive. I live in Europe, if that helps.


r/buildapc • • 5h ago

Build Help 5070 or 9070xt for gaming + blender and ue5?

6 Upvotes

Hi, I'm soon going to be buying a new PC and getting a 1440p monitor and I can't decide between the 5070 or the 9070xt. That's because while I know the 9070xt is about 25% faster than the 5070 in games, I don't use my PC only for games, I do 3d modeling and rendering and I also plan on using UE5 when I get the new PC, for which the 5070 would probably be better. I was looking at the 5070ti which would be best for me but unfortunately it's out of my budget so I have to choose between these two. Which one would be better for my use case? Maybe someone here has one of these GPUs and can tell me your experience with it?


r/buildapc • • 5h ago

Build Help Looking for AM5 motherboard with a lot of USB 3.0 ports

4 Upvotes

Im trying to find an AM5 motherboard with at least 6 USB 3.0 ports for my dream PC, so money isn't a problem.


r/buildapc • • 2h ago

Build Ready? I have some equipment

2 Upvotes

I am an absolute amateur to this type of stuff, so if you take the time to advise then you'll have to format it like you're talking to a 36 year old woodsman. Also, please excuse my ignorance haha

I have a DELL Inspiron that was buried in storage, it seems to power on but will not display when hooked to a monitor. It was open when I found it but I have no clue what my buddy would have done to it or take from it. It has An HDD in it, along with a samsung SSD 120 GB but the 'P6' plug is out. I see two long chips hooked to an intel board, a vertical board with a good size heat sink on it, 3 fans and the power supply.

I also have a Lenovo Thinkcentre M73 that I have confirmed works

The end game is to have a home computer and use the laptop for travel and stuff. Is there a way to combine components or are there easy upgradeable components? Help me modify my first PC


r/buildapc • • 2h ago

Discussion Is it a good idea to pair 9070GRE with a 9600X?

2 Upvotes

I'm planning to build a PC with a 9600X and an 9070GRE.

I mainly play games like cyberpunk, gta v and bmw, but I don't really need to play everything at max settings. I'm mostly aiming for a smooth gaming experience at 1440p.

Would this be a good CPU and GPU combination?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!


r/buildapc • • 3h ago

Peripherals Well priced OLED Monitors?

2 Upvotes

I want to get an OLED monitor, something preferably not too expensive, HDR 10 compatible, ideally 1440p, and a reputable brand. Let me know if there is anything else I need to know.


r/buildapc • • 10h ago

Troubleshooting How do I fix coil whine at idle?

7 Upvotes

So I had this issue a few months earlier, tried to undervolt the GPU to reduce it, seems to work. Now it seems after unoptimised games, it just whines all the time. I've heard that someone disabled S3 deep sleep, but cant find it on my mobo then I noticed that it whines even in BIOs, my next step is to change case fans as one of them does make some noise normally.

Specs CPU - 9800X3D with peerless assassin fan

GPU - 9070xt XFX

Fractal North - Stock case fans

Mobo - B850 ASRock Steel Legend

PSU - Superflower Leadex III 850W

Question

  1. How do I reset voltage for everything?

    1. Should i try a new PSU first?

r/buildapc • • 3h ago

Peripherals What is the best monitor with touch screen ability which is compatible with stylus ? Are any styluses better than others ?

2 Upvotes

Need a monitor for where a lot of annotation can be done. Hands wont be clean so a stylus will have to be used.


r/buildapc • • 3h ago

Troubleshooting Another AM5 CPU+DRAM LED situation, but with a twist.

2 Upvotes

There are so many CPU+DRAM LED no-start forum posts but I'm not finding any that align with my issue as most are resolved with new RAM or mainboard.

Symptom: No POST, CPU+DRAM LEDs lit. The issue got worse over time, power-cycling used to resolve it but not anymore.

  • Ryzen 7 7800X3D
  • MSI X670E Gaming Plus Wifi (ME-7615) V1.0
  • 32GB DDR5 (2x16GB) Corsair CMH5X16G1B60Z40A2

I pulled the board and bench tested boiled down to onboard video, a known good PSU, no SSD, and default settings... Same issue. Once in a while out of the blue it POSTed but that's maybe twice out of over 50 attempts.

Strangely I found it reliably POSTs once immediately after flashing the BIOS using the USB recovery method. I guess after a flash it must boot some safety default mode that a CMOS reset doesn't reproduce. I used that opportunity to run tests (RAM passes Memtest86 without errors) and try various BIOS settings (no improvement at all).

Since it boots once after flashing and RAM passes tests it seemed CPU and RAM might bo okay so I tried a new mainboard, ASUS TUF Gaming X870E-Plus WIFI7.

The Asus X870E behaves like the MSI X670E did a long time ago where sometimes it POSTs and other time not. The Asus gives a DRAM LED, not CPU, but that might just be brand design differences. I flashed the Asus to the latest BIOS and it wouldn't POST at all after that. I reverted it to v.1513 and we're back to functional but inconsistent.

I'm bench testing with a traditional heatsink/fan and noticed I can tell immediately when it's not going to POST because the CPU fan revs (instantly and forever until forcing power off). When it's going to POST the fan is consistent and smooth.

It seems it's not the mainboard so I bought a new 8 gig stick of RAM to test with and am getting the exact same result on the new Asus and old MSI boards. I also tried a third power supply for good measure.

So, same symptoms with new mainboard and new RAM. That leaves the CPU. Of course I previously inspected the AM5 sockets on both boards. The old board does have one pin slightly crooked but it's a common VSS pin and should still be making contact. The new board socket is perfect.

I recently worked on another machine with an Intel 14th gen that seems to have CPU degredation (Vmin shift) causing instability. That made me wonder if this Ryzen 7 could be failing. I researched and found instances of memory controller failures but those seemed to be coupled with burnt or discolored sockets or CPU contacts. Our socket and CPU look beautiful.

I don't have another CPU to test with and am wondering if this situation is familiar to anyone else. I've been around the block on this and tried many things but only detailed the highlights here.

Thank you.


r/buildapc • • 3h ago

Build Help 5800x3d and ddr4 vs 7/9800x3d and ddr5

2 Upvotes

I’m planning on building a pc soon but need help in deciding parts. I found a combo of a 5800x3d 32gb ddr4 and a x series motherboard for 450$ would that be a better option than over 900$ for a 7800x3d or 9800x3d with the same amount of ddr5 and a b series motherboard? How much of a difference in performance would there be in gaming? Any help would be appreciated!


r/buildapc • • 3h ago

Build Help AIO with screens recommendation

2 Upvotes

Hello, I am looking for good looking AIOs (so unfortunately not Arctic Freezer)... to fit my lian li o11d v2 case with 9800x3d. My budget is around 150-250. I prefer to have a large screen but wonder if the cheaper options with a good screen have good enough cooling power

Currently considering panorama se but the screen looks a little ugly imo but thats just opinions. I will be replace them with lian li fans uni sl

Thank you!


r/buildapc • • 4m ago

Build Upgrade Which parts of this nearly decade old PC should I upgrade? And GPU suggestions?

• Upvotes

Hey everyone

I recently inherited a gaming PC and it runs pretty much every game I throw at it fairly well with the exception of Marvel Rivals (lol). I was thinking that upgrading the GPU might solve this problem, since it's really old. But do the CPU/RAM (and thus motherboard) need changing too? Worth the upgrade to DDR5?

Currently, at light usage (5-6 tabs, discord and a game lobby running in the background) the CPU is at 17% so I think it should be good, right?

Gaming aside, I'm really not a demanding PC user. I frankly don't care about getting the best graphics out of my games, just something on the upper end ("good" graphics). I play somewhat competitively so I frequently lower my graphics to get better performance out of my machine anyway.

Specs:
Mobo: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. PRIME X470-PRO
RAM: DDR4 32gb
GPU: Radeon RX Vega 8gb
Storage: 3.6TB HDD, 1TB SSD
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 200X six-core processor


r/buildapc • • 7m ago

Build Help SSDs in these trying times

• Upvotes

I'm about to finish my build and I've been looking into 2tb SSDs. However, prices have been so ridiculous obviously, I haven't really settled on anything until now where im finalizing everything. Right now, I'm looking at the Silicon Power P34A60 for around 215~? but a majority of posts talking about it are when people could afford to be more picky when it came to SSDs.

What should I be looking for in an SSD? Just m.2 and nvme, storage capacity? I'm looking to spend around 250 max on this SSD and getting another later but that won't be for some time. I'm mostly gaming and drawing for now. Do I just get the cheapest and call it a day? Or am I risking corrupting my OS with my drive dying shopping this cheap? I only care for what's realistically necessary, as long as it's fast as an SSD should be and won't explode on me.

My mobo is going to be a asus rog strix b850-a atx wifi. Thank ya!


r/buildapc • • 12m ago

Build Upgrade Overpay on cpu or bleed on entire platform upgrade?

• Upvotes

So I have a slightly (very) imbalanced build right now:

R5 5600, rtx 3080, with 32gb ddr4 running at 1080p. Cpu bottlenecks hard on everything I play so that's what I want to upgrade.

I can get either a 5700x3d or 7800x3d for about the same price. Former has the obvious benefit of keeping the mobo and precious precious ram, but it's also insanely overpriced for being attached to a dead platform at the end of the day. Latter is more fairly priced, performs better and has an upgrade pipeline in sight, but I'd have to pay current ddr5 prices (slightly suboptimal). If I end up doing the latter, selling my current parts would help lighten the hit but it still ends up being a massive jump in cost. I'm leaning towards just getting the 5700x3d but my decisions always turn out to be dookie longterm so here I am.


r/buildapc • • 13m ago

Full Build Req Can someone please help build a pc under 1000$?

• Upvotes

I’m looking for a good gaming rbg pc build around 1000$ parts from Amazon that can run games at high quality like brick rigs, Minecraft, Roblox and etc in 1TB. Also I already have an monitor, mouse, and keyboard that are rainbow rbg. if yall know please let me know and thank yall.


r/buildapc • • 15m ago

Discussion Title: Ryzen 7 7800X3D suddenly won’t POST — tried two motherboards, CPU or RAM problem?

• Upvotes

I’m looking for some advice because I’ve been troubleshooting my PC for several days and can’t figure out what’s wrong.
My PC specs:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Original motherboard: NZXT N7 B650E
Replacement motherboard: Gigabyte B650 AORUS Elite AX
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 2070
RAM: TeamGroup T-Force DDR5-6000, 2 × 8 GB
PSU: Corsair RM750x 750W Gold
PSU cables: Original Corsair cables with braided extensions

My PC had been working perfectly for around two years. I recently moved into an apartment, transported the PC carefully in my front seat with a seatbelt, and it continued working normally for about two months after the move. Then, one day, I came home, turned it on, and suddenly had no display. Both monitors showed No Signal.
A few days before this happened, I noticed that some application installers would freeze at the same percentage or while extracting files. Windows itself was still working normally, and I didn’t experience any blue screens, crashes, or gaming problems.

What happened with my original NZXT motherboard:
When I turned the PC on, the CPU and DRAM diagnostic LEDs stayed solid red together. The fans, pump, and RGB lights all powered on, but I got no display, and my keyboard wouldn’t light up.
I tried the following:
Tested each RAM stick individually, including in slot A2 and B2.
Removed the RTX 2070 and tried starting the system without it.
Checked the CPU power connection.
Removed the CPU and inspected it for bent or damaged pins. Everything looked fine.
Tried resetting CMOS using the button and by removing the battery.
Attempted BIOS Flashback using a FAT32 USB drive and different BIOS attempts, including versions 4.43 and 4.10.
None of this resolved the problem.

What happened with my new Gigabyte motherboard:
I bought a Gigabyte B650 AORUS Elite AX to see whether the original motherboard had failed, but I experienced another problem.
The DRAM LED stays illuminated, and the PC remains powered on for around 4–5 minutes before restarting itself. It repeats this cycle a couple of times, so I eventually shut it off manually.
I tested both RAM sticks individually in slot A2 and got the same result. I also tested without my RTX 2070 installed, and the problem persisted.
I haven’t updated the BIOS on the Gigabyte motherboard because I haven’t been able to get the system to POST.

What I’m wondering:
I’ve read Reddit posts from people who replaced almost every component except their CPU, continued experiencing the same problems, and then got their PC working immediately after replacing the CPU.
I’m starting to wonder whether my Ryzen 7 7800X3D has developed a fault, possibly with its integrated memory controller. However, I’m also concerned that my T-Force RAM could be the problem because the DRAM light is staying on.
I’ve contacted AMD about a warranty claim and provided my CPU pictures and Amazon purchase invoice. I’m currently waiting for their response.
Has anyone experienced similar symptoms with a 7800X3D, especially having the same general POST or memory initialization problem on two different motherboards?

Could this be a faulty CPU, RAM, or something else I’m overlooking? Would really appreciate any advice before I spend more money replacing parts.
Thanks!


r/buildapc • • 16m ago

Build Upgrade Moving build into case and mobo

• Upvotes

Moving my parts into a new case and installed a new matx mobo 850 instead of my old b650 ATX. Anything I need to do or change in bios or settings?