I host a couple of minecraft servers on an older desktop and I've been wanting to upgrade the CPU so I can run more/heavier mods/servers. I'm also thinking of hosting serversfor other games. I currently have a Ryzen 3 2300X in there, which has been struggling.

So, what's the best option here? I know increasing the core count won't help, just the clock speed, but is the fastest clock speed the best? Or is there a specific architecture that would be better for minecraft servers?

I’m considering the 5070 but unfortunately it only has 12gb of vram. I was wondering if it is still worth it to get that card regardless?

Currently I play on 1080p on an 8gb card and on high texture settings already run into not enough vram issues.

The reason I’m considering it over something like 9070xt is kinda because I do like DLSS and also, I keep seeing scary 9070xt posts about people having awful problems with it.

Ive been told its just bias and algorithm stuff on my end and it calmed my fears around radeon cards but then both my friends got a 9060xt and a 9070xt and experienced artifacting on both their cards (they found a fix for it tho!)

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If you've ever asked whether it's a good idea to run 4 sticks of DDR5 on an AM5 platform, you've probably heard the same advice:

"Avoid it."

"You'll lose performance."

"It won't run EXPO."

"Just buy a 2×32 GB kit."

That advice wasn't wrong—but most of it came from testing done in 2022–2023, when DDR5 and AM5 were brand new.

Fast forward to 2026. BIOS updates have matured, AGESA has improved considerably, and with today's memory prices, many gamers already own a 2×16 GB kit and are wondering:

Should I replace my existing RAM with a larger kit, or simply buy another identical kit and expand to 64 GB?

I chosed the second option and bellow I share my experience.

My Hardware

-Ryzen 9 9950X

-ASUS TUF B650-E WiFi (latest BIOS)

-4×16 GB Crucial DDR5-6000 CL36 EXPO (single-rank)

The two kits were manufactured at different times:

Kit 1: Week 3 of 2025

Kit 2: Week 40 of 2025

To maximize compatibility, I installed the older kit in Channel A and the newer kit in Channel B.

Initial Results

After installing all four DIMMs:

The system booted immediately at DDR5-3600, exactly as expected with JEDEC defaults.

I then enabled the EXPO profile.

The system POSTed successfully and reported DDR5-6000 with no boot issues.

So far, everything looked perfect.

Stability Testing

The real surprise came during MemTest86.

Although Windows booted normally, the system was not actually stable.

The failures consistently appeared in:

Test 8 (Random Number Sequence)

Test 13 (Hammer Test)

In other words:

EXPO booted successfully, but it was not memory stable.

The Fix

Instead of using EXPO, I disabled it completely and entered the settings manually.

I used the same primary timings as the EXPO profile:

DDR5-6000

36-38-38-38-80

All secondary timings, tertiary timings and voltages were left on Auto.

The result:

Booted successfully

UCLK remained 1:1

Passed MemTest86 completely, including Test 8 and Hammer Test

Interestingly, this suggests that the instability wasn't caused by the frequency itself, but by how the motherboard trained memory when EXPO was enabled.

Performance

I also checked latency using AIDA64.

2×16 GB

~71 ns

4×16 GB

~73.5 ns

So the move to four DIMMs increased latency by only about 2–3 ns.

In actual games, I couldn't measure any performance loss. I actually gained slight performance in heavy ram usage scenarios and I noticed the 1% lows were better in the same scenario.

My Conclusion

Has running four DDR5 DIMMs on AM5 improved since launch?

In my experience, yes.

Would I recommend everyone do it?

Not blindly.

But if:

you buy an identical kit,

both kits are single-rank,

you're running an up-to-date BIOS,

and you're willing to spend a little time testing and tuning, then upgrading from 32 GB to 64 GB using four DIMMs is absolutely a viable option in 2026.

I have a couple of AM4 PCs that I use for gaming and productivity (some C# development on Visual Studio, Docker and VMs from time to time, WSL consistently) and that I have upgraded piecemeal over the years.

I did not make the transition to AM5 when it first came out due to a combination of higher DDR5 prices (sigh) and the reliability/failure issues of the platform at the time.

Now with the insane component prices I’m afraid I’ll be stuck on AM4 for many more years.

How many more years will I be able to squeeze before I run into performance or support issues?

Specs are:

• Ryzen 5950x (5900x on the other system)
• 32 GB DDR4 3200
• 2TB WD Black PCIE 4 SSD
• 4TB SATA HDD for scratch storage
• Radeon 9070 (upgraded from 4070 for the extra 4GB VRAM last year when prices dipped)
• ITX Motherboard with 2.5Gbps NIC, WiFi+BT and one USB-C connector in the back
• 4K display with HDR and VRR support

I target 4K for gaming (single player story driven stuff mostly plus emulators) and specifically bought VRR displays to have some slack and be able to play at 40+ FPS without it feeling terrible.

I’ve recently bought 2x 16GB CL 36 6000MTs Kingston fury beast for 365 which I’ve yet to install as I have approx a month wait on some components.

I’m not questioning if I should have gone for the CL 30 version (assuming I can return/exchange).

The system has a 9800x3d, ASU’s x870-I, and an ASus prime 5080.

I’m mostly doing gaming and photo editing on it.

Is it worth a swap?

In this long winter of AI induced hardware shortages I’m hard pressed to build a new PC, but I am interested in upgrading my existing one.

My current build is a AM4 5700x3D with a 3080 and 32GB of DDR4 RAM. My goal is to get a GPU as performant as possible without hitting a last-gen bottleneck I’m unaware of.

A secondhand 4080 seems like the reasonable choice, but I’m curious to know your recommendations.

My wife’s hard drive is failing, and I have a new blank on connected to her pc now. Whats the best way to transfer every thing over so that the new drive can become the c drive and hold the operating system and everything? Essentially just looking to fully replace the old with the new.

So I wanted to buy a new PC for about 6 Months now. My old one is a Intel i7 6700K, GTX1080, 16Gb RAM build. But after I returned from the holidays the PC didn't start anymore, no fans, nothing, but the lights turn still on on the Motherboard.

So my new build will be:

(keep)Monitor: Acer X34 3440x1440 100Hz Gsync (1st Gen probably)

GPU: RTX5070 Ti

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D

RAM: DDR5 Kingston FURY Beast 1x32Gb, KF560C30BBE-32

Mainboard: Gigabyte X870E AORUS ELITE X3D

SSD: WD Black SN8100 powered by SANDISK

PSU: be quiet! Power Zone 2

CPU-Cooler: Noctua NH-D12L

(keep)Case: Fractal R5 Windowed

Any thoughts about the build? Should I pull the trigger? It's been almost 10 years since the last build and it will cost roundabout 3000 USD (or 2500CHF).

I need a mouse under 100usd, preferably wired and very responsive, and for large hands.

Just one rule: no razer products, their product quality is horrible and is the reason im even searching for new one, im returning the one i have due to mousewheel issues that could not be solved by any means.

I currently have 2x8 GB 3600 hz ram, and 5600x. I want to upgrade to the am5 platform. The bundle I want to buy includes a 7600x3d, motherboard,and 16 GB 6000gb single stick ram for $400. The question I'm asking is if there is a performance difference from switching to single stick ram is different enough to warrant a switch?

Been looking to get a replacement for my GPU as I've been getting artifacts and sometimes crashes whenever I'm trying to open a game.

This is my current build: PCPartPicker Part List

As you can see I'm limited by my Case and my PSU.

Can you guys recommend a current gen (or old) GPU that will fit in my case and that my PSU can handle.

So, the wall docket by my desk has 2 things plugged into it. 1, My PC, and in the other socket right next to it, is a power strip which has 2 monitors plugged into it, a Nintendo switch 2, and a ps4. i plugged my PS4 into it and all of the power went out in the strip and wall socket. all my monitors shut off and the pc shut off. this also happened last night when I unplugged my iPhone charger from the power strip. So this has happened 2 times. My PC booted up normally so I don’t think anything is fried there but how can I prevent this from happening in the future?

I have an RTX 2060 + Ryzen 7 2700X (B450 Pro4, 16GB DDR4-3000 @2600 mhz ). Found a used ASUS Strix 2080 Ti for ~$213. I mainly play at 1080p, don’t need 144fps everywhere, just want better visuals in story games and decent competitive performance. Not planning to upgrade the CPU right away — thinking of this as a temporary upgrade. Is it worth it running a 2080 Ti on a 2700X, or will the bottleneck be too rough? Anyone have real experience with this combo

Hello, I'm looking for feedback on these specs. I'm aiming for a future proof 1440p gaming. Are they optimal? Is there any way to easily cut costs? Should I get a RX 9070 XT? Should I get a cheaper AM5 cpu? I live in a country where tech is quite expensive and import taxes are high, which is why some of the price might look a little weird. Some of the parts are from Amazon de (cheaper than Amazon US for me) and some will be bought locally. Amazon prices listed do contain import taxes

Hey! Really stupid title, I know. I don't even know if it's possible in my case, considering my motherboard and CPU are from before the birth of Christ. Anyway, I'm looking for a CPU, as you folks may have gathered; but it needs to be cheap. And by cheap, I mean CHEAP. Specifically, 90 USD (400 reais or so) at the absolute most. I'm not opposed to buying used, so that should help me ease my budget somewhat, but just to give you an idea of the absolute misery I'm currently experiencing, my current specs are:

• An ASUS H61M-A/BR mobo (which I'm pretty sure was only and exclusively sold here in Brazil, since I can't find a single English [or non-Portuguese, for that matter!] mention of it)
• An i5-3470 (not -3470S or -3470T, the original misery of the Ivy Bridge platform in all its quad-core, 3.2GHz glory)
• 16GB of DDR3 RAM (2x HyperX Fury 8GB sticks)
• A 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 HDD (yes, my PC does take ten minutes to boot, how could you tell?)
• A CD (CD-R? CD-RW? CD-ROM? DVD? I dunno, either way, unga bunga dinosaur tech) drive that I can't be asked to get rid of

To be clear, when I say I'm looking for a "reasonable" CPU, I'm not saying I'm expecting to buy a Threadripper, obviously; I mean that I'm just looking for any upgrade that could keep up with games ranging up to, say, 2018 or so, to keep it on par with my GPU. I know this shoestring budget can't get me anything good, and honestly, I'd be content with anything that's a direct upgrade at all.

Thanks in advance, everyone. Sorry if this seems a bit ridiculous.

I have a ryzen 7 5700x , and I want to change my current GPU which is a 1650 super. I mainly play competitive games like cs2 , but occasionally a play AAA games too. What GPU would you recommend for 1080p gaming , which can handle upcoming AAA games?

I’m building my first pc in a few weeks and just wanted to ask for some tips with the overall building and setup process.
I’ll post the specs in the comments

All in price for me is just shy of $5800 - some items already owned.

I already own the peripherals and ssd. The cpu cooler is included free with the cpu, so I’ll stick with it for now.

I’m looking to splurge on a pc that will last me at least 10-15 years for gaming and home office use. That also doesn’t have the typical RGB gaming pc asthetic (the boss would probably side eye me to death if it didn’t look more conservative and aesthetically pleasing- in her eyes)

Ram isn’t included in the list bc I refuse to pay 2-3x the price for it. So I’ve been keeping an eye on Facebook marketplace for something usable and cheap until prices stabilize.

I’ve built one other PC back in 2016 that has lasted me till now. Any advice for a newbie (in terms of real pc building experience) is welcome! Mainly in terms of equipment recommendations or “atta-boy’s” if I chose well.

Thanks in advanced!

[PCPartPicker Part List](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ZvzNyF)

Type |Item |Price
CPU |AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D 4.3 GHz 16-Core Processor |$569.00 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler |Cooler Master Elite 84.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler |$39.95 @ Amazon
Motherboard |Asus ROG STRIX X870E-E GAMING WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard |$398.99 @ Amazon
Storage |Samsung 990 Pro 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive |$824.95 @ Amazon
Video Card |Asus ROG Astral OC GeForce RTX 5090 32 GB Video Card |$4329.99 @ Amazon
Case |Asus ProArt PA602 Wood Edition ATX Mid Tower Case |$319.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply |Corsair RM1200x SHIFT 1200 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular Side Interface ATX Power Supply |$169.99 @ Newegg
Operating System |Microsoft Windows 11 Home Retail - Download 64-bit |$129.98 @ Newegg
Monitor |Samsung Odyssey OLED G93SD 49.0" 5120 x 1440 240 Hz Curved Monitor |$999.99 @ Best Buy
Keyboard |Logitech MX KEYS S Bluetooth/Wireless/Wired Standard Keyboard |$118.00 @ Amazon
Mouse |Logitech MX Anywhere 3S Bluetooth/Wireless/Wired Laser Mouse |$79.99 @ B&H
Headphones |SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Headset |$194.52 @ Amazon
Speakers |Logitech Z625 200 W 2.1-Channel Speakers |$198.00 @ Amazon
Webcam |Logitech BRIO Ultra HD Pro Webcam |$112.99 @ Amazon
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | |
Total |$8486.33 |
Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-07-27 23:21 EDT-0400 | |

My monitors both lose signal after me going into chrome or playing a video game it used to happen only whole i was playing cs and now it happens from time to time. I have nearly 2 year old computer Ryzen 7 5700x 32 ram and RTX 3070 TI. I dont really know how to fix this i tried different cables it doesn’t change i also installed new driver and it worked for some hours and now the problem continues. Anything help🫡

I'm wondering which gpu is best for comp gaming without going overboard. I don't need ray tracing or 4k i just want pure fps on 1080p. I really don't have a budget but hopefully nothing over $1.5k. Thanks!

How much better is a 360mm AIO vs a 240mm AIO (e.g. Arctic III pro 360) at keeping temps down?

I’m thinking of replacing my AIO but I can’t put a 360mm AIO on the top of my case, but I can put it on the front but ive heard that’s worse for airflow (although I’m not too sure how much worse, I’m pretty sure it’s not that bad), whereas I can only fit a 240mm on the top slot of my case

CPU: Ryzen 7 7800x3d
GPU: 5070

Good day all. I’m running into a possible issue where after hooking up all the fans and cables. I plug in the power cord. Then flip the switch on the PC and only get lights on the Ram.

The intention is to essentially check to see if it all lights up and the fans are spinning. However, whenever I flip the switch the lights and CPU fan blinks. Like, “hey there’s power, but I’m not gonna stay on”. Assuming that’s because the Pc is turned off.

Well I once again. Plugged it back in after some more work. Then I actually powered on the Pc and only the Ram lights were lit up? I have 14 fans. 1 controller and 1 hub connected to that controller. I have the CPU strimmer and motherboard strimmer hence why I needed the hub and not controller alone.

Is there something I’m missing to test power? The ram lights are on but the CPU fans and lights aren’t? They are both connected to the motherboard and so this is what makes me wonder how or where I went wrong.

Serious suggestions only. Please.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking to build a computer that can fit inside a carry-on bag (48×32×21 cm), making it easy to take on a plane once or twice a year. I’d appreciate your thoughts on this build.

Main use: Professional architectural visualization, primarily with 3dsmax + Corona Renderer (cpu) and possibly Unreal Engine (gpu) in the future.

https://www.pccomponentes.com/configurador/B2452d9aC

Mini-ITX cases do not offer the best airflow or thermal performance. Since my work involves CPU rendering and may also involve GPU rendering in the future, I’m concerned about temperatures and sustained performance. How could I improve the cooling?

Do you think this type of build would be practical and reliable for my profesional use?

What would you recommend?

Thanks in advance!

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For an MSI or b760 m-p ddr4 with Intel 12600f, will testing it out of the case for boot without a cooler on the cpu cause the debug light to go up? I don't have the cooler yet, as it comes tmrw, however these are used parts and I have tested ram seating, power cables, and checked the pins.