PC dyin', Doomkid's cryin' - Is my replacement PC adequate?

[Doomkid]

RIP to the old PC I’ve been using since 2016! Every time I start it, I get a loud, dirty crash, usually a blue screen but sometimes not even that, even after taking everything apart, making sure it’s all clean, putting fresh thermal gel on the CPU and all that fun stuff.

 

The included graphics card finally went early last year, in other words since this one is only just over a year old I seriously doubt it's the problem (even though it's just some little inexpensive low-spec nvidia card). I think I've just thrashed the CPU so consistently since day one that it's finally croaked. Could also be some motherboard problem I suppose, but the symptoms seem more like that of a worn-as-hell CPU. That video response to Midnight is gonna be the last thing of note to have ever been done on that machine, lol

 

99% of everything I've made in the last 6 years was done on it, from maps to MIDIs to videos :( It was an Alienware X51 compact tower, btw - 6th gen i7 @ 3.60 GHz and with 16 gig of ram, a little beast in 2016!.. Even though I loved that little Alienware, I'm kind of interested in how a new one will feel after all this time.

 

Just ordered the new rig, 12th gen i5 @ 2.50 GHz base clock speed, 32 gigs of ram, with a basic Intel HD graphics card which I might upgrade when I'm not broke (this thing just set me back $1,000.. Ouch, but hopefully worth it.) It's also got a 1TB SSD, my old PC had an HDD so I'm hoping that even though the specs are comparable, I'll see no worse performance, or maybe even marginally better performance than what I'm used to. Course I'll use the HDD taken out of my old PC, might even put it in the new one for storage/easy access of all my old files, without being tied down to HDD transfer speeds and stuff for general use.

 

At the heart of all this rambling: My old PC could handle OBS recording fullscreen GZDoom gameplay at 1920x1080 48fps and high-quality audio commentary consistently for several hours at a time (I usually use DSDA Doom ofc, but I mention GZDoom because it's more demanding and I want that option). The old rig could also render 1280x720 videos @ 48fps pretty damn quickly, which I consider to be a solid baseline for video quality/gameplay footage in this era.

 

Anyway, that's the end of my rant - I'm really just hoping what I've bought will be an adequate replacement, able to do all the stuff I usually do, particularly the more demanding stuff like rendering videos and recording decent quality gameplay. I know a big component in that is the GPU, and the one that comes with the new PC is middle of the road Intel HD, but all the reviews suggested it was solid all the same. Any of you out there who know a thing or two about PCs, I'd love to hear your opinions!

[BlueThunder]

Sounds like that system should be more then adequate,  I have a Ryzen 1600x system with 16gb of ram with a RTX 3060 that can do what your saying you do and I have no problems capturing Gzdoom or anything doom related at 1080p at 60fps. Prices of electronics has gone so high for obvious reasons, unnecessarily, but I wont go into that. 

[Codename_Delta]

I'm jealous lmao. :P 

 

My laptop which I've only had a few months can sadly not record even PRBoom+ in obs at even an acceptable framerate, that's if the video actually has... well, video.

 

But when playing doom, it can do that at a pretty damn good framerate. Even in nuts.wad in PRBoom+. I honestly don't know if it's possible to replace GPUs in laptops, I hope so!

[Frost-Core]

It is probably, might want to turn that HD graphics to an nvidia card.

Sadly i literally cant buy pcs due to high prices.

[BlueThunder]

8 minutes ago, Codename_Delta said:

I'm jealous lmao. :P 

 

My laptop which I've only had a few months can sadly not record even PRBoom+ in obs at even an acceptable framerate, that's if the video actually has... well, video.

 

But when playing doom, it can do that at a pretty damn good framerate. Even in nuts.wad in PRBoom+. I honestly don't know if it's possible to replace GPUs in laptops, I hope so!

Gpu's in laptop most likely not, at least without issues, I have an MSI gaming laptop 9th gen with a 1650ti,  and its comparable to my ryzen system and I can capture the same pretty much.

[Codename_Delta]

Just now, BlueThunder said:

Gpu's in laptop most likely not, at least without issues, I have an MSI gaming laptop 9th gen with a 1650ti,  and its comparable to my ryzen system and I can capture the same pretty much.

Damn.

[Maribo]

29 minutes ago, Doomkid said:

It's also got a 1TB SSD, my old PC had an HDD so I'm hoping that even though the specs are comparable, I'll see no worse performance, or maybe even marginally better performance than what I'm used to.

You'll see notably higher performance, I highly recommend installing Windows/Whatever OS you use to it, and whatever relevant games you play. Even a low tier SSD will see a notable improvement in how snappy navigating your computer is, along with load times in pretty much everything. I think you'll really notice the difference, it's very hard to go back to using HDDs for anything other than storage.

[Doomkid]

That RTX 3060 sounds damn nice, BlueThunder. I wasn’t at all impressed with reviews I saw of the GTX 1650 that was an option for the new rig (which adds $300 to the cost), so I just fell back on the integrated Intel HD graphics for the time being, figuring I can get a better value GPU in future if the integrated one struggles.

 

Also really glad to hear there’s a notable difference between HDD and SSD speeds! This’ll be my first ever PC that uses one.

[BlueThunder]

3060 is nice, its awesome being able to test out the new Ray tracing mod for doom, I was on the waiting list with EVGA for like 9 months before it was my turn in line,  I took it cause I had the money at the time and it was actual retail price, not an inflated ebay price, plus it was new.  https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=08G-P5-3553-KR

A 3050 would be more then sufficient for you I would think a little less money, not quite as powerful but with a 12 gen system it should work great plus you have the ability of Ray Tracing if you want it.

 

 

[Klaesick]

Sounds better then my current desktop computer lol. But I still love it.

[Chopkinsca]

59 minutes ago, Doomkid said:

Also really glad to hear there’s a notable difference between HDD and SSD speeds! This’ll be my first ever PC that uses one.

Your data will be flyin'. This new laptop is my first SSD and it is quite amazing. My old laptop would take quite a few minutes to fully boot up (when the cpu and disk are done doing whatever startup stuff they do). Restarting for an update isn't much of a hassle now, with a SSD.

[BlueThunder]

Best part of an SSD is how fast the PC will boot into windows

[Graf Zahl]

 

Well, you surely won't be happy with thwe integrated graphics card's performance. I bought a new computer 3 months ago, mostly similar specs but I went with an i7-12700 CPU. Running any more demanding mod surely showed the GPU's shortcoming - but I had planned anyway to put my old Geforce 1060 in so this was merely a test to see how Intel's recent offerings stack up (i.e. they don't.) I'd like to upgrade to something better eventually, too, but considering current prices for graphics cards, the 1060 will do for now.

 

[BlueThunder]

34 minutes ago, Graf Zahl said:

 

Well, you surely won't be happy with thwe integrated graphics card's performance. I bought a new computer 3 months ago, mostly similar specs but I went with an i7-12700 CPU. Running any more demanding mod surely showed the GPU's shortcoming - but I had planned anyway to put my old Geforce 1060 in so this was merely a test to see how Intel's recent offerings stack up (i.e. they don't.) I'd like to upgrade to something better eventually, too, but considering current prices for graphics cards, the 1060 will do for now.

 

The 10 series cards are still very relevant in my opinion.  

[ChopBlock223]

32gb RAM is a good start. Graphics card can be replaced with something better later.

If you're on Windows 10, make sure to strip out bloatware like Windows One Drive and what not.

[Bucket]

Switching to an SSD won't be "marginally better," it'll be DRAMATICALLY better. SSDs have been the most significant jump in PC performance since multi-threaded CPUs.

 

Almost any i7, no matter how old, can still provide acceptable performance OR bring in good money if you sell it. GPU prices are finally coming down so pretty soon you'll be able to get an RTX3060 or RX6600XT for a good value.

[Sergeant_Mark_IV]

Your whole computer died in just 6 years? I don't think that's a normal lifespan and you should check if you are doing something wrong to prevent your new rig from dying soon again.
o you give your components an adequate power supply with leftover power? When you clean it up do you use a pencil, or you blow it with compressed air? Also do you live in a beach or place with salty air?

For comparison I'm using a 11 year old HD, and previously used my second gen i3 for 9 years  (I replaced it by a 9th gen CPU 2 years ago for performance reasons, but it still worked fine).

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

But, we need to ask the most important question

Spoiler

Can it run Doom?

 

Edited May 11, 2022 by Lol 6 : Someone was going to make that joke, sooner or later

[Murdoch]

59 minutes ago, Bucket said:

Switching to an SSD won't be "marginally better," it'll be DRAMATICALLY better. SSDs have been the most significant jump in PC performance since multi-threaded CPUs.

 

Indeed. You couldn't pay me to use an even semi modern pc without one. Windows 10 especially has no business being run on a traditional hd.

[Graf Zahl]

8 minutes ago, Sergeant_Mark_IV said:

Your whole computer died in just 6 years? I don't think that's a normal lifespan...

 

Well, shit happens. The system I bought in 2007 broke down in 2012 after only 5 years. Sometimes it just doesn't work out.

 

[Murdoch]

10 minutes ago, Graf Zahl said:

 

Well, shit happens. The system I bought in 2007 broke down in 2012 after only 5 years. Sometimes it just doesn't work out.

 

 

Yeah. Any number of variables. Were i diagnosing it I'd try alternate Ram and drive before condemning it. Glitchy drives can cause bluescreens when windows can't load files from glitchy areas. CPU failure is comparatively rare compared to those two. Graphics card would be a possibility too if he had one.

[Smoothandz]

1 hour ago, Bucket said:

Switching to an SSD won't be "marginally better," it'll be DRAMATICALLY better. SSDs have been the most significant jump in PC performance since multi-threaded CPUs.

 

Almost any i7, no matter how old, can still provide acceptable performance OR bring in good money if you sell it. GPU prices are finally coming down so pretty soon you'll be able to get an RTX3060 or RX6600XT for a good value.

 

And that's one more vote from me for DRAMATICALLY better. It was the biggest boost in performace my rig has ever seen. Also to echo the I7 statement, my I7 6700K is still running strong after 2 years of hard service. So far it has not been a bottleneck for any games I play. I think maybe my 1060 is just getting long in the tooth.

 

TLDR, I7 good. The integraded GPU? I'm not saying it won't work for you @Doomkid... but I'm not holding by breath. 

[Bucket]

IGPUs have come a long way. You can expect PS4-like performance, at least.

 

 

[DuckReconMajor]

I thought my graphics card died several months ago and had to use the onboard on my 9900k. It worked better than expected!

But even in dsda-doom I had the occasional frame dip at 1440p. Still if you're just playing Doom using the Intel onboard graphics is a surprisingly satisfactory time. Running OBS at the same time might cause a hiccup but if you're just recording and not streaming I don't think it's a huge deal.

 

I thought that price was 'merica dollars and had a hard cringe at a system that price not having a graphics card. But seeing that it's AUSbux it's more in line with what i'd expect in today's frustrating market. I might have mis-read your post, but can you use your old graphics card for a bit in the new system? Might be worse than the IntelHD but it's worth a try.

 

But really at first you're going to be mindblown by having your first SSD and that high should hopefully get you to when you acquire the new graphics card

[Smoothandz]

30 minutes ago, Bucket said:

IGPUs have come a long way. You can expect PS4-like performance, at least.

 

After watching that video you posted, I stand corrected. It seems IGPUs have made more progress than I realized. Just look at that little I7 go!

 

13 minutes ago, DuckReconMajor said:

can you use your old graphics card for a bit in the new system? Might be worse than the IntelHD but it's worth a try.

 

Duck brings a good idea to the table. Maybe you could throw you GPU card into your new rig and run some tests vs the IGPU to see what gives you better performance? What is your old card @Doomkid? 

[Liberation]

5 hours ago, Doomkid said:

Also really glad to hear there’s a notable difference between HDD and SSD speeds! This’ll be my first ever PC that uses one.

You are in for a treat then. Windows loads in seconds and it's pretty useful for games as well.

[sandwedge]

Hmm maybe I got lucky because I got this pc a couple years ago for around $1,200 (Canadian!) and it's a pretty good mid range pc for the time (I think) with a GTX 1660 6gb which has actually been great for 1080p gaming with new games even up until today.  Had to jiggle some settings for Halo Infinite in the open world, for example, but still ran pretty good.  So for GZDoom of course it's been fantastic, often running at nice and smooth framerates if you like that.  I'm guessing your ram and the huge SSD beefed up the price because mine only had a 240gb SSD.  But honestly I'm not sure how much GZDoom stuff might rely on your graphics card, iirc looking at my hardware monitor it was using it.

 

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07VGJDKZ4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Basic specs from the page:

Intel Core i5-9400F 2.9GHz 6-Core | Intel B360 Chipset | 8GB DDR4 | 240GB SSD | 1TB HDD | Genuine Windows 10 Home 64-bit

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 6GB Video Card | 1x HDMI | 1x DisplayPort

 

So yeah looks like your cost went up with the ram and ssd (not sure if its newer gen chipset or something), but I had to order another 8 gigs ram later on, and 32 is probably great for vid editing.  I think you got a decent deal, but hopefully the integrated graphics run ok.  The 1660 is great tho if you can find it, esp if you're not even playing lots of new fancy 3d games.

[Doomkid]

4 hours ago, Graf Zahl said:

Well, you surely won't be happy with the integrated graphics card's performance.

Thanks for letting me know, Graf. I halfway expected the integrated card to not be up to snuff anyway, so I won’t be upset if I need to lay down a few more bucks to complete the package.

 

3 hours ago, Sergeant_Mark_IV said:

Your whole computer died in just 6 years? I don't think that's a normal lifespan and you should check if you are doing something wrong to prevent your new rig from dying soon again.
Do you give your components an adequate power supply with leftover power? When you clean it up do you use a pencil, or you blow it with compressed air? Also do you live in a beach or place with salty air?

For comparison I'm using a 11 year old HD, and previously used my second gen i3 for 9 years  (I replaced it by a 9th gen CPU 2 years ago for performance reasons, but it still worked fine).

I cleaned it using one of those soft little cloths that comes with glasses, as well as a small study wooden skewer to help get small chunks of dust out of crevasses. After getting all the stuff loose I gave it a hit of compressed air. Only a fairly small amount of dust came out though, so I feel that may not have been the issue anyway.

 

I live in an extremely moist and humid climate, right by the beach. It rains constantly and you can sometimes taste salt in the air.. Worst spot to live for a nerd who uses the PC a lot, and plays guitars.. god, the corrosion sucks so bad. But it’s such a pretty little spot that I don’t know if I’ll ever leave! Wouldn’t be at all surprised if some component in the PC is corroded and I just can’t tell at a glance, long story short.

 

2 hours ago, Murdoch said:

Yeah. Any number of variables. Were i diagnosing it I'd try alternate Ram and drive before condemning it. Glitchy drives can cause bluescreens when windows can't load files from glitchy areas. CPU failure is comparatively rare compared to those two. Graphics card would be a possibility too if he had one.

Hmm, been hitting the same HDD pretty damn hard in the old rig. I feel fairly confident that it’s not the ram, but that HDD has been rocked daily for a while.

 

I do have a fresh HDD, still in the box and everything that I bought for pennies. Couldn’t hurt to chuck  her in the old rig and see if I can’t get a little more life out of it as a backup PC. If it continues to blue screen after that - eh, I definitely got my money’s worth out of the thing since 2016.

 

1 hour ago, DuckReconMajor said:

I thought my graphics card died several months ago and had to use the onboard on my 9900k. It worked better than expected!

But even in dsda-doom I had the occasional frame dip at 1440p. Still if you're just playing Doom using the Intel onboard graphics is a surprisingly satisfactory time. Running OBS at the same time might cause a hiccup but if you're just recording and not streaming I don't think it's a huge deal.

 

I thought that price was 'merica dollars and had a hard cringe at a system that price not having a graphics card. But seeing that it's AUSbux it's more in line with what i'd expect in today's frustrating market. I might have mis-read your post, but can you use your old graphics card for a bit in the new system? Might be worse than the IntelHD but it's worth a try.

 

But really at first you're going to be mindblown by having your first SSD and that high should hopefully get you to when you acquire the new graphics card

Thanks a lot for the extra info, DuckRecon. It’s reassuring to hear you (and Bucket and others) vouching for the decentness of the integrated card!

 

My old PC came with a pretty darn good card in 2016, one so fancy that it needed to plug into extra power. When I was sure it had croaked, I got a super cheap GeForce GT 710. It did everything I needed for the last year (despite being the equivalent of driving around on a spare donut rather than a real tire). All the performance checks I came across suggested the newer integrated intel cards are actually roundly better than the 710 anyway, so I’m hopeful. (I still do have it sitting safely in the old PC if I do end up needing a spare again in the not too distant future..)

[Deleted Account]

Rip dewm childs pc 2016-2022

[Murdoch]

7 minutes ago, Doomkid said:

Hmm, been hitting the same HDD pretty damn hard in the old rig. I feel fairly confident that it’s not the ram, but that HDD has been rocked daily for a while.

 

RAM faults have become a lot more rare over the years than they were in the early days. If you look a lot of RAM now ships with lifetime warranties - a pretty bold statement. They do still happen though. Basically for a gaming rig, the order of probability based on my experience for a hardware created bluescreen would be...

 

1. Traditional mechanical HD

2. Graphics card (if you have one).

3. SSD (if you have one)

4. RAM

5. Motherboard

6. CPU