Sherdog PC Build/Buy Thread, v6: My Power Supply Burned Down My House

Out of curiosity I just tried calling that number, guess what I got.
"The person you are trying to reach is not accepting calls at this time. Please try your call again later"
No voice mail. Out fucking standing customer service.
Meanwhile every other manufacturer I can go on their website right now and file a warranty claim.

Oh, and their Amazon support page
Contact Seller : SunBow Technology Co Ltd
Write Your Message (Please allow 2 business days for the seller to respond.)

Yeah, I probably wouldn't buy it unless I fully expected to be SOL if it failed. I don't know anything about the reliability of their products though, I don't follow hardware nearly as much as I used to.
 
You may have to temper your expectations, or exercise patience. That's a doable value if you catch a sale, or at least it was, but prices have elevated a bit since they were at their all-time value best from November-January, and the Ryzen 3000 series chips have mostly vanished from Amazon prebuilds, so it looks like you're waiting on the next batch to hit he markets. I'll assume the 1660 Ti is also an acceptable secondary option since it's superior to the 1660 Super, and the R7-2700X is only ~2% slower than the R5-3600 at 1440p on average in the most demanding games. The i7-9700F is probably faster. I ran a few searches and browsed a few lists, and these are the closest I'm seeing atm:

Amazon has bare 1TB HDD's available for as cheap as $37, and SATA cable 3-packs for as low as $5. Not sure if you're willing to buy and install yourself for the Skytech units, but if you are, that final unit effectively meets your criteria for processing power while breaking budget by a smidge over $40. The RTX 2060 Super is nearly the RTX 2070's equal.

Although you might qualify for this $10 off Coupon Code for Prime members (SAVE10NOW):
https://slickdeals.net/coupons/amazon/?couponid=1979137
these seem decent for the money

AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core 4.0GHz OC, 16GB 3000MHz RAM, Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti 6GB, 240GB SSD + 2TB HDD, Windows 10 Pro, WiFi. Custom PC with Overclocked CPU $1099


Skytech Blaze II Gaming Computer PC Desktop – RYZEN 7 2700X 8-core 3.7 GHz, RTX 2060 Super 8G, 500GB SSD, 16GB DDR4 3000MHz, RGB Fans, Windows 10 Home (also $1099)


not sure which is the better overall deal .. I mean you are right i can just throw in a drive etc... Im decently tech savvy hardware wise

 
these seem decent for the money

AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core 4.0GHz OC, 16GB 3000MHz RAM, Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti 6GB, 240GB SSD + 2TB HDD, Windows 10 Pro, WiFi. Custom PC with Overclocked CPU $1099


Skytech Blaze II Gaming Computer PC Desktop – RYZEN 7 2700X 8-core 3.7 GHz, RTX 2060 Super 8G, 500GB SSD, 16GB DDR4 3000MHz, RGB Fans, Windows 10 Home (also $1099)


not sure which is the better overall deal .. I mean you are right i can just throw in a drive etc... Im decently tech savvy hardware wise

That Centaurus is a nice find. I've never heard of them before. I'd give it the edge on paper:
  • 240GB SSD vs. 500GB SSD = -$30 value
  • 2TB HDD vs. No HDD = +$60 value
  • GTX 1660 Ti vs. RTX 2060 Super = -$50 value (discrete 1660 Ti cards are overpriced at the moment)
  • Actual Price Advantage = +$100 value
  • Total = +$80 advantage

R7-2700X is technically superior to the R5-3600 even though it's slightly inferior in games despite the more significant overall processing power advantage, but it's also coming with a lesser CPU cooler than is standard on the discrete market (Wraith Stealth, not Wraith Max). I'd rate them equal values.
 
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That Centaurus is a nice find. I've never heard of them before. I'd give it the edge on paper:
  • 240GB SSD vs. 500GB SSD = -$30 value
  • 2TB HDD vs. No HDD = +$60 value
  • GTX 1660 Ti vs. RTX 2060 Super = -$50 value (discrete 1660 Ti cards are overpriced at the moment)
  • Actual Price Advantage = +$100 value
  • Total = +$80 advantage

R7-2700X is technically superior to the R5-3600 even though it's slightly inferior in games due to the more significant overall processing power advantage, but it's also coming with a lesser CPU cooler than is standard on the discrete market (Wraith Stealth, not Wraith Max). I'd rate them equal values.
yeah and centarus said to message them for upgrades etc.. they will change the video card or PSU to tailor to my liking
they said about $200 to upgrade to a 2070

Hello,
Changing video card in Andromeda A6 from GTX 1660 Ti to RTX 2070 will add $213 which will also include a bigger 600W PSU.
We can make a new configuration on Amazon with this video card. You can also pick Andromeda A7 which has RTX 2060 Super video card and it cost the same as RTX 2070, so we can just swap the GPU upon request.

heres the build they are speaking of
Centaurus Andromeda A7 Gaming Computer - AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core 4.0GHz OC, 16GB DDR4 RAM, Nvidia RTX 2060 Super 8GB, 1TB SSD, Windows 10 Pro, WiFi. Custom PC, RGB, Glass




really nice but my wife might kill me .. she was like "keep it around $1000"

but that with a 2070 would future proof me much longer
 
That Centaurus is a nice find. I've never heard of them before. I'd give it the edge on paper:
  • 240GB SSD vs. 500GB SSD = -$30 value
  • 2TB HDD vs. No HDD = +$60 value
  • GTX 1660 Ti vs. RTX 2060 Super = -$50 value (discrete 1660 Ti cards are overpriced at the moment)
  • Actual Price Advantage = +$100 value
  • Total = +$80 advantage

R7-2700X is technically superior to the R5-3600 even though it's slightly inferior in games due to the more significant overall processing power advantage, but it's also coming with a lesser CPU cooler than is standard on the discrete market (Wraith Stealth, not Wraith Max). I'd rate them equal values.

The 3600 vs 2700x is a tough decision to make. At the current time the 3600 will be faster in games, but I think down the road when more games utilize all the cores you can throw at it the 2700x will be the better cpu in the long run.
I don't think you'd be disappointed either way.
 
@Lucas Troy, I've been one of the biggest proponents of prebuilds starting around 2015, due to value, but if you are willing to take on building this thing yourself, assuming your financing/credit doesn't depend on a single large purchase, I was curious how an all-Amazon build would stack up, and frankly the prebuilds are the most inferior value I've seen relative to the builder market in a long time if we ignore Windows.


PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($188.11 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B450M GAMING PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($96.71 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($75.22 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sabrent Rocket Q 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($128.98 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8 GB MINI Video Card ($429.98 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($48.36 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA BR 600 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($53.73 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link ARCHER T2U PLUS USB 2.0 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter ($18.25 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: ARCTIC P12 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan ($8.44 @ Amazon)
Custom: Seagate 2TB FireCuda Gaming SSHD SATA 6Gb/s Flash Accelerated (8GB) Performance Hard Drive - Frustration Free Packaging (ST2000LXZ01)
Tender: $974.74
Total:
$1047.78
Total include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-09 11:03 EDT-0400



The greatest advantage here are the drives; the Sabrent Rocket Q 1TB SSD quadruples your SSD size, and is also going to be tremendously faster than than the low-end SATA SSDs that come in the prebuilds. You could select one like that; a 240GB SATA SSD of the same caliber in the prebuild would knock another $85 off this tender.

Additionally, while it's only available for pre-order, and comes into stock on March 25th, I noticed the latest upcoming revision of the Firecuda SSHD (hybrid drive) is a phenomenal value in the HDD space. At $60 with standard packing (cables included) it is the same price as their cheapest 2TB HDDs after the separate purchase, and yet hybrid drives lie between SSDs and HDDs in terms of performance. The Amazon page calls it a laptop drive, but that just means it comes in the same 2.5" form factor as SATA SSDs. Viable game drive.

Meanwhile, I suspect the G. Skill Aegis is actually faster RAM than the DDR4-3000 RAM in the prebuild (they don't quote timings, but I'm willing to bet those are CL19 sticks, not CL16, which means their cycle would run approximately 15% slower).

That Arctic Fan I added has fluid dynamic bearings, which last longer, and brings the case's total to two. Presumably you'd want to add it in the front. Highly acclaimed Cooler Master case. The Cooler Master N200 is a superb alternative if you don't like the window, and it comes with two fans by default for a total that is a few bucks less. The N200 also supports DVD or Blu-Ray drives if you care.

The WiFi adapter almost certainly supports a higher bandwidth, and also a superior range (usually they're the low-gain micro usb thumb adapters in the prebuilds).

This doesn't come with a cheapo mouse and keyboard, but the real cost difference is the Windows 10 Pro in that Centaurus. If you're willing to go the grey market route, though, Kinguin and G2A are selling W10 Pro for ~$30:
https://www.kinguin.net/category/19429/windows-10-professional-oem-key
https://www.g2a.com/microsoft-windows-10-pro-microsoft-key-global-i10000083916004
 
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@Lucas Troy, I've been one of the biggest proponents of prebuilds starting around 2015, due to value, but if you are willing to take on building this thing yourself, assuming your financing/credit doesn't depend on a single large purchase, I was curious how an all-Amazon build would stack up, and frankly the prebuilds are the most inferior value I've seen relative to the builder market in a long time if we ignore Windows.


PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($188.11 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B450M GAMING PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($96.71 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($75.22 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sabrent Rocket Q 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($128.98 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8 GB MINI Video Card ($429.98 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($48.36 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA BR 600 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($53.73 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link ARCHER T2U PLUS USB 2.0 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter ($18.25 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: ARCTIC P12 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan ($8.44 @ Amazon)
Custom: Seagate 2TB FireCuda Gaming SSHD SATA 6Gb/s Flash Accelerated (8GB) Performance Hard Drive - Frustration Free Packaging (ST2000LXZ01)
Tender: $974.74
Total:
$1047.78
Total include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-09 11:03 EDT-0400



The greatest advantage here are the drives; the Sabrent Rocket Q 1TB SSD doubles your SSD size, and is also going to be tremendously faster than than the low-end SATA SSDs that come in the prebuilds.

Additionally, while it's only available for pre-order, and comes into stock on March 25th, I noticed the latest upcoming revision of the Firecuda SSHD (hybrid drive) is a phenomenal value in the HDD space. At $60 with standard packing (cables included) it is the same price as their cheapest 2TB HDDs after the separate purchase, and yet hybrid drives lie between SSD and HDD in terms of performance. It say it's a laptop drive, but that just means it comes in the same 2.5" form factor as SATA SSDs. Viable game drive.

Meanwhile, I suspect the G. Skill Aegis is actually faster RAM than the DDR4-3000 RAM in the prebuild (they don't quote timings, but I'm willing to bet those are CL19 sticks, not CL16, which means their cycle would run approximately 15% slower).

That Arctic Fan I added has fluid dynamic bearings, which last longer, and brings the case's total to two. Presumably you'd want to add it in the front. Highly acclaimed Cooler Master case. The Cooler Master N200 is a superb alternative if you don't like the window, and it comes with two fans by default for a total that is a few bucks less. The N200 also supports DVD or Blu-Ray drives if you care.

The WiFi adapter almost certainly supports a higher bandwidth, and also a superior range (usually they're the low-gain micro usb thumb adapters in the prebuilds).

This doesn't come with a cheapo mouse and keyboard, but the real cost difference is the Windows 10 Pro in that Centaurus. If you're willing to go the grey market route, though, Kinguin and G2A are selling W10 Pro for ~$30:
https://www.kinguin.net/category/19429/windows-10-professional-oem-key
https://www.g2a.com/microsoft-windows-10-pro-microsoft-key-global-i10000083916004


For the Arctic fans, I'd spend the $1.50 and step up to the PWM PST version of the fan. Not only are you getting a PWM fan vs DC, the PWM PST version allows you to daisy chain fans together.
The motherboard you posted has 3 fan headers. So the cooler takes up one, included case fan takes one, and the Arctic will take up the last one. If he wants to add more down the line, which he probably will because that case is pretty bad for airflow, he's either buying splitter cables ($4) or a hub ($7).
61jWoYnLBIL._SL1000_.jpg
 
It's a worthwhile suggestion, but I didn't see the point in springing for PWM when the other fan that comes with the case most likely doesn't have it, and so for even pressure, he'll be bound to constant airflow with the added fan, anyway.
 
It's a worthwhile suggestion, but I didn't see the point in springing for PWM when the other fan that comes with the case most likely doesn't have it, and so for even pressure, he'll be bound to constant airflow with the added fan, anyway.
I’ve always been a fan of positive pressure, less dust accumulates.
Using 2 different fans with different airflows is going to be tough to balance out.
For example, you set both fans to 1000rpm they’re not going to be moving the same amount of air.
 
With that case I'd prefer the positive pressure, since it's so heavily grilled and I'm lazy about cleaning, but I think it's a trivial difference overall that more significantly influences where the dust accumulates rather than how much, or if accumulation is more significant, it's most likely more significant relative to airflow through the case where negative pressure has been shown to be superior. As long as the fans are a little bit offset in terms of airflow, and that staggering isn't disrupted by dissimilar RPM steppings, one doesn't have to think about it a whole lot more than that. Thus, add one fan, connect both, don't care which port, and forget it. KISSed.

Quibbling over the minutiae of the case fan setup before the guy has even responded is silly. The point of the build skeleton is to demonstrate the big picture of respective value. The Centaurus A7 is this build's closest analogue (R5-3600, RTX 2060 Super, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) among those options, but it doesn't even include an HDD, and it costs $1246. So there's nearly a $350 difference premium on the hardware if we ignore Windows.

That's the information that's important to convey at this stage.
 
PC-011 Dynamic

So I went ahead and bought one of these. Not sure when it'll arrive or when I can be bother transferring my components into it. But oneday I'll post a picture.

I might also buy another case and build a second PC while I'm at it though.
 
The answer is probably not the motherboard, no. This is what it lame about office prebuilds (unlike the gaming prebuilds you see alongside them on the bestseller charts on Amazon). They aren't built on the universal ATX form factor. For this reason the motherboard likely won't mount properly in a new case you buy. There's not really anything magical about mounting. The idea is simply to fasten the motherboard as securely in place as possible, and depending on how the motherboard is configured, it's usually ideal to orient it in a certain way (so that some ports are nearest to the front, and so that the CPU fan blows from front to back). For this reason, some DIYer's who are comfortable using power tools will measure the non-universal motherboard, drill holes into some cheap case that's big enough to house recycle components, and install their own standoffs to mount the motherboard. That's quite a hassle, and probably not the best or easiest strategy for you moving forward.

Now the good news. Everything else can easily be switched into a new case once you purchase a new motherboard on a universal form factor, or at least establish that the one you have already is. The only downside, here, is that the LGA 1155 motherboards you need for that CPU are out of production, and tend to come at steeper premiums from the traditional retailers in brand new condition. You can see here if you first hit "Edit This Part List" and then go to "Choose a motherboard" what the compatible options are (the cheapest starts at $157):
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/DpH9TW

Your best bet is to scour eBay, where a lot of older hardware sells, which isn't tracked by PC Part Picker, or go look for guys selling/trading LGA 1155 motherboards here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/hardwareswap/

Once you have a new motherboard the most delicate operation you'll encounter is extracting your CPU & CPU Cooler from your old motherboard without damaging them. Either find a friend who knows how to do that, or watch YouTube tutorials. Everything else will be a simple transfer. Your hard drive might have a plastic shell or some other mounting fixture in the Dell case that you must shed for your new case, but that will be pretty straightforward. The GPU will run just fine in an LGA 1155 motherboard, the RAM can be easily transplanted, and the new PSU will fit in an ATX case pretty much no matter what it is (but I suspect it's an ATX).
Ok I can now confirm it is in fact the Motherboard that has broken. I put all my new parts and old motherboard and Hardrives into my new computer and the same issue. Do you have a specific board I should try to get? Prices vary quite a bit so here are a few examples

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813131826

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813130654
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813128550
 
Ok I can now confirm it is in fact the Motherboard that has broken. I put all my new parts and old motherboard and Hardrives into my new computer and the same issue. Do you have a specific board I should try to get? Prices vary quite a bit so here are a few examples

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813131826

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813130654
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813128550

if you need a new mobo, it's probably best to just get a new cpu and mobo. other parts make more sense to salvage, but it seems silly to pay that much for another board for a cpu that dated. just my .02
 
if you need a new mobo, it's probably best to just get a new cpu and mobo. other parts make more sense to salvage, but it seems silly to pay that much for another board for a cpu that dated. just my .02
From the research I've done my i7 2600k, still stands up fairly well performance wise. I'm kinda trying to do a budget build, for like 300,using some components I already have. It would be much easier to buy all new stuff, but I don't really use it enough to justify building a brand new, high end rig.
 
if you need a new mobo, it's probably best to just get a new cpu and mobo. other parts make more sense to salvage, but it seems silly to pay that much for another board for a cpu that dated. just my .02
Any idea what a equivalent or better cpu would cost? I am our of the loop on what's good these days
 
Oh, thought you were overseas.
I spend half the year in rural Alaska, which is basically overseas. Not much use for a gaming pc up there with my blazing 1mb speed dsl internet that costs $300 a month
 
From the research I've done my i7 2600k, still stands up fairly well performance wise. I'm kinda trying to do a budget build, for like 300,using some components I already have. It would be much easier to buy all new stuff, but I don't really use it enough to justify building a brand new, high end rig.
Any idea what a equivalent or better cpu would cost? I am our of the loop on what's good these days

i mean, i get wanting to be cheap, but if you're looking at paying ~$100 for an old, used mobo...

i'd look for combo deals on a ryzen 3600/3700x/2700x with a mobo. sucks there isn't a microcenter near you.
 
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