Hi again! So…based on my previous post, it’d seem that it’s going to be quite some headache to get an old intel 6700 CPU with a PCIe 3.0 to work decently with more up to date GPUs (that is, to see a decent improvement in performance at all). I’d like to do a cross-jump to AMD CPUs this time, to be paired with a 6800XT or a 7800XT. I intend to game on Linux, although there will be a Win10 partition for the troublesome games, and also for the Vive Wireless, which is unsupported on Linux. But I’ve been out of the AMD loop for a while. What’s cooking? What would be a good second-to-last generation CPU recommendation or so? Am I missing any important tech if I don’t choose the latest and the greatest? Is ReBAR a thing yet? (Not sure if this is the answer to PS5’s direct asset streaming from the SSD straight to the GPU). At this point, I’d like to know what CPUs are adviseable, in order to get some idea for a PC build, so I can go get quotes…and see if that’s something I’d be able to afford :)
Don’t buy the cheapest, but don’t buy the most expensive, look for a case that’s the right size, and easy to open, has a few fans, not too many but not too few. Cheaper cases have really thin metal that bends and cuts you.
Front panel matters, how the drives mount matters (less so now that we’re all m.2), honestly spend $70 on a decent but small case, you’ll be fine.
Won’t a small case make airflows/fitting more complicated? And pricing… I was considering to stick to full ATX size, as that’s already what I have. But then again, I’m not sure what to pay attention to.
It can complicate things, but there are small cases out there with larger/more powerful components in mind. There are good designs and bad, same with any size, just have to keep your component choices in mind. I’m a big fan of ITX builds with high end hardware. At some point it becomes sort of a puzzle, balancing your components for size, heat output, and air movement. Not worth the hassle for some but I find it fun.
If you’re fine with atx go atx, smaller is harder for airflow, but not always if we’ll designed.
Size matters less nowadays again with m.2, the old optical and hard drives really made most of the constraints, now it’s all about your gpu and then your cpu cooling.
I have the Fractal Design Define (https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/define/) and it has been great. I got it with the solid side panel instead of glass. It’s also very quiet. I had the full size, but switched to the compact version so I could use an under desk mount.