Buying new PC end of year - looking for some advice/guidance

[JDR13]

That's a lot of overkill. I'm not sure why you're spending so much when you really didn't need a new PSU, but if it gives you peace of mind, I guess it's worth it.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

That's a lot of overkill. I'm not sure why you're spending so much when you really didn't need a new PSU, but if it gives you peace of mind, I guess it's worth it.

It's mostly peace of mind. But I also hope that if it's a single cable from the PSU (via 12VHPWR) to the GPU (via 12VHPWR) I eliminate more of the complexities that might cause issues.

Pretty much all cases that I found, where the melting happened, there was
- either the nvidia adapter, which connected 3 or 4 PCIE connectors (depending on the 4090 variant) from the PSU to the single 12VHPWR connector on the gpu
- or the PSU native adapter, which connected 2 PCIE cables to the single 12VHPWR connector on the gpu

I've not found any melting cases that had a single cable connecting the PSU with the GPU. There maybe be cases, but I've not found any. So, we'll see. Fingers crossed.

 

[Redglyph]

A 1600W PSU?!

 

[danutz_plusplus]

Yeah, it's only because for some reason it was cheaper than the 1300W one. Also it's 80+ Titanium certified, so apparently it's more efficient? I never paid too much attention to that.
I wanted to compensate for the fact that amazon.de (itself, not some 3rd party seller) had 2 4090 OC cards as separate items, at a 100 euro difference between the two, and I stumbled onto the more expensive one.

 

[JDR13]

I'd never heard of Titanium certification before. I actually thought that was a typo at first and that you meant Platinum. I always thought Platinum was the highest.

Here's a chart that shows the certifications. There's little difference between Platinum and Titanium.

https://www.neweggbusiness.com/smartbuyer/over-easy/power-supply-certification-mean/

 

[Carnifex]

The only titanium feature I'm aware of is that I think at one time there was an Everquest product that went by that name, some special edition. I think project ninety-nine might still use it either fully or partially.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

I got my 4090 TUF card and my PSU.
Holy mother of god it is ginormous.
I had issues inserting it into my case, if I aligned it with the pci-express slot from the start. So I had to align it obliquely when I got it inside.
And even so, it barely fit horizontally.

 

[booboo]

Nice! I have a very old aluminium case, but its super spacious so no card has even been too big - so I've hung onto it.

The air must flow! *cue Dune sound track*

 

[danutz_plusplus]

Nice! I have a very old aluminium case, but its super spacious so no card has even been too big - so I've hung onto it.

The air must flow! *cue Dune sound track*

Mine is decently big, it's a meshify 2 xl. It also has a full internal "tower" for mounting up to 10 drives. I've got 5 of them so far.

Meshify 2 XL

The Meshify 2 XL is a massive high-performance case with a bold, stealth-inspired aesthetic. Its striking exterior features bolt-free, flush tempered glass, a fully removable top granting excellent interior access, and a fully redesigned front complete with USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C. The enormous...

www.fractal-design.com

But as far as how easy it is to get at different parts, it's probably one of the worst cases I got. Just the PSU and how easy it is to get to it is awful. And that's enough.
Next time I upgrade for a case, I'll probably get one of those almost server cases. Wider and higher than anything, just to be done with squeezing my hands in all the worst places.

Oh, and forgot to mention about the 4090 and the new power connector, it did not make a click when connecting. Neither with the PSU nor with the graphics card.
And I'm 99% I pushed it all the way in, and no click. At all. And all the manuals are saying wait for a click. None whatsoever.

 

[JDR13]

Oh, and forgot to mention about the 4090 and the new power connector, it did not make a click when connecting. Neither with the PSU nor with the graphics card.
And I'm 99% I pushed it all the way in, and no click. At all. And all the manuals are saying wait for a click. None whatsoever.

It's going to detonate as soon as you hit the switch.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

It's going to detonate as soon as you hit the switch.

It already did. It really took off from under me.

No, but seriously, that's the refrain you constantly heard about the 4090s having the melted connector issues. "make sure to hear the connector click". That's also what the seasonic PSU manual I got said. Nothing, on neither side.
I think the new power connector is just too rigid, compared to the other ones. Not sure if it's just mine, or generally speaking. But I do still take a look every now and then. And I got HWMontor running on my second monitor everytime I game, just taking a look at the power usage. So far it hasn't gone over 450W.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

not too shabby

 

[sakichop]

I went through a similar thing when I got my 4090 several months ago. I bought a power cable from corsair that was 2 6 pin pcie to 1 then I bought another power cable from cable mods that was a single input at both ends. Oddly I couldn't get my Video card to initialize with either cable and was going to RMA the card. Before I did though I decide to give the power cable that came with it a try. it had 3 6 pin pcie to 1 and it work flawlessly and has ever since. I purchase a 180 degree adaptor from cable mods so my cable would go back towards the motherboard rather than out towards the glass. I also never heard a distinct click when connecting the cable but could tell it was firmly seated. I've touched the cable and adapter from time to time and they are never very hot. about a month after I purchased the card I picked up a 1600w ATX 3.0, pcie 5.0 power supply with a single power connector but have been to busy playing games to install it. I had actually forgotten about the melting issues until check back in this thread.

I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you, but I would take a minute to clean out all that dust since you have the case open. Yuck!

 

[danutz_plusplus]

about a month after I purchased the card I picked up a 1600w ATX 3.0, pcie 5.0 power supply with a single power connector but have been to busy playing games to install it. I had actually forgotten about the melting issues until check back in this thread.

That's pretty much my PSU. And had no issues with the single 12vhpwr connector on both ends of the cable. It's the one that came with the PSU.

I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you, but I would take a minute to clean out all that dust since you have the case open. Yuck!

Yeah, I'm just the worst at keeping the case tidy. I live in a very dusty town, I think mostly because they got rid of a lot of the vegetation. And it's a real pain in the ass to keep clean.
I've not had any issues so far, with it being this dusty. Or even worse yet. I tend to do general cleaning with pressurized air every couple of years. But it's basically very rare that I do that. Usually it's when I notice temps getting high in the case.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

I've been fiddling around with the frame generation option, and I can't decide if I like or not. It absolutely explodes your fps, very rarely it even close to doubles it. Most of the it you get around 50% extra fps. It's also incompatible with Vsync. Which I still don't know if I have to activate if I have a gsync monitor. But whatever.
So I tried it in both CP2077 and Witcher 3, and indeed the framerate skyrockets, and it doesn't seem to impact input latency. Though I do have reflex on as well, but I read that shouldn't be able to make up for significant input latency.
What I can't decide about FG is if the quality is up to par, and if it's worth 50% extra fps for maybe a little blurrier image. But I can't even really tell how much blurrier. I assume it is blurrier since no way can AI exactly anticipate what needs to be rendered. But I'd probably need to sit down and play around even more to get an accurate comparison. Which I don't really feel like doing.

 

[JDR13]

If you can't tell, it's obviously not an issue.

Make sure you register both the card and the PSU if you haven't already.

Did you get any game keys with the card?

 

[danutz_plusplus]

Make sure you register both the card and the PSU if you haven't already.

I never did anything like that. Register with the company that produces it?
I think I heard about the practice, but never found out exactly why you'd do that.

Did you get any game keys with the card?

Nope, none. Had I bought it from my country, they seemed to advertise Alan Wake 2 as a gift. But no such offer on amazon.de. Which is fine. I had already bough Alan Wake 2.

 

[JDR13]

I never did anything like that. Register with the company that produces it?
I think I heard about the practice, but never found out exactly why you'd do that.

Really? You should always register your parts if there's an option to do so. It makes it much easier to RMA something if there's a problem with it. I'll typically register anything that cost more than $200+

 

[danutz_plusplus]

Really? You should always register your parts if there's an option to do so. It makes it much easier to RMA something if there's a problem with it. I'll typically register anything that cost more than $200+

Generally, in my country you report defectives or issues to the store you bought the product from, not to the producer. (if I'm understanding who you register with).
And for that you don't need to do anything extra, except have your purchase receipt. In this case, I'll be returning my card to amazon.de, if I have any issues. I already bought 3 extra years of warranty (on top of the 2 they offer by default).

 

[JDR13]

And for that you don't need to do anything extra, except have your purchase receipt.

You can return directly to the stores here as well, but registering ensures you won't have a problem if you lose the receipt. Also, store returns generally have a limited time span. Maybe that's the key difference. The stores themselves don't warranty products over here by default.