9 ms·

And this is hardware you can order today and have running under your desk by the end of the week. This is such a welcome change from the crypto days with GPUs

And this is hardware you can order today and have running under your desk by the end of the week. This is such a welcome change from the crypto days with GPUs in short supplies and at very high prices, and stagnant Intel CPU performance!

duxup 6y ago
The whole crypto thing is such a fascinating experiment of human behavior and side effects and so on.
wishinghand 6y ago
I’ve been trying to upgrade my desktop since the motherboard is dying and I’ve found that small factor pc (SFFPC) components are rarer and at even more of a premium than usual. Most commenters in various forums chalk it up to the plague, so now I’m hoping once the next generation of CPU, motherboard, and GPUs come out things won’t be as scarce.
- winter_blue 6y ago
  > I’m hoping once the next generation of CPU, motherboard, and GPUs come out things won’t be as scarce New desktop Intel 10th Gen CPU are actually coming out pretty soon. It's got a new socket (LGA 1200), so new motherboards are coming out for it as well. It's only marginally faster on single thread benchmarks than the Ryzen 3000s (ie Zen 2) chips, and consumes a lot energy. Also, Intel is still using their circa-2104/ancient 14 nm process for these desktop 10th Gen chips, which is quite disappointing. No Ice Lake 10 nm desktop chips yet.
  - wishinghand 6y ago
    I was most likely going to stick with and AMD CPU, the intel power consumption and price per performance is a bit high for me. I’m mostly developing javascript and gaming so ultra high cpu performance isn’t as necessary.
    - winter_blue 6y ago
      > javascript and gaming Both of which are heavily impacted by single-thread performance. So getting a high single-thread perf CPIU would be a good thing to do.
- filoleg 6y ago
  Interesting you mention this, because I noticed a surprising surge out of nowhere among my friends, who suddenly all decided to build a SFPC. Despite none of them ever being interested in SFPC and all of them running mid/full-towers prior. None of them are first-time PC builders tho, so it might have something to do with lockdown-induced boredom, and my friends deciding to challenge themselves to build a SFPC. As it sounds like a major pain and challenge compared to even a mid-tower (according to those of them who have already finished).
  - wishinghand 6y ago
    For me it was because I’m moving soon and wanted to have a smaller computer to move. The shortages put a stop to that though.
  - sq_ 6y ago
    I won't be building a new computer for a few more years, as I currently can't justify the cost of replacing my build, but when I do it'll almost certainly be a SFF build. I've seen a number of people who have built tiny custom cases, and the challenge of both building something like that and getting everything to fit in it is super enticing. Definitely seems like the challenge and cool factor of fitting tons of power into something tiny is making a lot of people consider such builds over traditional mid or full tower machines.
hashmymustache 6y ago
Glad I bought mine before that craze. Has that opened a cheap used GPU market or did they burn them out?
- PaulBGD_ 6y ago
  Yep, rx 570/580s are selling for great used prices on eBay. I pretty much recommend them to anyone going a budget build.
  - zlynx 6y ago
    I picked up a refurbished Vega 56 last year for a great deal. I suspect it was a mining card. Seems to work fine.
  - user5994461 6y ago
    I'd definitely recommend against buying second hand GPU from crypto miners. They have been worn out running 24/7 for years. If it's selling for $30 I don't say, but I've seen them going for a fair bit of the original price.
    - wjnc 6y ago
      The thing is I've never worn out a piece of equipment in 25 years of computer enthusiasm. I've had some DOAs and infamous equipment (say Deathstar) but never failures even second hand equipment. Is that different for 24/7 max power draw or is it just YMMV (and usually will still work)?
      - 411111111111111 6y ago
        It's both. The ymmv is always big with electronics. I.e. my second last graphics card (gtx970) died within 2 yrs. But the aging effect from running 24/7 under high load is very real as well. The high temperatures of permanently running on full power just wears it down
      - Bayart 6y ago

duxup 6y ago

The whole crypto thing is such a fascinating experiment of human behavior and side effects and so on.

wishinghand 6y ago

I’ve been trying to upgrade my desktop since the motherboard is dying and I’ve found that small factor pc (SFFPC) components are rarer and at even more of a premium than usual. Most commenters in various forums chalk it up to the plague, so now I’m hoping once the next generation of CPU, motherboard, and GPUs come out things won’t be as scarce.

winter_blue 6y ago
> I’m hoping once the next generation of CPU, motherboard, and GPUs come out things won’t be as scarce New desktop Intel 10th Gen CPU are actually coming out pretty soon. It's got a new socket (LGA 1200), so new motherboards are coming out for it as well. It's only marginally faster on single thread benchmarks than the Ryzen 3000s (ie Zen 2) chips, and consumes a lot energy. Also, Intel is still using their circa-2104/ancient 14 nm process for these desktop 10th Gen chips, which is quite disappointing. No Ice Lake 10 nm desktop chips yet.
- wishinghand 6y ago
  I was most likely going to stick with and AMD CPU, the intel power consumption and price per performance is a bit high for me. I’m mostly developing javascript and gaming so ultra high cpu performance isn’t as necessary.
  - winter_blue 6y ago
    > javascript and gaming Both of which are heavily impacted by single-thread performance. So getting a high single-thread perf CPIU would be a good thing to do.
filoleg 6y ago
Interesting you mention this, because I noticed a surprising surge out of nowhere among my friends, who suddenly all decided to build a SFPC. Despite none of them ever being interested in SFPC and all of them running mid/full-towers prior. None of them are first-time PC builders tho, so it might have something to do with lockdown-induced boredom, and my friends deciding to challenge themselves to build a SFPC. As it sounds like a major pain and challenge compared to even a mid-tower (according to those of them who have already finished).
- wishinghand 6y ago
  For me it was because I’m moving soon and wanted to have a smaller computer to move. The shortages put a stop to that though.
- sq_ 6y ago
  I won't be building a new computer for a few more years, as I currently can't justify the cost of replacing my build, but when I do it'll almost certainly be a SFF build. I've seen a number of people who have built tiny custom cases, and the challenge of both building something like that and getting everything to fit in it is super enticing. Definitely seems like the challenge and cool factor of fitting tons of power into something tiny is making a lot of people consider such builds over traditional mid or full tower machines.

hashmymustache 6y ago

Glad I bought mine before that craze. Has that opened a cheap used GPU market or did they burn them out?

PaulBGD_ 6y ago
Yep, rx 570/580s are selling for great used prices on eBay. I pretty much recommend them to anyone going a budget build.
- zlynx 6y ago
  I picked up a refurbished Vega 56 last year for a great deal. I suspect it was a mining card. Seems to work fine.
- user5994461 6y ago
  I'd definitely recommend against buying second hand GPU from crypto miners. They have been worn out running 24/7 for years. If it's selling for $30 I don't say, but I've seen them going for a fair bit of the original price.
  - wjnc 6y ago
    The thing is I've never worn out a piece of equipment in 25 years of computer enthusiasm. I've had some DOAs and infamous equipment (say Deathstar) but never failures even second hand equipment. Is that different for 24/7 max power draw or is it just YMMV (and usually will still work)?
    - 411111111111111 6y ago
      It's both. The ymmv is always big with electronics. I.e. my second last graphics card (gtx970) died within 2 yrs. But the aging effect from running 24/7 under high load is very real as well. The high temperatures of permanently running on full power just wears it down
    - Bayart 6y ago