Hello!

RogWal

Silver Level Poster
Popped in to say Hello. First time ordering a system from PC Specialist. Been three weeks in Pre-Production and I've spent those weeks reading the forums and tweaking my order after reading the advice given to others. Plus, there was the usual feature-creep as the weeks pass: upping the amount of RAM, changing the case, upgrading the RAM speed, faster SSD etc.

Resigned to delivery in Jan/Feb (due to 5950x and 6800XT) but received an email yesterday evening that is was in Building, and another today that it is in Testing 😁

After reading the forums for the last few weeks, I understand the reasoning for recommending AMD processors over Intel. But is there a reason for generally recommending a build with an Nvidia GPU rather than AMD GPU? I didn't see as many build recommendations with AMD GPUs. I've gone for the 6800XT to support AMD to give competition to Intel and Nvidia :)
 

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Hi and welcome, re the AMD GPU's I think historically there has been a lot of problems with the drivers
 

AgentCooper

At Least I Have Chicken
Moderator
Good evening and welcome to the forum. My esteemed colleague @Martinr36 has hit the nail on the head with unerring accuracy, AMD have had a somewhat problematic history with their GPU drivers in the past few years which has dented their reputation. Some cards have been fine and given years of faithful service. But more than is acceptable, some others have had such major issues with driver updates that they’ve ended up totally bricked.

Thankfully, the genius that is Lisa Su has put her all into AMD and has now steadied the ship. Their processors are second to none and the graphics cards are now starting to offer serious competition. I reckon Nvidia still have it for this generation but the next few years are going to be really interesting as the two companies try to better each other on both innovation and costing.

Whichever way it goes, the consumer wins and it’s going to be a really exciting time to be a user of the tech, whether you’re a gamer, designer or editor 👍
 

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Good evening and welcome to the forum. My esteemed colleague @Martinr36 has hit the nail on the head with unerring accuracy, AMD have had a somewhat problematic history with their GPU drivers in the past few years which has dented their reputation. Some cards have been fine and given years of faithful service. But more than is acceptable, some others have had such major issues with driver updates that they’ve ended up totally bricked.

Thankfully, the genius that is Lisa Su has put her all into AMD and has now steadied the ship. Their processors are second to none and the graphics cards are now starting to offer serious competition. I reckon Nvidia still have it for this generation but the next few years are going to be really interesting as the two companies try to better each other on both innovation and costing.

Whichever way it goes, the consumer wins and it’s going to be a really exciting time to be a user of the tech, whether you’re a gamer, designer or editor 👍
Thanks for the mention @AgentCooper (y)

Loving your new rank description, and I don't mean moderator.........................:ROFLMAO:
 

RogWal

Silver Level Poster
I understand the sentiment behind the GPU preferences. Have to admit that I am biased towards AMD, underdog and all that, and the 6800XT meets my needs (1440p gaming and a bit of 3d rendering). First PC purchase since 2013, so missed all the hoohaa over drivers and the last gen of GPUs. Hopefully won't regret my decision 🤞

Nice surprise this morning - email at 6:30am saying PC is awaiting dispatch, and then another at 11:40am saying it has been dispatched (together with 11 attached invoices - obviously I had no willpower to resist tweaking my order over these past 3 weeks). Delivery tomorrow by 6pm - just in time for this Tier 4 Lockdown!
 

RogWal

Silver Level Poster
It's arrived! :love:

Not going to lie - the outer box has seen better days. Not surprisingly, it is a large and heavy package, but a couple of the corners have been well and truly tested by DPD. Have to wait to til 5.30pm to open it (working today), but no punctures/rip to the box, so hopefully the contents are fine.

On leave from work from 23rd to 4th Jan - excellent timing by PCS :giggle:
 

RogWal

Silver Level Poster
Good advice (y) Will take pics before opening it this evening.

It's sat unopened 10ft away in the hall and, needless to say, my productivity has dived this afternoon in anticipation (and I shouldn't be on these forums during office hours) . . . .
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Good advice (y) Will take pics before opening it this evening.

It's sat unopened 10ft away in the hall and, needless to say, my productivity has dived this afternoon in anticipation (and I shouldn't be on these forums during office hours) . . . .
Lols.... when my laptop arrived from PCS to my workplace, my boss eventually ordered me to take a half day because I was so sidetracked by the laptop. That was very nice of him :)
 

Nancysun

New member
I just got in here and your post is the first one that caught my attention. I would say a Merry Christmas to everyone. I am glad to be here.
 

RogWal

Silver Level Poster
Mine arrive over 24hrs ago and it's still in its box 😢 Spent a month fantasising about it, and it's still in its box!

Worked until 11pm last night finishing tasks before going on leave (being diligent!), so decided to leave setting up the PC until today to avoid making any stupid mistakes when tired.

Made the school-boy error of logging into MS Teams this morning to help out a colleague, then it's one request/issue after another from various people, and before I know it, the day is gone (all this Lockdown lark is not "working from home", but "living at work").

Unboxing begins in 15min at 7pm for sure, and I am keeping well away from my work laptop tomorrow.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Mine arrive over 24hrs ago and it's still in its box 😢 Spent a month fantasising about it, and it's still in its box!

Worked until 11pm last night finishing tasks before going on leave (being diligent!), so decided to leave setting up the PC until today to avoid making any stupid mistakes when tired.

Made the school-boy error of logging into MS Teams this morning to help out a colleague, then it's one request/issue after another from various people, and before I know it, the day is gone (all this Lockdown lark is not "working from home", but "living at work").

Unboxing begins in 15min at 7pm for sure, and I am keeping well away from my work laptop tomorrow.
Enjoy it, savour every cardboard opening, and tape unpealing!
 

RogWal

Silver Level Poster
I just got in here and your post is the first one that caught my attention. I would say a Merry Christmas to everyone. I am glad to be here.
Hi and Welcome Nancysun! Hope you're coping with the lockdown - this is going to be an interesting time to look back at in a few years. Happy Christmas!
 
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RogWal

Silver Level Poster
She up and running! :love:

Got to admit, I have a taste for the understated but she's arrived bringing the Bling. And, oh my, she is physically bigger than anticipated. No way is that Dear going to be sitting on my desk - even had an initial doubt as to whether she would fit under it. All down to a last minute change when I got an email from PCS asking if I wanted to change the case as that was the only item holding up the build. For every alternative case I liked, the response was: "Configurator says No". In the end, opted for the Corsair Obsidian 500D as that was the only case available at the time that could accommodate the AIO cooler (yep, I didn't pay attention to the case dimensions). That said, her size and bling is winning me over.

I have a spare M2 SSD (from a friend, long story), and planned to install it in the spare M2 slot. Can't lie - boy, it was fiddly and it took a while to even find where the M2 slot was on the motherboard (hidden under a heatsink). Managed to do it successfully despite the tight squeeze, and Windows immediately saw it after bootup - brought it online and formatted it without issue.

Will upload pics and thoughts later.
 

RogWal

Silver Level Poster
She's been running without issues for a couple of days now. Despite her size, she sits there in silence. My work laptop noticeably more noisy. Very happy with her :)

To be truthful, whilst I did have a brief WTF! moment when I first powered her on and she lit up like a Christmas tree, RGB aficionados will think she is understated (I didn't go all out with LED strips or RGB RAM etc). Downloaded Armoury Crate to tinker with the lights, and am rather hooked now.
 
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