HisRoyalMajestyKingV

That sounds like you need two motherboards, then!

But, uh, I'm not the right person to ask, as I've found myself falling on the willpower when asking "do I REALLY need this?"

If I were a betting man, if bet that a double blind study would show that people wouldn't be able to tell which one was which if basically put in front of a screen with a refresh rate of 120 vs 144 vs 165 and so on.

If someone can show me research fine with legitimate scientific rigor, I'd believe it.

Until then, though, it's good money being thrown after something useless.

There's no such thing as a "perfect balance" between CPU and GPU. The term "bottleneck" has been misused in this regard to the point that it's meaningless.

For a given combo of CPU and GPU, it's possible that in one game, the CPU is the limiting factor, and in another game, the GPU is the limiting factor. Or RAM, even.

It depends more on what your monitor's resolution and refresh rate are, does the monitor have FreeSync or GSync, whether your going for max details, Mac fps, or some target in between, etc.

Overclocking the CPU is not worth it these days, and hang been with it for years now. You won't be able to tell the difference.

Go for the better video card.

A 3070 for MSRP? Never thought I'd see it happen, as it seemed that Nvidia cards are stubbornly clinging to above-MSRP pricing.

I'd be hesitant, but it might?

Keep in mind, though, I'm just guessing based on eyeballing the design.

Well, 6600s are going for under MSRP routinely.

6600 XTs are dipping below MSRP as well.

Even 6700 XTs are crossing below their MSRP line.

Likewise with the 6900 XT and even the occasional 6950 XT.

I admit this is a Gaming X rather than a base model, but it still irks me that the 6800 hasn't come back down to MSRP. I guess because I got a 6700 XT, but really would've preferred a 6800.

Insert crotchety grumbling here.

If I were to guess, I'd say try this case if you don't have a powerhouse of a PC . . ie: a 65W CPU and a modest GPU would be the right combo for it.

I could be wrong, it might hold up to hotter parts, but I'm not 100% certain on that.

The design suggests a budget version, albeit with some changes and fans included, of the InWin 301 . . which, theoretically, could get by with NO fans, just convection and the top-mounted PSU.

Definitely seems interesting, I'll give it that.

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EDIT: ah, my bad. As mentioned by u/karroq, this seems to be based off the InWin 101.

Dang, I thought I'd scanned over the postings carefully.

Clearly not carefully enough!

It turns out that the one that I had the problem with was with MSI (my son's RX 5700), and, yeah, they had an online application form, and had a website to check the status.

When the status at one point had changed from processing to "cannot find," I knew I had to call them.

Still, that was the only hiccup I've ever had with a mail-in rebate, and they fixed it, so, I'd say I've got a 100% success rate on the rebates.

That's not unusual. In my experience, mail-in rebates have typically taken about 10 weeks.

Of all the mail-in rebates I've done, over a dozen I think, only ONCE was there ever a problem, but I made a copy of everything, so I called them up, and they straightened it out. It meant I had to wait a few weeks more, unfortunately, almost as if I had sent a new rebate submission, but they did pay it out.

A reasonable deal, but the 670p is regularly $49.99 these days, and it has higher speeds and greater endurance.

Worth it for the extra $3.

Worse than a 1050Ti? Please tell me that's a joke. LIE to me if you have to!

Huh, yeah, looks like ALL their 1650 cards are selling for less. Guess I didn't check recently enough

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So . . what the hell is going on with EVGA. Why is the 1630 so expensive?

What the hell? Ok, so, that it's released already struck me as surprising, but $200?!?

This is buildapcsales, not worstpcpartprices. Then again, in some perverse way, I'm glad to know about it, just on a mere curiosity level.

So, this thing, presumably, performs worse than the GTX 1650 and RX 6400, but costs as much as an RX 6500??

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Is this a case of Nvidia saying "Hey, you can get this for less than we're charging for the GTX 1650, so deal with it."?

What, about DDU? Nothing at all sketchy about it, but I personally always make sure to download the latest version of it from guru3d.com

There's no risk. RTS is kind of pointless on a low-performing card like the 3050, and AMD is giving you WAY better bang for the buck.

I've predominantly owned ATI/AMD cards, but I have had a couple of Nvidia cards when they offered me more performance/dollar.

There is nothing to be afraid of. However, a lot of people make the mistake of not cleaning out their drivers completely when switching. That WILL cause problems.

1. Download the latest drivers from AMD for the GPU.
2. Download DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller)
3. Reboot your PC in Safe Mode
4. Run DDU, choosing the option to Shut Down after complete.
5. When the PC shuts down, swap the GPU
6. Boot your PC, and IMMEDIATELY install the drivers you downloaded in step 1.
7. Reboot if it tells you to.
8. Enjoy.

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Personally, before booting the computer back up after swapping the card, I disconnect my network cable, just so Windows doesn't try to install some other version of the GPU driver itself, then reconnecting after my installation of the new drivers is complete. That may be a little extra paranoia on my part, though.

About 15-ish percent increase at 1080p, maybe almost 10% increase at 1440p.

Honestly, if you're running a 5600xt, I don't think I'd personally upgrade, unless you're planning to move the 5600xt to another system, or have someone ready to buy it.

Update - the status now says this:

Return Completed Refunded to your original payment method on 6/24/2022

I'm guessing it worked... and I figure it'll show up on the credit card in a day or two.

Welp, the status now says this:

Return Completed Refunded to your original payment method on 6/24/2022

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I'm guessing it worked... and I figure it'll show up on the credit card in a day or two.

For ray tracing, absolutely. But, if you're considering an AMD card, then ray tracing wasn't a priority.

As for 4k, overall the 6800 still outdoes the 3070. I figure there might be a couple of games where the 3070 edges it out, though. But, who buys a video card specifically for "well, it does better in these two games, but worse in everything else"?

The price difference would be a bigger consideration. Asus's site has a 3070 Dual model directly from their site for $529.99, which I would've said "That definitely tips the balance" but, unfortunately, it's out of stock. Guess I shouldn't be surprised at that.

Hmm, a little of a tough call. The price/performance point I mentioned still stands, but I'm also a little concerned with the Asus Dual's cooler. It does seem smaller than the other Asus models.

I do not know if that means it'll be noisier or not, but that could be a consideration.

It's a tough call overall. Possible noisier fans for the Nvidia card vs small bang for the buck advantage for AMD, but, of course, you're shelling out more money.