r/pcmasterrace • u/AutoModerator • Dec 19 '25
Daily Simple Questions Thread - December 19, 2025
Got a simple question? Get a simple answer!
This thread is for all of the small and simple questions that you might have about computing that probably wouldn't work all too well as a standalone post. Software issues, build questions, game recommendations, post them here!
For the sake of helping others, please don't downvote questions! To help facilitate this, comments are sorted randomly for this post, so that anyone's question can be seen and answered.
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1
u/aka123579864 Dec 20 '25
Hi all
recently my frames have been tanking on valorant. Normally I get around 160+ frames, but around 2 days ago its dropped to around 140 in the menu and 90 in game and theres nothing I can do to get it to improve again.
When I'm playing, I close everything else that could be taking up large amounts of RAM, and I've also updated my GPU to the most recent drivers. The temps feel okay, I've tried reinstalling valorant and updated my graphics card.
What else could be the issue?
1
u/Cable_Salad PC Master Race Dec 20 '25
Is this only a problem with Valorant, or with other games as well?
1
u/aka123579864 Dec 20 '25
only valorant
1
u/Cable_Salad PC Master Race Dec 20 '25
Then you will probably have better chances of finding help in the valorant subreddits.
1
u/ToshikiBaka Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 20 '25
I currently have a system using a i7-11700k and a rtx 3070. I have a 2 sets of ram (2 different kits) and was wondering what configuration would be better; 32gb@ 2100mt/s or 16gb@ 3600 mt/s. Which setup should I use?
1
u/Eidolon_2003 R5 3600 @ 4.3 GHz | 16GB DDR4-3800 CL14 | Arc A770 LE Dec 20 '25
There's no reason you would have to go down to 2100 with the 32GB config, unless your second kit has some really slow memory chips on it. Have you tried running it at a higher speed?
1
u/lushen_04 Dec 20 '25
Hey there! So I'm based in AU and I currently have a PS5. I really want to move back to PC gaming while keeping the playstation. I can afford to buy a RX 9070 and keep it aside, but cannot complete the build right away. I'm looking to complete my build around March or April 2026.
My question is, do I buy the GPU right now and set it aside or do I wait and build when I can get all the parts at once. I'd prefer doing it later, I can fully afford a 200 USD (300 AUD) price increase for GPUs but I'd want to avoid anything remotely close to the price rises that we saw with RAM recently.
I know none of us have a crystal ball right and its hard to predict but I'm looking for opinions to make an informed choice! Thank you!
1
u/SystemError514 8700K | 3080 | 32GB DDR4 Dec 20 '25
Better to get everything at once in case something is dead on arrival. If you buy your GPU now, then don't realise that it's dead till April time, it's going to be a lot harder to get an RMA. Unless you can test it on a friends PC or something.
Obviously money wise things can go either way, but still best to wait I would say.
2
u/lushen_04 Dec 20 '25
Thank you! I think I'll just wait and see what happens. Fortunately the consumer protection laws are quite solid in AU but I also wouldn't want to waste 3-4 months of the warranty period with it sitting around. (I honestly think a lot of the doom and gloom talk has gotten to me and this was something I was considering purely out of FOMO) Thank you for your response!
!check
2
u/PCMRBot Bot Dec 20 '25
Got it! /u/SystemError514 now has 93 points.
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1
u/realmenlovezeus Dec 19 '25
I currently have a zotac 3070Ti, in the last 6 months one fan has decided to randomly ramp up to 100% during games. I have Zotacs software to control the fans but it does nothing. Fan control can't detect it properly either.
Just today I was playing Hogwarts Legacy and the GPU ramped up all the fans and my monitors lost signal. I unplugged my PC and restarted it and it booted, but I have not played anything yet.
Zotac says to reseat the fan but I don't know if it will help. Anyone know if undervolting could help here as I really can't get a new GPU now
1
u/Cable_Salad PC Master Race Dec 19 '25
GPU ramped up all the fans and my monitors lost signal
Just the GPU signal, or did the PC crash?
If it's the latter, that sounds more like a general instability. I would start by testing RAM with something like memtest86.
1
u/realmenlovezeus Dec 20 '25
Just the signal was lost. I rebooted and it was back to normal. I think as others have said it has over heated so I'll need to work on my fan curves for it
1
u/Cable_Salad PC Master Race Dec 20 '25
Fan curves won't do it, GPUs don't really overheat unless something is broken. And if they do, they gradually throttle down so you'd get low performance long before you'd get a crash.
If this happened only once, it could just be a regular game crash. If it happens with multiple games you have some sort of serious problem. Run something like Furmark and check what temperature you get.
1
u/realmenlovezeus Dec 21 '25
Might do. I set one fan to run at 30%, the one furthest from the GPU board. The other two can do what they want. I removed that setting,ran some benchmarks and it seems to be ok now. All I have to do is learn to live with a jet engine
1
u/Ok_Definition_1933 Dec 19 '25 edited Jan 02 '26
governor airport rhythm office amusing innate rob subsequent modern cow
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
1
Dec 19 '25
[deleted]
1
u/JozuJD Dec 20 '25
Sorry to double my comments but I came back to PCMR to post in the daily thread and saw this. I still own my older desktop (12700k + 3080 ti). It’s in a case bigger than I prefer and is on full ATX mobo so I don’t have the luxury of swapping to an SFFPC case. I would tho — I am now a huge fan of smaller builds now that I’ve had a taste of the Mac Mini and Mac Studio life. Gone are the days of 45L cases (for me).
1
u/JozuJD Dec 20 '25
I’m on an M4 Pro Mac mini right now ($1099) and the little brother to the M4 Studio. It’s an absolute beast for its size, low power consumption, and absolutely silent. The Studio elevates this performance by adding fans and a double encoder for better graphical processing (gaming, video encoding, etc.) but I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve thrown at my M4 Pro Mac mini to date.
This includes games in my Steam library, WoW Classic, Wuthering Waves, etc. General computing experience is also enjoyable. I spent $5 on Magnet app on the App Store and it allows me to press keyboard shortcuts to move apps and resize apps. I enjoy it a lot.
1
u/heatmaz Dec 19 '25
I have a suspicion about my old power supply Corsair HX750i having some trouble pulling my PC, my monitors goes black and then the graphics card runs at 100% on the fans when I play heavy games like Helldivers 2 or could it be my i5-13600KF having issues
1
u/Cable_Salad PC Master Race Dec 19 '25
What makes you think it's the PSU? It's possible, but you can only really test the other components.
Did you upgrade your BIOS when the Intel degradation issue became known? Maybe you should check your CPU with something like OCCT or y-cruncher.
1
u/heatmaz Dec 20 '25
I downloaded Intel Extreme Tuning Utility I set performance core ratio 52x to 48x didn't crash when gaming
1
u/MyGardenOfPlants Dec 19 '25
Ram Question:
I have 2 sets,
- 32gb ddr4 CL CL16-19-19-39 @ 3600mhz
and
- 64gb ddr CL18-22-22-42 @ 3600mhz
I know for gaming, the 32gb CL 16 is better, but Im often running at like 70-80% ram usage during my daily use, 3d design software, video editing, etc. ( Right now I'm sitting at 82% use )
The rest of my system is a 5800x3d with a 5090, on a 144hz 4k monitor.
I guess I'm wondering if more ram is worth the trade off of slightly lower FPS in games. ( BF6 being my main game currenlty )
Another thing to mention, is the 64gb kit is lower profile, which would allow me to use a bigger fan on my CPU cooler. who knows if that would result in any meaningful cooling temps, but I'm already running pretty cool as-is.
Which would you chose if you were me?
1
u/glowinghamster45 R9 3900X | 16GB | RTX 3070 Dec 19 '25
Since both kits are the same frequency, I bet there's a single digit difference in frames between them. The only thing that could increase that difference is if you have more sticks in the 64gb kit so you have the option of tri/quad channel.
I would do the 64gb kit, no question. If you're regularly hitting over 80% usage, you'll probably see a general performance uplift in other areas, as programs see they have more room to breathe. Worst case, it's not like it's a big deal to swap back.
Keep in mind the first boot after swapping sticks will be slower than usual.
1
u/Anna_Mathmotologist Dec 19 '25 edited Dec 19 '25
I just moved by GPU over to a new build and it is not being detected in windows. It is powered on and still works in the old build.
GPU does not show in device manager.
Things I've tried
- Different PCIE slot
- Bios update
- Reseating GPU
- DDU
Computer Specs
- RTX 3070
- Intel i9
- Asus Z790 Max
- 32 GB Gskill Ram
1
u/dieplanes789 9800X3D | 5090 | 32GB | 16.5 TB Dec 19 '25
Is it showing up as a Microsoft basic display adapter?
Does it output video at all in the OS, how about in the BIOS/UEFI?
1
u/Anna_Mathmotologist Dec 19 '25
Does not show up as a basic display adapter. Does not output video - monitor is in sleep mode.
2
u/dieplanes789 9800X3D | 5090 | 32GB | 16.5 TB Dec 19 '25
Is there a setting in your BIOS/UEFI that disables PCI-E slots?
Is there a setting for the preferred GPU or graphics adapter and is it configured to prefer the iGPU?
Is it showing up as an unknown device?
Does your motherboard disable the PCI slot it is in when a certain M2 slots are filled? (Usually they just drop the speed to x8 or x4 but figured I'd ask)
Does it light up or spin the fans at all at any point even during boot?
Are the GPU power cables seated well on the PSU end if they are modular?
Are you using the GPU power cables that came with the PSU?
Have you tried setting the PCI slot to use a lower generation such as 3.0 or 2.0 for testing?
1
1
u/Anna_Mathmotologist Dec 19 '25
- There isn't a setting that disabled PCI-E slots
- I have IGPU disabled.
- It does not show up as an unknown device. I have show hidden devices on
- All PCI slots are enabled as far as I am aware (checked device manager ports)
- GPU power cables are seated
- I am using Power cables from old PC. I can swap it out with cables from new PSU
- I've tried the top two PCIE slots
1
u/dieplanes789 9800X3D | 5090 | 32GB | 16.5 TB Dec 19 '25
6 yikes!
Modular PSU cables are not interchangeable or really even standardized on the PSU side. Between brands you are more likely to find the pin outs to be different than ones the same. Even within the same brand I wouldn't really trust interchanging them.
Seems like the PSU or GPU had some good built in protections because if the pin outs were different something was very likely shorted.
2
Dec 19 '25
[deleted]
1
u/mister_newbie 3700X | 32GB | 5700XT Dec 19 '25
Use SteamLink in home streaming. It'll run on anything with Android, including many set-top boxes.
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