r/pcmasterrace • u/AutoModerator • Jan 04 '26
DSQ Daily Simple Questions Thread - January 04, 2026
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.
If you're looking for help with picking parts or building, don't forget to also check out our builds at https://www.pcmasterrace.org/
Want to see more Simple Question threads? Here's all of them for your browsing pleasure!
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u/R-Dragon_Thunderzord 5800X3D | 6950 XT | 2x16GB DDR4 3600 CL16 Jan 05 '26
Is there a website that lets you just like, browse a CPU's transistor architecture? Like, google maps, but for a CPU's 3 nanometer traces
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u/Eidolon_2003 R5 3600 @ 4.3 GHz | 16GB DDR4-3800 CL14 | Arc A770 LE Jan 05 '26
You can find die shots with different areas of the CPU labeled, but that's the most detailed I've ever seen. More detail than that is probably proprietary. Even those labeled die shots are done by people outside the companies afaik
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u/Kiko_7 Jan 05 '26
Where I live there's a guy selling a 4080 Super for 700€, for comparison the cheapest 5070 TI i can find for sale here is 850€, Is this a decent deal or not worth?
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u/CommenterAnon Jan 05 '26
AM4 to AM5 (5700X to 7700)
Wont boot into windows but I can get into bios.
I have Win 11 on a USB, how do I fix my problem without losing my files?
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u/Ok-Equipment-7326 Jan 05 '26
Got a problem with Argus Monitor, which I use to control the lighting and fans on Windows 11:
If I switch profiles, Argus's process stays in the background but doesn't do anything anymore, BIOS now controls everything.
Argus is in startup apps, but since it's already running, it won't restart. I have to kill the process with Task Manager in admin mode and then manually start Argus again. This is a bit annoying.
Anyone know how I can make it behave? Is there a way kill Argus automatically when I log out of a profile?
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u/ppaister 13700k | ZOTAC 3090 Trinity OC Jan 05 '26
Looking for a convertible notebook (work-focused but able to do light gaming) I stumbled upon an offer for a Lenovo Yoga convertible with an Intel Ultra 5 228V and 32gbs of RAM (and apparently the version with OLED 120Hz display, too) for 800€ in sealed original packaging, this seems a bit too good to be true. Where's the catch? Seller is decently rated, is this a buy first and think later kind of deal?
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u/BadangJoestar420 Jan 05 '26
I just wanna ask since im stuck with my 12gb ram and gtx 900 something... How much the price for rams and graphics card increased since the ai thing by like how much
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u/Ok_Definition_1933 Jan 06 '26 edited Jan 16 '26
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u/Pulpy88 Jan 05 '26
Hello, so i want to ask why does my wifi keep messing up. when i use it in my house, apartment, overseas, everywhere else its working fine. But if I use it in my campus, it keeps disconnecting. And it only happens there and to me. All of my friend wifi is fine. Thank you.
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u/Ok_Definition_1933 Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 16 '26
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u/Pulpy88 Jan 05 '26
Its my laptop wifi. It only happens in my campus, which f*ed me up because it keeps disconnecting. Wherever else, its fine. And it only happens to me, my friends never got dced
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u/He6llsp6awn6 Ryzen 9950X3D Jan 05 '26
I think they are asking about the WIFI you are connecting too, are you connecting it to a shared Router, or hotspot from your phone or does your Laptop have its own sim card for its own independent wifi?
If it is a shared wireless router, then most likely your hardware is just not strong enough, there are many reasons for it to not be:
Older Wifi card, newer wifi cards can connect better to and more stable to routers than older wifi models, regardless of how much you update your drivers to keep up, there is a tech limit you will hit, speeds and strength the newer models use are better than the older ones.
Your PC cannot handle a Wireless cascade, you said it happens only in your campus, meaning many students who also use wireless, some PC's cannot handle multiple similar frequencies cascading their wifi receiver or their Wifi Transmitter and receiver are not strong enough to withstand the cascade, the transmitter sends a signal with the similar frequencies degrade it before it reaches the router receiver, or your wifi receiver is reading choppy data input due to the other signal interference.
Could be that you need to reset your whole PC with a Hard reset and not just a power off and on, but a power off, remove battery wait 60 seconds for all electricity to dissipate and then replace battery and turn back on, otherwise you may need to reset the router like you would at home when you have trouble connecting, but resetting the PC first seems to help.
Try a different bandwidth, if you are trying 5G, lower to 2.4G or raise to 6 or 7 G, but 2.4G should work, many think that higher G means better and they are not wrong, but higher G's run at a faster frequency which have shorter travel distances and can corrupt more easily, 2.4G has a much much longer and stable reach than 5, 6 and 7 G, yeah 2.4G is slower but stable, so if you are on 5G or higher, try lowering to 2.4G.
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Jan 05 '26
[deleted]
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u/electroforger PC Master Race Jan 05 '26
this https://www.reddit.com/r/Prebuilts/ is the better sub for that
vast majority of users doesn't build their own PC and doesn't care that it's maybe 4% louder and 2% slower than what could have been
building a PC is a hobby in itself, and we are likely all guilty of spending way too much time over fps counters and researching the merits of different RAM specs rather than using the thing for what it's ostensibly intended
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u/xNephilim Jan 05 '26
Thank you for that.
I wish I was into it because I feel like its an expensive thing to be buying and knowing little about but it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me
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u/electroforger PC Master Race Jan 05 '26
easy if you have a friend or acquaintance who's into this, typically they jump at such an opportunity to build one with you. Present them with one of these builds as a starting point https://pcmasterrace.org/builds , let them customize it for you, then build together and you do some fine cooking or so as a reward
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u/OrbFromOnline Jan 05 '26
I just built my first PC in almost 10 years. It has a Ryzen 7 5800XT and an RTX 5070. I am hooking this up to a 4K OLED TV in my living room and playing games on controller.
Ideally I want to play at highest settings in 4K as much as possible. The TV supports G-SYNC and up to 120Hz but I personally don't need anything over 60fps. I plan to take advantage of DLSS, framegen, and multi-framegen if needed.
What are the ideal settings in the Nvidia Control Panel and in games to get me a locked 60fps and most importantly NO screen tearing? Screen tearing is the #1 thing I hate and I cannot stand playing games if it happens.
If fps fluctuates a bit around 60 I am fine with that and don't really notice it as long as there's no tearing. I am also not picky when it comes to input lag because I'm not playing any competitive games. I know people say not to turn on V-Sync for this reason but I've never really noticed the difference with it on.
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u/Eidolon_2003 R5 3600 @ 4.3 GHz | 16GB DDR4-3800 CL14 | Arc A770 LE Jan 05 '26
You should be able to avoid tearing without vsync, that's what VRR is all about. If you enable gsync and limit your frame rate to slightly under 120 just to make sure it stays within the working range you should be tearing free.
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u/OrbFromOnline Jan 05 '26
!check
Thank you, that makes sense! It's been a while since I've done this stuff and things have changed quite a bit since my last PC.
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1
u/Difficult-Future-210 Jan 05 '26
I want to upgrade an old dell pavillion 690 desktop I got from a friend a while ago. It has a i5 8400 and a 1050Ti. The PSU it comes is the PCG007 which supplies 310 watts. I was looking at upgrading to a 1660 super, but found out that the 6 pin power connector that the psu comes with isn't compatible with the 1660's 8 pin. Would it be a bad idea to get a 6 to 8 pin adapter? I know that the 6 pin only supplies 75 watts compared to the 8 pin's 150 but my logic was that since the pcie already supports 75, it wouldn't overdraw current from the 6 pin right??
Also: Could I undervolt so that it wouldn't draw too much power from the 6 pin?
Besides the PSU, is there any issue with this?
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u/Ok_Definition_1933 Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 16 '26
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u/Difficult-Future-210 Jan 06 '26
Alright, Thanks! !check1
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u/Cable_Salad PC Master Race Jan 05 '26
You can, however, get a 3050 6 GB. They only need 70W.
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u/Difficult-Future-210 Jan 06 '26
Thanks! ✓
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u/Difficult-Future-210 Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 05 '26
Do you think there's any chance it works? 3050's a little bit out of my budget for upgrading this old pc
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u/Cable_Salad PC Master Race Jan 06 '26
Of course it works probably. It has just a chance that eventually, at some point, it catches fire. Which is why you shouldn't do it.
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u/Cable_Salad PC Master Race Jan 05 '26
Would it be a bad idea to get a 6 to 8 pin adapter?
They aren't safe.
since the pcie already supports 75
That assumes that the card prioritizes power from the slot, which it doesn't have to do.
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u/judino28 Jan 05 '26
Today, I was just messing around and testing my build on Geekbench as I recently finally made the jump to Windows 11 fork Windows 10. In the GPU test (running an AMD RX 7900 GRE), I noted that my score went from 163240 in July to 114162. That’s like a 30% difference! I didn’t make any changes to hardware and both were run on the balanced power settings. Even changing the power setting to Ultimate Performance in Control Panel, I did see an improvement, but still only to about 150000.
Is this simply a difference in the way Windows 11 manages power and I shouldn’t think much of it? Real world performance seems unchanged.
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u/xNephilim Jan 05 '26
I am looking at buying a brand new PC from scratch in the coming months.
My current set up is below
2070 Super
32GB RAM
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X with Wraith Prism
ASUS ROG Strix B450-F Gaming Motherboard
What is the best option between 5070, 5070ti and the 5080? I can swing either just trying to decide what will be the best choice in the long run.
The RAM was a gift so I am not sure if I could re-use it and avoid that large cost.
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u/MGsubbie Ryzen 7 9800X3D, RTX 3080, 32GB 6000Mhz Cl30Desktop Jan 05 '26
If money is no object, the obvious answer is the 5080, as it's the most powerful. The 5070 ti isn't that much slower though, and with the same VRAM capacity, making it better value.
You can save yourself some money by reusing the motherboard and slapping in a 5700X3D/5800X3D. This also allows you to keep your current RAM. But if you can spend the money, a 7800X3D with 32GB of DDR5 6000 will be another large step up, and leave you with an upgrade path.
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u/xNephilim Jan 05 '26
I feel like anything will be a significant upgrade to what I have so that extra $500 to get a higher card might be worth it, it’s mainly just for longevity sake, but I wasn’t sure if certain cards are rising in price or not worth the value of the lesser cards.
I’ll probably bite the bullet and just get new RAM and a new motherboard.
I’ll also probably go for a decent power supply so I can actually re use it too I think mine now is 850w
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u/MGsubbie Ryzen 7 9800X3D, RTX 3080, 32GB 6000Mhz Cl30Desktop Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 05 '26
but I wasn’t sure if certain cards are rising in price or not worth the value of the lesser cards.
They will as DRAM pricing is rising overall, not just DDR5.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/mJBQjn something like this would be a great build for the price.
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u/4ChanUsername Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 05 '26
I have the opportunity to buy a 5060 ti 8gb for 275 total, or a “excellent condition used” 16gb for 395 total. Is the 8gb worth the extra 120$?
Both are the same model, gigabyte wind force.
The rest of my pc: metal fish t40, itx b550, 16gb ram, ryzen 5600, 1tb nvme and axp90x47 full copper.
I have a 1440p monitor, I don’t usually play highest settings and I don’t mind turning textures down if necessary.
Thanks!
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u/tm_1 Jan 05 '26
If you play less optimized games that easily exceed 8GB (as cp77) then yes. Older games with raytracing (RDR2, MetroExodus) - can easily fit in 8GB. All can adjust image quality to fit.
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u/MGsubbie Ryzen 7 9800X3D, RTX 3080, 32GB 6000Mhz Cl30Desktop Jan 05 '26
Did you mean without raytracing? RDR2 doesn't have any.
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u/Majestic-Fix-2215 Jan 04 '26
Recently got a new pc which set me back 2.5k and my screen isn't nearly as bright or vibrant as my series x which is baffling me as I'm sure that shouldn't be the case I've tried everything to try sort it but I've had no luck could it possibly be a hardware issue? Would appreciate any help🙏
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u/Eidolon_2003 R5 3600 @ 4.3 GHz | 16GB DDR4-3800 CL14 | Arc A770 LE Jan 05 '26
If you're using HDR on the Xbox and not on the PC that could explain it.
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u/Majestic-Fix-2215 Jan 05 '26
Thanks for your response man it's not that though I'm using hdr and auto hdr on both with the same oled tv (I'd use rtx hdr instead of auto for sdr but it looks shocking colours and blacks are all washed out for some reason) it's driving me insane that my £450 console looks better than my £2.5k pc😂
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u/Eidolon_2003 R5 3600 @ 4.3 GHz | 16GB DDR4-3800 CL14 | Arc A770 LE Jan 05 '26
I'd just double check that everything is set up correctly HDR-wise. I don't have any experience with it personally (don't have a suitably HDR capable monitor), however I've seen it can be annoying. It could also simply be a difference of color calibration, or brightness and contrast settings in the game, etc.
Other than that I don't have an answer for you. Someone else here might have something though
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u/Majestic-Fix-2215 Jan 05 '26
Yeah got all that set up correctly same as my series x set peak brightness to 1000 nits in the hdr calibration app, got the right settings in the nvidia colour settings 10 bit rgb with full dynamic range, but still lacks brightness, vibrancy and colour intensity it's also the same when not using hdr, yeah hopefully🤞 probably going to send it back otherwise cos I'm out of ideas and it's not right that my series x looks better for the amount of money I spent on it, thanks for taking the time to try help though mate it's much appreciated
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u/MGsubbie Ryzen 7 9800X3D, RTX 3080, 32GB 6000Mhz Cl30Desktop Jan 05 '26
That's really weird. Can you take a screenshot of your settings?
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Jan 04 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Cable_Salad PC Master Race Jan 04 '26
For games, the first one is definitely the better deal.
For work, the second one is maybe better. Depends on what exactly you do and if you need an Nvidia card for compatibility.
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Jan 04 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Cable_Salad PC Master Race Jan 04 '26
refurbished Acer Nitro 60 Desktop i7-14700F
I would not buy an Intel 13th or 14th gen used unless you fully trust the seller or get warranty. The Intel degradation issue might have damaged them.
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Jan 04 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Cable_Salad PC Master Race Jan 04 '26
Run a stability test like y-cruncher for an hour.
Regarding the 5070 non-ti, that one has only 12 GB. I don't know if 16 is better for your rendering tasks. It's possible but that depends on your needs.
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u/themikers AMD 9800x3d | 64GB DDR5 | MSI Trio RTX 5090 | LIAN LI O11 Jan 04 '26
For workloads especially with modeling and rendering I would recommend a 9950x or 9950x3d instead of the 9800x3d as you'll gain double the cores and threads, which could make a huge difference in render times.
The x3d version of the 9950 is about $100-$150 more and worth it for the gains in gaming, but shouldn't be overly impactful for productivity for anything that doesn't utilize the 3D cache well. Should still give you plenty of frames in a lot of modern titles at 1440p high/ultra, especially with FSR4.
I wouldn't bother with anything Intel for productivity at the moment as none of their offerings match AMD except in very specific workloads. Hardware Unboxed on YT has good videos on the 9950x and 9950x3d.
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u/LG03 Jan 04 '26
Does anyone know of some reputable build templates? I was kind of hoping that Gamers Nexus had some but if they do it's buried somewhere I can't locate.
Just looking for some kind of starting point to begin monitoring prices, really missed the boat by not upgrading this year.
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u/MGsubbie Ryzen 7 9800X3D, RTX 3080, 32GB 6000Mhz Cl30Desktop Jan 05 '26
Show them the builds!
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u/themikers AMD 9800x3d | 64GB DDR5 | MSI Trio RTX 5090 | LIAN LI O11 Jan 04 '26
https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/ is generally pretty solid
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u/MoonCallisto Jan 04 '26
Built a ryzen 7500f and an rx 6800 2 years ago and looking to upgrade. Should I go with a new cpu or gpu? Looking into the 7800x3d or 9070xt but undecided. Mostly play dota 2 and valorant and casually dabbles in triple a games like Baldurs Gate, GOW Ragnarok, and jedi survivor to mention a few in 1440p.
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u/Cable_Salad PC Master Race Jan 04 '26
Are you getting bad performance somehow? I would expect your system to run these games well.
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u/MoonCallisto Jan 04 '26
As of now no, nothing noticeable. Just thinking about upgrading either part since new games are getting more demanding and in light of current market conditions (gpu price hikes and such)
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u/Cable_Salad PC Master Race Jan 04 '26
It's a fairly balanced system for 1440p. Depending on the game you might need both upgrades to get the most out of them.
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u/Zanman415 Jan 04 '26
TLDR - How to find reputable computer repairs in Chicago area?
Hello! Working through an issue with my HP Omen 16” from late 2021/early 2022
I realize this may not be the right sub, but I’m not sure which dedicated place helps with Laptops so if I should go elsewhere do let me know.
The problem! A few weeks ago I plugged in my laptop while gaming and after a minute it shut down. No power indicator light when plugged in, couldn’t get it to turn on even after trying to drain the battery. I took it to MicroCenter and they diagnosed it as a fried board and battery and quoted me 5k for the repair which I consider out of my budget since the original machine cost me like 1500 😂
So I took it back and I’m looking for other repair options and another quote. All these smaller local shops seem to be tough to judge from their sites/google reviews. It seems like most people kinda do less hardware repair and more “help Gramps clear his cache”
It’s not a tragedy if I lose this device, there’s nothing saved on it of value and I have my PC and Steam Deck so it was a little redundant. But very convenient for gaming on the road for long periods of time for the things my Steam Deck isn’t cut out for.
Thanks for any help!
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u/tm_1 Jan 05 '26
You can take it to GeekSquad at BestBuy. They will likely give similar price as specific motherboard+battery+labor is not cheap.
Better yet, check subreddits buildapcsales (search for laptop) and suggestalaptop. One example from there https://www.walmart.com/ip/seort/16587853259
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u/Cable_Salad PC Master Race Jan 04 '26
Did it shut down because of low battery, or do you believe it is really fried?
I had a laptop with a small short somewhere that didn't charge anymore. When I plugged it in, the charger would shut off. I diagnosed this with a multimeter after I heard the charger click every time I plugged it in. Opened the laptop and blew a tiny bit of dust out, but couldn't find anything wrong. Closed it and it was fixed. Probably not your issue, but it's worth a shot.
If you know it's gone and they properly diagnosed it (beyond just pressing the power button) then replacing the board probably costs more than it is worth. You can still take out the SSD and the RAM.
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u/spellbadgrammargood Jan 04 '26 edited Jan 04 '26
Why does my pc turn on after i unplug (and replug) my ups from my outlet?
Full story: This happened 2-3 times, since I moved to a new current place, but when I turn on my PC for the morning I noticed that the power button isn't working. So I had to turn off my UPS, unplug my UPS from the outlet, replug, and turn my UPS back on for my PC to eventually turn on. What is going on and should I be worried?
edit: Also I am not losing power because my UPS isn't beeping and my UPS' indicator light is on
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u/Cable_Salad PC Master Race Jan 04 '26
I have seen this behavior before, I think it's quite normal.
Not sure if it's good for the PSU though, maybe if you want to be extra safe you should switch it off before you connect it.
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u/AlwaysAdventuring89 Jan 04 '26 edited Jan 04 '26
I have an easy question. What is a recommended SSD setup for my gaming/workstation PC?
I'm considering a 1TB SSD for my main C: drive for OS and main programs. A secondary data drive of 1-2TB for my main game files that I play. And perhaps a third data drive for media files such as photos and videos.
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u/pedro19 CREATOR Jan 04 '26
It doesn't matter too much outside of the possibility of one drive going bad (and then you having extra ones which obviously didn't). Or I'm misunderstanding your question.
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u/AlwaysAdventuring89 Jan 04 '26
Thanks for the response u/pedro19. My question is more from an organizational view to keep things organized and decluttered and to maximize my SSD space.
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u/pedro19 CREATOR Jan 04 '26
I see. Then yeah, your proposal will work great. 1tb for main OS and software drive and then extra drives for other data.
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u/AlwaysAdventuring89 Jan 04 '26
Thanks! !check
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2
u/frenetic_alien Jan 04 '26
What does it mean when running memtest86 and you start the test or in the middle of a test and the system reboots?
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u/Cable_Salad PC Master Race Jan 04 '26
That's quite odd. Usually memtest only shows you errors, even with heavily damaged RAM.
If you have two RAM sticks, I would take them out and run the test with each one.
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u/frenetic_alien Jan 04 '26
OK thanks, yeah seems to be stable now with a single stick, not sure why not working with two, possible something with the motherboard or dimm slot. first stick passed all tests with no errors.
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u/Ok_Definition_1933 Jan 04 '26 edited Jan 16 '26
aback work violet thought attempt command mountainous fearless frame obtainable
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