*** VD 14 Commentary Thread ***

[johnnya24]

A festivus miracle, my old laptop is back online. I hardwired it into the router and apparently that ran an update and fixed what ailed my machine. The highlight of my week. Maybe my month

Nice. You can get really good value (actually insane value) on homemade desktops these days. If you are ever upgrading, look in that direction unless you need the mobility of a laptop.

[johnnya24]

So just finished cleaning all the outside windows at 4am. Not sure being up a ladder at 3.30am was the cleverest move, but harsh times call for harsh measures.

#coronavirusthings

[cavebird]

What was getting the windows dirty?

[johnnya24]

What was getting the windows dirty?

No window cleaners

[heyelander]

Babe ruth is already taken if that helps

not entirely true.

[Controller Jacobs]

Nice. You can get really good value (actually insane value) on homemade desktops these days. If you are ever upgrading, look in that direction unless you need the mobility of a laptop.

Looked around a couple times and nothing stood out. Do you have a recommended site? Or perhaps I need better amazon search terms.

[johnnya24]

Looked around a couple times and nothing stood out. Do you have a recommended site? Or perhaps I need better amazon search terms.

If you are prepared to dip into the second hand market, that's where all the value is ... craigslist etc. I've noticed good deals on new electronic stuff have dried-up since the lockdown. I was looking for a second-hand Sony a5100 or a6000 camera, and the prices are now very unattractive compared to January.

Obviously the strength of Craigslist etc depends on your area, but new or second hand, this is a great budget set up with a good upgrade pathway.

1st Gen AMD Ryzen processor (Ryzen 1600 or 1700) with a good B450 motherboard ... compatible and fully upgradable to the very latest 3000 series Ryzen's. You might even get a better deal on a 2000 series processor than a 1000 series because they sold so well. The Ryzen 2600 was a price-performance beast.
16GB of RAM (8gb might suffice, depending on your workload)
Graphics ~$100-$150 AMD RX580 (8GB) or Nvidea GTX 1060 (6GB) GPU - these will be easier to find second hand, as they are stand alone. AMD RX570's (8GB) can be found even cheaper, and even better value, if you aren't that concerned with the latest games.

That's a great budget set-up that has a great upgrade path. Drop a Ryzen 3700x into that B450 motherboard in a couple of years and that configuration will be relevant for at least 5 years (depending on your GPU needs of course).

Intel suck right now. Overpriced, underpowered and no upgrade paths. Avoid.

EDIT:

Was going to recommend Hardware Unboxed youtube channel as the best resource for new PC buying ... and funnily enough, found they released this video last week:

[johnnya24]

Maybe a new CPU, motherboard and RAM (just in case you need to return something) ... and then a second hand GPU for about ~$100.

The Ryzen 1600AF might be available ... pretty sure this is it

https://www.amazon.com/AMD-Processor-Wraith-Stealth-Cooler/dp/B07XTQZJ28/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=ryzen+1600&qid=1587042267&s=electronics&sr=1-1

That is basically a 2600 in terms of performance.

... and as per the video above, the MSI Tomahawk B450 is apparently well worth it ... especially as you want something that can handle a 3000 series processor when you upgrade.

[johnnya24]

Also note, I'd be targeting 1080p gaming, not 1440p if I was being budget conscious. That video is looking at 2019/20 graphics cards to get high frame-rates at 1440p.

[Controller Jacobs]

Thanks

[The Feral Slasher]

not entirely true.

Tell a little truth with many lies....it's the only way i've found

[revo]

Looked around a couple times and nothing stood out. Do you have a recommended site? Or perhaps I need better amazon search terms.

I just bought this computer:
2019 Lenovo Thinkcentre M715q Business Mini Tiny Desktop (AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 2400GE Quad Core 3.8GHz, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD) WiFi AC, Bluetooth, DisplayPort, Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit

Funny enough, as I check this, I bought it just a week ago for $599 and now it's $528 (doh!). Great computer though.

[johnnya24]

5 picks yesterday. I'm betting we can do at least 6 today.

[Ken]

Which will finish first? VD14 or our 55 round dynasty draft that just started a few days ago?

[johnnya24]

Which will finish first? VD14 or our 55 round dynasty draft that just started a few days ago?

Who got Blake Carrington?