Frost [moved]

Hey, so!

We've used laptops all our life, been dealing with Cables Everywhere and external everything and never being able to upgrade anything ever and honestly we're kinda fed up with it all...

so we wanna build ourselves a desktop!

Buuut we're looking at like $350, oof.
[https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Mchkrr]

We currently have $100, so a $250 goal (we're going to save too but it's slow)... anyone wanna help us out?
https://paypal.me/mirrorwolf

Apr 15, 2021 at 8:01pmWeb
Show threadFrost [moved]Apr 16, 2021
Okay, with a huge RAM upgrade (much faster 8GB instead of slow 4GB) and a significantly better case, that bumps the cost up to $430 (so $300 goal). But worth it. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/tvspkX
Show threadFrost [moved]Apr 16, 2021

Okay, dropped the SSD back to a cheap SATA one, and dropped the case down to the 100R (lose a 5.25" bay, get a window)... that brings us down to $380. So $280 goal.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XjmLgt

Show threadFrost [moved]Apr 19, 2021

Bought PSU a couple days ago! And it looks like the SSD we were looking at just /disappeared/, so I swapped in a different one. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/zN4jDc

$333 left to go! But we have, um, $70 or so, so $260 left.

Show threadFrost [moved]Jun 17, 2021
(update on money: we've escaped!! money is...bleh. We're saving everything we have for like, food and shit, so uh $350 goal. >,,<)
Show threadFrost [moved]Jul 13, 2021

...We technically have the money right now, can't access it for dirtspace stuff but can for this (no bank account to take the money out of Paypal and put it into, yet), so might go ahead and start ordering parts!...

But any help is still really appreciated as it still helps offset the cost. Feels weird spending all this money. Especially when a good chunk of it was Escape money that we haven't needed.

Show threadmae (back to posting)Apr 19, 2021
@IceWolf unsure how long you can wait (it would be at least a few weeks) but i have an 8GB stick of RAM sitting around (technically i have 2, but 1 is defective)
Show threadFrost [moved]Apr 19, 2021

@maemachinebroke ! Oh awesome, thanks! *wag*

We can wait a while, it'll be at /least/ a few weeks until we have the money for everything else anyway.

Show threadmae (back to posting)Apr 19, 2021
@IceWolf full disclosure they have both been sitting in a garage through the whole winter, so i'm not sure the one that was working is functional anymore, but i'll obv test it before even thinking about sending it
Show threadmae (back to posting)Apr 19, 2021
@IceWolf full disclosure 2: it doesn't have a fancy heat spreader, it's just a black pcb
Show threadFrost [moved]Apr 19, 2021

@maemachinebroke I mean, as long as it doesn't get hot, 's'fine. :3

[A little worried about damaging it during install if it's just a PCB, but.]

Show threadmae (back to posting)Apr 19, 2021
@IceWolf just line it up in the slot and push on the corners to lock it in and it shouldn't get damaged
Show threadFrost [moved]Apr 19, 2021
@maemachinebroke Awesome.
Show thread Noma Apr 16, 2021
@IceWolf (you can go cheaper on the SSD if that helps!)
Show threadFrost [moved]Apr 16, 2021
@Nomaxice (We can? Oh that would help! NVMe was only like $8 more than the particular SATA drive we picked (and $8 we could cover out of pocket), but I didn't think to look at other SATA ones.)
Show thread Noma Apr 16, 2021
@IceWolf Yeah, like I said, especially for the usecase, you really don't need super duper stuff, you can always get a high end SSD later on, after you upgraded the rest, but at this point an NVMe one would pretty much peg the CPU up because it's so fast, so you might as well look for what's available for cheaper than this
Show threadFrost [moved]Apr 16, 2021

@Nomaxice How much should we worry about name-brand for SSDs? Don't want it to fail on us, even though this /is/ a temporary stopgap.

(gods, being able to just decide to upgrade the storage... wow.)

Show thread Noma Apr 16, 2021
@IceWolf Not tooooo much?
Like, what matters is the controller, the cache, and what tech is used, really
Linus from LTT tried a fat dove racing brand SSD that was super cheap yet super amazing despite being a completely borked brand xD
Show threadFrost [moved]Apr 16, 2021

@Nomaxice Cool!

That's $20 saved. :3 https://pcpartpicker.com/list/DFCwvf

Show thread Noma Apr 16, 2021
@IceWolf 3D TLC with SLC cache? Good enough! ^^
Show threadFrost [moved]Apr 16, 2021
@Nomaxice Honestly we have /no/ idea what any of that means, we just got the cheapest one we could find. >,,>
Show thread Noma Apr 16, 2021

@IceWolf so, to store more data on flash memory, they got a way to store multiple bits per flash unit.
SLC is the old, single bit per unit.
MLC is 2 bits per unit.
TLC is 3 bits per unit
QLC is 4 bits per unit

Upside: more storage for cheaper
Downside: less performance and more wear

Having a cache, however, SLC cache, alone, will help have good performance, and reduce wear on high LC counts.

3D just means they stack flash chips basically to store more on a single area of PCB.