End of Year PC Build

Honestly, the only PCIe 4.0 riser cable that I would trust on Newegg's listing is probably Lian Li's.

I don't see any $25 generic cables that are actually certified for PCIe 4.0 and even if you manage to find one, I definitely wouldn't recommend getting it because you just might end up wasting your money.

If you truly want to save money, I'd recommend setting your PCIe slot to gen 3 mode instead. That way you could use any good quality PCIe 3.0 riser cable with your video card. There are just too many issues with PCIe 4.0 at the moment and you barely see any performance difference between gen 3 and gen 4 speed.

Resizable BAR is now finally supported on Nvidia's 30-series GPUs. Though it is only enabled in 17 games at the moment.

First you need to make sure both your mobo and your video card's BIOS support it. Second, you need to have the latest Nvidia driver installed (465.89). Third, you have to boot in UEFI mode with CSM disabled.

If you fulfill all these criteria, you may check CPU-Z to see if Resizable BAR is enabled for you.


For those of you with an EVGA video card, you may also use Precision X1 to update the VBIOS. It is extremely easy to use.

The games that support this feature are:

• Assassin's Creed Valhalla
• Battlefield V
• Borderlands 3
• Control
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Death Stranding
• DIRT 5
• F1 2020
• Forza Horizon 4
• Gears 5
• Godfall
• Hitman 2
• Hitman 3
• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Metro Exodus
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Watch Dogs Legion

Since most games aren't optimized for Resizable BAR, the performance gain isn't too noticeable most of the time. Nevertheless, it doesn't cost anything so it is basically free performance.

While they are expensive, retailing for about 399.99 CAD (for the 1000 Watt P2)....I have been using EVGA PSUs for the past eight or nine years and have had amazing success and satisfaction with them.  I am currently using the 850 P2 and it is a fantastic unit.   Previously in older builds I would use Corsair, I believe the older models I used in Corsair are the older equivalent of what is now called their HX line......But I have found that since Corsair changed how they name their various products in all the different line-ups and categories that, #1 it is confusing and you can unintentionally buy a lesser quality unit than what you want if you don't know what you are looking for or looking at....and secondly, but more importantly I have found that their quality and performance to price ratio was fluctuated substantially in the past ten years or so.  In other words, you can pay a good buck for a mid to high level performing PSU and the performance isn't quite up to par in comparison to other brands.

So round about 2013 I switched brands from Corsair to EVGA and haven't looked back.  I find EVGA to be an excellently performing and quality PSU for the money even if they do run a bit expensive, and with many of the internal workings actually manufactured by Super Flower (in their G 1-3, P2, P3 and Ti series line etc up to the end of 2020) EVGA was widely considered among the very best in quality and performance.    However, I have recently learned that as of the end of 2020, early 2021 EVGA has cut ties with Super FLower so at this moment I am not sure who their manufacturing partner is.

I would be interested to learn who EVGA has partnered with for 2021, since Super Flower has now been given free rein in North America to produce their own PSUs.   If any knows or can find this out, let me know.

CPU:

GPU:

When you were considering the cube cases....Did you have a chance to look at the HAF XB EVO from Cooler Master?  It has its drawbacks, as I mentioned, sure....But that could have been an option if your heart was set on that formfactor.

There was a top-mounted 200mm fan on the lid, or atleast the option for one with mounting holes.....But I do agree with you that it is a very compact case and lacks space and size. This also contributed to a lack of good air flow into and out of the case.  But the biggest pitfall for me was the utter lack of good cable management.  Everything had to be stuffed into the very bottom of the case, below the motherboard tray, which also added problems.

I liked it mainly because everything lay flat and there was no stress on, say, the GPU or GPU mounts for example.  But now with my H500M, because of a GPU support arm on the outside edge of the MB tray, there is virtually zero sag, lag, hanging, tension or stress on the GPU and motherboard socket.  Plus it has amazing workable space and incredible cooling with 2x200 mm fans in front a 140 ont he back and 3x 140 mm on the top.

Downside if there was any.....With all the tempered glass, it weighs an absolute ton with everything inside.

I have some experience in air flow design, and would like to comment this.  Since air is compressible, pressure does not always guarantee flow. You have more intakes than exhausts, which may or may not work. If you have calculated that the fans are in balance, ie their cfm ratings are equal, this may not be an issue. If you have issues however, increase exhaust; that seems to usually work best. The one intake fan on the cover may be useless, because the other three fans cause a strong negative pressure, causing the fresh air to go straight out.