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4 hours ago, Captainant said:

I really wish they would remake TIE Fighter, it's too bad EA tried to turn Squadrons into a live service game

The biggest issue was that they released it, then about 6 months in, abandoned it. But it's not entirely EA's fault -- the number of players dropped off a cliff within a week of its release. For whatever reasons, it was a pretty failed product.

But playing with HOTAS is an entirely upgraded experience from playing it with a mouse or controller. Now there's a big learning curve to having to map all of the controls, learn how to use them, and then after that you've gotta figure out why it crashes to desktop 4 out of every 5 times you try to launch it*, but once you're in the game and playing? It's AWESOME.

*still don't know why

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51 minutes ago, Rimbo said:

The biggest issue was that they released it, then about 6 months in, abandoned it. But it's not entirely EA's fault -- the number of players dropped off a cliff within a week of its release. For whatever reasons, it was a pretty failed product.

But playing with HOTAS is an entirely upgraded experience from playing it with a mouse or controller. Now there's a big learning curve to having to map all of the controls, learn how to use them, and then after that you've gotta figure out why it crashes to desktop 4 out of every 5 times you try to launch it*, but once you're in the game and playing? It's AWESOME.

*still don't know why

Add in a VR headset and baby you got a sim goin! I used to play Elite Dangerous with some friends that way, it was a blast

Edited by Captainant

1 hour ago, Captainant said:

Add in a VR headset and baby you got a sim goin! I used to play Elite Dangerous with some friends that way, it was a blast

Yeah, VR headsets aren't my thing. I don't mind playing with my son's, but he's really complaining about the Oculus 3, and hoping to sell it and eventually upgrade to the latest Steam thing when it comes out.

They're making a new podracing game apparently.

@Rimbo have you tried Ace Squadron? Have a buddy that enjoys that one.

16 minutes ago, ztejas said:

They're making a new podracing game apparently.

@Rimbo have you tried Ace Squadron? Have a buddy that enjoys that one.

Naw.

It's all about that Larry Holland-style X-Wing/TIE Fighter style piloting. Larry Holland didn't design the games past X-Wing Alliance, but Squadrons follows a lot of the design decisions of Holland's games -- power management, shield balancing, etc -- and has a very similar feel. If you want a modern TIE Fighter game, that's pretty much the game to play. Only thing missing from it is the ability to swap how the blasters fire -- you could switch between individual bolts, dual bolts, and (on X-Wings/TIE Interceptors) quad bolts firing at the same time; on Squadrons, you get one shot per blaster period, and all blasters at once -- so e.g. on the B-Wing the Ion and Blaster cannons all fire at the same time, and as far as I can tell there's no way to just use the ions or blasters.

I don't even care to play real flight simulators. I just wanna lock s-foils in attack position and go blow up a Star Destroyer

3 hours ago, Captainant said:

Add in a VR headset and baby you got a sim goin! I used to play Elite Dangerous with some friends that way, it was a blast

2 hours ago, Rimbo said:

Yeah, VR headsets aren't my thing. I don't mind playing with my son's, but he's really complaining about the Oculus 3, and hoping to sell it and eventually upgrade to the latest Steam thing when it comes out.

a friend said vr headset with an A wing is basically cheat code

10 minutes ago, elfenix said:

a friend said vr headset with an A wing is basically cheat code

dunno' bout that, but Rez with VR is absolutely a cheat code

5 hours ago, Rimbo said:

It's all about that Larry Holland-style X-Wing/TIE Fighter style piloting.

Mom Yes GIF by Emmys

Edited by atomheartbevo

What's a fair price for this 3060 card on FB Marketplace (should I sell somewhere else?)? Purchased 3/2023 ($384.47 + tax), usage light to moderate, perfectly clean. Replaced it with a 5070.

MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 15 Gbps GDRR6 192-Bit HDMI/DP PCIe 4 Torx Twin Fan Ampere OC Graphics Card

Amazon link with details

$200? less? The box MAY be in my attic, but I haven't laid eyes on it yet, so assume bare card.

12 hours ago, Dr Fear said:

What's a fair price for this 3060 card on FB Marketplace (should I sell somewhere else?)? Purchased 3/2023 ($384.47 + tax), usage light to moderate, perfectly clean. Replaced it with a 5070.

MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 15 Gbps GDRR6 192-Bit HDMI/DP PCIe 4 Torx Twin Fan Ampere OC Graphics Card

Amazon link with details

$200? less? The box MAY be in my attic, but I haven't laid eyes on it yet, so assume bare card.

180-200 in most markets.

do i need a new graphics card? no. my 3060ti seems to be holding up pretty well at the resolutions and the games i play. but it seems inevitable that those thing shoot up in price too so i got a 9070xt at microcenter. i think i'm set with the 7800x3d for a while and i should probably cull my steam library a bit to ease up on storage pressures since it doesn't seem like i'm buying a new SSD any time soon.

I’ve seen this topic return to the top of the board a few times now, and while I don’t have need of a gaming computer, I do have a curiosity as how building your own compares price wise to buying something. I get that you can spend and save where you wish when buying at the component level, but please indulge me in asking how, for example, this system from Costco compares to cost of building a similar system yourself or if it is lacking in areas?

Costco Wholesale
No image preview

MSI Aegis Gaming Desktop – AMD Ryzen 9 9900X – GeForce RT...

MSI Aegis Gaming Desktop – AMD Ryzen 9 9900X – GeForce RTX 5080 – Windows 11 Home - 32GB RAM - 2TB SSD, AMD Ryzen 9 9900X (12-core), NVIDIA® GeForce RTX 5080 16GB, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3, 360mm L

I picked a random one mid priced with a decent rating, there are plenty of others.

3 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

I’ve seen this topic return to the top of the board a few times now, and while I don’t have need of a gaming computer, I do have a curiosity as how building your own compares price wise to buying something. I get that you can spend and save where you wish when buying at the component level, but please indulge me in asking how, for example, this system from Costco compares to cost of building a similar system yourself or if it is lacking in areas?

Costco Wholesale
No image preview

MSI Aegis Gaming Desktop – AMD Ryzen 9 9900X – GeForce RT...

MSI Aegis Gaming Desktop – AMD Ryzen 9 9900X – GeForce RTX 5080 – Windows 11 Home - 32GB RAM - 2TB SSD, AMD Ryzen 9 9900X (12-core), NVIDIA® GeForce RTX 5080 16GB, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3, 360mm L

I picked a random one mid priced with a decent rating, there are plenty of others.

eBay
No image preview

New AMD Ryzen 9 9900X MSI X870E-P Pro WiFi AM5 ATX Crucia...

AMD Ryzen 9 9900X Processor. Ryzen 9 9900X Granite Ridge AM5 4.40GHz 12-Core Boxed Processor - Heatsink Not Included. Ryzen 9 9900X. MSI X870E-P Pro WiFi AM5 ATX Mo therboard. X870E-P PRO WIFI AMD AM5

860 for this bundle. Buy a 5080 of your choosing. ~1500 is about right budget.

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/msi-nvidia-geforce-rtx-5080-16g-gaming-trio-oc-16gb-gddr7-pci-express-gen-5-graphics-card-black/J3P7TX6L24/sku/6615227

Then a case and a PSU and an SSD. 2TB is gonna be like 250 for a good one 400 for a top end one. PSU is 90 bucks and case is 120ish

So quick math is 860+1500+250+90+120=2,820 without deal hunting for an equivalent.

DRAM prices aren't priced into some of these pre-builds yet. It's wild out there. Same computer was probably 600 cheaper about 4 months ago. Maybe 700 cheaper.

Surely ram prices can’t keep that up indefinitely. Been needing to put together a new vm server, but not with these prices.

14 minutes ago, thunderlounge said:

Surely ram prices can’t keep that up indefinitely. Been needing to put together a new vm server, but not with these prices.

They are forever going to be high until something else comes and takes its spot in the memory hierarchy. Intel would have made so much money with optane right now it's crazy how bad they fucked that.

23 hours ago, elfenix said:

do i need a new graphics card? no. my 3060ti seems to be holding up pretty well at the resolutions and the games i play. but it seems inevitable that those thing shoot up in price too so i got a 9070xt at microcenter. i think i'm set with the 7800x3d for a while and i should probably cull my steam library a bit to ease up on storage pressures since it doesn't seem like i'm buying a new SSD any time soon.

I'm in a similar spot. Built my rig at the end of 2019. AM4, Ryzen 7 2700x, 16gb ram, RTX 2080. Last January I upgraded to 32gb RAM and a 5700X3D. Also got an ultrawide monitor (1440p) which makes the GPU work a little harder.

Still getting 100+fps on Black Ops 7 (albeit with a lot of settings turned down for multiplayer), 70-80fps on ARC Raiders, 90+FPS on Destiny 2. And I still have that large backlog of older games I wanna play. The 2080 is still doing surprisingly well despite its age, but it would be nice to be able to crank some settings and play with ray tracing, etc. The only game I think I have played with RTX on is Doom Eternal. Other games like Cyberpunk and Jedi Survivor drop to like 30-40fps with RTX on. Despite being an RTX card, it was never very good at it, even with Cyberpunk which released 5 years ago.

The 5070 seems like kind of a waste. Going from 8gb VRAM to 12 after waiting 6 years to upgrade feels bad. Been eying the 16GB 5070ti, but also pondering the age old "upgrade now or wait" dilemma with the rumored 18gb VRAM Supers coming out this year.

Edited by CurlyDumps

1 minute ago, CurlyDumps said:

I'm in a similar spot. Built my rig at the end of 2019. AM4, Ryzen 7 2700x, 16gb ram, RTX 2080. Last January I upgraded to 32gb RAM and a 5700X3D. Also got an ultrawide monitor (1440p) which makes the GPU work a little harder.

Still getting 100+fps on Black Ops 7 (albeit with a lot of settings turned down for multiplayer), 70-80fps on ARC Raiders, 90+FPS on Destiny 2. And I still have that large backlog of older games I wanna play. The 2080 is still doing surprisingly well despite its age, but it would be nice to be able to crank some settings and play with ray tracing, etc. The only game I think I have played with RTX on is Doom Eternal. Other games like Cyberpunk and Jedi Survivor drop to like 30-40fps with RTX on. Despite being an RTX card, it was never very good at it, even with Cyberpunk which released 5 years ago.

The 5070 seems like kind of a waste. Going from 8gb VRAM to 12 after waiting 6 years to upgrade feels bad. Been eying the 16GB 5070ti, but also pondering the age old "upgrade now or wait" dilemma with the rumored 18gb VRAM Supers are coming out this year.

You don't need to upgrade.

23 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

I’ve seen this topic return to the top of the board a few times now, and while I don’t have need of a gaming computer, I do have a curiosity as how building your own compares price wise to buying something. I get that you can spend and save where you wish when buying at the component level, but please indulge me in asking how, for example, this system from Costco compares to cost of building a similar system yourself or if it is lacking in areas?

Costco Wholesale
No image preview

MSI Aegis Gaming Desktop – AMD Ryzen 9 9900X – GeForce RT...

MSI Aegis Gaming Desktop – AMD Ryzen 9 9900X – GeForce RTX 5080 – Windows 11 Home - 32GB RAM - 2TB SSD, AMD Ryzen 9 9900X (12-core), NVIDIA® GeForce RTX 5080 16GB, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3, 360mm L

I picked a random one mid priced with a decent rating, there are plenty of others.

You could make a similarly spec’d pc for about 2150, and when you build your own you can ensure the quality of the components.

If it’s mostly for gaming, you’re better off with a 9700x or 7800x3d. Both of these perform better, and can generally be found cheaper, than a 9900x.

You know how the RTX 30x0 series is still popular Steam Hardware & Software Survey

NVIDIA To Bring Back The GeForce RTX 3060 In Q1 2026 To Tackle Current-Gen GPU & Memory Shortages

The new report comes from @hongxing2020, who has a solid track record with NVIDIA GPU updates and production plans. The user states that, as per the latest update on 5th January, NVIDIA has updated its partners that the RTX 3060 is coming back in Q1 2026. There's no detail on whether both the 12 GB / 8 GB models or one of those will be produced, but the RTX 3060 is going to be made available on retail shelves once again.

simon cowell facepalm GIF

Unless they’re selling those for $150, why would anyone want that? Best Buy had some white 5060 8gbs at $150 last week that sold out pretty quickly. And they regularly can be found around 230-270.

Lots of budget cards in that range that can be had for very cheap too.

Edited by Atticus

5 hours ago, Atticus said:

You could make a similarly spec’d pc for about 2150, and when you build your own you can ensure the quality of the components.

If it’s mostly for gaming, you’re better off with a 9700x or 7800x3d. Both of these perform better, and can generally be found cheaper, than a 9900x.

how? Show your work.

3 hours ago, Atticus said:

Unless they’re selling those for $150, why would anyone want that?

Based on the Steam survey, a healthy amount of people are still running below that level.

I think it’s more about future production of newer cards not being on the consumer market (or consumer versions not being made in the first place) and NVIDIA trying to catch some sales.

@immamac

Depends where he’s located. 650 for the bundle you quoted at MC.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/PnBfKq

Minimal deal hunting. Only thing you gotta do is wait for an nvidia founders edition drop on the marketplace and you’ll get a 5080 at MSRP. The 5090s go fast, but the 5080s usually last for at least an hour.

PNY 5080s and FEs also drop at Best Buy from time to time. Both sell for MSRP (999.99)

Take the total and subtract about $228 if buying the MC bundle. Should be around $2036 pre tax.

On 12/16/2025 at 9:13 PM, atomheartbevo said:

Just going to upgrade the CPU from a Ryzen 3700x to a Ryzen 7 5700 and video card from an RTX 2060 to something newer.  CPU upgrade is not much but will reduce some stuttering we get in certain games/apps (all 8 cores are together on the Zen 3 versus spread over two segments on the 3700x, and played around on a friend's 5700 and it was smoother) and even bumping up just 3 generations on the video will help tremendously. I can also repurpose the old CPU and video to a second PC we are building for my daughter.

So I'm curious - we've got a 6GB RTX 2060, and that and my 3700x CPU will be great for my daughter's system (fits the motherboard, have 16GB on that thing). I used to upgrade every year or two, but, well, with the 2060 and 3700x CPU you can tell it's been 4-5 years since I last did anything. We do a lot of Minecraft (lots of mods), lots of RTS games, mostly older games (sims, nothing made within last 3-4 years for the most part) but wanting a little bump for some flight sim stuff (and MMOs).

Would something like this for $300 be a worthy upgrade over the 2060? (and I have not shopped around, just the first short-form factor card I pulled up, I know I can do cheaper)

PNY GeForce RTX 5060 Overclocked 8GB GDDR7 PCI Express 5.0 Graphics Card with Dual Fan Black VCG50608DFXPB1-O - Best Buy

Trying to keep the price down, but willing to do 12GB if necessary, and yes, trying to stay to the shorter form-factor, because it's a smaller case. 12GB too expensive.

I can go 40x0 series if it's a better price, but I still have to keep the short form-factor.

Edited by atomheartbevo

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