@regenasw: Yes, I built a new PC, which has worked great ever since. A huge improvement over my old Alienware. I'm also glad that I didn't wait to see whether or not Zen 4 was going to be worth it. I wanted to build a powerful PC for less than $2K, so Zen 4 was not going to do it for me. Honestly, I don't think we need Zen 4 right now. Just RDNA 3, and release Zen 4 for RDNA 4, haha! It feels like Zen 4 came out too early. What AMD should have done is iterate on 5800X3D, and 5900X, similar to what Intel did with Raptor Lake, which is an upgrade/iteration to Alder Lake.

I've read horror stories, like receiving the wrong video card (it was a higher tier, when the purchaser bought a lower tier card on Newegg) and receiving weights instead of an actual 4090.

I think it's just better to take that extra step and record everything from picking up the package from your doorstep or wherever it was delivered. An apartment locker box is even more helpful because you'll be recording the opening of the locker box itself, which can only be engaged by a carrier, and taking out of the package then the opening itself.

I think when we're dealing with hundreds of dollars in product, and sellers have doubts because anyone can take out a 4090, then put in weights and take a pic to get a chargeback for a free 4090. It's entirely possible, but at the same time, we have to think of genuine buyers who were scammed and hurt because they paid hundreds of dollars for the used item and didn't get what they paid for.

So, it's just helpful to have that extra video proof when you open the package, and you can show the seller that you didn't get what you paid for. It shouldn't be necessary, but the process of receiving used items at warehouses appears not always perfect and mistakes do happen. I have never bought a used laptop or video card before. Still, I'm looking at a used laptop, and I am thinking of just recording the whole opening the package event, even if the probability of receiving weights or something else instead of the laptop itself is very low.

Is there an actual term or explanation why Japanese games all look oddly similar? They use very similar menu designs, fonts and text, and graphical blankets. It is weird to me, and it's not like Western games, where development and design are very diverse. In terms of graphics and UI/UX design, the Japanese games are similar. Is there a reason for this? A lack of innovation or they live and work so closely that they all have similar ideas and tastes?

@attirex: Watch Youtube videos and try to see what you're doing wrong. Here's one.

How to install a Ryzen CPU and its Wraith Stealth Cooler | AM4 socket | AMD - YouTube

Thanks for the input, everyone. I decided to build a new PC instead. I had two AMD builds before and liked them, so I built another AMD PC with an MSI B550 motherboard, 5900X with an i150H AIO cooler, and a 6700XT in a Corsair 5000D tower. It runs beautifully and has met all of my expectations for gaming.

It is quite an upgrade from my old Alienware PC, and it runs much cooler too. On average when gaming 40-50c CPU temp and 60-75c GPU temp. My old 1080 was running 90c overclocked and the CPU at 60c with no overclock. The Alienware was an absolute oven that always heated up the room. I didn't even need the heater on when I was gaming. I see that in most of my games that my CPU gets only 20-25% utilization while my GPU is at 70-100% utilization which means my CPU has plenty of headroom for an upgrade to a RDNA 3 card probably next year.

I am considering upgrading my 6700K to an i9900kf, founder's edition 1080 to a 3060ti, and also planning on replacing the m2 SSD 256GB to a 2TB. All the upgrades will cost about $900. I already upgraded the RAM to 32GB since the old 2x8GB died on me. My CPU is liquid-cooled, and the system is about 6 years old. Is it worth upgrading the parts I mentioned, or would it be too much trouble since the computer may be approaching end of life soon in 1-3 years? My tower is a prebuilt Alienware Aurora R5, and I play in 1080p now since 1440p was creating too many performance issues for me. I hope the upgrades will help extend system life by about five years. That's my goal.

Laggy and dumbed-down menus, stuttery gameplay, outdated hard-to-read minimap while making zero enhancements to the game other than graphics! Zero improvements to the game otherwise, Company of Heroes plays much better than WC3 in controls, visibility and how information is given to you. WC3: Reforged is an unmitigated disaster ... and should not have been released in this state!

@lamprey263: Both consoles will use AMD hardware, CPU and GPU. So, this competition is a bit silly. More like which console will AMD make more powerful?

@mattbbpl: The reason we have patents is it creates an incentive for people to do their best because they know they will profit from their hard work. Public research? That's all nice and well but the Soviet Union banned all private research in favor of public research and look at where they are today — in the dustbin of history.

No, but the more competition in the PC store space, the better it is for us I suppose?