@Nesguy A Windows 10 licence needn’t cost you too much though. Look at almost any TechTuber video and you’ll see them promoting a number of 3rd party websites where you can get genuine Windows 10 keys at minimal prices. I can send you a couple of those videos but those offerings are quite widespread.
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Just a couple things to note about this configuration. The Ryzen 5 5600G dedicates half of its PCI-e x 16 lanes to its IGP leaving only 8 available to connect to the x16 PCI-e slot on the motherboard. Also, it has less L2 cache than its non Ryzen G counterparts and this hurts performance leaving them closer to the Ryzen 3000 series of processors than the rest of the 5000 lineup.
The Ryzen 5 5600 doesn’t have any of these shortcomings and is essentially a slightly cheaper Ryzen 5 5600X in terms of performance especially with the way the Ryzen 5 boost behaviour works. In one click in Ryzen Master you can narrow the difference even more and approach the clock speed of the 5600X.
Ryzen CPUs tend to maintain higher boost clocks once they’re kept within a certain temperature threshold and there’s no time limit as to how long they can sustain their boost clocks for.
The Ryzen 5 5500 is a lower clocked laptop CPU with its IGP disabled and suffers from similar shortcomings.
If you don’t absolutely need to use the IGP in those APUs because you’re going with a discrete GPU anyway, why choose a part that’s going to gimp the performance of your GPU slot and also sacrifice important cache and pay for an IGP that is just going to sit there?
In my opinion, if you want to go cheaper than the Ryzen 5 5600, then some of the cheaper Intel offerings might better fit the bill. They should even offer better single core and overall performance than the Ryzen 5 5600 for a little less. You can also go with a DDR4 motherboard and RAM to save even more but I would probably still try to splurge for some decent DDR5 RAM and a cheap but good DDR5 motherboard to pair with something like an Intel Core i3-12100, i5-12400, i3-13100 or i5-13400. These require Windows 11 for optimal performance but Windows 11 really isn’t so bad anymore. They fixed most of the initial productivity annoyances and you can upgrade to it after installing your cheap Windows 10 using your 3rd party genuine key.
You can even opt for the often cheaper F versions of those CPUs which lack IGPs but there’s nothing to be lost by going with an Intel CPU that has an IGP as they all have their full cache and PCI-e x 16 lanes present.
If going with an AMD GPU (for better performance for the price and also lower driver CPU overhead) I’d definitely prefer an Intel CPU with integrated graphics to shore up the system’s overall video encoding and decoding performance using Intel QuickSync. AMD’s encoding performance and quality is probably the worst of the 3.
If you don’t care about that boost in video encoding performance or you’re after the lowest budget at all costs then the F series CPUs are fine if you’re actually getting some savings there.
This is an even cheaper build I did based on a cheaper (Intel) than the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 that should still give the AMD CPU a run for its money. The motherboard is also cheaper as well as the power supply.
You can go for a slightly more expensive motherboard and get a much higher end chipset as well as WiFi and you can go with a slightly more expensive 750W Power Supply as well and have a bit more headroom for future upgrades but this should get the job done.
https://pcpartpicker.com/user/CyberLabSystems/saved/#view=GVvR4D
Based on the above review which showed pretty close performance among the Ryzen 5 5600, 5500 and Core i3-13100, I went ahead and did another budget build using the Ryzen 5 5500 and it came out even cheaper than the Intel 13100F build!
https://pcpartpicker.com/user/CyberLabSystems/saved/#view=xQH3RB
I’d definitely feel more comfortable with 6 cores over 4 in 2023 and both platforms have great upgrade paths albeit within their same generation of SKUs.
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Just my 2 cents are rather R5 5600 then 5500. The price difference isn’t this big, but performance is nicer on the 5600, since it has twice the L3 cache and is PCIe 4.0 capable, which could matter a lot with some gpu cards with 8x interface.
Regarding storage, NVMe SSD + HDD seems a nice combo for emulation purposes as a 3TB HDD is almost peanuts these days.
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Now that I’ve had a little more time, I did another nice build for you @Nesguy.
This one sacrifices size (as in form factor) but packs a little more punch for about the same price.
I used the Radeon RX 6700 10GB as a baseline but the Radeon RX 6700 XT 12GB can also be a great option for not that much more.
CPU can also be switched with a Ryzen 5 5600X or 5600 and still be able to get the job done at a slightly lower cost.
https://pcpartpicker.com/user/CyberLabSystems/saved/#view=2vrGkL
Here are some alternative storage options:
TEAMGROUP MP34 2TB with DRAM SLC Cache 3D NAND TLC NVMe 1.3 PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 Internal SSD (Read/Write Speed up to 3,500/2,900 MB/s) Compatible with Laptop & PC Desktop TM8FP4002T0C101 https://a.co/d/jcIDBqW
TEAMGROUP T-Force CARDEA Zero Z440 2TB DRAM SLC Cache, 3D TLC NAND, NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 2280 Gaming SSD Read/Write 5,000/4,400 MB/s TM8FP7002T0C311 https://a.co/d/iSBlzdT
Limited-time deal: Crucial P3 4TB PCIe Gen3 3D NAND NVMe M.2 SSD, up to 3500MB/s - CT4000P3SSD8 https://a.co/d/91hrJZJ
At this current price of US$55, this one below might make a good OS Drive to pair with that Intel 670p as a secondary drive:
Check this out! https://a.co/d/5sUV6BJ
Alternatively, the Crucial P3 gives you 1TB of PCI-E Gen 4 storage performance at US$47 at the moment!
Limited-time deal: Crucial P3 1TB PCIe Gen3 3D NAND NVMe M.2 SSD, up to 3500MB/s - CT1000P3SSD8 https://a.co/d/7PBOXEt
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Thanks for all the helpful recommendations @Cyber @Duimon
It’s so close I can almost taste it. Probably next month. Of course, I’ll then have to buy the display, so another couple months of saving for that. Planning on getting the S95B. The photos in the Megatron thread sold me.
I’m going to delay fixing my busted sidewalk, and some miscellaneous landscaping work. Games come first. #priorities #firstworldproblems
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No problem man, this is something I like to do.
By the way, there are now newly released entry level AMD A620 Chipset Socket AM5 motherboards available that can considerably lower the total cost of entry of going with the AMD Ryzen 7600 Option.
You can combine one with either of the cases and power supplies I’ve previously mentioned in my other builds and of course also the DDR5-6000 RAM.
This platform might be your best bet from a longevity standpoint as well as for overall gaming and productivity.
Possibly a better alternative:
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Be sure to take a look at this first, although the S95B might prove to be more versatile in terms of the mask layouts it supports.
You know, if you mounted one of these W-OLED panel displays upside down, you can effectively change the Mask Layout from BGR to RGB!
I can see Windows, RetroArch or some other software solution easily handling the flipping of the desktop while leaving the Mask untouched.
Update:
Hot off the press and not to be outdone!
Here’s the Samsung S95C Review!
Here’s another QD-OLED contender you might want to consider. It supports Dolby Vision while the Samsungs do not.
There’s also supposed to be the Samsung S90C, which is a cheaper alternative to the S95C coming this year.
There are also some Mini-LED Models to consider.
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It looks fantastic but it’s about twice as expensive as the S95B… that’s a tough choice. S95B in 2 months, or G3 in 4. The rational part of me is saying “wait and save, you’ll have it for 10 years,” but the part of my brain that demands instant gratification is saying “S95B now”
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Well you can be even more rational and wait until both G3 and S95C come out and hopefully prices would have come down on the 2022 models by then but by all means if you can afford it, buy what you want now, at least sometimes. Life is short and tomorrow is not guaranteed.
Just be sure to do your proper due diligence on these Samsung TVs for gaming and PC use before ultimately pulling the trigger. Based on my listenings and observations over the past decades, there might be a couple gotchas hidden beneath the hype that might make things a bit more annoying than some of the other brands.
I’m talking more UX, bugs, annoyances and other undesirables that remain more in the background.
Things like the lack of support for Dolby Vision and not being able to disable ABL.
Be sure to look at your opportunity costs before pulling the trigger.
For example I was recently looking at some 5K and 6K displays and also 3840 x 2400 displays which I feel might be the ideal resolution for HSM Mega Bezel Reflection Shader because of the Bezel and frame taking up some precious vertical resolution that can result in less than perfect scanline and other rendering anomalies with certain masks and cores.
Alternatively, 8K is actually available if you wanted to try it out and go crazy. There are some 8K LCD Mini-LED offerings from LG and Samsung that might be similar in price or cheaper than some of their OLEDs and they would most likely include similar interface, OS and Gaming features.
SAMSUNG 65-Inch Class Neo QLED 8K QN800A Series - 8K UHD Quantum HDR 32x Smart TV with Alexa Built-in (QN65QN800AFXZA, 2021 Model) https://a.co/d/chSfIYS
LG 65QNED99UPA Alexa Built-in QNED MiniLED 99 Series 65" 8K Smart UHD NanoCell TV (2021) https://a.co/d/cS9I2yG
TCL 65-inch Class 6-Series 8K Mini-LED UHD QLED Dolby Vision HDR Smart Roku TV - 65R648, 2021 model https://a.co/d/aaEqbXY
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I’ve been seeing more and more stuff popping up about these Monitors recently. I think there’s a 32" 160Hz miniLED model as well.
General build ideas and discussion.
It seems like it’s here:
I haven’t tried it myself but BGR W-OLED rotated 180° should be RGB.
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6,000 Peak Nits anyone? 2,500 to 3,000 Nits in a 10% Window?
Apparently I’m not the only person who’s thought of this.
HOW TO FIX BLURRY TEXT ON A BGR MONITOR
"If you have a monitor with a BGR sub-pixel layout and have blurry text, there are a couple of workarounds that can help, although they all have their positives and negatives.
1 - If you’re on a Windows computer, enable ClearType. As you can see in the Gigabyte M27Q picture above, ClearType makes text look bolder, especially diagonal lines. However, ClearType doesn’t affect all programs, so you may get blurry text in programs that aren’t affected by it, such as Google Chrome, and even Microsoft’s own Word.
2 - Mount the screen upside down and change the user interface’s orientation in Windows’ display settings. This effectively gives the monitor an RGB layout and fixes text clarity issues related to a BGR layout. However, there are some issues. When the user interface is flipped in Windows’ display settings, it seems to apply some form of V-SYNC even though it’s disabled, and G-SYNC doesn’t work properly as the monitor’s refresh rate remains static. The permanent V-SYNC effect seems to increase the input lag. In the case of the Gigabyte M27Q, it increased from 3.2ms to 15.1ms. We’re not sure what causes these issues; we suspect it has to do with the user interface’s orientation. The pictures below show how text looks like with the screen turned upside down."
Since you’re also need to do work with your setup and you’re already used to a dual screen setup what do you think of these oddities?
Instead of side by side dual screen, they’re basically over and under with no bezel in between.
LG 28MQ750-C 28 Inch SDQHD (2560 x 2880) Nano IPS DualUp Monitor with Tilt/Height/Swivel Stand, DCI-P3 98% (Typ.) HDR10, USB Type-C (90W PD) - Black https://a.co/d/csf4X8N
INNOCN 28 Inch Computer Vertical Monitor 16:18 SDQHD 2560 x 2880p with USB Type C, Height/Pivot Adjustable Stand, Speakers, 98% DCI-P3, HDR 10, Black - 28C1Q https://a.co/d/26rhbHO
…And they have more vertical resolution than a 16:9 4K display while having more than enough horizontal real estate for a proper Slot Mask!
Maybe one of these plus a decent 24" or 27" more traditional 4K 16:9 display or you can keep your current dual setup, maybe get an arm or two that allows you to mount them over/under and/or vertically and one of those 16:18 displays can be your third display so that you can enjoy the best of both worlds without overspending?
The only thing is, do those 16:18 displays check all the other CRT emulation boxes we need in addition to resolution and better pixel density/aspect ratio?
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There’s more of a benefit to 4K at sizes larger than 27", where 1440p is probably sufficient. So now I’m debating if I should just replace the dual monitors with a large monitor, but it would need to be 38" to have the same viewable area and even then it wouldn’t be the same in terms of window size/shape, but I could probably make it work for I what I do. 
Here’s a 42" OLED for $1,000. If burn-in from office tasks wasn’t a concern I’d probably jump on that.
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Another problem is that nearly everything is matte when it comes to monitors. Dough has the Eve Spectrum but it sucks in other ways (it’s edge lit). So maybe a small TV is the best option? The smallest these days is usually 50" which is a bit too big for a monitor… and is this really the state of things in 2023?
Glossy, but $799 for a 27-inch, and it’s an edge-lit display (no FALD).
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LG C2 Series 42-Inch Class OLED evo Smart TV OLED42C2PUA, 2022 - AI-Powered 4K TV, Alexa Built-in https://a.co/d/irTKtxe
LG C3 Series 42-Inch Class OLED evo 4K Processor Smart TV for Gaming with Magic Remote AI-Powered OLED42C3PUA, 2023 with Alexa Built-in https://a.co/d/8S3HowE
SAMSUNG QN43QN90CAFXZA 43 Inch Neo QLED 4K Smart TV 2023 Bundle with 1 YR CPS Enhanced Protection Pack https://a.co/d/c76fHCx
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Greetings @KoKlusz,
Why don’t you click or tap edit, then cut or copy your reply to @Nesguy then paste it over here to avoid going too far off topic in @guest.r’s thread?
You can delete your post from @guest.r’s thread after moving it.
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I am strongly considering the LG C3 since my burn-in fears are probably overblown. However, this guy is advising that I wait until early next year because the quantum dot OLED monitors are on the horizon, which will supposedly put current LG OLED monitors to shame, and as an added bonus are all glossy by design.
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Although the fancy quantum dot OLED monitors will be available next year, they’ll be starting at $1500 for a 27" most likely, and it’ll be 3 years before prices comes down.
It’s down to these two for me, and it really depends on what kind of deals I can find. the INNOCN is going for $720 right now. The C3 seems like a no-brainer purchase at $899.
($600) 32" INNOCN 4K 144Hz Mini LED: https://amzn.to/3uoDBV0
($1000) 42" LG 42 C3 120Hz OLED: https://howl.me/ck20SqLuGoo
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I must be mistaken or something but aren’t there already QD-OLED monitors currently available on the market?
I have a feeling you might be extremely satisfied with the image quality provided by the C3, however, for peace of mind the Samsung Q90C seems like an excellent option for your particular use case. Do remember that using a TV as a monitor might have a few quality of life caveats, for example not supporting sleep and wake properly as well as possibly not supporting all PC resolutions via HDMI.
Do note that the Q90C uses a BGR panel. I like the fact that it might probably get bright enough to provide a better experience using BFI than the C3.
I’m not sure if the Samsung software is as good as LG’s overall thosame
I think with either one you’ll be satisfied with your purchase but you would have to adopt responsible OLED panel user etiquette in order to preserve your display if you go that route.
Not all use cases are the same which means not all users’ risk of buy-in would be identical.
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I think it’s only been available in curved monitors and weird sizes? And always with a matte coating? Apparently, the monitors next year will lead us all into monitor nirvana if you’ve got the cash.
The way OLED handles motion is another cause for concern- the instant response time basically replaces blur with judder. Motion resolution on modern OLED remains worse than plasma. With BFI it’s about the same, but then you have the brightness issue. EDIT: the Q90C also has the judder issue with panning, apparently.
I also don’t like the weird subpixels on OLED displays because of problems rendering text (definitely a concern for a monitor).
Q90C pros
-BGR subpixels
-brighter with BFI
-no burn-in concern
Q90C cons
-matte finish
-backlit
C3 pros
-glossy
-emissive
C3 cons
-dim with BFI
-burn-in risk
-weird subpixels
It’s a difficult choice. I think picture quality is undoubtedly better on the C3 but this becomes a bit murkier when you’re talking about motion resolution. Now the Q90C is starting to look like a better option…
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