3060ti build completed - review & lessons

[yang_nastyman]

PC themes nowadays price is not the best, service is good lah, but if you know what you're doing and know what you want, then get from cheaper shops.

I usually buy different things from different shops to maximise savings.

this used to be true with the amount of price matching across stores. savings are definitely significant.

however these days due to shortages across all components, if you choose not to buy the whole bundle/build, some stores can straight away tell you that certain components/prices are only available for bundles.

 

[watzup_ken]

PC themes nowadays price is not the best, service is good lah, but if you know what you're doing and know what you want, then get from cheaper shops.

I usually buy different things from different shops to maximise savings.

I am unsure if this is something that happened recently, but I generally don't find the pricing attractive. Perhaps I don't buy a full system, so I don't get the special pricing. But part by part, the pricing at TradePac is almost always better. Of course the service quality is completely different between the 2. TradePac is purely transactional, so go in there, buy and get out.

 

[wtfh4x]

Tecware cases are complete garbage. I built in one a year ago, I haven’t had such a frustrating experience with a case in a decade. Horribly designed and poor build quality.

 

[Charlie_CaiPng]

shd have done a comparison with diy vs aftershock savings.

I did, I compared with this build from Aftershock (https://www.aftershockpc.com/welcome/rts_details/3899) - Rapid i5 11400F + RTX 3060 - $1,785 (original $2,024)

• RAPID High Airflow Mesh Chassis
• Intel i5 11400F processor
• Intel Stock CPU cooler
• PNY RTX 3060 12GB
• 16GB 3600MHZ Klevv BOLT XR Memory (8x2)
• GIGABYTE B560M DS3H Motherboard
• 512GB LEXAR NM620 PCIE NVME M.2 SSD (R 3300 | W 2400)
• FSP 800w HYDRO PRO 80Plus Bronze Certified PSU
• 4 X Addressable RGB Fans
• AX Wireless WIFI6 + Bluetooth Included
• 3 Years Warranty (First Year Onsite)

The CS person told me the case they use would be Tecware Forge M which was slightly bigger than I wanted. The price are the same with self-assembly. So for an extra $70 I would have better-fit case, 1TB SSD, a better PSU and a better GPU.

I figured out the margin of most builders would be around $150-200/build on top of retail part price (Aftershock would earn more as they got bulk price). So the question would be are you willing to pay that much to someone to build for you, and maybe for the onsite warranty?

In my opinion, I think you should have spent more on a better mobo. The quality of the mobo have a big impact on performance, even with though you did not choose a high end chip. There are reviews out there to show this.

In term of thermal performance this mobo fared quite well, even better than Gigabyte's offer. I did also look into the "tiers" of mobo and this is rated as mid-range which is what I was aiming for. When I started I was contemplating H510 or B4xx something, but decided to settle with a mid-range board that fully support new tech without breaking the bank. I am quite sure that I won't OC or need the extra oomph from Z590 series. B560M + 11400F allow future upgrades to i7 and DDR4 3600Mhz which would extend the life of this build to 6-7 years.

Again the MSI promo which said I would get back $50-70 affected my decision. I'm a cheapstake.

What I had just a little remorse is that since I use this for gaming I use wired internet and Logitech's wireless dongle instead of wifi and bluetooth. Would it be better to save $40 on the non-wifi version? But then who know what future holds, I may have to move to a room with no wired internet!

PC themes nowadays price is not the best, service is good lah, but if you know what you're doing and know what you want, then get from cheaper shops.

I usually buy different things from different shops to maximise savings.

Yeah the thing is they won't sell GPU alone or not at this price.

 

[watzup_ken]

I think you saw the review based on the screenshot that you posted from TechSpot/ Hardware Unboxed. Thermals aside, the board will certainly throttle because even the humble 11400 is capable of drawing quite a fair bit of power under load. And even in gaming load, it can't sustain performance and thus, ending at the bottom of the pack. So I won't recommend going with the 11700 upgrade in the future.

https://www.techspot.com/article/2252-intel-b560-disaster/

 

[Charlie_CaiPng]

Tecware cases are complete garbage. I built in one a year ago, I haven’t had such a frustrating experience with a case in a decade. Horribly designed and poor build quality.

You get what you paid for hahaha!

Told my wife I don't need a nice case because I would tuck it away out of sight anyway.

First thing that broke down was the case!!! I blamed destiny because even if I get a pricier case there could still be a tiny chance of fault right?

Update on the faulty board: I chatted with Techdeals and they found a replacement board after a day. I will need to book a grab delivery to pick that up for me but they are not asking me to return the faulty one.

 

[watzup_ken]

Tecware cases are complete garbage. I built in one a year ago, I haven’t had such a frustrating experience with a case in a decade. Horribly designed and poor build quality.

Tecware don't design the case if I am not wrong. They simply just buy the casing from an OEM and slap their brand on it. They are cheap for a reason I guess.

 

[wtfh4x]

You get what you paid for hahaha!

Told my wife I don't need a nice case because I would tuck it away out of sight anyway.

First thing that broke down was the case!!! I blamed destiny because even if I get a pricier case there could still be a tiny chance of fault right?

Update on the faulty board: I chatted with Techdeals and they found a replacement board after a day. I will need to book a grab delivery to pick that up for me but they are not asking me to return the faulty one.

My problem is they’re not even that cheap, $65 is not very cheap for a case. You can get a Silverstone or Cooler Master for $60 with vastly superior build quality. And I’ve never had a problem with a case power button out of the box, even on the $30 no brand case I’ve used. They only start breaking after 5 years or so from humidity when the springs behind them start rusting.

 

[wtfh4x]

Tecware don't design the case if I am not wrong. They simply just buy the casing from an OEM and slap their brand on it. They are cheap for a reason I guess.

$65 is really not cheap tbh. A basic windowed Cooler Master is around that price also and won’t have power button problems out of the box.

 

[Charlie_CaiPng]

I think you saw the review based on the screenshot that you posted from TechSpot/ Hardware Unboxed. Thermals aside, the board will certainly throttle because even the humble 11400 is capable of drawing quite a fair bit of power under load. And even in gaming load, it can't sustain performance and thus, ending at the bottom of the pack. So I won't recommend going with the 11700 upgrade in the future.

https://www.techspot.com/article/2252-intel-b560-disaster/

I saw that review too, but the Aorus Pro AX would be adding another $100 to the budget which was already stretched from the initial planned 1k5 2060 build - also the stock situation didn't help since only Bizgam had it and they didn't have other parts. One lesson I learnt would be better planning and working out the most suitable build first then work backward the cost instead of imposing a budget in the beginning.

My problem is they’re not even that cheap, $65 is not very cheap for a case. You can get a Silverstone or Cooler Master for $60 with vastly superior build quality. And I’ve never had a problem with a case power button out of the box, even on the $30 no brand case I’ve used. They only start breaking after 5 years or so from humidity when the springs behind them start rusting.

$65 is really not cheap tbh. A basic windowed Cooler Master is around that price also and won’t have power button problems out of the box.

You haven't count the case fans right?

I did however like the Q300L case from Cooler Master a lot more than this Tecware "whatever-you-call-it"

 

[wtfh4x]

You haven't count the case fans right?

Coolermaster K501L RGB has glass side panel and 1 RGB fan included for $69. Silverstone PS16 got 1 fan also for $59 but no glass panel.

 

[NightRaven49]

Tecware cases are complete garbage. I built in one a year ago, I haven’t had such a frustrating experience with a case in a decade. Horribly designed and poor build quality.

Tecware don't design the case if I am not wrong. They simply just buy the casing from an OEM and slap their brand on it. They are cheap for a reason I guess.

correct. aftershock does this with their cases too, thats why they have the same name and design but have different brand labels slapped on them. actually quite glad my old tecware case is now sold off with a much better one in its place. i think the only good case they sell is the fusion, and even then they sell it at a 50% markup over if u get from the oem directly.

Silverstone PS16 got 1 fan also for $59 but no glass panel.

speaking of silverstone, they also have the ps15rgb, that has 3 case fans (2 rgb) for about $10 more with glass panel. also about the same volume as matx tecware cases at about 25l, but with excellent airflow.

 

[wtfh4x]

speaking of silverstone, they also have the ps15rgb, that has 3 case fans (2 rgb) for about $10 more with glass panel. also about the same volume as matx tecware cases at about 25l, but with excellent airflow.

Yeah that’s the one I was originally looking at, but I think it’s out of stock after 8.8. I think the lesson here is, if you buy a **** case, let the store build the PC and struggle with the **** case. It’s not worth you struggling with it and troubleshooting and now TS has to pay for delivery for the new part as well.

 

[Charlie_CaiPng]

Lesson learnt, there's always a first time

 

[wtfh4x]

Lesson learnt, there's always a first time

Yeah this crappy case thing is something every builder goes through at some point. At least you managed to narrow i the problem down, I dont think I’d have managed to figure that out given it’s just a switch and it was new. I’d have just assumed it was working properly.

 

[wwenze]

Tecware Fusion for example is Sama Quzhao rebranded

Going to get this in the near future.

For me, since my builds are always unique and often pushing the limits, I prefer to do it myself, encounter the problems and then fix it myself properly, rather than let an unknown $10/hr employee assemble it and tell me I need to buy more stuff.

 

[watzup_ken]

Coolermaster K501L RGB has glass side panel and 1 RGB fan included for $69. Silverstone PS16 got 1 fan also for $59 but no glass panel.

Generally casing from reputable brands come with only 1 case fan if you choose a sub 80 bucks case. The likes of Tecware may offer up to 2 or 3 based on pictures I've seen. I think they do have a couple of decent case, but build wise is just average.

I was deciding between the Tecware Fusion and Cooler Master NR200 recently, and I went with the latter. The reason is because of the front panel which is curved at the sides. With kids around, I think that sharp angular front may be quite dangerous. Otherwise, I would have gotten the Fusion because it fits a MATX board.

 

[soltrdc]

I own a Tecware Nexus Air M RGB, it's obviously not the best of the best, but it's very decent. Four 120mm ARGB fans included in a case that is very similar in design to a Lian Li Lancool II. I would say it's probably the best value-budget case for a system with a 65W TDP CPU and any GPU that uses GDDR6 VRAM or below. Reason being the high heat of GDDR6X memory is difficult to disperse in a smaller case.