Alternately, build a new PC. Just saying.

Haha yeah that is the other idea...before the part prices become super high again I do kind of need an upgrade to run the newest games properly. I still need to play Cyberpunk and I know they are planning to do a big DLC release in 2023, so maybe it would be good to upgrade for that.

Well the AMD and Intel CPU face off is shaping up to be real interesting. So might want to keep eyes on how it goes.

Yup, agreed... they're both pretty compelling. Intel's use of performance and efficiency cores is pretty cool. AMD is launching a new socket for the first time in quite some time and they've shown they'll continue to use a socket for multiple generations (unlike Intel), making upgrading just the CPU a real option. I've been Intel only for a really long time, but I think I'm going to swap over to AMD this time around. I'm still not sure if I want to go with nvidia or AMD for graphics... thinking I'll swap for that as well. Just not yet. I'd like to see DDR5 memory prices drop a bit first.

PC still running just fine but with the same problem as before btw - one crash pretty soon after a cold boot, then no crashes when rebooting from that. Not even if I run it for 5 days straight. It's pretty funny. So far I haven't bothered to find a solution for it as a single manual reboot once a day is a small price to pay in comparison to the other avenues I have. Still thinking of getting a new PC soon but it'd have to be next year, I've been spending a lot this month and Christmas is coming up...so maybe when I get my annual bonus in March.

You don't leave your computer running 24/7? that's all Shiny and I have done for decades now. Apparently first boot is the most stressful time for hardware, so just letting it run isn't bad. Plus the energy costs are pretty minor compared to things like air conditioning.

True but have you seen the energy costs and inflation in Europe Best not to go crazy.

But yeah you're right about it being better for the PC of course...still, hope it can hold out another 4-5 months until I get my bonus and can splash out on a new one.

So, of course, it craps out completely a mere two days after I wrote that.

There's good news though: it's "just" the GPU, as I suspected. After the first failure to boot I took it out and tried to boot using the mobo's onboard GPU and...booted just fine. Just for good measure I slotted the GPU in again and nothing. Clearly there is some sort of bad contact there that has now finally given the ghost. I don't have an oven here but I'll take it along with me when I visit my parents next, not like I have anything to lose now.

So probably just gonna buy a new GPU for now and keep the full upgrade for later.

Amd is about to do new gen launch at the start of December. If you can get away with an older gpu from a friend, you're bound to get some good value leading to christmas.

Yeah and there's also Black Friday deals coming up soon, so definitely gonna hold out for a little longer. I can still play older adventure games with the mobo's onboard GPU so don't even need to borrow one from a friend.

I had a quick look at the prices though and they're still quite inflated. If I would just buy the same card again as I had for several years I'd be paying as much and maybe even more than I did back then. That's pretty depressing.

Even though it's not as bad, there's still a chip shortage. We're well over 1 year behind on orders through work for routers and switches due to it all. I am so glad I gave in and upgraded back in 2019, I'd be so pissed off if I needed anything right now.

Maybe the EU is slightly different, but GPU prices here are actually running at MSRP... it's just that the cards themselves are more expensive. What used to be a $700 card is now priced at $1000. I guess you could equate the higher MSRP with the shortage and inflation, but I suspect those prices are here to stay.

Anyway, sorry to hear your GPU crapped out. It's good it lasted as long as it did, with prices and availability over the last few years. I'm still rocking my gtx1080 for now. I'm looking forward to some 1v1 action of the new AMD and nvidia cards. Once those are priced reasonably and the price of DDR5 comes down a bit, I'm definitely building a new machine.

From what I remember during one of our calls about it at work (which could be wrong), the EU has zero microchip manufacturers but also Ukraine usually outputs 90% of the uranium(?) used in the laser cutters that the US uses for them. I think we make normal chips but not micro. So we've been hit harder than the US because what few chips you guys (and I assume some countries in Asia) are making are probably being kept mostly for yourselves. PS5s are getting sort of available now so it's easing, but definitely still a shortage here.

So, update!

I baked my old GPU when I was visiting my parents (I don't have an oven here) and whaddayaknow, the damn thing works again! It hasn't crashed a single time since I did so and it's been weeks. Pretty cool.

I had already ordered a new GPU in the meantime, a Geforce RTX 3060 ventus (MSI), for about 400 euros. If you check benchmarks it's not even THAT much better than my old card, despite it being 5 years old and having paid less money for it even back then than I paid for the new one. So yeah the prices are still jacked up, sadly. I'm not gonna slot it in yet and keep it on hand for when the old one inevitably dies soon. Alternatively, I'll just have fun with slowly assembling an entirely new PC and then use it for that one. We'll see. Either way I'm back in business!

Weird... baking the GPU actually worked. Sorry, that kind of thing just really sounded like a bunch of BS to me. I'm glad it worked though! Grats! And good luck assembling a new machine. I'm still holding off here. Maybe in the new year. I'm going to sound old here, but currently I'm stacking up my dollars so I can max out my yearly IRA contributions for retirement.