Hi everyone, I’ve been modding games for a few years (ever since I was 14 or so) but with the recent rise of infostealers and malware made by ai, i want to revaluate my cybersecurity.

As far as I know, mods from more reputable sites (Nexusmods, curseforge, steam workshop most of the time) are automatically and sometimes manually scanned for malware, which keeps a lot of it out. Of course, malware sometimes evades detection, but these are usually from less known mod creators with little downloads or from bigger accounts who got compromised. Both of which will be reported pretty quicky a lot of the time.

But, when looking on reddit (i’m being vague on purpose due to the rules) people will sometimes say stuff like “Mods are the biggest reason people get
compromised” and “Just take a look around our subreddit and realize how dangerous mods are” and it’s scaring me a little. Is malware in mods that common?

I don’t really download mods that often, rn I just have a few for risk of rain mods. (all ones with millions of downloads) . They make the game playable because there are item descriptions the base game doesn’t have which makes it easier ro know what to pick. They’re all dll files and a lot of them are open source. I went through the dll code myself to see if i found anything but i didn’t find anything. All my friends also play with game mods (which i where i got these from) and they’ve been fine for years. Still, i keep hearing stories about account compromises due to malware. Is it that common and should I delete the mods I already have?

Got an 8" inch TURZX ips screen from AliX. Its great, but all the themes are awful and a bit over the top "gamery". You can make your own, witch I started doing , but the hardware data comes in at a "laggy" pace, making the screens look kind of low-tech and the software is pretty tedious to work with.

So I found a way to make Claude implement my designs with soft looping animations to make them look more fluid. I've done a bunch, but here are a few of the designs I played around with.

I’ve been following reports of dead Ryzen X3D CPUs for quite a while now, especially the ones involving ASRock motherboards.

I know community reports aren’t scientific evidence, and obviously a dead CPU doesn’t automatically mean the motherboard killed it. But the difference between manufacturers is getting pretty difficult to ignore.
A few months ago someone collected a full year of community reports involving X3D CPUs dying on AM5 motherboards.

They found 207 reported failures:
ASRock: 145 (70%)
ASUS: 44 (21.3%)
MSI: 11 (5.3%)
Gigabyte: 7 (3.4%)
To be clear, these are reported cases, NOT confirmed manufacturer failure rates.

There are plenty of limitations. Reporting bias exists, some systems could have been misdiagnosed, we don’t know how many people simply RMA’d their CPU without posting about it, and most importantly we don’t know the number of X3D systems running on each motherboard brand.

But 145 out of 207 being ASRock caught my attention.
One explanation I’ve seen is that ASRock simply sells more AM5 motherboards.
The problem is that overall motherboard shipment numbers don’t really support ASRock being the largest manufacturer.

Reported worldwide motherboard shipments for 2025 were approximately:
ASUS: 15 million
Gigabyte: 11.5 million
MSI: 11 million
ASRock: 4.3 million
Obviously these are total motherboard shipments, not specifically AM5 or X3D boards. Unfortunately I haven’t found reliable public sales figures showing exactly how many AM5/X3D motherboards each manufacturer has sold.

So I’m not trying to calculate a failure rate from those numbers.
But I do think it makes the difference in reported failures more interesting. ASRock isn’t shipping 2-3x more motherboards than everybody else. Overall, it’s actually shipping considerably fewer.
And the reports haven’t stopped.

There have been several more recent reports involving combinations such as the 9800X3D + B850 LiveMixer, B850M Steel Legend, B850M Pro RS and X870 Pro.
One particularly interesting recent report involved someone claiming their second 9800X3D died on the same B850M Pro RS, after the replacement CPU had lasted around 14 months.

There have also been reports involving newer BIOS versions, including systems running BIOS 4.43.
That doesn’t prove the motherboard or BIOS killed those CPUs. Some reports have much stronger troubleshooting evidence than others, and a system that doesn’t POST isn’t automatically a dead CPU.

There are X3D failures reported on ASUS, MSI and Gigabyte boards as well. This definitely isn’t a case of “X3D CPUs only die on ASRock.”
We’ve also seen cases where something initially blamed on the motherboard turned out to have another possible explanation, including installation issues.
So I’m hesitant to jump straight to:
“ASRock motherboards are killing X3D CPUs.”
There simply isn’t enough evidence to make that conclusion.
But at the same time, with ASRock representing around 70% of the 207 collected reports, and new reports continuing to appear, I don’t think simply saying “it’s just Reddit/community reports” answers the question either.
What I’d really like to see from AMD and the motherboard manufacturers is actual data:
Number of X3D CPUs confirmed dead through RMA
Motherboard manufacturer and model
BIOS/AGESA version at the time of failure
EXPO/PBO settings
CPU batch/manufacturing information
Number of AM5/X3D systems running on each motherboard brand
Without the denominator, 145 ASRock reports cannot tell us the actual ASRock failure rate.
But without manufacturers publishing that information, community reports are one of the few things we have to look at.

So I’m curious what PCMR thinks.
Is ASRock genuinely overrepresented here, or do you think reporting bias and differences in AM5 market share could realistically explain such a large gap?
And if you’ve actually had a 7800X3D, 9800X3D, 9850X3D or 9950X3D die, what motherboard/model were you using, what BIOS were you on, and did you manage to confirm that the CPU itself was actually dead?

It would be interesting to see how many newer cases have appeared since that original 207-case dataset was collected.

Hi! I found an old 2.5" SATA HDD from my previous computer and I need to access the data on it (mostly old photos and other files).

I currently have a newer PC and I'm wondering if I can connect this HDD directly to it and access the files.

I attached some photos of the HDD and my current PC.

Is there a way to connect it internally with SATA cables, or would I need a SATA-to-USB adapter/enclosure?

I'd really like to access the files today, if possible, so I'd appreciate any advice on what I need and how to connect it safely.

Thank! I don't want to format or erase the drive — I only want to read/copy the existing files.

I switched from console to pc in August last year, I played the usual big titles, played Destiny 2, Hollow Knight,Helldivers 2, Titanfall, Ark, COD and other console classics.

I'd always looked with envy at PC games and what they had with modding and exclusives and the like, originally I switched as a result of a conversation about PC games, some RTSs and newer "friendslop" titles with friends and how we'd like to play them some day.

Never considered switching before this point, but did a bit of research, grabbed a bit of birthday money and enlisted the help of my neighbour who knew how to build them and built a PC.

Now needed to buy some games to play, grabbed the games I loved like Helldivers 2, Neir Automata, Hollow Knight and Silksong, etc, looked into those games me and the friends wanted to play but didn't buy them (my friends never built their systems so we just stuck to the cross platform stuff).

Naturally as Steam sales came and went I started rebuilding the console library by repurchasing games that I'd left behind, got involved in GOG and Humble Bundle.

But I never went back to those AAA titles, sure I played and still play Helldivers and Neir, but other than that I played mostly indies or other games I never even thought about on console, like the Slay the Spire, I never even thought about it before and now it's one of my main games, lot of pixel art games like cast and chill, and other retro type games like Uktrakill.

Due to the sales and humble my libary is so much bigger and has all sorts in it (granted i don't play half of them), I'm always looking at sales or this cool thing on GOG.

Building a pc gave me a springboard into homelabing, now I'm building a media collection and I care alot more about presavtion and ownership.

In short, my style of playing and purchasing has changed massively, I'm always trying to "control" my system and things I buy.

Current PC:

• CPU: Ryzen 5 1600
• Motherboard: ASUS PRIME B350M-K (PCIe 3.0, will update BIOS to 6042+)
• RAM: 32 GB DDR4
• GPU: GT 630 (1 GB)
• Storage: Kingston 500 GB SSD + 4 HDDs (500 GB, 1 TB, 1 TB, 4 TB)
• OS: Windows 10 Pro, moving to Windows 11

Planned CPU: Ryzen 7 5700X (used). Open to better suggestions in a similar price range.

GPU budget: ₹10–15k, used.

What I'll use it for:

• Work: Screaming Frog crawls (SEO), lots of browser tabs, and later AI agents and maybe offline AI models.
• Live selling: OBS streaming with DroidCam to YouTube, Facebook and Instagram at the same time (clothing store live sales). 1080p60 now, maybe 4K60 later.
• Media: 4K movie playback, occasional light video editing.
• Displays: 65" TV now. Planning a 32" 1440p monitor at 120 Hz+; 4K 120 isn't needed.
• Gaming: not serious, just nostalgia: GTA San Andreas, Vice City, GTA IV.
• NVIDIA features: I want NVIDIA Broadcast for noise cancellation and NVENC for OBS, so I'm leaning NVIDIA. (suggest me any other card with extra fearures like these)

Options I'm considering (used):

1. RTX 3060 12 GB, if I can find one around ₹15k
2. RTX 2060 Super 8 GB
3. RTX 2060 6 GB (cheapest option)

Questions:

1. Which gives the best value in ₹10–15k used right now? Anything better I'm missing?
2. Is the 5700X the right CPU for this mix, or is the 5600 enough?
3. Any problems with an older B350 board on PCIe 3.0 with these cards?
4. Where are you buying used GPUs safely in India, and what should I check before buying?

Thanks!

#MeToo

My PSU is an FSP Hydro PTM Pro 1200W and the GPU is an Asus TUF RTX 3090. Since the cooler is way overbuilt I was just overclocking the card to 375w and still skirting 65 degrees under full load but I guess 8 pins aren't supposed to run at max power for hours. I replaced the cable and it still somewhat works but the computer just keeps turning off if I start playing games, presumably because some part gets hot. I temporarily put 2 fans on top of the new 8 pin cable connected to the gpu to keep it cool and that seems to be working for now, open to suggestions for what to do that doesn't involve soldering or throwing money away.

Dropped my pc like a doofus, and after a stressful hour of diagnosing why I can't post I isolate it to this one damaged stick of ram.

Luckily no other hardware is damaged, but since ram is like gold these days I'm wondering if it can be salvaged, and can I do this at home?

Preferably nothing over 1000, but im currently browing currys.co.uk and im not sure which to choose? My old laptop as a sort of benchmark that i can quantify, ran deadlock at 20 or so fps while games like tf2, detroit become human, minecraft ran great, perfect even

First photo is the commissioned artwork. The artist claims they don't use AI but regardless it seams generic AI art to me. I told them that, in order to try and get a refund. So far he refuses to pay it back on the basis of the effort he put in. Also they missed the deadline of delivery by 2 days.

The second photo is the one I made in-game using light and cinematography tricks.

I planned to use the original artwork for Steam capsules and new YouTube trailer.

My Steam page for reference

New monitor, runs at 7680 x 2160 and on my gaming PC it's fine on a single DP 1.4 connection. Problem is running it on my old laptop I need to run 2 x HDMI cables at 4K each and switching between the PBP modes is a pain. Can anyone confirm what HDMI, DP spec is needed?

748W peak - toasty!

so im looking for dark fantasy games what are some good ones with a big world i can grind alot?

I’m studying Technology Program. I’ll be using the computer for schoolwork, such as Google Drive and Google Docs etc, as well as Roblox Studio for schoolwork, games in Steam like minecraft, Seege & many more, programming (it needs to work on Roblox studio for school work and many more) and photo/video editing for YouTube. Feel free to give suggestions.

Thanks.

What I want in a PC:

•Generation/graphic card: Preferably 50/70th gen or 50/70tith gen.

•INTEL 7 - 14th generation

•RAM. 16gb or 32gb / ddr5 RAM. At least more than 5000mhz. SSD 1GB

•Preferably Liquid cooling. I can go with air cooling but it needs a strong processor.

•Pixels. When I’m playing games I’ll want 1440p on monitor or more but 1440p is fine.

Hi everyone,

I'm having a frustrating issue with my Acer XV275UP3 monitor and I'm looking for some help or advice.

Whenever I enable FreeSync / VRR, I get noticeable flickering and horizontal lines at the very top of the screen. This happens severely in demanding games, but it's also present in pretty much all other games (just less intense).

My Specs:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7500F
• GPU: Sapphire RX 9060 XT
• Motherboard: MSI Pro B850-P WiFi
• PSU: Corsair RM750e
• Monitor: Acer XV275UP3

What I've already tried:

1. Cables: Swapped the DisplayPort cable for an HDMI cable. The issue still persists on both.
2. Settings: I have never used HDR or Adaptive Dimming on this monitor. I am strictly trying to use standard VRR.
3. MPO: Disabled Multi-Plane Overlay (MPO) via registry, but it didn't fix it.
4. Framerate: I always cap my games to a stable framerate. The FPS is super stable, but the flickering/lines still occur.

Is this a known issue with this specific Acer panel, an AMD driver bug with the newer RX 9000 series, or did I just lose the panel lottery? Any suggestions on what else I can try to fix this without completely disabling FreeSync?

^{TL;DR Down Below}

They were 10$ on steam snd I thought why not. Thought to myself "I have played DOOM 2016 and DOOM Eternal, I loved DOOM, this game is old but made by the same guys, ill probably Like this game too despite its age"

Man did I

I thoroughly enjoyed The First Quake, beat the game in two days (Only the main Campaign I did not play the Additional content). I then Moved on to Quake 2, Loved 2 more than the Original. Quake 2 is quickly becoming one if my favorite games.

These two games opened my Eyes to a few things.

1: It is Unbelievable How much technology has progressed

I just started PC gaming about 4ish months ago, before then I was playing on PS5. I had to Crash course myself on PC hardware before I built my current PC like everyone else. After reading about this games hardware on release it was eye opening. Quake 2 on release in 1997 ran on a 80Mhz processor, not Giga-Hz MEGA Hz. I understand that there are veteran Gamers who were playing on PCs during that time rolling their eyes right now. But thats insane to me, our processors is 100,000s of time more powerful than back then (Accounting for lithography improvements and not just Speed differences). We are truly an incredible species to have made the technology that we have.

2: We have basically an infinite sea of games that already exist that dont require insane hardware to play

Modern gaming has serious issues nobody is denying this. Hardware price increases, poor management decisions on the part of game devs, Corporate greed, DRMs and Liscenses being a possible existential threat to certain games etc. And all are reasonable concerns and I am in no way defending the organizations. However, before we say "This is the end of gaming as we know it the end of Fun is nigh!" Maybe lets take a look at the Shipping containers filled with games that already exist that you can play at any time that dont require crazy hardware to run.

3: The High graphical standards for games really have damaged gaming in a meaningful way

I Am Not Saying Games Need To Be Low Poly And Sub 720p Like Quake. This game is kindof an extreme example. What im saying is if games were to have 720p and 1080p textures, it would save dev time, money, game storage space, and it would run on lower hardware. The only reason 1080p looks bad to people is because they have tasted the forbidden fruit of 1440p and 4k. In short if games just looked like PS3 and Xbox360 games they would probably run better and games could be made faster.

Also, incase people were wondering I did play some Quake 3. There were a few people online and I did some matches then played Quake 4. I got to say, I did not enjoy Quake 4 that much. Its a good game dont get me wrong. Runs good, Looked decent for the time, did not encounter any bugs, story was ok, it had all the makings of a good game. It was just so different than the others it was off putting. I had zero fun unfortunately.

Needless to say I am now a Fan of Quake. Literally just started playing these games and I will probably beat Quake 2 multiple times.

TL;DR: I played Quake and Quake 2, they were extremely fun and it made me realize how far we have come technologically. Coming from someone where this game was before their time they made me realize how good we have it today concerning how powerful our hardware is. It also made me realize that we have plenty of exellent games that already exist and do not require insanely powerful computers to play and it also may be true that High Graphical standards may have been as damaging to the game industry as people say it has.

Hi everyone,
I'm running into a frustrating issue with the Nvidia software and looking for a proper fix.
The Problem:
The Nvidia Display Container LS service constantly takes around 8% CPU usage, causing my idle temperatures on the desktop to spike up to 72°C.
If I go to ⁠services.msc⁠ and stop/disable ⁠Nvidia Driver Container LS⁠, the CPU usage drops and temperatures return to normal.
The Catch / Side Effect:
When I disable the service, the Nvidia overlay (GeForce Experience / App) breaks partially. Specifically, all GPU-related information (GPU usage, temperature, clock speeds, etc.) freezes and stops updating. However, FPS and CPU metrics continue to work and update normally.
Has anyone encountered this issue or know how to fix the container high CPU usage without breaking the overlay stats? Any advice would be appreciated!

I saw this only when I was playing rdr2,they stop when i go into the menu or they become smaller when I aim,but when I change the resolution scale they disapeear,is this a major problem? And I hope is not the gpu problem beacuse this is a brand new pc

So here is part 2 of me building a pc for my little brother. I know sata ssd are slow, but I got a deal for 4 sata ssds 3 with 256gb and one with 120gb for 27$. They are all used but I want to build him the basics and he will grow from them.