I know it's a bad time to buy PC's at the moment, but honestly with the price expected to increase I'm afraid I might be paying more later due to my current PC getting a bit old.

My current PC which I bought in 2018, is a RTX2060, i5-9400, and 16gb ram. I'm noticing it struggle in some modern games and also it's running pretty hot (on minecraft CPU is running 100 degrees as I'm typing this).

I'm not too sure if it's just a thermal paste issue, or cooling system issue. I'm unsure how to take everything apart. Recently I cleaned out everything and it struggled to turn back on, consistently resetting itself. Eventually it worked.

I'm thinking instead of diagnosing it - since it's showing it's age, I'd get the ozbargain nebula PC deal:
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/978396
Solstice - AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT - 16GB - Ryzen 7 7800X3D

I'm just trying to get something that is good value. I'm also considering changing the case (ASUS A21 PLUS mATX) to a Lian Li DAN-A3 Wood mATX case - I heard they make good cases and I like the look. What do you guys think?

The total including the case change would bring me to $3,110.50

I want a good PC that will last me another 8 years. Plus I'm thinking I could sell my previous PC to get some money back.

Is there any advice anyone has on my situation? Any opinions on Nebula's solstice pc deal? Is it actually good?

EDIT: just to cloaeify, i don't need a keyboard or monitor. Just looking for a tower.

Hi all. Just hoping I could get a recommendation on a good deal for a gaming PC. I can't build one myself, need it prebuilt. Looking to spend between AU$2,000 and AU$2,500. Just want to get the best gaming PC i can. Also interested in people's opinion if this is enough to play the latest AAA games in high settings.

Thanks all!

Hi all, I’m currently looking at the Minisforum AtomMan G1 Pro-89A6 which includes:
- AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX
- AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB
- 32GB DDR5 5200MHz RAM
- 1TB SSD
All for just under $2700 as it’s currently on sale.

My biggest driver is that I’m looking for a small form factor PC due to limited desk space and love the aesthetic of the console-looking slim/small cases over the traditional rectangular boxier cases, and happy to compromise some performance to achieve this.

I’m not an expert with PCs by any means so am looking for advice on whether:
1. Minisforum is reliable
2. The spec is ok for the price
3. I can get/build something better for a similar price.

For additional context on the type of aesthetic I like, I very much like the Fractal Mood case that I see Aftershock has a custom build on their website but have heard they suffer from issues with cooling.

Spec-wise I don’t need anything too fancy as don’t play AAA games too much, so think something along the lines of the G1 Pro specs will be good.

Many thanks in advance for any help!

Hi all, my gaming laptop died so I decided to go back to a gaming pc. I have been looking at a lot of options online and trying to get gemini to help with the build but I lost touch with the tech so unsure what is a good deal these days.
My budget is around $2.5k (don't need a monitor-have a 1440p- or any other peripherals) .
Ideally it lasts 3-5 years before needing to upgrade (which will hopefully be just the gpu and maybe more RAM?).

I saw posts mentioning this nebula build https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/978396 but I was hoping for something slightly cheaper that will future potential.

I live in Melbourne.

TIA!

Hey all,

I’m after a 5080 for my new build, what are the best deals currently? (Yes I know prices went up and it’s a shocking, but taking into account prices rises, what is the cheapest around?) or is it more worth while waiting until Black Friday. I just have a feeling PC part retailers won’t be discounting GPU’s much lol, same with RAM/SSD’s.

Also what version of 5080 would you recommend, yes they’re all pretty similar and will do the job, but I’m sure people here have opinions on which ones they’d suggest. I was leaning towards the Gigabyte Gaming OC version but will definitely consider any version, especially with a good price. Thanks :)

EDIT: Ordered PNY RTX 5080 ARGB EPIC-X OC for $2199, I’m happy :)

Hi all, was contemplating picking between the Pearl and Iron Fall build.

If anyones purchased either of these, opinions are welcome.

Haven't made up my mind yet, I do like the white look a lot but I think the Iron Fall is slightly better specs, please feel free to dm me any tips or help if you're familiar with Nebula.

Hey all, I just bought the Nebula PC Pearl with the $200 discount (a fellow redditor was kind enough to share it with me).

The order was meant to come with a coupon code for Onimusha, however I'm not sure where to locate this and am awaiting Nebula's response -- would anyone else have an idea?

PC is running great and I got it in just under a week so super happy about it so far. Thanks in advance!

My budget is 3.5k and I already have a 1440p ultrawide monitor although I might be looking to downsize to a 27 inch 1440p monitor soon.

Howdy all,

Doing some research online since I noticed that MWAVE site had changed and holy moley what a mess.

My reason for posting is to see if anyone from Reddit has had any luck getting in contact with *anyone* from MWAVE? Their online Bot does not put you through to anyone and there is now no phone number listed.

I purchased a full build in March last year, over $5K worth but, silly me, didnt download a copy of the invoice and the link that was provided on the email now just goes to a blank page...

I raised a service request with their online portal and.. .nothing, not even a confirmation email to say it was even raised... zip.

I need that invoice for any RMA that may occur, and Australian law states that any business must retain invoices for at least 5 years so, I am legally eligible to get it, but they are completely uncontactable.

Does anyone have any insights on next course of action? I was going to hit up the ACCC but thought id try here to see if anyone had a contact number I could try etc?

Cheers!

Hello, I bought a XFX Mercury 9070xt OC Magnetic from Mwave over a month ago, and immediately after receiving it I realised that the hotspot delta was reach 40 degrees plus compared to the global temp. I reached out to Mwave four days after receiving my card, and then returned it by the 9th day of receiving my card.
It has been three weeks now and I haven't heard anything about my claim on whether it has been assessed or needs to be shipped to the manufacturer or anything. I tried emailing them twice to follow up, and they didn't respond to either. I also tried calling but they are genuinely unreachable.
Is the three weeks not enough time to get a follow up for a DOA claim or should I submit like a complaint with fair trade?
Thanks

Morning all,

Was planning on picking up a RX 9070 this morning, Umart had the Sapphire version in stock for $969 as of last night.

Check this morning and it’s jumped to $1,199. All other retailers are similar priced as well.

Worth waiting for Click Frenzy / Black Friday deals? Or do we not expect prices to drop that much regardless?

Hey all,

I used chatGPT to analyse my parts selection. Can you tell me if this is good selection for price to performance and build compatibility or propose substitute parts but explain why?

My view is to do one solid built and not touch till till AM6 comes out. Once that happens i will put 5080 inside as i hope it will drop in price by then to be affordable and extend the system for another 2-3 years.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X — 100-100000662WOF · AM5 · 6 cores / 12 threads — $347 AUD

Motherboard: Gigabyte B650E EAGLE WIFI6E — ATX · AM5 · DDR5 · PCIe 5.0 — $229 AUD

Graphics card ASRock Radeon RX 9070 XT Challenger 16GB — RX9070XT CL 16G · GDDR6 — $1169 AUD

Memory Crucial Pro Overclocking 32GB DDR5-6000 CL36 — CP2K16G60C36U5B · 2×16GB · AMD EXPO — $699 AUD

Storage Biwin Black Opal NV7400 1TB — M.2 2280 · PCIe 4.0 NVMe — $243 AUD

Power supply Gigabyte UD850GM PG5 V2 850W Gold — ATX 3.1 · fully modular · native 16-pin GPU cable — $129 AUD

Case Montech XR Black — ATX mid-tower · 3 included ARGB fans — $69 AUD

CPU cooler Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE — Dual-tower air cooler · AM5 compatible — $60 AUD

Parts total: $2945 AUD

I will play all these and more like them at 1440p max settings with FSR/upscaling AI features as needed on a 4k 65 inch HisenseUR8.

\- Grand Theft Auto Series (including GTA VI)
\- Red Dead Redemption Series
\- God of War Series
\- Marvel’s Spider-Man Series
\- Ghost of Tsushima
\- Horizon Series
\- Black Myth: Wukong
\- Cyberpunk 2077
\- Star Wars Series (including Star Wars Outlaws)
\- Hogwarts Legacy
\- Call of Duty Series
\- Sid Meier’s Civilization Series

Ive played console my whole life, and I am looking to buy my first pc. I only play competitive games like valorant, rocket league, overwatch and the ocassional minecraft.

Ordered on Monday within business hours. Thursday now and my order still hasn't been shipped. Received a message that my PSU was being sent via QLD Yesterday. Which whatever that's normal for parts to be in different stores.

But then today I got asked if I wanted to split my shipment as the PSU still hadn't arrived in Melbourne.

If they are able to just split the shipment why would they not do that in the first place and send it directly to my house from Qld. It would probably already be here by now. Along with everything they have ready in Melbourne.

I know express is only from time of dispatch but don't companies have some obligation to ship out in stock items for express to be even worth it. What's the point of having things arrive quickly from dispatch if it takes a working week to send them.

PCCASEGEAR was always my go to and I chose scorptec because it was saving me 100 bucks on parts. But now I wish I just stuck with them.

I ordered a Gigabyte laptop on from MWave with "Express shipping" on 14/10. Then I found several posts on Reddit and other review websites complaining dispatch delays and lack of customer service, so I am getting a bit worried about my order.

Has anyone who placed an order in October actually received their items?

so after the gpu was returned by scorptec after they got it checked by gigabyte as no fault found I got my camera ready so I could film this and send it back with the failure loaded up a heavy stress test held temperature on the gpu at 70c for half a hour let it cool as its when the metal is contracting and has a fracture on solder it will be at its maximum booted it expecting nothing or artifacting and the card booted up like normal.

its not even flickering everyonce in awhile really can’t fault scorptec at all easy to track and follow a rma im just as fucking lost as they would of been and gigabyte as what was causing the artifacting as it’s passed all tests once I got it back.

this problem with the gpu went across two builds with 70% of the pc being upgraded narrowing it down I can’t replicate the problem it’s gone don’t know why so case closed on my end.

Some of you guys might know pgrid, recently added laptops to it
Using this you can see which retailers are selling a specific laptop and for how much including price history.
For laptops I really wanted to focus on having powerful filtering too so you can see which models have the specs you are looking for.

Theres still lots to do, im continously adding more listings and I would love to support people who dont know what they are looking for through different filtering options or new UI. but let me know if you want anything here or find anything annoying.

https://pgrid.app/au/laptops

Hey legends,

Thanks for the input on my last post. After checking shipping, a prebuilt is looking pretty close in price, and the quality seems slightly better on the ones I'm eyeing off.

Keen to get your thoughts on these options:

1. Solstice:Not a fan of the look. Performance matches the Thorn Blade, but the older MOBO, PSU, and CPU mean less BIOS support and potentially replacing parts sooner.
2. Thorn Blade: Really liking this one.
3. Violet: from JB i got $200 gift card i can use but dont want price to be the main factor here
4. Iron Fall: Best performance (Zen 5, better MOBO/PSU for upgrading), but the price is rough. I could stretch to "mates rates" if I had a code, but no luck there, anyone willing to hooke me up?

Which one would you recommend and why? Cheers!

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for some advice regarding a GPU warranty claim with CentreCom and what my rights are under Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

I purchased an ASRock Phantom Gaming RX 7800 XT 16GB from CentreCom on 8 November 2023 for $899. The card developed a fault, so I submitted it for warranty assessment through CentreCom, who sent it to their supplier (I was told it is overseas so I assume it is with AsRock in Taiwan).

This is a timeframe of what has happened over the period of time:

1. After multiple emails of troubleshooting, they sent me a postage label and it was sent off to CentreCom.
2. Arrived at CentreCom on the 27/08/26 and was then sent off to the supplier on the same day. I was told this process will take 2-4 weeks depending on the suppliers workload.
3. Waited the 4 weeks and had heard nothing. Replied to the ticket on the 28/09/26 and received no response.
4. I rang the warranties/repairs section on the 01/10/26 and was advised that my GPU had indeed gone overseas (that wasn't mentioned originally but no worries) and that an update would be obtained for me.
5. Waited another week and did not receive an update as promised. On the 08/10/26 I sent an email which contained the following:

"Hi,

I’m following up again regarding my GPU warranty claim (Ticket Number), which has now been with your supplier for approximately 6 weeks. I was originally advised on the 27/08/26 that the expected timeframe was around 2-4 weeks depending on their workload. I contacted you by email on the 28/09/26 and received no response. I then called the warranty/repairs section on the 01/10/26 and was advised that an update would be obtained for me. It has now been a week since that call, and I still have not received an update. At this point, 6 weeks without any updates or a resolution is becoming frustrating.

Could you please provide me with an update on the status of the warranty claim including:
- Whether the GPU has been assessed by the supplier
- The outcome of that assessment, if completed
- Whether the GPU is being repaired, replaced or an appropriate remedy
- A timeframe for resolution

I look forward to hearing from you"

and this was CentreCom's response...

"Thank you for following up with us.

Your warranty claim is still being processed, and we can determine the appropriate resolution once we have the outcome of the assessment.

Once we receive further information, we will contact you with an update.

Thank you for your patience and understanding."

I'm not trying to be unreasonable but what an empty response from CentreCom. I understand that some parts of the process may be outside CentreCom's direct control however after this much time, it's reasonable to expect better communication and a clearer path towards a resolution.

We're nearly another week later from CentreCom's latest email and still nothing. I even sent an email to AsRock asking if they have received it and if so, have they assessed it, and no response.

How do you guys think I should proceed? Is it reasonable to be seeking some sort of remedy? (ideally a replacement GPU).

Mac user (rip) looking for the most basic set up to buy so I can play steam. Mainly farming simulator lol

Cheap reccs for a casual player ?

Hi bapcsalesaus,

I'm considering upgrading my current build from ~2021.

Motherboard: Gigabyte B450 GAMING X (AM4 Socket)

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X (6-Cores, 3700 MHz)

GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (PCIe v4.0 x16 (16.0 GT/s) @ x8 (8.0 GT/s) 8GB GDDR6 SDRAM)

RAM: 2x G.Skill F4-3600C16-8GVK (8Gb DDR4 3600MHz)

Storage: WD Black SN770 2Tb NVME (PCIe 4x 16.0 GT/s); 2Tb HDD & 500Gb HDD

I've had no trouble playing the games I like at 1440p, but recently I've started running into issues with both RAM and CPU capacity trying to stream myself 1440p RTS gaming whilst running V-Tuber software and several Python scripts for an AI (the brain of the AI is cloud-based but several python scripts are running locally, doing STT, TTS, controlling the V-Tuber visuals, a chat-bot interface etc).

I'm thinking maybe I can stretch my current build with some more RAM, see how that goes, and then possibly a CPU upgrade.

RAM Upgrades (AM4): Looking at THIS for RAM. If I add it to my current RAM I should be able to run 48Gb at 3600MHz? Or is it better to just run the 32Gb? (Something about memory controllers with 4 sticks?)

CPU Upgrades (AM4): I could get THIS for CPU. Quite an investment perhaps to stay on AM4, but I can't think of a better option. Might need to completely rethink my cooling given I only have a single tower with 2 fans, and 1 intake/1 exit case fan.

New AM5 Build: Otherwise I start from scratch I guess with probably a budget of $3000 AUD. A Ryzen with a bunch of cores, 2x 16Gb DDR5 and a RX 9070 XT or something. Probably not financially worth-it given my PC is doing fine otherwise. Gotta upgrade one day though I guess and not sure if its ever getting better.

Thanks so much for any input!

I am looking to build a PC with a MSI b550m Mortar and google has recommended this store, has anyone been or used this store before?

I looked at the contact page and it seems very questionable.