PC related hardware purchase that you regret very quickly after purchase.

[chrcoluk]

I brought a Elgato HD 60 X to replace the HD 60 S+, was reasonably happy as it added 1440p support and VRR support.

Then discovered last week when investigating USB bandwidth requirements there is a 4K X model, which utilises 10gbit of USB 3.2 instead of 5gbit meaning 4:4:4 colours on capture and 4k capture is possible. Price less than 15% higher. (for @TheLostSwede this one does come with USB-C cable both ends).

Kind of tempted but also means I am paying extra for the 4K X then I would have done had I purchased it straight off.

Curious if anyone else has PC related purchases they regretted within a couple of months of buying.

 

[kapone32]

My last hurrah for AM4. Got the MB X570S Ace Max and love it. Get the CPU 5800X3D and ok 1% lows are great for RTS Games. Splurge on some Team Extreme 3600 15-15-15- whatever RAM. The fastest you can get and....absolutely no discernible difference between that and the previous set but now I was out $300, yep those Team Extreme are just about the most expensive DDR4 RAM kits to buy unless you are going with Royal 4000 with tight timings.

 

[wolf]

Ryzen 5900X, while it was a good bit faster than the 3700X it replaced, unfortunately had incurable WHEA 18 hard crashes, (and application crashes not seen with CPU's before or after) that could not be resolved and, ultimately, with a lot of back and forth and arguing about everything that was attempted along the way, was RMA'd and I got a 5800X3D.

It was almost a year iirc of cat-and-mouse frustration with trying things that appeared to help, only to have the thing application/hard crash in the middle of gaming sessions; the damn thing almost brought me to the brink; I should have never bought the damn thing and just got a 5600X or waited for the 5800X3D. The only blemish on an otherwise very positive AM4 experience, but man it almost broke me.

Here is an example of one of the most frustrating crashes. Halo MCC (halo 2), legendary, multiple skulls on, last two enemies (honor guard) in the level, even saved the rocket launcher for them the entire time, only for it to crash when the rocket hits the first of two.

 

[dgianstefani]

My last hurrah for AM4. Got the MB X570S Ace Max and love it. Get the CPU 5800X3D and ok 1% lows are great for RTS Games. Splurge on some Team Extreme 3600 15-15-15- whatever RAM. The fastest you can get and....absolutely no discernible difference between that and the previous set but now I was out $300, yep those Team Extreme are just about the most expensive DDR4 RAM kits to buy unless you are going with Royal 4000 with tight timings.

3600/15 is nowhere near the fastest you can get... With those timings it's not B die either, so bad subtimings.
3800/14 and 4000/14 exist, plus you need a good display and a fast enough GPU to notice.

Expensive does not equal good.

I regret "upgrading" to AM5. Should have bought a 4080S and held off till Arrow Lake instead.

 

[JWNoctis]

Combo memory card reader that somehow got stuck to USB 2.0 speeds despite having a Type-C interface. Had to RMA it within the week too when it just stopped working. Still stuck with the replacement that at least worked. Joke's on me for not looking hard enough.

 

[Super Firm Tofu]

Yeah, but I don't want to talk about it.

I swear I'll never do it again.

Probably.

 

[Launcestonian]

Nearest thing to this would be a graphics card holder, wasn't long before I upgraded the motherboard & it came with a built in graphics card holder.
Now I have a spare one sitting around doing nothing...

 

[3DVCash]

InWin A3 case...

It was way bigger in person than I imagined with quite a bit of wasted space, CPU temps were abysmal and it literally fell apart! Whatever adhesive they used on the gold-colored trim failed and it peeled off... followed by the tempered glass panel.

Finally just moved my entire build to the new Dan Case A3. Couldn't be happier!

 

[Hyderz]

my external portable 2tb seagate hdd... 6 weeks of travel in japan all gone down the drain....

 

[JIWIL]

Bought a Logitech G710 when they first came out, about 12 years ago. Before I knew the difference between Cherry blues and Cherry reds. Ended up passing it on and buying a G710+, only just replaced it after more than a decade.

 

[64K]

This thread has reminded me that I haven't suffered hardly at all from hardware choices except one time and it was a doozy. Bought an eMachine with Windows ME on it back in 2000. That one I did regret very quickly but was able to return it in time to spare me further trouble.

 

[joemama]

For me, it was a curved VA monitor.
The curved part wasn't the problem, but the VA was. The VA panel's smearing was just too much for night scenes in games, whenever the camera moves it turns darker and lights back up when the movement stops.

 

[JIWIL]

Oh yeah, back around 2000ish I bought one of those little blower exhaust fans that came on a PCI bracket and was meant to slot next to your GPU. It was $#%(*& useless and I can still hear it screeching sometimes.

 

[tabascosauz]

Curious if anyone else has PC related purchases they regretted within a couple of months of buying.

Every single one of my APUs. 4650G (had to be OEM back in 2020), 5600G, 5700G. Had some memory OC fun but any Rocket Lake or Alder Lake would probably have given more fun. Never enough gaming on the unimpressive dinosaur iGPU to justify their price.

Flirted with the idea of a 8700G, but I've learned my lesson. Second hand RTX A2000 thrashes all of the above, for less platform cost overall.

5700G put out to pasture doing decent office work now. But that's hardly a task that just about any other CPU couldn't handle these days.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

A 2nd 7970, I was already rocking SLI GTX 680s and was curious about Crossfire it was an absolute SS.....

Power consumption was crazy also like 200w higher than my SLI 680s at the wall.

 

[Toothless]

Seems i got lucky. Just a vertical GPU bracket that I ended up taking out. Looks pretty but is a absolute pain to install/remove.

 

[eidairaman1]

Asus P4S8X, some kingston ddr, GF MX4, GF 2 GTS Pro, IBM Deathstar

 

[Bagerklestyne]

I get buyers remorse for nearly anything over 10 bucks.

I'll definitely hate myself when I get a 32" 4k oled later this year (whatever model I end up with)

 

[Apocalypsee]

For me, it was a curved VA monitor.
The curved part wasn't the problem, but the VA was. The VA panel's smearing was just too much for night scenes in games, whenever the camera moves it turns darker and lights back up when the movement stops.

Have you tried this? I also use curved VA panels it was very poor for night scene like you say, but this fixes it

VA monitor smearing? Fixed with a driver/colour profile!

TL;DR: Colour profile from LG monitor fixed VA monitor smearing on three different brand monitors. Skip to the very bottom for an install guide for the colour profile. This specific LG .icc file is attached to the post, but not the whole driver. So I had a fun situation here, one particular...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[Princess Garnet]

Thankfully, nothing yet? Nothing that I can think of offhand, anyway.

I've certainly made purchases I didn't need, but they were never things I regretted. They were still things I wanted and things I was was happy with after I got them.

I like to (and I'm going to do a rare self brag here) think I'm pretty familiar with what I would or wouldn't want, so I'll only buy something if I'm willing to exchange the current asking price for whatever it is. That doesn't mean I find everything I buy to be without issue, but something having an unforeseen issue isn't something I would qualify (at least solely) as something to regret having purchased, per se. To me, regretting it would be more of "oh, I didn't want this after all" and not "oh, this had unforeseen issues but otherwise would want it".

I often deliberate on purchasing decisions, so I'm usually not impulsive, at least not with larger purchases. Often times, once I finally do make a purchase, it's something I've already mentally gone back and forth on, sometimes numerous times, and then finally decide "okay".

A common one I see people doing is going "I bought X and price changed to Y after Z weeks/months" and then declaring that they regret it, and I'm like... "why?". Even if something drops in price after I buy it, I literally do... not.... care. I mean, why should I!? I was willing to pay asking price when it was X, right? So to regret it after a price change signals to me maybe you didn't find it worth it after all. "But I could have saved X amount" might be true, but if you weren't willing to spend the price before it dropped, then you should be willing to enjoy it all the same. Prices are never going to stay the same for eternity (nor should they) so you have to live with that one. I think others are sometimes, and I hate to say this, but impulsive, less researched, and/or a little entitled when it comes to these things.

 

[nguyen]

Bought a Corsair Champion K70 and Razer Viber V2 Pro at computer shop in Japan and they are poor quality, no idea why.

The volume scroll on the keyboard and the scroll wheel on the mouse both broken after 6 months

 

[kapone32]

3600/15 is nowhere near the fastest you can get... With those timings it's not B die either, so bad subtimings.
3800/14 and 4000/14 exist, plus you need a good display and a fast enough GPU to notice.

Expensive does not equal good.

I regret "upgrading" to AM5. Should have bought a 4080S and held off till Arrow Lake instead.

Well it is a 7900XT and I play at 4K before that it was a 6800XT. Let's also remember that SAM is also a feature today. I am confident it is the Vcache though as using that same RAM kit with my 5950X did see an improvement. I said 4000 and my RAM is actually 14 as well. It is the Team Extreme, you guys reviewed the 16GB kit. The RAM I have can also do 4000 on OC but I like my RAM at 1.35 volts and not 1.45 for 4000.

You might be the only person given the recent news that has AM5 as a regret. We already are getting new CPUs for our (X670E is more flexible then X870E) MBs and then more are coming at the end of the year. I mean it is still 2024 and AMD has said we will have support until 2027 at least. We also have the historical example of AM4.

 

[Jetster]

A10 - AMD they were junk

 

[oxrufiioxo]

I regret "upgrading" to AM5. Should have bought a 4080S and held off till Arrow Lake instead.

Although I am on AM5 now I am glad I grabbed a 4090 instead and waited it out.

I either could go 4090 at the time or do a platform upgrade to a 7950X/13900k not both. I am glad I enjoyed the nearly two years of the fastest gpu over a cpu I probably wouldn't have noticed till I upgraded my gpu also.

I guess it would have been nice with the decompression stuff I do but that's it.

 

[joemama]

Have you tried this? I also use curved VA panels it was very poor for night scene like you say, but this fixes it

VA monitor smearing? Fixed with a driver/colour profile!

TL;DR: Colour profile from LG monitor fixed VA monitor smearing on three different brand monitors. Skip to the very bottom for an install guide for the colour profile. This specific LG .icc file is attached to the post, but not the whole driver. So I had a fun situation here, one particular...

www.techpowerup.com

That was in 2020 so I wasn't able to find any methods at the moment, I just sold the monitor not long afterwards