built a new PC - what apps/ programs should I download

[fineslime]

for the first time ever, and with the help of my brother, I built a custom PC yesterday! this is the first PC I've owned in years, and by far the nicest computer I've ever owned. it has a high end graphics card and premium CPU. basically, it has the ability to run whatever I want on it.

what applications should I install, and what programs should I download to get the most out of my new computer? my main use of the computer is to record music and audio, but I'm also getting more into PC gaming because of it. I already have fruity loops installed, but I think I'll be switching to ableton.

any advice from other computer pals on what I can do to get the most out of my new system?

[skate_bored]

session skate is really fun. you can use a playstation controller and prob even cast to a tv. the pc version will lead you down a rabbit hole of mods (gear, maps, etc) that make the game 1000x better than the console version. havent played in a while but i spent a couple months enjoying it before life got busy.

[fineslime]

session skate is really fun. you can use a playstation controller and prob even cast to a tv. the pc version will lead you down a rabbit hole of mods (gear, maps, etc) that make the game 1000x better than the console version. havent played in a while but i spent a couple months enjoying it before life got busy.

I've already got skater XL with an xbox controller, and have been putting some time in on that. from what I hear session is way better though.

[Billy Bitchcakes]

The first thing I always download on a new Windows install is Classic Shell. Makes the Start menu into a Windows 7 style navigation which IMO is way easier. I then change the taskbar options to never combine task windows. That's just me though. Also Firefox, Winrar, VLC and Search Everything (file searcher that gives instant results, very helpful)

[in love w/ fs shuvs]

Spotify, Brave or Firefox.

[skate_bored]

Expand Quote

session skate is really fun. you can use a playstation controller and prob even cast to a tv. the pc version will lead you down a rabbit hole of mods (gear, maps, etc) that make the game 1000x better than the console version. havent played in a while but i spent a couple months enjoying it before life got busy.

[close]

I've already got skater XL with an xbox controller, and have been putting some time in on that. from what I hear session is way better though.

spent a lot of time on skater XL unmodded on PS4 and it was fun but session was like a totally different beast. if you go deep into setting up the mods, you have so many maps and options, plus you can make your character super realistic (less floaty than XL) and its a real good time. you'll get more familiar with your computer too, because you are installing a couple programs, getting into the game folders. all of that was half the fun for me.

[Sativa Lung]

The first thing I always download on a new Windows install is Classic Shell. Makes the Start menu into a Windows 7 style navigation which IMO is way easier. I then change the taskbar options to never combine task windows. That's just me though. Also Firefox, Winrar, VLC and Search Everything (file searcher that gives instant results, very helpful)

I'm still just straight running win 7 because I hate win10 so much, even with classic shell. Its getting harder as more devs stop supporting it but I tend to take "if it ain't broke..." pretty seriously with software. I ran WinXP until about 2009ish and only upgraded to 7 because of driver support.

[rocklobster]

VLC
Spotify
Google Chrome / Firefox
Google Drive / Dropbox
Adobe Reader

If you're gaming and want to tweak your CPU / GPU performance then get MSI Afterburner (GPU tuning), CPU-Z (testing overclocking), Ryzen Master (for AMD overclocking), Steaming and associated apps for the RGB stuff (Razer, Gigabyte, etc).

[fineslime]

VLC
Spotify
Google Chrome / Firefox
Google Drive / Dropbox
Adobe Reader

If you're gaming and want to tweak your CPU / GPU performance then get MSI Afterburner (GPU tuning), CPU-Z (testing overclocking), Ryzen Master (for AMD overclocking), Steaming and associated apps for the RGB stuff (Razer, Gigabyte, etc).

I've got a Ryzen CPU so I'll look into this. Before I installed windows my brother went into the bios and made sure everything was optimized. If by being into gaming you mean playing Fall Guys nonstop, yeah, I'm for sure into gaming XD.

Cyber Punk just finished downloading too so I'm gonna give that a whirl.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

[Síota]

Windows 10 is fucking shite.

[in love w/ fs shuvs]

Windows 10 is fucking shite.

10 > 11

Are hackintoshes still a thing?

[rocklobster]

Expand Quote

Windows 10 is fucking shite.

[close]

10 > 11

Every day of the week baby.

[linty]

Are hackintoshes still a thing?

Yes, definitely. Was running Mojave (Clover bootloader) very smoothly for a long time until my motherboard stopped working this spring. Trying to get Ventura installed but setting up Opencore /w newer components has been a challenge. Apple's moving on from Intel Macs so that might cause a hiccup in the near future.

The first thing I always download on a new Windows install is Classic Shell. Makes the Start menu into a Windows 7 style navigation which IMO is way easier. I then change the taskbar options to never combine task windows. That's just me though. Also Firefox, Winrar, VLC and Search Everything (file searcher that gives instant results, very helpful)

Cheers for the classic shell recommendation!

[fineslime]

Expand Quote

Are hackintoshes still a thing?

[close]

Yes, definitely. Was running Mojave (Clover bootloader) very smoothly for a long time until my motherboard stopped working this spring. Trying to get Ventura installed but setting up Opencore /w newer components has been a challenge. Apple's moving on from Intel Macs so that might cause a hiccup in the near future.

Expand Quote

The first thing I always download on a new Windows install is Classic Shell. Makes the Start menu into a Windows 7 style navigation which IMO is way easier. I then change the taskbar options to never combine task windows. That's just me though. Also Firefox, Winrar, VLC and Search Everything (file searcher that gives instant results, very helpful)

[close]

Cheers for the classic shell recommendation!

I second this on the classic shell! I installed it and I get a little boost of nostalgic dopamine when I open my start menu.

I posted this in the guitar thread; does anyone use a free guitar amp simulator? All the ones I've tried have this insane buzzing noise that happens every 30 seconds to a minute, and I can't justify spending a few hundred dollars for an amp Sim when I have an actual amplifier.

[somethingmustbreaknow]

kazaa
limewire
napster

[switchfakie]

go to ninite.com and select all the basics

chrome
firefox
spotify
vlc
zoom
vscode
malwarebytes (windows defender is pretty good nowadays)

[apport]

any pc heads want to help diagnose my setup?
my pc has been running like shit doing video/motion stuff, lagging super hard, blue screening, it started beeping the last time i tried to render something out of ae. all my applications are on an ssd, and i have a separate ssd i use for rendering/cache.
the parts are kind of old, i built this in 2018. just wondering what would be absolutely necessary to swap out or upgrade, i can't afford to go all out and replace everything, as much as i want to.

amd ryzen 7 1700
nvidia geforce 1050 ti 4gb
64 gb ram
msi b350m motherboard

[CrumblingInfrastructure]

any pc heads want to help diagnose my setup?
my pc has been running like shit doing video/motion stuff, lagging super hard, blue screening, it started beeping the last time i tried to render something out of ae. all my applications are on an ssd, and i have a separate ssd i use for rendering/cache.
the parts are kind of old, i built this in 2018. just wondering what would be absolutely necessary to swap out or upgrade, i can't afford to go all out and replace everything, as much as i want to.

amd ryzen 7 1700
nvidia geforce 1050 ti 4gb
64 gb ram
msi b350m motherboard

Those beeps are usually a code so it might be worth searching up that. Maybe your RAM needs to be reseated or its overheating and your fan needs to be checked?

Edit: Sorry my brains fried, the beeping is called a POST code if that helps.

[rocklobster]

any pc heads want to help diagnose my setup?
my pc has been running like shit doing video/motion stuff, lagging super hard, blue screening, it started beeping the last time i tried to render something out of ae. all my applications are on an ssd, and i have a separate ssd i use for rendering/cache.
the parts are kind of old, i built this in 2018. just wondering what would be absolutely necessary to swap out or upgrade, i can't afford to go all out and replace everything, as much as i want to.

amd ryzen 7 1700
nvidia geforce 1050 ti 4gb
64 gb ram
msi b350m motherboard

Could be worth looking at a CPU upgrade, your motherboard is AM4 and could support up to 5th gen Ryzen CPUs (Ryzen 7 5700x / 5800x). You'll be going up form 65w to 100w on the CPU but with 30-40% more performance, hopefully your PSU can support this, and get a beefier cooler if you can.

What speeds are your RAM sticks running at? Ryzen likes fast RAM, not a huge difference but still significant if you're doing creative and video editing work.

The 1050ti is still a good card in 2023, but it could start looking around for a deal on used GPUs from the 20XX series or even 30XX series for cheap.

Reddit's r/buildapcsales is a good place for deal hunting, it's a good time again to be a PC builder post-pandemic since companies are releasing new stuff and looking to clear last year's stuff.

[fineslime]

https://cdkeys.com/pc/session-skateboarding-sim-game-pc-steam?irclickid=VtlzgMxyKxyPT54xCpx9xXr2UkFxZpxVQRhI1I0&utm_source=impact&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=audio4fun&irgwc=1

found this coupon for Session for only 12 bucks! downloaded it and it's waaay better than skater xl. I can understand why the difficulty of it would turn some people off, and after playing so much skater xl it was a steep learning curve that I'm still getting used to (i've only been playing it for a little more than a few hours so far.) but the graphics, physics, all the customization options, just crush skater xl.

[Sativa Lung]

any pc heads want to help diagnose my setup?
my pc has been running like shit doing video/motion stuff, lagging super hard, blue screening, it started beeping the last time i tried to render something out of ae. all my applications are on an ssd, and i have a separate ssd i use for rendering/cache.
the parts are kind of old, i built this in 2018. just wondering what would be absolutely necessary to swap out or upgrade, i can't afford to go all out and replace everything, as much as i want to.

amd ryzen 7 1700
nvidia geforce 1050 ti 4gb
64 gb ram
msi b350m motherboard

@apport
When's the last time you cleaned it? Those are all classic overheating symptoms and the beeping is an alarm from your motherboard about something, possibly reaching the thermal threshold. Download HWmonitor and see what temps you're running at, first at idle and then start running something to see how bad it gets under load.

If that's the case you'll want to clean your case and fans and check all your heatsinks/coolers to make sure they're seated and secured. If you've been running it for more than a few years under hot loads you'll probably want to reapply thermal paste (I like gelid but you can't go wrong with arctic silver 5) too.

Oh and if you're using an AIO cooler that you bought when you built it it's probably out of fluid. AIOs have a hard lifespan for that reason and most of them are difficult or impossible to refill. If that's the case you need a new CPU cooler or fan, but that's like a $30 fix.

[apport]

@Sativa Lung @rocklobster @CrumblingInfrastructure

thanks for the help guys. my ram sticks are DDR4 3000, but in speccy they're showing 1066 mhz?
my pc could definitely use a cleaning too.

[rocklobster]

@Sativa Lung @rocklobster @CrumblingInfrastructure

thanks for the help guys. my ram sticks are DDR4 3000, but in speccy they're showing 1066 mhz?
my pc could definitely use a cleaning too.

from r/buildapc

I doubt you're running mis-match RAM sticks, and overclocking RAM is easy with a Ryzen MOBO and XMP, though gains will be marginal.

[Sativa Lung]

@Sativa Lung @rocklobster @CrumblingInfrastructure

thanks for the help guys. my ram sticks are DDR4 3000, but in speccy they're showing 1066 mhz?
my pc could definitely use a cleaning too.

I think ddr4 without xmp runs at 1066 so it's probably just reporting base frequency. My gut tells me it's probably not that since it's not that common for those components to fail incrementally after long periods of use. They usually go bang right when you power them up the first time or die in a way that won't let the machine boot. Then again, I've troubleshot some truly baffling shit in the 25ish years I've been building pcs so I wouldn't rule it out either.

You can also try reinstalling windows, but the beeping you mentioned indicates to me that it's a hardware issue and the most common hardware issue (especially in a 5+ year old PC) is overheating. I'd start with that before plucking and testing components. Are you just running the stock fan that came with the processor or are you using an aftermarket cooler?

[EdLawndale]

I went from XP to 10 and only because I had to for security purposes. I think 10 is okay, but have delayed the move to 11 because I don't see the point yet.

[Sativa Lung]

I went from XP to 10 and only because I had to for security purposes. I think 10 is okay, but have delayed the move to 11 because I don't see the point yet.

A man after my own heart