Posts by Larry Ortiz5

So, what kind of budget are we looking at here?

I'm pretty sure Recuva can handle it.

It’s kind of like when you have a USB drive loaded with movies and you decide to format it—do you honestly think those movie files are just going to be sitting there waiting for you after the format is done? Please, let's be real here—that's why it's called a "format." Once you run that process, the only way anyone is getting that data back is if a specialized pro uses some incredibly expensive, high-end recovery gear...

If you're just installing Windows, you typically just delete the partition and then recreate it or format it—it's pretty standard procedure... You’d really only need to run DBAN if you were selling off your hard drive and were worried about someone using some kind of "specialized" tool to try and dig up your private data.

Regarding central.com and the GTX 970, I think you might just be having some bad luck—those specific cards tend to fly off the shelves almost as soon as they hit the market. Personally, I’d aim for the ASUS GTX 970; you really just need to make sure you have a single 8-pin power connector available. Anyway, why not give a few local shops a ring and see if they even have any GTX 970s sitting in stock?

I ended up handling the computer setup myself—mostly because she didn't have a clue how any of it worked, let alone how to navigate torrent sites, grab a Windows installer, burn it to a blank DVD, run the installation, hunt down drivers, deal with Windows updates, set up antivirus software, and get all her favorite programs running. It’s definitely not as straightforward as people make it out to be if you aren't tech-savvy.

Honestly, trying to pair those two cards together sounds like a recipe for madness to me. 😁 The power draw on them is just massive—you’d basically need an EVGA 750W just to keep them running under full load without everything crashing. If I were you, the smartest move would be to sell them off like you mentioned and put that cash toward something else entirely.

So, what's the total budget we're looking at here? Are we talking about enough to cover a new GPU, a CPU, a motherboard, and a power supply? And what's the situation with your RAM right now?

Hmm, those CPU temps aren't looking great... If they're hitting those levels while you're just idling in IDLU, I can only imagine what happens once you actually put the processor under a real load. Are you sure you haven't skipped over repasting the chip when you last cleaned out the tower? Honestly, if it’s been a long while since you last touched the thermal paste, here's what I'd suggest: pop the case open, pull the heatsink off the CPU, and use some isopropyl alcohol to wipe away all that old, crusty stuff from both the cooler and the processor itself. Then, just put a tiny amount—about the size of a grain of rice—right in the center of the CPU, snap the heatsink back on, and see how the temperatures settle down. For a more detailed walkthrough, check out this video: 👍

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-wBqii4xXw

It could be anything—we're talking everything from the power supply and RAM to your hard drive, or maybe just a buildup of dust... To start off, when was the last time you actually gave your PC a good cleaning?

Go ahead and grab HWMonitor. Once you've got it installed, snap a screenshot for us so we can check if those temperatures are looking a bit too high..

It sounds like you’ve definitely got some dust buildup in your fans—honestly, it seems like your whole PC is just overdue for a deep clean. The quickest way to handle this? Grab a can of compressed air and give the whole rig a thorough blast. You could always just drop it off at a local repair shop—maybe grab the tech $6.75 for a beer once they're done—and call it a day. Or, if you'd rather DIY it, you can just head over to Best Buy or any electronics store and pick up a can of canned air. If you go that route, just make sure you're really thorough when you're blowing out the components!

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/air-duster-can/12345...example

You can just grab it through their online store—or even via Micro Center. If you look above $667, they actually offer free shipping. It’s totally reliable, so you really don't have to worry about anything.

Intel Core i5-4590 Processor (3.30GHz, 1MB, 6MB, 84 W, 1150) Box
ASUS B85M-E, 1150, Intel® B85, DDR3, 4 slots, 1600 MHz
= $0.71 if that feels a bit steep for your budget, then maybe check out

Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H, socket : 1150, Intel® B85

which would bring the price down to $672.

You could probably pull that off too...

The i5-4460 uses a newer socket (1150), but it looks like that's not available in the link... Should I check out a different shop? Or is it strictly limited to Links? Also, will I need to grab a processor and motherboard together at the end? What happens with the rest of my components?

Which i5 processor should I go with? Or more importantly—which socket am I looking at?

Just snap a photo and post it here—then we can figure out if it's the stock version or some other manufacturer's take...

You might want to grab CCleaner and Malwarebytes while you're at it... Since your system is about four years old now, using CCleaner should help clear out all that accumulated junk—it’ll definitely free up some much-needed space. Once that's done, just run a scan with the other one to see if there's any actual garbage hiding in the system.

The GTX 560 ti actually uses GDDR5 memory, whereas this one is stuck with GDDR3. If you don't mind me asking—what kind of price tag are we looking at for those two cards?

It’d honestly be easiest if you just used a Windows computer to put together that bootable USB... You could probably swing by a friend's place or a neighbor's—it really only takes about five minutes to get it done.

They'll be here—maybe not this second, but they should show up eventually..

I mean, honestly, who doesn't love a good deal? I don't see any reason why I wouldn't just grab one. It outperforms the GTX 780, pulls less power, and stays much cooler—plus, the best part is that it isn't nearly as pricey as last year's high-end models... gotta hand it to Nvidia. 👍