Posts by Michelle Gonzalez11

velvetfalcon44 said:Moro, if you're looking for them in NYC, they're over at the Empire State Building on the 11th floor—you just gotta navigate those elevators. You enter through the underground passage, then take the lift, turn right, and head down the side street.
If you're buying up to $10,000 worth, just go through moro.com and pick it up at their Manhattan office—you can pay cash there (or via wire transfer). You could also swing by their Chicago location. For anything over $10k, you'll need to do a bank transfer.
If you're using USD, just stick to moro.com.
Up to $25000 you can just pay cash on the spot.

Simple, polite, and classy.
Thanks!

Arthur Long5 said:Could you perhaps try reading a bit more?
In all the gold threads, the same shops in Austria are constantly being mentioned, along with local dealers here in the States and over in Canada.
Wherever you buy it, you can sell it back there too, and if you had bothered to stay active on the board, you could have simply visited a dealer's website and read everything they have to offer. They often provide professional vault storage services as well.
You can even order gold online; I have done this myself and wrote two full pages about my purchase process and the specific vendor I used just a few posts ago.
But clearly, you aren't interested in doing the legwork... typical American, too lazy to read when someone is handing everything to them on a silver platter.

The purpose of this forum isn't to serve up easy answers for intruders and the lazy, but rather to facilitate the exchange of genuine experiences and perspectives...
This community has been helpful to me, and I found the information on where to buy within this very thread, yet I saw no reason to ask again when the answer has already been written a hundred times.

Ljakse, take a breath. If you're just looking for a fight or a chance to lecture someone, you've picked the wrong target. I read quite a bit about precious metals and trading, and since I came here for advice from people with actual experience—rather than listening to a self-important, "know-it-all" North American type like you—I'll put it politely: Go touch some grass.
To everyone else who is actually sane, please, I'd appreciate some advice. DMs are open.

Thanks in advance.

I’m also wondering about the best places to pick up physical gold—and where one might actually store it securely, assuming we aren't talking about hiding it under a mattress or in a home safe. I'd also like to know where to offload it later on. My focus is strictly on long-term holding.

crimsonstag84 said:HDD 1TB WD Blue, 3.5", 7200RPM, 64MB Cache, SATA3, WD10EZEX

Please—just pick anything else besides this particular brand of misery. I’ve had two of them die on me just months after the warranty expired.

Justin Johnson8 said:Alright, I’ve been bouncing between stores and scrolling through websites for a few days now trying to pick up a gaming laptop, and honestly, I’m stuck. Here’s the breakdown of my current dilemma.
Across all three options I'm looking at, the basics are the same: 8GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, a 128-256GB SSD, and a 17.3-inch screen. But here is where things get annoying:

The $700-$850 range gets you an i5-7300HQ paired with a GTX 1050 Ti 4GB.
Moving up to the $850-$1,100 bracket, you either get an i7-7700HQ with a GTX 1050 Ti 4GB or an i5-7300 with a GTX 1060 6GB.
Once you cross the $1,100 mark, you're looking at an i7-7700 combined with a GTX 1060 6GB.

So, which one should I actually pull the trigger on? Is it worth dropping those extra hundreds of dollars? Personally, I’m leaning toward that second option—the i5-7300 with the GTX 1060 6GB—for gaming, but what do you guys think?

Also, build quality-wise, who wins? Is it better to go with an Acer Predator, an HP Omen, or maybe an ASUS ROG Strix?

Thanks!

I’d probably lean toward the i5 plus the 1060 too—but there are plenty of more experienced folks here who might have some actual wisdom to offer.

Hey there.
I’m looking for some help from the community—could you provide individual price estimates for these parts? I'm planning to list them on Craigslist soon.

CPU: Intel i5-750 @2
GPU: XFX Radeon HD5850 Black edition, 1gb GDDR5
PSU: XFX PRO 550W
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3, LGA 1156
RAM: 2x4gb KIT, Mushkin RadioActive FrostByte, DDR3, 9-9-9-24, PC3-12800, 997005
Case: Antec Three Hundred
Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster P2270HD
Hard Drives: 2x WD Blue, 7200rpm, 3.5", 1TB (one of the drives is failing—health is at 52% according to Hard Disk Sentinel)

Everything works fine, aside from that one dying drive. Thanks in advance.

Hey there. I’m looking for a reliable power supply for a retro gaming rig I'm putting together at home. Honestly, I can't stand looking at that ancient, no-name unit that came with the machine—it would be a real tragedy if that thing fried a component I've worked so hard to source.

Here is the setup:
Motherboard: Abit BE6
CPU: Pentium III @500MHz
GPU: GeForce RTX 2000, 16MB, AGP
Sound Card: Some old Realtek chip
RAM: 256MB (two 128MB sticks)
+ floppy drive, CD-ROM

I noticed this budget-friendly Accenture power supply over at Best Buy, and I was thinking about grabbing it since the online reviews seem decent. That said, I’d love to get some input from you all—specifically the old guard here, the 30+ crowd who actually know their way around a chassis.
Cheers.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Fine, quiet power supplies exist—I have one myself and I'm satisfied enough 👍--if you can find them.

Since we're dealing with a prehistoric motherboard here, I need to know if the main power connector—the ATX connector, if my memory serves—is actually compatible with the PSU.

PHOTO OF MOTHERBOARD

I have a quick question for the group.
I recently put together a retro gaming rig—Pentium III, an ASUS P3B-F motherboard, a GeForce 2 MX 16MB, plus a sound card and LAN card. I’m planning to add a USB controller, a hard drive, and an optical drive to the mix. Since I need to swap out the power supply, I want something reliable that won't buckle under the load. Are those entry-level Corsair's units actually decent enough to handle this setup reliably?

Though, these two specifically caught my eye:

And this one, which is even cheaper despite having a higher power rating:

Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

analogtiger19 said:If you're looking to buy soon, just hang tight for a bit until those custom RX 480 cards hit the market. Right now, buying a GPU is like trying to buy groceries during a blizzard—just a terrible time to be out there. Honestly, an Intel Core i5-6400 is better than the 6500 anyway. As for the motherboard, you really need to figure out your priorities first. How many RAM slots do you actually need? How many PCI slots? Are you hunting for M.2 support? Once you know what you're actually using, then you can pick ☕

We were actually planning to pull the trigger mid-next month. As for the CPU and the rest—I can't seem to talk him out of it; I've tried suggesting he take a slightly lower i5-6400 to put that extra cash toward a better motherboard, but no luck. Regarding the graphics card, we're sticking strictly to NVIDIA. Two RAM slots will be enough, along with one PCI-E slot. We don't need an SSD, and overclocking isn't even on our radar. The main thing is that it's DDR4 and reliable—we just want something that won't crash or cause headaches when we need it!

Hey there.
My brother is looking to pick up a new rig soon—mostly for gaming. We're eyeing a Skylake and DDR4 setup from General Dynamics, and we've pretty much hammered out the specs, except for one headache: the motherboard. Our budget is hovering around $1933, which basically leaves us stuck with an H110 board if we stick to this path. Is it actually worth pairing an H110 with this build, or should we just pivot to Haswell since it seems cheaper? Paying cash.

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

Specs:
https://s31.postimg.org/z03sodwhn/Untitled2.png

I recently picked up the n/a. It features a front-facing headphone jack alongside a line-in for a mic—handy if you’re looking to host some karaoke nights with friends. You've also got the bass, treble, and volume controls right there on the front panel. As far as audio fidelity and punch go, I'm satisfied, though my setup is primarily for music rather than dedicated gaming. A 2.1 system might serve a gamer better, but I can't speak to those with any real authority since I haven't used them—though for this specific model, I'd definitely give it a thumbs up.

EDIT:
Check out this review; even though the creator is Czech/Pole/Slovak and I struggle to follow the commentary, pay close attention to the 3:26 mark. He's holding the volume knob, and you can see there's a slot for both headphones and a mic—I had something nearly identical on my old Logitech speakers.

Kimberly Gomez34 said:You can also pick up some 1.65v RAM

I’ve been scouring various US tech forums regarding voltage limits for my specific hardware, and everyone seems to claim 1.65v is the absolute ceiling for my CPU. Honestly, I have no idea how much of that is actual science versus just internet hearsay—but since I haven't exactly been feeling sharp lately, I just went ahead and ordered these Mushkin modules and hoped for the best (and frankly, I wouldn't suggest anyone else follow my lead). As it turns out, the RAM is fully compatible with both the motherboard and the processor. Everything runs smoothly, though the frequency is stuck at 1333MHz instead of 1600MHz due to the CPU bottleneck. So, for the record, my Mushkin RadioActive FrostByte DDR3 1600MHz 2x4GB kit works perfectly with the Gigabyte P55-UD3. It seems luck favors the foolish, and today, I happen to be both... somewhat. Cheers to everyone, and thanks for the advice!

Hey there.
I don't want to clutter things up with a new thread, so I'll just drop a quick question here—I'm looking at a minor upgrade. Currently, I'm running an Intel Core i5-750 on an ASUS P55-UD3, and I'm wondering if I'll run into any issues if I swap in this RAM? My current Corsair XMS3 1.65 v sticks are sitting at 1.65V, but the specs for the ones I'm eyeing say 1.5V. Any chance of a mismatch?

LINK

Thanks in advance.

Hey there. Based on your experience, what would you say this setup is worth?

Zalman T5 Mid Tower case
Thermaltake TR2 600 w Bronze 80
Asus B85M-E 1150 motherboard - Intel ® B85 - DDR3 - 4 slots - 1600 MHz
Intel Pentium G3420 CPU, 3.20GHz, s1150
WD Blue 500 hard drive, 16MB, WD5000AAKX
Kingston DDR3 4GB RAM, 1600MHz
HP wireless keyboard and mouse

crimsonstag84 said:It definitely sounds like a motherboard or PSU issue... otherwise, the Intel Pentium G4400 would be weaker than an Intel Core i5-750 in any task utilizing more than two cores.

It might be worth testing the power supply in someone else's rig—or just borrowing a different unit entirely.

I'm aware of that—but look, I only game occasionally, so it’s not exactly a dealbreaker. As for movies, browsing, music, storage, or the occasional session in Photoshop—if I recall correctly, you don't need much more than two cores for that (though I'm not entirely certain about Photoshop). Plus, I have a preference for Intel. Regarding the power supply, it’s an XFX 550 w, just like you figured out. I'd love to test it, but there's a catch: I have nowhere to plug it in. My buddy won't even hear of it, and my other friends are mostly stuck using laptops. And honestly, how much would it even cost to drop the PSU off at a local repair shop just to get it tested?

crimsonstag84 said:I hope you were joking about that 😬

@Michelle Gonzalez11

Try testing that power supply on someone else's rig—keep the GPU out of it for now.

1 x Intel Core i5-6500 3.20GHz, Turbo : 3.6GHz, 4 core, 6MB
1 x MSI B150M Pro-DH, LGA1151, 4xDDR4 (max 64GB), SATA Express 16Gb/
1 x DDR4 8GB (1x8GB) Crucial, 2400MHz, Ballistix Sport DDR4

$948 ADM

What kind of CPU were you running before?

An Intel Core i5-750, though I'm over the gaming phase—not sure if my old motherboard or the PSU is failing, since the PC just cycles on and off indefinitely... as for a new build, what do you think about something based on an Intel Pentium G4400? It seems cheap, yet slightly better than a G3258 (which overclocks well, though I have zero interest in overclocking). $1000It's not a necessity—this is my absolute limit on budget. Primarily just browsing, movies, music, some light Photoshop work, and casual gaming if it stays under $300... why not?

I've got an XFX 550 w power supply sitting here—not entirely sure if it's actually holding up—so does anyone know a reliable way to test it, or should I just go out and grab a dedicated PSU tester?

Hey there.
To avoid cluttering things up with a new thread, I’m looking for some advice on a new build.
I’ve already got the monitor, drives, and case—what I need is a motherboard, CPU, PSU, and RAM. I’m still debating whether to grab a new GPU or just stick with my old one (an HD5850). My budget is sitting somewhere between $2,200 and $2,500 max.$1000
What’s the consensus on the new Skylake platform? I was leaning toward a combo featuring the Intel Pentium G4400, though maybe I should aim higher? The rig will mostly be used for light gaming, movies, and data storage.

Thanks in advance.

Michael Jackson10 said:Alright, let's assume you've already done the physical check on the RAM and ran some tests like I suggested earlier. Just one super basic question though: since you went ahead and did a Reset BIOS, did you actually hit "Load Setup Defaults" once you were back in the UEFI?

Also, I'm a little confused here—how did you even figure out the drives were messed up if the PC is totally bricked? Did you check them on another machine? Or maybe tried wiping them and re-initializing?
I feel like saying you "tried everything under the sun" doesn't really give us the full picture of what you've actually attempted. No offense intended, but we deal with all kinds of users here; for some, a simple fix is second nature, while for others, it's basically open-heart surgery...

Here is the situation (pardon the rushed posts—work is a madhouse right now and I am absolutely exhausted):

Earlier this spring, my hard drive died. Since money was tight, the PC sat idle until three days ago. I picked up a new drive at Best Buy a few days back, hooked it up, and installed Windows 10 without any issues. That's when I noticed in This PC that while 4GB of RAM is installed, only 2GB is usable. After digging through some hardware forums, I realized quite a few people with this specific motherboard (an ASUS model) hit similar walls due to supposedly incompatible memory—which is bizarre, because I never had an issue with it before.

Reading further, I saw mentions of CPU issues caused by bent pins, but that's impossible; the last time the processor was touched was eighteen months ago during a repaste, and everything worked perfectly after that. Then, I tried a Reset BIOS by pulling the battery for a few seconds, and that triggered this strange boot loop—the fans spin to max, everything shuts down after five seconds, then it boots normally. Because of that weird startup, I jump straight into the UEFI and select "Load Setup Defaults," but it does nothing; after a restart, the same thing happens. Regardless, I let the computer finish booting, enter Windows, and suddenly the usable memory dropped from 2GB to 1.99GB. Another suggested fix was flashing the UEFI, which I did (moving from F3 to F12), followed by what you told me: "Load Setup Defaults." Suddenly, This PC and Task Manager showed 3.25GB usable. I rebooted again, and the system finally recognized the memory properly (though that odd boot behavior persisted after every reset). Once I installed the GPU drivers and antivirus, a UEFI checksum error popped up, saying it was retrieving a recovery source from the HPA. From there, it was total chaos. Sometimes, pressing the power button just starts a continuous loop of turning on and off, and on the rare occasions it actually stays on, I get a disk read error. I took the drives over to my brother's place to see if they survived those violent power cycles, and there I found the capacity listed as only 32MB—formatting won't touch it. Apparently, this happens with certain ASUS and Gigabyte boards when the UEFI fails...