I saw some reviews over at PC Gamer praising this unit as a solid power supply, and honestly, I tend to trust their take. This new v2.3 series feels like a high-quality build—it’s got that 80 Plus certification too... which, if you ask me, makes it a much better value than Corsair's CX series when you're looking at everything in that same price bracket.
That Thermaltake unit is actually a solid choice, though if I were in your shoes—and honestly, for just a few extra bucks—I’d probably stretch the budget a bit and go for the 560W version instead... 🙂
In short, yeah—over here, the price tag is just way too high for what you actually get in the box. Look, if I'm being totally honest, if I hadn't heard about so many issues with units being Dead on Arrival—just refusing to even boot up—I might actually recommend it. But given the circumstances? I’d much rather suggest a Corsair 400 w for a bit less money; I've personally never run into any trouble with them, nor have I ever heard a single bad thing said about them. 😉
Not really. this is the most budget-friendly option available. You might find something from a place like Best Buy or similar retailers for maybe $5-$3.25 less, but I’d personally suggest checking out Micro Center if you want a reliable shop...
Alexander Moore67 said:Most people I've personally shown a monitor to seem to be using 17" or 19" models—and hey, I totally agree regarding future-proofing, but right now...
I have to disagree there. Just because you happen to run into a lot of folks using those older screens doesn't necessarily mean they represent the standard. Steam Hardware Survey actually shows that 1680*1050 is currently leading the pack, though looking at what's hitting the shelves in big-box retailers today, 1920*1080 is going to take over that top spot before we know it.
On the flip side, you’ve got this huge crowd of self-proclaimed "gamers" who obsess over having 1, 2, or even 3 GB of VRAM and hitting some arbitrary 666 fps cap—all while completely ignoring the fact that they could be using a much better resolution on a decent display. It seems like a lot of people are just being incredibly cheap when it comes to their peripherals...
USB 2.0 devices generally play nice with older interfaces without any real hiccups. And, just to echo what James Morris4 mentioned—even that "sluggish" USB 1.1 is still going to outpace your basic internet connection—so I really don't see this being an issue at all.
Honestly, I wouldn’t even bother sweating the Crossfire setup. People tend to assume they’ll be able to pick up another card just like it for pennies in about a year, but—unfortunately—that’s just not how the market works. Nowadays, hardware prices stay pretty much flat as long as there's demand. Then, once a year or two passes and your current rig starts feeling sluggish, you'll find that for the same amount of cash you'd spend on an old, outdated card, you could actually grab a brand-new one with twice the performance. Besides, Crossfire or SLI never actually delivers double the power, no matter how much companies try to convince us otherwise 😉.
It’s a solid choice, but honestly, you don't really need that much overhead. A 520W Seasonic unit would be more than enough to handle the load—and if I were in your shoes, that’s exactly what I’d go with. 😉
Zachary Price15 said:I’m honestly surprised that an HP product would make such a glaring mistake.
It’s funny—modern HP isn't quite the powerhouse it used to be back in the day. Given the general build quality you see in the ProBook line lately, poorly designed carrying cases are probably the least of their concerns.
BTW, this might not even be an official HP oversight—in many cases, retailers just throw those bags in as a freebie to sweeten the deal. Honestly, the easiest route would probably be to take it up with the store where it was purchased...
It’s highly likely that your Voice Recorder is set to a standard audio output by default. You might want to dig into the settings to see if you can manually switch the output device—I can't verify the exact menu path for you right now since I'm running Linux, but it should be in there somewhere. Have you tried testing it through an app like Skype? They have this handy feature where you can call a test contact to hear an echo of your own voice—it's actually a perfect way to fine-tune your headset 🙂
Are we looking at the version with the standard audio jacks, or is this one using USB? Are you using any other peripherals from the same speaker set? Also, have you double-checked that the headset is actually set as the default playback device within Windows and inside the specific app you're trying to use?
stormywolf39 said:actually, now that I'm thinking about it—that CPU sits right in the same ballpark as those old Intel Core 2 Duo chips, somewhere between an E6400 and an E6550. Honestly, you might get the best bang for your buck by hunting down a used Radeon 4850; most modern cards are just going to be overkill for a processor like that, though even something like a 5670 would likely end up being a bit too much compared to what we discussed here.
The Intel Core 2 Duo is a step up, sure, but generally speaking—yeah, I agree. Modern hardware is just way too powerful for a chip of this vintage. A used 4850 or maybe a GeForce GTS 250 is probably the absolute ceiling for what you can reasonably pair with that setup.🙂
In that case, this should be plenty for you. It’s a perfectly decent card for lighter titles—nothing too crazy—but honestly, anything more powerful than this probably wouldn't even run passively 😉
cosmiccrane333 said:I'm looking for some recommendations for a solid passively cooled graphics card—and just to be clear, I don't actually need it for gaming or anything intensive...
What exactly are you looking to get out of it? If your main goal is just multimedia—you know, watching movies, browsing the web, maybe some light photo editing—then honestly, you don't need anything more powerful than... I've been spending some time looking back at the Sapphire hd 4550., and honestly, it’s one of those little pieces of hardware that really makes you appreciate how far we've come—though, in its day, it certainly held its own for basic tasks. It isn't exactly a powerhouse by today's standards, obviously, but there was a certain reliability to it that you just don't see as often anymore. It’s a bit like that old reliable sedan sitting in your garage; it might not win any drag races against a modern Tesla, but it gets you from point A to point B without much fuss.I guess I also have... $6.75 There’s a cheaper XFX version out there—but honestly, that one only packs DDR2 memory, which is just criminally slow...
SanDisk 250 GB — if you're paying cash, you'll get it for $128 . But honestly, if you want more bang for your buck, you can actually grab 320 GB for even less: Seagate Expansion Portable 320 GB
I get where you're coming from, but it’s a bit tricky to give a definitive recommendation without knowing the full setup. If we're talking about an older dual-core setup—something like an E2**0, E4*00, or maybe even a Core 2 duo e6*00—combined with a budget power supply, then honestly, any extra power from a Radeon 5670 would just be sitting there idle, going to waste. However, if the power supply is solid and the processor is hovering around that 3 GHz mark, then upgrading to a GTS 450 actually starts to make some sense. 🙂
The motherboard features a standard PCI-E slot, which means any modern graphics card should physically fit without an issue. However—before we start throwing specific recommendations your way—we really need a clearer picture of what else is going on inside the case. What kind of processor are you running? How much RAM is installed? And most importantly, what’s the power supply situation? Please make sure to mention the actual manufacturer and model rather than just the wattage; knowing if it's an EVGA or a Corsair unit makes a massive difference when we're calculating overhead.
Just a side note here, but EVGA SuperNOVA can be found for roughly $400. It isn’t exactly a powerhouse when it comes to raw wattage—it won't be powering a high-end gaming rig, obviously—but it carries an 80 Plus Bronze certification, comes with a three-year warranty, and has some really solid reviews under its belt. To me, it feels like a fantastic value for anyone putting together an entry-level PC.
Why bother struggling with a more expensive 400W Corsair model when you have this? 😁