Posts by George Lewis3

These aren't prototypes; they're just basic, entry-level consumer products. They're cheap for a reason, and the performance reflects that.
They'll handle some light web browsing or basic tasks if you really have to, but nothing more. Honestly, I’d skip them—you can find much better deals on the market. 🙂

Thanks for all the help. 👍

I ended up going with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080. I was worried about the TDP being too low for my CPU. Turns out the Noctua NH-D15 wouldn't work for me because of how the fan sits on the heatsink—just realized that after looking closer. At least the case isn't a wind tunnel anymore. 😁

Hey.

I need some help picking a cooler for my Intel Core i5-750 95W. I'm running an old AM2 motherboard, and the current Athlon 65W setup just isn't cutting it anymore.

I had an Intel Core 2 Duo (100w tdp) set aside at Chicago because I was too lazy to call ahead, but now it’s gone from the Microsoft website. 🙂

That processor won't do much of anything. There aren't any games to run on it.
Microsoft has the Corsair Intel Core i7 on offer, but the max TDP is only 90W. My Phenom ii x4 945 pulls 95W, so I'm skeptical. $21.

Chicago still carries the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 in stock. I’ve seen some solid reviews suggesting it as a decent alternative to a stock cooler, though I don't even have one of those on hand. It's pricey. $34

I saw an ad for a massive Noctua NH-D15. Just one of those things you see floating around. $33.

What's your take? 😁

I wasn't exactly planning on dropping money on a cooler. $33It is what it is. 🙄 I'm just running the stock cooler that came with my Intel Core 2 Quad.

Hi.

I need some advice from people who actually know their way around hardware. I have an HP Photosmart C6280 all-in-on that I bought back in late 2008. It only ran for about two years before I boxed it up and put it away. When the cartridges finally ran dry, I pulled them out and just left it sitting there.

Yesterday, I picked up some Orink replacement ink and a black cartridge, but the machine keeps throwing an error. It says there’s a problem with the cartridges and it can't pull any ink. My guess is that sitting empty for all this time did some damage.

It won't tell me which specific cartridge is the culprit. If I pull one out, it correctly identifies that one is missing. But once everything is seated, it just throws a general system error without specifying the color. It feels like the cartridges might be fine, but the printer itself is failing.

I've tried a hard reset and a partial reset. Nothing works. I managed to force a test page through my computer briefly, but the paper came out completely blank. It gets stuck during the initialization process every single time I power it on.

Is there any realistic chance of saving this thing? I'm trying to figure out if a repair shop is worth the trip. I could pick up a new printer for $117, but I hate the idea of tossing this one. This machine was solid—automatic duplex printing, dedicated photo paper handling, fast speeds... honestly, most budget printers you find at Best Buy today can't touch it.

Thanks for the help.

Bryan Taylor6, thanks. 🙂

I sent a message to the user to check if it draws 95W or 125W. If it’s the higher one, it won't work with my motherboard.

Right. I was planning on squeezing every bit of performance out of this CPU, but I'll stick to your advice and see how it holds up first. Tomorrow I'm picking up an Adata SU650 120GB SSD for $60 and another 1GB of RAM for $10, which puts me at 4x 1GB. We'll see if the whole setup actually behaves. If things get sluggish later, I might grab that Phenom II X3 720 along with an Arctic Cooling Alpine 64 plus 92 mm.
Thanks for the help. 😉

Yeah, an SSD is definitely the way to go for $60 the upgrade. Still, I have my doubts. When I put an SSD into a newer laptop, it worked fine in AHCI mode right in the BIOS before I even touched the OS. Will this motherboard behave the same way? The manufacturer's site lists an AHCI driver, but it says "pre-install." Am I supposed to load that through the BIOS after flashing for the new CPU but before starting the OS installation? They don't really offer drivers for Windows 7, just a bunch for Windows Vista—which is what I think I used for my current Windows 7 setup.

I'm looking at the listings now. If I'm thinking "long-term," I should probably aim for a Phenom II. 😁
There's a guy in my own city selling processors, so no waiting around or shipping fees. He’s offering a Phenom II x4 810 (2.6 GHz, 95W) for $60 https://www.craigslist.com/processors/listing-example-25127100 and an X4 945 (3.0 GHz, 95W) for $83 https://www.craigslist.com/processors/listing-example-26668798

I don't see much value in these older parts. For $23 more, I could get a much better chip based on crimsonstag84's first post. With this second option, the price creeps up, but there's a noticeable jump in power. I scanned everything on the motherboard's compatibility list on Craigslist, and these two aren't any outliers compared to other offers, plus we're in the same city. What do you all think before I pull the trigger?

Oh, the cooler. Can the stock cooler from this little Intel Core 2 Duo 65W 5200+ handle these Phenom II x4 95W chips, or am I looking at a replacement? The same guy is offering a cooler for $10 (doesn't specify the model). I actually found some extra RAM from him for $10 based on crimsonstag84's recommendation, so if the math works out, I might just buy everything from one person—RAM, CPU, maybe the cooler. I really don't feel like pulling the motherboard just to swap a backplate. Not happening. I can only do it if the existing socket bracket works.

Sorry for bothering you all so much. I know I'm being a pain. 😬

Well, you've piqued my interest now. 😁

I did some digging on eBay for those Socket AM3 models and stumbled upon this:
Intel Core i3 https://www.ebay.com/itm/example-listing

It's also 95W, but it comes with a cooler for $33. It’s a quad-core, though, but since these are all ancient relics, I'm not sure how much that actually matters these days.

What's your take?

Hello.

I have an ancient tower that isn't worth replacing with a modern case since I barely use it—it would just be money down the drain. Still, if there's any way to breathe life into it, I'm interested.

Here is the current setup:

Gigabyte Motherboard with Socket AM2
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.6 GHz 2c/2t
3GB DDR2 800 MHz RAM (3x1GB)
160 GB PATA HDD
Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS
Generic 400W PSU

The machine crawls like a wounded animal. Modern browsing absolutely kills it, especially Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. I can't really complain, though; the thing is over a decade old.
But, if it’s possible, I’d like to give it a little boost without breaking the bank.

Is it even worth upgrading the processor on this board? I saw some AM2 processors on eBay for $33 (like an Athlon 64 X2 6400+ 3.2 GHz or a 6000+ 3.0 GHz). Would I actually notice a difference?

Naturally, I'd swap the memory for 2x2GB DDR2 800 dual channel and grab an SSD $67. I know that will help, but my main concern right now is the CPU.

Thanks. 👍

Hey, I need some help putting a price on this old rig.

Motherboard: Gigabyte ga-m56s-s3
RAM: 1+2 GB DDR2 800 Mhz
HDD: 160 GB Pata connector
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.6 Ghz
GPU: ATI Radeon HD series 256 MB GDDR3 128-bit
Floppy drive
2x DVD drive Optiarc 7170S (reads CDs fine, but won't touch DVDs; apparently common for these older models)
PSU: A generic 400W unit, likely just whatever came with the case.
Case: An old Nasdaq style case that was actually decent back in the mid-2000s. Blue and white with a handle on top.

I'm not including the peripherals. Honestly, they're too worn out to even show anyone.😁
The monitor is newer, so I'm keeping that.

Kimberly Gomez34, I actually have one of those 8GB sticks. I've known about the bootable USB option for ages, but I just couldn't be bothered to mess around with it. I'll give it a shot tomorrow using that software. I'll grab the drivers and see what else the system decides to pull on its own. This CPU isn't anything special—it's old—but it's not total junk either. Maybe this machine will finally catch its breath after everything. 👍

When I pull up the driver list for Windows 7 32-bit, all I see is audio. If I switch back to the drivers for XP or Vista, everything shows up. I’ll try what JeffreyChavez6 suggested—downloading the Vista drivers and hoping they play nice with Windows 7. If that fails, I'm just going to swap out the hardware.
Before I even start the install, though, I need to grab a cheap optical drive for about fifteen bucks to burn Windows 7 to a DVD. My current one died on me today; it won't spin anything but a CD. I tried reflashing the firmware, but no luck.

crimsonstag84, thanks for the build suggestion. 🙂

crimsonstag84 said:Is that hard drive maybe SATA? Modern motherboards don't carry PATA/ATA connectors anymore.

It’s definitely PATA—that wide ribbon cable. This board is ancient.

Greetings, fellow forum members.

I could use some advice. I've got an old setup sitting around with components that are roughly a decade old. Back then, I didn't know the first thing about computers, so I just let a family friend put it together for me. I’m looking to breathe some life into it now, but I've already run into a few hurdles.
Windows XP SP3, Gigabyte ga-m56s-s3 motherboard, Athlon x2 64 dual core 5200+ (2.61 GHz), a 160 GB PATA hard drive, Nvidia GeForce 8600 (256 MB, passive heatsink), some generic 400W power supply—one of those old models pre-installed in the chassis—3 GB of 800 MHz RAM, a floppy drive, and 2x Optiarc 7170s optical drives. Based on what I’ve read online, those optical drives are likely dead; they throw a power calibration error whenever I try to burn a DVD. Honestly, the drives aren't my main concern; I can swap them out myself. Just ignore that part. Then there's this blue and white ATX HGspot case, which I recall being pretty common back in the day. Now, here come the questions.

A few years back, I had an extra HDD lying around, so out of pure boredom, I hooked it up to this rig and installed Windows 7. I can't recall if the drivers actually behaved, but a clean install worked fine. Now that I finally have the time and inclination to ditch this old XP setup entirely and move to Windows 7, I've hit a wall. These components were bought back when Windows Vista was the standard. While Gigabyte still hosts official drivers on their site, they only go up to Vista, nothing for Windows 7. To make matters worse, Microsoft has pulled the plug on XP support. I don't have a spare drive to test if those Vista drivers will play nice with Windows 7, so any attempt means messing with my current hardware. What's the move here? If I commit to Windows 7 and the Vista drivers fail, I've just made a massive mistake. I’d lose my existing XP—and while the system is a total wreck, it technically functions—and there's no going back since Microsoft isn't providing updates anymore.

I've been scrolling through your posts and build recommendations for different budgets over the last few days. It got me thinking—maybe I should just invest in something budget-friendly, like a motherboard and a CPU, to bridge the gap between my old 2006 setup and 2016 standards. I'm not a gamer, nor do I touch video production or anything heavy like that, so I don't need a beastly graphics card. My heaviest load is just watching Full HD movies. Given how much tech has moved forward, I'm fairly certain integrated graphics would be more than enough for my needs.

I've been looking into the AMD FM2+ socket lately. Most of the advice I've seen points toward the Asrock FM2A88M-DG3+ with that A78 chipset for builds. $143Yeah, I see that everything's around 20 bucks now.$10 I can probably pick up an Asrock FM2A88M-DG3 with that A88x chipset for around... $150 From what I can see, the only real difference with this second option is that it features an HDMI output on the motherboard, which is a shame to pass up these days. Besides, I don't see the version with R3.0 available yet. Personally, I'd pair this with an AMD A8-7600 processor. I know there are some options out there. $67 The A6-7400 is cheaper, sure, but honestly, paying that little extra just to stick with a dual-core when I could have four cores feels like a waste of money—especially since they both officially pull 65W. To make the upgrade actually worth it, I’d need to offload my old gear—CPU, motherboard, GPU, and RAM—for maybe $500.$200I'm having a hard time gauging what this is actually worth. I've been looking at current listings on eBay for similar parts to get a sense of things. If anyone can give me some realistic advice on what these components should go for, I'd appreciate it. 🙂 )
Since this case doesn't even have USB 3.0 ports, it’s ancient. I'm honestly wondering if I should just offload it. I'm worried that shoving modern parts into such an old chassis will just bottleneck everything. Given how small and minimal the new components are—especially since I'm not even running a dedicated GPU—your suggestion for the Raijintek Arcadia or the Cooler Master N200 makes sense. As for the power situation, I haven't a clue; things are a bit tight on that front lately. 😁 I haven't a clue which power supply would work here; I'm guessing something small.

The post is long and probably a mess, but I hope I managed to lay out the whole situation clearly. I could use some help and your take on how to handle all this. 👍

My old laptop finally kicked the bucket, so I'm currently shopping for a replacement. I pulled the hard drive out before it died. I have a desktop at home and an external enclosure, so I’ve got that old drive hooked up as secondary storage. All my data is safe, except for one specific headache.

I used Outlook for my emails, and I had quite a large volume of them. The issue is that I don't have the configuration settings for any of my accounts—you know how it goes with different POP/IMAP settings, server ports for fax services, passwords, and all that. I used to just verify everything within Outlook whenever I opened it, but now that this drive is just sitting there as an external unit, I'm stuck. Does anyone know where those settings are buried on the drive? I need to find the specific folder. Once I get a new laptop, I'll have to set everything up from scratch, and since I didn't write anything down, I'm flying blind. 🙂