Posts by ruggedbadger

Thanks for all the input

So, just to be clear—is a Western Digital Green actually going to cut it for gaming, even if it’s stuck spinning at 5400RPM?

So, as the thread title suggests, I'm trying to figure out which drive is the better bet here—I'm looking at the 3 TB versions specifically. This is going to be my dedicated gaming drive, not my boot drive, since I've already got a 1 TB Western Digital Green handling the OS. If you guys have actually put one of these through its paces, please let me know how long you've been running it; if you've only had it for two weeks, you can't exactly vouch for its long-term reliability.
(Seagate Barracuda ST3000DM001) or (Western Digital Green 3 TB)
Thanks in advance

So, I decided to run some stress tests on my fx 6100. While I’m running mafiu 2 with PhysX set to medium, I noticed some interesting behavior regarding core usage—on cores 1 through 4, I'm hitting about 90%, whereas core 5 drops down to roughly 50%, and core 6 is basically idling at around 5%.

That’s exactly what my colleague Osmanko was getting at—though he actually managed to be more concise than I was

What exactly are you planning to do with them? Honestly, if you pair those GPUs with a subpar processor, you might as well have just bought an HD 7850 or an HD 7870 instead of going for the 4x HD 7950 setup. It’s basically a waste of potential—like putting racing tires on a minivan.

First off, what exactly are you planning to do with four GPUs like that? Second, you’re going to need a top-tier processor just to actually put them to work. And let's be honest—when it comes to AMD crossfire scaling, it’s nowhere near as efficient as NVIDIA’s multi-GPU scaling. If your main goal is chasing massive FPS numbers, a single card can already handle BioShock Infinite on Ultra at 1280x720 without breaking a sweat. But hey, if you really want to go down that rabbit hole, be my guest—just know it's basically lighting money on fire. My HD 6850 CF runs it perfectly fine on Medium/High settings, and if I had a bit more GDDR 5 memory, I could probably push it to High/Very High.

I’ll jump on this later—unfortunately, I’m away from my rig right now—but once I'm back at my desk, I'll be there.

I haven't had a chance to check it out myself, but could you recommend a specific program?

Larry Ortiz5 said:If you're really hungering for those newer architectures, just hang tight and see how the prices fluctuate—but if you're just itching to pull the trigger on something right now, go for an i5 3570k paired with a 7950 or a GTX 670.

It’s true—the 1155 socket is getting old—but trust me, don't go thinking you're going to see a massive leap just by jumping to the 1150 socket. That's just my two cents; I'm still running an even older 1156 socket with an i5 750, and honestly, I've been able to play pretty much everything without any major headaches, even on stock settings. So, think twice before dumping a ton of extra cash into a newer socket for what might only be a few percentage points of difference. If you're happy to spend the premium, though, more power to you. 👍

Prices for third-gen gear will definitely drop once fourth-gen hits the market.😁
Yeah, from what I've seen, the performance bump is only about 5 to 10%.
And I'm not trying to start a whole new thread here, just one quick question:
When I'm gaming, my GPU usage fluctuates quite a bit—anywhere from 50% up to 80%—so I'm wondering if an AMD FX 6100 could be causing a bottleneck. I have V-Sync turned off because I heard it can lower the load.

Thanks for the link. It’s pretty wild to see—looking at the charts, it looks like the card with more VRAM Usage actually ends up dragging its feet and delivering even lower performance in games than the lower-tier model.

Look, it’s not that simple—when I’m running BioShock Infinite on medium to high settings, my VRAM Usage hits nearly a full gigabyte, which is basically all I have to work with right now. And honestly, down the road, I might even look into a dual monitor setup. But what I really want to know is: how does one actually go about bumping up the VRAM Usage when running at 2560x1440 resolution?

Larry Ortiz5 said:A real upgrade would be jumping to the NVIDIA GTX 780 that just dropped—though who knows when it’ll actually hit the shelves here—but you didn't mention what kind of budget we're working with for this GPU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=-1&isNodeId=1

I was thinking somewhere in the ballpark of $350 to $450.
Then again, maybe it makes more sense to hold out for those 4GB GDDR5 models—games seem to be demanding more detail lately, and those 2GB or 3GB cards might hit their limit sooner rather than later.

So, as the title suggests, I’m looking to finally move on from my AMD Radeon HD 6850 Crossfire setup. I’m currently weighing my options for an upgrade, though I won't be pulling the trigger on a new GPU immediately—that’s a bit further down the road. My CPU situation isn't really part of the equation right now since I plan on picking up an Intel Core i5-4670K once it hits the shelves. What I really need to focus on is finding a card that can handle 1080p gaming for now, with enough breathing room to tackle higher resolutions down the line.
Thanks in advance