Posts by Grace Peterson17

Honestly, I’d probably just swap in a brand-new case for you too at this point

AMD FX-6300
Asus M5A78L LX3
Adata DDR3 4GB 1600MHz, AD3U1600C2G11-R
MSI R9 270X GAMING BF4, 2GB
Western Digital HDD, 1TB, 7200rpm, Corsair CX500
Corsair CX500 PSU, 500W, CX Series
MS Logic A32 case (no PSU included)

$1388 FuturaIt

Adam Allen said:Hello there

I am finally ready to upgrade my living room setup after a decade of sticking with an old CRT television, and I am looking to pull the trigger on something modern... Since this will be my daily driver, but I also plan to hook up my PC occasionally for some gaming sessions and movie nights, I have a few specific requirements in mind. I need a screen with a diagonal of at least 40 inches, featuring 1080p resolution with vibrant color reproduction, plenty of HDMI ports, and broad support for various video formats so I don't run into any playback issues when I connect my computer. Most importantly, I want something reliable and high-quality—ideally avoiding brands like RCA or budget generic labels... My budget is around $3,000, though I could stretch to $1167 if necessary, and I plan to finance the purchase through Chase....

Hmm, is there any way you could bump that budget up to $4,000?

Hmmmm 🤷

Ryan Wilson7 said:I’m a little lost on what the question is actually asking—I tried Googling it, but I couldn't find a straight answer. My best guess is that this dual BIOS setup just means you have two different versions of the BIOS, right? Like, if something goes sideways with the first one, you can jump into the second one and restore everything to factory defaults... am I on the right track there? Also, I don't quite see how Windows 8 would even be relevant to the BIOS itself. If anyone actually knows, I’d really appreciate the help 🙏..

It's pretty much along the lines of what you suggested—except that even if the primary BIOS runs into trouble, you can still roll things back to their original factory settings. Generally speaking, a dual BIOS setup gives you one "standard" BIOS for your everyday settings, and then a second one that acts as a fallback—or, if you're feeling adventurous, a place to mess around with overclocking or whatever else you have in mind. You could even technically host two different OC profiles, one on each BIOS. And yeah, both Windows 7 and Windows 8 systems can come equipped with these kinds of setups. Since the BIOS is basically the "soul" of the computer—and I'm assuming you know enough about what a BIOS actually does to skip the basic lecture on its functions within a PC—that's why it's such a vital safety net ☕

Nicole Long28 said:I have a question regarding extended warranties. If I've wandered into the wrong thread, I’d kindly ask the admin to move this post. 🙂

So, basically, our biggest retailer is offering extended warranties at absolutely astronomical prices—http://www.bestbuy.com/extended-warranty—and the rates vary depending on which specific device you picked up. My curiosity is, are we looking at entirely different warranty programs here, or is it just the same thing under a different name?

Meanwhile, when I look at what the manufacturer offers directly, the prices are significantly lower—like, way lower. So, my hypothetical question is: could I potentially buy an extended warranty code from abroad, register it online, and still enjoy the exact same rights and coverage as if I had purchased it locally from these big retailers here in the States?

I think you might be a little off-base with where you posted this, but hopefully, the admin can point you toward the right sub-forum—and until then, maybe you'll get an answer right here. 🙂

Wait, what??? 🙂 If someone just happens to prefer one store over another, they’re allowed to agree with you—it doesn't mean they actually work there, let alone that they're being paid to promote them, haha! Seriously though, folks, let's try to see things from a different perspective for once. ☕

Sam Rodriguez55 said:I honestly don't mind waiting—this build looks great to me. But could someone break down the whole SSD situation for me? Is it actually worth investing in one for a gaming rig? The perks sound amazing—that massive boost in read speeds is hard to ignore. On the flip side, I keep reading about limited capacity and shorter lifespans on various forums... am I off base there? Also, what do you think about running an SSD and an HDD together? 🤔

An SSD is absolutely fantastic; honestly, in this day and age, it’s almost a crime not to have one—especially when you're working with a high-end budget like this. It just takes everything to a completely different level. Since they're still relatively "new" tech in terms of mainstream pricing, they tend to hold their value quite well, so the most practical move right now is definitely that SSD + HDD combo. Personally, I'm really hoping that in the not-so-distant Future, SSDs will completely phase out HDDs altogether. If that happens, prices should plummet, and I'm sure they'll continue to work on making them even more reliable...

If you aren't in a rush and can hang tight for another six days, I can put together a custom build using parts from Uzì that I'm certain will outperform the one I put together for you at Future—all for the exact same price. Plus, you'll get a full two-year warranty on everything.

Sam Rodriguez55 said:The "Brutal Truth" build vs. Flatron's configuration

Flatron
Motherboard: 1 x ASUS M5A97 R2.0, AM3, AM3+, AMD 970, SB950, 5200 MHz BUS, DDR3
Processor: 1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6300 3.5GHz, 14MB, 95W, AM3+, FD6300WMHK
RAM: 1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Kingmax, 1333MHz, non-ECC, CL9.0
Hard drive: 1 x TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050
Power supply: 1 x SILVERSTONE Strider 500W, Essential ST50F-ES AC 90-264V, 47/63Hz
Case: 1 x Zalman Z1 mid tower case. 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm. MB standard
Optical drive: 1 x ASUS DRW-24F1ST/BLK/B/AS SATA, DVD-R 24x, DVD-RW 6x, DVD+R 24x
Graphics card: 1 x Gigabyte R9 270X 2GB OC, 2GB GDDR5 256bit, GV-R927XOC-2GD, 28nm
CPU cooler: 1 x ZALMAN CNPS 5X, socket 775/1155/1156/AM2/AM2/AM3
$1.75

The "Brutal Truth"
SAPPHIRE Radeon R9 290 3.300,00
AMD X8 FX-8320 1.202,11
Asus M5A97 R2.0 623,07
......
HDD 1TB Caviar Blue 7200 448,26
LG GH24NS sat Bulk crn 24 x 148,50
Thermaltake Chaser A21 381,1
Zalman CPU cooler 120mm FAN 249,00
Raider sa 550 489,35
Total $2.50 for cash

If I toss in a monitor for $0.50, the more expensive option ends up costing me $3.00. Looking at these two setups—should I be adding some beefier cooler or something similar? Based on my past experiences, all my computers seem to end up overheating...

Then there's this one

Intel i5 4670
Asrock B85-Pro4
Kingston HyperX Beast 2X4GB 160Mhz
VC Sapphire AMD Radeon R9 280 x 3
WD Caviar Blue 1TB
Kingston V300 120GB
LG GH24NS sat Bulk crn 24 x
Fortron Raider S PSU 550W, 80+ SILVER
Zalman mid tower case black (Zalman Z1)
Zalman CPU Cooler 92mm Perform

+

LG monitor 24EA53VQ-PAH-IPS

$3042 Futura It

You’ve got a solid machine there—one that won't overheat and should let you enjoy some peace and quiet for the next few years... Honestly, if you can hold out until Windows 8.1 rolls around and Uzishop reopens, you'll probably find the absolute best bang for your buck there.

If you're looking for a setup that’s actually going to last you more than just a couple of years—say, through the next three or four hardware cycles—then my honest advice is to steer clear of anything in that $3,000–$1667...
range.

Matthew Anderson said:That’s exactly why—once again—I was asking for recommendations. It wasn't meant to spark some pointless back-and-forth argument, but hey, I guess there's no stopping that once it starts. 🙂

Drew Sanchez82 — I didn't even bring up the i7. 🙂

Look, I get all five points you're making. I just felt like I couldn't be much help, so I reacted that way—mostly because, clearly, we don't see eye to eye on everything.

Matthew Anderson said:I've already got the case, the GPU, the DVD writer, and all my drives ready to go. I was really just looking for input on what I mentioned in my intro. 😉

So, please—don't hold back on the recommendations! I recently picked up one graphics card and just scored a second identical one. Now, I’m turning to you guys for some creative ideas on how to round out the rest of the build.

Honestly, if you ask me, it’s all a bit pointless—building a gaming PC with 16GB of RAM? And pairing it with a processor that costs twice as much as an Intel i7-4770K when the performance gap in actual gaming is basically negligible? In my opinion, it’s massive overkill. But hey, to each their own, I suppose—just let me tell you plainly: $3333 you're throwing money down the drain!!! ☕

A PC running 16GB of RAM, an Intel i7-4770, and an NVIDIA GTX 780 is complete overkill for a standard 1920x1080 resolution setup. Unless, of course, you're planning on running five monitors at once—but even then, I'm telling you, you're just wasting cash by falling for that old marketing trick that "bigger" or "more expensive" always means "better."

Matthew Anderson said:My 2014 plan—this is where I'm starting from.

The groundwork for a rough estimate. 😉

Alright, here’s a breakdown for a $12,000 configuration, though personally, I think spending that much is overkill—if you're looking for a high-end rig, you could honestly build something killer for under $10,000... and frankly, there’s no point in going with two weaker cards when you have such a massive budget. Even if two GTX 760s might edge out a single GTX 780 for a moment right now, I highly doubt you'll be adding a second GTX 760 down the road once they start losing steam. With this setup, you could just drop in another GTX 780 later and call it a day—much easier! Also, I'm a bit skeptical about those "K" series processors; the performance gains from overclocking are pretty negligible, yet they drive up temperatures so much that you could end up in a real mess if you're new to overclocking...

Intel i5 4670K
MSI Z87-GD65
Patriot Viper3 2X8GB (16GB) 1600Mhz
MSI GTX 780 TF OC 3GB
WD Caviar Black 1TB
WD Caviar Green 3TB
Kingston SSD 120GB V300
LG DVD±RW 24x GH24NS95 SATA black bulk
Corsair H90
Frotron Raider S PSU 650W 80+ Silver
Zalman mid tower case black ( Zalman Z12 Plus)

$4062 Future IT

Larry Ortiz5 said:I totally get where you're coming from—honestly, I don't have a steady paycheck or any kind of income coming in right now; I mostly rely on my folks to help me out, so whenever I manage to scrape together a decent chunk of change, I tend to dump it straight into PC components. I actually just upgraded my CPU and motherboard, so I should be pretty much set for at least the next three years. The only thing really holding me back at the moment is my GPU—and look, I know the Radeon HD 7870 is still a perfectly respectable card by any standard—but if the opportunity pops up to swap it for something beefier, I’m definitely going to jump on it. It's just tough to balance everything when so much of my budget goes toward other life stuff, like taking my girlfriend out on dates 😍
.

🙂 Run for the hills while you still can! 😂

Timothy Kim60 said:Look, I get the logic of swapping components before they become totally obsolete—you want to sell them while they still have some value—but it feels like you’re upgrading way too often. From what I can gather by following this thread—moving from the Radeon HD 6950 to the GeForce GTX 660 and then onto the HD7870... honestly, it doesn't make much sense; those are tiny leaps, almost more like side-grades than actual upgrades. I wouldn't be surprised if you even try to sell them slightly below market value just to get rid of them 😬
.
I’d suggest saving up your cash instead and waiting for at least the next full generation of cards. This kind of thing is a real "modern era ailment"—like that guy in the link mentioned, people get too obsessed with the hardware itself rather than just focusing on the actual gaming experience (which is why we buy this stuff in the first place!). I really don't think a Radeon HD 7870 is holding you back in most games—and besides, if you want to crank up the MSAA in a few ultra-demanding benchmark titles, you’d need a card costing thousands of dollars anyway, which just isn't worth it. Plus, I assume you've probably already finished those heavy hitters, so I don't see the point.

I mean, sure, they aren't massive jumps, but hey, if you want to stay right on the cutting edge of tech, that's your call. Personally, I actually swapped out my Radeon HD 7770 for a GeForce GTX 770 just a few days ago, and I have to say, that felt like a legitimate, substantial upgrade because the difference was actually noticeable...

P.S. Happy Holidays!

I’m thinking there shouldn't be any more complaining about my rig now—I've checked all the boxes for what people call "standard specs"... plus, I actually managed to snag a beefier GPU for the same price!

Intel Core i5 processor
Patriot Viper3 Blue Sapphire 1600MHz, 8GB (2x4GB)
ASRock B85-PRO4, 1150
MSI GTX 780 TF OC, 3GB DDR5
Seagate BarraCuda hard drive (3.5", 1TB, 32MB, SATA III-600)
Kingston V300 120GB SSD, SATA
LG DVD±RW 24x GH24NS95 SATA black bulk
EVGA 650W power supply, 80+ SILVER
MS LOGIC A30 case (no PSU included)
AOC LED 23.6" E2450SWDAK, VGA, DVI, 5ms

$3191 Accenture

Benjamin King2 said:I mean, sure, you could try to force it if you really wanted to—but honestly? That would be straight-up forcing it. If you look at the specs, the Arc Mini actually offers about 50-60% more volume, which gives you a lot more breathing room, plus you end up with way better options when it comes to cooling and future upgrades down the road.

You just pop in the drive, the SSD, and the GPU, and you're basically done—you don't even need to worry about throwing a high-end CPU cooler into the mix right away. Honestly, why would you ever bottleneck yourself by skimping on the case when you're putting together an $1,200 build? If we were talking about a budget rig where every single cent counts, sure, maybe spend $450 on a decent chassis, but for this setup? Just grab a solid, reliable case from the jump. You’ll get it set up, forget about it, and be totally good for the next seven or eight years.

I mean, I get it—they’ll probably end up with a rig that's just powerful enough that they won't even feel the itch to upgrade anytime soon—but let's be real, at the end of the day, we're still talking about an mATX case.

cosmicseal98 said:I wanted to jump back in here for a second—when I swung by Micro Center this morning, they still had one R9 290 left in stock. Online, the price is listed at around $550 cash, but if you play your cards right, you could probably snag it for $500. They aren't quite sure when their next shipment is arriving, so I figured I’d mention it just in case anyone's looking to grab one.
Timothy Fisher79 will be happy with that info—thumbs up!

😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

Benjamin King2 said:Well, look—you’ve already got the confusion on your account, so just throw in a high-end monitor and call it a day. 😁

Yeah, honestly, that's pretty much the bottom line... I should probably apologize to Mr. McCLovin for my oversight regarding the fact that uzi doesn't work—which, naturally, means we can't squeeze everything into the Core 1000, right?

But let's be real here: I basically crushed your little $3167 bucket with my own $2700, and he ended up getting the exact same crap for $500 less
.

vividtiger3 said:Now that you guys have sorted out cosmicseal98's situation, I think I'll be the one pestering you for a bit next. 😁
So, I'm looking for basically the same setup he had, except I need a monitor included too—if anyone could toss some advice my way, that would be great. I'm aiming for a total price around $3.25. Ideally, I want a "best buy" kind of configuration where everything actually works well together—honestly, I'm a complete amateur when it comes to this stuff. 😁 Thanks in advance!

No problem at all, here you go...

1.) This build is if you really want to squeeze every last drop of value out of your budget.

Intel Core i5-4670 Asrock B85M Pro4 Kingston HyperX
Asrock B85M Pro4
Kingston HyperX red 8GB DDR3-1600MHz Kit
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780
Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7.2k SATA Gb/s 32MB
Kingston Technology SSDNow V300 120GB
LG GH24NSB0
Fractal Design Core 1000
Corsair CX600 V2
ASUS VE247T

$3163 Newegg

2.) This second option makes a few more compromises, but it's significantly cheaper and should still get the job done just fine.

Intel Core i5-4570 Asrock B85M Pro4 Kingston HyperX
Asrock B85M Pro4
Kingston HyperX red 8GB DDR3-1600MHz Kit
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770
Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7.2k SATA Gb/s 32MB
Kingston Technology SSDNow V300 120GB
LG GH24NSB0
Corsair CX600 V2
Fractal Design Core 1000
Acer G G246HLB

$2725 Newegg

cosmicseal98 said:well, it’s probably not going to be perfect 🙂, but hey—if you're asking for help, it's perfectly fine to just slap a picture of some random gear you picked up somewhere else. Just to clarify the context here: I originally set my budget at around $450—that was the plan from the start since I was thinking about putting it on a credit card. But then, life happened, a little extra cash came my way, and I realized I could stretch it to maybe $425 max. I didn't want to bother everyone with yet another round of new recommendations, so I just went with what Timothy Fisher79 put together for me above. Anyway, thanks again, everyone!

It was truly an honor 😍