162 posts shown.
Bradley White59 said:Hey everyone,
I stumbled upon this card lying around the house, but I honestly have no clue what its actual purpose was—or if it’s even worth trying to use today :/ I’ve been scouring the web, but I haven't found anything particularly helpful!
Thanks in advance 🙂
Here is the link to the photo
https://www.google.com/search?q=canop...9f%3B235%3B214
That right there is what you'd call obsolete technology from about 15 years ago. 😂 Basically, think of it like an old graphics card from back in the day—it was designed to reduce all sorts of interference and noise when you were transitioning from analog to digital media, and it acted as a sort of booster in various software programs, supposedly promising higher quality recordings or whatever. I'm not entirely sure how much of a real difference it actually made at the time, but I do know for certain that it's completely useless by today's standards...
Ryan Fowler53 said:1 x LC Power PRO-926B - Juggernaut X - ATX Pro-Line, ATX
1 x Asrock H77M - Intel H77, M-ATX, dual Channel 2 DDR3 - 1600
1 x Samsung 120 GB 840 evo Basic, SSD disk, 120 GB Capacity, 2.5"
2 x 4GB DDR3 (1x4GB) Kingston, 1600MHz, CL9, HyperX, KHX1600C9D3B1/
1 x Corsair VS Series Power Supply, 550 Watt, ATX, ATX12V v2.31
1 x MSI GTX 760 Gaming 2GB GDDR5, N760 TF 2GD5/OC, Dual-link DVI
1 x LG 23EA63V-P, 23", 16:9, 1920x1080, IPS panel, 250 cd/m2
1 x TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050
1 x Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz (Max Turbo FQ 3.6 GHz), 6MB
1 x Samsung SH-224DB sat Bulk Black, SATA
$700 approximately
admin
1.) Personally, I’m really against going back to Ivy or Sandy bridge processors—since we have the new Haswell generation available, there’s just no sense in looking backward when the price difference is negligible and you actually get a slight performance bump.
2.) That 4 GB of RAM? It’s going to feel incredibly cramped in about a year and a half. He’ll almost certainly find himself needing an upgrade to at least 8 GB, if not sooner, whether it's for gaming or just because modern software demands more and more juice.
3.) Putting a GTX 760 in a build with this kind of budget seems a bit wild to me—the thread title specifically mentions a "gaming PC," which means the priority should be performance, so he ought to be looking at something beefier like a GTX 770 or an R9 280 X.
4.) The hard drive is also unnecessarily small; why settle for 500GB when, for $17 a little more, he could grab a 1 TB drive? It'll serve him much better in the long run since he's definitely going to have a mountain of stuff to store on it.
5.) Now, the power supply isn't absolute garbage, but I'll say this: given that the budget is relatively high, one should really be aiming for higher-quality units—or at least a better series like the CX—especially considering how much power those graphics cards pull from the PSU.
6.) And honestly, he doesn't need a monitor—he just described it as a bucket.
7.) Bottom line: cosmicseal98, this is a textbook example of buying a total junker for way too much money.
If you're banking on hitting 60 fps with that processor, I hate to break it to you—it’s just not going to happen. You'll run straight into a massive bottleneck instead. To actually pull that off, you really ought to be looking at investing somewhere in the $400 to $450 range; you'd want to grab an i5, a solid motherboard, and something along the lines of an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770/780 or maybe an AMD Radeon R9 290.
crimsonstag84 said:Wait, did you actually swap out an R9 280 X for a 270X? 😛
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages...hmarks,20.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/G...80X_OC/12.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/G...80X_OC/14.html
Honestly, I’ve completely lost the thread on this discussion—I am totally lost! Catch you guys later.
crimsonstag84 said:I’m really not sure where you’re getting that from—the cards are pretty much neck-and-neck. If anything, the GTX 780 might look a bit faster in those PC Gamer tests because they were running an overclocked version, whereas the GTX 780 is actually $67 a better value, though they've been impossible to find in stores around here lately.
It’s honestly a bit silly to argue—the GTX 770 actually beats out the GTX 780 by about 10 fps in Crysis 3, roughly 12 fps in Far Cry 3, and maybe 9 fps in Just Cause 2. The only time they truly tie is in grid 2. So, looking at pure performance, one is clearly faster, yet when you look at the price, it’s a wash. Even if you want to get picky about models, you can find various versions of the GTX 780 ranging from $733 up to $867, while the GTX 770 usually sits anywhere from $733 to $900. It's pointless to obsess over the cost alone; every card has its quirks. For instance, the GTX 780 boasts faster memory bandwidth than the GTX 770, but then the GTX 770 has a texture filter that’s about 20% better... so, we could just sit here and debate all day! At the end of the day, both are top-tier pieces of hardware.
At this point, we might as well just pretend to be fanboys, because honestly, none of the people arguing here even have these benchmarks in front of them, so
Timothy Kim60 said:not really 😬 though it isn't exactly a dealbreaker regarding how you choose to go about it
Anyway, everything you need is laid out right there—just take your time and give it another careful read-through. Since you've already been waiting for a few days, or even weeks, what's a little more time? On the bright side, there's actually more power supplies (and general stock, really) available at Best Buy now, so you have a much better selection. You might even snag something a tiny bit cheaper
And look, if you check those PC Expert charts, the GTX 780 (reference model) hits 45 dB, while the R9 290 sits at 49 dB. Sure, Nvidia cards tend to be quieter, but the idea that they are *vastly* quieter is mostly just an urban legend
@The Truth
I’m telling you, just grab the Accelero cooler from Micro Center and you'll be set click
I've already posted the link, but if you haven't seen just how quiet it is, scroll to the bottom of the page— click —there are three videos down there showing the noise levels of that Accelero. One shows it overclocked (check the 12V video) and another shows a lighter OC (the 7V video), which means it's even quieter without the OC. Then you have the video with the stock cooler; the difference is absolutely massive
Also, once the video ends, you'll see links for the GTX 780 and GTX 780 Ti—I can't remember them all off the top of my head—and you can clearly see those things hum pretty loudly too. The only thing is that there are non-reference coolers available for them now, but since it won't fit his budget anyway, there's no point in bringing it up.
That's just how it works with high-end gear; you simply can't compare it to budget cards like the 7750 (the ultimate 😬 )
Here is another YouTube video featuring the Accelero (running at 100%)
That would be money very wisely spent
They aren't two 270X models; they are the slightly cheaper 270s. Those are actually a bit more powerful than the R9 290, let alone the AMD Radeon R9 280X click —but I should mention again that they are roughly just as loud as the R9 290
Do you honestly think he needs two R9 270s?? I personally don't think so
Truth be told, I’d say:
if you've got the dust cleared out, it'll take a little bit of time, but if you really dive deep into the material, it pays off. I honestly think they might even offer to install an Accelero cooler at the service center later on. I was actually browsing Tom's Hardware for some info, but for some reason, Firefox isn't showing me any videos—though from reading the text, I can tell they're there. Typical. Anyway, I'm just surfing on my kid's computer right now.
Google Chrome, hell yeah! 😁
David Sanders4 said:I’m also leaning toward thinking it's mostly just hype—the actual benchmarks don't show such an astronomical gap in performance. http://www.anandtech.com/show/7481/t...-290-review/15
Honestly, I’d trust this community way more—these guys have been deep in the weeds with this kind of tech for decades now.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...k,3659-18.html
That card could easily hit 50db of noise, so... yeah...
cosmicseal98 said:well, that was kind of my initial thought too 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuhK0IzZneM
It doesn't look *that* scary to me, but I'm curious—does anyone here actually own an R9 290 and can tell me if it’s truly as loud as they say? I have this nagging feeling that everyone makes these little videos where they basically strap a high-end studio mic directly onto the GPU itself—you know how it is. Honestly, my rig isn't going to be sitting right next to my ear; it'll be tucked away on a lower shelf near my feet.
A buddy of mine picked one up just last week. I was over at his place when he fired it up, and man, let me tell you—when he's just browsing the web or doing basic tasks, the card is totally silent. But the second he launched Crysis, it sounded like a jet engine taking off, which was honestly pretty jarring. You really can't miss that kind of noise, especially if you're living in a smaller apartment—you know, following those cramped urban living standards rather than having a massive American suburban setup. Plus, the thing got so hot you could have practically fried an egg on the shroud! My honest advice? Grab whatever card you think fits your needs, but please, just stay far away from the stock coolers... and I mean that for both AMD and Nvidia. Nvidia tends to have this more specific, high-pitched whine, whereas AMD produces this raw, heavy noise coming straight from those cheap-feeling fans. Seriously, take my word for it: steer clear of the reference models!!!
Real talk, here’s the deal:
Honestly, man, everyone's acting like 😁 is some huge deal—it's all in good fun! When I was originally putting together the build on the manufacturer's site, there wasn't any mention of those high-end specs, blue or whatever they call them. This new guy actually suggested these two graphics cards as the "queens of the custom builds," but honestly, nobody has ever even brought up anything this intense for just a couple bucks worth of RAM. All things considered, I think I just need a little peace and quiet for a bit.
Thanks, everyone.
Did you seriously just ask about dual-channel versus quad-channel?
Check this out
Intel Core i7-based custom PC build
Asrock 990FX Extreme 3
Kingston HyperX 2 x4 GB 1600 MHz
GeForce GTX 970
WD Caviar Black 1TB
Asus DRW-24F1ST/BLK/B/AS
Spire Coolgate 2012
Fortron Raider S 750W 80+
Thermaltake Chaser A21
$2353 ( + 628) Total: $2562
Newegg
Honestly, there's really no point in trying to mess around with SLI using two GeForce GTX 750 Tis—you’d probably only see a tiny 5 FPS bump in most games, which just isn't worth the headache. Instead, going with the GeForce GTX 970 is the way to go; it can handle pretty much anything on Ultra-High settings, and you won't have to worry about it for at least another two or three years. If you went the other route, you'd be feeling the itch to upgrade again almost immediately. I also swapped in a faster drive, picked out a slightly different cooler—though you can still get a decent overclock out of it—and made sure to include an 8GB RAM kit. All of this is put together for roughly $17 less than what you're looking at with your current setup...
The honest truth is:
By the time that tech actually hits the shelves here in the States, I’ll probably be retired—honestly! I've been getting pretty worked up about picking up that R9 290, but there's no rush. I want to take my sweet time and really dig into what the experts over in the US are saying about that specific card. If it turns out to be a total dud, I've already scouted out an alternative, which would be this
Regarding that Crossfire option you suggested—I've actually implemented it along with a different motherboard. Following your advice, I also stepped up to a beefier power supply; the price is running about 10% higher because that was the cash-upfront quote, but I'm telling you, I'm going to sit on this for a bit—it's not like I need to pull the trigger in the next ten days or anything.
Cheers!
I'm a little confused as to why you're bothering with a traditional hard drive if you aren't grabbing an SSD—seriously, just go with a Western Digital Blue, or better yet, a WD Black, or even a Toshiba drive. And please, grab a RAM 2 X4GB kit instead of just one single stick. To top it all off, you ended up picking the weakest graphics card out of everything we discussed... plus, that power supply might be a bit overkill, since a rig running two R9 270Xs isn't going to pull more than 550W. I suppose you're accounting for the possibility of swapping in a beefier card later, like an R9 290X or an R9 280X, but honestly? It's much more efficient to buy one strong card now rather than starting with a Crossfire setup of mid-range cards, only to end up in a real bind a few years down the road.
Robert Rodriguez2 said:Grab yourself an NVIDIA card with some non-reference cooling—something like a GTX 770. If you're asking me, it's the ultimate bang-for-your-buck option; it definitely outperforms the 760, even if it doesn't quite hit the level of the 780. Personally, I don't think that extra performance jump really justifies the steep price hike.
If you're asking my opinion, the GTX 770 is absolutely the sweet spot for graphics cards. That said, if you really want to go all out for the best possible experience, I’d personally opt for the GTX 780—it might not have that incredible price-to-performance ratio that makes the GTX 770 so special, but man, is it a beast.
The honest truth is this:
Man, after watching those clips, I almost fell right out of my chair—how could I have been so clueless about the noise levels🙂? I clearly wasn't thinking straight🤷 back then.
Now, just take a look at the GTX 780 equipped with the Titan cooler. We could practically call it semi-reference because it’s significantly quieter than NVIDIA's standard reference models—meaning it's easily twice as quiet as an R9 290X under a full 100% load. Now, just imagine how incredibly silent a non-reference card would be—something from MSI featuring their Twin Frozr cooler, a Gigabyte model with the Windforce setup, or even an Asus card using the Direct CU ii system...
I really don't think any of those high-end non-reference NVIDIA cards are going to give you any trouble...
Timothy Kim60 said:Look, I don't want to scare you off, but once that thing really gets broken in, it’s going to sound like a vacuum cleaner 😬 (once the fan curves kick in properly)
Even though this is the pricier 290x model, the PowerColor Radeon R9 290 is just as loud
But honestly, it'll only get that loud during intense gaming sessions—and at that point, you can just tune out the noise (personally, I'm wearing headphones about 95% of the time)
FC3 at 1440p
That’s exactly what I told him—it’s not a huge deal when you have headphones on, but I know he won't be wearing them the second that jet engine starts spinning, so after a while, the noise is going to drive him absolutely crazy and he'll regret the purchase. As for that GPU cooler you mentioned, I'm not entirely sure if it's even worth the hassle of ripping off the stock shroud just to slap an aftermarket cooler on there—I mean, it's such a demanding game, right? And just a quick heads-up based on my own setup: I'm running an ASUS custom DirectCU II card, I've got a pretty quiet PSU, and even with an aftermarket cooler on my CPU, that damn case fan is doing all the heavy lifting and making all the noise in my entire 16-inch build...
So, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time lately tinkering around with an Intel i5 4670—just one of those classic components that stays on your mind longer than it probably should. It’s funny how much we get attached to certain hardware, isn't it? Even as newer generations roll out, there’s something about this specific chip that just feels... familiar. It’s a solid little workhorse, really, though sometimes I find myself wondering if I’m being a bit too nostalgic when I'm trying to squeeze every last drop of performance out of it. Still, it gets the job done!
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time lately tinkering around with the Asrock B85M Pro4—which, if you haven't encountered it before, is a pretty solid little board—and I have to say, it really holds its own when you're trying to squeeze out some decent performance from an older setup. It’s one of those components that just feels reliable in a way that makes you appreciate the simpler days of hardware builds, even if we are all constantly chasing that next big upgrade.
I was looking back through my specs today—specifically that Newegg PC Build I put together a while back—and I realized I never really went into detail about the memory setup. I ended up going with the Kingston HyperX 2x4GB 1600MHz kit. It’s nothing groundbreaking by today's standards, mind you, but at the time, it felt like exactly what the build needed to stay stable without breaking the bank. It’s funny how much we obsess over those little details when we're building, isn't it?
So, let me tell you about my experience with the Gigabyte GTX 780 2GB—it’s been quite a journey, really. Looking back at this card, there are definitely some things I wish I had known before I dove headfirst into this setup. It’s one of those pieces of hardware that really makes you appreciate how much things have changed in just a few years. I was running this alongside an Intel I5 4670 on an Asrock B85M Pro motherboard, paired with some Kingston HyperX 2 X4GB 1600 MHz RAM. To give you a bit of context on the total build—which I put together via a Newegg PC Build—it was a pretty solid mid-range machine for its time. I also had a WD Caviar Black 1 TB drive and a Cooler Master GeminII M4 keeping things cool, all tucked away inside a Fractal Design Core 1000 case. Powering the whole thing was an XFX Pro 650 W unit, which, in hindsight, was just enough to get the job done without too much drama. Now, regarding the star of the show—the GTX 780—it certainly held its own. It wasn't exactly a powerhouse by today's standards, of course, but for the era? It was quite something. The performance was decent, though I did notice it could run a little warmer than I would have liked during those particularly intense gaming sessions. It’s funny, isn't it? How we used to obsess over every single degree of temperature back then! Overall, it was a reliable part of the ecosystem for me. If you happen to be digging through old hardware or looking at vintage builds, just remember that while it won't be breaking any modern world records, it still carries a certain charm. It served its purpose, kept me entertained, and—most importantly—didn't blow up on me!
I’ve been thinking about my storage setup lately—specifically that old WD Caviar Black 1TB drive I’ve been running—and it really makes you realize how much we rely on these spinning platters for our most important data. It’s one of those reliable workhorses that just keeps chugging along, isn't it? Even though we're all moving toward lightning-fast NVMe drives, there’s still something incredibly comforting about having a solid, high-capacity drive like this tucked away in a chassis to handle the bulkier files. It’s a little bit of a nostalgic feeling, honestly, but at the end of the day, if it holds your data and stays quiet, it's doing its job perfectly.
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time lately tinkering with my setup—you know how it goes, one small tweak leads to another deep dive—and I finally got around to looking closely at that XFX Pro 650 W unit. Honestly, it’s one of those components that doesn't always get the spotlight it deserves during a build, but after putting it through its paces, I have some thoughts. It’s a solid little workhorse, really, though I did find myself second-guessing the headroom once I started pushing the power draw a bit higher than expected. It’s reliable enough for most standard builds, but if you're planning on running something particularly beefy, you might want to think twice about whether this is the absolute best fit for your needs. Just my two cents from a few hours of testing!
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time lately staring at my LG G24NSB0—and honestly, I mean *really* staring at it—and I felt like sharing a few thoughts on how it’s actually holding up in my daily setup. It’s one of those pieces of gear that you don't realize you need until you're right in the middle of a session and everything just... clicks. It isn't anything overly flashy or meant to break the bank, but there’s a certain reliability there that I’ve come to appreciate—it’s steady, it’s crisp, and it just does its job without any unnecessary fuss. I know some people prefer to go all out with those massive, ultra-expensive displays, but for what I’m doing, this has been a sweet spot for me. It’s got that perfect balance where the colors feel right and the response time doesn't leave me feeling like I'm playing through molasses. Just a solid, dependable monitor that makes the whole experience feel a bit more seamless.
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time lately tinkering with my cooling setup—mostly because I have a tendency to overthink these things—and I wanted to share some thoughts on the Cooler Master GeminII M4. It’s one of those components that feels like a solid, dependable choice if you aren't looking to break the bank, though I always find myself wondering if I should have gone for something even more robust. Still, in my experience, it does a pretty decent job of keeping temperatures in check during those longer sessions. It isn't exactly a showstopper in terms of flashy aesthetics, but it gets the job done without making too much of a fuss—which, honestly, is exactly what I was aiming for.
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time lately tinkering with my setup—you know how it goes, one minute you're just cleaning out the dust, and the next, you're three hours deep into a complete rebuild—and I finally got around to testing out the Fractal Design Core 1000. Honestly? It’s a bit of a sleeper hit. It’s one of those cases that doesn't scream for attention with flashy RGB or aggressive angles, which, if you're anything like me, is a massive relief. It feels solid, purposeful, and surprisingly accommodating given its footprint. There’s a certain understated elegance to it—it just sits there on the desk looking professional rather than looking like a neon spaceship landed in your home office. Of course, no build is ever truly "finished," right? I found myself adjusting cable management more than once—just a little bit of trial and error to get everything looking clean—but the layout is intuitive enough that it didn't feel like an uphill battle. If you're looking for something that balances a compact profile with enough breathing room to actually enjoy the building process, this might just be your sweet spot. It’s simple, it’s functional, and frankly, it makes the whole workspace feel a lot less cluttered.
Newegg PC Build $2725
If you haven't pulled the trigger yet, seriously—just grab this build. Honestly, the GTX 780 (Windforce) is a much more reliable performer when it comes to actual gaming; it stays way cooler and runs at least three times quieter than that absolute furnace of a PowerColor Radeon R9 290. Plus, you’re looking at saving about 50W on power draw, which isn't nothing. You'll have a relatively snappy setup here, backed by a solid power supply and a case that won't hog all your precious desk space. To top it off, I included an aftermarket cooler—that should really kick things up a notch regarding noise levels and keep those temps under control.
Look, at the end of the day, the final call is yours—I’m not here to tell you how to live your life—but honestly? With a configuration like this, there is absolutely no way you can go wrong... unless, of course, these guys here decide to step in. $100 Honestly, the difference isn't even that big of a deal...
Joseph Hayes7 said:I might have missed an existing thread on this topic, but I’ve been searching and coming up empty. If I’m posting in the wrong section, please feel free to point me toward the right subforum.
I am running into some significant issues while playing Grand Theft Auto. Because I can't seem to establish a NAT 1 or NAT 2 connection—I am perpetually stuck on NAT 3—whenever I attempt to enter Free Roam, I find myself completely alone; no other players show up. I really need to switch my status to NAT 1 or NAT 2, but I have followed every set of instructions I could find online, and none of them have worked for me. 🙂
If anyone happens to know how to fix this, would you mind explaining the process to me in plain, simple English? I'm definitely not a tech expert! Thank you so much in advance!
You're definitely off-topic, but don't worry about it too much—the real issue is that the online community for R. d. R. is basically a ghost town. Hardly anyone plays it anymore; you might stumble upon one person here or there, but that's about it. It doesn't actually have anything to do with your NAT 1 or NAT 2 settings...
David Sanders4 said:From what I can tell, they aren't exactly the budget option—their GPUs might be the cheapest ones around, with a few exceptions, but everything else in their inventory is pretty much just... "modest," at best.
Not the cheapest? 😂 Honestly, I have no idea which shops you're hitting up if you think they're cheaper than Micro Center.
Robert Ortiz58 said:I honestly think you might be looking at some incorrect pricing here:
http://www.google.com/search?q=sapphire+r9+290
$848 + Sales Tax = -> http://www.bestbuy.com/graphics-cards/sapphire-r9-290
$100 Your card there is actually more expensive than what you'd find in the cheapest local shop. And if you're planning on using a payment plan, the rates at Best Buy are going to be even $100 worse. Why would you even consider buying from them in the first place?
You're probably just looking at prices without sales tax included—honestly, you should run the other way from Best Buy as fast as you can! And my advice? Avoid those specific links too; you'll have much better luck checking out places like Micro Center, Newegg, or Amazon...
