Look, I know Seasonic makes solid power supplies—that’s a given—but I was wondering if adding another drive or two up there would push it too hard... might be cutting it close. Any fan recommendations? My main thing is being able to control them via software—I need this rig to be dead silent when I'm just idling...
I need something that isn't made of cheap plastic—something that won't start rattling after an hour of spinning hard drives. I dropped $167 on the one in the link three years ago and it’s already a disaster... buzzing everywhere and the front panel plastic is basically cracking apart. Ideally, I want something with decent dust filters too. Budget-wise, I could go up to $700$267 as long as the build quality is solid and the airflow actually works.
Hey everyone—been browsing for a new PC case lately. I’m looking for something high-end and solid... ideally quiet enough that I won't hear my HDD spinning up every five minutes. Needs at least 5 or 6 drive bays for hard drives, plus maybe 2 slots for SSDs if possible.
As for cooling, I want to stick with 2 four-pin fans—something quiet that actually lets me control the speed...
I'm also stuck on the GPU situation. Should I wait for prices to drop on the GTX 9 series, or just bite the bullet and grab an R9 290 X? My Seasonic 520W is definitely going to be a bottleneck with this FX 8320 setup...
Don't really care which shop I use, though a cash discount would be nice.
Regarding picking up a used GPU that supposedly comes with a warranty through Esys—what’s the deal with them? I’ve been browsing Craigslist for something around $400 and I'm wondering if it's actually worth the hassle... specifically looking at a 280x...
It’s ridiculous—you can't find this anywhere else. They had the exact same card listed under $533, then I send them an inquiry and suddenly everything changes. Just a bunch of thieves, honestly. It’s like how Best Buy used to hold $500... you ask a question and they flip the script. I just don't get these online retailers. On top of that, it claimed there was an 18-month warranty, but then look at this VTX...
Even then, it’s all just too much hassle—dealing with some guy in a random city far away... who'd actually risk their cash $200 on a card they can't verify? I already got burned once buying a 3870x2 from some guy in San Diego via Gizmodo, and the idiot sent me a card that was physically busted.
Honestly, if I can't see it and touch it myself, I'm not buying—unless the person has a solid reputation on a forum...
I saw one 7850 listed for $233, but it's sitting there with over 600 views... clearly someone's been trying to dump it for months if that many people have looked at it without anyone biting. Everything else is garbage—like selling a GTX 260 for $200..
Looking at some used cards—maybe a GTX 560 or an HD 7850/70—but I don't want to get ripped off... people on Craigslist are asking ridiculous prices, like $800-$333 for an HD 6850, or even up to $1000-$400 for a 6950..
Honestly, what’s a decent price for a 6950 with 2 GB? Personally, I wouldn't pay more than $650-$233... for what they're asking, you could easily grab a nearly new 270/270x from a retail store with a couple years of warranty, or maybe a 7850/7870... hell, if you stretched the budget, you could probably find something twice as powerful like a 280x for just another $300-$133?
And the best part is how arrogant these sellers are... they act like everyone else is an idiot, thinking they can squeeze over $150 out of someone for ancient hardware that isn't even worth it..
Honestly, you could probably grab a 5770 for maybe $400 max—pretty much on par with a GTX 260 $17—but if logic holds, a GTX 560 should be worth closer to $800 or even more... I'm no hardware expert, but even so, there’s definitely something sketchy about that listing.
And once again, there's zero guarantee it hasn't been overheated or patched together just to turn on—only to die two days later... I'm hunting for something with a solid warranty that actually makes sense, but there's nothing decent on Craigslist. Some people are trying to flip a 7850 for 1000-$400, which is basically what you'd pay for a brand-new one... honestly, I can't even tell if it's worth the gamble anymore.
My case is wide open right now—not ideal—but my CPU fan is driving me insane. It’s hitting 4500-4700 RPM during tasks and the noise is just brutal... temps are climbing to 60C too. I'm looking for advice on a decent 120mm exhaust fan so I can actually close the side panel up. Maybe a new CPU cooler as well, provided it actually makes a noticeable difference in both heat and noise levels. Everything else stays cool, though—GPU is sitting at 30C, HDD is fine too...
Is it actually worth hunting down an old Radeon HD 5870 or maybe a Radeon HD 4890... I mean, if I can snag one for decent cash? Not sure how much sense it makes compared to a 7850—especially since the 70 series and those new Radeon cards at the store are way overpriced for my budget. I guess the GTX 970 goes for about $467 if we're just talking about a few extra FPS... which isn't even worth it. I honestly can't find any decent benchmarks for newer stuff like Call of Duty...
So I went with the Intel Core i7 thinking about the long game—but now I’m struggling just to record gameplay for StarCraft... playing a tower defense map with a 5770 and 4GB of RAM, and the FPS still dips to 30-40 whenever I hit record. I mean, sure, I'm recording in full HD at max settings, but it’s an old game by any stretch of the imagination...