Posts by Sean Garcia3

Roger Mitchell4 said:I can't believe I'm actually looking at this. This deal on an AMD card with 1GB of DDR5 is honestly kind of hilarious. It’s like someone dug up a relic from a decade ago and decided it was worth talking about today. If you're thinking about picking this up to play anything modern, please, for the love of god, don't. You'll be lucky if it even manages to launch a browser without sweating bullets. Still, it's there if you just want a paperweight that occasionally displays a desktop.
Is this build even worth anything?

Not gonna lie, that motherboard is a pretty questionable choice for a processor like that. You're also missing a dedicated cooler, which is a huge problem since that stock AMD one is honestly garbage. Plus, that power supply that comes bundled with the case? It’s definitely not up to the task for a build of this caliber.

Here's an example of how this should look:

1 x Sapphire R9 270 2GB, OC Boost, 2GB GDDR5 256bit

1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6300 Processor | 3.5GHz, 14MB Cache, 95W, AM3+ socket (FD6300WMHK)

1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866

1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler, fits 1156/775/FM1 sockets, 96.5×51×125 mm, 92mm fan

Just one stick of DDR3 4GB Kingston HyperX FURY RAM, running at 1866MHz with CL10 timings (HX318C10F).

1 x EVGA 550 W1 power supply, 400W, HEXA Plus, 12cm fan

Just one Western Digital 500GB hard drive here—the 5000AAKX model. It’s running SATA 3 with a 16MB buffer, spins at 7,200 rpm, and has an 8.9 ms access time.

1 x MSI Phoenix mid-tower case (no PSU included), supports ATX and mATX motherboards.

Total:$1344 Free assembly and shipping on us!
I just threw in 4GB of RAM because those sticks are dirt cheap and easy to upgrade later on. $100 I can literally wipe them out in like ten seconds flat—but hey, that’s exactly why I slapped a much beefier GPU in here!

Robert Rodriguez2 said:🤦
what does a worn-out input have to do with sound quality?

man, you can't just repeat "the speakers are fine" five hundred thousand times and expect it to work.😂

The actual difference is going to be the sound card in an old PC versus a new one.

I only mentioned that as one possible cause; stop acting like a clown by nitpicking over nothing.

coastaltiger2 said:You're spot on... I'm not even going to stress about it... this rig is perfect... thanks everyone, seriously...
One more thing before I go—I swear the audio sounds three times better on these same speakers. Is that actually possible, or am I just tripping?

It's totally possible your old PC had a worn-out port that wasn't transferring audio properly, or maybe it was just the sound card. Honestly, at the end of the day, all that matters is that you're happy with how it sounds. Why it happened doesn't really change anything now.
Have you jumped into any games yet? Let us know how it handles and what kind of settings you're running.

Brian Campbell36 said:What even is coil whine?

So, what do you think? Should I pull the trigger on an R9 290 OC right now, or just hold out for the AMD 300 series? Right now, I'm stuck with two cf 7770s and I can't play anything unless I crank everything to low and turn off basically every setting in the graphics menu.

Coil whine is basically just that buzzing sound coming from the inductors near the fans.

Honestly, if I were in your shoes, I'd grab a card now because playing on low settings is just soul-crushing. That said, I'd probably lean toward the gtx 970 since it's more powerful and way more efficient. Since you're rocking a 1000w gold power supply, power draw isn't even going to be an issue for you anyway.😁 Plus, the newer card generally has dx 12 and some other modern features compared to the r9 290. Then again, you won't go wrong with the r9 290 either—it's still a beast, especially that Asus's model which comes with a 3-year warranty.👍 It really just comes down to personal preference at this point; there isn't a massive gap in raw performance.
Check out this comparison to see for yourself:http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1355?vs=1068

Brian Campbell36 said:🤣

What even is a gtx 970? The R9 290 OC is the obvious pick here. I'm definitely not joining the green camp just because they split 4 GB into two chunks—3.5 GB plus 512 MB. That's a joke. ☕

I was actually thinking about grabbing a gtx 970 recently, but I bailed because of that VRAM issue and the Coil whine. Besides, my current card (gtx 760) is actually decent enough that I can run pretty much everything on max settings right now. So, I decided to just hold out for the new AMD series in maybe six months or so. Knowing how they usually undercut NVIDIA on price while offering better raw performance, it’s an easy call. Until then, I'll just squeeze what I can out of this gtx 760 and wait until summer to drop over three grand on a total beast. 😬

Brian Campbell36 said:Everything's set up. I'm expecting this card to run GTA V on at least high settings 😁

It's a massive investment, so I'm hoping it keeps me chill for the next three years. My only worry is how fast games will start requiring dx 12 support 🤔

Well, remember when we were giving you advice back when prices were actually reasonable, telling you to grab a cheaper card and sell those two old ones to put more towards a $500 gtx 970? You wouldn't listen then, claiming you weren't buying cards from $833, but now that you've changed your tune, you're seeing it wasn't a bad move.
dx 12 isn't going to become mandatory overnight, but having a card that supports it is definitely smart. If you're still obsessing over the $200 gtx 970, just make sure you have dx 12 support, or better yet, hurry up and grab this r9 290 while it's still in stock. I bet you anything the price jumps or they sell out within two days!

I can see right now that there's a $967 Gigabyte gtx 970 at Best Buy

gentlesailor43 said:So, should I just pocket the $43 and go with the XFX?😁

It's an Intel setup, specifically an i5 4460.

Yeah, you're good to go. Honestly, that Fortron Hyper 500w is plenty for you; you don't really need the 600w version.

gentlesailor43 said:XFX R9-280A-TDFD, double Dissipation edition Radeon R9 280 933m

Anyone have experience with this one? Thoughts?

Between this one and Gigabyte's model, those are pretty much the top two versions of this card. This XFX one runs a bit cooler and quieter, plus it handles overclocking better, though you do lose a year of warranty compared to what Gigabyte offers.

I mean, the only thing he’s actually going to use it for is running Windows and maybe grabbing some drivers—though honestly, I’d just download those from the web anyway. By the way, let me know if you can hear that fan spinning, I'm dying to know!

Robert Rodriguez2 said:if you're running a triple HD monitor setup, it’s not just FHD 1920 x1080 (single monitor) anymore—it’s 5760x1080. obviously, it’s gonna eat up more than 3.5 GB of VRAM

maybe do a little homework before you start acting like you know everything.

Look, I didn't even say that. I just said people tend to hook up multiple 1080p monitors when they have high-end graphics cards. No need to get all worked up over nothing.

Kenneth Jackson3 said:1000-$400

EDIT: never mind, it sold while I was overthinking it :/

If you're still looking, check out this and maybe try to talk them down to $33

You could also try getting a deal on $33

Kenneth Jackson3 said:I've got a decent offer on an AMD Radeon R9 280 X series, thoughts? It still has a year left on the warranty. Running an FX 8350 with a CX 500 power supply. I know the PSU isn't exactly top-tier, but do you think it could handle this card for a few more months?

What's the price tag?
The PSU should hold up just fine!

Check this out http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/bat...6x2160%29.html

From what I’ve heard, you need Shadow of Mordor and Far Cry 4 to actually hit those specs, but honestly, most people using cards like this are just running a 3 or 4-monitor setup at 1080p. In that case, you definitely need that 4GB VRAM.

Larry Ortiz5 said:Look, man, this is an "old news" topic at this point. Anyone running those specific cards already knows the deal. I mean, what games are you even going to run with 3.5 GB+ anyway? Maybe at 4K? But even the GTX 980, which is actually better, isn't built for resolutions like that. Honestly, most hardware on the market right now can barely handle playing at that resolution with decent FPS..

The real issue isn't just how things run today; it's about how they'll handle games a year from now when VRAM demands start spiking. We’re already seeing titles that push past 4GB of VRAM even at 1080p. You have to look ahead—you don't buy a card to use it for five months; you buy it to last at least two years. You've gotta consider the future and think long-term.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Look, just install Windows 7 if that’s what works for you. Honestly, I only messed around with Windows 8.1 for less than two weeks before I jumped right back to 7.

So, I had this machine running Windows 7 for like two years straight without a single hiccup. Then, I decided to jump up to Windows 8, and suddenly I’m getting hit with three or four blue screens every single day. Total nightmare. I ended up rolling it back to Windows 7, and honestly? It's been rock solid for three months now with zero blue screens. Turns out, sometimes "upgrading" is just a fancy word for breaking things.

I actually had the exact opposite experience. For me, the week after I installed Windows 8, everything was just broken—it was constantly acting up on me. Eventually, I made the jump to Windows 8.1 Pro and honestly, it’s been perfect for a year now. Not a single issue. At the end of the day, half the trouble usually comes down to whatever shady torrent you decide to download.

Anyway, once the PC shows up, let me know how it runs. Make sure you get Windows 8.1 Pro 64 installed right away, then grab Malwarebytes and CCleaner. You can just stick with Windows Defender for your antivirus—that’s exactly what I use, and honestly, everything works perfectly fine.

It’s way too easy to blow cash when it isn't yours. Honestly, we've seen this cycle play out for years—one minute everything is dirt cheap and accessible, then suddenly prices spike, and it just keeps looping. With the new series of AMD graphics likely dropping by May, there’s bound to be a much better way to spend that money, and current card prices will almost certainly take a hit. If he can't wait, he should just buy something now; if he's in no rush, tell him to hang tight.

crimsonstag84, with those weaker power supplies, even a 20w difference can actually mess with the whole build.

Look, let's talk about the money here. This case offers way more value than it actually should. You can't really expect much more from a chassis at this price point, right? Honestly, you could probably find something better for $8.25 if you look around, maybe even a Zalman Z3 http://www.amazon.com/zalman-z3/

crimsonstag84 said:The beQuiet! system Power 7 400w is actually a step up from that XFX unit, and $20 it’s cheaper too. Honestly, spending extra $20 on more RAM is overkill; you won't even notice a difference unless you're living in Winrar. You'd be better off putting that money toward a paliti super JetStream GTX 960.

My only concern is that with that power supply, you're basically hitting a wall if you ever want to upgrade to a beefier GPU. As for the RAM, I just threw it in because I think it looks better—personally, I prefer two sticks over one. Look, these are all minor details that don't really change much, but it's all about preference. Everyone should build their rig how they want. That said, if you decide to go with a single 8GB stick instead, you could pivot to a cheaper board like the Asrock h81 HDS which has two slots. From there, you could potentially grab an MSI GTX 960 or maybe put that cash toward a nicer case. At the end of the day, build it however you like.