Posts by Sean Garcia3

GPU

Case It’s got sound dampening, quiet fans, and is pretty well laid out and functional for what it is.

You could probably just stick with your current power supply to save some cash, then put that extra money toward that killer GTX 970 I suggested earlier.

Brian Campbell36 said:So, you're telling me these two Intel Core i7s are total garbage?

Look, we told you that before you even pulled the trigger on the motherboard. You could have easily grabbed a $300 model right out of the gate if you'd just listened.$133 Sell the GPU for cheap and move on, though I guess that window of opportunity closed once the local bake sale ended. You mentioned earlier that you already have a separate cooler—which one exactly are we talking about? If you’ve already got a solid cooler sitting right there, I don't see any reason to blow more cash on a new one.

You're always making stuff up about hot water!
If he really needed a Samsung 870 EVO, he would've just tossed one in. It looks like he’s settled for a decent enough 120GB SSD with a 5-year warranty, while beefing up the rest of the build with a solid power supply that also has a 5-year warranty, a beefier cooler, and a better motherboard. Honestly, you overreached on the GPU, but hey, that MSI model runs around $2500-$867 and this GTX 970 is $933. Besides, it isn't just about them being close in raw power; it's the lower power draw, better overclocking headroom, Vulkan, CUDA, and just the fact that it's a newer card overall.
A 650W unit would hold up, but if you want some actual breathing room for a setup like that, you'd be better off grabbing a PSU that isn't such a total piece of junk.

Larry Murphy83 said:Hey, can anyone help?

I'm putting together a build and was wondering what kind of power supply I'd need for this setup.

Motherboard: ASrock 990FX Killer AM3+
GPU: MSI Gaming R9 290 4GB DDR5
CPU: AMD FX-Series 9370
RAM: 12 GB DDR3
SSD: SAMSUNG 840 EVO 250GB SSD
HDD: Samsung EVO 1 TB
Case: Akyga AKY008BK
Cooler: Cooler Master Nemesis

Thanks in advance 🙂

This build is a disaster.
First off, that motherboard isn't going to cut it for that processor; you really need a high-end ASUS board $500 if you want that CPU to actually function properly, and even then, you'll need some decent thermal paste.
That CPU itself is honestly garbage—it pulls 220W just to perform on par with an Intel Core i7-3770, which is way more stable, cheaper, and doesn't require a top-tier motherboard to stay alive.

Also, you don't need 12GB of RAM for gaming; 8GB is plenty, honestly overkill for most titles nowadays.

Skip the Samsung EVO too. It's overpriced, runs hot, and is loud, yet it's barely any faster than a cheap Western Digital Blue or Western Digital drive. Since you've already got an SSD, just use that for your OS and programs, and use a standard hard drive for bulk storage.

That case looks like cheap junk; you're going to run into massive thermal issues, and besides, that Cooler Master Nemesis won't even fit in there.

The GPU isn't a great move either. For a little more money, you could grab an awesome EVGA GTX 970, which is significantly more powerful and uses half the power.

For the parts you listed, you'd need at least an 850W PSU just to be safe, assuming everything is actually assembled correctly.

If you want a killer build within your budget, go with something like this:

1x EVGA GeForce GTX 970 FTW, 4GB GDDR5, DVI, DP

1x Intel Core i5-4690K

1x ASUS Z97 Gaming Motherboard, Z97 Chipset, D3, S3, USB 3.0, DVI, A

1x Cooler Master Nemesis CPU Cooler - 2x 140mm P/N: CPRT-005

1x Kingston Fury DDR3, 1866MHz, 8GB (2x4GB) Black
HX318C10FBK2/8

1x EVGA SuperFlower Gold PSU - 550 Watt / SF-550P14XE (HX) P/N: NESF-020

1x Intel® SSD 530 Series (120GB, 2.5in SATA 6Gb/s, 20nm, MLC) 7mm, SSDSC2BW120A401

1x Western Digital DT01ACA100 1TB 3.5''

1x Zalman Z3 PLUS mid tower case black, USB 3.0, no PSU included, ZAL-Z3 PLUS

Total:$3042 Free assembly available locally!
If you aren't set on Intel, you could look at an Intel Core i7-3770 paired with this motherboard
That would bring the price to $2737.

Gregory Hayes87 said:Is this $150 actually any good?
I pulled my GPU out entirely, threw in a DVD-ROM instead, and now I'm getting $1167.
What should I put on an SSD, and is 120GB enough space?

Nah, skip that SSD. Grab an Intel one instead—they’re faster, better quality, and come with a 5-year warranty. As for the size, 120GB is plenty. Windows will take up maybe 60GB, leaving you plenty of room for everything else.

Brian Campbell36 said:Once I get home from work, I'm grabbing those screws and an SSD tray.

I’m heading out to pick up a GPU soon;

Looks like the R9 280 is still a solid bet, though an R9 285 would work too (planning to flip these two 7770s on Marketplace for about $167 each) 🍿

This one would probably be your best move

Wouldn't be a bad call to grab this one while it's on sale, just heads up—it's pretty long

David Sanders4 said:$8.25 you've got that bracket in the link...
I ended up just slapping a v8gts in today. Honestly, I can't be bothered to order parts; the quality isn't even that great, and it’s a total tight squeeze in the case....

How does that thing actually cool down? Is it loud?

Brian Campbell36 said:Still putting the parts together, gotta make sure everything looks clean and organized🍿

I’m actually a little nervous about mounting this aftermarket CPU cooler. I don't want to snap the motherboard, so I'm low-key considering just sticking with the stock Intel cooler instead. 🤦

Man, just go ahead and install that custom cooler you bought. People run massive Noctua NH-D14 beasts on these boards all the time without any issues. Just get it looking sharp and toss up some photos of the case, both inside and out. 🍿

Brian Campbell36 said:So I picked up a Samsung SSD, but of course, they didn't include a heatsink or even the screws. Typical. 🤔

Went back to Best Buy again—heard they were supposed to include the drive bay and the screws—but apparently, they aren't interested in hearing a word about it.

Look, I don't really care about the screws or the mounting brackets. All I want to know is if the board actually runs well. 😁 What kind of madness is this? :klap:

silentcobra3 said:Alright, thanks a ton.
Maybe I'll scrape together another $100 and just grab the fx 8320 to be safe.
That should do the trick.

Unless you guys think I should dump those extra $100 into a better GPU instead.

Honestly, just go for the fx 8320. You aren't getting anything significantly better on the GPU side for $100 anyway, and the fx 8320 is a solid chip for the long haul—it'll let you slap a much beefier graphics card in there down the road.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Man, you really went overboard with that one. That GPU in the first build is garbage; you won't be able to play anything with it. And don't even get me started on "upgrading" things down the road—especially with cards costing $200+. They'll run into massive bottlenecks with the CPU, plus they'll have to shell out for a new power supply, more RAM, and a whole laundry list of other stuff...

Realistically speaking, $1000 a full gaming setup including a monitor? There's no way they can pull that together.

The guy asked for a rig with a monitor included, not a rig with an extra $333 budget specifically for a monitor...

Before you start throwing builds at people, maybe try actually reading the OP. Stop suggesting phantom setups and upgrades that probably won't even work, especially when nobody even mentioned they were planning to upgrade in the first place.

For the first example, I gave him a foundation that’s solid for future upgrades; he could drop an r9 280 in there later without any bottleneck issues, and the power supply is plenty beefy.

As for the monitor, I told him to save up for one later, because otherwise, he isn't going to be playing anything if his goal is to run modern titles.

The second build is perfectly fine for that price point—maybe throw in another 4GB of RAM and he'll be good to go.

From what I can see, you're just acting like a know-it-all. It's easy to just say, "Hey, save up more money and come back."
Maybe he already has an old monitor he can use, who knows? He got examples and advice, and he can take them or leave them.

I’m just trying to figure out if it's actually worth your money or not, even if you wouldn't die if you just went with a Zalman Z1, a Raijintek Arcadio, or a Zalman Z3

David Sanders4 said:Honestly, after getting burned last year, I was just sitting around waiting for some clearance deals, but man, I nearly had a heart attack when I saw how much prices have spiked. I actually have a connection through a buddy that would make everything $333 cheaper, so I was looking at grabbing an FX 8320 + M597 combo along with a Gigabyte GTX 970, mostly because they're the only ones offering a decent payment plan through my bank. The only catch is that absolute unit of a card is 33 cm long... it won't fit in my case.

What kind of case are you running? Maybe you could just hack it or bend the metal a bit.

So, did the motherboard actually show up yet? 😁

David Sanders4 said:Did you grab that at the downtown Best Buy or at futur? I was banking on some kind of sale combined with an IBO deal so I could snag a 3570k, but now that same CPU is sitting at $667 somewhere else... it sucks...

Yeah, M597 is going for about 850$300 right now, even though it used to be max $233. Basically, whatever option I was waiting for just flopped. People were saying prices on FX chips would drop, so I held out thinking I might land an FX 8320 for $333, but nope—now they're averaging around $400...

It’s definitely not the time to be buying hardware...
Besides, I’m just gonna wait. I've got a massive backlog of games to get through anyway, both for PC and my PlayStation 3, so I'll just wait for better times... maybe the dollar will strengthen again once tourist season hits... fingers crossed.🙄

Look, you can still get an FX 8320 for $366 over at UZI-J. Plus, if you sign up for PC Expert, you get an extra 3% off, bringing it down to $355. That’s actually a solid price. You could easily pair it with a Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P motherboard and a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo, and with the discount, you're looking at $266. To me, that's totally reasonable. Why wait if you've got the cash and just want to play some games on higher settings?

Everything’s gone up, honestly. It looks like RAM and maybe SSDs are the only things holding steady. Over at Future, you're looking at $150-$67 for motherboards, CPUs are pushing past $67, HDDs are sitting at 20-$10, plus some small bumps on power supplies and coolers hitting 30-$13. Even cases are around $33 and GPUs are climbing to $33 compared to what they used to be. There are just so few deals left, $6.75. JBTE, I was building a rig just a year ago and I definitely got a better deal then than if I tried to put together a whole new build today.

rustymarlin20 said:she’s basically saying she'll grab a new CPU once she actually has the cash

She's gonna need a new motherboard too, though.

crimsonstag84 said:Why bother buying the exact same setup somewhere else if it just ends up costing more? 🤔

I didn't even realize you'd posted yet—we were only about three minutes apart.

Forget about the monitor for now; $333 can just grab one later once he saves up some cash. That 23" Full HD 1080p IPS

You’ve basically got two ways to go here:

Option one: build this way and you've got everything prepped for a solid upgrade path. You can eventually drop in a much beefier fx 8320 and a decent GPU like an r9 280x or a gtx 970, which means you won't have to worry about anything for years and can run stuff on max settings.

1 x Sapphire R7 240 x, 1GB GDDR3
1 x AMD FX X6 6100 3.3Ghz (3.9GHz) box
1 x GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3P, AM3+
1 x LC POWER LC-CC-95, socket 775/1155/1156/AMD
1 x Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 Mhz (PC3-12800) CL11
1 x Fortron Hyper 500W, 80+
1 x Toshiba DT01ACA050 (3.5", 500GB, 32MB, SATA III-600)
1 x Raijintek Arcadia, USB3.0, black

Total: $1041 Best Buy, free assembly and shipping included!
Either way, this setup will handle games better than your current rig with that APU-, and it gives you a killer foundation for a cheap upgrade down the road. The CPU is strong enough that if you toss in a card like an r9 280 or r9 280x later, you won't hit a bottleneck, and the PSU has plenty of headroom. If you were aiming for high end graf, then you'd definitely want to swap in an fx 8320.

Then there's option two: go this route if you don't care about upgrading later. This socket is pretty much a dead end—there aren't any significantly better CPUs coming to save you, and you won't be able to put anything powerful in the GPU slot because the processor will just bottleneck it. This is a "play until it dies, then replace everything" kind of build. The only upside is you get a slightly better GPU right out of the gate, even if it's still pretty weak for most modern games.

1 x MSI R7 260 OC, 1GB GDDR5, VGA, DVI, HDMI
1 x AMD Athlon x4 860 k, Black edition kaver (3.7GHz,4MB,95W,FM2+) box
1 x GIGABYTE Main Board Desktop AMD A78 (SFM2+,DDR3,DVI/VGA,USB3.0/USB2.0,SATA III,RAID,LAN) mATX Retail
1 x Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 Mhz (PC3-12800) CL11
1 x Fortron Hexi+ 400W, 80+, active, 12 c
1 x Toshiba DT01ACA050 (3.5", 500GB, 32MB, SATA III-600)
1 x Zalman T5 mini tower, black

Total: Total: $1009 Best Buy
He could probably pick up this cooler if he wants the build to be a bit quieter.

rustymarlin20 said:My girlfriend is running this motherboard http://www.asrock.com/mb/NVIDIA/N68-GE3%20UCC/ paired with an Intel Core i5 I think. She wants to grab a new SSD and some RAM. Right now she’s sitting on 2 gigs of DDR3 at 1333MHz, but she wants to bump it up to 8 gigs. Should she just buy more of the exact same sticks she already has to hit that 8gb mark, or is it better to just get a fresh 8gb kit? Also, regarding the SSD, she’s looking for a 120GB one, but since her board doesn't support SATA 3, a cheaper model would be ideal. Budget can't go over $300. If we can find something even cheaper, even better. Thanks in advance.

Cheap isn't happening:
1 x Samsung 870 EVO/W430, 120GB, 7mm, 2.5"
3 x Transcend DDR3 2GB 1333MHz, JM1333KLN-2GBK

Total: $336 Best Buy
Let me know exactly what RAM she has, specifically the latencies. You could even drop a link so we can take a look.