Posts by Samuel Moore70

Thanks a ton, but if you could throw in an optical drive too, that would be life-changing since I’m still clinging to my old CDs like they're gold...xD 😁

Look,
I know you guys probably want to throw your keyboards at me because this topic comes up every five minutes, but honestly, that’s what these forums are for—to ask questions and actually get some answers.

I’ve got exactly $1,000 sitting in my PayPal account, and I’m looking to turn that into a brand-new rig.
The whole point of this machine is heavy-duty gaming, specifically titles like GTA V or Fallout 4, where I can crank everything up to high settings without the system choking.
I was hoping you could put together an AMD-based build for me over at Micro Center.
I don't have any specific component preferences, other than the fact that I want an AMD setup. Just work your magic within that $1,000 budget ($2500) to build the tower itself—don't worry about the monitor or peripherals for now.
The second thing on my mind is finding a decent monitor to pair with this beast. I’m pretty clueless when it comes to displays, so I’d just want something Full HD that isn't massive or tiny, maybe something in the $150 to $200 range. And just to be clear, when I mentioned that price range earlier, I wasn't talking about a MacBook Pro; I meant a standard monitor. It doesn't even have to be expensive—if there's a solid one for like $80, I'm all ears!

!!!!To reiterate: the monitor money is separate from the main budget!!!!

Thanks for taking the time!

So, I’m looking to pick up some cheap monitor down the road, maybe around 22 or 23 inches, just something with standard 1080p resolution—whatever the common HD standard is these days. My budget is pretty tight, maybe around a hundred bucks or so, since I've been sinking every cent I have into building this PC...

Alright, after endless tweaking and staring at spreadsheets until my eyes bled, I think I’ve finally landed on this configuration:
1x AMD FX-Series X8 8300 CPU (3.3GHz, 16MB, 95W, AM3+) box
1x GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3P, AM3+
1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 3Gb GDDR5 Dual-X with boost
2x Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800) CL11
1x LG GH24NSC0 sat Bulk Black 24x
1x Fortron Hyper 500W, 80+
1x LC-CC-95 CPU Cooler, Intel/AMD, 90mm
1x Zalman Z3, USB3.0 black, 3x120mm
1x Seagate Barracuda HDD (3.5", 1TB, 64MB, SATA III)

Does this look solid, or am I missing something obvious that's going to haunt me later?
#TheNewGuy, just so we're clear, this thing is strictly for gaming.

Timothy Kim60 said:Look, both of them have unlocked multipliers, so honestly, you could probably push either one to 4GHz even if you're just messing around with a basic little cooler.

So which one am I actually better off grabbing?

Robert Rodriguez2 said:it’s basically an investment in the long haul, especially since modern games just seem to gorge themselves on more and more cores every single year.

But even then, you've got it pushing through at a modest 3.3 GHz while that AMD FX X6 6300 can easily cruise past the 3.5 mark.

I honestly can't wrap my head around whether upgrading to an FX 8300 is even worth the headache compared to sticking with the X6 6300, especially since you aren't seeing any real jump in quality—just those extra two cores tacked on for an extra $67 when it feels like you're just paying more for a marginal bump.

Look, I’ve already nuked my OS twice—swapping from Ultimate to 8 and then crawling right back again—so I’m wondering if the drill is exactly the same when you're dealing with a brand-new machine. Back then, I just popped the disc in, dove into the BIOS to tell the system to boot from the drive, and let the installation run its course. Is it really that straightforward for a first-timer too, or am I missing some hidden hurdle?

If anyone here has actually gone out and bought computer parts from Future, I’m dying to know if they handle the system setup for free—like, a full installation of classic Windows—so that when the box finally hits my doorstep, I can just plug it into the wall and get straight to work without any extra headaches or hidden fees.

Adam Moore3 said:Here’s the full build for the future:

1 x AMD FX X6 6300 3.5Ghz (4.1GHz) box
2 x Crucial 4GB DDR3 1600 Mhz (PC3-12800) CL11
1 x GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3P, AM3+
1 x HDD SEAGATE Barracuda (3.5",1TB,64MB,SATA III)
1 x LG GH24NSC0 sat Bulk Black 24x
1 x Fortron Hyper 500W, 80+
1 x CPU Cooler LC-CC-95, Intel/AMD, 90mm
1 x Sapphire R9 280 3Gb GDDR5 Dual-X with boost
1 x Zalman Z3+, USB3.0 black

Total: $1758
I swapped in standard RAM since, honestly, it's not like there's some magical difference you'd actually notice, but I beefed up everything else; for instance, you skipped an aftermarket cooler which is basically suicide for these chips, and you picked a power supply that was about as reliable as a screen door on a submarine, so I fixed that too. 🙂 You also have the choice to stick with 4 GB of RAM right now if you want to grab a much better FX 8300 instead, since you can always just slap more RAM in later, or if you can stretch your wallet by maybe $50 just go all out now with the FX 8300 and 8 GB of RAM, which would put you at roughly $1817, so it's really up to you.

Alright, I switched the RAM and added that cooler, but I'm still sweating the power supply—is 500W actually going to cut it? Like, if I decide to start overclocking, is this thing going to blow up in my face? Also, I’ve got another thousand bucks in the bank, but I’ve earmarked that for a monitor and peripherals, so if I wanted to jump to a beefier processor I could, though I'm not sure if the extra cost is actually worth the marginal gain in performance.

George Sanders37 said:You didn't mention what kind of total budget we're looking at here, and honestly, it’s like trying to build a house without knowing if you're buying bricks or gold bars—the guys won't be able to give you much useful advice until they know how much cash you're actually willing to burn.

Edited

I've got one AMD FX X6 6300 3.5GHz (4.1GHz) box just sitting here, basically a relic from an era when we actually thought we were building machines that would last forever.
Just one stick of Kingston DDR3 HyperX Fury, running at 1866MHz, packed with 8GB—that’s two 4GB modules in black.
Just one Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P on an AM3+ socket.
I've got one Sapphire R9 280 3GB GDDR5 Dual-X sitting here with that boost feature, just waiting for someone to come along and give it a purpose again.
Just one single 1TB Toshiba hard drive, spinning at 7200RPM with a 32MB cache—basically a relic from a bygone era that'll probably rattle like a tin can in a dryer if you look at it wrong.
Just one LG GH24NSC0 sat Bulk Black DVD burner sitting there, looking like a relic from a bygone era.
Just one Zalman Z3+ in that sleek USB 3.0 black finish.
Just a single Xilence 600W Performance C with a 120mm fan, nothing fancy.

I’ve already made up my mind about the processor, the graphics card, and the RAM—those aren't up for debate, so don't even try to talk me out of it. What I actually need help with is finding a decent case; I'm looking for something spacious enough to breathe and won't turn into a literal furnace, ideally sitting somewhere around the $200 mark if you can find something that isn't a total waste of money.$117Secondly, I’m wondering if that optical drive is actually any good—I’m looking for one of those standard, old-school classic models. Also, is the voltage on this power supply even remotely reliable, or am I just asking for trouble? Once you guys get everything sorted out, will all these components actually play nice together on this motherboard, or is it going to be another headache?

Just staring at the horizon, waiting for what the future holds.

So, are all these parts actually enough to get this rig up and running without a hitch, or am I missing something crucial? If there's a gap in my setup, please hunt down whatever I need—just make sure it’s budget-friendly and won't look like a total eyesore next to the hardware I've already picked out.
Total budget: $5,000.$1767
I’m honestly sitting here wondering if I could just track down this exact same setup somewhere else—maybe some local shop around Chicago or even an online retailer—and actually walk away with a better deal if they throw in free assembly and shipping, rather than getting squeezed like this.$1707).

Thanks a million for the hand you gave me!

Does anyone have a quick shortcut for memorizing the Braille alphabet? I’m trying to figure out the easiest way to wrap my head around all those little dots, mostly because my relative is blind and asked if I could help her out... so I'd really appreciate any pointers you guys might have.
Thanks!