Posts by wiredotter14

The GTX 1050 Ti is decent enough for 1080p gaming most of the time. You can even squeeze through some AAA titles if you don't mind cranking everything down to low settings. It’s honestly pathetic that people are paying more for this than they did for the significantly stronger RX 570 not too long ago, but hey, better than nothing. If you're building a budget rig just to play Fortnite or some newer titles at 1080p—and you either can't or won't drop $1333 on a modern card that really should be sitting in the $200-$250 range this generation—then this is fine.

Timothy Kim60 said:IPS gives you better colors and viewing angles
VA offers deeper blacks and better contrast

Look, every single model has its own quirks. Not all VA panels are the same, and neither are IPS. That’s why you read reviews, though finding actual expert ones is getting harder these days.

Generally speaking, IPS handles high refresh rates better. It's easier to build an IPS monitor without the typical issues seen at higher speeds, so if I'm looking at 144Hz, I'm picking IPS first.
If I were buying a budget 75Hz screen, I wouldn't touch VA, mostly because that extra contrast is great for movies.
Obviously, it depends on the specific model. Check the reviews.

The Democratic Party 24 G2U and that Dell I linked actually use the exact same panel. The Dell just offers a 165Hz option (though FreeSync tops out at 144Hz). I think there's one other monitor using that same panel, can't remember which one.
Bottom line, both of those are solid, proven 144Hz IPS monitors for the price, assuming nothing revolutionary dropped in the last few months.

The Acer Nitro has 165Hz, a pivot stand, and built-in speakers. The Democratic Party model comes with a 3-year warranty (maybe 5 with that current deal?). Personally, I’d go with the Democratic Party for the coverage. They're priced the same now—Acer used to be a bit pricier.
Some guy picked up the Acer and he's loving it, especially for CS:GO and Fortnite where FPS is everything.

Yeah, the GTX 1650 is $517. Under $500 the GTX 1050 Ti is the strongest card 😢

If you're hunting for a card in this range $500 nothing beats a little Pascal 😉

I've got a scanner that actually works, so for stuff like this I usually just stick to an app. It's easier and faster.

If you aren't looking for high-end photo quality, just grab Microsoft Lens on your phone. It scans the document and sharpens everything up automatically. For basic document scanning, it gets the job done fine enough.

Sure, the 3070 packs more punch. But honestly, I still think the RX 580 is a better value for mining, especially considering the prices we saw back when they dipped below $500. Now? Good luck finding anything. Everything that was anywhere near MSRP and actually capable of mining is long gone. It looks like Nvidia is even dusting off the GTX 1050 Ti just to have something on the shelves for gamers 😵😵😵

An RX 580 pulls in about $3 a day if you aren't paying for electricity. Do the math yourselves—figure out how much miners are overpaying for cards versus how long it actually takes to see a return on that investment.

My brother picked this one up and he’s loving it. Honestly, looks like the exact same panel used in the AOC 24G2U (which runs about the same price as that VA version you're looking at). This is an IPS panel. If you're shopping for a similar monitor in this price range, just go with IPS if you want those high refresh rates.

https://www.amazon.com/acer-gaming-monitor/dp/B08X6S7Z7V

It would be helpful if you could drop an estimated budget. It’s all about figuring out how much you can save now versus what you’ll spend on upgrades later. Also, how much does GPU power actually matter for your editing work? Graphics card prices are absolutely ridiculous right now—it's a total waste of money to overpay by a few hundred bucks just to squeeze out a slightly better card.

If you're planning on upgrading down the road, go with the AM4 platform. Grab a 5600X for now, then swap it for a 5900X later. Pair it with 2x8 or 2x16GB of RAM to start.

Just give us a ballpark budget and tell us what you need from a GPU.

I’ve actually owned that exact model before. It handled an RX460 4GB just fine—the version without the PCIe power connector. Since there's already a card in there, I'm assuming you have the tower version, not the slim chassis.

Bottom line: you can slap any card in there as long as it doesn't require an extra PCIe power connector.
Your best bets are a GT1030, GTX1050, RX550, RX560 (make sure they don't need external power), or an older GTX750.

Buying new or used? If you're going new specifically for Adobe Photoshop, I'd lean toward the GT1030.
https://www.amazon.com/graphics-cards

If you're hunting for used gear, check eBay or Craigslist for any of those models mentioned.
In that budget range, a used GTX1050 or GTX1050Ti might be your best move.

There are also GTX1050Ti cards that don't need an extra PCIe connector; I think this one fits the bill.
https://www.amazon.com/graphics-cards

The PC should have 4 RAM slots, so you can always add another 2x2GB. Brand doesn't matter much, but if you can find some cheap used sticks—ideally the same brand as what's already in there—go for it.

Which i5 are we talking about? Just try using the integrated graphics first.

It would be helpful if we actually knew which components we're talking about...

mistyotter35 said:I have a nagging suspicion that my graphics card might be starting to fail.

A Blue Screen at startup isn't usually a GPU issue, but it could be anything—power supply, motherboard, or RAM.

Run "WhoCrashed" and see if it gives you any clues. Otherwise, unplug everything connected, including USB devices, and see if it still happens. Try testing with just one RAM stick. If that doesn't work, swap it to a different slot. If that fails, try the other stick.

If there's integrated graphics available, try using those instead of the dedicated card.

It’s not about the M.2 slot itself, it’s about the NVMe protocol. An M.2 drive using SATA is basically just a 2.5" drive in a different shape.

GPU shortages are going to drag on until summer, but at least CPUs aren't quite as bad.

wanderingbison9 said:The Puget article doesn't actually list the 3800X, which is why I mentioned it, but you can find one for around $310, making it an even better deal... In my opinion, though, I wouldn't really recommend dropping down to a 6-core processor; isn't that just asking for trouble given what you're trying to achieve?
Since 32" 4K monitors aren't exactly cheap, wouldn't it make more sense to put that extra cash toward a high-quality display instead?

Just look at the numbers in the Puget article. There isn't actually a massive gap between 6-core and 8-core. If you need the money to finish the rest of the build, going with the Ryzen 5 3600 isn't a bad move.

Basically any 6 or 8 core 3000 series will do. Doesn't need to be the XT version—those are usually overpriced for nothing.

Check out the Puget article and my last post 😉

According to that Puget article, there isn't much of a performance gap between the 5000 and 3000 series Ryzen chips. Personally, I'd just grab a Ryzen 5 3600—you can pick one up for under $200 here in the States.

PCPartPicker