Posts by fadedeagle5

Thanks for all the advice, everyone—I’ve weighed every suggestion and focused on hunting down the best deals I could find.

I ended up pulling the trigger on an Intel Core i5-6500, an MSI Z170-A PRO motherboard, and a FSP Hyper 500W power supply. I'm still waiting on a 240GB SSD and an 8GB RAM stick (to go along with the 4GB I already have sitting here), so once those arrive, I'll be putting the whole rig together in a few days.

The graphics card is going to have to wait a bit—once my budget allows, I'm aiming for an NVIDIA GTX 1050. This entire setup cost me $1100, so fingers crossed everything runs smooth as silk.

Can anyone give me some solid recommendations for these processors? Specifically, I'm looking at the rest of the build too. Is there actually a massive difference between the 6600K and the non-K 6600? I’m planning on buying almost everything brand new, but for now, I'll focus on the CPU, motherboard, power supply, cooler, and RAM—then, once I've saved up a bit more, I'll pick up an SSD, a graphics card, and some extra RAM.

My current rig is barely cutting it and I urgently need an upgrade; I've got $3,000 to work with. Right now, my workload isn't too heavy, but I'll be moving into 3D modeling and design software very soon, so I want to build a configuration that can actually handle that.

I have one 4GB DDR4 stick sitting around that isn't being used right now—if I can't find a way to reuse it, maybe I'll just sell it and see if I can trade it for something else.

Larry Ortiz5 said:It doesn't have to be that extreme... I just mean you shouldn't wire any money upfront before they ship the package. It's much better to do a face-to-face meetup so you can actually test the parts and make sure everything is running smoothly—plus, you should always ask about a guarantee.

EDIT: Was that what you were getting at, fadedeagle5? http://www.craigslist.com/cs/pc-computers/listing-21790906?

I mean this one: http://www.craigslist.com/cs/processors/listing-21796285

Yeah, exactly—it looks like there are a few other listings floating around with similar pricing
http://www.craigslist.org/cs/processors/21920419

I'm looking specifically at ones that include a warranty.

crimsonstag84 said:A used 6600K? If you're aiming for a Z170 / Z270 motherboard, I guess you might run out of budget for the RAM or the power supply.

You can find brand new processors at that exact price point on Amazon.

Hey there,

I'm looking for some component recommendations with a budget of $1000.
At that price point, I can snag an i5 6600k for $533, which leaves me just enough leftover cash to cover the motherboard, power supply, RAM, and a cooler

Much appreciated

Hey there.

Can someone give me the lowdown on this RAM module
Micron m378a5143eb1-cpb?

Hey there,

I already posted a question regarding my PC upgrade, and I’ve been crunching the numbers based on your feedback—thanks to smartguy and the rest of the crew—and I’ve put together this specific configuration.

TYPE PRICE (USD)
MOTHERBOARD Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 472
PROCESSOR AMD FX-8300 880
RAM 8 GB 250
SSD 240 GB 2.5' 522
GPU
COOLER
TOTAL 2124

These prices are pulled from eBay and most of them are just the cheapest options I could find on various online retailers. Honestly, this budget is stretched pretty thin. I'm planning to pick up a graphics card later once I have more cash on hand. I want to invest in components that actually hold their value over time, which is why I don't want to settle for some weak processor or anything similar. As for the cooler—I'm honestly not sure what I'll need, or even what I'm currently running (I can't check right now, unfortunately).

I was originally looking at the AMD FX-8350, but this one is cheaper and seems almost identical to me. My current motherboard won't support those higher-end chips anyway. Also, I was wondering if it's actually worth grabbing a 2.5-inch SSD since they are way cheaper—should I just buy an adapter, or is there some catch I'm missing? I have no intention of doing any overclocking.

I'd love to hear your recommendations on this build or any suggestions you might have.

Thanks in advance 🙂

Current setup: AMD Phenom II X2 550 Processor, 4 GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series, 600 GB HDD, 3.1 GHz, Sapphire AM2RX790

Hey everyone.

I’m circling back to this thread because I have a few more questions. Regarding the specific setup I mentioned earlier:

Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8 Series, a 600 GB hard drive running at 3.1 GHz, and an EVGA GeForce Series motherboard.

I also have a Lenovo G560 laptop with 6GB of RAM that I’m considering selling—I figure I could probably get somewhere around $150 to $600.

Since I’m honestly pretty out of the loop when it comes to modern hardware compared to you guys, I could really use some guidance.
As I mentioned before, I need a machine for work—specifically for 3D modeling and stuff like that—so I need something with a bit of muscle. Just some occasional rendering here and there.

I’m trying to gauge what my current desktop might be worth on the used market so I can decide whether to put that money toward a totally new build.
Alternatively, I could sell the laptop plus $333 whatever I get from the desktop to fund a major upgrade for the old tower. I'm torn on whether it makes more sense to offload both or just try to breathe some life into the old rig. Looking at sites like eBay, it seems like there are plenty of decent used laptops available for about $1000.

Thanks a ton for all the info. I’m going to sit down and really dig into the different options you guys laid out. Honestly, looking at the math, it feels like I’d just be throwing good money after bad—upgrading this old rig seems like a losing battle since it'll probably be obsolete again before I even finish. It feels like the smartest move is to just start pivoting toward an entirely new build. My plan is to grab a few core components that I can actually carry over to the next system, then slowly swap everything else out until the whole machine is refreshed. 👍👍

Roughly $333 to start things off—I’ll probably fine-tune the rest once I have a bit more breathing room in my budget, but for now, I just want to beef this thing up as much as possible with what I can afford right now.

Motherboard Model: Sapphire PC-AM2RX790

Greetings,

I find myself facing a similar dilemma, so I figured this would be the perfect thread to jump into. I’d really appreciate getting some insight from you all.

To give you some context—I've been running a rig from back in 2009. It was actually quite a powerhouse at the time, but now? It needs a serious boost. I’m noticing a massive lag when it comes to launching applications or trying to juggle multiple programs at once.

Just to be clear, I don't use this machine for gaming; my workload consists mostly of 3D modeling software and more demanding business applications.

Here is the current setup:

Windows 7, AMD Phoenom ii X2 550 Processor, 4 gb ram, ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series, 600 gb hard, 3,1 ghz

My main question is: what should be my absolute priority for an upgrade? I'm working with a pretty tight budget here, so I can't just go out and replace everything at once.

Lisa Miller said:Hey everyone, does anyone know where I can find some solid kickboxing-style training around town? I’m really looking for something that isn't Taekwondo—you know, more impact, less "point-sparring" vibes. Also, I’d love to hit up a gym that has a decent number of women training so it doesn't feel like a total boys' club. Any leads on pricing too?

You have this option http://gladiatorkbk.wix.com/gladiator
there’s also a spot for MMA fighters, though I’ve heard mixed reviews about them—not exactly the best recommendation—and there’s some club up near the Great Lakes area, but again, I haven't heard anything particularly stellar about it.

I’m actually looking for the same thing myself—specifically Muay Thai, if anyone knows the deal? Is there anything available through the local police academy programs, and what are those training sessions actually like?