Posts by Charles Kim2

Hmmmm.. alright then. I'm also starting to think about picking up a beefier power supply—might as well prep for a better GPU while I'm at it...

Alright, here's the deal.
I'm pretty sure I don't need a new GPU—my current one handles everything I play just fine (mostly online stuff: World of Tanks, LoL, occasionally RIFT and Battlefield 4, plus Call of Duty 4)

I’ll be keeping my current CPU cooler, the graphics card, the SSD, and my 1TB hard drive.

Build me a rig right around the $4,000 mark.$100 Make it a total "best buy"—you know, maximum bang for my buck. It could even go for less than $1333 if it's actually a killer deal.

Thanks for the help, guys.

Keith Wright2 said:Just sell that GPU already and grab one like this instead—it's a no-brainer.

One AMD FX-Series X6 6300—3.5GHz, 14MB, 95W, AM3+ (FD6300WMHK).
ASUS M5A97 R2.0—it’s an AM3/AM3+ board with that AMD 970 chipset, 5200 MHz bus, and DDR3 support. Just the basics.
1 x ZALMAN CNPS 5X, works with socket 775/1155/1156/AM2/AM2/AM3—basically covers everything you need.
Just grabbed a kit of 8GB DDR3 (2x4GB) Kingston HyperX Fury—clocked at 1866MHz with CL10.
1 x LG GH24NS DVD burner—it does 24x DVD±R, 8x DL, and 40x CD-R. Simple as that.
One Zalman Z9 U3 mid tower case—roughly 8" wide by 18" high and 20" deep.
One Sapphire R9 280 3GB OC Dual-X—3GB of GDDR5, 384bit, built on that 28nm process.
1 x Fortron 550W Raider Power Supply, RA550, with a 12cm fan

total : $680.00 USD$1549 Amazon offers free assembly and delivery!

I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on the build listed above—the only thing I’m skipping is the cooler, since I've already got an Arctic Freezer 13 Pro sitting right here.
I don't even care about the specs—I just need to know if my Chieftec 550 can actually handle this build—because I am really not looking to drop cash on a new power supply if this one is still pulling its weight!

So, my AMD Phenom II X4 940 beats died on me yesterday. Total disaster. Here’s what I’m currently limping along with:

AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2700 MHz (13.5 x 200) 5200+ (using this now since the Phenom kicked the bucket)
Gigabyte GA-MA770-US3 v2.0 (2 PCI, 4 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16, 4 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Gigabit LAN, IEEE-1394)
4x2GB Kingmax DDR2 1066Mhz (running at 800MHz because of the CPU)
AMD Radeon HD 6950 1GB DDR5
KINGSTON SV300S37A120G ATA Device (120 GB, SATA-III)
SAMSUNG HD103SJ ATA Device (1000 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA-II)
Seagate ST3250824A ATA Device (250 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)
Optiarc DVD RW AD-7200A ATA Device (DVD+R9:8x, DVD-R9:12x, DVD+RW:20x/8x, DVD-RW:20x/6x, DVD-RAM:12x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:48x/32x/48x DVD+RW/DVD-RW/DVD-RAM)
Monitor AOC 2436 [24" LCD]
Chiftec 550W
Arctic Freezer 13 Pro
CoolerMaster Elite 334, black

That’s the current mess. Buying a new Phenom would set me back maybe $70 or so—not huge—but the real headache is that it's an old platform. It's basically a dead end; there's nowhere left to upgrade once you're in.

If I decide to just jump ship and build something totally new, I’d definitely scavenge these parts from the old rig since they're actually decent:
KINGSTON SV300S37A120G ATA Device (120 GB, SATA-III)
SAMSUNG HD103SJ ATA Device (1000 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA-II)
AMD Radeon HD 6950 1GB DDR5
Arctic Freezer 13 Pro

So, it's either grab a new motherboard, RAM, CPU, case, burner, and PSU, or just waste money on a new AM2+ or AM3 processor... which feels like throwing good money after bad.

My budget is roughly $60.00 USD plus or minus.

I'll sell off some of the old junk to help out, and here's my best guess on what I can get:
CPU: $2.50
RAM: $6.00
Motherboard: $4.50
HDD: $2.00
PSU: $2.00
Case: $3.00

Anyway, that's the situation. Hope I didn't lose you guys in all that detail...