Posts by rowdyhawk212

If I were picking up something new, I’d probably just grab a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo, but I could snag a Scythe Samurai ZZ for $33.
Does that mean I actually need something beefier?

So, I'm thinking about overclocking my Phenom II x4 955 3.2 BE. My goal? Pushing it all the way up to 3.8 GHz.
I might be able to snag a Scythe Samurai ZZ cooler. It’s rated for up to 130W TDP, and since the 955 sits at 125W stock, I was wondering... is that actually going to cut it? Or am I just asking for trouble and need something beefier if I'm really going to push this OC?
Thanks!

crimsonstag84 said:Power Supply: EVGA 500W
GPU: HD 7850/GTX 660/R9 270/HD 7870

Thanks, man! 👍

Alright, I've finally decided to pull the trigger on an upgrade and see just how much life I can squeeze out of this thing.

Motherboard - ASUS M3A78-EM
Processor - AMD Phenom X4 9550 2,2 = => I'm swapping in a Phenom II X4 965 BE 125W
Memory - 2x2GB Kingmax DDR2 800 => another 2x2GB kit
Graphics card - ATI Radeon hd 4850 512 DDR5 => I need some advice here—what should I grab that won't be total overkill?
Power supply - Gigabyte GE-R460-V1 => Will an XFX PRO 550W actually cut it?

crimsonstag84 said:Well, yeah... but your options are basically limited to the Intel Core i5-2500K, and you'd even need to flash the BIOS for that. And by sometime in 2016, it probably won't be cutting it anymore.

I could just drop in the beastly Intel Core i7-2600K if it actually works http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-ASUS/M3A78-EM.html

What does "won't be satisfying in 2016" even mean? Is my computer just going to spontaneously combust because there aren't any more updates? Is it just dead meat?

Is this whole rig even worth throwing money at, or should I just scrap the whole thing and start from scratch?

crimsonstag84 said:The HD 6850 actually pulls a bit less power than the HD 4850.
This one draws even less, but honestly, that CPU is going to be a massive bottleneck even if you try to overclock it:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing-example

And look, having 8GB of RAM isn't going to save you here since you're probably barely scratching the surface of even your current 4GB. Plus, that processor isn't exactly known for being easy to OCati, and I definitely wouldn't risk pushing it given that cheap power supply you've got.

So what, you're telling me I need to overhaul the CPU, the PSU, AND the GPU just to get this thing running right?

Hey there!
I'm looking to breathe some life into this old rig of mine. I want it to last at least another year or two and actually be able to handle some newer titles. My main goal is just hitting 1080p resolution with at least medium settings.

Here’s what I’m running right now:
Motherboard - ASUS M3A78-EM
CPU - AMD Phenom x4 9550 2,2
RAM - 2x2GB Kingmax DDR2 800
GPU - ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 DDR5
PSU - Gigabyte GE-R460-V1

I actually found a couple more sticks of the same RAM on eBay, so I'm waiting for those to arrive. Once they're in, I'll be sitting at 8GB total.
I was thinking about overclocking the processor, but honestly, I don't want to swap the CPU out just yet—I'd rather put that money toward a better graphics card.
I spotted a used ATI RADEON 6850 1GB DDR5 256bit for $183 online.
Is that actually a smart move for this build, or should I be hunting for something beefier? Any recommendations for something under $267?
Regarding the power supply, I'm thinking I can skip an upgrade if I go with the 6850 since the power draw isn't significantly higher than my current 4850, even though I did read somewhere that you really need a 500W unit for a 6850.
My current PSU is rated for a 460W peak load, and apparently, I shouldn't push it past 400W for constant use. Look, I know it's not exactly top-tier gear, but it hasn't let me down yet, so I really don't want to swap it unless it's absolutely necessary. And yeah, keep in mind I've only got one HDD, one case fan, and zero extra expansion cards drawing power.

Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks!

Thanks for the input, everyone. So, he went out and grabbed a brand new burner, but turns out the old one wasn't actually dead—it’s just a total software nightmare. Now macOS won't even recognize it as a disc burner; it just sees it as a storage drive. And get this—the new one is doing the exact same thing!
Looks like I might have to wipe macOS entirely just to get this working... 😢

Sent from my iPhone using Twitter

So, my old man is a total audiophile and his burner finally kicked the bucket. He used to have an old one that could burn CDs at 4x, and now he’s looking to pick up a new unit that actually lets him go even slower than that. I’ve been looking through what’s available here—brands like Samsung or Asus—but none of them seem to list the minimum writing speed in the specs. Just nothing.
Has anyone picked up a burner lately? What's the absolute lowest speed you can actually burn at?
Does anyone know of a specific model out there that supports those super low writing speeds?
Thanks!

P.S. If you're the type who wants to comment "Why do you even care? It's all the same," just don't. Don't even bother.