I honestly think RS Magazine and Uzishop are total clean slates—nothing but positive experiences from my side, and I’d say Future is part of that reliable circle too. The only real difference is that RS Magazine is by far the veteran of the group.
In his specific situation, even a GTX 970 makes more sense than an R9 390—it puts less strain on the power supply (which gives him some much-needed breathing room since his PSU isn't exactly top-tier), plus he mentioned playing The Witcher 3, which is a game that really leverages Nvidia GameWorks technology.
But if he’s looking to stay on a tighter budget, IMO I'd go with one of those two options plus a 250GB SSD.
It’s likely an issue with your graphics card if you see the same thing on a different monitor. If you can, try borrowing a GPU from a friend to test it out, but before you go through all that trouble, try installing some different drivers first just to be safe.
To put it simply: the R9 380 goes head-to-head with the GTX 960, while the R9 390 is more of a rival to the GTX 970. Right now, the 280X and 380X don't have any direct competition from Nvidia. For instance, the 280X used to compete with the GTX 770, but that card is long gone; logically, the 380X should be facing off against a GTX 960Ti, though there's no guarantee that thing will actually hit the market.
You can find here a performance summary covering about 15 different games (based on 1080p resolution). You might see some minor fluctuations of a few percent depending on driver updates or game patches, but that gives you the general idea.
Look for Zalman Z1 or Z3 models (though they're getting harder to find), the Z3+, Kolink Deathclaw, Raijintek Agos, Arcadia, or various options from Aerocool and LC Power. Just make sure that if you pick one with only one fan, you compensate by adding a second fan to keep the airflow moving properly.
The second one packs more punch, but it's an older card, draws more power, and only comes with a 2-year warranty. Still, the price is solid.
You could easily fit the R9 380x in there with its 3-year warranty, but if you're looking strictly at price-to-performance, it just can't compete with the 280x.
That’s exactly why I’m telling you to double-check. It’s entirely possible they’re out of stock; in my experience, whenever a killer deal pops up, those items vanish within a day or two at most.
Amazon is just one online retailer, so even if they're sold out, Micro Center might still have some sitting on the shelf in-store. Just because one place is out doesn't mean everyone else is.
With deals that good, I’d personally pull the trigger there. People actually have successful returns and resolutions—just search the forums for experience threads—so they're miles ahead of someone like Best Buy. Plus, you can find similar pricing at other retailers anyway. My advice? Shoot them an email first to confirm they actually have it in stock. You can never trust a website blindly; who knows if they even update their inventory?
Either the Ghost doesn't have the same cooling setup, or that 270 draws just as much power and runs as hot as a 7950. Besides, any card can fail—even a high-end flagship from a premium vendor. It’s basically a roll of the dice, so comparing them isn't really an apples-to-apples situation.
Try searching online for your specific case model—maybe check the official manufacturer's site. It’s crucial to know the max CPU cooler height and the maximum GPU length allowed before you buy anything.
Intel Core i7-4770K under $367 Cooler Master Hyper 212 (by the way, that's the cooler) $57, though a lower-profile, weaker one like the Hyper 212 is about 80-$32 For a power supply, say an EVGA 600-700W unit—roughly $480/$180 Regarding graphics cards—if you're looking at something under three slots like a GTX 970, you'll mostly find blower-style Palit models, Gainward cards, or single-fan ITX Gigabyte versions. From the R9 390 tier up, you have EVGA options for $927 in the center; that one would work too if you upgrade your PSU.
On the budget side (but still excellent for 1080p), you could grab an R9 380x for roughly $700 +/-
For your current setup, you might be able to pick up $133 for the GPU and at least $100 for the CPU (those are realistic market prices), so do your own math based on that.
I’d honestly go ahead and swap out the CPU since you've already got that motherboard. You could probably offload the Phenom for maybe $50 at a worst-case scenario, which would leave you enough to add $233 an Intel Core i7-4770K. Throw in a Cooler Master Hyper 212 too, provided it fits in the case.
What kind of case are you running?
I wouldn't mess around with that power supply, even if you were just pairing it with a GTX 970. You can pick up a decent 500-700W unit from a place like Best Buy for pretty cheap. Once that's handled, you can decide whether to hunt for a beefier GPU or grab a solid SSD. It really all boils down to your budget—are we talking about a $300 upgrade or a $400 one? And are you planning on selling the Phenom to offset the cost?
First off, what’s the primary purpose of this PC? Also, what kind of monitor are you running (what resolution)?
If you're just browsing the web, handling office tasks, or similar light work—you don't need an expensive rig, especially one with a GPU costing over $2,000. If there's a specific professional workload involved, let me know. If this is strictly for gaming—just thinking out loud here—you could probably squeeze in an AMD Radeon R9 390 or a GTX 970. You might pair that with an Intel Core i5-4460, or if you go with an AMD FX-8300, it would definitely handle it. In that scenario, opting for a Skylake build wouldn't really be worth the investment.
That thing is ancient history; modern power supplies are miles ahead of where they used to be. You missed the most critical part of this—what kind of components are you actually running?
Non-K chips are already seeing massive overclocking numbers Link (it's pretty wild)
I haven't seen anyone bragging about it on the US forums yet, but then again, there aren't exactly many people buying those specific processors right now. If this trend keeps up, we're looking at a complete "WTF" moment for CPU architecture.