Posts by Kimberly Gomez34

He might have been thinking of a 750 Ti, since that card actually requires a decent power supply. Or he’s just trolling, honestly. 😬

Which specific power supply are we talking about? Saying "600W" doesn't actually tell me anything useful.

I’m honestly not even sure if they’ve had that in stock for a few months now. The only chance might be stumbling upon one at some small local corner store, though nothing shows up on Amazon.

It’s really not worth grabbing the 8320 anymore now that the 8300 has hit the market; you might even be able to snag an 8320E at the same price from that shop online

Even if the power draw stays under 200W, you’re basically stuck because finding a decent PSU that delivers around 250W on the +12V rail is nearly impossible right now.
The cheapest reliable options currently available in the US are those 400W units from brands like EVGA or Corsair. That XFX unit isn't much more expensive, and honestly, it's a far better value when you consider it comes with a 5-year warranty—it just makes sense. Plus, I never recommend buying a unit that barely meets your needs; you want some breathing room for stability and enough headroom for any potential upgrades in the Future.

Regarding what was mentioned on the official websites,

It depends. On average, an i5 is going to be the better bet for gaming. If you're running an NVIDIA GTX 960, you probably won't notice much difference between the two, though you might see some variation in titles like World of Tanks or StarCraft II—it really all comes down to how much they rely on single-threaded performance.

FX 8300/8320E paired with a Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P and an LC-CC-120 cooler. Definitely overclockable.

That build wouldn't even pull 200W, if you ask me.

Gregory Hayes87 said:Found some decent thermal pads, slapped two washers on there to increase pressure, and now I'm hitting 59°C during stress tests. The PC is dead silent now.
Is anyone else looking to upgrade their Zalman cooler?

Hitting 59°C under load? That’s solid. If you really want to optimize, try an undervolt—it'll drop those temps even further since
AMD tends to overvoltage way too aggressively.
Regarding that second part—it's tough to move gear once you've talked it up that much. 😬
Check out the hardware marketplace on the forum, though you might have better luck trying a trade if you haven't owned it too long—provided you're willing to pick something else in that price range.

Walter Chavez30 said:Well, what’s your take on the Corsair CX Modular Series CX430M?

It should be plenty. If you're dead set on a modular unit, the selection isn't actually that massive. Personally, I'd lean toward the EVGA 550w just to have some breathing room in case you decide to drop in a more power-hungry GPU down the road. It's better to have that extra headroom for the next five years or so.

Actually, if the issue is just a stripped screw and not the actual metal housing of the cooler itself, then you should be fine just finding a replacement screw.

It’ll definitely give GTA V a nice boost (even though it runs just fine with 4GB)

Actually, the LC-CC-95 comes with a 2-year warranty, even if you pick it up at Micro Center.

By the way, why limit yourself to Micro Center if you’re living in NYC? They absolutely hammered you on that Zalman unit... You have certain consumer rights when buying remotely—I believe there's a 7 to 8-day window where you can return items; otherwise, you're basically relying on their goodwill. At least, that was the rule until recently.

If you're dead set on Micro Center, grab the Zalman Optima for $94, though honestly, it's a poor value compared to the LC 120 series. The price gap is huge, yet the Optima is nearly twice as expensive. Their selection and pricing are pretty lackluster.

EDIT

Of course, that's assuming your warranty claim for the LC 95 actually gets approved, or if you just decide to stick with the same model because the Optima feels like too much.

If you aren't in a huge rush, I’d suggest waiting a few weeks. Right now, you'd be looking at choosing between an AMD Radeon R9 285 or an NVIDIA GTX 960 for your build. However, word on the street is that the "Tonga Pro" (which is basically a rebranded AMD Radeon R9 285)—likely coming out under the R9 380 name—will feature 4GB of VRAM. On top of that, we're expecting its bigger brother, the Tonga XT (the 380X), to drop soon too. If those don't pan out, then you haven't really lost anything, other than a little bit of time.

Look

I told you those temperatures weren't going to cut it for an aftermarket cooler.

You picked up a subpar unit for $67, and honestly, the cooling performance is barely hitting the level of an LC-CC-95 (assuming it's actually working properly 😁), if not even worse—plus it’s louder. If you got the first one, I'd suggest returning it for a refund. If you can swap it out, just grab the LC-CC-120 instead. It’s hands down the best value for the money you'll find in the States right now.

EDIT

as long as your case can accommodate a 152mm clearance

That setup will pull roughly 200W under full load. Honestly, even a decent 400W unit would handle that PC build just fine, like a Fortron Hexa 400W or an Antec VP400PC 400W.

If you want to stay around $133, grab the XFX TS 430 W—it’s a step up in quality, plus you get a 5-year warranty. Or, if you're looking for more raw power up to , go with the LC6560GP3$133. But if you want to play it safe, definitely check out $167-- http://www.newegg.com/products/detail...550sgren/91312.

Grab that one if you're planning on upgrading your GPU down the road.

How much is this going to run me?

Adding those numbers up gives you the total 😬

By the way, if we're talking about the full setup, you'd still need an HDD, a case, and a DVD-RW drive to get a complete assessment

CPU: $500–$200 max
Motherboard: $83 (though don't take my word for it)
RAM: maybe $100
GPU: $400–$150
Power Supply: nothing 😁, you can find better ones for about $50–$33, but just list it like that

- You could also go with an XFX 430W, but I’d suggest grabbing something with more headroom just in case you need the extra power down the road.
- Provided your case actually has enough clearance for a 152mm cooler.

+ 4GB of RAM similar to what you currently have (CL9 or CL11, matching voltage) - roughly $230-$100