Posts by Kimberly Gomez34

In that case, you should definitely save up until you can grab an Intel Core i7-3770. Personally, I’d head over to Walmart for that one.

Take a look at the last two posts here:
http://forum.pcekspert.com/showthrea...=94651&page=60

Look, the guy basically disabled turbo, undervolted it to 1.3 V, and bumped it up to 4.0 GHz without any issues. Mind you, he didn't stress test it for very long—just 20 minutes of Prime95—so we still need to see how it holds up. But honestly, things like that usually come down to the silicon lottery. Just make sure you pick up a solid cooler.

And why would you even swap out that CPU? Is it actually bottlenecking you in anything?

If you're really dead set on an upgrade, aim for a much bigger jump; your best bet would be an Intel Core i7-3770.
But if you're looking for a noticeable performance boost in gaming, you're picking the wrong part—that Intel Core 2 Quad is already pushing that NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 to its absolute limit.

Hey everyone, I'm looking at 2x4GB 😬

Ryan Fowler53 said:1 x LC Power PRO-926B - Juggernaut X - ATX Pro-Line, ATX
1 x Asrock H77M - Intel H77, M-ATX, dual Channel 2 DDR3 - 1600
1 x Samsung 120 GB 840 evo Basic, SSD, 120 GB Capacity, 2.5"
2 x 4GB DDR3 (1x4GB) Kingston, 1600MHz, CL9, HyperX, KHX1600C9D3B1/
1 x Corsair VS Series PSU, 550 Watt, ATX, ATX12V v2.31
1 x MSI GTX 760 Gaming 2GB GDDR5, N760 TF 2GD5/OC, Dual-link DVI
1 x LG 23EA63V-P, 23", 16:9, 1920x1080, IPS panel, 250 cd/m2
1 x TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050
1 x Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz (Max Turbo FQ 3.6 GHz), 6MB
1 x Samsung SH-224DB sat Bulk Black, SATA DVD writer

$700 approximately
admin

Why do you paste this exact same build onto every single thread?
And while we're talking specs—that motherboard and power supply aren't a great value for the money.

By the way, if you actually read the post, the OP can't use just any retailer because of their payment methods, and they already own a monitor with 2560 x 1600 resolution.😉

David Sanders4 said:He’ll likely be stuck at 720p on High settings, provided he turns off AA and those other "unnecessary" little details. At High, you'll probably lose some particle effects, though volumetric clouds seem to stay intact from what I can see, and shadows might vary slightly—but it's hardly a dealbreaker.
the difference (low, medium, high, ultra)
In that second image below the benchmark, you can see the gap between High and Ultra; the main thing is seeing those particle effects flying around on Ultra, whereas they're missing entirely on High.
Here is the benchmark from TechSpot using an AMD Radeon R9 290 on High settings.
cpu scaling
Your setup falls right in that mix with the AMD Athlon X3 455; it shows a 25% drop, which confirms what the benchmarks suggest: processors without four cores really struggle here.
PS3 vs PC Battlefield 4
You can see a massive difference in fluidity between the PlayStation 3 (chugging at 20-30 fps in HD) and the PC (hitting 60 fps at Full HD). Of course, now that the PlayStation 4 is out, it runs similarly to a PC, making the experience almost identical, even if the PC maintains a slight edge.

The problem here is that the folks over at TechSpot are running their tests in single-player mode—which is a completely different ballgame. Let’s be real: 99.9% of people buy this game specifically for multiplayer. That’s where you see the massive performance gaps. For single-player (which, let's face it, is usually a total joke in titles like this and way too short anyway), even a decent CPU can get away with downclocking without much issue.

We ran some tests on the single-player campaign.

Look, let’s be real about these new releases like Metro: Last Light or Crysis 3. They actually look pretty solid even on low settings. Take Metro, for example—it comes pre-loaded with things like analytical AA that you can't even toggle off in the menu. Honestly, spending an extra thousand bucks just to chase those top-tier graphics feels like a bit of a fail, unless you're a total hardware fanatic. In that specific game, the jump between detail levels is barely noticeable. It feels like paying a premium price just for some fancy visual nuances that most people won't even see.

I honestly don't think he needs to go that far (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770, Radeon 280x). I just took a look.

For Battlefield 3, if you take Linus Tech Tips' benchmarks, an AMD FX 8350 at a solid 4.6 GHz overclock—which any decent chip should hit—versus an i7-3570K overclocked to a standard 4.2 GHz, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti



It's almost identical to this guy's YouTube video for Battlefield 4 (he was just using an FX 8320 at stock 3.5 GHz) paired with practically the same card, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIbYghmbexw

Just turn off MSAA to get better FPS, but let the OP decide if his motherboard supports it. Like crimsonstag84 mentioned, an AMD FX 6300 (or even better) with an AMD Radeon R9 270X should do the trick.

Look, you aren't going to hit 60 FPS in Battlefield 4 at 1080p max settings with that CPU, no matter which graphics card you throw at it.

If you're lucky and have a motherboard that actually supports it, you might be able to unlock four cores on those chips—provided the silicon is good enough.

Adam Allen said:Best regards,

I'm currently running an Asus HD7770 graphics card and I'm honestly pretty disappointed with it. I play a lot of demanding titles like Crysis and Bioshock at 1920x1080 resolution, and the lag is just unbearable. I'm ready to sell my old card and upgrade, but I'm getting a bit overwhelmed by the options, so I have a few questions:

1.) Is the R9 270 x TOXIC better than the Asus GTX 760?
The R9 270 x TOXIC is $567 whereas the Asus GTX 760 is $667

2.) Does it make sense to spend $167 more to pick up either an ASUS GTX770 or an R9 280 x TOXIC?
The R9 280 x TOXIC is $867 while the Asus GTX 770 is around $250?

I know there are cheaper models out there, but I really want one of the specific cards mentioned above, so please let me know which is the better choice...

Thanks

1. A standard 760 is stronger than the 270x; though, the Toxic might be a slightly overclocked version of the 270x. You should Google some reviews to see the exact specs.

2. Regarding raw power, the 280x toxic outperforms the gtx770 (though it is louder). To quote the specs, the Toxic isn't just your run-of-the-mill 280x:

It's the top-tier, most feature-rich card available, delivering a 30% higher base clock and a 15% higher Boost clock compared to the standard AMD reference design.

review

-At standard resolutions (1920x1200), it's right on the heels of the gtx 780 and r9 290.

hiddenpilot4 said:I opened it up, but I can't figure out which model this actually is...
It says:
Thermal master
ATX Power Supply
Product no.: TM-420-PMSR

Do you think if I grab something like a 7770 or 7790, I could still run all these newer games?

Look,

if money is tight, at least upgrade that power supply first.
http://www.newegg.com/p/product_info.php?c...55b2ddc7c98db5
this would be a much better move.

http://www.newegg.com/p/product_info.php?c...55b2ddc7c98db5

http://www.newegg.com/p/product_info.php?c...55b2ddc7c98db5

And for the GPU,
http://www.newegg.com/amd-ati-gpu/61...video-card.html

You could probably aim for a GPU in the neighborhood of $333 +/- NVIDIA GeForce GT 730, maybe a GTX 650 Ti Boost, or even an HD 7850...

- But what I really need to know is which power supply you're running (the specific model). - If you've got something low-end like a Verizon unit, a basic office-grade Spire, or some generic budget brand—which I suspect is the case—it’s honestly not a great idea to push it. You should look into upgrading that to something reliable, likely in the $300-$$133 range. You'll need to pop the side panel off your case to check the label on the unit itself.

Yeah, honestly, that whole setup should be under $3,000. Some of this gear is pretty dated; for instance, nowadays you can find much better new processors for less than $167.
Personally, I’d say aim for $2,600—maybe $900 at most for the tower and components. For the monitor, maybe stay under $133 if it still has a warranty. It's only an 18.5" with 1366 x 768 resolution, so let's be real: you could probably snag a used one like that for just $300-$$117
.

Take about 15-20% off whatever you actually paid on your receipt. It might be a bit of a generalization—since component prices naturally tank over time anyway—but just check PriceGrabber to see what these parts are retailing for brand new right now (if they even still exist). Subtract a chunk from that total, because at the end of the day, you're selling used gear.

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search.php?tp=...970DE3%2FU3S3+
http://www.pricegrabber.com/search.php?tp=...hlon+II+X3+450

By the way, if you're selling this just to build an entirely new rig, think twice. You could probably just keep most of this configuration as-is for the new build.

Here is a more budget-friendly option (it definitely leaves room for an SSD)

1 x Intel Core i7-4770 3.40GHz, Haswell
1 x Asrock s1150 B85M Pro4, S 1150, Supports 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i7
2 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Kingmax, 1333MHz, non-ECC, CL9.0
1 x Spira Maverick 6009, ATX/micro ATX case
1 x WD 1TB HDD, Caviar Blue 10EZEX, 1000 GB, SATA3, 64 MB, 3.5", 24mo
1 x Kingston SSD 120GB V300, 2.5" 7mm, SATA 3 6G, 7mm to 9.5mm
1 x Samsung SH-224DB sat Bulk Black DVD burner, SATA
1 x CORSAIR 430W PSU, CX Series 80+ Bronze, EPS12V v2.3, 80+
1 x MSI GTX650 1024 GDDR5 128 bit, N650-1GD5/OCV1, Core Clock 1071 M
1 x LG 23EA63V-P, 23", 16:9, 1920x1080, IPS panel, 250 cd/m2
1 x MSI CR-85 Card reader, MS-ind, supports CF, MMC, MMC micro slots

$2570

Feel free to pick out your own keyboard, mouse, and speakers

EDIT - Just realized it wasn't 8, it was 8,500. You could probably grab a Dell monitor with that extra cash instead.

Man, those cards are way weaker than what you used to have before.

Check out Futura IT or Adrenaline PC.

Here you go:

A slightly better option:

It’s hard to say if he actually needs it or not—that really depends on how demanding his taste is—but I just laid out all the available options for him. Personally, I’m not one to go chasing after overpriced, top-of-the-line GPUs, but you have to remember he’s building a serious gaming rig here. It definitely fits within his budget (though running dual cards might get a bit noisy), and more importantly, we have to account for his monitor setup. Given his screen size and pixel density, things probably won't look quite as "crisp" up close as they would on a standard 1080p monitor. I’m not saying it’ll look bad, but logically, someone with a monitor like that is going to want to crank everything up to max resolution.

An AMD Radeon R9 290 paired with an Accelero cooler is hands-down the best value when you look at the price-to-performance ratio for high-end gear. The 290X is barely better and costs $800-$$433 more, so it's definitely not worth it compared to the 290. Then you've got the GTX 780 (which is $$267 cheaper and slightly weaker), the GTX 780Ti ($1300-$$567 more for a tiny boost), and especially the Titan, where the price gap is just ridiculous. If he grabs the 290 and adds a decent cooler—he could even go with liquid cooling to make it quieter and cooler than anything else on the market—he can still overclock it and have money left over for other parts.

cosmicseal98 said:Nobody has even brought up the two sticks of RAM yet, considering everything else.

Timothy Kim60 said:(2 eggs)

How could I not? 😬 It’s really not that big of a deal how you decide to handle it.
Look, most of what you need to know is already laid out right there. Just take your time and go through everything one more time with a fine-tooth comb. When you've been waiting for days or even weeks, a few extra hours don't really move the needle. On the bright side, inventory levels at Best Buy have finally picked up, so there's actually a decent selection of power supplies available now. You might even snag a slightly better deal if you look closely.

Timothy Fisher79 said:You’d be better off leaning on this forum; these guys have been grinding in this industry for decades.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...k,3659-18.html

That card can push out 50dB, so...

Look, according to that PC expert benchmark table, the GTX 780 (the baseline) sits at 45 dB, while the R9 290 hits 49 dB. Sure, NVIDIA cards tend to be quieter, but the idea that they are significantly more silent is nothing more than an urban myth.

@The honest truth.
Just say you're using the Accelero cooler from Corsair and then we can drop the subject. click
I’ve already posted the link, but if you missed it, just check how quiet it gets toward the bottom of the page. click Check out these three videos below showing just how loud that Accelera can get. I’ve included one clip of it running an overclocked setup (check the 12V video) and another with a lighter overclock (the 7V video), which shows you how much quieter it gets when you aren't pushing it too hard. Also, take a look at the video featuring the stock cooler—the difference in noise levels is absolutely massive.

Also, once the video wraps up, you’ll see some suggestions at the bottom for the GTX 780 and the GTX 780 Ti—I can't recall the exact specs off the top of my head—but you can clearly hear how much noise those cards kick up. Sure, there are plenty of aftermarket coolers available now, but since that's way out of my budget anyway, there's really no point in even bringing them up.
It’s just how things work when you're dealing with high-end hardware. You simply can't draw any meaningful comparisons between these beasts and entry-level budget cards like the 7750. It's an entirely different league. 😬 )

Here’s another YouTube video showing the accelerometer at 100%.

That would be a very foolish way to spend your money.

Timothy Fisher79 said:There's no reason to run Crossfire with two R9 270 x cards. Using two R9 270 x units only nets you about 5 extra FPS over a single R9 280 x, so it's honestly not worth the investment. An R9 280 x can handle any game at Ultra-High settings, and it’ll keep you satisfied for at least 2–3 years before you even think about upgrading. I put together a build for you with a fast SSD, a slightly different cooler—though you could still get a decent overclock out of this one—and an 8GB RAM kit. All of this comes in at roughly $17 less than your current rig...

It isn't two 270x cards; they're the slightly cheaper 270s. Those are marginally more powerful than an R9 290, let alone an R9 280 x click — though as I mentioned before, they are just as loud as the R9 290.

Non-reference coolers might hit the market by Christmas for around $290 (at least in the white editions)
http://wccftech.com/nonreference-amd...rrive-earlier/
http://www.techpowerup.com/195371/cu...n-r9-290x.html

Pairing an R9 290 with an Accelero is a total game changer.

Timothy Fisher79 said:That’s exactly what I told him. It’s fine while he's wearing headphones, but I know he won't keep them on constantly once he turns that bucket fan on; eventually, the noise is going to drive him crazy and he'll regret it. As for the GPU cooler you mentioned, I'm not sure if it's actually worth his time to rip off the stock heatsink just to slap an aftermarket one on—it's a massive hassle. Just as a quick heads-up: I have an ASUS custom DirectCU II card, and my power supply is relatively quiet along with my aftermarket CPU cooler, yet that bucket fan is loud as hell across the board.

An aftermarket cooler was suggested—and since they'd be doing the work there, it isn't rocket science; just four screws and some thermal paste.😁
No way a GTX 780 fits into his budget anyway (plus, if you read about his specific payment situation, he can't even shop everywhere).

Timothy Fisher79 said:Just look at the GTX 780 with the Titan cooler; you could call it semi-reference because it's significantly quieter than NVIDIA's stock models. It's at least twice as quiet as the R9 290X at 100% load.

"Twice as quiet" is an exaggeration; it's barely a noticeable difference. High-end cards just get louder—that's the price you pay for raw performance. You could probably fry an egg on that "Titan" aluminum heatsink.

Here's the noise level from those guys over at PCMag reviewing it—I assume this is measured under normal conditions inside a case. In that one video, the card is sitting outside the chassis, so who knows where they even placed the sound meter?

http://www.pcekspert.com/articles/1095-6.html

And here is a video specifically for the 290—to me, this sounds quieter than the previous one. 🤷 The question is how high the fan speed actually climbs during gaming without an overclock. The decibel levels in the PCMag review were probably more reasonable because they measured it in a standard setup.



@The Truth—if the noise really bothers you, ask them about that specific cooler, or just grab a cheaper card like a GTX 770 or wait for the R9 280X. If you want better performance than the 290, go with the Crossfire options I mentioned earlier; the noise is similar, but the price is lower.

fadedorca66 said:Good grief, watching this is like watching Formula 1.

BTW, just waiting for the inevitable trolling.




🤣

cosmicseal98 said:Regarding the noise, I'm planning on picking up an extra fan later on, so I don't think the volume will be much of an issue for me.

Look, I'm not trying to scare you, but once it really starts ramping up, it’ll sound like a vacuum cleaner 😬 (once the fans hit full speed)



Even though this is the more expensive 290x model, the PowerColor Radeon R9 290 is just as loud.



But honestly, it's only going to get that loud during heavy gaming—and when that happens, you can just tune it out (personally, I've got my headphones on 95% of the time).

FC3 at 1440p

Look, the Q6600 only makes sense if you're already running a solid LGA 775 motherboard and don't want to shell out the cash to overhaul your entire setup—motherboard, RAM, the whole bit. Spending $500-$200 is still an absolute rip-off. But if you're building from scratch and looking at just the CPU, those "deals" in the $400-$150 range aren't actually much better than buying something brand new
anyway. It’s almost frustratingly close.
You definitely snagged a great deal there, but don't assume that guy was being foolish. He might just be a realist who wanted a quick sale and moved on quickly.

Matthew Young35 said:Benjamin King2, no offense intended, but what's your methodology for calculating value?
Do you just take the individual components, find the lowest prices listed on eBay, and sum them up?

In my estimation, any valuation provided by Benjamin King2 should be increased by at least $500 up to$267 more if we are discussing an entire computer system.

And who exactly would buy it, if I may ask? Those eBay prices represent about 90% of cases—with very few exceptions—but those sellers often have little to no clue what they actually possess or how the current market functions. They simply look back at what they paid five years ago. Just check Best Buy to see what a new Intel Celeron (G1610, G1620) and an H61 motherboard cost; why on earth would anyone pay a premium for an old AM2 CPU?