Posts by Kimberly Gomez34

Pick it up at Best Buy

Consumer financing options:
MASTERCARD Chase (up to 36 installments) - 9.90% APR
Diners Club (13 to 60 installments) - 9.90% APR + a one-time 1.5% fee upon signing

EDIT

Here you go:


7,221 + 10% brings you up to $2667. Also, definitely ask if they can order and install that GPU cooler from Portia that everyone keeps linking you to.

Additionally, if you decide to go the Crossfire route instead of a single r9 290, I’d suggest using these two "Crossfire queens" instead:

They are in the same tier—actually even stronger than the r9 290—like the gtx 780 (I've included options for your specific resolution below).
r9 270 review

Or these two, which are even more powerful:
specifically the ones with different coolers.

r9 270x review

It's much simpler to just stick with one card, but if they won't install the cooler for you, consider a dual-card Crossfire setup. If you go that route, it's better to choose this one motherboard (PCI-E x16, x16), because this one (x16, x8) is cheaper and likely won't be available when you're ready to buy. That Asus model is only PCI x16, x4.

If you can swing it, definitely add an SSD.

By the way, I wouldn't recommend such high-end cards unless you absolutely need them for that insane resolution (assuming you plan on running the most demanding games at max settings).

I’d say that by law you should be able to, especially if you want to swap it out for something else that actually works for you. Now, how that plays out in practice at specific retail stores is always a bit of a question mark. That said, I don't think it should be much of an issue; most places will be willing to help you out.
Try swapping it for the one rated at 1.5V—the voltage is likely the culprit here. The RAM speed shouldn't be a dealbreaker, since the system should automatically downclock to match the slower module. (They'll just refund you the difference, or you can put extra money toward the upgrade.)

Look, you can generally return items to the store within seven days of purchase. Just tell them it’s incompatible—honestly, you probably don't even need to go into detail about why.
That way, you should be able to ask for an exchange for something else if you want to.

I can't believe they're actually seeing an improvement; plus, Antec is having a sale right now. Both the XRENA and Smart series are just budget units manufactured by Chieftec anyway. If I were in your shoes, I’d hold out for a Corsair GP3 or maybe grab an EVGA CX Series instead. Honestly, though, any of those will be a massive step up from Microtech and should get the job done just fine.

I don't know where you're located, but if there's a Chipotle nearby, you can probably find a Seasonic 400W at $100

What's the build spec?

This is a solid Best Buy pick if you don't mind waiting until $133. You could also grab the EVGA CX Series
.
There's also this one on sale if you're looking for a better deal:
http://www.amazon.com/placeholder-link
Just keep in mind that even though it's 500W, it isn't any higher quality than those two options mentioned above—it's just a budget Antec unit, though it gets the job done fine enough.

gentlehawk342 said:I honestly don't know the first thing about graphics cards. I have no clue what specs you even look at to determine which one outperforms the other, so to be truthful, I’m a bit lost here. I'd love it if someone could just give me a specific model name so I can head down to Best Buy and grab it. Right now, I can't tell if yours is better than the one Osmanko mentioned, or whatever else someone else might suggest.

Look, the difference is marginal. You aren't going to make a catastrophic mistake regardless of which one you pick, but in most scenarios, the 7750 pulls ahead by a hair—and it actually costs less, too.

Znači ovu

You have the exact same one in that link. $225 What did I link above? (Assuming you aren't from NYC, but you have the links.)

Here’s the only comparison I could find based on the games.
http://www.bitsandchips.it/9-hardwar...-oland?start=6
A longer chart is always better. 🙂

gentlehawk342 said:Thanks for the quick reply! I’d definitely prefer buying something brand new from a store rather than used; I don't want to end up with a pig in a poke since I'm not an expert on this stuff. That Radeon R7 250 looks good to me, though I need to shop around different retailers to find the best price. Any specific brand recommendations? Should I go with Sapphire, ASUS, or Gigabyte?

If you're going for new, I'd suggest the NVIDIA GeForce GT 730, but make sure you grab one with DDR5—it should perform better than the Radeon R7 250, which honestly just costs more because it's a newer model.

A friend of mine recently picked one of these up at Best Buy and actually got Far Cry 3 included, even though the listing didn't mention any freebies.

But if you're looking to push your budget a bit further, this option might be worth it too:
http://www.nabava.net/trazilica.php?tp=0&q=hd7770+ddr5

redcrane50 said:Yeah, a lightning strike basically fried half the rig. The RAM barely survived—just 2 x 2GB left. A buddy of mine hooked me up with a motherboard and some 2x 4GB sticks, and he got everything installed for me.
Man, I really wish I had more cash on hand to grab a better GPU back then!!! Now my kid is constantly bugging me because his new game (Call of Duty) keeps lagging. It's a total waste of money, and I'm setting some ground rules!
Luckily, he's doing great in school and actually listens to me, so I don't feel too bad about it! Thanks for the quick reply.

Look, from what I've been reading online, that COD title was poorly optimized. There’s actually an official patch out meant to fix those issues.
— tell him to hunt that down and install it first (or find someone who knows how).

Maybe someone tech-savvy can test this out too (it looks like it applies if he's playing multiplayer).
Currently, Ghosts will stutter When set to “ high Priority ” — alter The settings with Thes steps : open Task manager -> System performance optimization guide

Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del).
Scroll and find iw6mp64_ship.exe
Right click on iw6mp64_ship.exe, then Set Priority: Normal.

He should also try turning off anti-aliasing and "sync every frame" in the advanced video options. After that, he can try this:

Alter these settings to improve FPS:

Distortion: No
Motion Blur: No
Graphics settings configuration
Graphics settings configuration

If he's still not happy with the performance, you could pick up another NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 for him, or just sell the current one and upgrade to the beastly card crimsonstag84 linked earlier.
If that's out of budget, there are some cheaper options available:
URL link
URL link

Look, there's no need to kill yourself searching for one, because you can always just grab the motherboard.

I'm not sure which specific model you're looking at, but honestly, it probably isn't worth picking up one of those cheap ones in the $100-$67 range. Usually, they aren't any better quality than what you'd find elsewhere; in fact, you often find that older chassis are actually built much sturdier and more robustly. I can't quite identify that specific case from the photo, though.

EDIT - If you're worried about whether your motherboard will actually fit inside—don't be. It'll definitely fit since you're using an ATX format, and all the options suggested here are ATX compatible. Based on the scale shown in the picture, I'd bet even larger cases would work fine, so you really don't need to stress about the dimensions.

You could probably just hang onto your current case, and honestly, your old power supply would likely get the job done too, but grabbing a brand-new one is a smart move if you want that extra peace of mind.

So, are you planning on doing any gaming at all? Because if not, you can definitely find a better deal—probably north of $220 using an Intel Celeron 326 Prescott 90

If you’re working with a SATA drive, you could just drop this right into your current setup

Since you're relying on integrated graphics, pretty much any power supply will handle the load

fadedorca66 said:But you can certainly give it a shot; Windows usually comes packed with some generic drivers out of the box...

It’ll likely work.
I recently installed it on a newer build than yours (an LGA 775 setup)—where the motherboard didn't even have official drivers for Windows 7 32-bit—and everything functioned perfectly fine.

Alex Doyle90 - what exactly are you planning to use this PC for?

Yeah, it’s pretty much comparable to a 7870 running a Tahiti chip
It really depends on what you're looking at; if you can snag it for around 1400--$500 then it's a solid deal purchase—but if the price tag gets too close to a GTX 760, you're definitely better off just grabbing that instead.

yes

wiredlynx10 said:Can someone please tell me if an EVGA 500 W1 is sufficient for a build using an HD4850?

I also spotted a Thermaltake Smart Series 600W... It's pretty cheap and the reviews seem decent enough.

What would you recommend???

I'm not sure where you usually shop, but that office model will get the job done just fine if you're on a tight budget. Check out this one on sale at Best Buy:

The EVGA unit is definitely a step up in quality; if you grab that, you won't have to worry about it. This one is also a solid choice:

Post your specs here if you want an estimate (just make sure to list everything—case, hard drive, all of it)

CPU—maybe $50, RAM could be around $100-$120, and for the power supply, just give me whatever you can get—maybe $17

If you decide to keep your current case and hard drive (assuming it's a SATA port), you could pick up

Even though Madden NFL 14 isn't super demanding right now, there’s a good chance a next-gen version will hit PC within the year. With the build mentioned above, you should be set for sports games for several years, and you'll run any older titles without breaking a sweat. It really boils down to this: the more cash you throw at it, the more performance you get.

If you're a hardcore gamer, you might want to consider a console instead. That would carry you through an entire generation of gaming, though I'm not sure how easy it'll be to find cheap or unofficial copies of games😬

Robin Young7 said:iso-450pp 350w

amd athlon(tm) 64 X2 dual core 4800+

I think I nailed the power supply model here.😁

That PSU is absolute junk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqQyjLbPj90
😬

First off, what exactly do you mean by your eyes feeling strained?
Could it be an issue with the monitor itself?😁

If you're looking to upgrade—what kind of budget are we working with?
Look, this PC isn't anything special by today's standards. The real question is whether upgrading makes any sense. For example, if you wanted a better CPU, you'd have to hunt down used parts that actually fit your current motherboard. If you decide to stick with the current setup, you'd have to ask if just getting a better graphics card is worth it, or if adding more RAM would be a smarter move. Honestly, at this stage, the best path is usually a fresh start: a new motherboard, CPU, GPU, and RAM, plus a reliable power supply.

crimsonstag84 said:Alright, let's assume we've sorted out the GPU... but which CPU are we actually talking about here? It can't be a single-core setup, right? Because if it is, you're going to have to swap that out too.

That's the actual model name.

http://ark.intel.com/products/27515/

It doesn't matter what specs he claims if the hardware itself is junk. He really needs to specify which exact model he's talking about.