Posts by Kimberly Gomez34

I recall you already have one 4GB 1600MHz stick on hand. You could just leave it as is, try to overclock it—it should definitely hit 1866MHz—and then just add another stick later if you decide to go the APU route. Alternatively, you could sell what you have and pick up a fresh kit, though since prices have dropped so much lately, you probably wouldn't lose much money doing that.

On another note, I honestly don't think the A10 7870K is worth the investment compared to the AMD A8-7600; it’s roughly 40% more expensive just to get a tiny bump in performance.

From a pure gaming standpoint, pairing an i3 with a dedicated GPU makes way more sense—even if you have to stretch the budget a bit—than buying an i5 just to rely on integrated graphics while skipping a video card. The real question is whether they want an SSD included in the plan. With an APU setup, you get an SSD right out of the gate along with decent gaming performance, which means you don't have to skimp on the other essentials like RAM, the case, or a good monitor.

Looking at this strictly through a gamer's lens, while still keeping an eye on future upgrade paths, picking up a Skylake Pentium (or even a Celeron if one drops) plus a GPU would actually be the smartest move. This only works if there's a definite plan to swap in a better processor within the next year or two, and provided they aren't trying to play titles where dual-core performance is a total dealbreaker—though there aren't many of those left. To me, that’s a much more logical strategy than overpaying for an i3 only to face an expensive upgrade to an i5 later on.

wiredotter14 said:An APU is a decent choice if they have zero intention of ever swapping out the processor or adding a dedicated GPU.
Buying an APU just to "swap graphics cards" later, like you suggested, is total madness.

Why? Because they can easily make a massive leap by adding a card like an AMD Radeon R9 270 or an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 later on, all while enjoying much better integrated graphics from the APU in the meantime. Honestly, I’m with Grace Bennett3 on this—for a bit less cash, they could grab an A8 7600 paired with a 240/250GB SSD rather than opting for an Intel Core i5 with weaker integrated graphics. As far as raw processing power goes, the A8 is more than enough for: standard multitasking, multimedia, working in Microsoft Office, and even some casual gaming (like being able to run League of Legends on relatively decent settings). This kind of platform was practically engineered for users like click. If or when they eventually crave higher gaming performance, they just plug in a dedicated GPU; once even that feels too slow, they can scrap it or sell it (though I reckon it'll take them quite a few years to reach that point).

Whenever they slap an "optimized for AMD" label on it, you can bet it’s high-density

Just type the component names into Newegg and start searching. Just keep in mind that eDigital and iPon are actually based out of Canada. I wouldn't bet on Vemil being in the top 10 cheapest options either.
Keep in mind that prices vary depending on whether you're paying cash, using installments, or other methods.

Alexander Moore67 said:...but what if someone doesn't like Seasonic?

?

A good portion of those power supplies actually have Seasonic internals under the hood. Also, your sentence ends with a bit of a logical fallacy.

Regarding the case, like I mentioned before, you could look at an R4, a Define, or similar models. As for the power supply, that’s really going to depend on what's available and your specific budget once you actually sit down to buy it (the case will be subject to that too). Regardless of which brand you pick, you'll definitely get something higher quality than a VS series unit. For instance, if you're working with a healthy budget, you'd want to aim for something like a Fortron Aurum, an Antec TruePower Classic, a Fractal Edison, a Corsair RM, a Super Flower Leadex, or maybe an EVGA G2...

You should probably reach out before you pull the trigger on a purchase. Honestly, it’s smarter to hold off until late summer or fall to catch the next generation of graphics cards, especially since we're expecting new processors this winter—specifically Intel's Kaby Lake and AMD's Zen architecture. At the end of the day, whatever rig you build right now will likely be outdated by the time those new parts hit the shelves.

Betty Edwards28, I’d change quite a bit, but first things first—when are you actually planning to pull the trigger? Personally, I’d hold out for the summer and wait for the next generation rather than dropping cash on an overpriced GTX 980.
If you're planning on overclocking, you definitely want a K-series CPU. If you aren't, then it's worth questioning whether you even need a Z-series motherboard and a cooler like that.
That case is cheap junk; there's no point putting it in any decent build (since there are plenty of much better options for similar money), let alone a high-end rig costing $1,200$0.00. You should be looking at at least a Fractal R4, a Define, or something similar.
The Corsair VS series is entry-level stuff, and it just doesn't belong in a configuration like this.
You don't really need 16GB of RAM for gaming, and I'm skeptical about whether you truly need a dedicated sound card. Is the one built into your motherboard not cutting it?

My power supply is 650W for a reason: in maybe 6 years, I might swap my GPU for a GTX Titan X (once the price finally drops to something reasonable, because right now it's insane).

That's 200% not going to happen. First off, almost nobody in the US uses a Titan X (it's a pro card, not a great value for gaming). Second, in 6 years, that card will be a total joke; it won't even count as a meaningful upgrade.

R9 380... man, what a steal!

Since he claims everything else runs smoothly, he might want to try a clean reinstall of the software.

At the end of the day, the 7870K and 7890K are basically just overclocked 7850Ks anyway.
This A6 dual-core is surprisingly decent, but honestly, I don't think it's worth the investment when the A8 quad-cores aren't much more expensive—plus, you really can't rely on just two cores these days.

Here’s a bit of a rare find online. A full benchmark of all the current integrated graphics chips tested in a brand-new game

You might want to run a quick check on that hard drive—maybe use something like HD Tune to look over the health status or run an error scan.

Both cards utilize the exact same Tri-X cooler; the Toxic is essentially just an overclocked version of the standard model.

Isn't Vapor-X blue (which is better), while the Toxic version is orange?

wiredotter14 said:Honestly, getting a Quad HD setup makes way more sense if you actually want to push some games.

+1

Something like this

jadebison17, what you linked isn't really anything special. That one unit is way too overpriced for just 1080p and a 24" screen (regardless of the refresh rate), and those 4K options are just cheap junk. In my opinion, a 28" screen is far too small for 4K resolution, yet simultaneously total overkill for gaming.

The installation process is straightforward and follows the standard procedure. It really just comes down to what you need—whether you require an official license for business compliance or if you’re looking for a "gray market" version (which, obviously, we can't discuss here).

Hey, where'd you pick up the new one? If you actually got it at that price, you scored big time—definitely didn't get ripped off.

LC6560GP3