Honestly, you shouldn't be buying pre-built rigs anyway. They usually just pack them with cheap power supplies, mediocre motherboards, and weird component combos they're struggling to offload...
Crucial DDR3 4GB 1600MHz, JM1600KLH-4G_BULK Intel Core i5-4440 MS PLUTOS case without PSU WD Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 3 WD10EZEX Hard Drive XFX Pro Series CoreEdition 80 450W PSU, XFX-P1-450S-X2B9 Zalman CPU Cooler 92mm Execute, ZAL-CNPS5X PERFORMA Samsung DVD±RW 24x black, bulk ASRock 970 EXTREME3 Motherboard EVGA GeForce GTX Series, XFX-FX-785A-CDJ4
Total: $580.00+$27 shipping Amazon.com
That's the cash price... I guess it depends on how you're paying and what you actually need this thing for.
It’s not an overclocked x4 B50, but rather an X3 450 with the fourth core unlocked. You just head into the BIOS, find either Advanced Clock Calibration or Unlock CPU Core, toggle that on, and then start testing the different settings—I guess I'm not entirely sure how many options there actually are.
Aha... maybe just go with the Radeon HD 5750 then. You'll probably be happy enough with it, especially since you were running a Radeon HD 4650 before, which is basically a paperweight at this point anyway.
William Hughes16 said:My CPU is an Intel Core 2 quad Q8400, and the power supply is 420w. It’s nothing crazy, but I guess it should be enough.
My brother is getting a new PC, so he offered me his 5750... is that actually much worse than the ones you guys are suggesting?
I just want to be able to play newer games on at least medium settings.
If that power supply is from LC Power or Spira, it probably won't even handle half of an HD 4870 X2 🤣
You might need to swap out the PSU too... I have an HD 5750, but I run it at 1600x900 and don't really play the most demanding titles, so I can't say for sure. However, it's definitely quite a bit weaker than the R7 260 x; the HD 5750 is roughly comparable to an HD 7730.
And compared to the HD 7730, you're looking at something like: HD 7730 - HD 7750 (+20%) - HD 7770 (+30%) - HD 7790 (+20%) - R7 260 x (+10%).
EDIT: What GPU are you actually running right now?
I wouldn't bother adding anything extra to a 280W power supply, though honestly, this whole build is pretty weak for what they're asking.
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Kingmax, 1333MHz, non-ECC, CL9.0 1 x HDD WD 1TB, Caviar Blue 10EZEX, 1000 GB, SATA3,64 MB, 3.5", 24mo 1 x CORSAIR 430W Power Supply, CX Series 80+ Bronze, EPS12V v2.3, 80+ 1 x Samsung SH-224DB sat Bulk Black DVD writer, SATA 1 x Zalman ZM-T4 micro tower case. 189(W) x 427.5(H) x 364(D)mm. MB 1 x Asrock B85M, 1150, Intel B85, DDR3, 2 slots, 2 yr warranty 1 x Intel Core i5-4440 Processor (3.10GHz,1MB,6MB,84 W,1150) Box 1 x Kingston SSD 120GB V300, 2.5" 7mm, SATA 3 6G, 7mm to 9.5mm 1 x MSI GTX650 1024 GDDR5 128 bit, N650-1GD5/OCV1, Core Clock 1071 M
$1634 craigslist.com
With 8GB of RAM and a newer platform, you've got some room to upgrade later—maybe even an Intel Core i7 Broadwell if you ever find you need it. You get a 120GB SSD and a graphics card that can actually handle some light gaming, plus it might help out a bit when working with CUDA.
driftingwalker19 said:I might have a silly question here, but when I Google a comparison between the AMD Radeon R7 260X and the 6850, I don't see much of an upgrade. Considering I bought the 6850 three years ago for $467, is it possible that today's card at $300 isn't actually that much better, or am I just misreading the data?!
Well, you can't really expect a massive leap in performance across two generations while the price drops by nearly half 😬
If I were dropping ~$467 on an AMD Radeon R9 270X today:
lonepilot51 said:Cheap power supply, cheap case. It’s a decent combo, I guess. Honestly, I don't know what you're getting into here; if I were you ten years ago, I would have bought a proper case worth the money instead of this junk. You probably could've saved that cash for better components. That LG power supply is total garbage—you'll see.
Your power supply is actually way worse. That Coolermaster B-series is meant for basic office builds or low-end rigs; the capacitors and build quality just aren't there...
I think there might be a bit of a misunderstanding here 😬
@The New Guy was probably thinking of the 990 FX Extreme3.
Generally speaking, the 970A-UD3 and 990XA-UD3 deal with some throttling issues, though maybe not as much; those Asus boards have slightly weaker regulation, but on paper, they seem better built, or at least that's what @graniteharbor85/">@@graniteharbor85 thinks. The 990FXA-UD3 doesn't really have those hiccups, but it does cost a bit more than something like the M5A99X EVO.
Someone already pointed out that the HD 7850 has basically lost its purpose. Since the AMD Radeon R7 260X is sitting under $300, and the HD 7850 is hovering around $400, the gap feels pretty negligible. Plus, for $1,350, you can grab an AMD Radeon R9 270, which is noticeably more powerful anyway. 🙂
@swiftscout21/">@@swiftscout21 Are you actually buying something? Because from what I can see, you've been active since early November 😛
I've heard XFX uses a slightly inferior heatsink, and there were some whispers about their capacitors being lower quality than the competition, though I guess it's hard to say how much truth there is to that.
Does anyone have a comparison for GPU scaling in AC4? I'm curious how Nvidia and AMD handle it differently.
It looks like the price for a GTX 660 has gone up a bit, whereas you can grab an R9 270 for $440(which is more polished and slightly faster than an HD 7870).
Also, I guess buying an i3 doesn't make much sense starting this year.😬
An i5 is just way better overall for about $133 more. Plus, maybe those FX chips are actually getting better in games since single-thread performance isn't quite as critical anymore.😉