Posts by crimsonstag84

northernhawk29 said:Is it worth unlocking an Intel Core i3-2100 to turn it into an Intel Core i5-2500K?

Performance Specs for Intel Core i5-2500K:
CPU Codename - Deneb
CPU Cores - 4
CPU Speed - 3GHz
TDP (Power) - 95W
Lithography - 45nm
Socket - AM2+ / AM3
L1 Cache - 64Kb/core
L2 Cache - 2048Kb
L3 Cache - 0Mb

This wouldn't include a warranty or a cooler, costing about $133 (a brand new one at Best Buy is $183, but I'm not sure if I'll actually get an unlockable chip). I was thinking about just getting a new Intel Core i5-2500K, which is basically the same thing but 200MHz faster and costs $233. But maybe this Intel Core i5-2500K could be overclocked a bit to match the speed of the other one?

Also, a quick, probably dumb question: if a processor can be unlocked on one motherboard, does that mean it can be unlocked on any board that supports unlocking?

Yeah, you can unlock it on any board featuring SB 600, SB710/750, SB850/950, or UCC support.😉

For $133, it's probably worth it if the unlocking actually works. Just make sure you can prove it with some stress tests and CPU-Z.🙂

After that, you can grab a Xigmatek Loki or a Cooler Master Hyper TX3 for $50 and try a little overclocking...

But honestly, if the cores are damaged, the CPU won't be stable and will just crash. Even if you manage to unlock it, there's no guarantee it'll work perfectly—that's why stress testing is pretty much mandatory.

Benjamin King2 said:If the monitor works fine once the driver is removed (assuming I followed correctly), then the issue is likely within the driver itself—especially if the image looks normal on the screen during the POST process before Windows boots up. Try going here, select 'support & drivers', then navigate through the dropdown menu via desktop graphics -> Radeon X series -> X3xx series. Pick your specific version of Windows and try installing the latest available Catalyst driver.

A monitor can't damage the graphics card, and vice versa. It just doesn't work that way.

The GTS 250 is actually quite a bit more powerful.

Yup, it's built on the same chip as the 9800GT... just noticeably improved. 🙂

Or maybe just shell out an extra hundred bucks for something that actually performs significantly better. 🙂

Gary Johnson64 said:Haha, I don't have that much cash on me right now, unfortunately. I guess a radeon HD 5770 is about what I can swing. 174 miles Maybe around $150. 🙂 Oh, I didn't realize my Nvidia 9800 gt was actually in that same tier. 😁 A friend of mine has a Zotac gt 220, and he claims he can run games on max settings without any issues. I guess we'll see. 🙂 Honestly, I’m not even sure what to pick myself. Cash is a bit tight right now, and I just need something that isn't a step down from my Nvidia 9800 gt. I was actually pretty happy with that card, so I'd hate to regret the upgrade. 🙂Thanks, man. Let me know what you think. 😁

Maybe try looking for an HD 6670 (GDDR5) instead... that should be closer to what you're after. Just so you know, the GTS 450 and HD 5770 are definitely more powerful than the Nvidia 9800 gt. 😉

The gt 220 is really just an entry-level card, which basically means it's useless for gaming—it’s probably about half as powerful as the Nvidia 9800 gt. 😛

Gary Johnson64 said:What do you think about a ZOTAC GT440 1GB DDR3 810/1600Mhz or an ATI HD6570 512mb DDR5? Are they stronger or about the same as an Nvidia 9800 gt? Thanks

They're both a bit weaker... maybe by 15-20%.

You should probably aim for at least an HD 5770 or a GTS 450 if you don't want to just throw your money away...

Gary Johnson64 said:I'm looking for some GPU recommendations... I used to have an Nvidia GeForce 9800GT, so can anyone suggest something a bit more powerful than that for around $80? Thanks!

It might be tough to find anything significantly better than a 9800GT for just $80. Maybe try hunting for something used, like an HD 5770, 6770, 4870, or 4890.

northernhawk29 said:Would I be better off just grabbing an Intel Core i5-2500K, which is maybe 5% slower due to the lack of L3 cache, cheaper, runs at 95W, and then just giving up on overclocking?$33

Also, one more thing. Someone told me AMD processors only support up to 1333MHz memory, but I picked up some 1600MHz modules and my motherboard supports 1600. If I set it to 1600, does that count as overclocking or what...

Since the Intel Core i5-2500K is 95W, there might be a little wiggle room for some OC.🙂

Yeah, AMD chips based on the Intel Nehalem architecture can really only take advantage of DDR3 1333MHz, but it shouldn't be an issue if you have 1600MHz sticks installed...

Gregory Ward said:Hey there.

I just came into some extra cash (about $300) and I’m looking to upgrade my PC.

Current specs:
processor - Intel Core2Duo E8400 3.0 GHz
2 GB DDR2 RAM
320 GB WD HDD
PSU - 500W ATX
motherboard - MSI P45 Neo MS-7519
GPU - ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 512 MB
AOC F22+ monitor

Since I'm posting here, I obviously want to swap out the graphics card first. I mostly use this rig to play Call of Duty 2 (I need better FPS, plus I'd like to be able to run something newer every once in a while), and occasionally watch movies or shows. I’d also like to save enough left over to grab a new hard drive, since mine is constantly full and I'm always fighting for storage space.

Thanks.

1 x DDR2 2048MB ( 2GB ) PC6400 Kingston, 800MHz, CL5
1 x XFX HD6850 775M 1GB DDR5, DisplayPort x2 v1.2, DVI x2, HDMI 1.4a
1 x Spire TherMax II, socket 775/1156/1366/754/939/AM2/AM2+/AM3
1 x XFX Core edition 80 550W PSU - EasyRail technology

$685

Micro Center (Chicago), free shipping on orders over $667 😉

@Ryan Hayes82/">@@Ryan Hayes82 Since he mainly plays Call of Duty 2, he won't really benefit from multiple cores anyway; the single-core performance on the E8400 is actually much higher than the Q6600, and the price tag on that quad-core is probably overkill. Even considering the extra cores, the Q6600 will struggle to outperform that Core2Duo, especially since the latter tends to overclock a bit better.🙂

Jeremy Moore75 said:So I'm actually about to buy this now, but the guy at the Best Buy told me I'd need at least a 500W power supply for it??

That expert is full of it... an i3 2120 and an HD 5670 plus the rest of the build probably pulls maybe 150W total.☕

hollowgull5 said:aha
then Sumi could have just claimed he was attacking Jenson when he actually should've checked everything leading up to him first
seriously, quit being such haters...

Just read the rest of the sentence and you'll see what I mean 😵 😉

It's not like I'd ever try to defend Alonso 😬

hollowgull5 said:man, I seriously need to know which race you were even watching... 😕

Those three laps still count, though I guess it doesn't really matter if Jenson Button was basically running on fumes at that point.😬

William Moore65 said:Honestly, I just scoured Newegg and found a card for $33 lol. I don't care if it runs a little slower, as long as it's better than what I have and actually works properly. 😁

In that case, just grab 😁

You can, though it might run a bit slower because of the limited bandwidth 🙂

But I’m not sure if it’s actually worth dropping $133 on that card when the whole setup isn't worth much to begin with 😁 I'd probably just grab something used off eBay for $33 instead 😉

@James Fisher11/">@@James Fisher11 😂

I guess we basically said the exact same thing at the same time 😵

Nancy Scott5 said:If Vettel pulled it off, why couldn't he?😕

There isn't really a dominant car this year... plus, the gap was more like 50 points, not 124.😁

From what I can see over on the adMov page, the CX 430 w and CX 600 w are both V2 versions, but the CX 500 w isn't. 😂

http://www.amazon.com/product_info.php?c...oducts_id=9150

What kind of GPU were you running before this? Honestly, that power supply looks pretty cheap, so don't be surprised if the whole system starts rebooting or just refuses to boot up at all 😛

It might be a good idea to swap out that PSU as soon as you can.

An HD 3450 for Gran Turismo? No way. 😬

Even if you try some crazy overclocking on that integrated graphics, it probably won't help much... I guess the CPU is decent enough, but the GPU is the real bottleneck here.

You should probably look for something more like this:

Ronald Barnes5 said:So, here's the deal... I used to have a GeForce RTX and an Intel Core i7, and StarCraft II ran totally fine.
But now that I've switched to a Radeon RX and an Intel Celeron 3.66GHz,
StarCraft II is just stuttering constantly. Now I tried putting my old processor back in—the Intel Core i7—and it actually runs even slower than before.
I HAVE NO IDEA WHY!!!

Maybe you have CUDA enabled? 🤔

It doesn't always play nice with AMD cards. 😬

stormybadger8 said:Regardless of what Red Bull does, if the McLaren leadership actually had some sense and treated Button as their number one driver this season, he’d still be right in the title hunt. The gap would probably only be about 50 or 60 points. It's just stupid how they keep pushing Lewis Hamilton, who basically sabotages his own title chances by the end of the season anyway.

Even if Button doesn't "need" anyone, he needs to stay at McLaren and become the clear number one. Hopefully, even Watkins realizes that's the smarter move now.

Hamilton to Ferrari 😈

Actually, looking back on it, I'm not sure I follow the logic here...

Australia - a mess at the start followed by a drive-through (finished 6th)
Malaysia - really solid driving (though while Ham struggled with tires, he only managed two sets of softs plus a tactical blunder)
China - he pitted whenever he felt like it since Ham was right behind him; later he admitted he wasn't quite fast enough with the light car setup
Turkey - bad strategy
Spain - a messy start
Monaco - issues with the SC and the red flag
Canada - a great win
Valencia - the McLaren just wasn't fast enough, ended up 6th
United Kingdom - pit lane disaster
Germany - hydraulic issues
Canada - a win
Belgium - qualifying went south plus damage from the start
Italy - strong drive for 2nd place
Singapore - another good drive for 2nd

So now... the only time I see them favoring Hamilton is during qualifying in Monza (which sounds crazy, since we don't really know what happened there).

The point gap exists because of various unlucky breaks, the McLaren being slow in certain spots, and the fact that he didn't always push when it mattered. 🙂

So, maybe try to explain yourself if there's actually anything to it. 😬