Posts by crimsonstag84

Graphics card $150
Motherboard $67

1000-$367 rig + $133 Windows

There are quite a few ways you could go here... I suspect you don't actually need more RAM yet; 6 to 8GB is probably the sweet spot if you aren't doing anything super intense. Your power supply seems fine, and the processor is still decent enough—you might even be able to squeeze some extra performance out of it with an overclock. You could try something like this:

1 x OCZ SSD ARC 100 240GB, OCZ Barefoot 3 M10 Controller
1 x Gigabyte GTX960 OC, 4GB GDDR5 128bit, GV-N960OC-4GD
1 x Zalman CNPS10X OPTIMA, CPU cooler. FAN: 120mm, fan speed:1000rpm
1 x ASUS M5A97 R2.0, AM3,AM3+, AMD 970, SB950, BUS 5200 MHz, DDR3

$1152 ADM

I added a cooler in case you're stuck with a stock one if you want to overclock. If the CPU ends up being an issue, maybe you could swap to an FX 8320E for about $367 once you sell the GPU, the motherboard, and whatever is left from those $117 pieces; then you could easily push it past 4GHz.

Or perhaps:

1 x OCZ SSD ARC 100 240GB, OCZ Barefoot 3 M10 Controller
1 x ASUS B85M Pro3, S 1150, Supports 4th Gen Intel Core i7 / i5
1 x Intel Core i5-4460 (3.20GHz,1MB,6MB,84 W,1150) Box
1 x MSI GTX950 2GB GDDR5, (GTX 950 2GD5 OC), 2xDVI,HDMI, 1xDP

$1373 ADM

The graphics card is weaker here, but you get both a new CPU and a whole new platform at once. You might be able to shave off some cost if you opt for a smaller 120GB SSD instead, assuming that's enough, or just stick with a 1TB HDD.

Just a heads-up, any programs already installed in Program Files won't run on 64-bit macOS, though your standard files like photos, music, or movies should be totally fine.

Processor $50
Motherboard $83
Graphics Card 350-$133

A Zalman Z1 paired with a Samsung 850 evo Basic 250.

You could probably set $500 as the starting point. Honestly, I'd say it’s worth at least a couple hundred bucks less.

Kingston DDR3 HyperX Fury, 1866MHz, 8GB Black HX318C10FB/8
Patriot SSD Blaze R545/W430, 120GB, 7mm, 2.5"
AMD CPU Kaveri Athlon x4 840 (3.1GHz,4MB,65W,FM2+) box
ASUS Motherboard AMD A68H (A68HM-P33_V2)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 ti 2GB/128bit
EVGA Hexa plus 400 w MS Knight
MS KNIGHT case without PSU

Total price: $1038 center

Are you planning on hammering the RAM and CPU into the motherboard with a hammer? 😬
That processor won't fit that board, and it doesn't support DDR4 anyway. Plus, you're probably going to need a new power supply. Is this build meant for gaming?

2 x DDR3 2048MB ( 2GB ) Kingston, 1333MHz, Value
1 x XFX R9-280X-TDFD, DD Radeon R9 280X 1000M Boost 3GB DDR5
1 x Intel Core i5-4460 (3.20GHz,1MB,6MB,84 W,1150) Box
1 x Fortron 500W, Hyper, PPA5005003, 12cm fan
1 x Asrock B85M Pro3, S 1150, Supports 4th Gen Intel Core i7 / i5

$1524 AMD

The i5 barely pulls any more power than that E8200 anyway, so I guess you don't really need to switch.

1 x Intel Core i5-4460 Processor (3.20GHz, 1MB, 6MB, 84 W, LGA 1150) Box
1 x Asrock B85M Pro3, Socket 1150, supports 4th Gen Intel Core i7 / i5
1 x 8GB DDR3 (1x8GB) Kingston HyperX Fury, 1866MHz, CL10
1 x Zalman Z1 mid tower case. 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm. Standard ATX
1 x Fortron 550W Raider power supply, RA550, with 12cm fan

$1042 ADM

☕

I think we've already covered all of that for you.

You just need to list the exact power supply model, I guess.

I think you missed some of the most important details here 😛

What's your current setup look like? And what kind of budget are we working with?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/motherboards-example
http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-cards-example

For $83, you’re looking at a machine that’s maybe three times faster... I mean, it's a pretty old platform, but you could probably upgrade it using some used parts—grab an extra 2GB of RAM, a much better GPU, and maybe a quad-core chip for around 300-$117. You'd likely need to swap out the power supply too, though.

I guess you could toss a GF 6200 into the PC_1 and end up with 1.75GB of RAM if you use three sticks, but honestly, it probably won't make much of a difference.

65°C is actually pretty chilly for a GPU; I wouldn't sweat it unless you see it creeping past 90 😉

The whole point of side intake is to give the graphics card some breathing room, but since your other components aren't running hot, I guess adding one more 120mm fan up front should be plenty.

For example,

It’s true, you don't strictly need it for that processor. You could probably just grab a better motherboard with an A88 chipset instead:

The performance is still about $30 higher... the integrated graphics on this processor are actually more powerful than all those cheap cards up to $167, so it should handle everything just fine, except maybe heavy gaming on max settings. You can always grab a dedicated GPU later and just disable the onboard one 😉

The second option is definitely better. I’ve put together a slightly upgraded version here (better case, power supply, and drive, plus an extra cooler):

Intel Core i5 Desktop PC
GIGABYTE Main Board Desktop AMD A68 (GA-F2A68HM-S1)
Fortron 400W Power Supply
Corsair Vengeance DDR3 RAM, 1866MHz, 8GB Black HX318C10FB/8
Zalman micro tower case black, ZAL-ZM-T1 PLUS
Seagate Barracuda 1TB, 64MB, 7200rpm
LC Power CPU Cooler LC-CC-95 - 90mm Intel/AMD

Intel / AMD total: $821 Centro

1 x AMD FX-Series X8 8300 3.3GHz,16MB,125W,AM3+, FD8300WMHK
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x 8GB (1x8GB) Kingston HyperX Fury DDR3, 1866MHz, CL10
1 x Seagate 1TB HDD, Serial ATA III, 7200 rpm, ST1000DM003
1 x Zalman Z1 mid tower case. 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm. MB standard
1 x Sapphire R9 390 nitro, Tri-X OC, 8GB GDDR5, 512 bit
1 x Fortron 650W Raider sa, RA650, 12cm ventilator, Act PFC
1 x LC Power Cosmo Cool, 92 mm, Hydraulic bearing, 800-2200 rpm,

$2092 ADM