Posts by Keith Wright2

Hahahaha, what a joke! But hey, at least we finally see how things actually turned out.

I would personally always go with Intel. When you look at the quality, power consumption, noise levels, and temperatures, everything just leans heavily in their favor. Honestly, I can't think of many high-end gamers out there running an AMD setup paired with some high-end graphics card or even an SLI/CFX combo—let alone those crazy triple SLI/CFX configurations, for that matter.

If you're planning on swapping out your CPU in about a year, why not focus your budget right now on a high-quality motherboard that can handle overclocking? You could just grab an Intel Core i3-4130 for now since you'll be upgrading soon anyway—plus, it's much easier on the wallet than an i5. $167Besides, since you aren't running a powerhouse graphics card yet, an i5 wouldn't make much of a difference. If your end goal is moving up to an i7, save that cash for the i7 and a beefier GPU later. Just sell this i3 and your current card when the time comes, toss that money toward your upgrade, and add whatever you've saved up in the meantime.

1 x Intel Core i3-4130, 3.40GHz
1 x ASRock Z97-KILLER, s1150, Intel® Z97
2 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1600MHz, CL11, Value
1 x XFX TS Series 550W PSU -P1550S-XXB9
1 x WD 1TB Caviar Blue 10EZEX, 1000 GB, SATA3, 64 MB, 3.5", 24mo warranty
1 x SILVERSTONE Redline RL04B Midi Tower, 1x ATX, 7 slots
1 x XFX R9-270A, R9-270A-CDFC, Double Dissipation Edition 925M Boost

$1593 And hey, assembly and shipping are included for free!
This setup will be a rock-solid configuration for the next year, capable of handling most things on high settings until you finally pull the trigger on that i7 and a better GPU. Everything else is already taken care of: you've got plenty of power with the PSU, 8GB of RAM, a great motherboard, a 1TB hard drive, and a quality case!

Kimberly Gomez34 said:Here’s a solid build right around the $650 mark:

1 x XFX R9-270A, R9-270A-CDFC, double Dissipation edition 925 m boost
1 x Intel Core i5-4440 (3.10GHz,1MB,6MB,84 W,1150) Box
1 x MSI H87M-E33, Socket : 1150, Intel H87, 2xDDR3 1333/1600
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x HDD WD 1TB, Caviar Blue 10EZEX, 1000 GB, SATA3,64 MB, 3,5", 24mj
1 x XFX Core edition 80 450W PSU - EasyRail technology
1 x Zalman ZM-T1 PLUS micro tower case. 189(W) x 427,5(H) x 364(D)mm
1 x LG GH24NS, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R

$1508eBay might eventually list some overpriced junk.
Forget about upgrading to a K-series CPU or overclocking—you're stuck with non-K here. Your first priority down the road should definitely be adding an SSD.

You could even grab an i3 now to save some cash, then put those savings toward a better Z97 motherboard and dump the rest into a decent graphics card. After all, isn't the processor just going to serve its purpose for about a year anyway?

I’m just wondering, do you even know how to overclock if you were to jump up to an i7k? Honestly, your current budget is a bit too tight to pull off a build like that. Sure, you could slap in a decent Z97 motherboard, but then you’d be looking at needing something like a 260x graphics card to match, which just doesn't make sense. You'd end up having to swap out the GPU right alongside the CPU, and let's face it—that kind of upgrade isn't going to be cheap! My advice? Just stick with your current i3 setup for now. Hang in there until after the New Year when you've saved up a little more cash. Once the holiday sales hit and maybe some new GPU series drop, prices should dip, making it much easier to upgrade properly.

Check out the pricing details and full specs for these DDR4 RAM modules here: http://www.digitalstormonline.com/un...-285-idnum319/

In my opinion, this would be the ideal choice

$333 I'm looking at this motherboard paired with an AMD FX-6200 and a Gigabyte Motherboard

Robert Ortiz58 said:Free assembly? What on earth is he going to assemble for him? A cardboard box? 😁

It isn't just about putting those few components together like you seem to think; I'm talking about the concept in general!

Maybe you could try it this way instead: just hold onto everything except the graphics card, the processor, the motherboard, the RAM, and that 250GB hard drive, then pick up this bundle:

1 xIntel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz, Haswell
1 xASRock Z87 Extreme3, s1150, Intel Z87, 4 x DDR3 DIMM, warranty :3y
1 xSapphire R9 280 3GB OC Dual-X, 3GB GDDR5 384bit, 28nm
2 xDDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 xLG GH24NS DVD writer, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R

Total:$1550 Best Buy offers free assembly and shipping!
If you reuse your old power supply, case, hard drives, and cooler, then just slap this i5 in there—wouldn't that make for a pretty decent machine?

Charles Kim2 said:I think I'll go with the parts listed above. The only thing I won't be buying is the cooler, since I already own an Arctic Freezer 13 Pro.
But I have to wonder—could my Chiftec 550 actually handle this configuration? I'd love to avoid buying a new power supply if my current one is up to the task.

It completely slipped my mind that you already have a cooler! You can definitely skip that part. As for the power supply, it might technically work, but honestly, when you're doing an upgrade like this, shouldn't you always consider replacing the PSU? Plus, that Chieftec isn't exactly known for being bulletproof. If I were in your shoes, I'd grab a new one; you get a solid five-year warranty, and then you don't have to worry about it ever again.

Why not sell off that graphics card and grab one of these instead:

1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6300 3.5GHz,14MB,95W,AM3+, FD6300WMHK
1 x ASUS M5A97 R2.0, AM3,AM3+, AMD 970, SB950, BUS 5200 MHz, DDR3
1 x ZALMAN CNPS 5X, socket 775/1155/1156/AM2/AM2/AM3
1 x DDR3 8GB (2x4GB) Kingston, 1866MHz, CL10, HyperX Fury
1 x LG GH24NS, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R
1 x Zalman Z9 U3 mid tower case. 207(W) x 464(H) x 504(D)mm
1 x Sapphire R9 280 3GB OC Dual-X, 3GB GDDR5 384bit, 28nm
1 x FORTRON 550W Raider, RA550, 12cm ventilator

Total:$1549 Micro Center offers free assembly and shipping!

jadelynx8 said:I figure if I have the cash, I'll just pick up components one by one over time... and so on.

If I were in your shoes, I would aim for this setup:

1xAMD CPU Desktop AMD Athlon II X4 750K (3.4GHz,4MB,100W,FM2) box, Black Edition
1xASRock FM2A88M Extreme 4+ motherboard, FM2
1xSapphire AMD Radeon R7 260X 1G GDDR5 PCI-E HDMI / DVI-I / DP OC VERSION, 1050MHz / 1500MHz, 128-bit,2 slot active, LITE, 11222-05-20G
1xSpire Kepler Rev.2 cooler 1156/775/FM1
1xFortron Hexa Plus 400W power supply, 80+,active, 12 cm
1xMemory Device HyperX ValueRAM DDR3 SDRAM Non-ECC (4GB,1600MHz(PC3-12800),Single Rank,Unbuffered) KVR16N11S8/4
1xSEAGATE HDD Desktop Barracuda 7200 ST1000DM003 (3.5",1TB,64MB,SATA III-600)
1xZalman micro tower case black, ZAL-ZM-T1 PLUS

Total:$1021 Free assembly via CNN!

jadelynx8 said:🤷I want to swap out my old ATI Radeon X1600 graphics card for a new one, but I'm not sure if I can just pick any card I want or if there are certain ones I have to stick to.

Could you please list your other components? It would be best if you opened up the case to check the specific brand and wattage of your power supply, along with your processor, motherboard, and how much RAM you're running. Also, let us know what kind of budget you've set aside for this upgrade!

Eric Chavez2 said:My current setup is:

CPU: Intel Celeron G1610 2.4 IvyBridge LGA1155
HDD: WD 320GB SATA II
RAM: 2x2GB DDR3 Apacer 1.5V dual Channel
Motherboard:ASUS GA-B75M-D2V BIOS F5
GPU: Intel HD2500
Windows 7 ultimate 64bit SP1 (Fully updated)

I just picked up this graphics card: http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R6770...#hero-overview

I plug it into the PCI Express slot, connect the 6-pin power cable from my EVGA PSU, and hook everything up via VGA (my monitor is a Fujitsu AMILO L 3190 T)

The ASUS logo pops up on the screen, and then suddenly—nothing. The monitor goes black. Right after that, the fan on the graphics card starts spinning incredibly loud. Everything runs quiet during a normal boot without it. What could be going wrong?

Was everything running smoothly before you installed this new card?
Try booting the PC without the graphics card installed and let me know if it functions normally.

Eric Chavez2 said:Yeah... I'm currently relying on integrated graphics from my CPU, but I've used dedicated cards before without running into this specific issue.

Have you tried booting up the PC with a different monitor? You could also try moving that NVIDIA card into another computer to see how it performs there. Just to be safe, double-check all your connections—it's possible the card isn't seated properly, which might be preventing it from getting the power it needs!

brightskipper40 said:So, here is the build:
i5 4690k
hd7870
4gb RAM Western Digital
Intel Z97 gaming 5 Scythe Ashura Corsair GS600
Scythe Ashura
Corsair GS600

The issue is that I'm getting absolutely no beep codes when I power it on, and there's no signal on the monitor either. If I remember correctly, the motherboard was displaying code 15 this morning while I was putting everything together; I checked the error codes, and it indicates "early north bridge initialization." All the fans are spinning, everything seems fine, yet there's neither a beep nor an image. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this?

Try booting the PC without the graphics card first. Maybe try plugging the GPU into a friend's computer to see if it actually works? If that turns out okay, then try pulling the RAM out and swapping it with some sticks from a buddy if you can get them. Also, make sure the heatsink is seated properly, and you could even try testing it with a different power supply... I'm just throwing ideas out here, so check everything I mentioned and let me know how it goes.

briskmason6 said:Well, I finally sorted that out... basically, you head over to the Control Panel > My Digital Flat Panels > HDTV Support > then just check the box for 1080p at 60 Hz > hit scaling options > and only then can you actually adjust the scale. Problem solved!

Now that everything is running perfectly, why don't you post a photo? We'd love to see the full setup—keyboard, mouse, monitor, and the tower all together.

crimsonstag84 said:Is it just too obvious to even bother commenting on? 😍

What on earth are you talking about? 😵 What can I even say to such ridiculous comments, suggesting that I am somehow that Etralknight guy? 🙂🙂

I didn't say he had to take my exact configuration. I just meant he should take a look at it once he decides if he actually wants to upgrade, just to see if it fits his needs. If not, he can totally go with any of your other suggestions. I don't get why, if someone happens to have a different perspective than everyone else here, they're immediately labeled as an idiot. Honestly, who does this person think they're reminding me of? I don't even want to bother commenting on it.