Last week, I decided to pick up an EVGA BR series for $135 It comes with a five-year warranty and decent efficiency levels, sitting right around 87-90% CNET At this price point, it's a total steal if you aren't obsessed with cable modularity. However, if you really want that feature, that Corsair unit crimsonstag84 suggested is probably your best bet.
It might be time to let go of that old power supply 😁
If you’re actually in the market for a replacement, my vote goes to the EVGA XTR 550 W, Corsair RM series, Intel. You can find it on CNN.com or Amazon—Amazon is a bit cheaper—but I specifically mentioned Newegg because they really are the gold standard for PC hardware in the States.
Basically, here is what you get for $67 the extra cash you'll spend. You get a Corsair RM series unit, which makes cable management much less of a headache, and if things ever go south, swapping it out is a breeze. Intel efficiency (around 89-91%), which should shave about 7-12% off your power bill. A 5-year warranty (which is 3 years longer than the base version). Review I couldn't track down specific data regarding operating temperatures or noise levels.
James Castillo8 said:What's the actual difference between
an Intel Core i7 3.5GHz, 16MB, 125W, AM3+, FD8320FRHK and... well, nothing? I'm just wondering if those extra two cores are actually worth the cash...
In terms of gaming, you won't notice much of a jump. If you look at the performance per dollar spent, it's just not worth shelling out $100 for the i7, much like how the higher-end model doesn't justify its $100 premium over the standard version.
I usually run HDTune to check my transfer rates and random access times, along with monitoring memory usage. When was the last time you actually defragmented your drives? I’d suggest using something like Defraggler. Also, do you stay on top of clearing out junk files with CCleaner? Honestly, the fastest way to get a speed boost would be a fresh OS installation.
edit: Now that I'm looking at this build from crimsonstag84, I see they sacrificed a few other components to make it work, but honestly, it’s a solid compromise—it has everything you actually need. And instead of the R7 250, you could probably put down a little more for a GTX650 to get $33 better performance.
You aren't going to see any real-world difference from overclocking, no matter how extreme you go. For everyday tasks—browsing the web or streaming movies—your biggest bottlenecks will actually be your RAM if you're stuck with 1-2GB (on Windows 7), or a cluttered HDD with poor access times that hasn't seen a defrag in ages. At that point, the processor doesn't matter much; whether it's a dual-core at 1.86 GHz or a quad-core at 3.6 GHz, you won't feel it. The jump from a single-core Pentium 4 with 256-512MB of RAM to a dual-core setup with 1GB is night and day. Don't waste your money here. I’d suggest saving up until you're ready to overhaul the entire system.
It might be a driver issue... I’ve run into this before when swapping an ATI card for an NVIDIA one on the same rig. Nothing would run—not a single game—until I did a full reinstall of the old ATI drivers. Strangely enough, doing it the other way around was never an issue.
loneraven15 said:Nobody really sat me down and explained what I should be looking out for when buying a GPU—specifically, if any card will work with any motherboard, or if the same logic applies to CPUs. Also, any tips on where to find decent used gear? I’m planning to pick up something solid for around $300$133. Since I, David Sanders4, never play everything on max settings, raw performance matters more to me than visual fidelity, if you catch my drift.🙂 So, please recommend a good GPU within that $133 budget and maybe a reliable shop.
And honestly, why wouldn't you? You can grab a used card that packs way more punch for the money. I'm not sure where you're based, but even with the CPU, you went the used route. Granted, a CPU is a different beast since they don't fail nearly as often as GPUs or motherboards, but you'll still see much better value by going secondhand...
This one is my true heartbreak; the guy posted the listing just ten days ago, and it was gone by the very next day...
ASUS GeForce GTX 660
There were a few others floating around last month for about $1,000, but they all vanished too... If I'm being honest, I'm holding out hope that one might drop to $900 eventually...
because it's available at edigital : EVGA GTX 760 gaming OC $570 + $10 shipping $580 vemil : EVGA GTX 760 gaming OC$586 as for the other one, I'd probably pick it up at Best Buy ASUS GeForce GTX 660 OC $472 including shipping or maybe a used EVGA GTX 660 for $383 with shipping included
I wouldn't touch those Palit or POV cards; they just don't sit right with me. I much prefer the dual-fan models. And if I go NVIDIA, it would be strictly for PhysX, since my current setup—between the motherboard and the power supply—doesn't really leave me any room for a hybrid setup, like say an R9 270x paired with an 8800GTS 640MB (though I'm not entirely sure how stable that would even be)🤷
Now, that R9 290 TriX is an absolute beast, but it’s way out of my budget (just like the GTX 770 or the GTX 780)
I could use some advice here. I’m stuck choosing between two lesser evils. Would you go with the GTX 760 from eDigital or Vemil? Or does it make more sense to just grab a brand new GTX 660 for $117 less (especially since the price actually climbed compared to the last depressing market dip)? Both come with a 36-month warranty.
Which one will leave me with a smaller dent in my wallet when I decide to sell it in two years? I saw both the GTX 660 and the $333 listed before, but now, as luck would have it, they're completely wiped out.
The only way this makes sense is if you're looking at the used market—though honestly, a GTX 650 or an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti would actually be a step down from your current card. You might get maybe $70 for your old one if you're lucky, but even then, the upgrade isn't exactly life-changing.
You’d probably see much better results by just picking up a new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti Or perhaps find a decent used NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Though, based on how you described it, you almost made that GTX sound like a total steal.
You might actually find that Halek’s suggestion is your best bet here. Since you aren't picking up a dedicated GPU, going with Intel just makes more sense. Honestly, even compared to those options you recommended from Savannah, any of these would be a step up. In fact, you could probably get even better value for that same budget through this link:
At Full HD, I can run just about everything currently out there on max settings. Looking ahead, I expect to hold that line through next year, though I'll likely see a gradual dip in FPS as things get more demanding...
