feraljackal21 said:That’s great info regarding energy efficiency and that decent processor! 😉 I've actually been thinking about grabbing a larger SSD myself... but then I end up blowing my budget... nothing crazy, but still, it pushes me over the limit (according to CNN)....
The Microsoft version:
LC POWER 7017B Case, MIDI - $265.00 240.0 GB KINGSTON UV400 SUV400S37/240G SSD - $540.00 Intel Core i3 6100 box, LGA 1151 - $1,006.05 ASROCK H110M-DGS Motherboard - $407.55 8 GB KINGSTON ValueRAM PC-17000 - $331.00 Total: $850 🤔 That's quite a bit more than what I saw on CNN.... once you account for a bigger SSD, we're talking an extra 200 bucks... whew...
I'm also a bit conflicted about using an ATX form factor motherboard; I suppose it's because I grew up with those high-end boards that offered all sorts of upgrade paths if you wanted them... but I see those are significantly more expensive now... sigh... Could I get a quick critique of this build? (Specifically the RAM, SSD, motherboard, and case—and by the way, can those USB 3.0 ports on the case actually be connected to that ASROCK board?)
If you grab one 8GB stick of Dell RAM, you'll still have a spare slot left for another one just like it. Most modern boards come with the network and audio stuff built right in anyway, so there’s really no reason to go hunting for those old ATX setups anymore. You won't even need to bother with dual graphics cards or extra expansion cards...
Regarding HDMI, you're basically looking at super budget motherboards; since the 1151 socket is still relatively recent, those boards are still a bit pricey, I guess.
As far as the motherboard goes, they look identical to me. It’s probably just some weird pricing quirk, like one went through a different supplier or something. I guess.
Since you aren't running a super weak processor right now (an Intel Core i5 can probably handle most things decently enough), maybe it'd be smarter to just hold out for that new Intel Core architecture or those new Intel chips coming early next year. Plus, you'd get to move over to DDR3 eventually.
If you're dead set on buying something today, I guess you could go for an Intel Core i7-3770K plus 2-4GB of RAM, though honestly, that i7-3770K is basically just your current chip with two extra cores. It's pretty old tech at this point, so if I were you, I’d probably just wait a bit and grab something newer.
Games are probably just going to keep eating up more memory because that's clearly the trend lately, so I guess $67 grabbing an extra 2GB isn't actually a bad move. Price-wise, you're basically looking at the same deal as a GTX 950 with its 2GB, even if the 370 costs a bit more since it has 4GB. It’s honestly a pretty solid best buy in that bracket
EDIT: here we go again with the double posting on this forum
Timothy Kim60 said:Maybe a 460 2GB if you're feeling lucky. below $333 (999 😬)
By the way. GTX 950 2GB vs 4GB test
Not a bad buy, I guess.
I guess what that video is trying to say is either the card just can't actually tap into all 4GB, or maybe games aren't even hitting that limit yet. Hard to tell.
RAM can run in Dual Channel or just single channel, and honestly, the performance gap is maybe a couple percent—it’s pretty much irrelevant. I guess it's best to check what you're running right now (two 2GB sticks if I'm reading you right?) and try to find the exact same ones, twice over, to hit 8GB total. Sometimes RAM modules can be picky about working together, and older motherboards sometimes struggle to recognize a single 4GB stick or whatever.
If you're looking at Intel Core 2 Duo options, the rule is pretty simple—more cores are better. It’s not like they stack up mathematically, it just means you have 4 equally fast cores handling tasks simultaneously.
If I were you, I'd grab any Intel Core 2 Quad. Just a heads-up though, you really need to check things because your motherboard only supports CPUs up to a 95W Thermal design Power. Before you buy anything, maybe Google the part number; for example, if you search for an Intel Motherboard Model, you'll land on a page with all the deep specs here:
You'll see at the bottom under Thermal design Power that it says 125W, and once you check that processor against the compatibility table, it'll probably say N/A, meaning it won't work with your board.
So, what's actually in there right now? What's the rest of the build look like, and what are you planning to use it for?
@Adam Moore3/">@@Adam Moore3, just because it's a 775 socket doesn't mean you can just slap a dual-core in there; some of those old boards only support single-core Pentiums or Intel Celerons...
The PC in the title is pretty ancient and uses that same 775 socket, though I guess it’s slightly saved by having a faster chip and DDR3 RAM. I don't know what kind of stuff your kids are into, but if they eventually want to play some games, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to save at least $667 toward a much better, modern setup. This one is just old and a total pain to upgrade.
It might be worth checking out the motherboard in the current rig; you could probably swap in a faster processor for $33 and maybe throw in a used or new SSD (new ones are around $100).
If you do end up buying the PC from the title, you should definitely move the current graphics card over to it.
Daniel Miller3 said:I guess I don't know, feels way too pricey to just slap in a decent quad core. It's not like the world's gonna end without Grand Theft Auto V anyway. :P
Maybe an Intel Core i5-4460 at least, paired with a cheap motherboard. You could also $33 strip some stuff off the case, and honestly, adding another 4GB of RAM would probably be a good move. Unless you aren't planning on upgrading that CPU anytime soon, then you might be okay with the current setup.
rustytrucker37 said:Hey everyone! Not to hijack the thread, but can anyone give me some advice? I'm building a PC—just the tower, no peripherals. I need recommendations for everything else, keeping it as budget-friendly as possible. Like, maximum savings, but still needs to work well with what I've got: I'm looking at an i5 6400 and an AMD Radeon R9 380x 4gb OC. 8GB of RAM should be enough, maybe a 2x4GB kit for dual channel. Let me know what else you'd suggest. Thanks!
Might be better to just start your own thread and give us a budget. No point trying to build both a budget rig and a high-end one in the same conversation.
Daniel Miller3 said:😁😁😁😁 It might sound stupid, but from what I can tell, that CPU should handle The Witcher 3 and GTA 5 well enough for me. As for the case, I just grabbed it because those cheap ones are basically garbage.
Not really, though. GTA 5 doesn't play too nice with dual-core processors...
It’s not going to blow up in your face, but if you have about $10 extra, you could probably grab a slightly better Xilence RedWing or maybe an LC Power Office
Bradley Ortiz said:The PSU is actually a BlueBerry PSB420 at 420W Which kind of surprised me, since I just checked my receipt and it clearly says I paid for a Corsair 500W...
They totally sold you some junk. You should definitely go back and demand what you actually paid for.
Hold up, you're running 32-bit Windows with 8GB of RAM? If you check your Computer, you'll probably see you aren't even using more than 3-something GB right now. It's kind of a waste, honestly. You should definitely switch to 64-bit Windows so you can actually use all 8GB. Upgrading to 16GB won't really speed things up unless you're running a ton of heavy programs at once, like VMs or Photoshop and stuff.
The biggest boost would probably come from grabbing an SSD. Stick the OS and your main apps on there. You can find a 120GB one for about $100 or maybe a 250GB for $167 or even more
Also, regarding the Speccy info and the slots—if you look at the picture of your motherboard, you'll see it only has two slots, even though Speccy claims there are four:
It probably won't make much of a difference, maybe 1 or 2 fps at most. I guess you should look for a used i5—those CPUs are usually the best bang for your buck since they almost never die—and then save up a few extra bucks for a better GPU. You could always sell this one to pad the budget a bit more.