Photoshop really craves a solid CPU and plenty of RAM:
1 x Zalman 400-LX PSU, 400W, ATX12V V2.31, active PFC 1 x Intel Core i3-4130, 3.40GHz 1 x ASUS H81M-R, 1150, H81 express chipset, DDR3, 2 slots 1 x Kingston SSD 120GB HyperX Fury, 2.5", SATA 3 6G 1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
$867
techcrunch.com
- I guess you should check what power supply you're actually running; you'll probably have to pop the case open to see the brand and model. You might not even need to swap it out. - An SSD would be a huge help, too. Photoshop would probably launch in like 3 seconds and the whole system would feel way faster. Maybe just keep your current 300GB HDD for storage and install the OS and basic apps on the SSD. - There's still an extra RAM slot left on the motherboard.
And honestly, I'm questioning if even bothering with CF is worth it. You’re probably better off just grabbing one beefier graphics card instead of messing around with all that hassle.
Upgrading to those $67 won't really give him much of a boost, and his eyes might actually suffer. Well, maybe they won't suffer, but 19" monitors just have terrible resolution.
Honestly, you’re probably better off with nothing at all than picking up that R7 240. It’s a complete waste of money, I guess. Just throwing cash down the drain.
It depends on how they ship it, I guess. Usually, it goes back to the FedEx hub, or maybe UPS or whatever carrier they use, and just sits there for a few days before they actually send it out again. They should give you a call before delivery so you can work out the details with the driver—maybe even have them swing by your office a day or two later, or you could just pick it up at the local distribution center if that's easier.
Sean Garcia3 said:4GB of RAM is pretty light for an APU, mostly because the CPU is going to hog some for graphics, leaving whatever is left feeling pretty weak for modern games.
Maybe try seeing if you can squeeze more into Best Buy in $1000... I guess that's why they even put a motherboard with 4 RAM slots in there—to leave room for an upgrade later.
coastaltiger2 said:Is there even such a thing as a budget gaming PC for $1000? I've always figured you'd need at least 4000 bucks for a real gaming rig... $1500... I don't really get why anyone would spend more than $1000?
If you're willing to pay, especially at a decent shop, you'll get what you pay for. Spending more just means higher settings and better FPS, but honestly, even the setup Sean Garcia3 put together should be more than enough to play decently.
It’s a decent enough power supply if you're planning on some upgrades down the road, I guess. Just a 1TB drive, I guess. You really need that 2x2 GB RAM setup at 1600MHz. It actually matters because since the graphics are integrated into the processor, the card relies heavily on faster memory running in dual channel. I guess you don't want to bottleneck yourself. It's a quad Core APU, so I guess it has integrated graphics that might actually run newer games on medium settings. Probably just looking for a CPU cooler. Not a bad motherboard, I guess.
So, he’s got a pretty decent foundation now, plus some solid gaming performance. I guess once his games start lagging or he gets bored with the graphics, he can just swap in a beefier GPU and probably squeeze another few years out of the rig.
What's up? I guess 12GB is plenty for most stuff, though you might actually hit that 16GB limit if you're doing heavy multitasking or running things like VMs and massive software suites
If they aren't planning on moving that card over to a new build, it feels like a waste of cash. I'd probably just hunt for something used for $133 that doesn't need an extra power connector; honestly, an AMD Radeon HD 7750 would be a solid choice
What kind of games are we talking about? I guess older titles might still run okay, but anything recent is probably going to struggle since you’re running low on RAM, a pretty weak GPU, and likely some older, slower processor
The temps aren't even the issue here; the problem is definitely somewhere else.
My money is on the PSU. You mentioned it struggles to reboot, which is a huge red flag. Plus, those 12V rail readings in your screenshot look pretty low, though I guess software sensors can be total liars sometimes. Maybe try swapping in a different power supply if you can borrow one? In the meantime, you could always crack the old one open to blow out the dust and see if any capacitors look like they're about to pop.
Xilence makes both junk and decent stuff, so we really need the specific model number.
Which MMORPG are we talking about here? And what resolution are you running? I'm wondering if this has always been an issue or if it just started out of nowhere.