wanderingbison9 said:Yeah, honestly, the only thing making sense to me right now is the RX 6700. It’s the only one still sitting at that old price point, which probably just means nobody's buying it because it isn't a "steal" anymore. I wonder why everyone is passing on it? Even Amazon is a total rip-off once you factor in the shipping costs, and I'm definitely not touching those sketchy overseas sites with prices that look too good to be true... hmmm...
You can grab a 6700XT for around $430 at a decent retailer. https://www.mindfactory.de/product_i...l_1402737.html
velvetlynx3 said:Over here, prices are all over the place and stock is non-existent. All you find are shop websites where everything shows as out of stock.
I am honestly losing my mind today. I can't get my hands on a monitor or a GPU to save my life. I’m totally done with their Q4 nonsense; they think they're geniuses. They already bumped up my AC service for 2023 (and at a ridiculous price point), but clearly, they don't give a damn about customer loyalty.
Looks like I’ll be shopping elsewhere; I'm not giving these clowns another cent! Let them try to sell to anyone else once the holiday rush dies down...
They really don't care about certain customers....
hiddengull3 said:I would love to get some expert eyes on this build I’ve put together. I'm looking for a reliable home PC primarily for web browsing, streaming music, and watching movies—nothing heavy-duty here, so no gaming or professional workstation needs to be considered. My budget is roughly $1000. I already have my monitor and all the other peripherals ready to go.
Regarding the motherboard, do you think this is a solid choice, or would an ASRock board be a better companion for this Intel i3 setup?
My main priorities are longevity, speed, and making sure the system stays quiet during use. An i3 with integrated graphics is more than enough for my needs, though I am certainly open to other suggestions. I'm even considering switching to an AMD setup with a different CPU and motherboard if those components still fit the bill. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide! Best regards.
velvetlynx3 said:Everything just got absolutely crushed on the curb. 😬
I was looking at this AOC Q27 monitor online today—it’s got that QHD resolution and a built-in USB hub. Seems like a solid choice if you need those extra ports for your peripherals. $733 A 27-inch screen with a 1ms response time.
wearymason4 said:Yeah, that’s exactly what I meant—it's totally normal for them to flicker just when you turn the key to the accessory position.
I search for cheap graphics cards online, and all I find is a mountain of sneakers and maybe one card. 😁 Now that I'm retired, I should probably go first. $267 Hands up for the balancer next year. 🙂 Saving up for a new GPU.
I have a Gigabyte graphics card available for sale. It’s in great shape and works perfectly. Please reach out if you're interested! $100 It’s got an HDMI port and 2GB of DDR5.
wanderingbison9 said:Maybe check the Gigabyte Eagle RX 6700 XT at Best Buy for $1163, if they even have it in stock... I wasn't planning on spending that much originally—it all started when I was looking at the RX 6600 for $726... but the performance seems like a pretty safe bet... I'm just confused about whether there's a catch, since so many places only offer that card via special order. Nobody seems to have it sitting on the shelf except maybe Micro Center; maybe they're the main distributor?
12GB MSI Radeon RX 6750 XT MECH 2x OC DDR6 is at Micro Center for $440
Benjamin Sanders76 said:True, but I'm honestly a bit worried about the AMD software... I'm thinking about streaming, and I feel like I might run into issues there. No matter which stream I tune into, everyone seems to be using NVIDIA. 🤔 I actually bought three rigs from Micro Center recently and I've been really happy with them so far, but looking at their current stock, they don't even have a single 3070 Ti, which is $1767 expensive. They just have the 3070, and that's $2133. I sent them a message asking if they'd get more in, but they just replied saying they aren't sure—it feels like nobody knows what's going on.
Everyone giving you advice here has years of experience buying from these retailers. Most people find their experiences with Futurait and Adm to be excellent. Micro Center doesn't even come close! Honestly, if you're set on forming your own opinion, you probably don't need anyone's advice anyway... just do whatever you want.
urbanheron4 said:I've had two ASUS boards (non-ROG models) that weren't exactly budget options, either. On the other hand, two Gigabyte boards I owned are still going strong. Now I'm on my third. I guess it just depends on your luck.
One of my old builds used a Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME paired with a Xeon x5650, and it's still running perfectly today.
If the 5500 is $299 and the Intel Core i5-12400 is $415, then a difference of $150 doesn't make sense when you consider it's about 7% slower on average in games using an NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti, and up to 17% slower in one specific title tested with a 6950XT!
Dana Morgan19 said:Can anyone recommend a solid black case from Best Buy? It's an ATX build with a 13600k and a pretty modest GPU. I don't care about tempered glass, RGB, or fancy aesthetics. I just want decent airflow—maybe something with a mesh front?—and fans that won't drive me crazy with noise. And I'd prefer not to blow more than $167 😵 on it.
I've owned this one for five years. Honestly, for this price point, you won't find anything better or quieter.
Your power supply only has one 6-pin PCIe connector and the quality is pretty low, so I definitely wouldn't dream of hooking up a card like a 6600 or a 3060 to it.
Samuel Evans5 said:P.S. I have one more question. If I pick up this motherboard and processor, will my current 600W MS Platinum power supply be enough, or should I look into an upgrade?
It'll cover the board and CPU just fine, but once you start adding high-end components and a solid GPU, using a budget power supply like that doesn't really make sense.
i3 12100F CPU at about $333 Cheapest AM5 motherboard, roughly $233 16GB DDR4 3200 $150 PSU around $133 Case SSD/M.2 drive With a GPU over $2,000, the total hits about $5,500 up to $2000 P.S. This is the absolute bare minimum needed to support that kind of graphics card.....
urbanheron4 said:An RTX 2080 pulls about 225W, while the Super version hits 250W. Your power supply should be fine, though if it's an older unit, you might be cutting it close.
Yeah, that's definitely the smartest move. The 2080 isn't all that powerful anymore, and the Super was a slight step up. Honestly, I'd suggest avoiding the top-tier enthusiast cards unless you absolutely need them. They just draw way more power and require beefier supplies, which takes up a lot of room in your case. It's always better to jump to a newer generation; you get more performance from better architecture rather than just throwing more electricity at it.
Good grief... Just look at how much power those new Nvidia cards pull...