Posts by Alexander Moore67

Bryan Wright8 said:So, based on that, upgrading my rig would cost roughly $333, but honestly, do you guys think it’s actually worth buying used parts without any kind of Warranty?

On the flip side, if I'm going new, I'd definitely go with a laptop. It's obvious the price-to-performance ratio isn't even close when comparing desktops to laptops. My question is about finding a solid laptop (with the power of a desktop that costs $1.00); wouldn't I need to set aside a bit more cash for that?

Then there's this one for $1433
www.bestbuy.com

Dell Inspiron, 15.6" LED Backlight (1366x768) TFT, Intel Core i5, DDR3 4GB, DVD Super Multi, NVIDIA GeForce 1GB, Wi-Fi, BT, 640GB HDD, Web Cam, HDMI, 6 cells, no OS, Royal Brown, Warranty: 24 months

Bryan Wright8 said:Honestly, the shoulder parts aren't even the issue—it's the graphics card that really eats up the budget. Looking at that 460 you mentioned, it looks like it'll put you way over the limit...🙂

@ivane My power supply is a Codegen 400W (even though the label says model 300xx, I have no idea what that means, just that it's ATX 2.03)
And the monitor is an old one running at 1280x1024 resolution.

EDIT: I'm browsing eBay right now and seeing all sorts of AMD Radeon cards, from 512MB to 1GB, selling for basically nothing $67... Why on earth are they so cheap?🤷

That power supply is bottom-of-the-barrel junk; my advice is to just get a new PC. If you don't do it now, start saving up—you'll probably need about $2,500 by $1000 to handle a 1280x1024 resolution and run all the latest games properly.

Thomas Martin4 said:Personally, I'd go with the EVGA 550 for that price. But hey, that's just my take. 😁

I agree. If you aren't planning on overclocking, even an EVGA 450w should do the job.

Henry Morales6 said:I have a quick question. I already ordered a new PC, though it hasn't arrived yet because they're waiting on some parts—should be here by Monday or Tuesday. I went with an ATI Radeon HD6970 XFX, 2GB DDR5. However, some people suggested I should have grabbed two HD 6850s instead. I called the shop and they said I could still swap them if I change my mind. So, how does that actually work? Do all games support dual graphics, or do you have to mess around with specific settings to get it running?

Stick with the 6970. A Crossfire motherboard at your shop is about $667.

Jerry Flores74 said:Can anyone help me out? I'm looking for a decent PCI-E graphics card for $433. Could you list some of the best options from AMD and Nvidia? Should I go with AMD or Nvidia instead? Thanks.

Just buy ATI 6870

Tier 1 Brands - The most Powerful and Stable Components on The market.
Antec Signature
Antec High Current Pro -1200 w
Corsair AX
Enermax Galaxy
Enermax Revolution
Kingwin Lazer Gold
OCZ EliteXStream
PCP&C TurboCool PCP & C Silencer
PCP&C Silencer >610 watt
Sapphire Pure
Seasonic X-Series
Seasonic S12D / M12D
Silverstone ZF
Seventeam ST >600 (SSI, V2.91)
Silverstone OP/DA >700 watt
Silverstone ZM
Ultra X3 >1000 watt
XFX Black edition
XFX xxx edition
Zippy/Emacs SSL
Zippy/Emacs GSM
Zippy/Emacs PSL
Zippy/Emacs HG2
Zippy/Emacs HP2

Tier 2 Brands - top quality components with top Notch Stability - for Those with Price / Availability Issues with Tier 1
Antec neo
Antec high Current gamer Series
Antec EarthWatts < 700
Antec TruePower trio Antec
TruePower Quattro Antec
TruePower New -- 750 w Akasa PowerGreen
Akasa PaxPower Akasa PowerPlus
CoolMax CTG-750
Cooler master Ultimate / UCP
Cooltek CT
Corsair HX
Corsair VX
Corsair TX
Cougar SX700 and GX700
Enermax Liberty
Enermax Infiniti
Enermax MODU82
Enermax PRO82
Enermax PRO87
Enhance ENP-GH
Fortron (FSP) GLC
iStarUSA PD2
iStarUSA PD3
LEPA G500
OCZ Fatal1ty Professional
OCZ GameXStream OCZ StealthXStream 400 watt
OCZ StealthXStream 2 OCZ Modstream (only if manufactured in December 2007 or later)
OCZ EvoStream
OCZ ProXStream
OCZ Z Series < 1000W
PC P&C Silencer PC P&C Silencer MkII
Seasonic S12
Seasonic M12
Seasonic Energy Plus
Sentey Golden Steel Power 850 w
SevenTeam ST Silverstone OP/DA ≤700 watt
Supermicro/AbleCom
Thermaltake Toughpower >600 watt
Thortech Thunderbolt plus 800 w
Xclio StablePower
XFX Core edition
Xigmatek MC
Xigmatek HC
Ultra X3
Ultra X-Pro
Zalman ZM

Tier 2b - Tier 2 units which have either lower longevity or slightly lower quality output. Still well within spec, and are good units.
ABS-Tagan ITZ/BZ BFG 800 watt
Cooler master real Power Pro >800 watt
Cougar S700
Hiper Type-M >650 watt
Hiper Type-R >650 watt
Huntkey jumper Kingwin Lazer Gold Mushkin Enhanced NZXT
Kingwin Lazer Gold
Mushkin Enhanced
NZXT HALE
OCZ PowerStream
OCZ StealthXStream Silverstone EF
Tagan U95
Tagan U25
Tagan U15
Tagan U22
Xclio GreatPower

Tier 3 Brands - Power supplies fully able to meet ATX specs, although closer to the edges of the limits than higher tier units. Still solid units.
Acbel Polyc
Akasa PaxPower
Akasa PowerPlus (>500 watt Models)
Ams Mercury Antec Earthwatts
Antec Earthwatts >700 watt
Basiq Antec
Phantom Antec
Antec TruePower iii Antec TruePower ii Antec TrueControl ii Antec
TruePower ii Antec TruePower ii Antec TrueControl ii Antec
TruePower ii Antec TrueControl ii Antec
NeoPower 480 watt (Old model)
Power Space Shuttle Series be Quiet
dark Power Pro BFG ES BFG LS Channel Well Cooler master real Power Pro < 800 watt Cooler master iGreen Cooler master Silent ( and Gold ) Pro Corsair CX Series Enermax Maximum plus Enermax Noistaker ii Enermax
BFG ES
BFG LS
Channel Well
Cooler master real Power Pro Cooler master iGreen
Cooler master Silent ( and Gold ) Pro
Corsair CX Series
Enermax Maximum plus Enermax
Enermax Noisetaker ii Enermax
Enermax Noisetaker
Enermax Whisper
Enermax CoolerGiant Enhance
ENS-G
Epower Xscale Fortron
Fortron (FSP) GLC Fortron
Fortron (FSP) THN
Fortron AX Fortron HLN
Fortron HLN
Fortron PFN/PN/PA
Kingwin Lazer
Kingwin Mach 1 (the negative 12v rail may go slightly outside of spec in some loading conditions)
LEPA G900
NorthQ
OCZ ModXStream (rated for 40° C)
OCZ Z Series 1000W
Rosewill RP 2 (temperature sensitive)
Rosewill Xtreme/RX
Seasonic Super Versatile
Sigma SP
Silverstone F
Sparkle FSP
Spire Rocketeer V/VI
Sunbeam Nuuo
Thermaltake Litepower
Thermaltake Purepower RX
Thermaltake Toughpower <600 watt
XG Magnum
X-Spice Kira
Zalman ZM 1000 watt

Tier 4 - Not Recommended for stressful situations. They might struggle to hit their full rated wattage once the room gets warm, and they could fall short of standard ATX specs.
Aerocool
Asus Atlas
BFG 1000 watt
Cooler Master eXtreme (don't push past 75% of the rated wattage)
Cooler Master GX
Delta
Enlight
E-Power
Futurepower
Hiper Type-M
HIPRO
Lite-On
Masscool
MGE XG
Mushkin HP
NorthQ 4775-500S/BU
OCZ Modstream (if made before December 2007)
OCZ GameXStream <1000 watt (if made before December 2007)
OCZ StealthXStream (if made before December 2007)
OCZ GameXStream 1010 watt (really just an 850w unit)
Scythe Kamariki
Sigma Shark
Sintek
TTGI/Superflower
Ultra Xfinity
Ultra X2 <700 watt
Ultra XVS
Xion Real Power PowerReal

Tier 5 - Aside from the specific models mentioned above, stay away from these brands. If you're running one of these, swap it out immediately.
A-TOP Technology
Apevia
APEX (SUPERCASE/ALLIED)
Aspire(Turbo Case)
ATADC
Athena Power
ATRIX
Broadway Com Corp
Coolmax
Deer
Diablotek
Dynapower USA
Dynex
EagleTech
FOXCONN
FSP Everest
HEC Orion
Hiper Type-R
Huntkey
I-Star Computer Co. Ltd
In Win
JPAC COMPUTER
Just PC
Kingwin Inc.
Linkworld Electronics
Logisys Computer
MGE
MSI
NMEDIAPC
Norwood Micro/ CompUSA
NorthQ
NZXT
Okia
Powmax
Q-Tec
Raidmax
Rocketfish
Rosewill
SFC
Shuttle
Skyhawk
Spire Coolers
Star Micro
STARTECH
Thermaltake Purepower NP
Thermaltake Purepower RU
Thermaltake TR2 (and TR2-RX)
TOPOWER TOP
Ultra X-Connect
Ultra X2 >700 watt
Wintech
XION
YoungYear
Zebronics

If having over 850 w is enough for me and it gets a silver rating, then I'm set.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...tory5&reid=153
In the Links

It beats everything else out there.

Benjamin King2 said:The NVIDIA GeForce 8600 is more than twice as powerful; just try reinstalling your drivers.

Based on my own experience with similar issues, I'd suggest a clean reinstall of Windows.

rustywalker17 said:Hey, I was wondering what you guys think about this card... since World of Warcraft is basically the only thing I play, I want to know if it can handle it? (The setup is an Intel Core 2 series CPU, 4GB DDR3, and my monitor maxes out at 1920x1080). Thanks.

If it's just for WoW, even a 6450 will do the trick. It's cheaper, and WoW isn't exactly a heavy hitter.

copperscout3 said:Heh, looks like you're a bit lost here. Listen, man, I've got a 300W power supply, a 3.4 GHz Dual Core, 4 MB cache, and 2 GB of RAM. Will this HD5450 card actually work on my rig?

Hey, is anyone sane left in here? The ATI 6450 is better, cheaper, and only pulls 30 watts. If you can find one for $12, grab it right now.

copperscout3 said:I found an HD5450 with 1 GB for about $45, which seems like a pretty solid deal. From what I’ve seen on YouTube, does it actually handle newer games reasonably well?

The ATI 6450 is about 20% better than that card.

The Nvidia 8500 gt performs about the same as an ATI 6450, so if you're happy with that, go ahead and grab it.
http://www.hwcompare.com/10370/gefor...-6450-oem-1gb/
The 6450 is actually 67% better.

copperscout3 said:In my opinion, I had an Nvidia 8500 gt that ran FIFA 11 on high settings just fine, but it’s outdated and gone now. That card was about three years old; honestly, I don't need anything fancy, just something similar or maybe a tiny bit better. I can't really go crazy with my budget right now. The 6670 is 81 miles, which at 72 bucks is a bit steep for me 🙂, but I'll see. Thanks for the advice, though—I'll try to scrape some cash together for this HD 6670 512 MB.

plus 7.5% sales tax

The only worthwhile option you'll find in the States from Genelec is the 6670. Everything else just isn't worth it for what you're looking for.

Nathan Reyes59 needs a whole new rig if he wants to run that 550 properly. Everything else is just a massive bottleneck right now.

stormytiger57 said:So, would that graphics card be alright?
Is an ATI Radeon HD4670 512MB, GDDR3, 128 bit any good??

The one mentioned above isn't available, and the 4670 is pretty outdated. You'd be better off grabbing a 5670 or a 6670.

copperscout3 said:Hey there... I've got an Intel Pentium D 945 system on the LGA 775 socket, featuring a 3.4 GHz processor, 2 GB of RAM, and an old Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT 512 MB. That card finally gave up the ghost on me, so I swapped it out for a weak Nvidia GeForce 7300 LE 256 MB. With my first card, I could run newer games like Black Ops or Dirt on high settings at 1024x760 resolution. Now, with this weaker one, there's zero chance of playing anything recent.
I'm looking for a recommendation on a new graphics card. I don't need anything fancy, just something similar to my old one, or maybe even slightly better.

An AMD Radeon 6670 would actually be way too much for your CPU. You might want to look for a 5670 instead; you can probably find one around $133 somewhere.

Benjamin King2 said:Woodoo, I honestly think you can just strip the licensed software out of the bundle; that whole "dealer" thing feels like a total scam. 😁 There's no way genuine Windows versions are actually included in that price tag, so you might as well use that extra cash to upgrade the peripherals instead.

Even without including an original Windows 7 license, the total comes out to about $1600. It's either overpriced or just a complete rip-off.

Jose Bennett3 said:Hey everyone..
It's my first time posting here and I have a question..
I'm running that ATI-Jev card mentioned above. It doesn't have an HDMI port, but I'd really love to hook it up to my TV. I know DVI-to-HDMI cables exist, but then I don't get any sound. Are there any specific drivers I could download for this card to handle the audio too? Or if anyone has other suggestions (besides just buying a new graphics card), how can I connect my PC to the TV so I get both video and audio..

Thanks a lot..🙂

The only way is if your TV has an audio input; in that case, just connect the PC audio out to the TV audio in.