Posts by Adam Moore3

mellowtiger83 said:Wait, seriously? That’s what a brand new GT 1030 goes for now? It's actually faster than a GTX 750!!

It looks like the GT 1030 is about to seriously shake up the used graphics card market...🙂

But yeah, you should be able to pull that off without any issues... $133!

What's the deal with the GT1030? It's almost... $200 Why isn't it any stronger than the 750 we're talking about?TiHonestly, it isn't even stronger than a GTX 750... it's actually a few FPS lower on average.

Maybe do a little Google search and check the actual retail prices before you start making noise about it...

crimsonstag84 said:HD 7850s are going for $400...$150It's actually a bit faster than the 750 Ti. And look, since it's Nvidia, half the people out there won't even know AMD exists, so you'll be able to sell it for... $167 Maybe... 😬

Where can I find the cheapest 750 ti around? $167 [Clap]

I think you're likely looking at your best bet here. Sandy Bridge still has plenty of life left in it, and even an i7 2500K can manage to pull through just about any game you throw at it—though the i7 2600K will definitely handle things better. If you can snag a solid deal on one, that’s probably your best move.

John Brown3 said:What's a fair price for a Gigabyte GTX 750 Ti? It's about two years old and still has a year of warranty left.

$400-$167 max

shadowwolf15 said:Alright, I get it. Looks like I'm switching platforms first.
I'm bumping up the budget for a decent i5, a matching motherboard—ideally ASUS—and 2 x 8 GB of RAM, though I haven't picked a brand yet. Everything will be running a light overclock since I've got a cooler.
Would that be a solid upgrade path before I tackle a new GPU later?

Performance will definitely jump, but are you aware that an unlocked i5 like an 8600K costs nearly $833? A beast like the Ryzen 7 1700 actually costs a bit less than that. Once you factor in 16 GB of RAM + a Z370 motherboard + the i5 8600K, you're looking at over $1500 total.

Like I said, you'll be upgrading your processing power, and while the 8600K is a good chip, the price-to-performance ratio is honestly catastrophic. $833 for a 6 core/thread processor.
Plus, once the next generation of processors drops, your motherboard will basically be obsolete, meaning you'll have to swap out the whole platform again if you decide to upgrade down the road.

Again, seriously consider going with Ryzen. Even with the 3000 series, you get a massive upgrade. You'll essentially "future-proof" yourself since that platform will be supported much longer, and you'll get twice the threads compared to any i5. Plus, it's highly recommended for overclocking.

shadowwolf15 said:Hey,

Most of this rig is about 5 years old now—except for the GPU and SSD—so I’m thinking it’s time for an upgrade.
What components should I swap out first if I want to actually see some speed improvements?
It's primarily a gaming PC hooked up to a TV, though I also use the monitor for movies and some light photo editing.
Will my current CPU cooler hold up with newer processors and motherboards?

Requirements: An ASUS motherboard (I'll only switch brands if it makes sense value-wise), and I need plenty of USB ports because I have a ton of peripherals.
Must be an Intel processor.
My budget is roughly $1000, though I might have to stretch it depending on whether we decide to tackle the graphics card during this upgrade or not.

CASE: Cooler Master CM 690, Fan, FRACTAL ventury HP-12 PWM 120mm
PSU: Corsair TX 650W, CMPSU-650TX, ATX2, V2.2, 120 mm fan
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO, chipset Z68, DDR3, USB3, BT, SOCKET 1155, Sandy Bridge
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K BOX, 3.3 Ghz, 1155 LGA, 1333MHz, 7 MB cache, quad CORE
COOLER: Zalman Performance x10
RAM: 2X 4GB, G.SKILL RIPJAWS X SERIES, PC-10666, CL9D-8GBXL, DDR3, 1333MHz, KIT
GPU: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290, 4GB OC WF
HDD, system: SSD 256GB Samsung 850 Pro series, Western Digital Blue 2
HDD: WD Blue 2TB storage + 2 HDD in RAID 0 for data, 1 TB each
MONITOR: Dell U2312HM DVI, 23in, LED, 8ms, IPS
OS: Windows 10 Pro 64 bit

With that amount of cash, you aren't getting anything decent from Intel.

You’d have to drop a fortune just on a motherboard to even fit a Coffee Lake CPU.

Plus, the cheapest locked i5 is the 8400, which costs nearly $600, bringing our total to $933.

Then there's the new platform—meaning new RAM too. 8 GB of DDR4 is about $70, so we're already looking at $1167.

So, what does Intel actually give us for $1167? We move to a new architecture and get a new, locked i5 with two extra cores/threads, paired with an overclocking chipset on a motherboard that's way overkill for that specific chip. That's the cheapest combo available, so honestly, if you don't want to go with AMD, you're better off saving your money. Just overclock that 2500K if you haven't already; I think it'll still serve you pretty well.

If you were smart and considered going with Ryzen, you could get a Ryzen 5 1600 + B350 motherboard + 8 GB of DDR4 RAM for $1000. You'd actually see a massive jump with 6 cores and 12 threads, plus you'd have motherboard support for future generations and overclocking potential. That would be a much smarter investment.

Wait, is it just a random occurrence that some Ryzen 1600/1600X units end up having 8 cores and 16 threads? I thought you guys were talking about the potential core unlocking this whole time, but now I've actually gone to Google to check 😲

Justin Johnson8 said:Hey, I just stumbled upon this PC build for $400. Is it actually worth it?

AMD Phenom ii x4 965 ATI AMD Radeon HD7790
ATI AMD Radeon HD7790 1GB DDR5
16 GB RAM DDR3
1TB HDD

thanks

Yeah, that's a pretty decent deal. Just ask what the motherboard and power supply are.

Kimberly Gomez34 said:Dual-fan models like the GTX 1060 6GB usually come with a 3-year warranty. You might see some 2-year options or those tiny ITX versions with just a single fan, sometimes with extra registration perks, but they’re all pretty much the same when you're shopping around. Looking at Best Buy, the cheapest GTX 1060 meeting those specs is a Gigabyte Windforce 2-fan model for $850 at places like Micro Center or Newegg. Honestly, if I had to choose between these two GPUs—and power draw isn't an issue since my PSU can handle it—I’d go with the RX 580 8GB. It's the more powerful card, and it holds its own much better in titles like Battlefield 1, Wolfenstein II, and other modern games that rely on newer APIs.

Sure, back in the day, you could occasionally snag a 480 8GB for less than $633, but those were different times—just like how RAM used to be dirt cheap.

That's true, but given how things stand right now, I think $225 for an EVGA 1060 is probably the best deal you're going to find. If they're looking for something... $100 Is it worth paying more for the same card if they've been sitting around for an extra year? $100 More options for the RX 580. If you're asking me, I’d personally go with the EVGA card. But then again, I'm just a broke college student, so my perspective might not be the best for everyone... 😁

Author, you're basically choosing between the GTX 1060 6GB or the RX 580 8GB. Your best bet is to dig into some benchmarks first—see which specific games run better on each card and let that guide your decision. If you... $100 It’s not all the same when you talk about "throwing money away." If that's the case, then the link I sent you is actually a solid deal. If... $100 It’s not exactly great then, considering you’ve got that RX 580 that Kimberly Gomez34 linked... way to go.
You can't really miss the mark here; at the end of the day, it's all the same cookie. You'll just see the FPS swing one way in one title and the other way in the next...

I don't know, it all feels a bit surreal when I remember how much they used to go for. I mean, nearly $350 for an RX 580, come on...

The PSU can definitely handle it, and honestly, grabbing the 1060 3GB version makes zero sense when there's already enough cash for the 6GB model. Plus, $733 paying that much for a 4GB RX 580 is way too high when you can get the GTX 1060 6GB I linked for the same price...

You can basically pick whatever you want as long as your budget allows for it; there aren't really any restrictions here. In your specific case, you're looking at either an RX 580 or a GTX 1060 6GB. The 580 isn't exactly priced as a bargain right now, so I'd personally lean toward the GTX 1060 6GB.

That combo is actually pretty solid. Even though FM2 is basically a dead-end platform now, that 860K is still a relatively modern quad-core with a high enough base clock to get by. If the motherboard can handle some overclocking, man, that would be sweet... But even as it stands, it’ll definitely get the job done.

Graphics card
Power supply - wherever you can find one nearby.

Nah, that's still a perfectly solid platform. You're going to see an insane jump in performance just by swapping in a new GPU, even if that power supply is a bit budget—it should hold up, theoretically. That’s why I suggested grabbing a new PSU too, though it isn't strictly mandatory. Still, it's highly recommended. That $300 card is such a steal right now and it'll serve you great.

feralbear53 said:Hey everyone. I'm looking for some advice on what components I should pick up to actually run modern games without everything crashing.
Here’s what I'm currently running:
AMD Radeon HD 6670
AMD Athlon(TM) x4 860K quad core
8GB DDR3 RAM

Thanks. 😁 ☕

If your power supply is decent—which you should definitely check by popping the side panel and looking for the model name—then all you really need is a new GPU. Your CPU isn't anything special, but it'll get the job done for now.
Grab a graphics card like a GTX 1050 ti or an RX 560; don't go any lower than that.

Kimberly Gomez34 said:Those are the 560D models; they should have the same core as an RX 560

What kind of idiots are these? I can't believe it. They have the exact same cookie-cutter specs as the 460 then. Honestly, you're better off hunting down some 460 versions with a custom BIOS you can unlock—if you can even find them at a decent price—rather than wasting money on these rebranded pieces of junk.☕

Justin Johnson8 said:I might toss some Grand Theft Auto V on my machine here and there when I have a spare moment, but honestly, I’ve always been more into shooters. That said, I can't stand this new "realistic" nonsense they push nowadays. I miss the days of Call of Duty 2 or Medal of Honor: Allied Assault—just pure, old-school vibes. I used to be a total hardware geek back in the day when an i3 was considered a high-end build for a $1,200 budget, but I haven't really kept up with the latest components or releases. I know enough to get by, but I'm definitely out of the loop, so I figured I'd ask the pros. Anyway, thanks for the help... Also, I saw some pre-built gaming PC setups on Future Tech for about $400, but I have no idea if those are actually worth the money or if I should just save myself the headache and build one myself from scratch?

No problem at all. What Robert Rodriguez2 put together for you is absolutely top-tier for that price point. An Intel Core i3-6100 processor paired with an RX 560 graphics card is basically the floor for what you need; don't go any lower than that.
The main thing people told you is that you're still short on RAM, especially for titles like Grand Theft Auto V, which can easily pull more than 4GB once you factor in the OS. If you don't fix that, it doesn't matter how good the GPU is because the stuttering will be unbearable, regardless of your settings. Speaking from experience... 🙂
So, grab what was suggested. If you can scrape together another fifty bucks for some extra RAM, that would be ideal. If not, this setup will do the job until you can find the extra cash for that upgrade. 😉

A single fan isn't usually an issue. Specifically, the trouble was with those older XFX single-fan models from the R series. I haven't had the misfortune of owning an XFX myself, but based on what other users have shared above 😁 and various reviews, they were pretty unbearable if you're even slightly sensitive to noise.
I'm not sure how this specific model turned out, as I couldn't find many reviews

Adding cookies is the easiest part; you can just do that whenever you feel like it, and it's a DIY job. By the way, what’s the deal with these EVGA RTX cards? Are they going to be loud as hell like the previous series? For instance, you can find them for under $267 specifically

Wow, I completely lost track of the OC scheme with these new generations. Alright then, I think we've got the whole thing sorted out. Thanks everyone 🙂