Posts by Adam Moore3

mellowsurfer59 said:I stopped by the shop today to get it checked out. The tech tested it on their rig and the card worked perfectly fine. He suggested my power supply might be the culprit, which was actually what I was thinking, so I went ahead and grabbed a new one right then and there. Well, I just finished installing everything and... nothing. Still dead. You can't trust anyone these days.

Wait, why did you rush out and buy a new PSU immediately? 🤣 Maybe it didn't seat properly. Pop it back in, make sure it's pushed all the way into the slot, and double-check that every single power cable is snapped tight. Also, check your monitor connection—make sure the DVI/HDMI/whatever you're using is secure. Try using different 6-pin connectors if they have them. Honestly, just take it to a neighbor's house and test it there. Did you actually see with your own eyes that it worked at the shop? Where did you take it?

72°C is perfectly fine during a stress test, so you should look elsewhere for the actual culprit. Check your CPU temperatures; I'd recommend downloading EVGA Precision XTX so you can monitor both your GPU usage and individual CPU core loads. It's possible your CPU is overheating and triggering an automatic downclock or something similar.

It’s like they just threw in whatever components they had the most trouble moving. An Intel Core i3 motherboard, a liquid cooler that’s a complete waste of money, the cheapest possible SSD, plus a case and power supply that nobody would ever actually buy because they make zero sense. You'd be way better off building a custom rig than buying this mess 🙂

darkbadger12 said:Well, we actually just swung by there to ask in person—they told us they could put it all together for us—but you know how retail shops can be sometimes, right? They always have their own way of doing things. Anyway, thanks for the help; we're definitely going to pull the trigger on this build based on your recommendations!

Of course, it just surprises me that the guys over at Best Buy would intentionally put together such a senseless, low-quality, and unbalanced rig. 🕺

darkbadger12 said:Hey guys, I need to pick your brains again. We headed down to Micro Center and my buddy ended up pulling together $1667 instead of the originally planned $1067. Now, the big question is—is this actually an upgrade? The guy he was working with put this together, and honestly, it’s running a little over budget $77, but my friend says it doesn't matter too much. Still, he wanted me to check in here and see if you all think this setup holds its own. Here is the breakdown of what he picked out:

1 x Asrock AM3+ 980DE3/U3S3, Supports AM3+ Processor, 8-Core CPU
1 x Processor AMD FX-Series X8 8300 3.3GHz,16MB,125W,AM3+, FD8300WMHK
2 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Corsair, 1600MHz, 9-9-9-24, Vengeance Heats.
1 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 ti 2GB GDDR5, (GTX 950 2GD5 OC), 2xDVI,HDMI, 1xDP
1 x Kingston SSD 120GB V300, 2.5" 7mm, SATA 3 6G, 7mm to 9.5mm
1 x Corsair Hydro Series H90, liquid CPU cooling
1 x CORSAIR Power Supply VS Series, 450 Watt, ATX, ATX12V v2.31
1 x CoolerMaster Elite 430, black, window, (W)190 x (H)424 x (L)490

Did they really build that at Micro Center? 😲 No way, that configuration is a disaster.
For that kind of money, try this instead:

1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x Procesor AMD FX-Series X8 8300 3.3GHz,16MB,125W,AM3+, FD8300WMHK
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Kingston, HyperX Fury, 1866MHz, CL10
1 x HDD Seagate 1TB, Serial ATA III, 7200 rpm, ST1000DM003
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 ,hladnjak, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm ,92mm
1 x Zalman Z1 mid tower case. 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm. MB standard
1 x XFX R9 380 2GB, XFX-R9-380P-2DF5, 03.09.2015.!!!
1 x EVGA 500w, Hyper, PPA5005003, 12cm ventilator
1 x Kingston SSD 120GB HyperX Fury, 2.5", SATA 3 6G

$1764MicroCenter.com

The build you suggested makes zero sense. From a random case to a cheap power supply, pointless liquid cooling, a terrible SSD, a bottom-tier motherboard, and a GPU that's way too weak for this budget. This other config is about $100 more expensive but you get a much stronger graphics card, a decent power supply, a better SSD, a far more worthwhile case, and a solid motherboard.

There’s some truth to what Larry Ortiz5 is saying—if you’re going through the trouble of an upgrade, you might as well go all out on the latest tech. It’s definitely the best way to stay future-proof. On the flip side, whether it’s actually worth those extra $167... I honestly don't know. That’s really your call to make. As for the power supply, the new build will pull slightly more juice. If that CX is still holding up, you might be able to get away with keeping it; it won't be underpowered, per se, but it is a seven-year-old unit, so there's always that risk. Again, it's up to you. 🙂

Nicole Thompson46 said:Maybe go with a Fortron Hyper 500w...
Are Corsair power supplies not what they used to be? I've been running my CX430 for seven years now without a single hiccup, but looking at the latest reviews, it seems like they don't even use Corsair components anymore.

Yeah, Hyper is a solid choice for your budget and setup. As for Corsair, their units are still good, they just aren't competitive on price anymore. That one CX430 you have which actually performs well is sitting around $60, while you can grab a Hyper with a 5-year warranty and higher wattage for only $140. At that point, going with a CX just doesn't make sense.

You don't really need to go with Skylake; the performance jump is negligible, and the price gap is definitely noticeable. 🙂 Sure, Skylake is technically better, but if you're trying to save some cash, Haswell is the way to go.
As for Protis, yeah, you can find plenty of horror stories online regarding their customer service. They have a pretty bad reputation, and honestly, they earned it. What kind of power supply are you planning to use?

analogtiger19 said:I'm pretty much certain the GTX 960 will be a better pick than the r7 370 both two or three weeks from now and two or three years down the road. 😬

Look, I'm just speaking in general terms here. Maybe something drops in price during that window, or maybe an R9 280X goes on sale like it did recently, making the 960 a bad call or something like that. 🙂 People really shouldn't start a whole new thread every single time they're just thinking about buying a PC or some parts. 🤣

What you're being told right now might be totally irrelevant in two or three weeks. Just consolidate your thoughts into a single thread once a few weeks have passed; there's really no need to start a whole new topic for every single "what if" question. Just some friendly advice 🙂

You're constantly picking up new gear—PCs, GPUs, setting up multi-monitor rigs and all that stuff... 🙂

There are several different ways to go about this, but I think this setup would give you the best bang for your buck:

1 x Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-S1, AMD A68H, 2 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM
1 x AMD Kaveri Athlon II X4 840 3.10GHz Processor
1 x 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston DDR3, 1600MHz, CL11, Value
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
1 x FORTRON 400W Power Supply, HEXA Plus 400, 12cm fan
1 x MS KNIGHT midi tower case (no PSU)
1 x XFX R9-270A, R9-270A-CDFC, Double Dissipation Edition 925M Boost

$1048 reddit.com

$50 It’s a bit overpriced, and the CPU cooler might be a little noisy. You're only looking at 4 GB of RAM right now, but I honestly think it's worth it because that GPU tucked inside is actually quite powerful. Adding more RAM later is easy enough, and you can always swap out the cooler if the noise starts getting annoying. This rig should handle everything on high-ultra settings at that resolution smoothly.

Chris Mitchell4 said:That's right. Those factory 2GB RAM sticks are soldered directly onto the motherboard, but I do have one free slot available.
My laptop is basically just for browsing the web, going through Office docs and PDFs, and making them. I guess I use it to look at photos too, and occasionally mess around with making collages just for fun...

No, na ovom The link you guys sent shows RAM running at 1600MHz, but mine on the motherboard is clocked at 1333MHz. Does that actually matter? If I get a new card with a higher clock speed, will it just be throttled by this old setup? (I have no idea what I'm talking about, just guessing based on how those two numbers look...) 😁)
Any recommendations on brands? Is that Crucial stuff actually any good?

It doesn't matter—if you're running two sticks of RAM with different frequencies, they'll both just default to the lower speed. In your case, that means they’ll run at 1333 MHz. You can find 1333 MHz RAM over at Best Buy. $2.00 It’s more than 1600 MHz, so... 🙂 Yeah, that one I sent you is solid.

Look, it's an 80-$30 difference. That’s the last slot in your laptop. If I were in your shoes, I'd just go with 4GB right now because any upgrade after this means selling those two sticks just to buy new ones, which is a waste of money. So, you pay a little extra, that 80-$30, and then you're "more futureproof." Though, honestly, you probably don't even need more than 4GB, so again, I don't know how much those 6 or 7 beers 😁
actually matter to you.

Timothy Kim60 said:You don't even need to open the case. Just pull up CPU-Z, hit the SPD tab, select the specific RAM slot, and the serial number should be right there.

True dat 👍

wanderingbison9

Chris Mitchell4 said:Hey there. Here’s the situation: I’ve got an Asus x54c laptop running Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1.
Copy-pasted from Speccy:
Main processor.
Intel Celeron B810 @ 1.60 GHz Sandy Bridge 32
Sandy Bridge 32nm technology.
RAM.
2.00 GB single-channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. K54C (CPU 1)

Here’s what it says about the RAM:
Memory slots...
Total memory slots: 2
Used memory slots: 1
Available memory slots...
Memory.
Type: DDR3
Size: 1,954 MB
Number of channels | single
itd.
Does it make sense to upgrade my RAM by adding another 2GB? I'm assuming I meet the requirements for this, but what exactly should I be looking out for when I go to buy some?

I think you’d definitely see the benefit here. Honestly, 2GB of RAM is just cutting it way too close these days. A well-optimized system will swallow up about 800 to 1000 MB just to run the OS, which leaves you with barely 1 GB for anything else. You fire up YouTube, check Facebook, and hop on a forum, and suddenly your RAM usage is sitting at 95%...

When it comes to buying RAM, there isn't really anything specific you need to worry about... Just looking for the most basic DDR3 memory out there. For laptops, everything needs to be running perfectly. You could always pop the bottom cover off to check which brand is already inside. If you match the existing module, there’s a much better chance you won't run into any compatibility issues—even though they're tiny.

Look, it’s like I told you—everyone’s definition of "good enough" is different. For you, a 6 or 7-year-old used monitor from $50 found on Craigslist is plenty, but for an average gamer—meaning me—that would be a total disaster. Though, honestly, it feels like you can barely find a decent $50 on eBay these days anyway. An LCD, obviously.

darkowl72 said:Look, even if cheaper manufacturing means TN panels seem destined for the scrap heap, stop hating on them so much. If they’re built right, they’re actually decent panels. They've come a long way lately—color accuracy and contrast aren't half bad, and the viewing angles are passable. Honestly, most gamers avoided IPS panels until very recently anyway because of all the ghosting and input lag...

Sure, but to get the kind of high-quality TN panel you're talking about, you'd have to spend enough money to just buy a PLS or IPS monitor instead—which wins in 99% of scenarios anyway. That’s why, generally speaking, people steer clear of anything TN, especially in the ~$333 price range. Those few LG or AOC models listed below $333 that feature IPS panels can outshine any TN monitor at the same price point. We're looking at those specific options in this thread, not some rare exceptions. 🙂

darkowl72 said:🤦

God... 😵

🙂 ?

urbanranger26 said:So, what exactly is an IPS/VA matrix?

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 via Reddit

Those are two distinct technologies—either IPS or VA. Basically, they're types of monitor panels that are miles ahead of the standard TN panels you find in old, or even newer, budget monitors. The difference is massive; just go on YouTube and search "TN vs IPS" and you'll see for yourself. Viewing angles, color reproduction, brightness, etc.

It’s highly unlikely you’ll get your money's worth out of a repair since those monitors are pretty ancient. I’m not sure what kind of quality you could even find for $67, maybe something used if you strike gold, though that’ll still be old tech. Then again, everyone has their own definition of a "good" monitor. But by today's standards, a "good" monitor really ought to have at least an IPS or VA panel. And you aren't exactly going to find something like that for $67 🙂