Posts by Adam Moore3

Yeah, it’s likely just an issue with whatever software you were running, but that doesn't really matter right now. Just make sure to verify exactly which power supply you're using, just like Timothy Kim60 suggested. That's the most critical part; we can't give you any solid recommendations until we know exactly what kind of PSU you've got under the hood. 🙂

James Gomez80 said:Hey everyone, I'm running an old rig and looking for an upgrade to get back into gaming (Call of Duty, LoL), plus I really want to try out the new GTA... CoD runs a bit rough on my current setup:

Intel Core i5-3570
Corsair 4GB 800MHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 MSI B75 Motherboard
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 MSI B75 Motherboard

I was thinking about picking up some more RAM and a new GPU. The CPU is decent enough for now, and while the motherboard isn't much, it should hold up... but I figured I'd ask you guys first. If anyone can help me out, I'd appreciate it. My budget is around $833

What kind of DDR3 Corsair RAM is 800 MHz? You must have misread something there. 🙂 Anyway, your processor is actually alright, so I'd leave that alone for now. Just add another 4GB of RAM and grab something like an R9 270. There aren't any worthwhile upgrades left for this specific platform, so if you're sticking with what you've got (which you basically have to with a budget of $833), changing the GPU and adding that extra 4GB of RAM is your best bet. Nothing smarter can be done here. At least you can carry the GPU over to your next build. Just let us know what kind of power supply you're running so we can be sure.

Ugh, yeah, George Sanders37 made a good point there; I didn't even realize that was a ThinkCentre, those are just those tiny mini cases.
I'm actually reading about it right now—apparently, people have run into all sorts of issues trying to cram GPUs into those small builds CLICK. Honestly, I think you'd be taking way too much of a risk trying to force some decent graphics card in there. That PC simply WASN'T built for gaming.

Jerry Morgan3 said:Hey, I just picked up this PC:
Case Model: unknown
Processor: CORE 2 DUO E8400
CPU Speed: 2 X 3.0 GHz
RAM: 4096 MB DDR3
Hard Drive: 160 GB
Here's the full specs: http://www.cnet.com/products/lenovo-...n-vista/specs/

I'm wondering if I can drop in a decent graphics card, maybe an ATI HD6750 1GB, or a GeForce GeForce GT 630 2GB, or something similar? My main goal is playing Skyrim. I've seen people running it on processors like this without any issues, especially with the kind of cards I'm looking at
Just looking for some actual advice here—please skip the useless comments about how this thing is junk or that I should just buy a new PC. I'm not an expert, so please be direct and clear with your answers.
Best regards,

For Skyrim, this is a pretty solid machine. If you pair it with a slightly better GPU, it'll definitely run. Before we suggest a specific card, though, you need to let us know what your budget is and what kind of power supply is inside the rig.

darkowl72 said:Personally, I’d grab at least this one: the ASRock 970 PRO3 R2.0 for about $200. If I had a bit more cash to burn, though, I'd look at something from MSI or Gigabyte...

No way, buying that ASRock would be a mistake when you can get a Gigabyte DS3P for just a few dollars more, which is significantly better. OP, your actual sweet spot should be THIS. You could go cheaper, but I don't think it's worth it if you care about an upgrade path. This motherboard gives you a solid foundation for future upgrades, so if you're buying now, it makes sense to stretch the budget just a little to reach it. Honestly, anything more than this probably isn't even necessary. 🙂

We’re looking at a gaming build with a budget of $1667, and honestly, what they suggested is just junk. Every pre-built configuration is usually garbage, so here is what you actually need:

1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6300 3.5GHz Processor, 14MB, 95W, AM3+, FD6300WMHK
1 x 8GB DDR3 (1x8GB) Kingmax, 1600MHz, non-ECC, CL9.0, FLGG
1 x Sapphire R9 280 3GB OC Dual-X, 3GB GDDR5 384bit, 28nm
1 x Seagate 1TB HDD, Serial ATA III, 7200 rpm, ST1000DM003
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm, 92mm
1 x Fortron 500W Hyper Power Supply, PPA5005003, 12cm fan
1 x Zalman Z3 mid tower case, 192(W)x465(H)x430(D)mm, ATX standard

$1659 reddit.com

In short, everything here is better. From a faster processor to a GPU that's several times more powerful. You could potentially throw in an extra 6 GB of RAM and swap in an Autronic's Core i7-4770K or some other tinkering, but this is, in my opinion, the most optimal and balanced setup. 😉

EDIT: If you push the budget just a tiny bit, you can fit in an Autronic's Core i7-4770K and 8 GB of RAM.

Roger Wright94 said:1300
A buyer from the "friends and family" circle (always the best kind of customer).

Look, if even a family member paid that much, then $1500 would definitely go to some random guy on a street corner in Chicago... 😬

Honestly, when I look at the prices on Newegg, I don't even bother calculating. 🙂 Here's what's sitting in the marketplace right now $293. The cheapest one on eBay is $700. I wouldn't part with mine for $550 even if you threatened me—at least not if I'm trying to sell it today. That’s why I say, if I decide to sell, I’m going to price it based on current market rates, not what things were worth six months ago. Who knows, maybe they'll be even $33 more expensive tomorrow, and then I'd feel like an idiot for selling it for $50 less than I could have gotten. You just can't predict it, so you have to watch the current supply and adjust your prices accordingly. I think if I wanted a quick sale, I'd list it for around $550-$200 and it would fly off the shelf immediately, but I'm certain you can pull in more than that without waiting too long. The market situation is just pretty crappy right now; what was settling around $4,000 six months ago is probably hitting closer to $4,500 now. Right now, the cheapest Intel Core i5 is $233 on eBay, and there aren't many left. So, you can likely get a decent price for a used one too, provided you have a little patience. 🙂

Timothy Kim60 said:I think I saw a Casio fx-6300 for about $110 at an online retailer the other day, $200 which is pretty much the absolute best price anyone should aim for (people on other forums were valuing them closer to $150 🤣 )

By the way, if it's a 7870 with the Tahiti chip (which they also put in the 7950 and 7970)—it actually outperforms even the top-tier 270X models.

Honestly, I have no idea how long ago that was 😛 CLICK CPUs don't really break down easily anyway, so their resale value doesn't drop nearly as much, especially if you still have a warranty 🙂 and CLICK Maybe you saw a Casio fx-6100 for $110? Back when the FX 6300 was out, even the FX 8300 was selling for under $150, so what you saw sounds impossible. Retail prices are total garbage right now, so buying used isn't going to be much better, regardless of what things cost a year ago.

Timothy Kim60 said:Adam Moore3, would you even pay $33 for that cooler if some review says it performs a few degrees worse than the Freezer 7? I'm also wondering how it stacks up against the LC-CC-95. You can grab a much better LC-CC-120 for 150-$53, and you can find a used Hyper 212 for around $50
.
Look, when you add up all the top-end prices, he’s looking at nearly $833—sure, people always ask for more, but honestly, most people on PCPartPicker would value his GPU at even less than $33. There's a big difference between what people list on Craigslist and what they actually get. Most of those listings just sit there forever; the ones with realistic prices sell instantly, but many people miss them and end up thinking prices are higher than they really are. If he doesn't get the offers he's hoping for, he needs to realize he should settle for that amount, and anything extra is just a bonus.

I remember watching the prices for that cooler back when it was current—it was about $55 then, so that's how I formed my opinion. To be honest, I had no idea it was such a bad value. I wouldn't suggest a price lower than $267 for the GPU; it's basically an AMD GTX 750 Ti, and the cheapest one on eBay right now is $300. Regardless, if I were the one selling this PC, I'd set the starting price higher than the actual market value, which is what I suggested to the author, though how much it actually sells for is a different story. Hopefully, for a higher amount (if I were the seller). That's why I told him not to list it for less than $2700 on Craigslist, because he could definitely get that much. There aren't many deals on Craigslist right now; the cheapest card in this tier is $300. Plus, the AMD processor probably still has a warranty, and a new one is $300. I wouldn't go below $233 for a used one with a warranty either. All told, it's worth more than $2500 🙂

Robert Rodriguez2 said:There is absolutely no way he's getting $1000, $2500-$2700 maybe, if you're feeling generous
I wouldn't take half this build even if it were handed to me for free. Out of everything in there, the RAM, CPU, GPU, and PSU are decent, but the rest is straight-up junk.

Look, I'm saying it doesn't mean he'll actually get $3000. He probably won't. But when you're negotiating, you obviously start with a higher asking price. 🙂 You set an initial number that's high and then mention "the price is negotiable." 😒

Timothy Kim60 said:cpu - 500-$183 (new ones are $80+, they used to be under $233)
ram - $67 (new 6gb - about $123 if you pick it up downtown, but 2-3 years ago 8gb was $100)
gpu - if it's standard 700-$250, if it's got the Tahiti chip 800-$283
psu - up to $83
cooler - 50-$23 max - that one is weaker than a Freezer 7; assume you can grab a much better new one for $50 (better even than the Freezer), and for 80-$33 you can get new Keplers or an LC-CC-95
case - $50, a really bad value considering the competition in that price range when buying new
hdd - maybe $67 for both
mobo - bottom of the barrel - $67

So you can ask for more, but these are realistic prices; someone might even lowball you lower than this

Is that cooler really that bad? I think you could definitely pull at least 2500 on eBay, maybe even a hundred more if I had to guess. Look, if you were building a PC with those same specs today, you'd be looking at around $1433. That's basically 60% of the price, so it's a deal $867. Plus, if it still has a warranty, the price climbs a bit. That 3200 the OP mentioned is way too high—you won't see that in your dreams—but 2700 is a solid target. List it at 3000 and hope for the best, though you won't actually get 😉

Christian Mendoza60 said:What should I ask for my rig?

CPU: Intel Core i5 Desktop Motherboard
Motherboard: ASRock 960GC-GS FX
RAM: 6GB DDR3
Power Supply: EVGA 450W Power Supply
Cooler: Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX
HDD: 250GB and 150GB
Case: Thermaltake V3 Black Edition
GPU: VTX HD7870

Roughly $2,700.

Timothy Kim60 said:Looking at Company of Heroes 2, you can tell the performance gap really depends on the specific title. Who would've guessed the GTX 960 is actually about 30-35% faster than the GTX 760? Check out this benchmark link.
They'll probably squeeze a bit more out of the 7xx series once the drivers catch up.

Anyway, the game runs fine on dual core

+ here scroll down

Finally some good news—at least I'll be able to run this decently on my PC. 🎉 Just finished to install the new patch, but honestly, I don't see much difference, at least not for me. 🤷 Keep hopin' 🙂

Timothy Kim60 said:Well, the 260X is definitely stronger than the 6850, plus the CPU is slightly better too (though it doesn't matter all that much in The Witcher 3)
There was also a game patch released http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/05/...ty-patch-on-pc

True, but I didn't expect it to be this much. I mean, the 6850 can't even hit 30 FPS on 1080p at lowest settings—it averages around 26, while the 260X hits 35-40 on 1080p at medium. It's a massive gap; I really wasn't expecting that. I actually have a 260X in my home PC too, just with a G3220 instead of an Athlon. I'm hoping that won't cause issues 🙏 Looking closer now, there really is a noticeable difference between the 6850 and the 260X, I just didn't think it would be quite this big. CLICK

Yeah, I’m still holding out hope 😬 I was just over at a buddy's place today checking out the PC I built for him, and surprisingly, he's pulling a steady 40 FPS at 1080p on medium settings with an Intel Core i3-4130, a 260X, and 4 GB of RAM. I honestly didn't expect it to run this well, especially since it was drastically worse on the Intel Core i5-2500K with the 6850, even though there isn't a massive gap between those two setups. 🤔

Timothy Kim60 said:Maybe some people didn't install the day one patch right away (not sure how much that matters), plus people have zero clue how to adjust their settings—that Hairworks thing supposedly tanks performance drastically, then they turn on AA along with every single post-processing effect + enable vsync. Looking at YouTube, I see people with mainstream cards running higher settings, here's another example: link. Or maybe it's just an issue with the original versus a cracked executable

+ the NVIDIA GeForce 7 series performs way below expectations—it's weaker than even lower-tier GPUs (whether you're looking at AMD or newer NVIDIA stuff)

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages..._review,5.html (760, 780, 780Ti, titan)

Look, all versions are updated regardless of where you get them, so I doubt that's the problem. Hairworks and grass foliage range—or whatever it's called—are two things that can literally tank your frame rate by 10 FPS EACH. Hairworks looks cool, you can really see a difference on certain monsters, but honestly, it's not worth it. If I'm going to sacrifice anything for FPS, that's what I'll hit first. I mean, seriously, losing 10 FPS just so hair looks more realistic and lush? No thanks. Same goes for the grass foliage distance, which dictates how far out the grass renders; I've read detailed performance tweak guides where people drop settings from Ultra to High and gain 5-10 FPS without noticing any visual difference at all. You can actually run this game pretty well on mid-range rigs if you know how to tweak things smartly instead of cranking everything to Ultra and wondering why the optimization feels so bad. These features were clearly designed for NVIDIA Titan X or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 users, period 🙂 If only they had optimized it better for low-end builds, or if there were more things to dial back—like making it run on DirectX 10.1 or something similar like Grand Theft Auto V—way more people could play this smoothly. For real: GTA V is a great example; it's a high-end next-gen title, yet it isn't nearly as hardware-punishing as this beast... 🕺

It’s interesting how much performance fluctuates depending on your rig. Some people are hitting their limit with an AMD FX-8300 & NVIDIA GTX 970, while others aren't even seeing smooth gameplay at max settings on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980. It feels pretty unoptimized; they definitely have some work left to do there. That said, you can technically run it on mid-range setups. I mean MID-RANGE, not budget builds. A GTX 750 or maybe a minimum of a 260X paired with an Intel Core i3-series like the one in this video should handle it just fine enough.

Emily Castillo19 said:I think you might have cut off there. What were you trying to say? $500 Was it actually realistic to look for?

You've definitely got plenty of RAM here, and that motherboard looks solid enough to handle some FX processors too. The CPU is still very much usable, and everything else seems pretty decent overall. Honestly, I think this setup is worth way more than $1,500. If I were you, I’d list it starting at $2,000. 🙂

Grand Theft Auto V is still pretty manageable; you can actually get it running on a lot of older, lower-end rigs without needing some massive beast of a PC, unlike something like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.