Posts by Adam Moore3

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Look, prices shot up, so it couldn't have been any worse.
If he'd just pulled the trigger two weeks ago when he was supposed to, then we could actually be having a conversation about whether he missed out or not.

What do you mean it wasn't? 😉 CLICK CLICK If I'm reading this right, that 280k went for 1900. 🤔

I haven't been following everything closely, but from what I can gather, you paid $633 for an R9 280? If that's the case, then no, you definitely got ripped off. Not trying to be mean, just being honest.

goldenpanther said:Actually, you've got it backward—the R7250 uses DDR5, whereas the HD6670 is running on DDR3.

Then there’s really nothing left to debate. The 250 is the only way to go... 🙂

But again, the real question is which specific Nvidia GeForce GT series we're talking about. If it’s the DDR3 version while the other one is GDDR5, I honestly think he’d get more bang for his buck going with dual graphics plus the 6670, regardless of how that setup actually functions.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:as if he could pull that off with such a garbage power supply 🍿

Let's not go overboard here; the PSU isn't actually that bad. It has an 80+ certification, active PFC, basically every protection feature you'd want, and decent amperage on the 12V rail. It's definitely enough to handle a 270X and an AMD FX-4300, or even an AMD Radeon RX 580 if they decide to go that route.

mistypilot9 said:He's really hung up on this one, so I'm honestly not sure what to tell him...

http://www.newegg.com/p/product_id=13945

Just give him two or three more options and let him know it's a bad deal. 😛 It makes zero sense to drop $1600 on a 270X when you can get a $33 GTX 960 or an R9 280 for basically the same price, both of which outperform the 270X in almost every way.

mistypilot9 said:the CPU is an AMD FX-Series x4 4300 3.8 and I'm not sure about the PSU brand, but it's 500W

The processor is fine, but you can't recommend anything without knowing the exact model of that power supply. If someone is running some cheap, off-brand unit and they buy an R9 280 based on our advice, then plug it in only to have their PC light up like a Christmas tree, that's going to be a massive problem. Pop the side panel off and check the specific model.

Why is there such a massive trend toward pairing an APU with a dedicated GPU in custom builds, especially when people are putting these rigs together themselves rather than buying pre-builts...

It's probably the Black Jewel version. If it wasn't, it wouldn't have THIS kind of sticker, right?

Timothy Kim60 said:It might be pushing the limits of the power supply. The HD7770 pulls just under 80W at full load, and the rest of the build is an FX 4300, which draws slightly less than an FX 6300. My main concern is how much headroom I actually have left. 😬

EDIT

link 😬

15A on the 12V rail🤣

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too. You don't strictly need a Gigabyte board for an AMD Athlon II X3 440, but if you're already shelling out for a motherboard, I’d rather drop an extra $20 to know I can plug in whatever I want down the road.🙂If the budget allows for it, obviously.

Timothy Kim60 said:I don't buy it; it was probably just some pre-built configuration. Buying a Spira power supply is always a bad move—I mean, you're looking at an $80 unit in the US, and even if you were elsewhere, it would be way overpriced. It’s a total disaster for that price bracket. Sure, those GPUs being mentioned would work fine with it, though.

As for the rest, I'm skeptical too, but what does it cost him to actually check? It seems pretty unlikely that a Spira unit from $50 was powering an FX and a 7770 the whole time. That thing doesn't even put out 20A on the 12V rail. 🤷

Timothy Kim60 said:He can easily check that by looking to see if there's this kind of small vent behind it.

No matter how you slice it, all power supplies suck; the real question is whether it's just bad or downright terrible. 😁

Also, that isn't Seasoned, but not all their lines are as bad as the reviews make them out to be. CLICK I've never even seen this specific series, nor could anyone find it for sale here in the States, but hey, maybe the guy bought a prebuilt or something abroad. If he already has something like this, he could easily pair it with a better GPU like an R7 265 or an R9 270. It'd be a waste to buy something now for $100 Best Buy or something similar when he might already have something in that range sitting in his PC. MAYBE. 😁

It doesn't necessarily mean they're running a generic office power supply. I'd say there's a 97.9% chance they are, but maybe they have one from a higher-end series, like a "gaming" line, which aren't actually bad. For example, LIKE THIS something. MAYBE. But first, they need to be 100% certain it's the exact unit $50 mentioned before they even think about buying a new PSU. Because honestly, I DOUBT that the one from $50 has been powering that AMD and Radeon HD 7770 this whole time.

steelfox36 said:I just hope both suggestions make FIFA 15 run smoother. That's my only concern.😁 When I turn on the PC, the CPU hits 65-70 C within about 10 minutes without even gaming, then drops back down to 50. I'll have to have someone check it out before I buy a new GPU.

Watch what you're using to measure temps and which specific sensor you're looking at. A buddy of mine has an Athlon x4 740 and he was seeing those same insane temperatures right at startup—like 55-65 degrees immediately after booting—even though he had an aftermarket cooler, a Cooler Master Hyper 212. Turns out, it was just a reading error. Download AIDA64 and check THIS page to see how the sensors report. I wasted a lot of time worrying only to realize I was looking at the wrong metric. CLICK Under this section for Athlon, don't look under motherboard->temperatures->CPUTIN. 😉

Robin Fisher86 said:Hey everyone!
I need some advice; I'm looking for a new graphics card.
Budget is $333!
Here are my specs:
NVIDIA GeForce GT 730
Intel Core i3-4130 3.80 ghz
8 GB RAM
500 GB HDD
400 W Spira power supply
Resolution 1280x1024

Hmm, you have a weak power supply, first of all. Go ahead and open the case and check exactly what model it is. Also, you need to tell us exactly which card you currently have—there's a huge difference between a 7750 and a 7790 (you just wrote "7700 series"). In principle, it's really not worth buying any new card if your budget is only $333. If you actually have a 7790, which is basically an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti, that's currently costing slightly less than $333. Your only real option would be to grab something used, like a 270X. CLICK However, the power supply is going to be an issue there too because Spira isn't known for making high-quality products. First, give us the exact names of your graphics card and power supply, then we can go from there. 🙂

Chloe Garcia22 said:Here’s what I'm running:
Asrock M3A UCC
AMD Athlon II X3 440
500 GB WD Caviar Blue SATA II HDD
6GB Kingmax DDR3 1333MHz
400W Corsair CMPSU-400CXEU
XFX PCI-E ATI Radeon HD5770 875M 1GB DDR5 HDMI

My motherboard died. Any suggestions for a replacement?

Thanks 😍

You get what you pay for. 😬 The Gigabyte GA-970 DS3P is definitely a best buy.🙂

Brian Campbell36 said:I'm dropping a ton of cash on this thing, so I don't want anything going wrong. Better to just pay a pro to install it perfectly in one go. 🍿

A pro? 🤣 You don't need to be an expert to plug in a GPU. 😛 Look, your money and your card, it's your call, but I'm telling you that you're just throwing money away $50 on installation fees when you could instead put that extra $50 toward the actual hardware—like grabbing an AMD Radeon R9 280 X instead of just a 280 😬. Installation is literally just clicking it into the slot.

Brian Campbell36 said:I'm placing my order next week (so I can get it sorted before Easter), you guys say this is top-tier up to $667 (which I always try to avoid) within the Gigabyte brand—honestly, I can't find anything better for the money🍿

These two AMD 7770 cards are seriously starting to get on my nerves; it's like I don't even have dual graphics, I just have one. I've even seen better scores on recent PC benchmarks using a single card rather than two together.🤦

I'm picking up this card specifically because GTA V is coming to PC, and I want to make sure it runs smoothly on medium settings. That game is going to be demanding, and obviously, 1 GB of VRAM isn't enough anymore even for basic stuff. Power isn't an issue, though; my PSU is a solid 1000W.

I lost touch with the guy who used to build my hardware (though I know my way around software), so I'll probably end up dropping $50 at a local computer repair shop in San Diego just to have them install the card. It'll take them three minutes and cost me $50... 🤦

Why would you pay someone else to install a graphics card? 🤔 It is literally just clicking it into the slot and plugging the power cable in. You just update the drivers and you're done; there is really nothing you can mess up. It's a waste of $50 to pay for that... 🕺

Estimating "pay what you want" 🤣 But let's be real, I doubt anyone with half a brain is going to shell out any money for this.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6100 Processor 3.3GHz, 14MB, 95W, AM3+
2 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingmax, 1600MHz, FLGF
1 x TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050
1 x Sapphire R7 265 2GB GDDR5 Dual-X, 2GB GDDR5 256bit, 28nm
1 x FORTRON 400W Power Supply, HEXA Plus 400, 12cm fan
1 x MS PHOENIX case without PSU, Midi tower MBO: ATX, mATX
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm, 92mm

$1351
A little over budget (no SSD, though nobody really uses them much anymore), but the GPU is solid for gaming and everything else included 🙂

www.newegg.com

Going with a weaker GPU and a smaller HDD just to get more RAM? It’s not worth it. You can still run Grand Theft Auto V on 4 GB of RAM, and you can always just grab more memory later when you have the cash $83, so there's no point sacrificing the graphics card or the hard drive.