Posts by Adam Moore3

Yeah, there's no way it’ll be louder than your old 4870, and honestly, trading away that much performance just for MAYBE a bit of extra noise doesn't make any sense.

ruggedheron35 said:I didn't want to start a whole new thread, but a buddy asked me to check some PC forums. He wants to know which new Grand Theft Auto title he could actually run decently on a PC, and if there's even an option out there that isn't way too $1333

Nobody can tell you for sure how the optimization will turn out. Based on the system requirements, though, the game doesn't look overly demanding, so it should run fine even on budget builds. That is, provided it doesn't end up being the next Watch Dogs / Assassin's Creed Unity. For about $400, try something like this:

1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingmax, 1600MHz, FLGF
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 ,hladnjak, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm ,92mm
1 x Power Supply EVGA 400W, HEXA Plus 400, 12cm fan
1 x MS PHOENIX case without PSU, Midi tower MBO: ATX, mATX
1 x Sapphire R9 270 2GB, OC Boost, 2GB GDDR5 256bit
1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6100 Processor 3.3GHz,14MB,95W,AM3+
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100

$1313 techforum.com

I saved you a bit on the processor by swapping in a slightly older version similar to the FX 6300 since $83 it's cheaper; that extra cash allows for a better graphics card, which is what really matters to you. It would also be a good idea to grab another 4 GB of RAM later, but it just won't fit into the current budget right now. Best to pick up another 4 GB down the road once you've saved up a little more $88, right? 😁

granitepuma10 said:Whether it's Cup or Ucp—if we are even talking about the same thing—I've looked into it and I know both still offer XP support, so the issue is likely just a broken setup... for instance, my downloads won't finish; they just hang at a certain percentage before throwing an error saying the download failed. I suspect I'm missing some updates. If I recall correctly, the last time I updated it was two years ago. To make matters worse, I have two different Windows installations running... Windows 0 and Windows 1, and honestly, I don't even know which one I'm actually using anymore. Neither of them will accept updates, so it seems like I might just need to wipe Windows entirely?

Man, just format the entire hard drive and do a fresh install of Windows XP. Run all the updates immediately and reinstall your software. That’s honestly the smartest move. Why bother struggling with Windows 7 when it's such a total wreck?

Yeah, it's a total waste of money. Like we told you, even if you actually manage to get Windows 7 running on it, the thing will be completely useless. There's really no point in even trying...

That old Soltek motherboard uses a VIA chipset... Check out that link I sent you; it breaks down exactly what to do when the board itself is acting up. Give that solution a shot, maybe it'll actually work for you.. Honestly though, I have no idea why you're even trying to run Windows 7 on such ancient architecture..

granitepuma10 said:Hold on—are you saying it won't work because of some technical incompatibility, or do you genuinely believe the PC is just too weak? I suppose I might be able to upgrade the memory soon; if I can get it up to 2.8 GB by tomorrow or the day after, maybe that would actually be sufficient?

If you're adding more RAM, then fine, you can make it work somehow. It won't be great though, since you're likely running a Pentium 4 or something similar that'll struggle just to browse the web, but it'll be okay. Regarding the installation, I wasn't saying it specifically causes an error; I just meant there's no point even trying to put Windows 7 on a system with only 1 GB of RAM. Even if you manage to get it installed, it'll be totally unusable. Windows 7 is going to eat up at least 800 MB once you have an antivirus and the basic software needed for normal operation, leaving you with maybe 200 MB of RAM for actual tasks—which, as you can probably figure out, is way too little. But if you upgrade the RAM, then sure, the processor will slow things down, but it should function relatively well. As for the issue itself, you can find some useful info HERE by searching 🙂 Google, which is a miracle 👍

granitepuma10 said:I went ahead and burned a bootable DVD with Windows 7, popped it into my machine, and just got hit with a Code 5 error right at startup. This PC is a dinosaur, easily over a decade old now.
It’s running at 1.8 GHz
with only 1GB of RAM
I can't really stick with Windows XP because I can't find any supported applications anymore and I can't even run necessary updates, so I desperately need to get Windows 7 up and running. From what I've gathered through my reading, this error might not actually be caused by a bad burn on the disc, but rather an outdated motherboard that simply doesn't support the OS. I suppose I'm wondering if there is some sort of workaround or solution available here, or am I just stuck having to buy a new motherboard?

You aren't going to get Windows 7 running on that setup. 1 GB of RAM. Period. 🙂

Timothy Kim60 said:In my opinion, jumping from a GTX 660 to an R9 280 isn't worth the cash. Sure, it's faster, but it's not such a massive leap to justify the cost. As for RAM, you don't really need more than 8GB for gaming.

Regarding the wait, if you're looking for graphics cards, maybe hold out until summer. Some new AMD cards and the GTX 960Ti/965 should be hitting the shelves then.

Look, you're seeing performance gains of up to 45% in some cases, so it's not exactly a bad move. I think upgrading to a 290 would be the smartest play, obviously, but if money is tight and you can't wait or spend more, you won't be making a HUGE mistake going with the 280.

Look, my point is that you're wasting time questioning things you don't actually need to be asking about. I'm just trying to explain that to you.

Gerald Gonzalez6 said:Look, I'm not about to sprint to Best Buy just because of the first suggestion I hear—don't take that the wrong way—but I'm trying to be smart with my cash here, especially since I'm getting conflicting advice anyway.

I've got about $800 to work with.🤔

What actually makes those fortron power supplies any different?

For instance, this one is slightly cheaper than a fortron Raider 650w.

It’s fine that you’re being meticulous, but why are you picking out components one by one from an online retailer just to ask about each individual part? You were already given the recommendation... Best value.Look, there's no point in wasting everyone's time by posting "What kind of power supply is this?" again. It's worse—both in performance and value—than the one already recommended to you. Honestly, that’ll likely be the case for pretty much anything else you ask about in the future.

Richard Ward69 said:Thanks for the info, guys. So eBay isn't dead after all 🙂. Just let me know if you don't mind—can I put newer graphics cards in with this chipset? (Sorry, I'm a bit out of the loop here). Also, what does x16 PCI Express actually mean? Is it just a standard slot or something high-end? Basically, if I grab any card up to $167, am I going to see much of a performance boost?
Give me some recommendations for this rig, my budget goes up to $333, and I want to be able to play some relatively recent games 🙂. Sorry for bothering everyone, my hardware knowledge has really tanked lately 🙂

The first thing holding you back on an upgrade is the power supply. These kinds of builds usually come with those cheap, no-name PSUs, so trying to slap a beefier card in there doesn't make much sense. If you can swing about a hundred bucks, then get THIS power supply, and for everything else, just pick up a GTX 560 on eBay or something in that same ballpark.

Jack James65 said:Since it's an LC Power

It's likely the LC Power GP series; it's decent enough to handle an R9 270.

Timothy Kim60 said:Word on the street is AMD is going all-in on completely new GPUs. They've apparently changed course and there won't be any rebrands at all. *facepalm*

http://www.techpowerup.com/210453/am...utex-2015.html
http://wccftech.com/amd-r9-300-serie...#ixzz3TmOwvgRS

Whoa. Is that even possible? They've been teasing a rebrand of the 2XX series forever, and now suddenly it's all brand new architecture instead of a rebrand? There is going to be 100% delays then.

fadedorca66 said:Those temps aren't actually that crazy for an NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT; I guess they could easily hit 110 degrees under load. That said, since it’s an older card, maybe it just gave up the ghost over time. All that pixelation smells like faulty VRAM or something similar on the card itself. I'd suggest blowing out all the dust first, then maybe running MemTest via a bootable USB—especially since you mentioned things get sluggish after loading just 1GB—just to make sure your system RAM isn't the culprit. Also, what kind of power supply are we talking about here?

Hitting 70 degrees right after booting up? Even in the middle of winter😁 I know those cards used to run hot, but that still feels excessive to me. Especially since you're hitting that temp immediately after macOS loads.

Thomas Adams6 said:Hey everyone, I'm looking into swapping out my graphics card, or maybe some other component entirely?
Lately, my PC has been crashing constantly while I'm gaming. If I'm just idling in a game—like WoW or The Sims 4—it seems fine, but as soon as things get active for more than two minutes, the whole thing shuts down. The screen gets all distorted and pixelated, freezes up completely, and then I have to manually hard-reset everything. I used to run 4GB of RAM, but when I swapped it down to just 1GB, the crashes stopped happening after two minutes, though it still tends to die after about 20 minutes or so...

GPU temps sit around 65-70 °C right when I boot the machine up. Is there some kind of failsafe on an NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT that triggers a shutdown at 75 °C? Though, I've noticed it crashes regardless of whether the temp is higher or lower than that...
Mainly, I was thinking the smartest move would be to just grab a new GPU, but I'm not really sure what my limits are, considering I'm running an ASUS P8Z77 (CPU 1).
Or maybe I should just ditch the motherboard altogether, but I honestly don't know if that's even worth the money given the rest of my setup.

You're saying your GPU hits 65-70 degrees just by turning the computer on? That is WAAAAY too much. Your card is old, just like the rest of your rig, and honestly, the whole thing is basically on its last legs. What you can do is: blow out the dust inside the case, fix your airflow (set up some intake and exhaust fans), and re-apply thermal paste to both the CPU and the GPU. It won't cost you much, and it should help you keep that setup alive, no matter how close it is to the end.

Sophia Anderson35 said:Isn't 450W a bit low for a build like this? I'm running a 500W unit right now, and honestly, I don't think there's any point in even considering anything under 600W.

I like this setup. Though, I'd probably go with 1x8GB RAM.

Regarding the Toshiba, here's the comparison link. Toshiba got an "excellent" rating while Samsung got a "Samsung very good." If I walk into the store and see the Toshiba available, I'm definitely grabbing that over the Samsung.

Look at the difference between the 1350 SSD and $267. This 1350 is only 4% better (according to that site), and you're basing your whole decision on Toshiba because of that? Don't you think the guys on this forum would just tell you Toshiba is a better value than Samsung? If that were actually the case... All these builds being suggested to you are already optimized for the best bang for your buck. Honestly, changing anything will likely just mess up what's already been perfectly proposed, so... 🙂

Sophia Anderson35 said:Help me out, everyone.

I want to build a new rig right now, and budget isn't an issue. I was really set on getting a Samsung SSD, but it seems like nobody has them in stock???🙂The SanDisk Extreme feels overpriced to me, and the price just won't drop to anything reasonable. I also want to make sure all the components are balanced perfectly—I don't want expensive parts sitting idle at 10% capacity. I need this setup to last at least 5 years on Windows.

Here’s what I was thinking, but I’m not sure if I’m missing anything. Maybe an extra cooler, more RAM, a bigger case, or something like that.

Intel Core i7-3770
ASRock Z77 Pro3 (1155)
SanDisk Extreme 250GB Basic SSD
Western Digital 2TB, 32mb HDD
PC Build
2x Kingston 8GB DDR3 Fury
Corsair Builder CX CP-9020048
Zalman Z3 Plus
LG Optical Drive
Total: $9,481.05

I could also use a new monitor, but I have no clue which one to get.
Will this be a super loud computer?

This is a total mess. 🙂 First off, what are you actually going to use this computer for? If you're talking about gaming, pairing 16 GB of RAM with a Non-Ivy Bridge CPU, a Z77 motherboard, and just a mediocre graphics card for this kind of budget makes absolutely no sense. Honestly, no matter how you look at it, it's a waste of money. 😬First, tell us what your purpose is, and then we can actually help you put something together.

Just to be sure, what are the rest of the specs?

rustymarlin20 said:How much power am I actually looking at here? Should I listen to them and just grab an 850W unit, or trust the online calculators and stick to something around 500W? please halp.

850W? Good grief, no way. Unless you're planning on running triple CF setups, that's overkill. It really depends on what else is in your rig, but assuming the rest isn't totally extreme, you can easily pull off a 500W Fortron Hypera without any issues.

Maybe around 650-$267 max.