Posts by Adam Moore3

Douglas Cruz2 said:So, would it be better to go with the second option since it has a slightly better CPU, then just pick up another 4GB of RAM later? And would they run in dual channel if I do that?

That’s your call to make. It isn't just a "slightly" better processor—it’s significantly better. You're getting two extra cores and a lot more raw power. Adding 4GB of RAM down the road is easy; honestly, it's not even that critical for you right now. You just pop it into a slot and you're done. But you won't be swapping out that CPU anytime soon, so my opinion is you should grab the better one right from the jump. And yes, they'll definitely work in dual channel.

Douglas Cruz2 said:



These are the two deals from Best Buy...

What do you guys think?

Both of those deals are way worse than the two we suggested... One of them gives you an i3, which makes zero sense compared to the other two processors, plus you get some junk "600W" power supply in the case that's three times lower quality than the ones we recommended (talking about the PSU). They don't even include 8GB of RAM in the i3 option. The second option is even more nonsensical, if that's even possible. They paired an overclockable processor with a cheap-ass power supply and no aftermarket cooler, all on a BioStar motherboard which isn't exactly known for being high-end. And again, only 4GB of RAM. It couldn't be more pointless if they tried 🙂 The builds we recommended really should be your only two options here; there's no reason to head to Best Buy and let them sell you this garbage they've put together...

Jonathan Mendoza17 said:Hey everyone! I could really use some help picking out a new graphics card. My current one was pulled from an old rig and it’s definitely the weak link in this build.
Here are the specs:

Monitor: Dell U2412M (1920x1200)
Motherboard: Asus s1155 P8Z77-V LX2
CPU: Intel i5-3570K
PSU: Corsair CX500
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS-III
RAM: 2x4GB DDR3 Kingston 1600 MHz
SSD: Samsung evo Basic 120
HDD: Seagate 640 GB Black budget

Budget: Looking to stay around $150.$567 I might be able to stretch it a little if the performance jump is actually worth it.
I'll be shopping locally in Washington, D.C.
Usage: Honestly, I'm not quite sure how to put this. I just want a solid, reliable, all-around home PC. In terms of graphics, the biggest hits will probably be gaming and some CAD-CAM software. That said, this isn't a dedicated workstation; I just need to open and edit things occasionally, so I don't think I need to go for specialized CAD cards. Gaming will likely be the main heavy lifting, though I'm not really into those intense shooters or racing sims. I prefer strategy games, adventures, or even indie titles—though I might give GTA5 a shot, so it would be nice if it runs with decent settings, even if not on ultra.

The CPU isn't overclocked right now, but I'm planning to try it in about a year once I feel the need. Please let me know if my PSU can handle that. I'm just looking for a moderate overclock, not chasing any world records; stability is my main priority.

From what I've seen, my budget fits an AMD R9 270 x or maybe a slightly pricier Nvidia GTX 760.
Do you guys have a better idea? What would be the smartest move here?

For that budget, you can get THIS , which beats both of those options. 🙂 Regarding the overclocking, you should be able to pull off a modest OC on that power supply.

Yeah, that's exactly what I mean. Just check out nytimes.com; the price is identical, but you're definitely getting better service there if you're planning on picking it up. If you decide against that one, then just stick to what we suggested—anything with a longer warranty and at least a DVI output.

Larry Ortiz5 said:You're tripping 🙂

An LCD is an LCD. Since it’s a thin HP panel with an IPS matrix, you get the same viewing angles. That means from the left or the right, the image should look pretty much the same as when you're looking straight at a standard Dell screen.

Yeah, and specifically, this HP model gives you exactly that. Honestly, I’d even say the picture quality is better—the contrast and brightness feel more natural than your typical screens. If you can swing it, it’s definitely worth stretching those extra $10 to get it.😉

Well, you might want to consider this even more extreme—and slightly pricier—option.

1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x AMD FX-Series X8 8320 3.5GHz Processor, 16MB, 125W, AM3+, FD8320FRHK
1 x Crucial 4GB DDR3 (1x4GB), 1600MHz CL11
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 Cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm, 92mm
1 x XFX 430W P1-430S-XXB9 PSU, TS series
1 x MS PHOENIX Case (no PSU included), Midi Tower, MBO: ATX, mATX

$850techforum.com

You get a much more powerful eight-core processor here, essentially trading 4 GB of RAM for that extra muscle. It’s going to run a bit hot inside the case, though, so I’d highly recommend adding an extra fan, just like crimsonstag84 did with his build.🙂

Yeah, it would be awesome if you could snag OVAJ HP, since it’s got an IPS panel. 😬 Otherwise, like they said, just make sure it has a DVI port and a solid warranty—that's really all that matters. This HP is definitely the best bang for your buck. 😉

crimsonstag84 said:Both pull about 110W, but if I were you, I'd play it safe and grab the Hex plus one of those graphics cards you mentioned.

That 450W unit pulls 100W just sitting idle. CLICK Either way, you DEFINITELY need to upgrade the PSU and get a dedicated GPU; that current power supply is about as reliable as an old industrial unit from the 80s.🙂

I’d suggest avoiding the FM2 socket altogether because you won't have any room left to upgrade anything later on. If future-proofing matters to you—meaning if you plan on putting more money into this rig down the road—you could look at something like this:

1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x Procesor AMD FX-Series X6 6300 3.5GHz,14MB,95W,AM3+, FD6300WMHK
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
1 x Napajanje FORTRON 400W, HEXA 400, 12cm ventilator, Active PFC
1 x Zalman Z1 mid tower case. 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm. MB standard
1 x Sapphire R7 260X 1GB GDDR5 OC, 1GB GDDR5 128bit, 28nm

$1144 techcrunch.com

It goes slightly over budget, so I hope that's okay, but in exchange, you get a significantly beefier six-core processor on a much better platform. You'll be able to swap in a stronger CPU later by just stepping down to a slightly weaker graphics card. Also, I'd highly recommend grabbing an aftermarket cooler later, since the stock one is absolutely terrible. A Spire Kepler or the LC CC 95 would both work fine, and there are others listed below $33 them. 🙂

Bryan Taylor6 said:can you overclock that processor up to 4 ghz on that board? ...is the multiplier unlocked?

The multiplier is unlocked on the CPU, obviously, and you can actually overclock that chip even on an Intel H81 chipset; tons of people do it. That little processor is a total beast once you crank the clock speed up.

Look, there's no way that's going to work on a 450 or a 5770. For heaven's sake, that power supply provides 16A on the 12V rail, and those cards can pull well over 150W. 😲 Maybe a 6570 would fly, though I personally wouldn't even think about upgrading anything until the power supply gets swapped out first. Let them put it toward the Hex for $100 and then toss the remaining 300 toward a 450 or a 5770, if they really insist on being $200!

Austin Rodriguez5 said:What's the cheapest graphics card that can push audio through HDMI? I need something cheap for a budget PC just to watch movies.

Any card with an HDMI port will work.

Timothy Kim60 said:He's hunting for a used HD5670/6670 DDR5—a fair price would be around $100. Might grab one for $83 if he finds it. Honestly, I think it’ll still be a bottleneck, but I don't see any better options out there.

A 6670 DDR5 is already a massive bottleneck. If he finds a cheap one, go for it, but he won't even be using half the card's potential. OP, what's your monitor's native resolution? What are you actually playing at?

Ryan Reyes54 said:Sorry, typing this on my phone. I'm looking at a PC meant for older games from back in 2010 or 2011.

ATi Radeon HD 5450 512 MB
Athlon 64x2 4200+
4 GB
550 W

Since it's a low-end rig, maybe $50 to $200 on a used one via eBay.

It’s honestly not worth dumping money into that machine. Your CPU is way too weak to handle any decent graphics card; you'll just run into a massive bottleneck and won't see any actual performance gains from an upgrade. Trust me, I've been there—I used to run an Athlon 4400+, and putting anything stronger than an old NVIDIA 9600 GT in it was a total waste of time. Just keep those $200 and start saving up for 🙂. By the way, what motherboard are you actually using?

mistyhawk29 said:Do you guys have any recommendations for a repair shop in Chicago where I could get this soldered for a decent price?

Honestly, it’d probably be easier to just grab a used card on eBay for $50$33 than to deal with the headache of hauling a decade-old GPU to a repair shop just to get it soldered. 🙂

graniteharbor85 said:Yeah, but there's no way it's VS since that thing is already 5 years old 😉

Smartass 😛

Kimberly Gomez34 said:As long as it's a decent model—like the VX or HX series—you should be fine.

Are we forgetting about VS? 😛 If it actually is VS, I wouldn't bother putting it in a $5,000 build, ESPECIALLY if you're leaning toward AMD. Check the exact model and let me know; it's right there on the label.

In theory, you might still be able to overclock your card. A lot of those factory overclocks are really just bumping the clock speed up by maybe 25 MHz just so they can slap an "OC" sticker on the box and sell it $33 for a premium. So, in your case, it might actually be possible to push the clock even higher—IN THEORY. The whole point of overclocking is the experimentation; it's about testing the limits and seeing how far you can go. If you aren't the adventurous type, there's no real reason to bother, because like I said, you won't see any significant gains. 🙂

Harold Alvarez49 said:I need some help—I'm wondering how to overclock my gigabyte gtx 750 using OC Guru, specifically which settings I should use and what kind of performance boost I can expect in games. Right now, I'm playing Shadow of Mordor. My setup is an i3 4330 3.5 GHz, 8GB RAM at 1600 MHz, an AsRock B85M motherboard, a gigabyte gtx 750 (obviously), a High Power 500W 80+ Bronze PSU, and a Samsung 21-inch monitor running at 1920x1080 60Hz. Thanks!!!

There are plenty of different software options for overclocking, but THIS ONE is probably the most beginner-friendly. Just download it, run it, and adjust the clocks using the sliders. You have to be careful, though; overclocking isn't just about moving sliders around. You really ought to run a stress test after every single adjustment to see if the GPU stays stable—basically checking if it crashes or starts showing artifacts. Every time you fail a stress test, dial the clock back down until you find that sweet spot where the card remains stable. Also, what specific version of the card do you have? There are several variations out there, and yours might already be factory overclocked. If that's the case, you won't be able to push it further since it's already hit its limit from the factory. One more thing: don't go expecting miracles. Overclocking might give you a marginal bump in performance—maybe a few FPS here or there—but that’s about it. You aren't going to see any massive gains, just so you know what to expect.

Dennis Ramirez53 said:Specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo 3.30 GHz, LGA 1366
AsRock N-68-VS3 UCC PCI-E
Kingmax 4 GB DDR3
LC-8400BTX 400W Power Supply
Windows 7 64 bit

1. I need a GPU for about $100. Mostly watching movies, maybe a game once a month (right now I'm playing Alan Wake on the lowest settings using an NVIDIA GeForce GT 220).
Is it possible to buy used cards at computer shops?
2. Any other used upgrades you'd suggest so I don't get left in the Stone Age? Or should I just swap everything out? Let's say I have $267 to work with (not counting the GPU).

Your setup is actually pretty decent. If you aren't planning on heavy gaming, you don't need any other upgrades besides a better GPU and a new power supply, because that current PSU isn't exactly reliable. Out of that total $367, I'd put $300 toward a power supply like THIS ONE, then use the rest to grab a card like THIS ONE and you'll still come out ahead by $33. 🙂 That card is a total steal; for $233 you get a little beast. It’s not worth going cheaper since the 250 series right below it is only about $10 less but noticeably weaker.

P.S. For $100, there aren't really any worthwhile GPUs for actual gaming—it's just not worth the money. And with $267, you honestly don't have anything else to spend it on since the rest of your build is solid. You've got a triple-core processor and 4 GB of RAM. Your only weak link is the power supply I recommended.

crimsonstag84 said:1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Procesor AMD FX-Series X8 8320 3.5GHz,16MB,125W,AM3+, FD8320FRHK
1 x LG 23MB35PM-B 23" Wide LED, IPS panel, 1080p resolution
1 x Logitech wireless Combo MK270
1 x Napajanje XFX TS Series 550W PSU -P1550S-XXB9
1 x Kingston SSD 120GB HyperX Fury, 2.5", SATA 3 6G
1 x XFX R9-280A-TDFD, Double Dissipation Edition Radeon R9 280 933m 1 x Logitech wireless Combo MK270
1 x Zalman CNPS10X OPTIMA, CPU cooler. FAN: 120mm, fan speed:1000rpm
1 x ASUS M5A97 R2.0, AM3,AM3+, AMD 970, SB950, BUS 5200 MHz, DDR3

$2167 ADM

It's a Thermaltake case, not a Timberlake 🤣 😬

Aaaa Thermaltake 🤣 Now I'm actually Googling it, I have no clue what a freaking Timberlake would even be 😵 Nice build, but the guy said he prefers Intel, so let's see what we get on that side 😛

1 x ASRock B85M Pro3, S 1150, Supports 4th gen Intel Core i7 / i5
1 x Intel Core i5-4460 (3.20GHz, 1MB, 6MB, 84 W, 1150) Box
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
1 x Kingston SSD 120GB HyperX Fury, 2.5", SATA 3 6G
1 x Fortron Blue Storm II 400W
1 x AOC I2269VWM, IPS monitor 21.5" Wide, WLED, 1920x1080@60 Hz
1 x XFX R9-280A-TDFD, Double Dissipation Edition Radeon R9 280 933m 1 x Logitech wireless Combo MK270
1 x Logitech wireless Combo MK270

$2175 admin.us

Nothing special 😬

EDIT: You don't have an HDD 🤣 You can't play any games heroically with only 200 gigs.

Nathan Long8 said:Hey everyone, I’m looking for a little guidance regarding some component selection.

For peripherals, I'm thinking a 22" monitor or maybe something larger, plus a wireless keyboard and mouse combo.

Currently, I’ve got a 400W power supply, a Thermaltake case, and a 200 GB HDD sitting around.

My wishlist includes an AMD Radeon R9 270, a 120 GB SSD, and 8 GB of DDR3. As for the CPU and motherboard, I’ll leave those up to your expertise, though I definitely lean toward Intel. My main priority is ensuring the system isn't overly noisy.

I prefer to handle the payment in cash.

Timberlake swing? Never heard of it. 🤔 As for that 400W power supply, just saying "400W" isn't enough info. Check what it actually says on the label. Also, what kind of gaming are we talking about here? If you want to play anything remotely serious, a 200GB HDD is going to be way too small. A new Call of Duty can take up like 50GB alone. 🙂 Give me those specific details and we can try to put something together. And can you send a link to that case? Even Google is useless here—it just keeps showing me Justin Timberlake. 🤦