1393 posts shown.
Larry Ortiz5 said:I mean, sure, if they have the budget, I’d just feel bad if someone agrees to a whole new build but doesn't account for extra cash upfront to grab an i5. If they go with that processor now, they’ll be set for the future. Plus, if they decide to upgrade to a beefier graphics card later, they won't have to deal with a bottleneck... Otherwise, they'll end up paying for both a new GPU and a new CPU at the same time, which is a massive hit to the wallet. But if they don't plan on changing anything? Then it's fine.. 👍
Exactly. Of course, if you've got the money, it's always worth stepping up to a better processor. Or a better GPU too. 🤣 I mean, looking at how Dead Rising runs right now... it's brutal... 🙂
Larry Ortiz5 said:If you ask me, I’d just keep saving up more cash until I could swing an i5 processor... Because honestly, once you upgrade that CPU... $133 I need to get some gaming done, especially those newer titles hitting the market right now... 🤷 You might end up having to play at 800x600 resolution... 😁
Don't talk nonsense and don't disrespect my processor. 😬 Hang in there. I’ve got an identical setup myself—I’d go as far as to say you might have actually picked yours up from my thread... 😬 Battlefield 3, The Witcher 2, and Dishonored all run perfectly at 1080p. Sure, they aren't exactly the cutting-edge titles on the market right now, but they still work just fine as a benchmark... I think with my... 😁 It could run pretty much anything, though obviously some titles would struggle more than others with the details. That said, it'll definitely work for gaming. There are certain scenarios where that i5 would totally hold its own—like playing multiplayer games such as Battlefield 4. Then you have cases like Dead Rising 3 in single-player, where the GTX 570 and FX 6300 only manage about 30 FPS at 720p on low settings, which is honestly kind of ridiculous. That's an extreme example, but looking at it generally, if you're hunting for a budget gaming build, I don't think you can do much better than this. If you can scrape together a few extra bucks to go for that i5 mentioned earlier, that would definitely be the move. If not the i5, then at least grab a quad-core Athlon. You can easily put something like that together for $3,000. 🙂
James Fisher11 said:Hey everyone 👋
I've been working hard while money was piling up this season, so I figured it's about time to spend a little.
Here are my current specs:
CPU: i5 2500k 3.3 Ghz
MB: ASrock p67 Pro3 B3
GPU: MSI GTX 560TI TwinFrozr II
HDD: Seagate 500 GB CASE
CASE: Coolermaster Elite 335
RAM: Kingston HyperX Blue 2x4gb 1600mhz
PSU: Seasonic 520w SS-520GB
Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S
Since the 800 series graphics cards haven't dropped yet, I'm holding off on the GPU and PSU for now. Instead, I want to focus on aesthetics. I'm looking for a new case—ideally one with a side window, quiet operation, good airflow, and something easy to clean. I also want it to look sleek inside with solid cable management. For cooling, I'd love some liquid cooling that stays quiet enough to keep this Sandy Bridge chip at 4GHz with decent temps until it finally dies. I also need an SSD (120-250GB) and a 1TB Western Digital Black drive. I'm ready to drop $200-$300 depending on what looks good. Let's hear your ideas!
Regarding cooling, I honestly don't think you need liquid to hit 4 GHz; the 2500K is still an overclocking legend, and I bet you could hit 4 GHz easily with a single Cooler Master Hyper 212. You can find the Western Digital Black at Best Buy, and for the SSD, the Intel 520 SSD is currently the best value, or if you want 250 GB, you can grab a Samsung EVO for just under a grand. 🙂 With all that, plus whatever case someone smarter than me suggests, I think you'll still stay under $2,000.
Timothy Kim60 said:The V300 SSD isn't even close to what it used to be. If you're looking at a budget SSD, click—it's got a 5-year warranty. You could save some cash on the power supply (maybe a Fortron Hex) and grab an R7250 2 GB GDDR3 if possible, though that card isn't really worth it...
You can't squeeze both in. If you want a better SSD and a better GPU, you won't find that specific SSD at Best Buy for that price. It makes more sense for him to prioritize a better SSD over a better graphics card, assuming he's not planning on gaming. Honestly, he could just ditch the dedicated GPU entirely and stick with integrated graphics. Whatever a 240 handles, Intel's integrated stuff can manage too.
It’s a solid build, just stick it in a Zalman case and you can save about $10 on the power supply by swapping the Zalman for a Fortron Hex instead. The rig won't even pull 120W, probably less. Use those savings to grab a Samsung evo SSD—I think it's a step up regardless, and it still fits the budget. Also, if there's no plan to overclock without an aftermarket cooler, and we look at slightly better motherboards where possible, there's really no need for that CPU when $33 the cheaper Pentium G3220 🙂 is right there
...
Kate Baker79 said:I'm looking to sell a PC I don't need anymore since I closed down my bar, so I need an estimate on this bucket of bolts:
Computer Type: ACPI x64
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home
Installed Service Pack: -
Internet Explorer:
DirectX: DirectX 11.0
Date / Time: 2014-09-04 / 19:04
Motherboard:
Processor: AMD Sempron, 2000 MHz (10 x 200)
Motherboard Model: Gigabyte Motherboard (2 PCI, 1 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16, 2 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN)
Motherboard Chipset: Nvidia nForce 6100-430, AMD Hammer
System Memory: 1984 MB (DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM)
DIMM1: Kingmax KLDE88F-B8KY6 2 GB DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM (6-6-6-18 @ 400 MHz) (5-5-5-15 @ 333 MHz) (4-4-4-12 @ 266 MHz)
BIOS Type: AMI BIOS (12/30/08)
Serial Port: Serial Port (COM1)
Parallel Port: Parallel Port (LPT1)
Graphics:
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 6150 (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM) (64 MB)
3D Accelerator Chip: Nvidia nForce 6100-430
Multimedia:
Sound Card: Realtek ALC883 @ Nvidia nForce 6100-430 (MCP61P) - High Definition Audio Controller
Storage Subsystem:
IDE Controller: Standard Dual Channel PCI Controller
Storage Controller: Nvidia nForce SATA Controller
Hard Drive: Seagate SCSI Disk (149 GB)
Optical Drive: LITE-ON DVDRW LH-20A1S SCSI CdRom Device (DVD+R9:8x, DVD-R9:8x, DVD+RW:20x/8x, DVD-RW:20x/6x, DVD-RAM:12x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:48x/32x/48x DVD+RW/DVD-RW/DVD-RAM)
Hard Drive SMART Status: OK
Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 59898 MB (47886 MB free)
Total Size: 58.5 GB (46.8 GB free)
Network:
Primary IP Address: ...
Primary MAC Address: 00-24-1D-A2-49-EC
Network Adapter: Nvidia Network Controller
Modem: PCI CX11252-41Z Soft Modem
Peripherals:
USB1 Controller: Nvidia nForce 6100-430 (MCP61P) - OHCI USB 1.1 Controller
USB2 Controller: Nvidia nForce 6100-430 (MCP61P) - EHCI USB 2.0 Controller
USB Device: USB Composite Device
USB Device: USB Input Device
USB Device: USB Input Device
USB Device: USB Mass Storage Device
DMI:
BIOS Manufacturer: AMI BIOS
BIOS Version: BIOS F2
System Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology
System Product: Motherboard DMI
System Version:
System Serial Number:
System UUID: 30303234-31444132-34394543-FFFFFFFF
Motherboard Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology
Motherboard Product: Motherboard DMI
Motherboard Version: DMI
Motherboard Serial Number:
Chassis Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology
Chassis Version:
Chassis Serial Number:
Chassis Asset Tag:
Chassis Type: Desktop Case
DMI Total / Free Slots: 2 / 1
And I was wondering if that's a dedicated graphics card or if it's just built into the motherboard.
thanks
Old-Timer🙂 The only thing here even remotely worth selling would be the RAM; new DDR2 is still pricey, so I think you might get maybe $50 something for the 2 GB. As for everything else—I don't know, maybe $67, MAYBE, if anyone actually wants to buy it at all. 🙂And yeah, the graphics are integrated, you don't have a dedicated 🙂
Timothy Kim60 said:Obviously, they aren't the same.
Check out this link regarding professional power supply units and their 80 PLUS certifications: http://www.fsp-europe.com/profession...ghs_85plus.php
As for this cheap Fortron unit, there isn't even any info on what it actually is. It’s definitely not 80+ Bronze—probably just some low-end, budget junk...
Of course they aren't the same. They just slapped the same photo on both listings, but on the cheaper one, the picture actually shows a power supply with an 80+ sticker on it. $53 For an 80+ power supply? 😲 It just didn't make any sense to me... 🙂
crimsonstag84 said:The Fortron 300 w is basically just an MS FSP 300 w, which honestly makes it the best power supply you can grab for a budget build. That second one is an SFX unit, and it’s actually pretty solid quality.
Yeah, that actually makes sense to me.
Kyle Cox87 said:Hey guys, I'm looking to upgrade my RAM to something better than what I have now.
Here's my current PC setup:
http://prntscr.com/4jlui4
http://prntscr.com/4jluln
http://prntscr.com/4jlur0
http://prntscr.com/4jlwpq
Basically, let me know what you think would be the best move here. Thanks in advance.
Just hunt down some cheap DDR2 RAM on eBay. Doesn't matter which brand, as long as it works and fits. 🙂
I don't want to start a whole new thread over something trivial, but I'm genuinely confused about what's going on with these Fortron units at Micro Center. THIS one and THIS one have identical photos and the exact same wattage, yet there's a glaring price difference. What's the catch? Which of these budget power supplies is actually the better deal?
Robert Rodriguez2 said:1 x Asrock FM2A88M EXTREME4+, FM2,FM2+, AMD A88X (Bolton-D4), DDR3
1 x AMD Trinity Athlon ii x4 750 3.40GHz 4cores
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Sapphire R7 265 2GB GDDR5 Dual-X, 2GB GDDR5 256bit, 28nm
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
1 x CORSAIR 430W Power Supply, CX Series 80+ Bronze, EPS12V v2.3, 80+
1 x LG GH24NS DVD burner, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R
1 x Zalman ZM-T2 PLUS micro tower case. 189(W) x 427,5(H) x 364(D)mm
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm ,92mm
$1190
It'll fit, and even a much stronger GPU 😁
LIKE I ALREADY SAID 😬, yeah, it fits, but I don't think there's any reason to bother given what he needs. If he really wants to, he could even throw in a 265😛
1 x Asrock FM2A88M EXTREME4+, FM2,FM2+, AMD A88X (Bolton-D4), DDR3
1 x Procesor AMD Trinity Athlon II X4 750K 3.40GHz 4cores
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 ,hladnjak, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm ,92mm
1 x Napajanje FORTRON 400W, HEXA 400, 12cm ventilator, Active PFC
1 x DVD upisivač LG GH24NS, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R
1 x Zalman ZM-T2 PLUS micro tower case. 189(W) x 427,5(H) x 364(D)mm
1 x XFX R7-260X-ZNF4, Core Radeon R7 260X 1075M Boost 1GB DDR5
$1085 Best Buy
Since a computer with the specs from $667 can handle those first three tasks without breaking a sweat, I focused everything else strictly on gaming. If you aren't a hardcore gamer or don't plan on playing anything too demanding, you could definitely go cheaper and save some cash. I actually could have squeezed a more powerful graphics card into your budget, but I didn't want to overdo it since it doesn't seem necessary for what you need. However, if you really want to boost those gaming frames, you could swap in THIS GPU instead and you'd still be right within your budget. 😉
Timothy Kim60 said:Actually, no. It’s got a VRM cooler, better overclocking potential, and it's even slightly cheaper (well, not really, but Best Buy has some totally messed up pricing right now)...
That GPU
Just grab the cheapest memory available. There’s no such thing as "better" vs "worse" when it comes to RAM; it’s all the same crap in practice unless you're running an APU
two of these, or if your motherboard has two RAM slots, you could just go with this one
See, I didn't know. I don't have any hands-on experience, I just read what was written about it and figured it didn't matter 🙂
Timothy Kim60 said:Adam Moore3, why even mention that motherboard next to this one
?
I'd honestly rather grab a standard R9 270 from XFX for $53 less than the 270X; those cards Amy Vaughn12 mentioned aren't even available.
Difference? It's the same garage, same equipment. 🤷
Nicholas Ross5 said:Is this the one:
http://www.amazon.com/artikl-051.806.949
And is this RAM
http://www.amazon.com/?naziv=memory-...kl=051.210.294
better than what Adam Moore3 is putting in?
RAM doesn't matter; just grab the cheapest option and call it a day, unless you're pairing a PC with an APU, but that's a different conversation entirely. No need to go for the pricier version. 🙂
uploading photos to the web
Are you paying cash or using a card? If you're going with cash, you could probably find a better deal and better selection at a different retailer since Best Buy isn't exactly the best when it comes to pricing. Plus, they might even deliver and set everything up right at your doorstep for free. 🙂
It’ll handle Modern Warfare 3 without any issues. I'm still running an Athlon paired with a GeForce 9600 GT, and I managed to get MW3 running pretty smoothly. That setup definitely still has some life left in it. You can overclock the processor quite well, which opens up the door for a GPU upgrade—that would give you a massive boost in gaming performance, just like crimsonstag84 mentioned. Don't expect miracles, though; you aren't going to be running Crysis 3 easily, but there's still plenty of stuff you can play. Plus, you can always carry that graphics card over to your next build. 😉
fadedorca66 said:I mean, honestly, it’s probably not worth it even for a new CPU unless you snag an absolute steal.
Just grab a Western Digital instead; at least you can toss that into a new build later on.
But how am I supposed to do that when this motherboard doesn't even support SATA3?
Kyle Martin67 said:I actually received a much smarter suggestion—it’s probably better to just put those $150 toward a beefier processor now, then look into building a whole new rig later on 🙂
Yeah, definitely. $150 Buying new RAM for such an outdated rig—it's just not worth it. 🙂
Kimberly Gomez34 said:Would you overclock it?
For web browsing, YouTube, and strategy games, even a Pentium or an i3 would be perfectly fine for you...
If you want to max out your budget, an i5 will fit:
1 x Intel Core i5-4440 Processor (3.10GHz,1MB,6MB,84 W,1150) Box
1 x Asrock s1150 H81M-HDS - Intel H81, M-ATX, dual Channel 2 xDDR3
1 x CORSAIR 430W Power Supply, CX Series 80+ Bronze, EPS12V v2.3, 80+
1 x MSI GTX750 1GB DDR5, N750-1GD5
1 x Zalman ZM-T1 PLUS micro tower case. 189(W) x 427,5(H) x 364(D)mm
$993
Do you also need a monitor (I noticed you didn't include one in your list) and a case?
The CPU might be slightly overkill for what you actually need, but if you're planning to ride this PC for years to come, it could be a smart move. With a stronger graphics card, you'll be able to play all the modern titles—though you could also go with an i3 paired with a more powerful GPU. That includes newer versions of those classics you mentioned, like Starcraft 2, Red Alert 3, and so on...
EDIT
Now, if you truly only care about those old-school games like Red Alert 2, Warcraft 3, Starcraft 1, etc., then you are essentially throwing money away on a brand-new rig. Those ancient titles can be crushed by a prehistoric PC. If you really need a new machine just for that, you should probably just grab a Celeron like the $100 g1820. It’s more than enough power for those games, and since it has integrated graphics, it'll handle them easily while saving you a massive amount of cash.
I honestly think it's total overkill for him; an i5 just to play Frozen Throne🤣 I tried to suggest a middle ground: a quad-core CPU with a decent GPU while still saving some cash. But like you said, he could easily stick with a Celeron or a Pentium and everything will be fine, at least regarding his specific requirements..
swiftnomad95 said:My apologies—I edited this post a bit late... I already have the HDD and RAM, which puts me at about $233...
HDD and RAM +$1000
I updated my post too, you can check it out. Basically, just cut those two items from the budget and keep the rest of the money. In my opinion, there's really no need to go for a higher-end setup given what you're looking for. If you're really itching to spend that extra $233, then maybe look into getting an SSD. 😁