nimbleowl94 said:Right now, this rig is doing its job just fine, but I’m looking to give it a little extra kick so I can squeeze another year or two out of it before I save up enough for a serious upgrade. This setup was built back when these parts were actually top-tier, though I did recently drop in a new GPU. If I had the cash lying around, I’d probably grab the $217 quad core (AMD Athlon ii x4 750 k 3.4) along with an ASRock FM2A88M Extreme4 + ), which seems like a solid deal, but then I'd be stuck buying new RAM too, which adds at least $67 to the bill—and my wallet just isn't ready for that kind of hit right now. So, I’m basically wondering if anyone could tell me if that upgrade is actually worth it for gaming, or if there's some other CPU in that same ballpark that would perform better? Thanks 🙂
Also, looking at the prices for the Phenom ii x4 945, they're sitting at over $133, which honestly feels like a bit of a rip-off for what it is right now 🙂
Kimberly Gomez34 told you, your motherboard supports the Phenom ii x4 945, which is still a pretty solid processor by today's standards. I reckon it'll keep running most things for a few more years without hitting massive bottlenecks, provided you don't pair it with an overkill graphics card. Honestly, I think it could even handle something like an R7 270 without too much of a bottleneck. 🙂 If you can find one for a bargain, go for it—the difference will be HUGE 🙂 I switched from a dual-core Athlon, which was slightly weaker than yours, to a newer dual-core Intel, and the difference was night and day. I don't even need to tell you that the jump from your Athlon to a Phenom will be EVEN bigger 😉
First off, please don't say "coolor master"—that isn't a thing. It’s Cooler Master, and they make coolers, power supplies, cases, and whatnot. Second, liquid cooling is expensive, and there’s really no point in putting it on an APU processor; you save those setups for high-end, enthusiast builds. If you actually have an extra $80 burning a hole in your pocket, you could always grab a 🙂
Keith Wright2 said:You could also go this route—everything brand new with a full warranty and a solid processor. That way, if this card feels underpowered later on, you can just save up and swap in whatever high-end GPU you want:
-Intel CPU desktop Core i5-4440 (3.1GHz, 6MB,LGA1150) box -Gigabyte GA-H81M-DS2V motherboard, 1150, iH81, D3, S3, U3, DVI, mA -Sapphire Radeon R7 260 x OC, 1GB GDDR5, DVI, DP, HDMI 11222-05-20G -Fortron power supply 400W, Hexa, 80+, active, 12 cm -Patriot Signature DDR3 1600Mhz, 4GB PSD34G160081 -Toshiba DT01ACA050 500 GB 3.5 -Zalman micro tower case black, ZAL-ZM-T2 plus sveukupno
Total cost:$1148 Best Buy
He’d have to use a 24-month financing plan, which makes it way more expensive at Best Buy...
What are you even going to use all that RAM for? Spending $267 on RAM just because it looks fancy with some RGB lighting and runs at 2400 MHz—which isn't going to help you with anything, let alone improve performance—why bother?
If the 7870 is already pushing the Athlon ii 750 k too hard, then pairing it with a 3870K is just asking for an even worse bottleneck. It’s better to go with the 7850; it'll be a much more balanced setup. 😉 As for the specs on the 750K and the 7870, I actually heard that from Flatron, so blame him if I've got it wrong. 😬
You really need to give us the exact power supply model, because if it's just some random 300W unit, it’s probably junk. You're definitely going to need a new PSU if you're planning on dropping in any decent graphics card, especially since that E6550 processor isn't exactly a low-power chip. If you happen to have an overclockable motherboard, you might be able to squeeze a little more out of that rig, but honestly, I doubt it...
I'm looking to pick up some gaming headphones—ideally a headset, but I'm not set on that $83. I've always figured Fatal1ty gear is the best bang for your buck, and honestly, I used their stuff at a buddy's place for a long time and they were killer, but I’m itching to try something different this time around. I was looking at the unknown or the unknown, but which of those is actually better? Or are there other solid options I should be considering? I'll be heading into Washington, D.C. to buy them with cash.
Actually, I think it’d be best to stretch the budget and aim for the 7870 if possible. Personally, I much prefer the 7XXX series over the 6XX lineup, especially at this level. I usually save Nvidia for builds north of $6,000.
Grab yourself a 7850 from $533, maybe this one or this one. If you can stretch your budget up to $1700, go for the 7870 instead. As far as Nvidia goes, you've got the GTX 660 non ti, but honestly, I don't think it's much of a best buy. In my opinion, your best bet would be aiming for the 7870 or the 7850TF. 😉
crimsonstag84 said:You'd only really need 1kW if you were running a combo like 3x NVIDIA GTX 580 or an HD 7970 on a Sandy Bridge-E platform... for heavy builds, a 450W or 550W XFX unit is plenty.
People were needing 1kW even back during the NVIDIA GTX 400 Series era, which actually pulled more power than the 5XX series did. Even the 2XX cards weren't exactly efficient either. I'm pretty sure the first generation of Sandy Bridge processors drew way more juice than the third gen does now. Those Intel Core i7 900 Series chips were absolute power hogs if I recall correctly. Nowadays, we don't need nearly as much raw wattage because manufacturers are focusing more on efficiency rather than just cranking up pure GPU performance. The NVIDIA GTX 480 is still a beast of a card, but nobody in their right mind would buy one today—it draws insane amounts of power and runs incredibly hot. 😉
Andrew Miller102 said:I wasn't talking about the EVGA one, I meant that other one... EVGA 500 W za $90 You can just imagine what's going on here...🙂I'd honestly rather just grab this Corsair from the other link. The 380W PSU is a little on the weak side, but what's the point in risking it? If I screw this up, I'll just end up banging my head against the wall...😂
When it comes to EVGA power supplies, it's pretty much the same story, right? Honestly, any model sitting below this one isn't even worth mentioning, let alone buying—unless you're in a total bind and... No love to be found here..Looking for a high-quality, reliable power supply—ideally from a top-tier manufacturer if possible. The most critical part of a computer is... There's really no point in bringing it up again, especially since I don't even know how many times people have done this, knowing full well they're intentionally stepping all over it... The golden rule..☕
Folks, the man said it all. 😬 I Fl@tron, I really hope that having an MS power supply was just a total fluke, because I happened to deal with one of those exact same ones by pure coincidence. 🙈
Andrew Miller102 said:Don't bother with labels or technical specs from some random power supply brand; you can just ignore them. You really need to rely on actual testing from a reputable site that benchmarks hardware. When it comes to those stickers on a PSU, if you know it's a Corsair unit, you don't even need to look at the tests—just pay up and take it.😁 😉
Actually, EVGA isn't some mystery brand either. I doubt they'd just slap fake data on their PSU labels. A German is a German! 😁
Timothy Kim60 said:I've heard that the EVGA 600W is actually pretty solid for the price—I was honestly thinking about picking one up myself once.
This looks like a new Best Buy "player" for the money— $86 (BTW, they have a ton of stock in Germany) EVGA ECO Silent bronze 500W and the slightly beefier version EVGA ECO Silent bronze 600W
link 500w description
600w unpacking
Not bad, nearly 400W on the 12V rail and an 80+ certification for $83. 😲 If I'd seen this earlier, I would've gone with this instead of the LC model, especially since the LC lacks 80+ even though it offers 2x20A compared to this unit's 17A and 16A.
Timothy Kim60 said:I noticed some more decent power supplies popping up in that 300-$133 range, which is exactly what most people need. Could those of you who know your stuff rank them for me? Maybe give a quick breakdown or share your thoughts and experiences. Which one is the quietest, which has the best build quality or cabling, which offers the most juice, and which is the best value—the absolute best buy? Also, let me know if any of these are total unknowns. No need to cover everything, just whatever you can.
Budget options (for when money is tight or builds are low-power) EVGA 600W (links 229 and $86) vs Chicony 480w (adm $73) vs Chicony Hipro HPP400W-80PLUS (it futura $89) XILENCE RedWing Edition 420w ($93 hgspot)
A bit pricier, but lower wattage than the ones above For example, chieftec GPS-400A8 ($112 links) vs EVGA hexa 400 ($97 centro.hr) vs silverstone strider ST40F- ES ($116 it futura) vs chieftec iarena 500w (links $113)
Then there's the slightly more expensive/powerful tier GPS-500A8 (lins $126)—how's the power delivery? No reviews found. Thoughts? vs hexa 500w (itfutura $127) vs SST-ST50F-ES-230 ($128 itfutura) vs OCZ 500W CoreXSTream 2 ($126adm) I'm curious about these four specifically (even if you aren't looking at them yourself)
Then, the one that seems to be the top recommendation on the forums Corsair CX430 (itfutura $114) vs LC6460GP3 (links $126) vs the priciest option, xfx 450w (links and adm $140)—why isn't this available anywhere else? wtf?
Anyway, I was bored 😬
I can actually "boast" that I'm the proud owner of an EVGA 600W (in a budget situation 😬), and I can tell you it’s a seriously cheap little miracle. It features two 12V rails at 20A each, giving you about 480W on the 12V rail, plus active PFC and incredibly quiet cooling! Efficiency is rated at 78% (per the box), which is pretty close to an 80+ rating, all for just $83! 😍 I lent it to a buddy (AMD Phenom II X4 840, ATI Radeon 6850) and the PSU didn't even break a sweat on his rig, so I'd say it's a solid recommendation for any broke sixteen-year-olds out there who need a unit for a mid-range PC; just go ahead and shell out those few bucks.$83 I'd grab this PSU because I honestly think it beats out that Chicony unit without an 80+ rating, let alone the Xilence one. I'm not so sure about that Chicony model with the 80+ certification, though. What's its 12V amperage looking like?