Posts by Robert Rodriguez2

ruggedwolf8 said:Hey everyone! Thinking about swapping my GPU. Wondering if any of these would actually work with my current setup...

Gigabyte GA-MA78LMT-US2H motherboard
AMD Athlon II X3 450 CPU @ 3.2GHz, 1.5MB total cache
Real Power 500W 80 Plus Bronze PSU
Current GPU: HD 5670 1GB DDR3

Mainly just play online stuff (World of Tanks and Lord of the Rings) and occasionally Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 with friends. I'm looking at grabbing an XFX R7 250 1GB DDR5, an XFX R7 360 2GB DDR5, or maybe an NVIDIA GTX 750 Ti 2GB DDR5... or whatever else fits my budget of up to $400.....
Thanks for the help!!

Your board is actually better than mine. My CPU hits 3.8GHz with a little voltage bump... runs at 3.6GHz without touching the voltage...
Try pushing it to 3.6 (assuming you have decent cooling)... that should be plenty. Honestly, the jump I got with the GTX 750 Ti was massive.

Worst case scenario, just unlock the 4th core on that CPU so you don't even need to bother with overclocking.

I had terrible luck though—my 4th core ended up being defective.👎

Quote : The New Guy

swiftfalcon89 said:Everything was running fine, then all three just died on me at once. 😁 Or did you just force them? 😉

Since the first two got fried by lightning, we're looking at a total loss. 👍

And this last one just died on its own. 😬 Look, it was already used when I picked it up. 😂

Don't sweat it, man. Ever since my first PC, I've stuck with EVGA power supplies. Never had a single issue until they finally bit the dust—first one lasted 4 years, then 5, and the last one went after 5 and a half 😁... I didn't grab an EVGA this time simply because they weren't stocked anywhere in Indianapolis, and paying shipping for a PSU isn't worth the hassle $17... so I ended up going with Antec, but if I could've found an EVGA, that's what I would've grabbed.

Betty Chase50 said:Can someone please give me some advice on how to handle this? I picked up a Dell XPS 15 on December 23rd, and it arrived on the 28th. Right from the start, I noticed the touchpad isn't perfectly level, but I figured maybe that was just the design. I did a little digging online today, but I couldn't find anything about this being normal, so I'm assuming something is actually wrong. To be specific, the right side is slightly more recessed than the left. It’s not immediately obvious at first glance, but if you look closely, you can definitely see it. It doesn't affect my work, but it feels wrong to just ignore a defect on a brand-new laptop.
Since tomorrow marks the seventh day since delivery—and I have the option to exchange the unit if it arrives defective within that 7-day window—should I take it straight to the service center tomorrow? Or should I wait a few weeks or months to take advantage of the Dell Promotions deal (which includes cash back and repairs), even though I'm not entirely sure if this specific issue qualifies as a hardware defect covered by that promotion? Thanks!

Take it back to the store.

fadedsailor17 said:are you saying those cheap $133 2GB models aren't any better than mine?

nah, you won't see a real jump until you look at an AMD card like an R7 250 (around $70) or a 250x ($80)
but with Nvidia, check out the GTX 750 (maybe $333 bucks).

Joshua Ramos14 said:In the $1600–$1800 range, what’s actually worth the money? A buddy of mine is looking at this: I don't know why people still bother looking at these old specs. It’s like trying to fix a Ford Mustang with parts from a lawnmower. You can't just slap cheap RAM into a modern rig and expect it to actually run. Just buy something decent from Corsair and move on.

He’s looking to upgrade to an Intel Core i5. Is there anything better in that $1800–$2000 range? If he grabs a motherboard for around $700–$900, he's golden.

Why stick to the baseline?
For that kind of money, you might as well just grab an aftermarket card. You can probably find an R9 380 in that price range too.

Either go with the GTX 960 with 4GB of VRAM or don't bother. It's like choosing between a sedan or a hatchback—you need that extra memory if you don't want to stall out.

fadedsailor17 said:https://www.amazon.com/power-supply-unit-example

http://www.theverge.com/intel-core-i5-review
here's what you need 🙂
before you hit $133

For that price, there isn't anything new worth looking at.

Of course your temps are spiking if you're overclocking on a stock cooler. Grab an aftermarket one like an LC95 for maybe $12 and you'll see those numbers drop immediately.

crimsonstag84 said:1 x AOC I2476Vwm, 23.6" LED IPS, FullHD 1920x1080
1 x XFX P1-450S-GREN TS Series 450W PSU
1 x Intel Core i7 Processor (3.8GHz,4MB,65W,LGA1151) box
1 x ASUS A88XM-E, FM2+, Intel Chipset, DDR3, 2 Slots
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Kingston, Corsair Vengeance, 1866MHz, CL10
1 x SanDisk SSD, 250 GB Capacity
1 x Zalman T5 mini tower case. 170(W) x 427(H) x 348(D)mm.
1 x Thermaltake Contac 21, 775,AM2,AM2+,AM3,AM3+,FM1,1155,1156
1 x C-Lion Aurora 650, 450VA/240W, AVR (Boost and Buck AVR function)

$1549 ADM

+1TB drive if needed

Kept the signature clean since this isn't some gaming rig👍

crimsonstag84 said:It’s probably the motherboard or the power supply... otherwise the Intel Pentium G4400 would definitely be getting smoked by an Intel Core i5-750 in anything using more than two cores.

You should try swapping the power supply into someone else's rig or just borrow a different one.

Guy said he needs a new power supply too.😁

Matthew Alvarez said:What's his problem? He already has 5 HDDs totaling 13TB. He bought one case for now, but he's planning to cram the other 4 drives and an SSD into the rig later. That’s exactly why I picked this motherboard—to handle all those drives.

I missed that part. 👍

silentwalker28 said:AMD Athlon x4 860 AMD Radeon R7 240 MSI gaming 2 GB edition GIGABYTE-970A-DS3P
AMD Radeon R7 240 MSI Gaming 2GB Edition
GIGABYTE-970A-DS3P
G.Skill RipjawsX series 8GB or 2 x 4GB

Bad idea. That CPU won't work on that board... plus your old card actually outperforms this one.
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P v2.0, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Kingston, HyperX Fury, 1866MHz, CL10
1 x Fortron 500W Power Supply, Hyper, PPA5005003, 12cm fan
1 x AMD FX-6300 Processor 3.5GHz,14MB,95W,AM3+, FD6300WMHK
1 x Thermaltake Contac 16, 775,AM2,AM2+,AM3,AM3+,FM1,1155,1156
$802
www.newegg.com

Bryan Grant29 said:Thanks a lot. I'll just get that ordered tomorrow morning.

Don't you need a mechanical drive?

silentwalker28 said:I'm wondering if I could push an overclock to maybe 3.8 or 4 GHz with this cooler. People claim you can hit 4.7, but honestly, sounds like total BS to me.

Not likely with that cooler.🕺

swiftfalcon89 said:I'm not a fan of that 128-bit bus on those GTX cards...

Comparing it to an R9 380? You're basically splitting hairs. One card wins in certain titles, the other takes them. It’s like saying a truck is better than a sedan—it depends on what you're hauling. Honestly, you shouldn't even notice the gap between a 128-bit and a 256-bit bus anyway; it's all about the architecture itself.

swiftfalcon89 said:what's the better pick under $567? That MSI GeForce GTX equivalent or something else?

maybe the GTX 960 if I can find one with 4GB VRAM, Best Buy has them for around $180

silentwalker28 said:It's used, still has 6 months of warranty left, price is $1000

That's a solid build🙂

2 x LG 22MP47D-P IPS, 21.5", 16:9, 1920x1080, 250 cd/m2, 5,000,000:1
1 x Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H, Socket : 1150, Intel B85
1 x Intel Core i5-4460 Processor (3.20GHz, 1MB, 6MB, 84 W, 1150) Box
1 x Sapphire R9 380 NITRO, Dual-X OC Boost, 2GB GDDR5 256 bit
1 x Fortron 700W Power Supply, Hyper, PPA7002702, 12cm fan
1 x COOLERMASTER N400, NSE-400-KKN1, MIDI, USB 3.0, black, no PSU
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Kingston, HyperX Fury, 1866MHz, CL10
1 x Seagate 1TB HDD, Serial ATA III, 7200 rpm, ST1000DM003
1 x OCZ SSD ARC 100 240GB, OCZ Barefoot 3 M10 Controller
$2698
www.newegg.com

You seriously picked that shop? Nobody shops there because their customer service is trash and they make returns a total nightmare.

Just unplug the speakers from the board and plug them back in. This happens to me all the time after an update when macOS decides HDMI is the default audio output... I just yank the cord and pop it back in, the driver realizes it's a jack connection, and boom—sound is back.