Posts by Robert Rodriguez2

Sean Garcia3, you kidding me? Why on earth would anyone swap out a platform that isn't giving them any real edge over what they already own?

He’s sitting on an 1155 socket CPU, yet you're trying to push an 1150 platform on him... he'll have a new board, an SSD, and the rest of the rig😁 but then what happens to his processor?

1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6300 3.5GHz,14MB,95W,AM3+, FD6300WMHK
1 x XFX R9-270A, R9-270A-CDFC, Double Dissipation Edition 925M Boost
1 x ZALMAN CNPS 5X Performa, socket 775/1155/1156/AM2/AM2/AM3

$706
It's a bit over budget, but honestly, it'll blow whatever they're running now out of the water. 🙂

If there's a decent cooler involved, just overclock that CPU to 4GHz, grab a slightly better GPU, and call it a day. 🙂

Sell the old chip. 🙂

crimsonstag84 said:

For sure... the deals at Yahoo lately have been a complete joke. Total disaster.

Timothy Kim60 said:What case are you running?

Worst case scenario, if the cooler is too tall—just don't close the side panel. Some people leave them off anyway just to get better airflow.

And what's even the point of an aftermarket cooler? You could just crack the case open and aim a desk fan at it.😬

graniteharbor85 said:Tell us the case model first, then we can actually talk.

Too late, he already ordered it. xD

Look, if this isn't your primary paycheck or something you need to pay the rent with, then here’s my take. Honestly, an i7 is total overkill for what you're doing, but if you want to go that route, try this:

1 x ASUS Z97-K, 1150, Intel ® Z97, DDR3,DDR3, 4 Slots
1 x Intel Core i5-4690K (3.50GHz,1MB,6MB,88 W,1150) Box
2 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Samsung 120 GB 840 evo Basic, SSD disk, 120 GB Capacity, 2.5"
1 x HDD WD 1TB, Caviar Blue 10EZEX, 1000 GB, SATA3,64 MB, 3.5", 24mo
1 x Fortron 500W Power Supply, Hyper, PPA5005003, 12cm fan
1 x LG GH24NS DVD burner, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R
1 x Zalman Z3 mid tower case. 192(W)x465(H)x430(D)mm. Standard MB size
1 x MSI GTX750 1GB DDR5, N750-1GD5
1 x COOLERMASTER Hyper 412S, socket 1366 / 1156 / 1155 / 775 / FM1

$2116

You can cut costs here. Switching to an AMD setup won't cost you any real performance:

2 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Samsung 120 GB 840 evo Basic, SSD disk, 120 GB Capacity, 2.5"
1 x HDD WD 1TB, Caviar Blue 10EZEX, 1000 GB, SATA3,64 MB, 3.5", 24mo
1 x Fortron 500W Power Supply, Hyper, PPA5005003, 12cm fan
1 x LG GH24NS DVD burner, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R
1 x Zalman Z3 mid tower case. 192(W)x465(H)x430(D)mm. Standard MB size
1 x MSI GTX750 1GB DDR5, N750-1GD5
1 x COOLERMASTER Hyper 412S, socket 1366 / 1156 / 1155 / 775 / FM1
1 x ASUS M5A97 R2.0, AM3,AM3+, AMD 970, SB950, BUS 5200 MHz, DDR3
1 x AMD FX-Series X8 8320 3.5GHz,16MB,125W,AM3+, FD8320FRHK

$1780

1 x ASUS M5A97 R2, AM3, AM3+, AMD 970, SB950, BUS 5200 MHz, DDR3
1 x AMD FX-Series X8 8320 Processor 3.5GHz, 16MB, 125W, AM3+, FD8320FRHK
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Intel 120GB SSD 520, 2.5", SATA III-600, R/W:550/520MB/s
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo, 2011, 1366/1156/775/AM3/ 626g, 13-32dB

$1030
www.ibm.com
Just an AMD alternative for you. It's basically on par with an i5, but you get the overclocking option too. 👍

1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Intel 120GB SSD 520, 2.5", SATA III-600, R/W:550/520MB/s
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x AMD FX-Series X6 6300 Processor 3.5GHz, 14MB, 95W, AM3+, FD6300WMHK
1 x ZALMAN CNPS 5X Performa, socket 775/1155/1156/AM2/AM2/AM3
1 x Fortron 500W Power Supply, Hyper, PPA5005003, 12cm fan

$987

Or go this route. You can still OC decently, it'll handle gaming just fine, and you're getting a solid new power supply included. 🙂 Down the road, just slap in a better mid-range GPU 😁 and you're set for years. 🙂

Andrew Roberts3 said:Hey everyone.

Since my old rig is basically dying on me and it’s getting pretty ancient, I decided to treat myself to a new one for New Year's Day. I was thinking about heading over to $2000, but not too far, because I think you can find a decent setup for that kind of cash. I've narrowed it down to these two builds:

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K, LGA 1150
Cooler: Raijintek Themis
Motherboard: ASUS Z97, LGA 1150
Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 970, 3GB DDR5
Memory: 8GB DDRIII
Hard Drive: 1TB HDD
Case: Zalman Z3 Plus
Optical Drive: DVD-RW, Dual Layer, SATA
Power Supply: Fortron Hyper 700W

Price is $1966.

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.5GHz LGA 1150
Motherboard: ASUS Z97, SATAIII, LGA 1150
Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 760, 2GB
Memory: 8GB DDRIII
Hard Drive: 1TB SSHD
Case: Zalman Z1
Optical Drive: DVD-RW, Dual Layer, SATA
Power Supply: ZALMAN 700W PFC

Price is $1800.

Now, since I don't really know much about parts, I need someone who actually knows their stuff to tell me if this cheaper build is good enough, or if I should just bite the bullet and shell out another $167 (I mean, I don't buy a new PC every year, so if I have to spend a few extra bucks, fine). Also wondering if I should add anything else—maybe more RAM—or if there's a way to get the same components for less money. Just to be clear, I'm not looking at peripherals since mine still work fine.

Thanks in advance for any help.

1 x ASUS M5A97 R2.0,
AM3, AM3+, AMD 970,
SB950, BUS 5200 MHz,
DDR3
1 x Intel Core i5-4460
8320
3.5GHz, 16MB, 125W, AM3+,
FD8320FRHK
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB)
Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Sapphire R9 280 3GB OC
Dual-X, 3GB GDDR5
384bit, 28nm
1 x HDD WD 1TB, Caviar Blue
10EZEX, 1000 GB,
SATA3, 64 MB, 3.5", 24mj
1 x Power Supply FORTRON 550W
Raider, RA550, 12cm
fan
1 x DVD drive LG GH24NS,
DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x
DL , 40x CD-R
1 x Zalman Z3 mid tower
case.
192(W)x465(H)x430(D)mm.
MB standard
1 x ZALMAN CNPS 5X
Performance, socket
775/1155/1156/AM2/AM2/
AM3
$1806

www.newegg.com

this is more than enough for gaming.
The gap between the 280 and 280x isn't big enough to justify the $200 price difference.
Plus you'll have room left in the budget if you want to grab an SSD.

Dennis Carter3 said:Where are you getting this idea that the $67 budget is blown for $37? If we're talking about Kepler, if the contact is 16 then it's $47, which isn't much compared to what you get with an FX-series setup. I don't think saving that much is a real issue...

The real issue is when you can't scrape the cash together at all, let alone deal with the extra costs if things go south.

Dennis Carter3 said:Look, if this doesn't fit the FX 83 xx later when he upgrades, he’ll be forced into buying a whole new motherboard. That's gonna end up being way more expensive than just grabbing a new case and a CPU in my book. Plus, the budget is pretty tight $47 using Kepler would be $37 and he gets a CPU with two extra cores that's actually decent, which helps gaming performance too.

That's not even the point right now. The point is the guy has $1000, so we should put whatever gives him the best bang for his buck within that $3,000 limit instead of blowing the budget by $67...

Dennis Carter3 said:I didn't go with Kepler, I used ThermalTake Contact 16. The New Guy was the one who mentioned Kepler. The case isn't even an issue—I'll just swap it out during a proper upgrade later. There are plenty of $83 solid ones out there. Right now, I just need to secure the foundation. Everything else is just noise.

Just give him those $83 so he can actually finish the upgrade 👍

Alexander Moore67 said:If I were you

http://www.newegg.com/p/product&product_id=50282

Personally, I'd take a Gigabyte card over an Asusica any day.👍

Budget is 3000, not 3200 🤦

Adam Moore3 said:Maybe it's just an issue with the ASUS models specifically. Every Sapphire card I've ever tested worked fine. Sapphires are cheaper, too. Honestly, I don't get why anyone would bother with ASUS when they're basically the same thing for more money.

lol, that's exactly it... it's ridiculous. It's the same mess they made with the GTX 980 Matrix Platinum or whatever...
They slapped on some "extreme" cooling setup, but the heatsink doesn't even touch the memory chips. They just overheat. Total disaster. 😁

Roger Mitchell4 said:hey,
I'm picking up a gaming rig this week. Any advice on a solid build for $1000? What do you think of this setup:cpu:amd athlkon x4 860k
gpu:gigabyte 260x
ram:crucial ballastix sport 8 gb ram
motherboard:asrock extreme 4+a88mmobo
case:raidmax stingray 249-batxcase

Do you have the rest of the parts already or are you starting from scratch?

crimsonstag84 said:Just one Crucial 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800) CL11 stick.
One MSI H81M-P33 mATX motherboard. It’s got the standard setup—S1150 socket, DDR3, SATA II/III, plus all the usual ports like USB 3.0, LAN, and those standard audio inputs/outputs. Just a basic retail unit.
Just one Intel Core i3-4150.
One Zalman ZM-Z1, black, with USB 3.0 and dual 120mm fans.
Just one 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200 hard drive.

Total: $898 Accenture

It’s a Patriot Signature series stick—1600MHz, 8GB (single module), model PSD38G16002.
The Zalman ZM-Z1 mid tower case in black—comes with USB 3.0, but just a heads up, it doesn't include a power supply.
The MSI H81M-P33 motherboard.
I guess we're looking at the Intel Core i3 4160.
It looks like we're looking at a 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200. I guess that's a standard 3.5-inch SATA drive with 64MB cache. Maybe just a basic workhorse for a desktop setup.

All in all: $861 I guess I'm just looking for some clarity on the center point. Maybe there's a way to pin it down?

You could probably save some cash on the RAM and motherboard if you head downtown, since you're pretty close to Accenture anyway. Just an idea, I guess. 🙂

You could probably get away with an AMD FX 6300 and a standard 1TB HDD, though I guess I'm not entirely sure how much 2D CAD actually scales with extra cores.

For 2D, it doesn't matter... it runs fine on an old single-core Pentium 4 without any lag... so this setup will definitely be an upgrade.

Joshua Garcia3 said:Help me out here—what's a fair price for this "EVGA GeForce GTX 450"? It's brand new, still in the box, never even touched, but the warranty is long gone.

If you pull it $133 then you're looking at decent cash 😳 even if it’s unused. No one cares about a dead warranty.

Thomas Campbell12 said:Thanks for the help.
I went with this setup, hope it works out,
ASUS Prime H81M-K, s1150 - $127
http://www.newegg.com/p/product_info.php?c...76bf57cdcc4e1b
Intel Pentium G3220, 3.00GHz,512KB,3MB, Haswell - $140
http://www.newegg.com/p/product_info.php?c...76bf57cdcc4e1b
DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Corsair, 1600MHz, CL11,Value, CMV4GX3M1A160C11 - $105
http://www.newegg.com/p/product_info.php?c...76bf57cdcc4e1b

👍
pretty much the same list.

Adam Moore3 said:The guy wanted an SSD, so I gave him an SSD. It isn't a Phoenix Zalman, but I think it’ll hold its own alongside the Spire. By that, I mean it should keep temperatures within a normal range, and what else does he actually need? Personally, I wouldn't trade an SSD just to get a fancier motherboard or case; he's going to feel the difference with the SSD way more. 🙂

I'd toss that case into a build worth about two bucks and call it a day.

I was working on it the other day and man, the build quality is trash. The metal casing is flimsy as hell—it twists right under my hands. I ended up with deep cuts on my hands like I went looking for trouble with a knife. So yeah, thanks for nothing. 😳

An SSD won't do squat for your gaming performance. You aren't getting more FPS, you aren't getting better frame times—nothing. It just makes Windows boot faster and gets you into a game quicker. That's it.
Good cooling will definitely pay off. It keeps the rig from overheating and helps everything last longer. 😁

Alexander Moore67 said:If someone is dead set on a Samsung SSD just because some kid told them to, fine. I can't blame people for blowing their budget, but don't act like you're some tech genius for doing it.

It’s slightly slower—not enough to notice in real-world use—and it comes with two extra years of warranty for a better price.😒

Timothy Kim60 said:1 x Asrock H81M-HDS, s1150, Intel H81, mATX, dual Channel 2 xDDR3
1 x Intel Celeron G1820 Processor (2.70GHz,512KB,2MB,54 W,1150) Box
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Seagate 1TB HDD, Serial ATA III, 7200 rpm, ST1000DM003
1 x Corsair VS Series Power Supply, 350 Watt, ATX, ATX12V v2.31
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

$659 adm

The motherboard has VGA, DVI, and HDMI—three outputs, so just pick one. You can always grab a VGA to DVI converter if you need it.

Regarding graphics—any card has three outputs, even the cheap stuff from $100 like a GT 610 or HD6450 (VGA, DVI, HDMI). But they're a waste of money since they aren't any stronger than the integrated graphics on this Haswell chip anyway. Besides, they won't fit your budget when you're barely scraping together a decent PC for $200. You could maybe make it work by ditching the fancy cooler, using a cheaper case, and maybe cutting back to a 500GB drive, but honestly, there's no point in spending the extra cash.

Looks clean!

1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050
1 x AMD Trinity A8-Series x4 5600 Processor 3.60GHz 4cores, FM2
1 x Asrock FM2+ FM2A58M-HD+, Socket FM2+ 95W / FM2 100W processors
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 Cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm ,92mm
1 x MS CASTOR Midi tower case, ATX, mATX, external slots: 4x5,25
1 x Corsair VS Series Power Supply, 350 Watt, ATX, ATX12V v2.31

$708
Here are some other $40 options. You get a quad-core CPU, 4 gigs of RAM, and enough storage to handle anything moderately demanding. It'll run fine. 🙂

1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x MS CASTOR Midi tower case, ATX, mATX, external slots: 4x5,25
1 x Corsair VS Series Power Supply, 350 Watt, ATX, ATX12V v2.31
1 x ASUS H81M-R, 1150, H81 express chipset, DDR3, 2 slots
1 x Intel Pentium G3420 Processor (3.20GHz,512KB,3MB,54 W,1150) Box
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100

$636
Or go with Intel.