Posts by Robert Rodriguez2

Zachary Gomez3 said:It’s like people around here just don't have a thing for NVIDIA, right?

I don't have a specific budget in mind. I'm just trying to figure out what it'll actually take to land a decent graphics card.

I personally lean toward NVIDIA, but in the price bracket where the 7850 sits, there isn't anything else worth looking at.

Unless we're talking about that new 650TI Boost edition... but that thing hasn't even hit the shelves here in the States yet.

Zachary Gomez3 said:It’s basically a wash between the 7870 and the 7850. $133 There’s a massive gap in performance, honestly. I just can't tell if pushing for the 7870 is total overkill or not. 😁 The 7850 seems like it could handle just about anything. Thoughts?

If you aren't planning on overclocking, that processor is fine. The 7850 is plenty. Getting a 7870 would just bottleneck your GPU—you'd basically be throwing $60 into the trash.

Nothing under 7770 even comes close to your 9800 🙂
. Anything less is just throwing money down the drain

At your budget, you're getting the best bang for your buck with the HD7770. The 7750 is a bit weaker, but if you aren't trying to crank everything to max settings, it might actually do the job for you.

Sean Doyle9 said:My GPU just died on me. I checked out a few local shops nearby and found these cards. Looking for some advice or better suggestions:
1. Dell Radeon HD5450 1gb---$110

2. AMD Radeon HD6570 2gb---$167

WHICH ONE IS BETTER AND ARE THESE EVEN WORTH BUYING? If they suck, maybe suggest something else up to $167.

What else is in your rig? What kind of power supply are you running?

northernowl33 said:Doesn't make sense to me. Why sell it for 2k when someone might drop 3k? Plus, you get a full warranty.

No way you have a full warranty on that. Those parts are older than three years.

I wouldn't even trust your "computer science expert" friend to grade a high school paper after hearing those takes.

And you? Way to come here seeking advice just to turn around and buy a worse setup than anything suggested. Real smart move there.

You’re exactly the kind of customer businesses love to prey on. 👏👏

fadedorca66 said:The whole damn subforum already gave you a hard NO, and you're still overthinking this?

Man, Osmanko... give it a rest. 😁

Guy’s got too much cash on him. 😁

Nathan Brooks4 said:Which one of these two GPUs would you recommend for an AMD Phenom setup?
http://www.bestbuy.com/example-gpu-link-1

http://www.bestbuy.com/example-gpu-link-2

If it doesn't have to be from Best Buy, you can probably find a 7770 at other shops for that kind of cash.

Brandon Patel852 said:Here’s my build:
SAMSUNG 500GB HDD 7200rpm 16MB cache Serial ATA II-300, F3
NVIDIA GeForce 550W PSU - EasyRail technology
Dell Optical Drive, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R ,8x DL , 40x CD-R
Gigabyte GZ-X8, midi tower, no PSU, black-silver, USB
DDR3 4GB (2x2GB) Kingmax, 1333MHz, FLFE
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz,1MB/6MB,95W,Socket 1155
ASUS Motherboard, Socket : 1155, Skylake, Intel Z77, 4xDDR3
GPU is a GTX 1060.

Instead of that card (it's giving me trouble), I'd grab something else. These are the candidates:
http://www.newegg.com/example-product-1
http://www.newegg.com/example-product-2
http://www.newegg.com/example-product-3

Price $500 (+-$17) max. Which one would you pick?
Need it for gaming 🙂

Also, would the GPU work with my current setup? (considering the PSU and motherboard)

I'd go with the MSI 7850 (longest warranty)

Larry Ortiz5 said:Don't want to clutter things up with a new thread, so I'll just say this: I'm running a GTX 660 Twin Frozr right now. If you were in my shoes, would you bother heading over to... GTX 660 Twin Frozr or XFX 7950?

Nah. You've got one GPU that carries the whole damn load.
Why would he throw money away?

Larry Bailey94 said:Alright, here's the final plan for tomorrow. Last time I'm bugging you guys for advice—is this build solid?

ASUS FM2A75 PRO4-M motherboard

Intel Core i3-4130 processor

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 graphics card, 1GB DDR5, GDMI, 2x DVI, DP, HDTV

1TB Seagate Barracuda hard drive, SATA3, 64 MB cache, 7200 RPM, desktop grade

PC-10666 RAM, 4GB MUSHKIN SILVERLINE STILETTO, 991770, DDR3, 1333MHZ

Pioneer BD-RE DVD+-RW, 24X, SATA, Dual Layer, Black, Bulk

XILENCE BLUE LED 120x120x25 mm CASEFAN, HYDRO, BEARING x2

Thermaltake Commander MS-I case

450W power supply, EVGA CORE EDITION p1-450s-x2B9, ATX, 120MM VENT, PFC
[WILL THIS POWER SUPPLY HAVE ENOUGH JUICE OR NOT?]

It'll be enough.🙂

David Sanders4 said:I definitely agree, but that HD7770 is going to be hitting low FPS in a year or two. It’s obvious you won't notice much difference between 30 and 60 FPS; you might feel the drops, but if it's locked, it's hard to tell... that's why Nvidia Adaptive VSync exists. Some reviews list both minimum and average FPS, which is something people should actually pay attention to. On the other hand, I'd recommend a 3770k or 3470k if he wants Intel, because that CPU can handle at least 4 or 5 cards, though he'll need a beastly GPU and will probably have to swap it out every year if he wants to stay at 60 FPS... assuming he plays at 1920*1080, since widescreen is basically the standard for shooters now. If his budget is tight, getting an ATI 7850 is better than a 7700, and he can just push through on 1280*1024 for another few years—that was my advice. Or just grab a used Q6600 or Q9550 at a decent price, not some overpriced nonsense.

Give it a rest... enough with the quoting... not everyone is playing BF3 or those other shooter crap games on Ultra settings.😁
And you and everyone else... the guy didn't come here for your nonsense, he came to get a build that lets him play decently.

Do you even see what kind of budget this kid has? And he's still trying to cut it down...

Off-topic: below $1000 is how it looks, since he doesn't even need high-end optics... so, like this:

1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1333MHz, CL9, Value
1 x MSI R7770, 1GB GDDR5 128bit, 28nm, DVI + HDMI x1
1 x CORSAIR 430W Power Supply, CX Series 80+ Bronze, EPS12V v2.3, 80+
1 x AMD Trinity Athlon ii x4 750 3.40GHz quad Core
1 x MSI FM2-A75MA-E35, FM2, micro ATX, AMD A75 chipset, 2xDDR3

$847
I wouldn't go lower than this, everything comes with a 3-year warranty.
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1333MHz, CL9, Value
1 x MSI R7770, 1GB GDDR5 128bit, 28nm, DVI + HDMI x1
1 x AMD Trinity Athlon ii x4 740 3.20GHz quad Core
1 x Asrock FM2A75M-DGS - AMD A75 Hudson D2, M-ATX, Solid Capacitor
1 x FORTRON 400W Power Supply, HEXA 400, 12cm fan, Active PFC

$800

1 x LG GH24NS DVD burner, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R, 8x DL, 40x CD-R
1 x MSI R7770, 1GB GDDR5 128bit, 28nm, DVI + HDMI x1
1 x AMD Trinity Athlon ii x4 750 processor, 3.40GHz 4 cores
1 x Thermaltake Contac 21, fits 775, AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1, 1155, 1156
1 x 8GB DDR3 Kit (2x4GB) Kingmax, 1600MHz, CL9.0, 128Mx8, FLGF
1 x CORSAIR 430W Power Supply, CX Series 80+ Bronze, EPS12V v2.3, 80+
1 x MSI FM2-A75MA-E35, FM2, micro ATX, AMD A75 chipset, 2xDDR3

$1008
newegg.com

1 x AMD Trinity Athlon ii x4 740 processor, 3.20GHz 4 cores
1 x 4GB DDR3 (1x4GB) Kingston, 1333MHz, CL9, Value
1 x Asrock FM2A75M-DGS - AMD A75 Hudson D2, micro ATX, Solid Capacitor
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 Sapphire HD 7850 + DiRT Showdown, 1GB GDDR5 256bit, 28nm, DVI

$1002

XFX definitely

Look, Zalman or Corsair aren't bad brands...

But if you've got the cash, go with XFX hands down.

Jack Alvarez said:Thanks for the advice, everyone. Truth is, I need to grab a GPU first before I even think about anything else. 😉

If your games are already running on max settings, you're just throwing money down the drain.

If it’s still hitting max settings without breaking a sweat, you have zero reason to upgrade.

ironhawk3 said:How much overclocking headroom does this actually have?
I’ve heard the stuff the Green Party offers is mostly fluff anyway (PhysX, Adaptive Vsync, GeForce Experience, Ambient Occlusion, Turbo Boost, FXAA, TXAA—though I think AMD has some of that, just without the ads). So I'm leaning toward the 7970. My i5 3570k can handle it, and the 7970 has more VRAM. Plus, looking at the 384-bit bus, it seems beefier at resolutions higher than 1080p.

The Vapor X was built specifically to be overclocked, right??

Exactly.

And why would you think NVIDIA's features are useless?
Not even close... not even close... especially when it comes to Adaptive Vsync and PhysX... they're actually super useful.🙂

boldgull8 said:I was browsing some local sales and stumbled upon this Gigabyte 7770 OC and thought, man, what a steal. Then I actually read the product description and realized—there's no way that's a 7770. What do you guys think? A typo or a scam?

Why would it be a scam?

Best Buy is a legit retailer, I doubt they'd risk it on a scam
It's just a discount on the $33

Paul Garcia42 said:I'm gonna grab something like that. 😁

Man, the only thing is I'm buying it on a payment plan, so it ends up being $100 pricier 😢 than just paying upfront.
I assume they'll put it together for free over there? lol

As for the OS... can I just run XP or am I forced to go with Windows 7?? haha
It's not like I'm an expert, but I recall XP doesn't support more than 3.25GB of RAM—or maybe it shows 3.25GB but actually uses all 8GB... I don't know anymore. Total newbie here. hh

How much bigger is the monthly payment if you take $17 for 6 months versus doing it for a year? $8.25 What's the difference? You won't even feel it.

Paul Garcia42 said:thanks for the help man.. I think I'll grab that Corsair CX 430 power supply and go with that AMD processor haha.

Seems like the smarter move. If I remember right, I can always swap in a beefier PSU and a better GPU later if some demanding Need for Speed title comes out. 😁

I'm not much of a gamer, just like playing a racing game once in a while.

thanks again hh

1 x Gigabyte GZ-X4, midi tower, no PSU, black-red, USB, Firewire
1 x ASRock FM2A75 PRO4 - AMD A75 Hudson D2, M-ATX, Capacitor
1 x AMD Trinity A10-Series x4 5800, 3.80GHz, Quad-core, FM2
1 x Corsair CX 430, 80+ Bronze, EPS12V v2.3, 80+
1 x Hard Disks WD 500GB, 5000AAKX, SATA 3, 16MB Buffer, 7200 rpm, 8.9 ms
1 x DDR3 8GB (2x4GB) Kingston, 1866MHz, CL9, HyperX Beast.

$968
This is how I'd do it:🙂
You've got a decent case😁 with two fans built-in, and that power supply is more than enough to handle a card like an AMD Radeon HD 7850. 🙂

Adam Moore3 said:Look, people, everything that guy said is spot on. 😬 Robert Rodriguez2, I hope that having an MS power supply was just a total fluke, because I happened to have one of those exact same units myself. 🙈

Andrew Fox74 said:Honestly, I’d rather just take a $100 hit.$50 Better to grab a used Fortron or something similar than some brand new MS Dreka.

That was sarcasm. 😬

I never buy garbage power supplies. I’d much rather save a few bucks and go with a slightly weaker CPU or GPU. But I don't skimp on the PSU, and I don't skimp on the motherboard either.