Posts by mellowtiger83

boldraven8 said:I’m also planning to pick up a monitor, and my budget is $2333, which includes the monitor itself. I would appreciate it if one of the experts here could put together a build for that amount, because I really don't want to mess this up. Naturally, I prefer paying cash upon delivery at my door.

I doubt you can pay that way. They'll build the rig and ship it, but only if you prepay online or through the store first.

I'm not entirely certain, but I suspect nobody is going to assemble a custom build for you just to have you pay on arrival—unless you leave some kind of agreed-upon deposit. Honestly, people need some sort of guarantee that you're actually going to follow through, if you catch my drift.

wiredotter14 said:what new CPU can I put on this motherboard?

First off, I estimated $2500-$2600, and honestly, I wasn't far off.
Look, this $2724 configuration is basically a space shuttle compared to what that guy actually got for $2400. 😵😵😵
You could have even gone with a Haswell Pentium, which would leave them a great upgrade path later on.

Obviously, 4GB of RAM works—you can always add more once you save up some cash—and playing on 4GB is perfectly fine. The 500GB HDD is also fine; a 1TB drive costs a bit more, but 500GB is plenty for most things.

In any case, that computer with the R7 360 ended up being more expensive than my build, even though other guys might be able to put something together better within this budget—and mine is still miles ahead in performance.



P.S.

Let me know when you finally finish that custom rig of yours that only you could pull off. 😉

It’s an excellent build 👍. I doubt anyone else here could do better. You saved a little on the memory and the case, but for that price, you won't find anything better. Just spend two or three hours browsing the hardware market and you'll see. 😁

wiredotter14 said:this applies to used gear, everything else is shaky

For $2500, $867 he could have picked up a decent gaming rig (something like an Athlon 845 + RX 460), which would be leagues ahead of this relic he ended up with.

As it stands, he’s stuck with a processor incapable of running modern titles and a graphics card that costs over $133 yet performs terribly.
Not to mention, the resale value on this machine is basically whatever someone might pay for a desktop sitting at a checkout counter—meaning roughly $267.

The price of a Quadro card is irrelevant here. It would have been far more logical to grab a cheap, used LGA 775 system, or perhaps a budget build from a few years ago and drop in a used GPU or a new RX 460.

But that’s just wishful thinking.

In my opinion, since he doesn't want to return it—even though he's clearly entitled to—his best bet is to take some office paperwork, list it on eBay, and just wait until he can afford a real gaming setup.

There is zero logic in suggesting you can build an x4 840 and an RX 460 for $2400. $833 I don't know which Store you're shopping at, but you're off by at least $400. $167 Unless you intended to pair it with the cheapest possible power supply and case, along with a tiny 500GB drive and 4GB of RAM, even then it wouldn't work. By the way, the GPU alone is at least $317. If you actually want 8GB of RAM and decent components, you're looking at $3000+. Everything else remains the same.

P.S. I'm the only one who can put together a new build with those specs for around $2700, $933 as you'll see soon enough on the Hardware market 🙂. And even then, it's rare. Of course, it would come with a full US warranty and a bundle.

Steven Stewart3 said:So I just called the local Store and they said I could trade in my graphics card. I have an ASRock AM1 motherboard, an AMD Athlon x4 5150,1.6 GHz processor, and 8 GB of DDR3.
They mentioned they have an XFX Radeon R7 240 2 which costs about $167. Can anyone give me some advice? Is this a good card to take in exchange, or if not, can someone suggest something else I could order for around 500-$200 that would actually work with this setup?

The Radeon R7 240 2GB DDR3 isn't great. However, the Radeon R7 240 1GB GDDR5 is decent. Believe me, the performance difference is significant because of that GDDR5 memory. Don't expect anything beyond medium settings, but the card works. It runs things, and frankly, in your specific case, there is no point in trying to go much higher. That AM1 platform simply doesn't make sense paired with anything more powerful. For context, that card will run Battlefield 3 at roughly 35-50 FPS on open maps using Medium presets, which is quite solid. I tested it myself; Sniper Elite V2 stays consistently above 25 FPS on High/Ultra, averaging about 30-35. You'll certainly be able to play some newer titles on Low to Medium, though you'll be heavily bottlenecked by your CPU. I measured these numbers using Fraps, but in practice, you might see slightly higher frame rates—especially when using a Core 2 Quad Q6600, which is considerably stronger than your AMD chip despite being 5 or 6 years older.🙂

So, as the guys say, you either made a mistake or you didn't; you aren't getting anything better or more powerful, nor could you really buy much better for that price.

By the way, that Radeon R7 240 with GDDR5 is comparable to an AMD APU like the A8 or A10. It's slightly faster, but it has massive overclocking potential.

My opinion is that you haven't made a huge error, though it might have been wiser to go the APU route, or perhaps opt for a dedicated, full-fledged processor instead.

And I should mention, the Radeon R7 240 1GB GDDR5 eats Intel onboard graphics for breakfast. It’s essentially from the Radeon 6670 series. It's faster than an AMD A8 or A10 unit because its memory runs at 4600 MHz—reaching 5000 MHz with an overclock—whereas the APU operates at 2100 MHz at best.

Don't believe everything you read online. That little AM1 quad-core will perform adequately enough without any major worries. Besides, I highly doubt you were expecting a high-end gaming rig for $667. 🙂

I hope that brightens your mood a bit.

Since you already had $667 and your goal was gaming, you really should have looked for a used PC—something vetted with quality components—and you wouldn't be worrying about this now.

To give you an idea, you can find setups on eBay with a Quadro K2000 graphics card for $333 alongside a LGA 775 generation Quad core. Do a quick search to see what that card goes for; you'll find some very decent deals.

Guys, a friend is asking me through a third party, and I’m honestly not sure how to answer him. Maybe you all have some insight. He's planning on picking up an RX 480 within the next week and wants to know what kind of bottleneck he's looking at, or if there will even be one at all.

His setup is older, but it’s quite a beast

He's running an Intel QX9770@4.0 GHz, which has been stable at that frequency for years now 🙂. It can actually handle 4.3 GHz without much trouble, but he keeps it at 4.0 for safety reasons. The cooler is some Shunt Katana model, though I'm not entirely certain which specific one
. Memory is 4x2GB Ocz 1066MHz DDR2
. Motherboard is an Asus Maximus Formula II.

So, the build is definitely dated, but in my opinion, it remains fairly impressive. Right now, he’s using a Radeon 7770
.
Also, the power supply is a Seasonic 450W unit, though I don't know the exact model
.

Gerald Ross8 said:Applied some fresh thermal paste, and now I'm sitting at about 55°C😁

A 23°C drop just from the paste?🤔 Either you didn't have any on there to begin with, or you managed to singe the chip a little bit. Heh.👍

Gerald Ross8 said:I assume a rhetorical question doesn't require an answer, right? 😵 😉

Well, I typically run it for about five or six hours before shutting it down for bed. Right now, it’s been running for two hours and the CPU temp is sitting at 78°C. I uninstalled CoreTemp, but it's showing the exact same thing as CPU-Z.

It's certainly not the carpet underneath; I clean it out every ten months or so.
Anyway, I'll just blow the dust out and reapply some thermal paste and see what happens.

Just go buy a decent cooler, overclock that Intel Core i3-2100, and stop worrying 🙂, your temps are way too high

Robert Rodriguez2 said:that isn't true; the one in my config doesn't even cost a hundred bucks

Look, I'm telling you, finding 4:3 monitors is an absolute nightmare because they cost an arm and a leg, yet in certain niche scenarios, they’re actually better than widescreen setups.

You won't find any new ones larger than 19 inches—at least, I haven't come across any. The cheapest new 17-inch 4:3 option is from LG, and a 19-inch from dellov will run you north of $317... wait, no, it goes over $500

Robert Rodriguez2 said:it isn't actually that bad, especially since you can unlock it.

Man, I completely blanked on that. It's basically👍, then you just crank up the Quadro graphics and 3D performance takes off. You can find a K2000 on eBay for about $300; an FX580 or similar goes for maybe 200-$100.

If you want something that handles both gaming and professional rendering decently without the CPU becoming too much of a bottleneck, the 750Ti is definitely the move.

Honestly, Robert Rodriguez2, you've got to be kidding me. Two 17-inch screens actually give you more surface area than a single 22-inch one. 🙂
Plus, I specifically need a 4:3 aspect ratio for my setup 🙂, and these new monitors cost an absolute fortune.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Why bother with used gear when you can just buy new with a full warranty?
Try running Photoshop on a 17-inch monitor... you'll be begging for a upgrade...

That $2,400 build is decent enough, I suppose, but that's without a monitor included... personally, I'd prioritize a larger screen over everything else.

I am still rocking a dual 17-inch LCD setup🙂 from IBM, and frankly, I wouldn't trade them for anything, especially since my main focus is music.

In my opinion, what she really needs is $333 a solid, budget-friendly used setup that includes a monitor. If she’s dead set against buying secondhand, then she can use the link mentioned above or just pick something up at a local retail store.

Just a heads-up, if a new build looks anything like this:

Intel Core i3
4GB of RAM
500GB hard drive
A basic case and power supply

The whole thing would run about $150-$$567, and if you add a new monitor, you're looking at $200 even more, plus whatever a decent printer costs.

http://www.craigslist.org/cs/item/20621874

Take a look at this 🙂. I am certain the price will drop $67 soon enough. It includes a 17" LCD monitor plus$50.

Gerald Ross8 said:If I take it apart, blow it out with compressed air, and swap the thermal paste, would that actually do anything? It hasn't seen a repair shop in years...

You probably have a layer of carpet buildup under the fan and dust bunnies everywhere inside, 😁but honestly, just tell Mary how long this thing actually stays running without a reboot or a shutdown. It’s a rhetorical question. Just be honest.👍

fadedeagle5 said:Hello,

I have a similar situation, so I figured this thread was a decent place to weigh in. I’d value your input.

I’ve got a PC from 2009. It was quite a powerhouse back then, but it needs an upgrade. What would you suggest? I’ve noticed it struggles when opening apps or trying to multitask several programs at once.

I don't play games, but I do heavy lifting with 3D software and demanding business applications.

The specs are as follows:

Windows 7, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 4 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Series, 600 GB HDD, 3.1 GHz

I want to know what the most critical upgrade would be. I can't afford to replace everything at once.

Check eBay for a used Phenom x4 and pick up a used Quadro card. You'll likely spend no more than $800.$333 You might even find a solid Quadro or an ATI FireGL card for very little money. Since you're working in 3D, the performance jump will be massive; that 8800 series you're running now is simply insufficient for that kind of work.

http://www.newegg.com/p/nvidiatrtx3070/pc-build-example

Something along these lines. It would be fairly simple to drop in a dedicated card, perhaps an RTX 3070, and eventually upgrade to a beefier power supply. I suspect this could serve as a viable solution for both streaming and gaming purposes.

Perhaps he’s looking at a used workstation from about a year ago, maybe one running dual Xeon processors. Something server-grade. It’s likely possible to track down a setup like that if it fits his needs, though I don't have much direct experience there—it's just a hunch. I haven't even considered the price point, but I suspect such a machine would cost less than this new build he put together.

Gerald Ross8 said:What’s the going rate for this?

If the case is clean and actually looks decent, you might pull maybe $800—$333honestly, don't expect much more than that.

By the way, those temps look a bit high. 75C on the CPU is pushing it, and even an old cooling setup shouldn't be struggling that much.

Someone mentioned a 560ti earlier; that card would fit this build perfectly 🙂, making it a pretty solid mid-range gaming rig for a reasonable price.

stormybadger8 said:

First things first: let’s get one thing straight—there’s no room for haters on this site anymore. As soon as the news broke that I’m taking over these pages, a few characters popped up trying to tell the world (but mostly themselves) that 1/ Jergović is an idiot, 2/ he isn't actually an F1 expert, 3/ they finally have a reason to never visit this website again, 4/ and so on.

And then there's this comment down below...

My folks at FOM
09/01/2016 at 12:19 PM

Dear Mladen,

We are blessed to hear that such an amazing F1 analyst is back on his feet. WE know that People in America will always appreciate Your unobjective support of Lewis Hamilton.

Kind regards from all your people at FOM.

P.S. Bernie says hi.

🙏🤣

Alright, which one of you was it? 😬

Look, Mladen is good, but yeah, he definitely lets his bias show when it comes to his "favorites."😁
But hey, he’s not the only one.😬

I certainly am not!! 🍿

Whatever, I just don't have the energy anymore. Honestly, what am I even doing trying to argue with you? It would be far more productive to just order a coffee at a local diner, sit down, light up a cigar, and have a conversation with the building next door instead.