Gill01's Corner

Alexander Moore67 said:First, I would suggest looking for $167 for each individual unit; however, if your primary objective is an immediate sale, you might consider simply giving them away for $400 apiece.

Is it actually worth $167?

The Intel vapor x dual fan model carries a warranty valid until October 2015, whereas the NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti OC edition is officially out of warranty (though a fellow expert applied new thermal paste to the GPU chip, and it is currently performing flawlessly)

I have no intention of giving these away for free; I firmly believe they are in excellent condition and possess the longevity to remain fully functional for another five years without issue🍿

Warranty approved. They’re offering me an MSI Z97M Pro4 as a replacement, but I’d much prefer the ASUS Z97-K if they can swing it. I asked if there was any possibility of getting the ASUS instead; if not, I suppose I'll just take the EVGA option.

Update—they're sending the ASUS Z97-K after all. Honestly, I'm over the moon.🙂

mellowskipper91 said:Warranty approved. They’re offering me an MSI Z97M Pro4 as a replacement, but since I’d much rather have the ASUS Z97-K, I inquired if that was an option. If not, I’ll just take the MSI.

Update—they're actually sending the ASUS Z97-K. I'm happy as a clam. 🙂

Well, there's no way around it; you deleted the service thread. 🍿

But tell me, why didn't you just settle for an EVGA motherboard in the first place instead of fighting them to get the ASUS one?

If you want my opinion, I haven't had a single issue with EVGA boards so far, whereas my experience with ASUS motherboards has been nothing but constant battles—and frankly, I've lost every single one of them.😁

There are two straightforward reasons and one slightly more nuanced one 😁
1. I paid full price for my motherboard $350 (EVGA-$267, ASUS-$366)
2. I have a specific need for PCI slots
3. Since this is an OSX build, the EVGA won't cut it

Now I’m just waiting for the board to arrive so I can verify if my CPU (i7 4770) is actually functional. If it isn't, we'll be heading to a repair shop to see if we can at least swap it out for a K version 😬

mellowskipper91 said:There are two simple reasons and one slightly more complex one at play here. 😁
1. I paid full price for my motherboard, specifically choosing between an $350 (MSI Z97M Pro4, $267, or ASUS-$366)
2. I have a strict requirement for available PCI slots.
3. Since I am running OSX, the EVGA option simply isn't compatible with my needs.

Now, I am merely waiting for the board to arrive so I can verify if my processor (i7 4770) is actually functional. If it isn't, we will be heading straight to the repair shop to request at least a K-series version instead.😬

In my own experience, I invested in an ASUS motherboard $567, but after receiving a refund from Verizon (since the service center couldn't provide a compatible replacement), I ended up purchasing an EVGA board from $317!

Just as the community advised me earlier in this thread, there are times when a cheaper motherboard actually proves to be the more durable choice in the long run.🍿

mellowskipper91 said:Two easy reasons and one slightly annoying one 😁
1. I paid good money for my board $350 (EVGA-$267, ASUS-$366)
2. I need the PCI slots
3. It's for an OSX build and the EVGA stuff won't cut it

Just waiting on the board to arrive so I can see if my CPU is actually alive (i7 4770). If not, it's heading to a repair shop to try and swap it for at least a K version😬

Low odds the CPU is dead.
It's the toughest part in the rig. Honestly, everything else will probably die before that thing gives up the ghost.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:There is a significant possibility that the processor itself has failed.
It is arguably the most resilient component in the entire system, making it highly probable that every other part will succumb to failure well before the CPU does.

Is it not more likely that the new motherboard will fail before the processor even gives up the ghost?😁

mellowskipper91 said:There are two straightforward reasons and one rather complicated one 😁
1. I paid full price for my motherboard $350 (EVGA-$267, ASUS-$366)
2. I require the available PCI slots
3. Since we are dealing with OSX, an EVGA board simply won't cut it

Now, I am merely waiting for the board to arrive so I can verify if my processor is still functional (i7 4770); if it isn't, we will head to the repair shop and attempt to secure at least a K-series version instead.😬

Is the processor still operational, or is it time to upgrade to a newer generation? 🍿

Are you satisfied with the motherboard they sent you, and have you managed to get everything configured properly regarding the hardware components?

I don't have any updates yet. Verizon sent me the wrong motherboard, and I haven't had the chance to pick it up because I'm stuck dealing with a technician from Micro Center who claims they have absolutely no idea what's going on. We'll sort it out eventually, though—there's no way we're leaving that place without an ASUS component in hand. 🙂

mellowskipper91 said:I don't have any updates yet. Verizon sent me the wrong board, and I haven't been able to pick up the right one because I get one thing from the repair center and then they tell me they have no clue what's going on. We'll figure it out though; we aren't leaving until we get this ASUS sorted 🙂

Look, just forget about it. ASUS or whatever, they're all basically the same...
only the high-end boards actually use better components; everything else is pretty much identical

If you can put together a deal for me on an EVGA board or some other low-end piece of junk, I’ll take it. Honestly, I'm just waiting on the ASUS 👍

mellowskipper91 said:I am still completely in the dark regarding the current status. To make matters worse, Linksys sent me the wrong circuit board entirely. I haven’t even been able to pick it up yet because I receive one set of information from the MRI technicians, only to have them turn around and claim they have absolutely no idea what is going on. We will eventually resolve this mess, of course, but there is simply no way we are leaving that facility without an Apple. 🙂

It is quite curious, isn't it? Given how frequently everyone seems to encounter issues when dealing with Linksys, one has to wonder how they managed to goofed up the order and send out the wrong motherboard in the first place? 🤔

Ja sam osobno zvao MR servis i dogovorio se da mi novce vrate jer nisu imali mbo koju sam ja zahtijevao (servis obično kao zamjensku ploču daje slabiji model od onoga kojega si imao)

If you want to get anything done at Linksys, don't bother calling. They won't even pick up the phone. You have to actually show up at their local service center in person just to make them take you seriously and show them who's boss. 🤦

Linksys decided to swap my order for an Intel Core i7-4770K instead of the original part I had requested, so there was no point in fighting them. I was just waiting to see if they’d refund the difference or offer an Apple alternative, but in the end, they settled on the Apple option.
Everything is running flawlessly, though I'm keeping an eye out for a more high-end rig to pop up at a bargain price so I can really push it.

The 290 series is the move.
Targeting the 970 series makes sense if you're looking at Nvidia, but compared to the Radeon 290? It’s a bad deal. You aren't getting much more power for the massive price jump.

Well, her price point is fair enough.
As far as value goes, this one is currently sitting at the $290 mark, making it the cheapest option out there—especially when you compare it to an ASUS model. While the ASUS card features a custom-engineered cooler specifically tailored for the R9 290, you have to weigh that against the fact that ASUS offers a one-year longer warranty. In my book, that extra coverage might actually make her the smarter buy.

Timothy Kim60 said:Well, the price point is certainly acceptable.
However, this particular cardone is actually the most budget-friendly option at $290 right now, especially when you compare it to an ASUS model which features a specifically engineered cooling solution for the R9 290; though one must consider that ASUS offers a year's longer warranty, which might make them the more prudent choice after all.

It appears I may need to temper my expectations; I intend to stick with 1080p resolution, and I honestly believe that 3 GB of VRAM—similar to what I have on my R9 280—will be more than sufficient for my needs.

http://www.newegg.com/p/product_info.php?products_id=14525

http://www.amazon.com/product_info.php?c...ducts_id=15386

Then I guess you should just grab that one.

It isn't really about the gigabytes 😁 ...the R9 290 is maybe 50-70% more powerful than the R9 280.

Brian Campbell36 said:Looks like I’ll just lower my expectations. Staying at 1080p; 3 GB on the Gigabyte R9 280 should be plenty enough for me.

http://www.bestbuy.com/product_info.php?c...ducts_id=14525

There's an XFX model for $50 cheaper, though it only carries a 2-year warranty (ASUS 3)

crimsonstag84 said:In that case, you should simply go for it.

It isn't merely a matter of how many gigabytes of VRAM you have 😁 ...the R9 290 actually delivers about 50-70% more raw performance than the R9 280.

Is this particular card significantly better than the ASUS model (which was my initial preference), and does it offer a full 36-month warranty, or is it limited to just 24 months?🤔

Three years old, with a slightly better cooler.