Gill01's Corner

Quote : User

Brian Campbell36 said:Did you see what they’re trying to pass off as an upgrade? Called them yesterday and they’re claiming they can't do any better than that ASUS ROG Maximus.

All I care about is that even if things go sideways, the advantage stays with me. They’re stuck matching the market value or paying out cash, because that's what the market rate actually is. $333Yeah, I paid for mine too. $567 🤔

Honestly, I’d just take the refund. I'd rather have the cash in hand so I can pick up a new motherboard and a 120GB SSD.

Just walk right into their store and threaten to call the Department of Labor. See how fast they fold then.

Since the Department of Labor merged with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and they’re all working out of the same office now... just file your complaint there if these guys decide to stop playing around. 😛

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Why don't you just walk straight into their store and threaten them with a visit from the Department of Labor? Let's see how they handle that.

Since the Department of Labor has merged with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and they're all operating under the same roof now... why not just file your complaint directly with them if these people decide to stop playing fair? 😛

That is precisely how it will play out. You attempt to reach them by phone, and they simply toy with you; then, the moment things become even slightly uncomfortable, they abruptly slam the receiver down.

I went down to the store in person to handle this myself, but they are acting like they couldn't care less. Right now, I am stuck waiting for the repair center and Best Buy to finally reach an agreement between themselves—it's either a full refund or a brand-new replacement motherboard. And what happens next? I get to sit around for another month while they bicker over how to resolve it. Two whole months without a computer? It is enough to drive a person absolutely insane; honestly, I feel like walking back in there and losing my temper with the lot of them. 🍿

First, I will be the one to reach out and visit them again personally. I'll need to make some inquiries to determine exactly where the Department of Labor is located in Pittsburgh, assuming they even maintain an office there.

From what I gather, 45 days have passed, so you should be receiving a motherboard of equal value to the one that died on you immediately. If they don't have it in stock, they need to issue a refund right away. I work over at Micro Center, and that's just how the process works; they aren't looking to drag this out any longer than necessary, and frankly, neither should you. If they try to offer a cheaper model, they are obligated to pay you the difference—either in cash or by providing another component to make up the gap. Just remember, you're the one asking for the cash upfront, so they have to hand it over. Whether you decide to accept a different component as compensation is entirely up to your own discretion.

Brian Campbell36 said:That's exactly how it goes. You call them and they play games, then they just hang up the second things get uncomfortable.

I actually went down to the store myself. They’re acting like they don't care. Right now I'm stuck waiting for the repair center and Best Buy to hammer out a deal—either pay up or give me a new replacement board. Now I'm looking at another month of waiting while they figure their lives out. Two months without a PC? It makes you want to lose it and walk in there swinging.🍿

First thing I'll do is keep calling and showing up. I need to find out where the local Department of Labor office is in Pittsburgh, assuming they even have one there.

They don't have separate inspectorates anymore.

mellowtiger83 said:If I understand correctly, forty-five days have passed, which means you ought to receive a motherboard of equivalent value to the one that failed immediately, or they must issue a full refund right away. I work at Micro Center and I know how this goes; neither they nor you should be forced to wait indefinitely. If they offer a cheaper model, they are obligated to compensate you for the difference, either through a cash refund or by providing an additional component. Remember, since you are the one demanding your money back in hand, they are legally bound to provide it; whether you choose to accept a different part as compensation instead is entirely up to your own discretion.

So, I visited Best Buy today, and I finally managed to secure my funds. Apparently, the representative had to call them a thousand times because the manufacturer's service center had to give the green light before Best Buy could actually release my money.

Now, gentlemen, what would you suggest;

Should I opt for this MSI board;

Or should I move on to a newer LGA 1150 socket setup? I have already scouted out these potential components as my future build:

Or perhaps

Is there a better way to allocate this budget?

My plan is to allocate up to $667 for the processor and up to $433 for the motherboard.

I am requesting your counsel; I find myself leaning toward ASUS, though I see this Gigabyte option isn't half bad either.🤔

If you're opting for the s1150 platform, I honestly don't see the point in dropping more than $800. It just doesn't make sense.$300 For the motherboard, just grab an Intel Core i7 K-series processor and you’re set. Budget around $250. That should do it.$900 What’s the issue with the motherboard? $433 When did these become available? $267 Top tier. Absolutely excellent.

If I were in your shoes, I’d just stick with the current processor. It’s a solid value right now. Honestly, I'd probably just pick up a new motherboard and call it a day. $267If I were you, I’d just sell those two Radeon 7770s. Take that cash, add whatever change you have left over from that Best Buy trip, and just buy a proper R9 or a high-end GTX card. It would be a much better move.

You have an excellent processor right now that will hold up for several years without any issues. It isn't a K-series, but that doesn't really matter.

That’s exactly what I would do if I were in your shoes. Personally, I’ve never been one to advocate for throwing money at questionable upgrades. At the end of the day, it’s your cash—do whatever you want with it.

Without even messing with an overclock, you can still take advantage of the max Turbo multiplier on an i7:
1 x Intel Core i7-4790 Processor (3.60GHz,1MB,8MB,84W,1150) Box
1 x MSI Z97-G45 Gaming, S1150, Intel Z97 Chipset, 4xDDR3 1066-3000

$1113 AMD

Or you could go for a full-on overclock with an i5, though I guess you should probably budget for a really solid cooler if you don't have one already:

1 x Intel Core i5-4690K Processor (3.50GHz,1MB,6MB,88 W,1150) Box
1 x ASUS ROG Maximus, 1150, Intel Z97, DDR3, 4 Slots

$1106 AMD

Then again, if gaming is actually the goal, grabbing the NVIDIA GTX 970 + Z77 Extreme4 might be the best value, but you mentioned that isn't necessarily a priority...?

Brian Campbell36 said:So, I finally hit up Best Buy today. Finally got my hands on some cash after calling them a thousand times—apparently, the Department of Labor had to give the green light before they’d release my funds.

Now, what's the move?

Grab this MSI board;

Or should I just jump to the new LGA 1150 socket? I already picked out these parts for the future:

Or maybe

Can I do better than this?

Thinking of spending up to $667 on the CPU and $433 on the motherboard.

Need advice here. I'm leaning toward ASUS, but this Gigabyte doesn't look half bad either.🤔

If you ask me, grab that MSI Z77 board, stick with your current CPU and everything else you've already got, then pocket the rest of the cash. Save it until you have enough for a GTX 970.🙂
Since a) your CPU isn't the bottleneck right now. You can overclock it like you used to and still have a solid gaming rig
without any issues.😛 😁

You'll end up with some extra cash in your pocket. Sell both your current graphics cards together for $333 and you'll have enough for that GTX 970.
😁

crimsonstag84 said:Without even touching an overclock, you could run an i7 (you would still be able to utilize the max Turbo multiplier):
1 x Intel Core i7-4790 Processor (3.60GHz, 1MB, 8MB, 84W, 1150) Box
1 x MSI Z97-G45 Gaming, S1150, Intel Z97 Chipset, 4xDDR3 1066-3000

$1113 AMD

Alternatively, you could go for a full-throttle overclock with an i5, though you should certainly expect to need a high-end cooler if one isn't already in your possession:

1 x Intel Core i5-4690K Processor (3.50GHz, 1MB, 6MB, 88 W, 1150) Box
1 x ASUS ROG Maximus, 1150, Intel Z97, DDR3, 4 Slots

$1106 AMD

That being said, wouldn't the most cost-effective route be picking up the NVIDIA GTX 970 + Z77 Extreme4 if gaming is your primary objective? Or did you mention that wasn't strictly necessary...?

I would have grabbed this motherboard, but it appears my Intel Core i5-2320 isn't supported; the description explicitly states it only supports 3rd generation Intel processors. 🤔

Brian Campbell36 said:I’d grab this board, but it looks like my Intel Core i5-2320 won't work. The description says it only supports 3rd gen Intel chips.🤔

Your CPU is right there on the support list.🙂
http://www.msi.com/support/mb/Z77A-G43.html#support-cpu

Robert Rodriguez2 said:your processor is actually on the CPU support list here 🙂
http://www.msi.com/support/mb/Z77A-G43.html#support-cpu

I am about to pull the trigger and order it; it seems quite reliable, offers a 36-month warranty, and includes SLI support—what are your thoughts?

If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't...

Quote : User

Brian Campbell36 said:I'm pulling the trigger on this order today. Looks like a solid deal with 36 months of warranty and SLI support. What do you think?

It's a decent board, but don't expect to run SLI on it.
One slot's x16, the other's just x4.
If you're planning to dump that GPU and upgrade to something better, then yeah, go for it—especially if you're sticking to a single card. 🙂
Quote : User

David Sanders4 said:If I were you, I wouldn't...

And you think you could explain why not?
Don't just go crashing in like a total amateur.

Brian Campbell36
Check this out: http://www.amd.com/product_info.php?c...ducts_id=11401
Grab this and you've got a killer board for SLI and overclocking. 🙂This one’s got full support for SLI. 😁

David Sanders4 said:If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't...

It's officially ordered. It features CF support, the board looks perfect, $283 and shipping is all set. A colleague of mine uses an MSI build and he's quite satisfied with it; now, I simply have to wait a few days for the courier to deliver it directly to my door.

Thanks to everyone for the advice!

Your second card might end up being pretty much useless because that second PCI-e slot on this board only runs at x4 bandwidth.

http://www.amd.com/product_info.php?c...d321c0e2f7152e

This is what you'll need.

David Sanders4 said:If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't...

It's officially ordered. It features CF support and the motherboard looks perfect; $283 shipping is set, and since a buddy of mine uses MSI and is quite happy with it, I felt confident moving forward. Now, the waiting game begins as I wait a few days for the courier to deliver it right to my door.

Thanks to everyone for the advice!

You really should've gone with the ASUS Z77 Extreme 4; it’s a bit more expensive $20 but honestly, it's way better. Plus, everyone already told you that MSI isn't exactly great if you're planning on running SLI

Honestly 🤣
When people start hating on ASUS boards—they’re perfectly fine on Intel sockets, and honestly, they're even better than the Extreme 3 or 4 series and beyond.

And look—if you don't care—you can just sell one GPU if you're only playing casual games and stop worrying about the latency. Or, if you're thinking about getting serious, just sell both, toss in a little extra cash, and grab a much more powerful single GPU.

Brian Campbell36 said:It’s ordered. It supports Crossfire, it's a solid board, $283 including shipping. A buddy of mine uses an MSI model and he's pretty happy with it, so now I just wait a few days for the courier to drop it off at my place.

Thanks for all the advice, everyone!

You probably won't see massive performance drops on x16/x4 Crossfire, but honestly, I think you're getting the short end of the stick here. Your old P8Z68-V/GEN3 was a beast compared to this—it had a 16-phase power delivery (12 for the CPU), supported SLI/Crossfire (x8x8/x4), whereas this one doesn't even support SLI...

Honestly, hand on my heart, your whole build is completely unoptimized. You’ve got a motherboard from $567 paired with a basic i5 that doesn't even have overclocking capabilities. Then there's that 1000W 🤷 power supply—it's such massive overkill it's almost painful, and I bet it cost you just as much as the CPU itself. You're running 16GB of RAM for a "gaming" rig? And those two HD 7770 graphics cards are easily the weakest link in the entire setup. When you add it all up, if you had actually built this properly, you could have put together a beast of a machine. Instead, half of this stuff is just overpriced junk sitting there for no reason.