Not the tidiest, but not too too bad for something that used to resemble a bowl of spaghetti.
Upgrade Computer or build a new one?
- Thread starter Baggsy
- Start date
I'm so glad those dumb punch-out metal slot covers are no longer acceptable in cases anymore
Riceburner
Well-known member
Depended on the case maker, no? I didn't come across too many of those.
Upgraded the youngest kid's laptop today. Second component failure since he got it. First time, my wife took it in and it was the nvidia video card. This time, I took it apart, and replaced the hard drive. Not sure what happens with Windows 10 now. He'd upgraded it before from 8. But I reinstalled 8 on it, since that was the original, and the product key is embedded in the bios. I guess I could have tried 10 first. Anyways, he has a brand spanking new SSD, and the computer is up and running. I figure he can put the question to Microsoft himself. The bad news is that he got used the the quality and speed of a desktop in the meantime. Now he wants to build a computer, but has no funds.
conundrum
Well-known member
Bit of a tangent...but since we are talking upgrades what is everyone's take on the new RX 480 cards? Seems they are overpriced atm (compared to US and MSRP pricing), but hopefully as more variants come out prices drop a bit.
Also, what is the current stance on 4GB cards vs 8GB? Not into texture modding or running things above 1920x1200 really.
Also, what is the current stance on 4GB cards vs 8GB? Not into texture modding or running things above 1920x1200 really.
I'm looking into that next as well. They seem to have sorted out the PCIe issue, and are short of stock in Canada. 8 Gig appears to be around $340, which is close to GTX970.
There might be a shortage of stock though.
At first I was considering buying a GTX960 at around $200, which would more than suit my immediate needs, or a GTX1080 for the future. 1080 probably also has stock issues.
Don't buy a reference 480 unless it's a smoking deal. The PCI-E power limit thing was more of a potential problem than an actual problem, but it would never have approached being an issue if they had just spec'ed an 8 pin power connector in the first place... which most non-reference designs will have. Also they really pushed the limit on how cheap they could make the cooler, whereas non-reference designs will all have substantially better coolers installed (i.e. non-ref 480s will run cooler & quieter).
The 4GB vs 8GB VRAM thing is debateable. Some developers are writing games/programs in a way that will pre-load or cache textures that are not being used yet, and this can benefit from having more. Otherwise 4GB is more than enough for 1920x1200... for pretty much anything you would reasonably use it with. If you're gaming at 4K, you're not going to buy a 480 anyway.
I just ordered an Asus Radeon RX 480 8 GB GDDR5 1266Mhz 3 x Display port 1 x HDMI for $340 + tax from NCIX. Have you taken a look at the GTX 1060 though?
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I have an older 2010 era i7-2600 with 6gb of RAM and a 1TB HDD and a 5770 Radeon... I was playing more games and it was slowing down to 'refresh' my computer for minimal money but gave me a Windows Experience score of 7.9 was to upgrade the RAM with 16 GB and putting in a 256 SSD and upgraded to an 'old' 7870 Radeon.
so for minimal money I am still playing games with no problems.
so for minimal money I am still playing games with no problems.
My new power supply arrived, so the Main computer's existing CPU, motherboard and video card have been transferred to the new case for the time being.
Kid wants to build an inexpensive system now. I have an older system that dies when the game gets intense.
I'll have to check it to see if its the PSU, CPU, Graphics Card or fans that are the weak link, any tips?
I will let him salvage from it, if it ends up being worth it.
Also, since the 8 gig RX480 is back ordered, I'm considering cancelling and switching to a 6 gig GTX 1060.
Any comments or tips on that?
Once I get a new motherboard, CPU etc, it will go back in the old case again, as a kid's system, and that one will be retired.
Kid wants to build an inexpensive system now. I have an older system that dies when the game gets intense.
I'll have to check it to see if its the PSU, CPU, Graphics Card or fans that are the weak link, any tips?
I will let him salvage from it, if it ends up being worth it.
Also, since the 8 gig RX480 is back ordered, I'm considering cancelling and switching to a 6 gig GTX 1060.
Any comments or tips on that?
Once I get a new motherboard, CPU etc, it will go back in the old case again, as a kid's system, and that one will be retired.
Cancelled the $340 RX480 and ordered a $120 GTX 750 Ti, which should still be able to do what I need. The problem with the little computer was the video card fan had stopped working. I put a couple of fans in the case, and it works ok now. Will replace its video card with the main computer's GTX465 when the 750 comes in. Looking for a decent keyboard. Water got spilled into my expensive Steelseries, and the cheaper model has flatter keys, which are harder to find. But I like the new macro keys which the old one didn't have.
