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Budget upgrade around an i5-3570

Hi, I just found a used i5-3[4]70 from a very new Amazon storefront for $55 shipped (2 more in stock right now if anyone else wants to roll the dice on a cheap 4-year old CPU) . Assuming it actually shows up in 'like new' condition, I need a new motherboard, RAM, and cooler. I'm currently...
- brett42
- Thread
- Aug 13, 2016
- Replies: 2
- Forum: Computer Building
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Computer won't power on at all.

An easy PSU test is disconnecting all the internal cables and jumpering the green pin to a black pin with a paper clip on the 20/24 pin connector. If the PSU fan doesnʻt start spinning, itʻs definitely dead. If you have access to a voltmeter, the purple pin is the 5 volt standby, if...
- brett42
- Post #9
- Oct 18, 2012
- Forum: Computer Building
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budget cpu/motherboard upgrade

Thank you. I hadn't even looked at any AM3 processors. My M4A785-M does list it as supported, and it looks like the Phenom II can do what I want. My RAM is only ddr2-667, but it looks like ddr2-800 only has a 5-10% penalty vs ddr3 1333, so that should be OK.
- brett42
- Post #5
- Sep 28, 2012
- Forum: Computer Building
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budget cpu/motherboard upgrade

Hi, I was considering an i3 2120 for $112 before I saw how low the Pentiums had gone. Can you explain why the i3 is worth the premium for gaming? Most game benchmarks I've seen show the performance (bench) as close to identical, but I haven't been able to look up Pentium benchmarks on the...
- brett42
- Post #3
- Sep 28, 2012
- Forum: Computer Building
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budget cpu/motherboard upgrade

I want to play Deus Ex 3, Max Payne 3, and Borderlands 2, and my Athlon II x2 250 is pretty painful on DX3, so I'm looking to upgrade within the next month or so. I'm looking for a new CPU, motherboard, and RAM, ideally for less than $200. I will be keeping the rest of the parts including a...
- brett42
- Thread
- Sep 28, 2012
- Replies: 6
- Forum: Computer Building
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Noob question about BSOD and checking logs

Right-click on My Computer and hit Manage. BSODs show up in System Tools>Event Viewer>Windows Logs>System, I think as 'bugcheck' events. http://aumha.org/a/stop.php is a good first step to finding out what the problem is for a given stop number. Here's a short guide to reading a minidump file...
- brett42
- Post #2
- Mar 13, 2012
- Forum: Computer Building
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$600 Budget Build

I've gone with AMD for my last 3 PCs, but I'm not seeing the appeal of a Llano at that price in this case. The IGP looks nice for light gaming, but I'd expect it to go into slideshow mode in Skyrim at 1080p with the settings turned up at all. Tom's Hardware puts it in the same tier as the 6450...
- brett42
- Post #20
- Feb 1, 2012
- Forum: Computer Building
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Help diagnosing computer problem: regular freezes

Hi, Have you ruled out overheating? Maybe check the temps and CPU fan under load.
- brett42
- Post #8
- Nov 27, 2010
- Forum: Computer Building
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4770 VS 5670 for value and noise level?

Thanks for all the replies. I'm starting to think the $20 more for a 4770 might be worth it. That MSI 4770 from Newegg does come out a few bucks cheaper with faster shipping. That cooler looks good, and it looks like the ATI drivers let you manually set fan speeds, so I can just turn it down...
- brett42
- Post #8
- Feb 13, 2010
- Forum: Graphics Cards
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4770 VS 5670 for value and noise level?

Hi, The Geforce 6150 is the motherboard, it's basically an nforce4 with an IGP. I have a discreet 8600gt installed now, but it's pretty slow at 19x10. I don't remember the model number, but the newest BIOS does have the Athlon II 255 on the supported list, so it should be OK with AM3 if I do...
- brett42
- Post #4
- Feb 13, 2010
- Forum: Graphics Cards
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4770 VS 5670 for value and noise level?

Hi, My current setup is a 8600gt, Athlon X2 at 2.2ghz, 2GB DDR2 667, GeForce 6150. I have a PSU with dual 18A 12V rails if needed. Want to play: Borderlands, Bioshock, Fallout 3 at 1920x1080, lower settings, no AA/AF is fine as long as they are playable. I'm in Hawaii, where shipping...
- brett42
- Thread
- Feb 13, 2010
- Replies: 8
- Forum: Graphics Cards
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What is the best way to monitor bandwidth consumtion for a small business?

A quick and dirty solution would be to just use the windows built-in performance monitor (control panel, admin tools, performance). It allows you to add a bandwidth counter for each computer, assuming you know an admin password for each computer, so you can see how much each desktop is using at...
- brett42
- Post #5
- Feb 26, 2009
- Forum: Networking
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780g 3200 igp, i have a few questions..

Toms Hardware's hierarchy chart is pretty good for quick comparisons between cards. It looks like yoiur x850xt is 5 notches above the HD3200, so I'd install it.
- brett42
- Post #2
- Feb 13, 2009
- Forum: Graphics Cards
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Will a 9600gt/9800gt work with Windows 2000?

Well, if anyone else is in the same situation, this guy wasn't able to run a 3850 in win2k, but was able to run a 9600gt.
- brett42
- Post #5
- Feb 2, 2009
- Forum: Graphics Cards
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Will a 9600gt/9800gt work with Windows 2000?

Most games work on win2k with a little bit of tweaking. Most Valve stuff works out of the box, and recently I got Fallout 3 to work after copying over some dlls. win2kgaming.site90.com is a really good resource. I'd rather spend the 15 minutes copying over dlls than the $86 for a new...
- brett42
- Post #4
- Feb 1, 2009
- Forum: Graphics Cards
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Will a 9600gt/9800gt work with Windows 2000?

I'm thinking about upgrading to a 22" monitor in the next couple of months, and I was planning on getting a 4830 to go with it, but it turns out that the drivers are completely incompatible with Windows 2000. I'm not planning on upgrading from win2k until a year or so after Windows 7 comes out...
- brett42
- Thread
- Feb 1, 2009
- Replies: 7
- Forum: Graphics Cards
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Worth Moving on to Dualcore?

The hierarchy chart at the end of Tom's Hardware's best cards for the money articles says the HD3200 in a 780g gives about the same performance as the 9800 pro. With more memory and a faster CPU, you would probably be a little better off than you are now. That may vary depending on specific...
- brett42
- Post #14
- Dec 29, 2008
- Forum: Computer Building
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My first build in over 7 years

I don't know about the motherboards, but the i7s have 130w TDP ratings and the C2Ds are 65w, so you'd probably get a little more heat with the i7.
- brett42
- Post #13
- Nov 24, 2008
- Forum: Computer Building
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Help with my Dell Dimension 4600

In the Optiplexes I've seen, the early stages of capacitor problems just seem to effect the standby power, but the 4600 power supply could be different. It looks like the 4600 is one of the few Dimensions from that period to use standard power supplies, so any brand should be ok. I think ATX...
- brett42
- Post #12
- Jul 13, 2007
- Forum: Computer Building
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Lockups - Am I missing anything?

After the weirdness with the sound card, I'm also thinking the motherboard is probably the problem. I'll try to flash the BIOS and bump up the voltages a little this weekend and post the results.
- brett42
- Post #6
- Jul 12, 2007
- Forum: Computer Building
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Lockups - Am I missing anything?

Strange update: After I verified that the lockups kept happening with no sound card, I put the card back in a different slot anyway so it wouldn't be sharing an IRQ, and it locked up 5 times in a row as soon as I tried to play a sound. I then put it back in the original slot, and it's only...
- brett42
- Post #4
- Jul 12, 2007
- Forum: Computer Building
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Help with my Dell Dimension 4600

I've seen a lot of Optiplex 270 power supplies with the bad capacitors that seemed to work normally except for the 5v standby power running at around 3.5v, so the light on the motherboard would go on, and they were stable if you managed to get them started, but there usually wasn't enough power...
- brett42
- Post #9
- Jul 11, 2007
- Forum: Computer Building
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Lockups - Am I missing anything?

I've had the same system for almost two years without any hardware changes, and it's been rock solid, but for the last few weeks it's been locking up with the screen freezing and controls not responding, and it seems to be happening more often in the last few days. Most lock ups happen within 5...
- brett42
- Thread
- Jul 11, 2007
- Replies: 5
- Forum: Computer Building

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