Recent content by cody_mckee

It should be pulling air through the heat sink, not away from it. Many of the P4 systems I have messed with have the fan up front which pulls air through the heat sink, then out the back and through the PSU fan.

You could try to buy a used i5 or i7, but high end Sandy and Ivy Bridge processors are still pretty expensive. You would then need a dedicated GPU, but that is probably going to require a PSU upgrade as well. The most cost effective solution is the the one that has been suggested, go all new...

I was still using one until recently (last year). It is a Gigabyte 1GB model, and it refuses to die. The last game I played with it was Far Cry 3, and I thought it provided an enjoyable experience at 1680x1050. Also played Tribes: Ascend with it for a while, no problems at all. It continues to...

Will I have to remove the motherboard for this swap? I believe I will reuse the HSF from the Sempron or possibly use a stock cooler I have leftover from a Athlon 64 x2 6000+. They appear to have the same base that locks in behind the motherboard, so I don't believe I will have to remove it...

Let me start by saying I have swapped a lot of processors but they have all been Intel, from Pentium 3's all the way to my current 4690k. For the most part these swaps have been very simple and everything picked up where it left off. My question is is there anything extra I should look out for...

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-hierarchy,4312.html On the Tom's CPU hierarchy chart, the 975, 980, 1090, & 1100 are only one step up the chart from your current processor. That means it probably won't be that noticeable. With the 1090 & 1100 you would at least be going to 6 cores...

Diablo 2 should run on the oldest of your systems. Possibly not appropriate depending on the age of the little cousins. Battlefield 1942 is a lot of fun if you have a dedicated GPU in each. It would probably be a bad experience with any onboard graphics that are that old, but might be worth a shot.

I think that the consoles have to refresh more often now to keep up with the experiences a PC can deliver. This next round of console releases should be very interesting as we will see how each manufacturer is going to handle VR integration. Overall I believe the alignment is probably a good...

I had not thought of the turbo boost, as I have never has a CPU with that feature. I reset the BIOS to default again with the same result. I just wonder why it doesn't go the the full turbo of 3.9?

I just installed a 4690k. As I understand, these run stock @ 3.5 GHz. However, I just ran CPU-Z and found that it is running at 3.7 GHz. I previously had a G3258 @ 3.8 in this setup, and I reset all of the overclocking features and XMP profile to default before installing the i5. Is it...

For the games you listed at a 768 resolution, the 750ti is probably going to be more than enough. That said, there is a promotion for an XFX R7 370 on Newegg today for $85, and I have seen the GTX950's as low as $120, so you have some more powerful options in the same price range. Its never a...

I recently had a similar experience and was weighing e8600 vs. q6600. I was using a Lenovo motherboard out of a SFF business machine, and decided to play it safe with the e8600. I couldn't find any definitive information as to whether my specific motherboard was compatible with a quad core, but...

In a sandbox game I look for the details that bring the game world to life. I really liked those random encounters and events that you would occasionally get in Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Wandering along the wasteland and a UFO explodes in the sky and drops a weapon, that is fun. I'm not sure how...

It looks like your Foxconn motherboard has a G41 Express chipset. This is going to be your bet bet for the one to play with because it supports DDR3, whereas the older one has DDR2, plus it has a PCIe x16 slot. Officially that board will support Core 2 Duos and Quads up to 95W TDP. See if you...