Need a Little Help

[Rairaku]

Hey, long-time fan and lurker and supporter of Linus Media and the tech community...

I've kind of exhausted a lot of my avenues to try and find any sort of solution to my problem. I built my PC about 6 months ago (maybe?), it was on a budget and I managed to build quite a good rig for what I paid for (bout 600 bucks runs like an absolute champ), and am super happy with it. Unfortunately, when I built it, graphics card prices were still on the rise even for a little older ones and I couldn't afford a new one. So, like any other savvy money stretching man, I dusted off my old one from my dead rig (MB and processer issues it was ol' reliable) and I took out my old reliable 960 and plugged it into this new rig.
 

Everything seemed ok for a little but obviously with newer and newer stuff coming out, even when I had my old rig is was trying and struggling to keep a consistent framerate and now it just struggles to even play League of Legends and Final Fantasy 14, my go-to games (yeah i know its cringe but I still love them.)
 

Unfortunately, i don't have the money to drop on a new video card, and any sort of upgrade to any kind of card is... well almost an arm and a leg for me. I know this is probably futile to approach Linus Media and the community about any of this seeing as it's a problem i gotta solve myself somehow. I'm always afraid to reach out and ask for help, because I feel ill be a burden to others, or id just be written off as some kind of fisher for free stuff. 

If this is cringe or inappropriate to even cast the net... i apologize.

thanks for listening at least

[Dedayog]

So... you're fishing for free stuff right?

 

Gaming PC's aren't a necessity, they're a luxury.  We buy luxury items after all the other stuff is paid for a few times over. 

 

Priorities. If money is that tight, forego the PC stuff.

[NinJake]

Well if you're in the US, the stimulus should be coming through for you. Is a job not an option?

[Rairaku]

Just now, NinJake said:

Well if you're in the US, the stimulus should be coming through for you. Is a job not an option?

Unfortunately that has to go to bills and car repairs. id have maybe a hundred after that's all done. Work's been slow enough to cause a dent in the daily life/savings/spending

 

[Rairaku]

 

2 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

So... you're fishing for free stuff right?

Or maybe looking for some sort of point in the right direction for a solution, help can also be advice 

 

[NinJake]

1 minute ago, Rairaku said:

Unfortunately that has to go to bills and car repairs. id have maybe a hundred after that's all done. Work's been slow enough to cause a dent in the daily life/savings/spending

 

So take that hundred and set it aside. If money is so tight right now I wouldn't be worried about upgrading a GPU and maybe looking into a 2nd part time job just to get the cash flow going again. Or maybe looking for a more stable full timer.

[Dedayog]

Just now, Rairaku said:

 

Or maybe looking for some sort of point in the right direction for a solution, help can also be advice 

 

Sure, there is Ebay for used stuff, tho i wouldn;'t go over a 1050Ti on Ebay.  

 

Stimulus checks are coming, but then again you may have other needs to take care of first.

 

Check the classifieds here and locally, Craiglsit or NextDoor or Facebook Marketplace.

 

Honestly, you're looking at overpaying at all levels, so I'd recommend turning down settings and resolution a bit to make that 960 last until the storm passes.

 

 

[Rairaku]

4 minutes ago, NinJake said:

So take that hundred and set it aside. If money is so tight right now I wouldn't be worried about upgrading a GPU and maybe looking into a 2nd part time job just to get the cash flow going again. Or maybe looking for a more stable full timer.

7 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Sure, there is Ebay for used stuff, tho i wouldn;'t go over a 1050Ti on Ebay.  

 

Stimulus checks are coming, but then again you may have other needs to take care of first.

 

Check the classifieds here and locally, Craiglsit or NextDoor or Facebook Marketplace.

 

Honestly, you're looking at overpaying at all levels, so I'd recommend turning down settings and resolution a bit to make that 960 last until the storm passes.

 

 

I work 2 jobs already (One that gives me my benefits insurance, pension etc) my other one is the side hustle of being an artist, i have quite a bit on my plate in terms of responsibilities, but if the solution is to just scrape the barrel and tighten the belt.

Then i guess that's my option, i appreciate the guidance and thoughts. None of it is sarcasm or anything, thank you for taking the time to respond.

 

 

[Dedayog]

6 minutes ago, Rairaku said:

I work 2 jobs already (One that gives me my benefits insurance, pension etc) my other one is the side hustle of being an artist, i have quite a bit on my plate in terms of responsibilities, but if the solution is to just scrape the barrel and tighten the belt.

Then i guess that's my option, i appreciate the guidance and thoughts. None of it is sarcasm or anything, thank you for taking the time to respond.

 

 

Don't get me wrong, I am all for helping people.  I won't go into the list of things I do locally or who I support, but the way things are right now is so messy I won't get caught up in it.  If life were normal and someone needs a PC, sure.  I'll build and donate one.  But right now, I won't be bend over to pay for a GPU like they are.  Nor should you.

 

I currently have 2 machines to be donated, waiting on GPU;s.  Microcenter sales are fantastic except for that. Probably won't finish them until later this year, maybe Christmas presents for local kids.  Sucks, I would like to have them done now and gone.  This GPU market bullshit is ridiculous.

 

TLDR:  Don't give in to the bullshit, and it's just a want, not a need. Keep that front of mind focus.  

[Fasauceome]

26 minutes ago, Rairaku said:

now it just struggles to even play League of Legends

For a GTX 960 that's not expected, have you made sure thermals and clock speeds were working correctly?

 

Maybe you could overclock your system to improve performance.

[Rairaku]

5 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Don't get me wrong, I am all for helping people.  I won't go into the list of things I do locally or who I support, but the way things are right now is so messy I won't get caught up in it.  If life were normal and someone needs a PC, sure.  I'll build and donate one.  But right now, I won't be bend over to pay for a GPU like they are.  Nor should you.

 

I currently have 2 machines to be donated, waiting on GPU;s.  Microcenter sales are fantastic except for that. Probably won't finish them until later this year, maybe Christmas presents for local kids.  Sucks, I would like to have them done now and gone.  This GPU market bullshit is ridiculous.

 

TLDR:  Don't give in to the bullshit, and it's just a want, not a need. Keep that front of mind focus.  

Sort of it is a need (the artist part) but works been slowing down on that end. but i agree, the amount of money for GPUs at the moment is absurd

 

6 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

For a GTX 960 that's not expected, have you made sure thermals and clock speeds were working correctly?

 

Maybe you could overclock your system to improve performance.

I think its just been overworked all this time, it is almost a 5-6 yr old card at this point.

[Fasauceome]

1 minute ago, Rairaku said:

I think its just been overworked all this time, it is almost a 5-6 yr old card at this point.

If the thermal paste is old and dried, or a thermal pad has worn out, a fresh application will remedy the problem. GPUs don't exactly age and get slower like a person does, and if well maintained, they will pretty much operate at max capacity until they die. A friend of mine is still using his GTX 960 every day for his favorite games and it's as useful as day 1.

[Rairaku]

3 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

If the thermal paste is old and dried, or a thermal pad has worn out, a fresh application will remedy the problem. GPUs don't exactly age and get slower like a person does, and if well maintained, they will pretty much operate at max capacity until they die. A friend of mine is still using his GTX 960 every day for his favorite games and it's as useful as day 1.

Thermal paste for a video card? You've lost me.

[Fasauceome]

Just now, Rairaku said:

Thermal paste for a video card? You've lost me.

The graphics chip needs to connect to the heat sink, the same way the CPU does. If you popped the screws out of your GPU backplate and lifted the cooler off, you'd see what looks a lot like a traditional motherboard (albeit with some key differences like soldered ram chips and such)

 

I highly recommend you check your thermals to make sure the card is operating normally. The results could surprise you.

[Dedayog]

17 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

The graphics chip needs to connect to the heat sink, the same way the CPU does. If you popped the screws out of your GPU backplate and lifted the cooler off, you'd see what looks a lot like a traditional motherboard (albeit with some key differences like soldered ram chips and such)

 

I highly recommend you check your thermals to make sure the card is operating normally. The results could surprise you.

I second this, should have mentioned it in the beginning as well, sorry.