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Build-Off Week 41: Bang/Buck Refresh

Go to solution Solved by ilikemacandpc,
This week, my entry is for a $900 PC, at the top end of the given range. 
 
 
CPU:  AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($129.99 @ Micro Center) 
Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card:  MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB Video Card  ($423.98 @ Newegg) 
Case:  NZXT Source 220 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $898.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-18 16:28 EDT-0400)
 
Justification:
 
CPU: The AMD FX 8320 is a great CPU for not only gaming, but also productivity, which this PC will handle with ease. Nothing can really stand up to it at its price point in terms of all around performance. Furhtermore, an unlocked multiplier will facilitate massive overclocking to make this PC a beast. 
MB: Despite the Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P being a relatively cheap board, it actually has an 8+2 power phase design with decent VRM heatsinks, meaning that OCing is not out of the question. Its black and grey look will go with the red and black theme of the entire PC. 
Storage: A single 1TB hard drive is all that could fit in at this price point. Fitting in an SSD would mean sacrificing gaming performance, and people can live with slightly slower load times. And considering the aggressive caching Windows 8.1 does, mechanical hard drives don't feel all that bad anyway. 
RAM: This AMD Radeon R9 Gaming series RAM is an unbelieveable deal! It is an 8GB 2133MHz kit, and the extra speed will really help out. In the benchmarks section, I've included a graph about memory speed scaling on BF4 in a Haswell system. Considering that AMD CPUs are more memory speed dependent than their Intel counterparts, the fast ram will provide even more of a benefit. Furthermore, this memory kit looks gorgeous, and fits the rig perfectly. 
GPU: To be completely honest, I couldn't believe that I fit an R9 290 in a $900 build. It eats nearly half of the budget! This particular MSI TwinFrozr unit overclocks well as you can see in the benchmark below, and it looks awesome with that red and black color scheme that matches the rest of the components. 
PSU: I had to give this rig a lot of power to deal with that R9 290, and this CM unit not only has the power, but it also is a semi-modular unit, so this build will be aesthetically pleasing. 
Case: This nine hundred dollar computer necessitates a case with high air flow, because it needs as much airflow as it can get, and the NZXT Source 220 fits the bill. With vents and mesh on the front, side, back, and top, and with fans in those locations, that R9 290 and FX 8320 can run relatively coolly. 
Cooling: The Hyper 212 Evo will take this 8320 to 4GHz and beyond, hopefully to a relatively high clockspeed to reduce any CPU bottleneck on that R9 290. The Corsair AF120 will also cool the rig well while complimenting the color scheme beautifully. It will be a rear exhaust, while the 140mm stock fan will moved to the side of the case for fresh graphics card intake and the stock 120mm  fan will be moved to the front for intake. 
 
Value Proposition:
Initially, it might seem like my system is a bad value, but that couldn't be any falser. This exact same system with an MSI GTX 760 Gaming instead of an R9 290 Gaming would cost around $740. Looking at the performance numbers, an R9 290 provides nearly 40% more performance, while the overall rig with an R9 290 costs just over 20% more. The math doesn't lie; this nine hundred dollar rig provides an excellent value. 
 
Final Words
Take a look at the pictures and the benchmarks. I think you'll find that this system is pretty awesome in the end. 
 
Pics:
MSI_R9_290X_GAMING_4G_01.jpgRadeonR9MemoryAng_AMP2400Ready.png1025817.jpgSource_220-2.jpgfan_af120_up_r.png
 
 
Benchmarks:
perfrel.gifoc-3d-mark-firestrike-msi-radeon-r9-290-BF41920.png

Welcome to Week 41 of the LTT Build-Off! The rules and guidelines can be found here.
Thank you to @GRRigger for suggesting this challenge.

This week the challenge is to build a price/performance gaming rig, with a twist. Unlike previous Build-Offs, this challenge has a variable budget. You may enter a part list with a budget between $500 and $900 (please specify what price point you are trying to hit), and make your build the best for the money. If you think an extra $100 is worth spending for a GPU, then by all means add it and justify it in your post.

 

Budget: $500-$900
Speakers/Headphones: No
Mouse: No
Keyboard: No
Monitor: No
Submissions: April 18th through 24th
Voting: April 25th through May 1st

 

Let me know if you like this idea or it should never be repeated :)

[spoiler=My Current PC]AMD FX-8320 @ 4.2 Ghz | Xigmatek Dark Knight Night Hawk II | Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 | 8GB Adata XPG V2 Silver 1600 Mhz RAM | Gigabyte 3X Windforce GTX 770 4GB @ 1.27 Ghz/7.25 Ghz | Rosewill Hive 550W Bronze PSU | Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 | Samsung Evo 250 GB SSD | Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD | ASUS VS239H-P | Razer Deathadder 2013 Partlist

 

LTT Build-Off Thread: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/35226-the-ltt-build-off-thread-no-building-required/

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This week, my entry is for a $900 PC, at the top end of the given range. 
 
 
CPU:  AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($129.99 @ Micro Center) 
Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card:  MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB Video Card  ($423.98 @ Newegg) 
Case:  NZXT Source 220 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $898.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-18 16:28 EDT-0400)
 
Justification:
 
CPU: The AMD FX 8320 is a great CPU for not only gaming, but also productivity, which this PC will handle with ease. Nothing can really stand up to it at its price point in terms of all around performance. Furhtermore, an unlocked multiplier will facilitate massive overclocking to make this PC a beast. 
MB: Despite the Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P being a relatively cheap board, it actually has an 8+2 power phase design with decent VRM heatsinks, meaning that OCing is not out of the question. Its black and grey look will go with the red and black theme of the entire PC. 
Storage: A single 1TB hard drive is all that could fit in at this price point. Fitting in an SSD would mean sacrificing gaming performance, and people can live with slightly slower load times. And considering the aggressive caching Windows 8.1 does, mechanical hard drives don't feel all that bad anyway. 
RAM: This AMD Radeon R9 Gaming series RAM is an unbelieveable deal! It is an 8GB 2133MHz kit, and the extra speed will really help out. In the benchmarks section, I've included a graph about memory speed scaling on BF4 in a Haswell system. Considering that AMD CPUs are more memory speed dependent than their Intel counterparts, the fast ram will provide even more of a benefit. Furthermore, this memory kit looks gorgeous, and fits the rig perfectly. 
GPU: To be completely honest, I couldn't believe that I fit an R9 290 in a $900 build. It eats nearly half of the budget! This particular MSI TwinFrozr unit overclocks well as you can see in the benchmark below, and it looks awesome with that red and black color scheme that matches the rest of the components. 
PSU: I had to give this rig a lot of power to deal with that R9 290, and this CM unit not only has the power, but it also is a semi-modular unit, so this build will be aesthetically pleasing. 
Case: This nine hundred dollar computer necessitates a case with high air flow, because it needs as much airflow as it can get, and the NZXT Source 220 fits the bill. With vents and mesh on the front, side, back, and top, and with fans in those locations, that R9 290 and FX 8320 can run relatively coolly. 
Cooling: The Hyper 212 Evo will take this 8320 to 4GHz and beyond, hopefully to a relatively high clockspeed to reduce any CPU bottleneck on that R9 290. The Corsair AF120 will also cool the rig well while complimenting the color scheme beautifully. It will be a rear exhaust, while the 140mm stock fan will moved to the side of the case for fresh graphics card intake and the stock 120mm  fan will be moved to the front for intake. 
 
Value Proposition:
Initially, it might seem like my system is a bad value, but that couldn't be any falser. This exact same system with an MSI GTX 760 Gaming instead of an R9 290 Gaming would cost around $740. Looking at the performance numbers, an R9 290 provides nearly 40% more performance, while the overall rig with an R9 290 costs just over 20% more. The math doesn't lie; this nine hundred dollar rig provides an excellent value. 
 
Final Words
Take a look at the pictures and the benchmarks. I think you'll find that this system is pretty awesome in the end. 
 
Pics:
MSI_R9_290X_GAMING_4G_01.jpgRadeonR9MemoryAng_AMP2400Ready.png1025817.jpgSource_220-2.jpgfan_af120_up_r.png
 
 
Benchmarks:
perfrel.gifoc-3d-mark-firestrike-msi-radeon-r9-290-BF41920.png

Aesthetics of rigs matter

42

If you're interested, participate in LTT Build Offs

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Like usual, can't read your post in Dark Theme 

 

Copy and paste it all as plain text 

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Edit: your text is not legible on the dark theme. 

Like usual, can't read your post in Dark Theme 

 

Copy and paste it all as plain text 

It should be fixed. I copied it from last week, which was fixed, so I don't understand why it keeps breaking.

[spoiler=My Current PC]AMD FX-8320 @ 4.2 Ghz | Xigmatek Dark Knight Night Hawk II | Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 | 8GB Adata XPG V2 Silver 1600 Mhz RAM | Gigabyte 3X Windforce GTX 770 4GB @ 1.27 Ghz/7.25 Ghz | Rosewill Hive 550W Bronze PSU | Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 | Samsung Evo 250 GB SSD | Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD | ASUS VS239H-P | Razer Deathadder 2013 Partlist

 

LTT Build-Off Thread: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/35226-the-ltt-build-off-thread-no-building-required/

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It should be fixed. I copied it from last week, which was fixed, so I don't understand why it keeps breaking.

That's how formatting works. You are probably on day theme where all the text is Black. So when you copy and paste it says "paste as text black" essentially. When I type this post, the text color is set to automatic. So depending on the theme my text can change. 

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Nice idea. It should solve one and for all the budget PC build problem. I will come up with smt when I woke up

My rig: Intel Core i7 4790k | MSI Z97 PC Mate | GSKILL Ripjaws X 16GB 1866MHz | ADATA Premier SP550 480GB SSD | Seagate Barracuda 3TB | Seagate Barracuda 2TB  | MSI Gaming X GTX 1070 | Thermaltake Versa N21 | Corsair CX550M Semi Modular PSU | AOC G2460PF 144Hz | Logitech G502 | GSKILL Ripjaws KM780  | GAMDIAS HEPHAESTUS V2  PCPartPicker | Old Build Log | New Build Log

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Should there be an OS?

- "some salty pretzel bun fanboy" ~ @helping, 2014
- "Oh shit, watch out guys, we got a hopscotch bassass here..." ~ @vinyldash303

- "Yes the 8990 is more fater than the 4820K and as you can see this specific Video card comes with 6GB" ~ Alienware 2014

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This is silence/reliability optimized build. No need to do any overclocking since the gpu is factory oc'd and cpu is locked. Budget would be 900$ for this.

 


 

CPU:  Intel Core i3-4330 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 

CPU Cooler:  Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($48.22 @ NCIX US) 

Motherboard:  Asus VANGUARD B85 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($99.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory:  Kingston Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($64.98 @ OutletPC) 

Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($78.99 @ Newegg) 


Video Card:  EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card  ($159.99 @ Newegg) 



Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($89.98 @ OutletPC) 

Total: $897.11

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-18 16:30 EDT-0400)

I don't always have time to study, but when I do, I don't.

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This would be a performance and budget optimized build, the budget being 800.

 

 

 
CPU:  AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($109.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard:  Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($89.79 @ Newegg) 
Memory:  A-Data XPG V2 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($68.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card:  Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card  ($249.99 @ Micro Center) 
Case:  Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.99 @ Micro Center) 
Total: $785.71
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-18 16:39 EDT-0400)

- "some salty pretzel bun fanboy" ~ @helping, 2014
- "Oh shit, watch out guys, we got a hopscotch bassass here..." ~ @vinyldash303

- "Yes the 8990 is more fater than the 4820K and as you can see this specific Video card comes with 6GB" ~ Alienware 2014

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($214.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler:  Thermalright Macho-120 73.6 CFM CPU Cooler  ($43.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-Z87M-D3H 1.0 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($90.16 @ Newegg)
Memory:  AMD Radeon R9 Gamer Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($71.14 @ NCIX US)
Storage:  Seagate  1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive  ($87.29 @ Amazon)
Video Card:  MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card  ($214.95 @ Amazon)
Case:  Fractal Design Define Mini MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($89.04 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply:  Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $871.54
 

CPU: I think there a to ways to go: really cheap like a AMD 750k / I3 4130 or a Intel quad core. But the low end CPUs are only fast enough for right now. With a 4670 you can upgrade your gpu once or twice and won't need any other upgrades for years.

GPU: The 270x is a good value, and the MSI gaming edition is really quiet!

Do you need a SSD? I don't think so. I bought a Seagate hybrid drive for my parents and it's hard to tell the difference compared to a normal SSD+HDD setup.

 

The rest of the components are optimized for quiet operation. I think there is more to value than pure performance. Who wants a loud computer, or a case you can't bear to look at? :D

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i just went with pure bang / buck, no compromises, no budget restraints also not skimping on parts.

20120413052253_IMG_6498%20copy.jpg

Cpu : bang /buck

Cpu  cooler: obvious choice...

Mobo: heatsinked, overclocking capable 8+2 phases

RAM: patriot 8gb stick for 50$ out of stock. So i got gskill sniper ram for 10$ more than cheapest 2x4gb kit.

R9 270. Its basicly just lower clocked 7870. it can be overclocked nicely on stock voltage ( or depends on sample ), and its great bang / buck for 160$. for example in tesselation, its no less capable than 7900 series

case: solid choice looks sleek too. fits everything also. comes with 2 fans.

xfx power supply, manufactured by seasonic

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($151.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler:  Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory:  G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($70.99 @ Newegg)
Storage:  Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card:  Club 3D Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card  ($159.99 @ NCIX US)
Case:  Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply:  XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $627.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-18 17:40 EDT-0400)

 

the great part of this build is that you can put more beefy card in it and it transforms into high end machine with no compromises. so depends on your budget you get gpu. for example:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($151.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler:  Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory:  G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($70.99 @ Newegg)
Storage:  Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card:  MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB Video Card  ($423.98 @ Newegg)
Case:  Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply:  XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $891.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-18 17:38 EDT-0400)

also if you buy cpu at microcenter, its even 20$ cheaper.

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http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3u6VM

 

Tried to keep mine around $800

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3u6VM
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3u6VM/by_merchant/
 
CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($109.99 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.98 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($126.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($76.98 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 60GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($55.48 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card  ($244.99 @ NCIX US) 
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($64.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $809.37
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-18 17:16 EDT-0400)
 
 
Went for balance as well as good gaming.
 
Pros:
 
SSD for OS/drivers and maybe a small game or two.
212 EVO for mild OC on the 6300 (4.0 GHz-4.2Ghz)
6300 + GTX 760 because the 8 core CP's are pointless for a price/performance budget build. To get an 8320 would mean sacrificing the SSD or GPU.
HAF 912 because airflow
Enough power to SLI a second GTX 760

Intel core i5-3570k @ 3.4 GHz - Sapphire Radeon HD7870 Ghz OC Ed 1050/1250 - Kingston HyperX 3k 120GB SSD - G.Skill 8 GB's DDR3-1600 MHz 


Asus Z77-A mobo - Windows 7 64 bit - Corsair raptor HS30 headset - Corsair CX600 600w PSU - CM hyper 212 EVO CPU cooler


It can run crysis.

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Should there be an OS?

 

From the rules:

10. You do not need to factor the OS into the price.

[spoiler=My Current PC]AMD FX-8320 @ 4.2 Ghz | Xigmatek Dark Knight Night Hawk II | Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 | 8GB Adata XPG V2 Silver 1600 Mhz RAM | Gigabyte 3X Windforce GTX 770 4GB @ 1.27 Ghz/7.25 Ghz | Rosewill Hive 550W Bronze PSU | Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 | Samsung Evo 250 GB SSD | Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD | ASUS VS239H-P | Razer Deathadder 2013 Partlist

 

LTT Build-Off Thread: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/35226-the-ltt-build-off-thread-no-building-required/

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$900 AMD 8 core CPU, Asus direct CU II GTX 770, 1TB hybrid storage.
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks
CPU:  AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($151.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler:  Silverstone AR03 81.4 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($44.99 @ Newegg)  The reviews place this HSF up with the best of them.
Motherboard:  Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($107.99 @ NCIX US) 
Memory:  G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage:  Toshiba  1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive  ($99.99 @ Newegg) An SSD is still a luxury and these hybrids offer better boot speeds while still offering better prices per gig
Video Card:  Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card  ($319.99 @ Amazon)
Case:  Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply:  XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan:  Silverstone AP122 42.6 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($4.85 @ NCIX US) This fan is to be placed in the front of the case blowing at the GPU and then the stock fan should be moved to the top of the case.
Total: $898.76
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-20 19:53 EDT-0400)

1 Timothy 1:15

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From the rules:

sorry, didn't see that :P

- "some salty pretzel bun fanboy" ~ @helping, 2014
- "Oh shit, watch out guys, we got a hopscotch bassass here..." ~ @vinyldash303

- "Yes the 8990 is more fater than the 4820K and as you can see this specific Video card comes with 6GB" ~ Alienware 2014

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Mine is going to be targeting the $600 mark:

 
CPU:  AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($109.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard:  MSI 760GMA-P34(FX) Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($59.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory:  Kingston Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($64.98 @ OutletPC) 
Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.98 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card:  Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card  ($189.99 @ NCIX US) 
Case Fan:  Fractal Design FD-FAN-SSR2-92 24.6 CFM 92mm  Fan  ($8.49 @ Newegg) 
Total: $603.37
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-18 19:15 EDT-0400)

Main PC:

ASUS F1A55-M LX, AMD A6-3500, (2x2)gb Kingston HyperX Blu DDR3 1600mhz, Seagate Barracuda 500gb 7200rpm, 
 Corsair CX430M, Cooler Master Elite 343, Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit

Netbook:

Lenovo Ideapad S10-2, Intel Atom N280, (1x1)gb DDR2 667mhz, WD Scorpio Blue 250gb 5400rpm, Zorin OS 9 Lite
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CPU:  AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($84.73 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard:  MSI A88X-G45 GAMING ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($119.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage:  Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($74.99 @ Best Buy) 
Video Card:  MSI Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card  ($312.98 @ Newegg) 
Case:  Cooler Master N400 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $892.62
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-18 23:48 EDT-0400)
 

 

 

 

 

This build is one of the few good bang for buck system you can get for 900

 

the Athlon X4 760k can be overclocked to 4.3GHz with the CoolerMaster air cooler

low CAS latency RAM from G.Skill

SSD and HDD combo from Sandisk and Western Digital

R9 280X is one of the top end GPU you can get and it cheaper than the GTX770

you can't go wrong with CoolerMaster casing and PSU so I choose the N400 and 620 Watt PSU

Budget? Uses? Currency? Location? Operating System? Peripherals? Monitor? Use PCPartPicker wherever possible. 

Quote whom you're replying to, and set option to follow your topics. Or Else we can't see your reply.

 

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1.jpg

Target: 800$

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($107.99 @ NCIX US)

Memory: Kingston Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.98 @ OutletPC)

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($78.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($82.99 @ NCIX US)

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 4GB Video Card ($225.38 @ Newegg)

Case: Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)

Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-L2R-20AC-GP 69.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($5.72 @ NCIX US)

Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-L2R-20AC-GP 69.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($5.72 @ NCIX US)

Other: Blue LED Strip x2 ($11.20)

Total: $797.92

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-18 23:21 EDT-0400)

So overall: Just because you are on budget doesnt mean you have to sacrifice the look. I'm going with a Black/Blue theme for this build. For the choice:

CPU:AMD FX 6300: the best <120$ CPU out there, no more words needed

CPU Cooler: For a budget build a 212 Evo is always the right choice

Mobo: a 100$ Mobo but dont cut any corner? Still support SLI/Crossfire, SATA 6Gb/s and e-SATA and up to 32Gb Ram? And it's blue? I'm sold

RAM: a pair of Kingston Blu 4GB add up to 8GB, run at 1600MHz is quite enough, and is blue too :3

Storage: On Budget or not a SSD is always needed if you take performance in to consideration. So I choose a 120 GB 840 EVO for the OS, and for mass storage a Seagate Barracuda 2TB is one of the best price/performance out there

Video Card: At first I'm thinking of the 750Ti, but then a few look around at the comparison between the 750 Ti with the R9 270X show that 270X is the clear winner and with only 50$ different between them, I choose the 270X. Now about the whole Black/Blue theme,if I stay true to it I should take a SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X R9 270X 2GB, but then it's out of stock everywhere, plus just for 10-20$ more I can get the 4GB version, so I go with what I choose here. So it's didnt stray from my color scheme, and provided a very good performance.

Case: This CM case is not only very cheap, it's HUGE, support up to 240mm radiator, have a front Blue LED fan, nice big window panel, support all the necessary + can still be reuse in the future if I plan to upgrade the CPU Cooler or anything else for that matter.

PSU: Not much to say here. A good PSU provided enough power.

Case Fan: 2 Cooler Master R4-L2R-20AC-GP 69.0 CFM 120mm, these fan are Blue LED fan, so I grab 2 of them to replace the back fan of the case as well as replace or do push/pull on the 212 Evo.

^^^ OR I could mount these 2 Blue LED Fan on the top of the case, giving more exhaust fan overall to keep the whole case cooler while showering Blue light on top of everthing

Other: 2x Blue LED strip: As I said at the beginning budget is not a reason to sacrifice the look, so I add in 2 Blue LED strip to be mounted on the top and bottom of the window panel, it should provided enough blue light to illuminate the whole case along with the LED fan, giving the whole CPU a nice looking Black/Blue theme

Out of all my component, other than the GPU and PSU, others can easily be reuse when you want to upgrade this build , so it have a bit of future proof in mind as well

So when the build is completed it should look something like this, but may be a little brighter since I use additional LED strip. Picture taken from here

http://www.howtomakeonline.org/c-r-lMoney8KlTyt/Cooler-Master-431-Elite-Plus-mid-size-tower-review-.html

0.jpg

My rig: Intel Core i7 4790k | MSI Z97 PC Mate | GSKILL Ripjaws X 16GB 1866MHz | ADATA Premier SP550 480GB SSD | Seagate Barracuda 3TB | Seagate Barracuda 2TB  | MSI Gaming X GTX 1070 | Thermaltake Versa N21 | Corsair CX550M Semi Modular PSU | AOC G2460PF 144Hz | Logitech G502 | GSKILL Ripjaws KM780  | GAMDIAS HEPHAESTUS V2  PCPartPicker | Old Build Log | New Build Log

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It should be fixed. I copied it from last week, which was fixed, so I don't understand why it keeps breaking.

You can set it to only post plain text.

1 Timothy 1:15

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You can set it to only post plain text.

choose text and switch to auto helps

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First of all: I know that I'm too late for this (I'm new and I just discovered this amazingness now!) But still I want to share my take on Budget Building because theory crafting is fun!

 

Now the focus on this build is Upgradable so I spent every dollar of the $900 budget on the things that matter most so that when upgrade time comes, you will be able to reuse most if not all the parts.

 

*disclaimer: "exploiting" the large discounts for the Corsair 300R and PSU to achieve $900*

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($129.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler:  Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard:  Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($178.49 @ Newegg)
Memory:  Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($67.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage:  PNY XLR8 PRO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card:  Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Dual-X Video Card  ($299.99 @ NCIX US)
Case:  Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply:  Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $899.38
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-23 12:19 EDT-0400)

 

Out of the box, this should perform well in stock configuration; however, with a strong backbone with the CPU, Mobo and GPU, there is a lot to work with over the coming years.

 

Time passes...

Need more power? Start with a mild overclock on the CPU and GPU; the board and cpu cooler can handle it well.

 

A few months more...

Even more power? Up the clock speeds a bit more and add a few case fans to keep everything nice a cool.

 

Eventually it just might not be enough. Get more clockspeed from the CPU and swap out the cooler (maybe for an AIO, the 300R can hold it). But the real issue is the graphics card; maybe its time for a crossfire? If we had skimped on the mobo, 1. we wouldn't have been able to go heavy overclocks but 2. we would have have to replace it at this point to support the heavy overclocks and SLI. Now we only have to replace the PSU (unless we have $80 extra to buy a 1000W PSU from the start) to support a 280x crossfire and roughly get the performance of a 780 Ti. Then throw everything into either a modded Corsair 300R for more water cooling support or a new case entirely.

 

Just another take on the budget build, "sacrificing" good enough now for a better tomorrow--but really, even in stock these parts will max out today's games.

 

 

*Let me end this with the fact that I am new to the Build-a-PC world and only have the weeks of research I have done for the planning of my own budget build to go with. Basically if I had this kind of budget, this is how I would go. I would love to know--if I am--how wrong I am with this build and other constructive criticisms. Cheers!*

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i noticed the voting has yet to start

Budget? Uses? Currency? Location? Operating System? Peripherals? Monitor? Use PCPartPicker wherever possible. 

Quote whom you're replying to, and set option to follow your topics. Or Else we can't see your reply.

 

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i noticed the voting has yet to start

i dont mind voting, but new challenge should start allready :D

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i noticed the voting has yet to start

i dont mind voting, but new challenge should start allready :D

Really sorry guys, I was on vacation for April Break with only a phone. Apparently there is no Full Editor on mobile and I couldn't post anything. I'm going to extend this challenge so the voting will be this week, with a new challenge on May 2nd.

[spoiler=My Current PC]AMD FX-8320 @ 4.2 Ghz | Xigmatek Dark Knight Night Hawk II | Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 | 8GB Adata XPG V2 Silver 1600 Mhz RAM | Gigabyte 3X Windforce GTX 770 4GB @ 1.27 Ghz/7.25 Ghz | Rosewill Hive 550W Bronze PSU | Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 | Samsung Evo 250 GB SSD | Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD | ASUS VS239H-P | Razer Deathadder 2013 Partlist

 

LTT Build-Off Thread: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/35226-the-ltt-build-off-thread-no-building-required/

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