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Week 52--Upgrade Path Part 1

CornOnJacob
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Base System:

 

 
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $496.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-17 22:28 EDT-0400
 
Rationale:
-Starting with an overclockable i5 and suitable Z97 board for a stable base. Cooling to come later, for now the stock HSF will do.
-4GB single module with room for another later on.
-Starting with a reasonably sized SSD because it makes life easier to just chuck in a secondary storage drive rather than do a clone or fresh install onto the SSD when the upgrade happens.
-Sturdy case from Corsair which looks good and is functional for a great price. Will fit whatever we want to throw in it.
-Really good value for money with the Bronze 500W from EVGA.
 
Unfortunately no GPU as of yet, however the integrated graphics should be able to handle low settings fairly well.
 
Upgrade:
 
 
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card  ($379.99 @ NCIX US) 
Total: $496.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-17 22:51 EDT-0400

 

Rationale:

-With the fresh pile of ca$h we see a Hyper 212 EVO to allow for OCing.

-Another 4GB module is installed to bring the total to 8GB.

-A 1TB HDD is whacked in for miscellaneous storage of data.

-And the powerplant itself - the R9 290 - makes its way off the bench.

 

All up, for $1000, you can't go wrong.


Posted
Welcome to Week 52 of the LTT Build-Off! The rules and guidelines can be found here.
Thank you to @MEC-777 and @f22luke for suggesting the challenge.
 

In MEC-777's words:

...the challenge would be to build a system that would allow for the best possible upgrade path to a killer gaming rig down the road - but the catch is to achieve that upgrade having to replace as few parts as possible. Those making submissions would have to (briefly) explain the upgrade path of their build and the rationale behind their choice of components.

This is the first part of the challenge, so keep in mind that you need a viable upgrade path. The next challenge (in two weeks) will be to upgrade the winning build from this contest.

 
Budget: $500 base computer + $500 for upgrades
Speakers/Headphones: No
Mouse: No
Keyboard: No
Monitor: No
Submissions: August 15th through 21st
Voting: August 22nd through 28th
 
This is obviously a little more involved than previous challenges, so if you have any questions about this experiment, ask below. Happy building!

[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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Dark theme users, I feel your pain.

 

Not relevant anymore.

Any unknown button should be pressed even number of times.

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Dark theme users, I feel your pain.

All set now?

[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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All set now?

Nope, still unreadable without highligthing. 

 

Okay, now it's good.

 

On topic: I'm not allowed to do $500 builds, everything I come up with usually comes out to at least $900. It's like a disorder of some kind...

Any unknown button should be pressed even number of times.

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On topic: I'm not allowed to do $500 builds, everything I come up with usually comes out to at least $900. It's like a disorder of some kind...

I've got the same problem, just can't let my friends use shitty parts amd the price just goes up

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CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($109.99 @ NCIX US) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-D3P ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard  ($54.99 @ NCIX US) 
Memory: Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($34.99 @ NCIX US) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 4GB Dual-X Video Card  ($198.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case  ($22.99 @ Micro Center) 
Total: $499.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-16 16:14 EDT-0400
 
CPU I didnt want to go with apu / athlon or 4300 because you get 2 less cores ( or 1 module )
With dedicated GPUs, gaming on system memory frequency doesnt matter, check Linus`s video. 
4Gb overclockable r9 270x because i will put it in crossfire so it has extra video ram for bigger textures and anti aliasing. Also aim on vram freq OC.
I managed to put in this great PSU with plenty wattage for future crossfire + oc and cpu overclock.
Case is pretty cheap and can fit everything on build including cpu cooler and crossfire.
You can play games immidiatelly on high settings (better performance than consoles :P), mobo supports crossfire and light cpu fx-6300 overclock (heatsinked vrm) in future with cpu cooler.

Planned Upgrade but not definitive because we build it after 2 weeks but underlines what i will try to aim for
 
This will be aimed for very graphical powerful and quiet build in the end.

 
CPU Cooler: Enermax ETS-T40-TB 86.7 CFM CPU Cooler  ($34.99 @ Newegg)  (or 212 EVO if budget doesnt allow T40)
Memory: Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($34.99 @ NCIX US) 
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 4GB Dual-X Video Card  ($198.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case  ($103.35 @ Amazon) 
Total: $499.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-16 16:08 EDT-0400
 
Or if you can live with crappy looking case and want best performance you can get :D :
512Gb of SSD speedyness !
 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE2 54.4 CFM CPU Cooler  ($49.99 @ NCIX US) 
Memory: Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($34.99 @ NCIX US) 
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 4GB Dual-X Video Card  ($198.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case Fan: Rosewill Hyperborea 57.5 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($7.64 @ Amazon) 
Case Fan: Rosewill Hyperborea 57.5 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($7.64 @ Amazon) 
Total: $499.23
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-17 05:11 EDT-0400
 
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On topic: I'm not allowed to do $500 builds, everything I come up with usually comes out to at least $900. It's like a disorder of some kind...

I've got the same problem, just can't let my friends use shitty parts amd the price just goes up

Sorry guys, that's what makes the challenge hard. I'm happy to change it to $600 since no one has entered yet, but I've posted plenty of low-end challenges before that turned out surprisingly good PCs. Check some of those for ideas.

[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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RESERVED

 

 
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($144.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Corsair 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($82.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($77.99 @ NCIX US) 
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 270 2GB DirectCU II Video Card  ($159.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $722.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-15 10:32 EDT-0400
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Build:
 
 
CPU: AMD FX-4130 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($77.94 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($69.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card  ($119.99 @ NCIX US) 
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ Micro Center) 
Total: $499.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-15 10:45 EDT-0400
 
Upgrades:

 
CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($149.95 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($104.99 @ NCIX US) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Dual-X Video Card  ($239.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $494.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-15 10:57 EDT-0400

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

Spoiler

Ryzen 3950X | AMD Vega Frontier Edition | ASUS X570 Pro WS | Corsair Vengeance LPX 64GB | NZXT H500 | Seasonic Prime Fanless TX-700 | Custom loop | Coolermaster SK630 White | Logitech MX Master 2S | Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Pro 512GB | Samsung 58" 4k TV | Scarlett 2i4 | 2x AT2020

 

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Sorry guys, that's what makes the challenge hard. I'm happy to change it to $600 since no one has entered yet, but I've posted plenty of low-end challenges before that turned out surprisingly good PCs. Check some of those for ideas.

$500 is fine, and it's a good chance to use those budgeting skills ;) I think I did pretty good for $500

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

Spoiler

Ryzen 3950X | AMD Vega Frontier Edition | ASUS X570 Pro WS | Corsair Vengeance LPX 64GB | NZXT H500 | Seasonic Prime Fanless TX-700 | Custom loop | Coolermaster SK630 White | Logitech MX Master 2S | Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Pro 512GB | Samsung 58" 4k TV | Scarlett 2i4 | 2x AT2020

 

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Sorry guys, that's what makes the challenge hard. I'm happy to change it to $600 since no one has entered yet, but I've posted plenty of low-end challenges before that turned out surprisingly good PCs. Check some of those for ideas.

The main problem is that the most budget builds are based on AMD, and tbh I don't know shit about which AMD CPU/GPU is powerful, which is better for work/games/home. I gotta fill that gap in my knowledge, but I'm kinda lazy. Does anyone have a GPU comparsion chart by any chance? (i.e. 290X ~ 780)

Any unknown button should be pressed even number of times.

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Sorry guys, that's what makes the challenge hard. I'm happy to change it to $600 since no one has entered yet, but I've posted plenty of low-end challenges before that turned out surprisingly good PCs. Check some of those for ideas.

Its pretty challenging with 500$ but its definitly possible ( APUs make everything so easy). You can add option (or another thread)  so we make also for 600$ now if you want. More builds more fun :D

 

 

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-snip-

Upgrades (not sure if I'm supposed to post them here...?) :
-snip-

Yep, that's a good format. Part 1 (this contest) is to show a good basic PC with potential, while Part 2 (next contest) will be to show the final product.

[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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Yep, that's a good format. Part 1 (this contest) is to show a good basic PC with potential, while Part 2 (next contest) will be to show the final product.

Ok great, thanks :D

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

Spoiler

Ryzen 3950X | AMD Vega Frontier Edition | ASUS X570 Pro WS | Corsair Vengeance LPX 64GB | NZXT H500 | Seasonic Prime Fanless TX-700 | Custom loop | Coolermaster SK630 White | Logitech MX Master 2S | Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Pro 512GB | Samsung 58" 4k TV | Scarlett 2i4 | 2x AT2020

 

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Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 



Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case  ($22.99 @ Micro Center) 


Total: $494.12

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-15 11:24 EDT-0400

 

With this build you would have to survive with integrated graphics (the motherboard supports onboard video) until the upgrade took place.

 

Upgrade:

 



 



Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  ($433.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $495.96

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-15 11:31 EDT-0400

 

Although this build does not have an ssd, after the upgrade you would get a very nice rig with a i5 4690k, 8gb of 1600mhz ram and an r9 290!

Written on my Lenovo Z500 T - I5-3230M   Or

My pc :)

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That build is $222.22 over budget...

xD

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

Spoiler

Ryzen 3950X | AMD Vega Frontier Edition | ASUS X570 Pro WS | Corsair Vengeance LPX 64GB | NZXT H500 | Seasonic Prime Fanless TX-700 | Custom loop | Coolermaster SK630 White | Logitech MX Master 2S | Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Pro 512GB | Samsung 58" 4k TV | Scarlett 2i4 | 2x AT2020

 

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That build is $222.22 over budget...

xD

I suffer from Overprice Disorder. I can't put together a part list under $700 USD because I can't stand low-end parts after using low-end systems since birth.

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($69.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim 113.8 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler  ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-G55 SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($88.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital WD Blue 1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($64.66 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS/I Snow Edition (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $491.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-15 13:19 EDT-0400

 

Upgrade:

 PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($224.67 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB ACX Video Card  ($233.99 @ Newegg) 

Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN751ND 802.11b/g/n PCI Wi-Fi Adapter  ($13.99 @ Amazon) 

Case Fan: be quiet! Pure Wings 2 51.4 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($11.99 @ NCIX US) 

Case Fan: be quiet! Pure Wings 2 51.4 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($11.99 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $496.63

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-15 13:27 EDT-0400

Please become a member of the Linus Tech Tips forum, keep writing smug remarks & let us love you. Peace out.


<| Project M13 & Silverstream. Other DIY projects |>

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If I save some money this week would I be able to spend it in the upgrade? Also could I hypothetically sell something?

The answer to both of those is no, mainly because it makes things too complicated. In addition, there is no set price you would get from selling a part, and it creates too many variables.

[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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Motherboard: MSI Z97-G55 SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($88.99 @ Newegg) 


Storage: A-Data Premier SP610 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ NCIX US) 




Total: $495.92

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-15 15:50 EDT-0400

 


 



Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Dual-X Video Card  ($239.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $489.65

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-16 17:08 EDT-0400

 

upgrade the CPU because cores and the GPU because graphiqs 

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Remember prizes will be sent out at the 1st of the month since they are now 20 dollars for amazon. Good Luck to you all.

If you've previously won the build off please pm me so we can get something worked out.

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This is my take of the 500 dollar build and the upgrade paths

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($166.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI A88X-G45 GAMING ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($95.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($76.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($55.98 @ OutletPC)
Case: Cooler Master N600 Windowed ATX Mid Tower Case  ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $490.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-16 04:03 EDT-0400

 

APU A10 is a great based for basic gaming using the A10 decent iGPU which is paired with 2133MHz RAM

 

it has been proven that with just the iGPU you can play games like WatchDogs on 720P med and net 30+fps constant.

 

 

 

the upgrades will be a better PSU, SSD, CPU water cooler and a nice 280X

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 120XL 86.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280X 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  ($284.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Cooler Master VSM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $492.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-16 04:08 EDT-0400

 

The SSD will greatly improve loading times of programs and OS and the Sandisk is a great value SSD

 

With the watercooler, you will be able to push the APU to speeds up to 4.7GHz at 1.44 Volts while the iGPU can be push to 1GHz

 

the 650 Watts PSU is from CoolerMaster VSM series and it comes with 5 year warranty and Gold Rated

 

the 280X will be a big jump from the iGPU and you will be able to play games at 1080P Ultra settings

 

and with the additional of Mantle enabled games

 

your gameplay will be great :)

 

 

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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Edit:

This is a pretty long post, so if you don't have time (though I encourage you to see every bit of this post), here a tl;dr version

 

1. Base System: Pentium G3258 + R9 270X

2. Upgrades: Core i5 4690K + another R9 270x + SSD

3. This system is badass and is faster than a GTX 780 and will OC too. 

 

Also, there's no build in this week's competition that beats this one in gaming performance, and before the upgrade, you won't have to deal with sucky integrated graphics.

Take that as you will...

 

$500 BASE SYSTEM:

 
CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($59.99 @ Micro Center) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($100.00 @ NCIX US) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 270X 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($159.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Micro Center) 
Total: $494.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-16 12:03 EDT-0400

 

CPU: The Pentium G3258 is quite an interesting CPU. Intel for a long time has denied enthusiasts unlocked processors at a budget price point, but now, it is here in the form of an unlocked Pentium, that offers great performance at a great price. The stock cooler should be able to take this baby to around 4GHz, making it excellent in gaming applications. You can see Linus's review of it below and benchmarks from Tom's Hardware in the Benchmarks section of this post. 

 

The LTT Review

 

Motherboard: This was a tough choice, but ultimately, the Z97X-SLI won out due to great expandability and features at the $100 mark. With M.2, SATA Express, SLI, and CrossfireX support, this motherboard is sure to impress. A Z97 chipset will allow for overclocking the G3258 and future upgrades to more powerful parts in the Haswell and future Broadwell lineups. 

 

RAM and Storage: With such a restrained budget, 4GB of memory was the only prudent course of action. This particular memory kit has 1 DIMM, making an upgrade to dual channel in the future extremely easy. Furthermore, Tom's Hardware has frequently overclocked G.Skill Ripjaws RAM well beyond its rated speed in their System Builder Marathons, meaning we can get some additional performance here.

 

Arguably, the only compromise in this build right now is the 500GB hard drive. Tantalizing 1TB hard drives were just out of reach, but this drive still operates at 7200rpm, and with optimizations in Windows 8/8.1, performance in everyday applications won't be bad at all. 

 

Graphics: An R9 270X at this price is the best decision in the market. At only $160 dollars after a rebate, this XFX model with a Double Dissipation aftermarket cooler is priced to sell while performing exceptionally well. It can drive the majority of games at 1080p at high settings with ease, and IMO, it looks dang good. You can see performance numbers of an R9 270X in the Benchmarks section below. 

 

Case and Power Supply: Corsair doesn't make junk (usually), and the SPEC-02 is no exception. It's aesthetics and performance are pretty good, and the red LED fan will match the rest of the system well. A modular EVGA 750W unit powers the entire system, providing plenty of room for overclocking and adding another graphics card. 

 

$500 OF UPGRADES

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ Micro Center) 
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($57.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 270X 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($159.99 @ Newegg) 
Case Fan: BitFenix BFF-LPRO-12025R-RP 56.2 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($12.49 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $495.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-16 11:52 EDT-0400
 
CPU and Cooling: We start off with a 4690K and a 212 Evo. With these two, gaming and productivity performance will increase significantly due to overclocking and a greater core count. Temperatures will be lower and the system will be quieter as well. A Bitfenix Spectre Pro fan with a red LED will add some more flair and cooling as well for this upgraded system.
 
As you can see in the Benchmarks section below, the 4690K provides an appreciable increase in performance in both gaming and productivity applications. 

 

RAM and Storage: Next, we add another 4GB of the same RAM to bring total system memory to 8GB, a respectable amount with great performance. The addition of a 128GB SSD will also enhance system performance measurably, making everything snappier. And, with my OCD, even the SSD matches the color scheme. 

 

Graphics: Another R9 270X by XFX should significantly improve gaming performance. You won't have to waste money by replacing the previous GPU, making upgrading to a CrossfireX solution by far the best idea. As shown in the Benchmarks section below, the total performance will exceed even that of the GTX 780 by over 15%. 

 

Summary

Overall, this build offers great gaming performance in its initial form and exceptional performance in its upgraded form. Spending just under a grand in total (after rebates), one can get an unlocked Haswell Core i5 processor with a pair of R9 270Xs that are faster than a GTX 780 in addition to an SSD and mechanical hard drive. Overall, this system is pretty dang awesome. At the bottom of this post, you can see a section dedicated to images of all of the beautiful and color matched parts put into this build, because cheap doesn't have to mean ugly. 

 

Benchmarks

AMD_R9_280X_CrossfireX_review_3DMark.png metro-fr.pnghandbrake.png

Credit goes to ReviewStudio (http://www.reviewstudio.net/868-amd-radeon-r9-270x-crossfirex-and-r9-280x-4-way-crossfirex-review) for the R9 270X graphics benchmarks and to Tom's Hardware (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-overclocking-performance,3849.html) for the Pentium G3258 and Intel Core i5 4690K benchmarks. 

 

 

Images of the Beautifully Color Matched Components

xfx_radeon_r9_270x_black_double_edition_gigabyte_z97x_gaming_3.jpgc26-B0093HMLAS-1-l._V395739419_.jpg1304512501.jpegHyper-212-EVO-CPU-Cooler.jpgSPEC02_three_quarter_hero_up.pngbitfenix_spectre_pro_led_120mm_red.jpg

Aesthetics of rigs matter

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Posted

$500 base System

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ctXhvK

 

 
CPU: AMD FX-6350 3.9GHz 6-Core Processor  ($129.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($116.00 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 6450 2GB Video Card  ($39.99 @ Micro Center) 
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Micro Center) 
Total: $499.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-16 19:28 EDT-0400

 

 
 
CPU: The FX-6350 is a very nice performing CPU, clocked at 3.9 ghz and 6 cores, it's just a great cpu for the price. 
Mobo: This mobo has a nice clean look with usb 3.0 and the newest 990fx chipset.
RAM: The corsair vengeance 2x4gb 1866 ram is a nice ram kit, with a colour scheme that doesnt look absolutely replulsive. It is also CAS 9 and just great overall.
Storage. Chepeast 1TB HDD that isn't bad. We will be upgrading this. 
Graphics card: Another thing we're gonna upgrade. We traded good cpu power now and weak gpu power, as oppose to horrible cpu that is hard to upgrade and then a great gpu that bottlenecks like crazy.
Case: This is a nice looking case from corsair. It is also high quality and easy to work in. 
Power supply: Something else we we'll upgrade. Just using this to give power to the components. 
 
 
UPGRADES!!!
 
 
 
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($77.99 @ NCIX US) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB DirectCU II  Video Card  ($311.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $484.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-16 19:31 EDT-0400
 
 
 
We have upgraded to an ssd, and a great one at tat. 120 gb samsung 840 evo gives us good speed and some storage. The GTX 770 was the largest upgrade. We went with the direct cu 2 cooler for its temps and acoustics. The we also have grabbed a hyper 212 evo, so we can cool our cpu. Lastly, the power supply is also a big upgrade, picking it up to 80+ gold, modular cables and 650w.
 
Summary: The original build gives you something to use, that isn't horrible. Great computing power fast ram and aesthetically please case make it a pretty great build. With the upgrade, it was able to pick up performance quite a bit with cooling on the cpu for better performance and temps, a much better graphics card, an ssd and a better performing power supply.All in all, after the upgrade it is an even better build than before,
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