A Budget Build, Built on the Ashes of the Altcoin Crash

SageC · May 14, 2015

Blah, Blah, Blah

So this build was the result of me pawning off most of the parts that were remaining from the mining rig I built last spring, on to a friend for some cash. So don't be surprised by some of the hardware choices, and yes I know some of the parts make no damn sense in this context.

This was basically built for him as a quick start up gaming machine since all he's owned before have been shitty $400 laptops. I think it will work for him until he can get some more money to do some upgrades. I did advise him that the ram and the processor should be upgraded as soon as possible. But I'm sure this will be an upgrade from his cheap HP laptop and at the price of a console I think it's not a bad deal.

Parts

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220

Motherboard: ASRock H81 Pro BTC

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB DDR3-1600

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB

GPU: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270X

Case: BitFenix Neos White/Red

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W

Wi-Fi Card: D-Link DWA-548

Pictures

Excuse the garbage quality, my camera sucks without the proper lighting and since I wasn't sure if I was doing anything with these pictures at the time I didn't really bother.

Conclusion

First thing I'd like to mention is the case, I wouldn't recommended it. With the budget case market being what it is now with things like Fractal Define S and the NZXT S340 I feel like this case just doesn't stack up. Cable management included is nothing but the bare essentials, with cable holes that wont fit a 24-pin and a hole for the 8-pin hole that doesn't even work without low profile cables. I feel like these are things that wouldn't even add cost to the product, it just require some foresight and better design. Build quality is bearable considering it's only $40, but snap off expansion slot covers and fan screws that stripped so bad I had to drill one out to replace the back fan, definitely didn't please me. Also the front fans install to the dust filter which is a pain the ass if you ever remove it to clean it as it will still be hanging from the case by the fan cables.

Complaining about the case aside, after it was all put together I have to say it's not bad for a tight budget and it let me get rid of the parts I had just sitting around which was pretty nice. I also wired up some LED strips for under-glow which I think added a nice flair and keeps it from looking too budget.

So that's all folks, hope you enjoyed my ramblings.