Description

Built the machine for a mixture of uses: -Gaming, of course because everybody likes to relax at the end of the day -Programming, something I have to do -General Web browsing and word processing

The graphics card is good, been giving me good frame rates on high settings. The boot times are fast, all icons loaded in 30 seconds of pressing the power button. Due to the amount of fans I have on in the tower, it's not very quiet but of course thats understandable, and I don't mind that.

Recently after 3-4 months I've been getting occasional crashes (no BSODs though), I'm currently trying to find out what's causing it. At the moment it appears to be Steam when downloading games.

EDIT: I can confirm it was Steam causing those crashes, all now seems fine.

Comments

  • 60 months ago
  • 2 points

why buy PSU with wattage so high? I think 450 or 500 could be more than enough for these components,considering your use of llow-power GPU which uses only 60 watts

  • 60 months ago
  • 6 points

Though I agree it's quite high, it also gives upgradeability overhead and peace-of-mind.

  • 60 months ago
  • 1 point

Exactly that! I want to upgrade in the future.

  • 60 months ago
  • 3 points

but also its a high quality psu and its a relitivley low price so why not? Am I right?

  • 60 months ago
  • 1 point

Yes this is one reason, I planned to allow for CPU and GPU upgrades later on.

  • 60 months ago
  • 1 point

It's a budget build but I plan to upgrade in the future to a better CPU and GPU.

[comment deleted]
  • 60 months ago
  • 2 points

What games can you play?

  • 60 months ago
  • 1 point

So far I've played: COD Advanced Warfare, COD Black Ops 2, BF Hardline Beta, World of Tanks, Space Engineers, Minecraft, Euro Truck simulator, Garry's Mod, Portal 1 & 2, GTA San Andreas, Outlast, APB Reloaded, Blacklight Retribution and Hazard Ops

GTA V will be on the list soon, just waiting till its released aha.

  • 59 months ago
  • 1 point

Can also play League of Legends, Smite and Payday 2

  • 60 months ago
  • 2 points

+1 for the i3, great processor, no need for i5 imo.

  • 60 months ago
  • 2 points

How do you get those benchmarks?

  • 60 months ago
  • 1 point

Do you mean the spec list in the picture?

I used Primform's Speccy :)

  • 60 months ago
  • 1 point

That title though

  • 60 months ago
  • 1 point

You like? Aha.

  • 60 months ago
  • 1 point

Very nice relatively budget build. Although I feel like you could have cheaped out on a few areas (such as the RAM and PSU), it's still a nice build. I'm assuming that you went with the Haswell CPU, Z97 chipset, and high wattage PSU for future upgrades?

  • 60 months ago
  • 1 point

Hum, looking back now I wish I did ah. Money doesn't last long! And correct, I don't want to be on an I3 and the 750 TI for years! Thought the 750 Ti is proving to be quite a decent GPU for a budget build!

  • 60 months ago
  • 1 point

I would have gone with the pentium G3258, and used that extra $40 ish dollars to get a better gpu (AMD R9 270x or AMD R9 280)

  • 60 months ago
  • 1 point

I'm no longer experiencing the crashes and Steam has received multiple beta updates, so I think it was just down to an unstable update, it occasionally cut off all audio too when downloading games or game/workshop updates, though this seems to be resolved too.

  • 60 months ago
  • 0 points

When people go for budget builds like this, i prefer AMD because you can get a six or 4 core at higher speeds for that price, and then have more money for a GPU

  • 60 months ago
  • 1 point

I tend to find Intel have stronger cores than AMDs due to technologies like hyperthreading and turbo boost ect... And as most programs don't utilise multiple cores. I find less but stronger core more beneficial. But each to their own :)

One lesson I have learnt is bigger numbers don't necessarily mean better performance.

  • 60 months ago
  • 1 point

But nor does a bigger price and Intel = ridiculous price (not saying they are bad products, just expensive)

  • 59 months ago
  • 1 point

True, though I've used AMD CPUs twice and it wasn't a particularly good experience with either. I may give them another go in the future, just to see if they've improved :)

  • 59 months ago
  • 1 point

Which ones did you not like? I never used to use the older ones, the first AMD CPU I bought was an FX-8350, I've only experience the Fx series, and higher model APU like the A10-7850k

  • 59 months ago
  • 1 point

Like the really old one Sempron I think it was called lol. And I've used an FX one too, but that would have been an earlier one and also it was in a laptop...

  • 60 months ago
  • 0 points

A nice build but also a mishmash that bothers some people. You have a z97 board so most everyone thinks that you MUST have an unlocked CPU :D

This build has the appearance of something that is intended to be upgraded in the near future. At least one would hope that the motherboard would actually be put to good use at some point. It could certainly take a CPU+multi-gpu upgrade due to the beefy PSU.

+1

  • 60 months ago
  • 1 point

Yes, I planned this build to be rather upgradable :)

I've been think about a multi-GPU upgrade but I still have a bit of research to do here.

  • 59 months ago
  • 1 point

Oh and by research I mean the likes of SLI and Crossfire, I'm not sure on the performance vs reliability part.

  • 60 months ago
  • -1 points

I would of bought a Pentium G3258 instead of the i3 and been able to get a little more performance with a better GPU or a SSD with more storage. Also it could of saved you in a couple of $$ with a cheaper MOBO but still overall nice build. +1

  • 60 months ago
  • 4 points

He may have wanted the hyperthreaded ability of the i3, which would allow him to play games like far cry 4, and allow better performance in BF.

  • 60 months ago
  • 2 points

Yeah, hyperthreading was one reason I went for the i3 :)

  • 60 months ago
  • 0 points

I guess so, i didnt think of it that way

  • 60 months ago
  • 0 points

But he is also losing the ability to overclock..soo...

  • 60 months ago
  • 0 points

Could have gone with a fx 6300. Would have given ability to oc and more cores with around the same performance.

  • 60 months ago
  • 1 point

tru

  • 60 months ago
  • 1 point

Thanks, I would have brought a cheaper Mobo but I was preparing for future upgrades too so I got a Z97 one as I was told that would be highly compatible with the later i7 I wish to buy.

And I wasn't aware of the performance benefit of the G3258. Well the only way is up so I think I'll be passing off both of these CPUs ASAP :)

[comment deleted by staff]
  • 60 months ago
  • 4 points

SSD provides much more of a performance boost in non-gaming tasks, which I see as more important. The i3 is a great processor, and it pairs well with the 750 Ti

  • 60 months ago
  • 0 points

Ok, good.