skemble
Description
Hey guys! It’s me again. This time around I had about a $750 budget to work with and a blue/white theme to stick to. This setup is very common among gamers looking to step into their first system from consoles or aging laptop while sticking to a low-mid range budget. Of course there are corners that could have been cut, but let’s face it, custom builds should look good and perform well.
Goals for this build:
- Play a variety of games including: League of Legends, Borderlands 2, and Civilization 5
- Maintain a blue and white color theme
- Have a little room to grow: SSD/liquid cooling upgrades
PARTS:
- CPU:
I went with the FX-6300 this time due to the user’s diverse interest in games. I’ve always been a fan of the FX series’ performance/dollar. This particular chip was a very nice overclocker too. I was able to take it up to 4.5 before the temps got a little high for this cooler during Prime 95 tests. I clocked it at 4.3 with 1.35V and the temps never went over 67C during all of my benchmarking. Before I sent it to the new owner I clocked it back to 4.0 to avoid any overheating problems.
- COOLER:
I chose this cooler due to the color, but also because it costs and performs about like a Hyper 212 EVO. For the overclock I wanted to achieve it actually did better than expected. I was looking for something in the 4.0-4.2 range, but this little guy is keeping 4.3 at bay. The fan does get a little loud at max RPM, but it should never need to run that fast under normal usage.
- MOTHERBOARD:
I wanted a feature filled blue board with heatsinks suitable for overclocking. This board has everything a new user could ever want. I also love all of the diagnostic tools that Asus boards come with. Anyone looking for a solid overclocking, crossfire supported, blue themed board, this is a great value.
- MEMORY:
Corsair Vengeance is about as good as it gets. Set this kit to the 1866 profile and the rest was history. The blue color went perfect with the theme!
- STORAGE:
It’s not very often that the hard drive matches the color theme, but this is one of those rare times. This is a very popular drive for a budget like this and it performs like it should for a 7200 RPM drive.
- GPU:
The 270 is a really powerful card for the value it holds. With the recent decline in R9 prices, I was happy to get this around the price it originally retailed for. I overclocked this card to 1050 on the core and 1500 on the memory. Benchmarks, for a better idea on the performance, are posted below. I did notice that this particular card was a bit loud. Not loud to the point of annoyance, but it is definitely louder than the Asus version. It did cool better than the Asus version though. Viable trade off?
- CASE:
I loved this case. It has a nice wide window for viewing pleasure, removable HDD bays, rubber grommets, punched out back panel, filtered intakes, and an appealing white finish. I was able to get this on sale and was very happy with the results. The usually worry with a case of this size is the space behind the motherboard tray for cables. This case has a lot of room, which I needed for the extra sleeved extensions. It also has room for a 240 rad if the user wanted to upgrade to water in the future.
- PSU:
I never go cheap on a PSU if I have the choice. This build was no exception. The SeaSonic G series is a very high quality line of PSU. Coming with blue coloring, semi-modular cables, and an 80+ Gold efficiency rating it only made sense for this build.
- EXTRAS:
I love the Silverstone extensions. They bend and stay any way you might want them, making cable management really simple. They come with a soft sleeve that is really nice looking. The optical drive is just the usual CD/DVD burner from Lite-On.
CONCLUSION:
I was really happy with how this one turned out. The color theme really tied well together, benchmarks were very promising, and I fit within the user’s budget. This a great system for the all-around user, who wants to play a variety of games or is coming from a console and wants to feel the benefits that come from a gaming tiered PC.
Questions, comments, or concerns? Post them below, in a PM, or on my Facebook page. I’m never far away from a computer and always respond!
Twitch I plan to build all of my future builds live on Twitch. I also like to do giveaways for Steam games, so follow me to keep up with all the action!
FEEDBACK:
Do you like how my descriptions are laid out?
Are there any specific pictures that you feel are missing?
In regards to the post, what would you change?
BENCHMARKS: using 14.4 beta
Tests ran at clocks posted above. Settings were set to the maximum (1080P) unless noted differently. I test only tasking segments: firefights, lots of units on screen, explosions etc.
An almost identical system for comparison; i3-4130 vs FX-6300
Unigine Valley
1080p, ultra, AA x8
- 33.2 FPS – 1390 Score
1080p, ultra, AA x0
- 48.4 FPS – 2026 Score
Unigine Heaven
1080p, AA x8, Tessellation normal
- 33.3 FPS – 838 Score
1080p, ultra, AA x0, Tessellation off
- 47.4 FPS – 1195 Score
Catzilla
720p
- 10,179 Score
Cinebench
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CPU: 506 cb
-
OpenGL: 83.62 FPS
Borderlands 2
- Ave: 88.37
- Min: 57
- Max: 121
Civilization 5
- Ave: 132.31
- Min: 68
- Max: 145
Crysis 2
- Ave: 49.05
- Min: 34
- Max: 80
Killing Floor
- Ave: 92.55
- Min: 44
- Max: 194
League of Legends
1440p
- Ave: 95.46
- Min: 68
- Max: 124
1080p
- Ave: 106.02
- Min: 83
- Max: 138
Metro 2033
- Ave: 33.72
- Min: 24
- Max: 47
Payday 2
- Ave: 131.62
- Min: 114
- Max: 137
Neverwinter
Combat outside of crowded area
- Ave: 50.27
- Min: 35
- Max: 60
A run through the crowded parts of Protector’s Enclave
- Ave: 28.84
- Min: 19
- Max: 37
Hope you enjoy!
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