Dropped something heavy on the tower. I’m not exactly sure what she did but from then on the computer would randomly crash, games would freeze, etc, no matter how many times I took everything apart and put it back together.
Oh, and it caught on fire.
One thing I like about the case I picked for this build is the “on” button is really small. My last tower had a large button with a really pretty blue light, which is a magnet to a two-year old.
I’m not familiar with the processor over the i-series stuff (i3, i5, i7) but overall I don’t see any glaring issues. I have the same card, more or less, in the R9 290X albeit with 4GB but I’ve been very happy with it. I don’t know about the 390s and if they’ve reduced the power consumption but mine recommended a 750W PSU. On the other hand, PSU estimates always seem to overstate the draw just to err on the safe side.
From what I understand with the processor is you’re getting a i7 for an i5 as long as you aren’t overclocking (which I’m not) and are ok with not having an integrated GPU (which I am).
If you didn’t mind doubling the amount you spend on RAM you could get DDR4, which is the only upgrade that really jumps out at me. Well, you’d have to get a motherboard that handles it, of course, so that’s another upgrade
If you’re at all concerned about heat, power, or noise, an nVidia GTX 970 would be preferable to the R9 390. The 390 draws an extra ~150 watts, which will make an already warm room rather toast. If you’re gaming a lot, use inefficient AC, and pay a high rate for power, those extra watts could cost you hundreds of dollars per year.
OTOH, the R9 390 has a decent performance edge if you’re running at 4k resolution.
Which gives you DDR4 3000, instead of the DDR3 1600 on the first build or the DDR4 2666 - almost double the speed of your original RAM.
As far as noticeable, memory speed is the bottleneck in many situations, IME, but memory speed doesn’t have the “sex appeal” of CPU clockspeed or memory size. I think it’s the thing missing from most great builds. You don’t want something to skip when it’s loading a new texture or whatever.
So after reviewing the thread I’ve made two separate builds.
1: The more expensive but, seemingly, more powerful. It differs from my original in that I have an i5k CPU. This was because it, along with i7k, was the only chip that would work with the new RAM. I kept with the 5 because I didn’t think the boost in going to a 7 was worth the extra $120. I chose the new RAM because I’m trying to avoid upgrading again for as long as possible. I stuck with my original GPU because I have sufficient cooling. Plus winter in Boston sucks and I need as much heat as possible. In my original, original build I had the 980 ti, but ~700 wasn’t worth it, too me.
I agree on the switch away from Xeon. I think it’s optimized for industry applications rather than gaming. In that way it’s analogous for to an Nvidia Titan: potentially great if you work in computer graphics but a rip-off for gaming.
I also agree on the heavy emphasis on the GPU. I’d go AMD if you want the most bang for your buck, especially if you want to game in 1440 or 4K. Nvidia would be if you want the highest performance (rather than performance/$) and the advantages of CUDA+PhysX. As far s I’m concerned, doubling the VRAM by going with AMD is far better than getting PhysX with Nvidia.
Areas where that wouldn’t be my choice:
Windows 8. Any reason for that choice?
2)250 SSD with no HDD. Are you sure this’ll be enough for the Steam games you want to play without having to reinstall them?
You don’t plan on storing media in an HDD?
Any reason for the Intel CPU preference? With an SDD, startup times are likely to be quite short anyway and for gaming, once you’re past a fairly low point, it’s chiefly about the GPU.
I’d check out the NCIX Youtube channels for the relevant tests. Comparing raw power across CPUs and GPUs can be misleading; My 4.5 year old AMD 6850 looks good on paper next to some recent GPUs although I’m pretty sure that it would get crushed in practical tests.
Considering investing in a toddler tower tower defense system.
I picked Windows 8 because it’s cheaper and can just do a free upload to Ten.
The SSD isn’t large enough, but I have 1.5tb that I’m going to reuse. I probably should have put that in there somewhere.
I chose the CPU I did because those were the only one I found that were compatible, per PCPartPicker, with the motherboards that would allow me to use DDR4.
Very good list. Seems you did your homework. Surprised to see the XFX (Seasonic) Gold cert PSU for $60. Sweet find.
I prefer Gigabyte over Asus for motherboard and nothing wrong with Xeon CPU. You can game just as well. Not having an on-chip graphics is a boost, I prefer video card.
I just changed the motherboard to Gigabyte and it saved me 20 bucks. And it had more USB ports.
But yeah, I’ll definitely put a picture up once it’s built, working, and toddler-proof moat surrounds it.
Motherboard: What should one look for when it comes to a motherboard?
CPU: Nothing wrong with Xeon but does it give as much or more gaming performance than other CPUs of comparable price?
I don’t see why it can’t. It’s likely an i7 without the graphics.
I don’t game so when I built my i5-3570 system I built it with durability in mind and I bought parts on the monthly basis watching for rebates and discounts from Newegg. I have an i3 system I built to run on in the meantime.
Gigabyte B75-HD3 motherboard (Business model)
Intel i5-3570 (non-K) CPU
Seagate Constellation 1TB Hard Drive (Enterprise/Server drive)
2x4 Corsair Vengeance Memory
Asus 24x DVDRW
Seasonic 520w Modular PSU
Sapphire Radeon HD7770 1G GDDR5 Video card
Xigmatek Gigas Cube Case with Xigmatek Maia CPU Cooler
SoundBlaster Audigy Sound Card
