PC Build Advice/Review Thread

[Krandor]

Already said they used multiple cables and ports, which should put the issue entirely with the drive.

[chullo]

I had an issue like that, fans would spin for a split second and then the comp would shut off, every time. no bios as well. Ended up being my Motherboard that shorted out. I replaced the Mobo and it booted up.

EDIT: NEVERMIND, re-read your post and realized you're having a different problem altogether. I left my original post in case for whatever reason that ends up helping you lol

[Buffy]

Already said they used multiple cables and ports, which should put the issue entirely with the drive.

I completely overlooked the line that said "I've also tried using three sata cables, and multiple ports."

I agree, the drive is causing it not to post, which means replace the drive.

[Draygon]

Friend was looking at THIS because he wanted to spend between $500 and $650 on a build, and asked for my opinion on it. Personally, I stopped keeping up after I had built my own back in 2012, so I'm not too sure about everything that's out at this point. Is this a decent price? Would I be able to have him buy better parts and put it together for him for the same range? He likely will only be playing DoTA2 and possibly WoW:Legion (Doubtful, but possible.)

Thanks in advance.

[Gryffes]

Friend was looking at THIS because he wanted to spend between $500 and $650 on a build, and asked for my opinion on it. Personally, I stopped keeping up after I had built my own back in 2012, so I'm not too sure about everything that's out at this point. Is this a decent price? Would I be able to have him buy better parts and put it together for him for the same range? He likely will only be playing DoTA2 and possibly WoW:Legion (Doubtful, but possible.)

Thanks in advance.

You can build a better spec rig for under $400.
You'd be a lot better off buying parts and putting it together together.

Here's an identical spec box - minus an optical drive and an OS.

You don't need an optical drive, and you can buy a grey market copy of windows 8.1 for like $20.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WyNPqs

If all he wants is dota n stuff you can easily build a really really nice rig for that money. ( $650 ).

Also the build you linked doesn't include a monitor, I guess he has one already?

[Kalmado]

Friend was looking at THIS because he wanted to spend between $500 and $650 on a build, and asked for my opinion on it. Personally, I stopped keeping up after I had built my own back in 2012, so I'm not too sure about everything that's out at this point. Is this a decent price? Would I be able to have him buy better parts and put it together for him for the same range? He likely will only be playing DoTA2 and possibly WoW:Legion (Doubtful, but possible.)

Thanks in advance.

I would say this is not a good price at all. Stock cpu cooler. Generic 400w psu. 1gb vram gpu. No info on motherboard (probably generic). Below is a superior build for a few dollars less based on prices available right now. Motherboard/CPU can be cheaper if you live by a Micro Center. Better deals on the psu have been available. Same with the ram. While it does not come with a keyboard or mouse, you can pick up the same kb/mouse from that pre-built for $27. Get windows through other ways if you can. Or, keys can be available for around $38.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer ($11.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $543.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-08 19:48 EDT-0400

[Gryffes]

this is what I'd build him instead for that budget:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Lqz7jX


The anniversary cpu is a beast, it OC's easily ( hence the evo cooler ).
Motherboard supports OCing, (Z97 OCs, H97 ).

The great thing is the motherboard also supports a ton of more powerful cpus so if he wanted to upgrade in the future to an i5 or i7 he'd just need to put it into this system.

You'd still need a greymarket copy of windows but it's still $90 cheaper than that prebuilt and ABSOLUTELY DESTROYS IT.

He could play dota @4k and maintain 60fps on this rig.

[Draygon]

I figured it'd be a little bit more expensive but damn, I didn't think there would be that much disparity in price values. Thanks guys! I have no issues building it for him, so I'll send him these posts as well as the links and let him choose what to go for. Appreciate it!

[Kalmado]

Oh, I should've mentioned, the case I used was strictly for price point. I do agree with using a G3258 over the 6300. I've used it a number of times and it's a great performer. Only thing I disagree with your build is no HDD and the 960. I'd rather go with a 280 or spend more for something more powerful. If I was going to do a G3258 right now, below is what I'd use. Case is just for price point again. There isn't anything I'd get for current prices if I was shopping right now.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($82.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($38.95 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB TurboDuo Video Card ($204.99)
Case: Enermax OSTROG ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer ($11.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $572.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-08 20:24 EDT-0400

[Dead Phoenix]

So all my parts finally came in... except I am lacking a sata cable(case came with 2, but i have a hdd, ssd and an optical drive) and a bay for a SSD(i'm thinking i'll hook up ssd for now so i can install windows and stuff, and then hook up the hdd once i get the extra sata cable and a proper bay for an ssd). Anyways that stuff i have cover, my problem is i fucked up and installed the cpu cooler that came with the cpu instead of the after market one i bought and didn't realize it till i had hook up pretty much everything into the case except the power supply... is this going to be an issue with my build(link here) or can i worry about that later if i want to upgrade or over clock or something?

[Senji]

The motherboard didn't come with any cables?

Just take off the stock cooler and wipe off the residue with rubbing alcohol.

[Dead Phoenix]

It came with a few cables, just not enough for what i needed. unfortunately, i have no idea where we keep the rubbing alcohol, or if we have any... we should, but i'll probably just buy some today(after i get some sleep, fing night shift), since i can't find the q-tips either. Guess I'll just have to wait one more day(or two more since i work tonight as well).

[Adajer]

91% or greater alcohol

[Krandor]

If you ever think you'll be re-pasting more then once I'd strongly recommend http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._d0_g147_i1_bs
I have cleaned a great many CPU/GPU dies with that set and a healthy supply of coffee filters.

[Snprphnx]

Oh, I should've mentioned, the case I used was strictly for price point. I do agree with using a G3258 over the 6300. I've used it a number of times and it's a great performer. Only thing I disagree with your build is no HDD and the 960. I'd rather go with a 280 or spend more for something more powerful. If I was going to do a G3258 right now, below is what I'd use. Case is just for price point again. There isn't anything I'd get for current prices if I was shopping right now.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($82.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($38.95 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB TurboDuo Video Card ($204.99)
Case: Enermax OSTROG ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer ($11.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $572.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-08 20:24 EDT-0400

The one thing that may be lacking int that build is the power supply. 620W is one the low end of the spectrum these days. And while it might my enough to just barely run what you have above, you may not be able to swap out or add to it in the future without upgrading the PSU also.

[Gryffes]

The one thing that may be lacking int that build is the power supply. 620W is one the low end of the spectrum these days. And while it might my enough to just barely run what you have above, you may not be able to swap out or add to it in the future without upgrading the PSU also.

Lolwatt.

[Boyiee]

Lolwatt.

For whatever reason people think you need 1200 watt psus for single gpu i3 micro builds.

[Kalmado]

And here I thought the 620 was overkill.

[Boyiee]

620W is one the low end of the spectrum these days.

These days, components are become more and more efficient. You can run sli 900 series cards with 750 and even 650 watt psus.

[Arkanna]

These days, components are become more and more efficient. You can run sli 900 series cards with 750 and even 650 watt psus.

I'm running a Core i7 4770K, 16GB DDR3, an nVidia GTX 970, 2 SSD's and a normal HDD on a 450W Silverstone Mini-ITX PSU just fine.