My friend built his system and assisted with building another for a mutual friend (and is actually the PC I am using right now). I built a prior system for that friend (which my wife is currently using. This guy likes new computers.) as well as a system for another friend (a very budget build) and that was it. Until this week.
My sister-in-law wanted to get a budget gaming PC for her son's birthday (he turns 13 tomorrow if memory serves). She asked her oldest son (he's almost 24 and a bit of a geek himself) about it who directed her toward me. So after getting the budget and realizing I had to work in a monitor, I came up with this.
So not a lot of legwork for me, simply picking a MaximumPC bundle on Newegg. But it came with nice discounts and allowed me to work within the budget. For those who don't want to look, here's the parts list:
- Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite White (aka Imperial Stormtrooper)
- CPU: AMD FX-6300 Vishera 6-core APU Black Edition 3.5 GHz
- GPU: Sapphire DUAL-X AMD Radeon R7 265 2GB
- Motherboard: Biostar TA970 AM3+ ATX motherboard
- PSU: Corsair CX-500 500-watt power supply
- RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3-1600 8GB
- SSD: Crucial MX100 256GB
- HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200 RPM
- Optical Drive: Samsung 24x DVD burner
- CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
- Monitor (not pictured): Samsung 22" 1080p LED monitor
- OS: Windows 8.1 64-bit
I'm mostly happy with the parts. The motherboard is not one that I am crazy about. I used a Biostar on the first computer I built. It's been solid but is sorely lacking in some areas (like overclocking). But again, discounted. Fits in the budget. Also I prefer Intel CPUs and nVidia GPUs but this is a budget build so you take what you can afford, and getting a 6-core proc for that money is not entirely a bad thing.
So I got started. Prep the case:
Start by installing the motherboard standoffs. It doesn't bolt down directly to the case; it rides on these little guys. This case came with a tool to help screw them in tight; if your case lacks such a tool, get some needlenose pliers.
Then I prepped the mobo.
It's easier to install the CPU and RAM right now while the board is on a flat surface rather than standing on the case.
This is the most nerve-wracking part of building a PC for me as CPUs are pretty sensitive and often the most expensive part (though not necessarily in a gaming computer, especially a budget build. That's reserved for the GPU).
RAM is easy, just unlock the clips and snap them into place. Now, CPUs typically come with a heatsink and fan as well.
I have to say, AMD's stock heatsink is beefier than Intel's, as is the fan. That said, we also have the Hyper 212 EVO, which is the best bang-for-the-buck heatsink on the market right now. So there's only one thing to do with the stock cooler.
I then snapped the rear I/O shield onto the case.
I was suprised as a lot of cases come with one, which then has to be discarded so that it can be replaced with the one that comes with the motherboard. Thanks for saving me a step NZXT!
Then I bolted in the motherboard.
You can see once that was gone I installed the backplate. Then I installed the graphics card.
I am pleased to see that it came with a dual fan cooler. I have used EVGA boards in the past (I mentioned my loyalty to nVidia right?) but I will likely look for a GeForce card with a better cooler next time.
I popped in the DVD burner next.
Just pop off the faceplate on the case, slide it in and bolt it down (it's somewhat toolless as the brackets lock it into place as well). I then started getting a bit lazy with the camera. I installed the HDD and PSU.
I skipped the SSD for the time being as it turns out Crucial doesn't include a drive bay adapter (my OCZ did, but it also crapped out within 6 months...) Now it was time for the Hyper 212. Start with the thermal paste (I use Arctic Silver 5).
It comes with a 120mm fan (set to push out the back, venting the hot air; you could also reverse the rear case fan and set the Hyper 212 fan to push cold air onto the heat sink if you wish). A second fan is pretty cheap and works insanely well for what amounts to a $50 cooler (push-pull is very nice; I use it on my wife's computer with the old Hyper 212+).
Once I got a drive bay converter I installed the SSD. I had to move the hard drive as the power cables needed more space to work. I connected the SATA cables, all power cables, all the headers I could (there's sadly a USB 3.0 port on the front of the case that went unused as there was no motherboard connection; perhaps there's an adapter I can get to connect it to USB 2.0 but that kind of defeats the purpose...). Unfortunately i didn't have time to pretty up the cables so it looks like a serpent's nest. If we ever install front fans (there's room for 4 more fans on the case) I will have to try rerouting some underneath the motherboard tray and tie up the rest.
Booted up with no issues and started to install Winblows Windows!
The Omega Game Tech TK-421 (ok, even I thought that was kind of lame...)
A couple of notes:
I did not connect the hard drive SATA cable right away. I read a while back that Windows Vista would get a little wonky if it saw two drives and would install the OS on one drive and the system volume on the other. This means if one drive was removed (say, installing a larger capacity HDD) it rendered the system unusable and required Windows to be reinstalled. It may have been fixed but I still take the precaution (it takes no time to connect the cable afterwards).
The Hyper 212 EVO ended up a little tall for this case. Everything seemed to fit flush as far as I can tell so perhaps the case is not as deep as reported. Others have reported this problem while still others find it fit just fine. So keep that in mine; you ideally want a pretty deep case for a skyscraper-style heat ink (and you want this heatsink). My PC uses a Cooler Master HAF 922, and I highly recommend it as it is huge and will more than easily accept it. I went with the NZXT Totally-Not-A-Stormtrooper as it was part of a discounted package. I recommend Corsair cases if you have the money and Cooler Master cases if you don't.
