It’s probably the power supply, since that MS unit is basically junk...
1 x FORTRON 400W Power Supply, HEXA Plus 400, 12cm fan 1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11 1 x ASUS H81M-R, 1150, H81 express chipset, DDR3, 2 slots 1 x Intel Core i3-4150 (3.50GHz,512KB,3MB,54 W,1150) Box 1 x Zalman T5 mini tower case. 170(W) x 427(H) x 348(D)mm. 1 x TOSHIBA 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA050 + 1 x MSI R7 250X 1GD5, 1GB GDDR5 128GB, DVI + HDMI + Display Port
I’d probably go with the Boeing 737 instead; it has the same processor just with a lower clock speed that you can always overclock later, $83 plus it's cheaper. What kind of 500W power supply are we talking about here?
The difference is $83 at Newegg; for $192 the AMD FX-4300 is a steal. It’s maybe a tiny bit faster than an AMD Athlon, plus it has better overclocking potential and you can eventually upgrade to eight-core processors.
It’s alright, though if we’re just talking about the case, I think the VSK-3000E is actually better built—plus it comes with a single fan, unlike that LC Power one. One little downside is that the Antec is a mini tower, so you won't be able to fit any ATX motherboards in there if you decide to upgrade down the road. Still, if it were me, I’d probably stick with the Antec.
Honestly, there isn't much else to choose from here in VŽ. Whether you go to ZIT or Micro Center, the GPU prices are pretty much identical, and Alpha-M is just an absolute nightmare when it comes to pricing.
The only other option is Portio, which is basically just an online shop tied to Micro Center. They don't have a physical storefront, so you'd have to order everything through their website. Usually, they're about 10% cheaper than Micro Center, though the price stays the same whether you pay with a card or cash.
If you save a bit on the price difference, you could probably snag something like a WD Caviar Black drive instead—it’s faster, maybe a little louder, but it comes with a 5-year warranty.
If you pushed that CPU overclock just a little further, it might hit high settings, though I guess we don't know the exact hardware requirements for sure.
mellowtiger83 said:To put it simply, the Corsair RM series is top-tier—if you've got the budget, you won't regret it. Fortron Aurum is also solid, along with brands like EVGA or AMD; any 650W unit from those should be plenty for that build you're putting together.
Honestly, the AMD FX-9000 series isn't really worth it. The AMD FX-8000 series is a much better call since they're way cheaper, which leaves you more cash for a high-quality motherboard. An ASRock Killer board is great, though if someone insists on only buying MSI, then that's their choice, I guess.
Akyga makes some pretty great cases; I've built a few myself. They usually come with a 120mm front fan, so just add an exhaust fan and you're golden. Everyone seems to recommend Zalman because they have tons of fans, but the case quality itself is questionable. I’ve already written about this before and I don't really feel like repeating myself🙂, but in my opinion, Akyga looks way better aesthetically (though that's just a matter of taste).
The Samsung EVO is a great pick, especially since you aren't going the SSD route yet. That drive is actually quite fast, it's not as noisy as people claim, and having a 5-year warranty is a nice perk.
Regarding Intel, you can pretty much count on them outperforming AMD in most games due to that superior per-core architecture. AMD is still stuck using that old Bulldozer architecture, so even with 8 cores, they can't really compete with Intel. Even in next-gen titles that crave multiple cores, Intel holds its own because each individual core performs so much better than AMD's. Plus, they run much cooler, use noticeably less power, and the overclocking potential for the series is massive. With Intel, you don't necessarily need those ultra-expensive motherboards, and you can save some money on the power supply due to the lower power draw, not to mention the cooler.
Anyway, hope that helps a bit and cools things down.🙂
The parts in bold are the only things you got right... everything else is debatable or just plain wrong.
Honestly, an HDD pulls about 5W under load and an SSD maybe 2W, so that's basically nothing. With an FX 8320 running at full tilt, the whole system is pulling around 200W, which I guess leaves you with roughly 300W of headroom for a GPU. Plus, that Seasonic unit can probably push well over 600W anyway...
So, you could probably toss in a GTX 970 (which draws about 160W) and even push the CPU past 4GHz if your motherboard and cooler can handle it, all without stressing the power supply too much.