[quotemsg=17753271,0,2155047]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127894&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=IGNEFL040116&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL040116-_-EMC-040116-Index-_-DesktopGraphicsCards-_-14127894-S1A2A $174.99 AR[/quotemsg]Allow me to emphasize the after rebate part of that. First, rebates aren't counted in SBM prices. Second, if we're going to talk rebates, then you can get a 950 as low as $130. Considering you can overclock a 950 to almost match a 960, most tech writers and reviewers consider a 960 the worse buy right now. Both cards are designed for 1080. As you can see in these benches, the 950 is already providing excellent 1080 gaming. Getting a little extra power from a 960 isn't going to make much difference since it's not enough to make the jump to 1440. So why pay more for it?
[quotemsg=17753271,0,2155047]As for redbone:
1. bad cutouts & cable management options. if I remembered correctly, it didn't even have a cutout for PSU-CPU power cable. You can have fun squeezing the cable under your motherboard or have it dangling over your motherboard.
2. cheap paint, the red bezels up front is very glossy & thinly painted, very scratch friendly & a huge fingerprint magnet
3. thin side covers that bends and dents easily
3. cheap cover 5.25'' bays up front, those detachable metal grilles are flimsy
4. "filter" up front gets dirty quickly; it doesn't take long for you to see a huge disc of dust. You could reduce the amount by reducing airflow by slowing the fan down, but then your front LED won't light up as brightly.
5. don't remember since it's a few years ago, but plenty of glue on the front fan & ports
6. unsightly FP cables, especially the twisted red yellow black scheme with white plastic header.
[/quotemsg]You seem to be under the false premise that I think the Redbone is a premium case. I don't. It's an adequate one. Yes, the side panels have a little flex to them. As long as you don't abuse them and as long as you're not moving the machine around every day, they'll be fine. No, I don't like the cable management. I mentioned that a few times in the article and a few times here as well. I'm not sure what else I'd need to do to get that through to you. And I think you'll find all paint is prone to scratching and all filters will collect dust and need to be cleaned. And if you're so worried about the colors of an internal audio cable, one that you can't even see through a solid panel, I fear you've got worse problems then just a mediocre computer chassis.
[quotemsg=17753271,0,2155047]I also don't understand why you're throwing overclocking as supporting argument. You're not gonna overheat and die from overclocking an i3, especially when it's not even officially supported. You could use a 212EVO exhausting toward the rear vent and 0 case fans if you wanted. You're not gonna have your computer shutting down from overheating.[/quotemsg]This tells me you didn't even read the article. As such this is my last response to you since I don't have time to haggle with every Internet user who takes one look at the stat sheet and comes to complain in the forums. So I'll spell it out to you, slowly. The i3 wasn't the only thing overclocked. Even if it was, whether it's supported or not has nothing to do with how much extra heat comes off it. But apparently you missed the part where I did put a tower cooler on it that in fact was pointed out the exhaust. But yet again you're mentioning another, more expensive part to put on this machine that was meant to cost as little as reasonable.
I put a pretty good load on that 950 as well. If you actually read the article you'd notice that I used the side fan to blow in air directly on the GPU so as to force hot air out the bottom case vent rather than lust let it recirculate as would happen with the GPU's axial coolers. That's why I was able to overclock it without it getting any hotter or loader than it was at stock.
[quotemsg=17753271,0,2155047]I'd take a 100R/200R or similar cases from other vendors with 1 single fan over a redbone just for the difference in quality alone.[/quotemsg]Hmm, so your solution, like the 960, is just to spend more money? I'm not sure you understand the idea of a "low-budget" system.
[quotemsg=17753271,0,2155047]As for SSD not having enough capacity for music & movies - most people stream contents these days.[/quotemsg]Yeah, well, y'know that's just like, uh, your opinion, man. Seriously, can you back that up with any kind of study or statistic? Because it's not just about file storage. It's about application capacity. I have a 250 GB SSD in my personal machine. Wanna know how much free space is on it? 25 GB. That's 225 GB of OS and applications alone. Not to mention the other 100GB of games on a second SSD and another 100GB of applications on a performance spindle. Nearly all my files are on a slower 2TB spindle ( about 400GB free on that right now ). So, you want to lecture us on what you think is adequate storage space? 250 GB may be just enough for a basic home or office computer, but that's a few steps below this machine here.
[quotemsg=17753271,0,2155047]That aside, the beauty of having a desktop is so that you can upgrade/add on later.[/quotemsg]As anyone who's built computers for a living will tell you, building a machine with the intent of upgrading it later is a fool's errand. There's always something new, something better, something shinier comping down the pipe. Yes, you can upgrade a desktop, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to build it halfway good the first time.
[quotemsg=17753185,0,703747]Oh. Good to know. But this isn't a budget build because the case and PS were bought separately, a big no no for those actually on a to the bone budget.
...
(OP budget builder waste) tsk, tsk, lack of experience is showing.
[/quotemsg]A $38 combo case / PSU? Really? And you want to say my lack of experience is showing? Can someone lend me a facepalm, I seem to have run out of them today.