**The Photon 3.0: A Budget-Friendly Gaming PC**
Hey guys, this is Austin, and welcome to my latest build, the Photon 3.0. This gaming PC is aimed at the majority of gamers, offering a great balance of performance and price.
**The Heart of the System: Intel Pentium G4600**
Inside the Photon 3.0, we have an Intel Pentium G4600 processor. As you may know, Pentiums haven't always had the best reputation for gaming, mainly due to their lack of cores and Hyper-threading. However, with this latest Kaby Lake edition, we get Hyper-threading in a cheap Pentium chip, making it a great value for $30-$40 cheaper than a Core i3.
**Graphics Card: EVGA GTX 1050Ti**
Alongside the processor, we have an EVGA GTX 1050Ti graphics card. This might not be the biggest card in the world, but trust me, it packs plenty of punch. As you may know from my previous video on Cryptomining, the 1050Ti has been mostly unaffected by the cryptocurrency craze.
**Motherboard: Gigabyte B250M-EVO**
For the motherboard, we're using a fairly basic Gigabyte B250M-EVO model. This board supports not only our Pentium processor but all the way up to a Core i7, making it easy to upgrade in the future. It also features an M2 slot directly on the board.
**Memory and Storage**
We have 8GB of Corsair Vengeance LPX RAM, which should be more than enough for most games. The SSD is a 250GB WD Blue drive, offering great performance at an affordable price.
**Power Supply: EVGA 450W**
For power supply, we have a reliable and affordable 450W EVGA unit. This supply is not only sufficient for our build but also leaves room for future upgrades.
**Case: Rosewill Tyrfing**
Finally, the case is a full-size ATX Rosewill Tyrfing model. For $40, you get a solid case with plenty of room inside and a window to show off your super cool cable management.
**Performance Results**
The Photon 3.0 can handle a variety of games at high settings:
* Rocket League: 140 FPS on high settings
* Shadow of Mordor: 80-90 FPS on high settings
* GTA5: 50-60 FPS on very high settings
* Overwatch: 90-100 FPS on ultra settings
As you can see, the Photon 3.0 is a capable gaming PC that's perfect for 1080p gaming.
**Links and Resources**
If you want to build your own Photon 3.0, be sure to check out the links in the description below. I also have a tutorial on how to build a gaming PC using this system.
Thanks for watching, and I'll catch you in the next one!
WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Hey, guys, this is Austin.This is the Photon 3.0, and at $500,it really is aimed atthe majority of gamers.So inside this guy, it isusing an Intel Pentium G4600.So Pentiums have typically nothad a great rap as far as gaming goes,and that's typically becausethey've been pure dual core parts.What that means is, is thatwhen it actually comesto gaming, a lot of timesgames will actuallyreally require four coresor at least some Hyper-threading.In the past, you had to atleast jump up to a Core i3.However, with thislatest Kaby Lake edition,you actually do have Hyper-threadingin a cheap Pentium chip.So for about $30, $40cheaper than a Core i3.You're still getting a3.6 gigahertz processorand for most games, that'sgoing to be totally fine.Alongside it, we have the EVGAGTX 1050Ti graphics card.So as you can see in the system,it might not be thebiggest card in the world,but don't let that fool you.This definitely has plenty of power.If you caught my video on Cryptomining,you'll know that mosthigh-end graphics cardsare nearly impossible to find in stock,and the ones that are,are incredibly expensive.But thankfully, the 1050Tihas been mostly unaffected.Now a big reason for that is thatwhile it isn't quite thebest Cryptomining card,it is still great for gaming.Thanks to the four gigabytesof memory on board,as well as the fairlylow power consumption,which means that notonly does it nicely fitin that tiny little card,but almost more importantly than that,you don't need to connectexternal PCI power.It pulls everything itneeds from the motherboard.For a motherboard, we'reusing the Gigabyte B250M-EVO.Now, this is a fairly basic motherboard,but it does support notonly our Pentium processor,but all the way up to a Core i7,so if you do wanna make someupgrades, that's easy to do.And speaking of upgrades,it also does havean M2 slot directly on the board.so on top of the SSD andany kind of hard drivesthat you wanna have inside the system,you can also add a super fast M2 drivestraight to the board.For memory, we have eight gigabytesof Corsair Vengeance LPX RAM.So eight gigabytes is going to beenough to run pretty much any game as isand of course if you do wantto upgrade to 16 gigabytes,it's as simple as grabbing one more stickand throwing it in your system.It's also going to beDDR4, 2400 megahertz,that's pretty much all you need for now.For the SSD, we're doing somethinga little different this time.So this is a 250 gigabyte WD Blue SSD.So I've been using WD Blue drivesin my builds for a very, very long time.This is the first time I'veused one of their SSDs.To be fair, pricing isactually pretty solid.So for about $80 you're goingto be getting 250 gig drive,which should be enough for most people.However, if you do need more space,because it's a gaming PC,of course you can alwaysthrow a hard drive inside.On top of that, if you arebuilding a computer in 2017,you really should be using an SSD.It makes such a hugedifference to how snappyand responsive pretty much loadingeverything on the computer is.When you go back to a hard drive,it really does feel like a huge downgrade.For the power supply, wehave a 450 watt EVGA unit.So this is another part that I've usedin a lot of builds over the yearsand for good reason.Not only is it goingto be fairly reliable,but it's also cheap andwith power supplies,those two things don't always go together.So this guys is going tobe a 80 PLUS Bronze ratedand with 450 watts of capacity,not only is it enough for the build as is,you can do some pretty serious upgradeswithout having to touch the supply.For the case we're usingthe Rosewill Tyrfing?So weird name aside, itactually is a pretty solid case.So it's going to be full-size ATX,so there's plenty of room insideand for about 40 dollars, we're actuallygetting some pretty decent value.So not only does it havea pair of 120 millimeter fansbut also does have a window to show offyour super cool cable management.Now yes, build qualitycould be a little bit betterbut for the price there'snot a lot to complain about.So the Photon 3.0 reallyis aimed at 1080p gaming.First we have Rocket League.This is a game that isnot that difficult to runand as you can see here,it's absolutely no problemfor the Photon.We're getting about 140 framesper second on high settingsand that is with a frame rate cap.If we actually uncapped that,we'd probably go even higher.Next we have Shadow of Mordor.Now yes, this is a littlebit of an older game.However, it's really well optimizedand it does hold upeven on higher end rigsand on high settings at 1080p,when we're getting in the 80s to 90s,depending on how much action we have here.Completely playable.Another game that's slightly olderbut still looks really nice is GTA5.So again on very high settings at 1080p,it looks really nice.And frame rate wise, we'restill doing pretty solid.So we're keeping in the, generally 50to 60 frame rate per second range.Again, super super playable.The more I use the system to game,the more I realize just how quiet it is.I mean, even right beside it,I can barely hear anything at all.Another game the Photon3.0 can definitely handleis Overwatch.So here on Ultra settings at 1080p,we're getting really nice frame rates.So right now we'rehovering between 90 to 100and especially with a highrefresh rate monitorlike we're using rightnow, it looks really nice.Plus, Overwatch is just a nice lookinggame on Ultra settings anyway.As always, I'll have allthe links you guys needto build the Photon 3.0 in the descriptionand if you are curious on howto actually build a gaming PC,I did do a full 2017tutorial using this system.So be sure to go check that outand I will catch you in the next one.
