Building your own gaming PC is a good challenge, but it comes with a certain amount of uncertainty about the components you’ve included and the stability of the machine. Pretoria based custom PC builders, Evetech, recently sent us their mid-range Intel Core i5 gaming PC.

Stress testing
To review the system we put it through its paces via a number of tests. The first was to check the stability of the system, since there is nothing more annoying than having a very fast system, but that crashes every so often. The stress testing tools we used check CPU, Video and RAM usage. Evetech’s PC is rock solid in all regards, not crashing once while running a myriad of these tools, often even at the same time. And why shouldn’t it with the Intel Core i5 2.66 GHz processor powering it, 4 GB of DDR3 RAM, on top of the Asus P7P55D-LE (Lite Edition) motherboard?

Benchmarking
Following this was the benchmarks, for which we used Crysis Warhead, CINEBENCH 10 and the new MMO Aion. It’s not often that we receive machines that can deal with what we throw at it, but the Evetech handled it and then some. It’s important to note that once you go over a resolution of 1024 x 768, the GPU becomes the most important component, and not so much the CPU.
Built into the Evetech PC was the powerful ATI Radeon HD4890 1GB 256 bit DDR5 Turbo (Overclocked Edition) Graphics Card. This GPU is close to the top of the range on the current GPU market and works very well in conjunction with the Core i5 processor. It frequently hit the +80°C mark, most often hovering in the 70°C range. While this is perfectly acceptable we were a bit concerned by the noise generated while operating. This ended up as a non-issue since the noise was drowned out by gameplay sound. General operation was dead quite though.

Also onboard
The machine comes with a 500 GB hard disk and a Lite-On 24x Dual Layer DVD +/- Writer. The CoolerMaster CM 690 case is a fantastic choice for this PC setup. It has a very stylish look without going overboard, has ample space on the inside and with a potential of seven fans, airflow shouldn’t be a problem. Keep in mind that you would have to install your own OS, since it does not come included with the price.

If you’re in the market for a new gaming rig without all the hassles associated with choosing all the right components, look no further than the Core i5 PC that Evetech has put together. It’s a fantastic system and one we’re quite sure will serve you well. The i5 system is available for a respectable R10 499 incl Vat. It’s customisable on Evetech’s website and comes with a 24 month return-to-base warranty.

Co-authored by Jason Silva.