So, this is my first time building a PC, and I'm honestly not that clued up on it. I know some of the basic stuff, and I've spoken to someone that's pointed me in the right direction on a few things so far, but I'd love a little more advice and whatnot.
It's intended for gaming, mostly, possibly hosting a stream or some basic video production at some point. If it'd work I'd be hoping to keep games on one monitor and have the second free for browsing/Skype/music/etc.
The main points I'm looking for advice on are;
The OS. I'm looking at 7, I have it now, and I like it, and I don't know if updating to 8.1 is worth it.
The hard drives. Given the fact I'm putting a decent amount of power into the machine, I'm not sure if I'd really benefit all that much from having an SSD, but I would kinda like one.
The motherboard. I can't seem to find any reviews on the Asus board I'm looking at that actually give me a decent idea of how it performs, rather they all just seem to talk about it's features.
The case. I'm not 100% sure everything will fit inside the case when it's all put together, but I'm pretty much at budget now and I'd like something that looks nice, so I'm not sure how much bigger I can go without sacrificing how it looks. Any advice/recommendations what to do about this?
I think that's all. Excuse the wall of text. Obviously any other advice you'd have for parts I haven't mentioned will be more than welcome too, I need all the help I can get.
Thanks!
Edit: Something I forgot to mention, I've been unsure about getting an overclockable CPU. My thinking is that I probably won't need to, but it would mean I had the option to if I did get one. I'm not 100% certain of the pros and cons of doing it, short of getting more power. Is it likely to be something I'd want to do if I'm just gaming and stuff? I also don't want to run the risk of breaking something expensive because I'm not sure what I'm doing. Opinions?
First of all: you should REALLY get an SSD. Regardless of how fast the rest of the system is an SSD will be a noticable improvement in overall snappiness of your system and is totally worth the money.
Second: don't buy that cooler; just get a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo. It's cheaper and performs similarly.
Third: get an overclockable CPU. When I built my first PC I didn't know how to do it either, but 6 months later I learned how to do it and yeah, depending on the overclock, it increases performance a little in games and other CPU intensive applications. My advice: don't try it until you are absolutely sure what you're doing.
Fourth: motherboards don't usually vary in performance unless your taliking about overclocking; Features, compatibility and good overclocking support are all that really matter when it comes to motherboards
At the moment, the SSD is just a money thing. If I wait another week or two I should be able to afford it, so I'll just hold off 'til then.
The thing that I was looking for with the Corsair cooler was some reduced noise, do you know how the 212 compares? I'm all for just fitting a fan if I can get the same performance for less money, but i also don't want the system to be too noisy.
With regards to the CPU, I was thinking something along those lines. I guess it means it's there if I ever do want to use it.
Can you recommend any motherboards in particular? The Sabertooth seems pretty decent quality but I don't know how much I should realistically be looking at spending on a motherboard for a build at this budget.
And as for the mouse, that's good. I really like the look of the thing.
I have the Z97 Sabertooth Mark 1 and I really like it. I am running a Noctua NH-D15 cooler on a 4790K and it runs great. I really looked at the clc cooling options currently out there. I mainly run stock speeds for everyday stuff, and overclock during gaming. The Noctua cooler performs flawless, and I never have to worry about leaks. My main reason for the Sabertooth Mark 1 was the robust build of the board. 5 year warranty is huge for me. I don't overclock a whole lot so the hero line wasn't for me. I also wanted quiet, cool, and DUST free. Fractal R4, Noctua fans and I love all the port covers on the Sabertooth. The thermal armor is OK. More for looks IMO. The UEFI fan controls and temp monitoring is really cool. You can run higher clock ddr3 if you want, just refer to Asus's approved memory list prior to buying.
As Zypher stated SSD's are the cats ass! crazy fast boot times and I use mine for critical programs and OS.
Otherwise you have a solid looking build! Have fun with this, and watch lots of videos online. JJ from Asus has a great recent build in PCDIY if you have not already seen it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TB5MgI16I8&list=TLzhVQPc6uewJAl6fxst5hM1iW-FNiiC69
Only other thing I may recommend is bumping up the power supply wattage. I went form 550w to 850m gold in this build. Mainly because I want to run a high end card(Sapphire Vapor-X 290x). Possibly two depending on how prices sort out over time. I plan on having my machine for about 5 years.
Very helpful, thanks. How do you think the Mark 2 stands up to the Mark 1? I know it doesn't have the Thermal Armour, but is it missing anything else that I'd miss having from the Mark 1? This is already at the top end if my budget really, so I want to try and avoid spending too much more if I can.
Given the price of the Cooler Master I think I might go for that. And the GPU you linked me to is actually more expensive than the one in my build. Thanks though!
Cosmetic other than there are dual gigabit nic's on the Mark 1. Mark 1 also supports SATA express which there are no ssd's in that format currently. For a first build you could pick a hell of a lot worse. Good platform, you can overclock some. Great components, and warranty in motherboard. Only other recommendation I can say is utilize 4 pin pwm fans if they fit your budget. May want to pick up a pwm fan splitter(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4DN1P81202&cm_re=pwm_fan_splitter-_-9SIA4DN1P81202-_-Product). The UEFI fan controller 3 is awesome. To get full functionality and really nice control of fans use pwm fans to maximize air movement. The fan splitter allows you to group fans together, utilize pwm control off the motherboard, but power them from your power supply. Also they really help keeping cable management tidy. Which you will find people go nuts for. I had no idea various versions of these existed on my first build.
I see after further investigating your BitFenix fans are pwm. PCpartpicker shows a molex and 3 pin adapter. Here is a 4 way pwm splitter from Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gelid-Solutions-Case-Splitter-Cable/dp/B0067LWQ1C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409873383&sr=8-2&keywords=pwm+fan+splitter -£3.79
I don't know how it compares but the fans matter more than the cooler when it comes to noise production(water cooling radiators are a different story).
With that build total I'd be spending around $130 to $200/£100 to £155 on a motherboard and choosing one is a matter of deciding what features you want. As for reccomended motherboards, I can't tell you an exact board but I generally trust ASUS for any board and Gigabyte and Asrock for their higher end boards.
Sorry, you'll have to pardon my ignorance, but I'm not really sure what you mean with regards to the fans. I just sort of assumed they were pretty much all the same. Do I need one of those splitters to use the fans, or...?
I personally like to have overclockability on my systems. I don't overclock right off the bat, though. I tend to only overclock when I find that my system isn't performing well enough in one program/game, which extends the life of the system for another year or two.
Just my 0.02
Also, for windows 7, I'm afraid support from microsoft is ending soon. I would probably just pick up windows 8.1 and StartIsBack if you are afraid of the metro interface.
I've actually gone ahead and ordered some of the parts already, and I got 8.1 rather than 7. I don't particularly want it, but like you say, support won't continue forever.
I suggested it since some of the fan headers may result in a lot of cables being very visible. Also depending on how many fans you plan to use, fan headers fill up quickly unless you utilize a fan splitter or fan header in a 5.25" bay. Just food for thought.
