first custom build

w1ntervention

w1ntervention

w1ntervention

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24 May 2015
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This is my first build i've put together so i'm fully expecting there to be some/many problems/improvements to be made :p
This will primarily be a build for gaming, but i'm used to laptop capabilities so i'm not expecting something absolutely amazing.

Asus P9x79 LGA 2011 Intel X79 DDR3 ATX Motherboard
Intel Core i7-4820k 3.70GHz Socket LGA2011 Processor
Corsair XMS3 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz C9 Memory Kit
Evga GeForce GTX 970 FTW ACX 2.0 4096MB GDDR5 Graphics
Seagate 1TB SSHD 3.5" SATA 6 Gbps Solid State Hybrid Drive

I think that just leaves the PSU, fans, CD/DVD drive and case? (I don't need a monitor or keyboard or mouse or things like that).
As for the the PSU, I was looking at various guides for selecting them, and was thinking I would prefer a multi-rail PSU as opposed to a single-rail (based on the fear of some power surge doing big damage - is that excessive paranoia?), but I don't know whether that's feasible or even worth it. But apart from that, I don't know.
If you could give advice on fans, drive and a case too that would be ideal.

Thanks.
 
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I was looking at DDR4 and lots of reviews said it wasn't much faster than DDR3, while being a lot more expensive, and i'd also have to get a motherboard to accommodate for it, which is also fairly costly. But I am kind of worried that if I go with DDR3, it will be quickly outdated and i'll have to get a lot of new parts soon, so do you think it's worth it? Given the current spec choice, I have a fair amount of money left to play with, so I could go DDR4 without too much trouble (I think!).
And no, I haven't bought any of the parts yet.
 
I am wondering if its worth it as well hence why i asked..

Getting one of the DD4 motherboards with 8 slots seems like it gives you plenty of options in the future even if you just buy 2 sticks now..

Also no normal hard drive for storage ? 1TB doesnt go very far these days does it
 
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Better internal parts, Corsair use a wide range of OEMS to make their PSUs so you need to read carefully and look at reviews to see who made it.

@OP.

If you havent bought anything yet why have you skipped past Z97?

What is your budget and exactly what parts do you need to include?
 
Looking at motherboards with ddr4 capacity, was thinking about taking the Asus x99-s. I think the higher class variants are a bit excessive for me, at least for a while!
I would then take 2 sticks of 4gb 2400mhz RAM, and the 5820k intel i7 processor.
I understand this is limited to only using 28 lanes rather than the full 40? I'm not planning to use multiple GPUs, for a while anyway, unless I win the lottery. Although if I were to use a second GPU, it would be limited to using 8 pci-e slots instead of the full 16 it needs right? Does this mean it still increases overall speed, just not as much as if it had access to 16 slots, or will the second GPU not work at all?
I took a look at the PSUs and the 850W gold leadex model is looking good, but I don't know whether this is excessive or not enough wattage, or just right. A quick guide told me I needed ~500W (with all usb drives in use), so 850W sounds excessive ^_^
As for cooling, water cooling looks a bit intense given my relatively non-intensive build, and my knowledge hah.
That leaves the case and fans. Ideally i'd go with a mid tower, the Zalman Neo Z11 looks good, and I think everything fits. It comes with 5 fans, but should these be replaced with other ones?

That leaves me with:
Asus x99 LGA 2011-v3 Intel X99 DDR4 ATX Motherboard
Intel Core i7-5820k 3.30GHz Socket LGA2011-v3 Processor
Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 DRAM 2400MHz C14 Memory Kit
Evga GeForce GTX 970 FTW ACX 2.0 4096MB GDDR5 Graphics
Seagate 1TB SSHD 3.5" SATA 6 Gbps Solid State Hybrid Drive
SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 850W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply
Zalman Z11 Neo ATX case
A bunch of fans, possibly 8 (some reviews say there are only 7?), if all the provided fans need to be replaced, though I assume not all fans are necessary, at least until I have a more intensive rig going?

A point in the right direction for a good fan supplier would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 
You need a heatsink with that, not even the retail CPU comes with a stock intel cooler.

I understand this is limited to only using 28 lanes rather than the full 40? I'm not planning to use multiple GPUs, for a while anyway, unless I win the lottery. Although if I were to use a second GPU, it would be limited to using 8 pci-e slots instead of the full 16 it needs right? Does this mean it still increases overall speed, just not as much as if it had access to 16 slots, or will the second GPU not work at all?
Click to expand...

It will work,

40-Lane CPU-
5 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16, x16/x16, x16/x16/x8, x8/x8/x16/x8, x8/x8/x8/x8/x8 mode) *1
1 x PCIe 2.0 x4 (max at x4 mode) *2
28-Lane CPU-
3 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16, x16/x8, x8/x8/x8)
2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x1 mode)
1 x PCIe 2.0 x4 (max at x4 mode) *2

The difference between 8X and 16X is a few %, nothing amazing or to get worried about.


I took a look at the PSUs and the 850W gold leadex model is looking good, but I don't know whether this is excessive or not enough wattage, or just right. A quick guide told me I needed ~500W (with all usb drives in use), so 850W sounds excessive ^_^
Click to expand...

X99 uses more power than Z97 etc, plus if you overclock the CPU+GFX card and add a second I would say 850W is the minimum.

EVGA G2 is also made by Superflower but has a 10yr warranty, The 850 B2 is also made by Superflower.

I also dont rate SSHDs, either get a proper SSD or save money with a regular HDD.

-----------------------------------------

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus X99-S - Intel Core i7 5820K Six Core CPU & Motherboard Bundle ***£30 Saving*** £524.98
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC rev2.00 ACX 2.0 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (04G-P4-3975-KR) £289.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Quad Channel Kit - Black (TPKD416GM2400HC16QC01) £129.95
1 x Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU) £89.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova B2 850W '80 Plus Bronze' Hybrid Modular Power Supply (110-B2-0850-V3) £84.95
1 x NZXT Source 340 Midi-Tower Case - White Window £59.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £41.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn White CPU Cooler £39.95
Total : £1,276.78 (includes shipping : £12.50 Ex.VAT).

 
Considering the usage and specs of the system... I'd recommend a Z97 spec over this X99 one. The meager performance increase from DDR4 isn't worth the price increase and neither is the platform. I'd recommend an Intel i7-4790k bundle, it's more than enough especially for gaming and in most cases, the 5820k doesn't really outperform the 4790k.

Even considering the possibility of an SLI upgrade, a 16 lane CPU is enough. The SLI performance isn't noticeably hindered going from 16x/8x to 8x/8x. IMO, the only reason to get more than 16 lanes CPU, is for 3-way SLI or for having SLI alongside a PCIe SSD. Since you need a minimum of 20 lanes for that.

Most importantly, you can get better performance in games for the same money. Take the savings from going to Z97 and get a better graphics card instead. New graphics cards will release in the coming weeks which could offer better price/performance and/or price drops on current cards. One would be impatient and foolish not to wait and see. I'll also add that the EVGA 970 suggested has had folks complain about coil-whine, if you're okay with that. So... here's what can be switched out...
YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus X99-S - Intel Core i7 5820K Six Core CPU & Motherboard Bundle ***£30 Saving*** £524.98
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC rev2.00 ACX 2.0 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (04G-P4-3975-KR) £289.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Quad Channel Kit - Black (TPKD416GM2400HC16QC01) £129.95
Total : £954.52 (includes shipping : £8.00 Ex.VAT).



Instead, go with...
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H-BK - Devil's Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£15 Saving + Gigabyte Free Upgrade ** £399.98
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED316G2400HC11CDC01) £99.95
Total : £509.53 (includes shipping : £8.00 Ex.VAT).



w1ntervention said:
This is my first build i've put together so i'm fully expecting there to be some/many problems/improvements to be made :p
This will primarily be a build for gaming, but i'm used to laptop capabilities so i'm not expecting something absolutely amazing.
Click to expand...

Now there's roughly £450 left for the graphics card, which can buy a 980 at current prices, though I'd get the rest of the stuff first and wait. The combination of 4790k and 980 would provide better performance than a 5820k and 970 in most games. And I bet that's what you want, to catch more FPS in those demanding games.

Of course, this is just a recommendation. It's your money, your build, so do what you like :)
 
mahius said:
Now there's roughly £450 left for the graphics card, which can buy a 980 at current prices, though I'd get the rest of the stuff first and wait. The combination of 4790k and 980 would provide better performance than a 5820k and 970 in most games. And I bet that's what you want, to catch more FPS in those demanding games.
Click to expand...

I'd say almost all games, the vast majority of games gain no real benefit of going beyond 4 cores but also the vast majority of games will benefit from having 4 faster cores that will turbo up to 4.4Ghz rather than 6 that will only get to 3.6Ghz.

So your usage case Z97 would be better than X99.

Also just buy a case that has all the fans you would need included, fans are just a money sink that would be best spent elsewhere. Also just because it has a hole for a fan does not mean it needs to be filled, 2-3 is more than enough for most systems (speed controlled via motherboard). Seven decent fans would cost over £100, which is madness when your not maxing out in other areas of your build like getting a decent sized SSD. I would also take an Z97, GTX970 and an SSD over X99 and GTX970. Better yet Z97, GTX980 and an SSD.

Case wise, Phanteks, Corsair, NZXT and Fractal is where you want to spend your cash. If things are a bit tighter then BitFenix or Antec are decent options. That Zalman case is rather tacky (IMO).
 
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I'm aware that I could get a faster build for cheaper, but i'm hoping to significantly improve this build over time, so i'm thinking a z97 would hold me back in RAM even if not CPU? Given i'm using a 4 year old laptop for games right now (with a 640m LE graphics card), I think this will be relatively powerful, so i'm not too concerned with an immediate huge GPU power.

As for cases, I prefer the curvier stuff rather than rigid sides (I have a simple mind...), so I was thinking about the Phantom 410 NZXT, if the Zalman is tacky ^_^
This has clearance for VGA Card 305mm (w/o fan), 280mm (installed), 230mm (full pivot). Cable Management 25mm. Evga gtx 970 (I think I can live with the coil-whine) has a length of 241mm so is this cutting it too fine / full pivot is basically a necessity?

For hard drives, I was looking at M.2 stuff. If I ran a small size M.2 drive for OS and basic stuff, and then an HDD / SSHD for games, would that be reasonable or have I missed something big here?
 
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