Is this build ok?

laz0r

laz0r

laz0r

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31 Jul 2014
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15
Hey everyone, first post so I hope I'm doing this right...

Basically, I'm building a new PC - mATX and SMALL. Needs to be portable because I travel to and from uni a few times a year, and I take it to LAN parties sometimes. Budget is £750 not including power supply or cooling but the cheaper the better (obviously!) I'm going to reuse cooler and PSU from my old machine until I can afford more :p)

Going to be used mainly for gaming; and also some coding/general purpose computing.

New Parts:
Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
MSI Z97M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (ordered)
G.Skill Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory (ordered)
Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (ordered - going to return though)
Crucial 256GB MX100 SATA 6Gb/s (ordered)
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (ordered)
MSI GeForce GTX 770 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (??)
Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (ordered)
EVGA Supernova G2 750w PSU (ordered)

Old parts
CPU Cooler/fans from old case

Planned future upgrades
SLI
Custom Watercooling

I realise it might not really worth watercooling but I want to do it eventually anyway because it looks cool and I can overclock my aging hardware a bit more.


1) Thoughts on overall components - is this ok?

2) I don't think that this particular 770 has a waterblock available, so it needs changing. These are my ideas:
  • Pretty sure I want a GTX 770 or similar.
  • Must be 4Gb (some people think 2Gb is fine but I don't, especially not for future SLI)
  • I'm going to want to watercool later on; and I want one that's compatible with a full cover block.
  • Something that's popular would be good, so I can more easily get a second one later.
Really struggling to find something suitable; anyone know of a 4gb 770 and a corresponding waterblock?



Thanks
 
Last edited:
Point 1: Better delete those competitor links.
Point 2: Random cheap PSU = a big no,no. It's actually a vital part of any build. Get a decent one. (eg Superflower)
 
laz0r please remove the pc parts picker link and recheck the FAQ regards competitors :)
 
Ramdom cheap PSU lol, junk that bad boy and get a better one like a Seasonic or Superflower.

You might also want to return that SSD Kingaton mislead reviews and buyers by switching the memory on retail units to cheaper slower memory that performs significantly worse the the review samples. Corsair LX series is a good budget SSD so check those out.
 
Oops, sorry about the links - won't happen again!

Thanks for the tips about PSU. The Superflower ones look like they might be too long for the case, especially if I move the harddrive cage back to fit a radiator in the front. So I'll probably go for corsair RM series. What kind of wattage should I get? I think 750W or 850W given that I'll want to SLI eventually and overclock?

Freddie1980 said:
You might also want to return that SSD Kingaton mislead reviews and buyers by switching the memory on retail units to cheaper slower memory that performs significantly worse the the review samples. Corsair LX series is a good budget SSD so check those out.
Click to expand...
Freddie, do you have a source for this? (I'm happy to take your word for it, but it would be interesting to find out more).


Cheers all, very useful
 
laz0r said:
Oops, sorry about the links - won't happen again!

Thanks for the tips about PSU. The Superflower ones look like they might be too long for the case, especially if I move the harddrive cage back to fit a radiator in the front. So I'll probably go for corsair RM series. What kind of wattage should I get? I think 750W or 850W given that I'll want to SLI eventually and overclock?


Freddie, do you have a source for this? (I'm happy to take your word for it, but it would be interesting to find out more).


Cheers all, very useful
Click to expand...

Avoid the Corsair RM series. They are overpriced. Either go for a Superflower Leadex or an EVGA Supernova G2.

Here is the info no the SSD:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7763/an-update-to-kingston-ssdnow-v300-a-switch-to-slower-micron-nand


The Crucial MX100 would be a better buy.
 
The Cooler Master N200 takes up to a 180mm psu (Details in link)

http://www.coolermaster.com/case/mini-tower/n200/

The Superflower Leadex will be too long, as it is 200mm. The EVGA Supernova G2 750w should be ok, as it is listed as 180mm.

If you don't mind non modular then the Superflower Golden Green HX psu's are 145mm.

A 550W psu is enough for a single card setup though.
 
lee32uk said:
The Cooler Master N200 takes up to a 180mm psu (Details in link)

http://www.coolermaster.com/case/mini-tower/n200/

The Superflower Leadex will be too long, as it is 200mm. The EVGA Supernova G2 750w should be ok, as it is listed as 180mm.

If you don't mind non modular then the Superflower Golden Green HX psu's are 145mm.

A 550W psu is enough for a single card setup though.
Click to expand...

Cool, I'll take a look at them too. I think you're right with the 180mm - The case has two harddrive cage positions, one of which gives more space for the PSU and the other gives more space for a front radiator; but none of the PSU length measurements say which they're for! This review (link) says it's 220mm in the default config though, so I think that probably means 180mm in the watercooling config. But if anyone has this case and could measure it for me that would be great...
 
Ok, I've ordered most of the parts (see OP). All except the CPU and graphics card. Still need to pick the right GTX 770 for me, so I'll post on the graphics card forum.

Thanks for all your help!
 
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