Building a system for a buddy, pure aesthetics.

[TraceDaBoss]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DvYGD3
That is the current build I have picked out so far. He wants a black and red theme and was very specific about the fact that the build had to look perfect. He gave me a budget of 2k, and this is what I could put together. I am going to wait till broadwell comes out, but I just put the cpu+mobo as a substitute for now. He likes how the MSI mobo looks, and I can't disagree. I've heard about their poor QC, but he says it's worth it. I was thinking about doing a custom water loop, but I am not very experienced on that and I'm not completely sure if it is worth it. Any opinions/revisions/constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Thanks! -T

 

[tiny voices]

That SSD is not very good. Change it for a Samsung 850 EVO.

 

[0x1eef]

^ That and how about Dark Rock Pro 3 instead of that 212? Would be a better OC and quieter.

 

[tiny voices]

Current MSI boards are fine. Nothing to worry about at all.

 

[okcnaline]

Build looks fine. But the SSD's a bit poor, so just change to the aformentioned one. And also, change the CPU cooler to a Corsair H100i GTX because of its athestic possibility. And the motherboard is decent.

 

[tiny voices]

If he wants at all a quiet PC I would avoid the h100i.

 

[okcnaline]

x) True... Then he should go with something Noctua.

 

[0x1eef]

He can't go Noctua (pity) because of a black-red theme. BQ Dark Rock Pro 3 seems like the only air option (or so were told)

 

[tiny voices]

Not at all the only air option. There are TONS of red or black coolers.

Phanteks makes some GREAT red coolers

 

[0x1eef]

Not at all the only air option. There are TONS of red or black coolers.

Phanteks makes some GREAT red coolers

Well, I'm not familiar with all the cooling systems. You're probably right. But not any cooler will hold 4790k at good temps, so I suggested the best option I'm aware of.

 

[TraceDaBoss]

Any thoughts on a custom loop?

 

[tiny voices]

You are looking at $400+ at a minimum to do the CPU and GPU properly. If you do not have experience building and he does not have experience maintaining them, skip it.

 

[tiny voices]

Not at all the only air option. There are TONS of red or black coolers.

Phanteks makes some GREAT red coolers

Well, I'm not familiar with all the cooling systems. You're probably right. But not any cooler will hold 4790k at good temps, so I suggested the best option I'm aware of.

There are many coolers the same and many better than the Pro 3. The Phanteks tc14 comes in black and in red and beats the Pro 3.

Coolermaster V8 GTS is another good option for some black+red cooling.

RAIJINTEK TISIS BLACK is also a cooler that will best the Pro 3 and fits the scheme

I'm not trying to say the Pro 3 is bad. It is actually quite good. Just stating there are TONS of other options.

 

[0x1eef]

^ Thanks for listing the alternatives, tiny.

 

[Woody1999]

You could try building your own air cooler, using a decent heatsink with some black and red fans in push/pull, but you'd have to find a good black heatsink.

The Swiftech H240X is a fantastic AIO cooler that has interchangeable parts, so you can change the looks of it, or even integrate a GPU water block. I'd personally recommend that over any cooler on the market. If it's just for gaming, I recommend something a bit like this:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2zpT99

Thrown in some of the best peripherals on the market as well, all a gamer needs.

It has a single 980 rather than dual 970s, cleaning up the aesthetics and avoiding any difficulties with SLI, at a small performance hit. Other changes are the i5-4690K rather than the i7, the Swiftech cooler I recommended and a much better SSD.

Woody

 

[TraceDaBoss]

You could try building your own air cooler, using a decent heatsink with some black and red fans in push/pull, but you'd have to find a good black heatsink.

The Swiftech H240X is a fantastic AIO cooler that has interchangeable parts, so you can change the looks of it, or even integrate a GPU water block. I'd personally recommend that over any cooler on the market. If it's just for gaming, I recommend something a bit like this:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2zpT99

Thrown in some of the best peripherals on the market as well, all a gamer needs.

It has a single 980 rather than dual 970s, cleaning up the aesthetics and avoiding any difficulties with SLI, at a small performance hit. Other changes are the i5-4690K rather than the i7, the Swiftech cooler I recommended and a much better SSD.

Woody

I live by a microcenter, so I would be buying the CPU+MOBO for a huge discount. Also, he has the peripherals.

 

[TraceDaBoss]

You are looking at $400+ at a minimum to do the CPU and GPU properly. If you do not have experience building and he does not have experience maintaining them, skip it.

I could teach him, and he is willing to learn. I am doing loads of research on custom loops, and just don't know where to start. I'd like to gain some experience doing it so I could do it in the future. It sounds wicked, and looks great as well.

 

[tiny voices]

If you are willing to spend the money and he is willing to do the upkeep a custom loop would look good. It is ONLY worth it if he plans to overclock both the cPU and GPU heavily. Otherwise it is pointless to spend the money and deal with the maintenance for no gains at all.

Something like an H100i is probably more of what he would want, honestly.

 

[TraceDaBoss]

If you are willing to spend the money and he is willing to do the upkeep a custom loop would look good. It is ONLY worth it if he plans to overclock both the cPU and GPU heavily. Otherwise it is pointless to spend the money and deal with the maintenance for no gains at all.

Something like an H100i is probably more of what he would want, honestly.

I'll talk to him, but I'm pretty sure he wants to do some heavy overclocking. Inyho, would it look cleaner than just a normal air cooled h440?

 

[tiny voices]

Personally, no I like air coolers. It takes ALOT of skill and experience to build a clean looking custom loop. This is because there is NOTHING to hide wires behind, so it can easily look very cluttered.

I would honestly recommend an AIO cooler or air cooling for him.

 

[okcnaline]

He can't go Noctua (pity) because of a black-red theme. BQ Dark Rock Pro 3 seems like the only air option (or so were told)

Or he can replace all fans with Noctua Industrial... If he ignores the loudness. Those are technically maroon and black. http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=84&lng=en
He can also use some plasti-dip...

And as for the water cooling section, get the H100i GTX, because it's customizable.

 

[0x1eef]

^ Those industrial fans are Noctua's bastards. Man, are they loud.

 

[TraceDaBoss]

hmm

 

[TraceDaBoss]

any water cooler that looks sexy with colored coolant/ light up cpu block?

 

[0x1eef]

Raijintek Triton has transparent tubes and can be purchased pre-coloured.