Could the community take a peek at my first build and help me out with some tips or advice?

[McBravs]

I just started to look into building my own computer because I think it would be a fun project.

Here is what I got so far: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/McBravs/saved/P4qZxr

I am trying to put together a mini gaming PC that has the i7 chip and the GTX 960 4GB all in the Rosewill Legacy U3. This case is something I want to work around not change. I want a solid PC that will last for about 5 years.

I looked for a motherboard that included Wifi because it sounded so convenient.

Recently I have spent most of the time playing League of Legends, Skyrim, Deus EX, and the Witcher 3 on my current PC, a Dell XPS 8500.

The resolution is 1920x1080

My budget is under $1000

Any help or advice on any part would be great!

Thanks in advance
- David

 

[madmatt30]

Going with a Xeon gets you a 970 in for around the same budget.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1226 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($216.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: RAIJINTEK THEMIS 65.7 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($103.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($319.42 @ Amazon)
Case: Rosewill Legacy U3-S-Window MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN781ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($14.89 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor (Purchased For $240.00)
Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard (Purchased For $179.00)
Total: $1372.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-24 01:17 EST-0500

 

[McBravs]

Going with a Xeon gets you a 970 in for around the same budget.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1226 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($216.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: RAIJINTEK THEMIS 65.7 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($103.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($319.42 @ Amazon)
Case: Rosewill Legacy U3-S-Window MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN781ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($14.89 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor (Purchased For $240.00)
Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard (Purchased For $179.00)
Total: $1372.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-24 01:17 EST-0500

Cool, thank you!
but...

Reading on best graphics cards for the money:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

I read that for 1920x1080 I would want the GTX 960. Since the recommended resolution on my computer or monitor is 1920x1080 the review tells me go 960. I feel like I don't understand resolution that well, could explain why the 970 over the 960 in my situation.

 

[Victorion]

I just started to look into building my own computer because I think it would be a fun project.

Here is what I got so far: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/McBravs/saved/P4qZxr

I am trying to put together a mini gaming PC that has the i7 chip and the GTX 960 4GB all in the Rosewill Legacy U3. This case is something I want to work around not change. I want a solid PC that will last for about 5 years.

I looked for a motherboard that included Wifi because it sounded so convenient.

Recently I have spent most of the time playing League of Legends, Skyrim, Deus EX, and the Witcher 3 on my current PC, a Dell XPS 8500.

The resolution is 1920x1080

My budget is under $1000

Any help or advice on any part would be great!

Thanks in advance
- David

- Do you really need overclocking? You might save some bucks on the cpu and cooler, without any loss in performance and translate the savings into a GTX 970 instead?
- Consider your motherboard only has 2 x DDR3 DIMM slots. So you may want to get 1 stick of 8 GB ram rather than 2 x 4 GB. That way you have another slot of future upgrade. However 2 sticks of 4 GB will perform slightly better than 1 stick of 8 GB. Ingame performance - no difference.
- GTX 960 4 GB is a great card, but you can get either R9 290 for 20 bucks more or GTX 970 for 100 bucks more - those cards offer significantly more performance.
- MicroATX Mini Tower Case, very small tight case with poor air flow. It may be too small for some video cards and definetely crammed with a cpu cooler.

At your budget, you can afford GTX 980TI as well, which is an absolute beast. It may be overkill for 1080p gaming, but it will be alot more futureproof card - max settings for current games and games to come.

 

[DannyEvo10]

Not bad, but a few things I would tweak. After much research i7 - 4790k is not as optimal for gaming as the i5- 4690k... you could down grade that and save yourself 100$ and go with a gtx 970 instead. Anyways gpu is the most important thing for gaming

 

[madmatt30]

The performance difference between the 4790 & the Xeon is negligible.
The difference between the 960 & 970 is huge.
If you want to get away without upgrades for 2 or 3 years the 960 won't cut it , the 970 will.
The Xeon definitely will last out the foreseeable future (beyond 5 years).

I don't gave a problem with your case choice at all , as its matx though I don't see a point paying for a premium mitx size board with built In WiFi when you can get a top quality matx board+ a pcie wireless card for less money which will also offer more expandability.

 

[James Mason]

If you actually want a "small" computer that doesn't sacrifice performance, i'd say go mini-itx. That Rosewill is awfully expensive for what it is.

This has the best CPU for gaming, an unlocked i5, that is also the latest generation of CPU, as well having a GTX 970.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: *Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($254.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($113.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: *Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($77.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: *EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($304.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (White) Mini ITX Tower Case ($67.15 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: *SeaSonic 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($62.90 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $962.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-24 14:52 EST-0500

 

[McBravs]

Not bad, but a few things I would tweak. After much research i7 - 4790k is not as optimal for gaming as the i5- 4690k... you could down grade that and save yourself 100$ and go with a gtx 970 instead. Anyways gpu is the most important thing for gaming

Thanks!

I took madmatt30's advice and switched to the Intel Xeon E3-1226 V3 3.3 is that better? I like that it is very similar to the i7, but 2/3 of the price and newer. What do you think?

 

[McBravs]

The performance difference between the 4790 & the Xeon is negligible.
The difference between the 960 & 970 is huge.
If you want to get away without upgrades for 2 or 3 years the 960 won't cut it , the 970 will.
The Xeon definitely will last out the foreseeable future (beyond 5 years).

I don't gave a problem with your case choice at all , as its matx though I don't see a point paying for a premium mitx size board with built In WiFi when you can get a top quality matx board+ a pcie wireless card for less money which will also offer more expandability.

I changed the build to look like this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bzRNt6.

What do you think?

Also is cpu cooler I plan to buy too big?

CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM:

Fan Dimensions L120 x W120 x H25.4mm
Heatsink Dimensions L98 x W123 x H145mm

 

[McBravs]

- Do you really need overclocking? You might save some bucks on the cpu and cooler, without any loss in performance and translate the savings into a GTX 970 instead?
- Consider your motherboard only has 2 x DDR3 DIMM slots. So you may want to get 1 stick of 8 GB ram rather than 2 x 4 GB. That way you have another slot of future upgrade. However 2 sticks of 4 GB will perform slightly better than 1 stick of 8 GB. Ingame performance - no difference.
- GTX 960 4 GB is a great card, but you can get either R9 290 for 20 bucks more or GTX 970 for 100 bucks more - those cards offer significantly more performance.
- MicroATX Mini Tower Case, very small tight case with poor air flow. It may be too small for some video cards and definetely crammed with a cpu cooler.

At your budget, you can afford GTX 980TI as well, which is an absolute beast. It may be overkill for 1080p gaming, but it will be alot more futureproof card - max settings for current games and games to come.

Thanks! Im going to go with the GTX 970

 

[madmatt30]

I linked to the wrong Xeon mate :-/

The 1226 doesn't have hyper threading so is really essentially an i5.

This is the one you want which is essentially an i7.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646e31231v3

HOWEVER when it comes to gaming the difference is really going to be indistinguishable from an i5 like the 4670 really - is the $20 extra worth paying? I would say so personally.

H7 really is not needed for a Xeon , I'm also dubious about the capability of that rosewill case to maintain decent temps - it has incredibly poor airflow by the look of it & is expensive for what it it.

 

[McBravs]

I linked to the wrong Xeon mate :-/

The 1226 doesn't have hyper threading so is really essentially an i5.

This is the one you want which is essentially an i7.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646e31231v3

HOWEVER when it comes to gaming the difference is really going to be indistinguishable from an i5 like the 4670 really - is the $20 extra worth paying? I would say so personally.

H7 really is not needed for a Xeon , I'm also dubious about the capability of that rosewill case to maintain decent temps - it has incredibly poor airflow by the look of it & is expensive for what it it.

I added the 1231 previously because that's the one I knew you were talking about.

Does the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO make more sense?

I wanted a super small case, and this was the smallest/coolest I could find, because the desk in my dorm is really small. In addition, I really like how it looks. I know that because the case is so small the temperatures would be pretty hot.

Many people mentioned to replace the fan the case comes with as it is a little loud. I would not mind spending an extra ~$15-$20 for another. I'm thinking Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition 37.9. I saw it in another build in pcpartpicker with the same case.

How does the build look now?: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8xNNdC

I also changed the PSU to 550w because 650w seems too much for right now and even thinking of future upgrades. Right?

Thank for all the help by the way.

 

[madmatt30]

I linked to the wrong Xeon mate :-/

The 1226 doesn't have hyper threading so is really essentially an i5.

This is the one you want which is essentially an i7.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646e31231v3

HOWEVER when it comes to gaming the difference is really going to be indistinguishable from an i5 like the 4670 really - is the $20 extra worth paying? I would say so personally.

H7 really is not needed for a Xeon , I'm also dubious about the capability of that rosewill case to maintain decent temps - it has incredibly poor airflow by the look of it & is expensive for what it it.

I added the 1231 previously because that's the one I knew you were talking about.

Does the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO make more sense?

I wanted a super small case, and this was the smallest/coolest I could find, because the desk in my dorm is really small. In addition, I really like how it looks. I know that because the case is so small the temperatures would be pretty hot.

Many people mentioned to replace the fan the case comes with as it is a little loud. I would not mind spending an extra ~$15-$20 for another. I'm thinking Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition 37.9. I saw it in another build in pcpartpicker with the same case.

How does the build look now?: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8xNNdC

I also changed the PSU to 550w because 650w seems too much for right now and even thinking of future upgrades. Right?

Thank for all the help by the way.

it all looks good mate to me,still not convinced on the case though mate personally but if needs must.
Id have gone with an aerocool ds200, a bitfenix phenom matx or a bitfenix prodigy m - sure theyre a little bigger but theyre just plain better cases & have decent preinstalled cooling as standard.
Admittedly the rosewill does look nice though.

 

[McBravs]

it all looks good mate to me,still not convinced on the case though mate personally but if needs must.Id have gone with an aerocool ds200, a bitfenix phenom matx or a bitfenix prodigy m - sure theyre a little bigger but theyre just plain better cases & have decent preinstalled cooling as standard.
Admittedly the rosewill does look nice though.

Thanks! I will let you know how everything goes!