Expert opinion on new build please

[cpc143]

I have used this site for years. GREAT information that one can count on. Thanks!

This will be my 2nd build. I'm a very good mechanic (but I suck at software). I have a kybd, mouse and a HP w2207 (widescreen) Monitor. Rather than tear down my 1st build which still runs fine, I want to build a newer gaming system. I can't run Crysis 3 on my current system for example, despite Amazon stating that it's XP compatible. How can it run on XP with DX 9...? lol.
So anyway, this is a list of what I've compiled after a ton of research. I would greatly appreciate any input.



-NZXT Phantom 630 Windowed Edition ATX Full Tower Computer Case
-Intel Core i7-4770K Haswell 3.5GHz LGA 1150
-ASUS Z87-PRO LGA 1150 Intel Z87 MoBo
-GIGABYTE GV-N770OC-2GD GeForce GTX 770 2GB GPU
-CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 RAM
-CORSAIR RM Series RM1000 1000W ATX12V v2.31 and EPS 2.92 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply (a little overkill never hurt...)
- SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD256BW 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (To use as boot drive)
-Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
- Noctua NH-U14S 140x150x25 ( NF-A15 PWM) SSO2-Bearing ( Self-stabilising oil-presure bearing ) CPU Cooler
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
- Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Media Center Kit Dual TV Tuner w/ IR Remote PCI-E x 1
(to view DirecTv windowed on occasion via coax)
+ a couple $20 R/W DVD drives.

I have a couple e-sata 320 gb HDDs also.

So...any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. Barring any serious criticisms on the hardware choices, any build warnings, ideas, suggestions, etc would be VERY much appreciated! Note, all this new architecture, BIOS, and W7 is completely new to me....

Thanks, Chris

 

[cpc143]

 

[cpc143]

 

[shortstuff_mt]

It's looking good. I don't like the fact that you're using adapters for your GPU power connectors, though. Your GPU has plenty of connectors to plug the GPU straight into the PSU without using those silly adapters. Is your CPU cooler fan pulling air through the cooler, or blowing the hot air down toward the GPU? If it's blowing the air down it should be turned to either exhaust out the back or top of the case.

 

[cpc143]

Hi shortstuff, thanks for your input.
Not sure what you mean about the GPU connectors...The 770 connectors aren't long enough by themselves, so I did what looked obvious. I must've missed something. Is what you mean, pull the connectors off the GPU and plug the hard-wired PSU ones into the GPU? If so, I definitely missed that. I think I dressed those "extras" in the back before I installed the GPU.
The cpu fan blows UP, to two 200mm top exhaust fans. I'm reading 28c most of the time. The case has 6 fans total on a NZXT Sentry Mix 2 controller plus the Noctua NH-U14S cpu fan/heatsink and the PSU internal fan of course. The air flows quite well from front and bottom to upper back and mostly across the GPU and CPU, then out. All are extremely quiet at Max. All are filtered too. Even the "tilt" blue LED one has a Silverstone filter.

The rig just passed an "ultimate" test. I finally got to play Crysis 3. Ran it at Max settings. It ran completely smooth. Absolutely not a single glitch of any kind....not even with Steam. Finished it in two nights. What a wonderful job Crytec did (again)! The rig also boots in under 20 secs. I love that. I'm very pleased with how this came out. It exceeded my expectations.
I don't care for W7 much. XP is still the best OS from a users point-of-view IMHO. W7 is no where near as flexible and easy to use.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

You are using adapters for the GPU (4-pin Molex to 6-pin and 8-pin). You shouldn't have to use those short adapters at all. The PSU has 6-pin and 8-pin cables that plug directly into the GPU without the need of an adapter.

I'm glad you're enjoying the system. I'm sure you'll get used to Windows 7 quickly. I know there's a slight learning curve to a new OS, but I've never heard of anyone that liked XP more than Windows 7. You'll learn to really like it and will find that you don't miss XP at all after a little while. What type of things are you finding less flexible or harder to use in Windows 7?

 

[cpc143]

You are using adapters for the GPU (4-pin Molex to 6-pin and 8-pin). You shouldn't have to use those short adapters at all. The PSU has 6-pin and 8-pin cables that plug directly into the GPU without the need of an adapter.

I'm glad you're enjoying the system. I'm sure you'll get used to Windows 7 quickly. I know there's a slight learning curve to a new OS, but I've never heard of anyone that liked XP more than Windows 7. You'll learn to really like it and will find that you don't miss XP at all after a little while. What type of things are you finding less flexible or harder to use in Windows 7?

 

[cpc143]

Ahhh, that's what I thought you meant. As I said, I "dressed" those wires in the back before I installed the GPU. Out of sight out of mind. My oversight completely. I will fix it.

W7: I'm used to using the desktop as...well...as a DESKTOP. That's the whole idea of a desktop. In W7, everything is more hidden and therefore harder to find. For example, I cannot figure a way to set it up so my downloads go to my desktop, where I can then determine what I want to do do with the file. The best I can do is switch the download file to my HDD (where I want most if not all to go...I don't want to use the SSD for anything other than boot and a few programs). But I still have to go Computer, double-click on HDD, scroll until I find Downloads, double click to open, then find the file I downloaded. It was much easier & quicker in XP. W7s' desktop is not flexible at all, where XP Desktop was where everything was happening.

One small concern: My bios is reading my RAM at 1333 MHz. (Their CPUID CPU-Z app reads it at 666.3 !). The Corsair Vengence should be 1600. I contacted Asus re: the MoBo, and the guy that replied can hardly speak English and is suggesting things I'm not comfortable with. Also, I get no beep at normal boot. Never heard a sound at all. The MoBo has an LED error system also, so I'm not concerned. The system is running extremely well, so maybe I shouldn't worry about the RAM.

Thanks again for your input, Chris

 

[shortstuff_mt]

All you have to do to get your RAM running at its rated specs is enable the XMP profile in the BIOS. The motherboard will have instructions on how to enable the XMP profile.

 

[cpc143]

All you have to do to get your RAM running at its rated specs is enable the XMP profile in the BIOS. The motherboard will have instructions on how to enable the XMP profile.

 

[cpc143]

LOL @ shortstuff. I'm laughing 'cause I figured that out this morning. Didn't need any instructions. This bios is very user friendly. Found the XMP in advanced settings in 2 minutes. Reading 1600 now. Thanks again.