Final Build Check 2014

[Daniel Ferguson]

After all my research,
My final step is to get the experts opinions & advice anyone like to add imput or suggestions would be very much appreciated Note# i bought the case and psu already Thanks


CPU-Intel Core i5-4690K Devil's Canyon Quad-Core 3.5GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor BX80646I54690K
GPU-MSI GeForce GTX 970 Video Graphics Card - 4GB GDDR5, 256-bit, PCIe 3.0 x16, DL DVI-I, DisplayPort x3, HDMI, ATX Form Factor, DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.4, Overclocked - GTX 970 4GD5 OC (unless this is not a good card evega isn't in stock anymore )

MOBO-ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

SSD-SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD256BW 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

RAM-CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M2A1866C9

COOLER-ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

Antec 1200 full atx tower

PSU-Seasonic SS-760XP2 ATX 12V/EPS 12V, 760W, 80 PLUS PLATINUM Full Modular certified Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready

 

[Darkbreeze]

I don't see any problems with that build aside from not having an additional hard drive for storage. If you have one already or don't foresee the need for one, then it's fine.

I don't like the choice of CPU cooler, it's a poor performer, but that's not a big issue unless you plan to overclock.

 

[Daniel Ferguson]

so not a huge deal with cooler, could recommend something else better quality perhaps.

 

[Daniel Ferguson]

also any optical advice liteon etc..

 

[Slavegamer]

I agree with darkbreeze , that cpu cooler dose not quite compliment the quality of that build. A cpu cooler like coolermaster v8 or noctua is a better quality in my opinion.

If you want to be more future proof , consider that Your i5 can be overclocked to 4.0 easy so a better cpu cooler you want to consider for lower temps resulting in a longer lifespan of the cpu , also you might want to sli your gpu in the future . and if you do want to leave room for that kind of expansion I would shoot for a 900 to 1000 watt power supply. Other than that your build looks nice and I think you will do fine with what you got. I like to make by builds as future proof as possible . as a result I am running a 6 year old evga x 58 sli on a overclocked first generation i7920 @3.8 on a coolermaster v8 and the temps under full load never go above 56-57c . I did upgrade to a geforce gtx 770 and as a result I get over 100 fps in bf4 on high settings. I can keep up with most high end gaming rigs with this build . If I wanted to go from 1333mhz ram to 1600 or 2000mhz its no problem. If I want to sli this gtx 770 I got the room to expand . So I always leave plenty of room for expansion. thats just my opinion

 

[Zerk2012]

If it's just for gaming you could save some money by just getting a 2x4GB set of memory it's more than need for gaming.
You could also save on the SSD the EVO is lower priced and still a very good drive.
That is not a very good case either.

 

[Daniel Ferguson]

this has been very helpful folks.
Slavegamer very good ideas future proofing is the plan-Nocturna is what iam going to go with ty

Zerk2012 i appreciate your input but i love this case and the one i used before in build a few years ago. can i ask why you don't like it.

 

[Daniel Ferguson]

this one is also on sale any good ? Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

 

[Darkbreeze]

Any of these would be an improvement. Noctua of course always wins out over, well, everything.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Scythe Shuriken Rev. B 3 11.8 CFM CPU Cooler ($33.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $33.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-19 18:46 EDT-0400



PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i 57.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $39.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-19 18:47 EDT-0400




PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $64.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-19 18:48 EDT-0400

Personally, depending on how tall of a cooler your case will support, I would without doubt go with the U14S

 

[Zerk2012]

this has been very helpful folks.
Slavegamer very good ideas future proofing is the plan-Nocturna is what iam going to go with ty

Zerk2012 i appreciate your input but i love this case and the one i used before in build a few years ago. can i ask why you don't like it.

Very poor design on the inside of the case compared to todays standards, poor cable management and the way the drives are installed.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I've seen better case designs, but I've seen much worse too. Are you looking at the regular Antec 1200 or the 1200 V3?

 

[Darkbreeze]

If it's just for gaming you could save some money by just getting a 2x4GB set of memory it's more than need for gaming.
You could also save on the SSD the EVO is lower priced and still a very good drive.
That is not a very good case either.

Not necessarily true. There are some few games out there (Star citizen comes to mind), and more are appearing, that want 16GB for recommended performance requirements. Heavy video and audio editing, although not specifically mentioned here, will also benefit from the extra RAM. For most games 8GB is plenty but who knows what may change in the near future.

 

[Paul NZ]

And you may have to use USB BIOS flashback to update the BIOS first. Since it needs BIOS 0609 to support that CPU

 

[Daniel Ferguson]

paul could you post the link to that info

 

[Paul NZ]

The ASUS site for that mobo

 

[Darkbreeze]

If you've just bought that board, it most likely already has the correct BIOS installed. If for some reason it does not, here is the current BIOS image:

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1150/MAXIMUS-VII-HERO/MAXIMUS-VII-HERO-ASUS-1104.zip

 

[Paul NZ]

The CPU is probably more recent than the mobo. But since it supports USB BIOS flashback, its pretty easy to fix

 

[Daniel Ferguson]

so i have to update the bios with this combo even though they are supported togther. jw nobody bite my head off

 

[Daniel Ferguson]

darkbreeze i am buying the board next month

 

[Darkbreeze]

As I said, most versions of the Hero being currently sold have more likely than not already been updated to the necessary BIOS version.

IF the board you happen to purchase just happens to have been sitting on a shelf for some time and does not have the needed version installed, you will need to flash the bios and can do it like this:

http://rog.asus.com/339292014/labels/guides/guide-update-your-maximus-vi-or-asus-z87-motherboard-with-usb-bios-flashback-for-devils-canyon-4790k-4690k-cpus/

 

[Paul NZ]

But you dont need a CPU for a mobo that supports USB BIOS flashback. Just a PSU

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah, I edited that last post. I had to make sure it didn't only have ezflash 2.

 

[Daniel Ferguson]

hey i had to change my ram, black vengeance i selected sold out.
Whats the difference between the red vengeance and black one or does someone else have a better option than the cosair vengeance 8x2 16gb 174.99 is definitely as high as i can go

 

[Darkbreeze]

Faster, cheaper and better quality than the Corsair. Mushkin is made in Colorado, makes their own product from start to finish and has been doing it much longer than Corsair, who build their RAM using third party chips.:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226420&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 

[Zerk2012]

If it's just for gaming you could save some money by just getting a 2x4GB set of memory it's more than need for gaming.
You could also save on the SSD the EVO is lower priced and still a very good drive.
That is not a very good case either.

Not necessarily true. There are some few games out there (Star citizen comes to mind), and more are appearing, that want 16GB for recommended performance requirements. Heavy video and audio editing, although not specifically mentioned here, will also benefit from the extra RAM. For most games 8GB is plenty but who knows what may change in the near future.

That's laughable run the game and look in task manager and see how much is being used.
That's like watch dogs that recommends a i7 processor when it shows you 0 performance gains over a i5
http://www.game-debate.com/games/index.php?g_id=4546&game=Watch%20Dogs
http://www.techspot.com/review/827-watch-dogs-benchmarks/page5.html