First Computer Build Advice

[XxPHATAL1TYxX]

Hello, this will be the first PC I've ever built myself and I'm just looking for input on whether there will be any bottlenecking in this system or other incompatibility's. Thank you for your time.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/XxTytoNxX/saved/ZkgV3C

 

[fredfinks]

Get an intel i5 and an ssd. If you cant afford it then dont waste $ on an overpriced tower case, fans , fan controller or 850w PSU. You dont need sound card either.

 

[Mr Kagouris]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($244.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG M9i 48.4 CFM CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Thermal Compound: ARCTIC MX4 4g Thermal Paste ($6.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-AR ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($154.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: OCZ Trion 100 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($41.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 390X 8GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition ATX Full Tower Case ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: D-Link DWA-582 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($69.99 @ Dell Small Business)
Case Fan: Cooler Master JetFlo 95.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($16.89 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Cooler Master JetFlo 95.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($16.89 @ Amazon)
Fan Controller: BitFenix Recon (White) Fan Controller ($36.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1504.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-13 09:03 EDT-0400

Way better CPU for gaming
Sound card not needed as Asus onboard audio is pretty damn good if you're not an extreme audiophile (at which point you wouldn't be buying a cheaper Xonar model anyway)
Added a small SSD for the OS and a couple programs/games. Recommend getting a bigger one if you can stretch budget.
Switched PSU to better and cheaper alternative. If you want there's even cheaper alternatives that don't lose much in quality but are usually semi or non-modular. Money saved there could get you an even bigger SSD.
Switched to better fans.

 

[XxPHATAL1TYxX]

Thank you for the input guys.

Budget isn't the issue, I just prefer AMD. As far as SSD goes, idk... I mean, faster boot times is a PLUS, but is it really THAT worth it? 300 dollars for a 1TB as opposed to 50 for the same capacity HDD?

Are Corsair PSU's not reliable? Also, I know it's more than what I need, but I was under the impression that it would be better than trying to buy a PSU that's exactly the wattage the system needs. Is that wrong?

Ok, about the sound card, thank you. I wasn't sure if I needed it or not but didn't think the MOBO audio would be worth anything.

And the fans, I added them just because but I'm wondering, with the CPU liquid cooling and the built in case fans, do I need any extra at all?

Again, thank you for the input. Being new to this it can sometimes be confusing. I have a basic knowledge about how things work and what I need, but have also read a lot of conflicting things online.

 

[Mr Kagouris]

Even the FX 9590 (AMD's top CPU) gets its arse handed to it by the 6600k in gaming. Sadly AMD has simply not stepped up to the challenge for the past 3-4 years. Zen is probably going to change that but Zen isn't here yet nor is it expected to be much more powerful than Intel's Skylake and upcoming Kabylake processors.

As for SSD, personally I find the much lower load times worth it, and we're not at the point where you need 1TB of SSD storage. It's a few games + the OS that generally benefit a lot from being on an SSD, most games don't have huge load times. Especially the OS becomes much more responsive when it's on SSD.

It's not really that Corsair PSUs are bad, they have some terrible models and some great models, with the great models being sorely overpriced when there's alternatives from EVGA and such that offer literally the same quality at a much lower price. Personally I think of Corsair as the Apple of PSUs. There's also some bias against the HX series, something to do with many units being defective and causing damage I think? Really there's no reason to get an HX PSU as there's said alternatives from EVGA which are awesome and other series such as the RMx and RMi which are also amazing PSUs.

No, you don't really need case fans. Case fans become useful when you have 3-4 GPUs in the system as at that point you need to exhaust all that heat. They look cool though.

It's OK to be confused when you're new . Many things are really only learned through experience.

 

[XxPHATAL1TYxX]

That was the first CPU I had on my list, but the reviews I read basically all had a general consensus of it being EXTREMELY hard to keep cool even with high end liquid cooling. Although it is meant to be a "gaming rig" it's probably not what you guys are thinking. 90% of the time it will be used for WoW, just tired of budget PC's running on all low detail resolution at 12FPS. Unplayable at that point. I just wanted something that I would be able to play other things on if the mood arises. So if it's lagging behind a little that's ok with me. I accept the fact that Intel has better performance, just not really worth it to me for what I'll use it for. When AMD comes out with a better chip I'll upgrade then, lol.

You've convinced me, lol, I'll just throw like a 120GB SSD for the OS.

I'll have to look into other PSU options. Don't want to ruin a 1300 dollar setup. I originally went with Corsair because reviews I'd read on EVGA PSU's were terrible.

That's what I thought, haha. But fortunately my case comes with 2 pre-installed LED fans. Which I received today and have to send back due to it being bent up in the back :/ thought the Blue Sickleflow's would look sweet though, might get 2 140mm's to push/pull air through the Liquid Cooling radiator. Which btw, is the NZXT Kraken not a good unit to go with? One of the other posters recommended a Cryorig instead. Which I was considering this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4UF3GA2042

Thank you for being understanding. Lol.

One last thing, I was tempted to go completely overkill and get 2 Fury X cards to run in Crossfire but couldn't justify that budget jump for a build that will be used the way it will be. And, HBM aside (which i still don't fully understand) it's got half the RAM so I may wait till they go to 8GB.

 

[fredfinks]

Second what ^ he says.

AMD CPUs are slower, less reliable and less thermal & power efficient. Also the motherboards that support AMD are also less reliable - regardless of brand.
The only reason to go with an AMD CPU is if youre building the cheapest, most basic build or going with render farms where the high core count makes them very good value. If one fails, you swap it out.

Youve got 0 reason to like AMD unless you want to save yourself $50~ on a desktop build. Id pay $100 to avoid that cancer

 

[Mr Kagouris]

Especially for older games such as WoW you want a 6600k. WoW would never be able to utilize all 8 cores of an FX CPU and it's a very CPU-intensive game. TL;DR FX sucks for WoW in particular.

I don't know what "terrible" reviews you read about EVGA, but here's a protip: Never base your choice of expensive hardware on user reviews. Always look for professional reviews. You don't have to look for a different PSU really, that EVGA G2 is one of cheapest extremely high end PSUs you can get, and EVGA G2/P2 (and now T2) series have long been enthusiast favorites for their low price and very high quality.

As for why the Fury X only has 4GB, that 4GB is enough. Put simply, HBM has enough memory bandwidth that the Fury X doesn't run out of VRAM even at 4K. Quite simply it's enough, but if you want to wait for the upcoming Fury X2 that'd be even better as it offers even more future-proofing.

And the NZXT Kraken is a great cooler yes. I just switched it out in the parts list to stay in the original budget lol.

 

[fredfinks]

If you want to save a bit, you dont need a K CPU or z170 mobo or 3rd party cooler.

I5-6500 will do with its intel stock fan. Combine it with a H170 or even a H110 mobo. If you dont use the features , fancy mobos do nothing.
Put the $ into GPU, monitor & SSD(s)

 

[XxPHATAL1TYxX]

I will consider getting an Intel, but I make no promises, lol. I've always bought AMD based PC's.

Ah, I didn't realize you were the one that posted that. Lol. Didn't look at the names. Now I'm conflicted about which cooler cooler like better. Lol.

Ok, well if its reliable and saves me money, sounds good to me. They were reviews on Newegg.

Lmao, it's just confusing because you'd think memory is memory. But this new HBM is somehow more with less. It would be sweet to have 2 of those beast cards though.

 

[Mr Kagouris]

As said, for gaming Intel is a no brainer at this point. Waiting for Zen would be the only good alternative. Getting an FX in your case would be plain stupid (no offense intended). As for which cooler to get, basically, dual rad AIO > high end air cooler, but high end air cooler > single rad AIO (and single rad AIO > low end air cooler). This general formula should help you pick a cooler. As for what constitutes a "high end air cooler", generally the bigger it is the better.

 

[fredfinks]

Why does he need liquid though? This guy is a novice. Save the $ and stuffing around and get a top quality air cooler like the Noctua U14s. Good cooling, very easy to install and it simply will not fail.

If youre not overclocking , then you dont need a K CPU, a Z mobo or 3rd party cooler. Gone are the days of Sandy bridge's huge performance increase. Games youll notice 0 difference if someone changed your oclock to stock speeds.

Overclocking at this point on gaming rigs is an unnecessary basically frivolous luxury that $ is better spent on GPU and /or monitor.


With a name like Fatality, its like this breed of pc people who consider neccesary equipment like water cooling , LEDs and pictures of skulls. Its basically nonsense.

 

[fredfinks]

To clarify, if youre not running a 980ti & 30"+ 1440p monitor dont waste $ on a 2-300 mhz increase with your CPU. Itll do nothing but make you unzipping or video encoding speeds slightly faster.


Add up the extra cost from h170 to z170 board, liquid cooler is what $120 -$200AU? and the $30 extra for K cpu. What a waste.

 

[fredfinks]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus H110M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($34.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($88.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($619.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Antec HCG M 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($87.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Samsung S32D850T 60Hz 32.0" Monitor ($533.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1714.82

A few $100 more than the initial build and includes a 980ti and samsung 32"1440p monitor. 250gb Samsung 850 SSD
It will play everything at max in 1440p and be absolutely stunning.

 

[Mr Kagouris]

Why does he need liquid though? This guy is a novice. Save the $ and stuffing around and get a top quality air cooler like the Noctua U14s. Good cooling, very easy to install and it simply will not fail.

Novice or not a dual rad AIO will help when overclocking.

If youre not overclocking , then you dont need a K CPU, a Z mobo or 3rd party cooler. Gone are the days of Sandy bridge's huge performance increase. Games youll notice 0 difference if someone changed your oclock to stock speeds.

Overclocking at this point on gaming rigs is an unnecessary basically frivolous luxury that $ is better spent on GPU and /or monitor.

This is pure misinformation. Whether or not overclocking will make a difference depends entirely on the game. CPU-intensive games like WoW or GTA V (and pretty much any RTS) will benefit heavily from overclocking.

With a name like Fatality, its like this breed of pc people who consider neccesary equipment like water cooling , LEDs and pictures of skulls. Its basically nonsense.

Caring about the aesthetics of your machine is not nonsense. Yes it is not necessary but it is definitely not nonsense. If aesthetics didn't matter we'd all be driving rusted blocky hunks of metal and living in plain cubic rooms.

To clarify, if youre not running a 980ti & 30"+ 1440p monitor dont waste $ on a 2-300 mhz increase with your CPU. Itll do nothing but make you unzipping or video encoding speeds slightly faster.

Wrong.

 

[fredfinks]

Show me where a 6500 on a 970 cant handle GTA 5.
Show me these min frame lags in comparison to a 6600k overclocked.

Aesthetics are of the lowest import- You look at the monitor. ESPECIALLY if you putting $ into it and compromising on parts that will make a difference in gameplay/performance.

Once you have a decent CPU the only things that matter are GPU, monitor and lastly fast storage access. IF you havent compromised on performance parts and have $ to spare - then by all means - go and put a flame paint job & fairy lights on your box.

The apex of computing is speed, silence and being discreet.
One day in the future when powerful computers are tiny, do you think we will have windows and fairy lights?? Its a ricer wank job

 

[Mr Kagouris]

Show me where a 6500 on a 970 cant handle GTA 5.

Of course they can handle GTA V, but will they be able to handle GTA VI? Unless OP wants to have to upgrade in a couple of years then 6600k is the way to go. At this point it's not so much but about how it performs now but how it will perform in 4-5 years.

Show me these min frame lags in comparison to a 6600k overclocked.

Here.

One day in the future when powerful computers are tiny, do you think we will have windows and fairy lights?

One day in the future

We're not there yet so talking about how the far future might be like is a moot point.

If you don't like spending money on how your computer looks, by all means don't. But that gives you no justification to be judgmental towards people that do care how their machine looks.

 

[fredfinks]

4-5 years? by then youll have flogged the parts on ebay and upgraded. Youre spending $100 or more on a minor increase in speed that does NOTHING now. That $100 can be banked for the upgrade or spent on better gear.

Im being judgmental when they put $ in looks before performance. As i said, if youre not compromising on parts and have $ to spare, then go ahead.

Anyway. You cant deny, if he can scrounge another few hundred, that $1700 build with a 980ti on a 32" 1440p build will be glorious for gaming / multimedia and office work.

 

[Mr Kagouris]

Whether or not OP will have upgraded in 4-5 years is neither something we can predict nor has OP clarified if he/she will do so.

And whether or not that build will be "glorious" depends. What is ideal for you may not be ideal for others, and putting in a monitor when a need for a monitor is not specified is not something you should do.

At this point it's really looking more like you're defending your own dream build and not an ideal setup for OP.

 

[fredfinks]

980ti and 32" 1440 is what i have. Its the best ive seen. I upgraded from 27" 1440p and the size is definitely worth it. Its not much more than he is proposing to spend.

Visual impact is a very important thing with gaming and its usually the most neglected part when it comes to pc builds.
All the hardware needs to do is drive it.

 

[XxPHATAL1TYxX]

While I can't deny I was tempted to get the 980ti, I've actually seen quite a few different videos where the 390x outperforms it in multiple games (also gets outperformed in multiple games) and that's just not worth it to me... if it can be outperformed by a card that's half it's price, it's far from OP. I'll stick with my Radeon.

Aesthetics are important to me, it's why I picked the Level 10 GT Snow (which I received already). I also already have a monitor, but do plan to buy a better one at some point in the future.

And yes you're exactly right, that was the whole point of this build, I don't want to upgrade any of the internal parts for the next few years, I'm thinking 3-5. Possibly graphics sooner than that. Might get 2 Fury X cards next year or something.

Anyway, this this is what I picked. It's SIGNIFICANTLY more than I planned on spending because it also doesn't yet include also SSD but I do plan on purchasing that as well.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/XxTytoNxX/saved/vtb7YJ

 

[fredfinks]

OP, no prob with AMD's equivalent GPU. Going that high end GPU - AMD or Nvidia, means you have the power to run a very nice, large 30"+ 1440p monitor.
For single GPU systems, its what we all should be striving for. Its the current pinnacle as 4k cant be done fluently on a single card.

Running the x99 series chips wont come into play with gaming though. Fair enough if you need it for other work but if youre choosing this chip for gaming youre wasting $. If you do a fair bit of encoding even the i7-6700 will suffice. What software do you intend to utilize the 6 cores on? This may change in the future but theres no indication that its going to happen anytime soon. By then we'll most prob have upgraded and this expensive x99 was unutilized.

With that system- a $320 mobo & x99 chip your machine is going to be less responsive than a $500 pc with a SSD.

 

[Mr Kagouris]

I think you'd be better served by this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor ($349.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H5 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Thermal Compound: ARCTIC MX4 4g Thermal Paste ($6.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($153.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 Fury X 4GB Video Card ($604.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition ATX Full Tower Case ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 850W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($87.95 @ OutletPC)
Wireless Network Adapter: D-Link DWA-582 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($69.99 @ Dell Small Business)
Fan Controller: BitFenix Recon (White) Fan Controller ($36.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1767.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-15 04:32 EDT-0400

 

[fredfinks]

still no ssd.
One of the best, if not the, best case on market is the Fracral R5 with 3 speed fan controller. Its cheaper too.
No need for a full tower. R5 has plenty of radiator options if you need it. Even allows 420 sized radiators. The similar Phantek option is the other choice. Thamaltake is crap. Do you know how many times ive had to push their backplanes in to fit cards? How many threaded screws... They as good as their PSUs

Still no SSD. Still needs to purchase a large monitor. Its sweet having top gear if you run a tablet sized screen.

 

[Mr Kagouris]

He already has the case, and has clarified he won't be buying a new monitor at this time. Also, an SSD is easy to add later, whereas any other upgrade would mean getting rid of old components.