gaming pc build first timer - please check it out!

team flex

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Nov 23, 2014
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Ok guys, so I am looking at building a gaming PC. I am 15, but my dad loves vuilding things so we should have no problems there. I used to console game, but I sold that a year or two ago and my laptop can't even run TF2 properly and I believe it's time to get a PC after having the same laptop for 5 years. I have been recommended this from an airsoft forum but I just want to make sure everything is ok, I believe they know a lot however want to hear more opinions on it.

I would be doing gaming on it, and no editing so I think this would be a good setup? N.B i want a colour co-ordinated setup, so I have decided a corsair sp120 fan at the back with red, as this build is red. Also some red cables.

CPU: Intel haswell core i5 4690k

MoBo:
Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 7, Intel Z97, Socket 1150, Motherboard

GPU:
Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 GAMING (Maxwell) Nvidia PCI Express Graphics Card

RAM:
Corsair Memory Vengeance Red 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz CAS 9 XMP Dual Channel Desktop Sandybridge
PSU:
Corsair RM Series 750W 70+ Gold Full Modular Power Supply (is this enough?)

SSD:
Samsung MZ-7TE250BW 840 EVO 250GB Basic SSD SATA 3

Cooler:
Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler for All Intel/AMD CPU's ( it doesn't seem to be ok with 1150s? is this true?)

HDD:
Western Digital 2TB WD2003FZEX Black Hard Drive

CASE:
Corsair Obsidian Series 450D High Airflow Mid-Tower Case

As for peripherals I thought a razer deathadder, corsair k70 and a kingston hyperX cloud black?

Monitor wise I was recommended an IPS panel, so this: LG 23MP65HQ-P 23 inch LED IPS Monitor

Please let me know guys, feedback appreciated!

Sticking to a £1500 budget with peripherals, I have saved up a long time and my parents would chip in a bit as I have had a crappy laptop for so long
 
Pretty solid build though you could go for 120-128GB SSD instead of 250 and run it in RAID with HDD,you wont need 750W for that build 550-600W PSU could handle it nicely,overkilling motherboard, you can save a lot, as it just holds parts together and tosses slightly more headroom for OCing.Stick with ASRock Anniversary Z97 or ASRock Z97 PRO4.
 
Try this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£167.50 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.54 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£110.39 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£61.04 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£90.00 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£53.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£267.95 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case (£88.33 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£94.99 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: Asus MX239H 23.0" Monitor (£174.38 @ CCL Computers)
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K95 Wired Gaming Keyboard (£95.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M95 Wired Laser Mouse (£88.06 @ Amazon UK)
Headphones: Kingston HyperX Cloud Pro Headset (£59.94 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1376.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-23 17:41 GMT+0000

SLI rig:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£167.50 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.54 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£110.39 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£61.04 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£53.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£267.95 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£267.95 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case (£88.33 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£94.99 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: Asus MX239H 23.0" Monitor (£174.38 @ CCL Computers)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Quick Fire TK Wired Gaming Keyboard (£74.87 @ Scan.co.uk)
Mouse: SteelSeries Diablo III Wired Laser Mouse (£28.59 @ Amazon UK)
Headphones: Kingston HyperX Cloud Pro Headset (£59.94 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1473.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-23 17:46 GMT+0000

The first rig was built around the idea of adding a second GTX 970 in when you decide to upgrade.

ASUS Z97-A is a very well regarded motherboard around here.

Barracuda > WD Black: http://hdd.userbenchmark.com/Compare/WD-Black-2TB-2013-vs-Seagate-Barracuda-720014-2TB/1821vs1619

Went with the MSI GTX 970 because it includes the backplate and is cheaper.

Enthoo Pro review by Hardware Canucks: http://youtu.be/cBhmn21ylkc

850W is enough for SLI + overclocking. EVGA G2 850W review by JonnyGURU: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=377

The SLI rig will get sky high FPS, and will handle some heavy games like Crysis 3, Battlefield 4, and Far Cry 4 with max settings on 1080p. However, a single GTX 970 is enough for almost any other game.

-Any questions?
 

OK, so I will swap the power supply to a corsair 650w. However, what are the differences between the CS series and RM? apart from price is there any performance enhancements or is it safety?

Also, I know it sounds stupid but I like the colour scheme being red, and putting a blue MoBo in there is kind of ruining it. I know the motherboard is overkill, I will have a look round for a red cheaper asrock MoBo, do you have any recommendations?

What does RAID do? thanks for the answer mate!
 


that is a cheaper build and I could go with that, I guess I would lose the colour coordination. Thanks for the reply though. I have just seen the 2 way SLI, and I know it would be an aboslute beast but isn't it a bit overkill? I woudln't be running 4k on it yet, although how owuld the 2 way SLI work with a 4k monitor?

Will watch that RAID video, cheers.

One final one, what are the differences between the MSI geforce 970 and the gigabyte geforce 970 apart from sizing price and fans and colour?
And I read somewhere that reference cards are bad, what are they?
 


RM Series are silent PSU.
Doing a Mobo overkill not a problem, if you can afford it go for it.
Assuming @Kohwali is talking about RAID 0, it boosts the read and write of the hard drive by halfing data on 2 drives or more. I highly recommend NOT to RAID SSD with a HDD. You can keep your 250GB SSD.
 


You could get a Cooler Master Nepton 240m or some black BeQuiet! CPU air cooler and switch the GPUs to ASUS Strix or EVGA ACX 2.0 if you want to keep the interior all black.

SLI is overkill on 1080p, but with new games like Far Cry 4 and Crysis 3, you'll need all the power you can get, especially when you turn up AA. However, a single GTX 970 is advised by most people. I had to cut some corners with the peripherals (sort of) to provide room for that second GTX 970. However, those peripherals should be good as well.

GTX 970 SLI benchmarks at 4K: http://www.techspot.com/review/898-geforce-gtx-970-sli-4k-gaming/page2.html
I wouldn't recommend going above 2K if you want to stay around 60FPS on max settings.

Reference cards are the things that look like this: http://cdn4.wccftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/GTX-780-Ti.jpg

The difference between the Gigabyte G1 and MSI version is that the Gigabyte G1 will come at higher factory clock speeds. These are aimed at people who want to do some GPU overclocking. It's not worth the significantly higher price imo, when overclocking doesn't increase FPS all that much.
 


I wouldn't recommend RAID period. Sounds like OP is just gaming and there's no need for a RAID setup on that. RAID is for people who do highly complex 3D rendering and video editing and need the high read and write speeds.
 
Here's an a blackout of the single GTX 970:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£167.50 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 93.3 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (£59.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£110.39 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£61.04 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£90.00 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£53.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX Video Card (£252.90 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case (£88.33 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£94.99 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: Asus MX239H 23.0" Monitor (£174.38 @ CCL Computers)
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K95 Wired Gaming Keyboard (£95.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M95 Wired Laser Mouse (£88.06 @ Amazon UK)
Headphones: Kingston HyperX Cloud Pro Headset (£59.94 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1397.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-23 18:13 GMT+0000

Here's a black and red themed build of the SLI rig:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£167.50 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.54 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£110.39 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Kingston Fury Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£61.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£53.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£267.95 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£267.95 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case (£88.33 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£94.99 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: Asus MX239H 23.0" Monitor (£174.38 @ CCL Computers)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Quick Fire TK Wired Gaming Keyboard (£74.87 @ Scan.co.uk)
Mouse: SteelSeries Diablo III Wired Laser Mouse (£28.59 @ Amazon UK)
Headphones: Kingston HyperX Cloud Pro Headset (£59.94 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1474.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-23 18:17 GMT+0000
 


No problem and good luck with your build! Keep in mind for gaming you'll want Cherry MX Red switches because they have the lowest actuation force and least noise.
 


oh ok, didn't know about that. So, I really like the SLI red co-ord however depending on what the situation is I may only buy one and then upgrade to 2 in the future, what SLI bridge thingy do you recommend, and is it just a push fit and then they work together? Or does it need certain programming?

By the way, what are your opinions on the deathadder? I heard they are very good but they maybe have a few quality control issues at razer but then some people say so and others say not. What mice do you recommend guys?
 


The ASUS Z97-A will come with an SLI bridge see here: http://youtu.be/PH05ZS-rLOE?t=1m55s
however if you don't like that one you can always buy a SLI bridge from elsewhere like this: http://us.estore.asus.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=4813

See this for SLI: http://www.nvidia.com/object/slizone_howtobuild_1.html

I've heard bad things about Razer, so I wouldn't recommend their products. They seem to be the Beats by Dre of the gaming industry.
 


oh ok thanks, so not really very good. Will check out the bridges.

What mouse would you recommend/ use?
 


Really depends on what type of games you're playing.

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-gaming-mice,review-2220.html
Corsair Vengeance M65 for FPS.
Logitech G502 Proteus Core for All purpose.
The Razer mice actually seem to be pretty good here. I would still avoid them for headphones and keyboards however.
 

yep ok, cheers for that, will check it out and choose. Finally, with the standard corsair fans and the hyper 212 how hot would this thing get with SLI cards? Wondering whether I am going to need more fans or not
 


Enthoo Pro is an excellent case with high quality fans and airflow design. I wouldn't worry about it. However, if I were to get fans, I get a Corsair AF120 two pack here: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/120mm-corsair-air-series-af120-quiet-edition-high-airflow-and-low-noise-1100rpm-3988cfm-21db-3-pin-d
and use one as an exhaust at the top of the case so it makes a right angle with the exhaust fan, and use the second fan as an intake fan along the bottom of the case.

Watch the Hardware Canucks review if you don't know which fans I'm referencing to in the case.
 


Ok how does this sound. I really like the simple layout of the corsair 450D tower. I reckon I might get the 2pack AF120's in red and then an af140mm for the back. Combned with the two normal fans in the front, if I run this sucking air in and then the two top ones sucking air out, as well as the cpu cooler I reckon this should be sufficient. I will also change up the razer deathadder with the corsair m65. Is there a computer graphic designer thingy, so you can see what your build looks like?

thanks mate, you've been a great help
 


Your fan setup sounds good! The AF120s I linked to come with colored rings in red, white, and blue so you can swap those out for whichever color you desire! You can even use none of the color rings and just have a black fan. There are also Corsair AF120/140 LED fans if you want to do that.

I've always thought that somebody should make a website where you can select your parts and then get a visual of how it would look - like PCPartPicker but with images as well. I don't think it exists though. Maybe I'll make one someday 😉

Also take a look at this case, Corsair 600T Graphite, if your case decision isn't completely set yet: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsair-600t-graphite-series-limited-edition-white-mid-tower-gaming-case-with-side-window-w-o-psu

And no problem :)
 

sounds good. I do like that case a lot, however I would need to find fan compatability and tbh it doesn't look as spacy as even the 450D. IDK, we will have to see. I can't wait to build a PC! How will slightly overclocked Dual SLI bridged gtx 970s handle a 4k monitor? thanks