[SOLVED] I am building my first Gaming PC and I need tips

Jan 3, 2019
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I am going to be building my first pc. These are the components:

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8 GHz 6-Core Processor

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler

Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z370P D3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive

Video card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8 GB DUKE Video Card

Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400S ATX Mid Tower Case

Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

I based this build from this: https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-pc-build-guide/

I am wondering if this build is viable? i would like to run each game at 60fps minimum at 1080p. Can you tell me any major faults with this pc build.

Also another issue is compatibility. I checked pcpartpicker and these are the two compatibility issues with this build:

1. The Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400S ATX Mid Tower Case supports video cards up to 395mm long, but video cards over 280mm may block drive bays. Since the MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8 GB DUKE Video Card is 312mm long, some drive bays may not be usable.

2. The motherboard M.2 slot #1 shares bandwidth with a SATA 6.0 Gb/s port. When the M.2 slot is populated, one SATA 6.0 Gb/s port is disabled.

Are these compatibility issues major? Should I change my build? Thank you.

EDIT: Also I never built a pc before. So this whole endeavor with pc building is new to me. I am quite overwhelmed with everything right now
 
Solution


I think...

Really? I checked online and they didn't seem too major. For the 1st one I can put it in another drive bay (I'm not planning to insert a floppy disc or optical drive) For the 2nd one I checked online and it didn't seem to be major
 
The M.2 / SATA conflict is simply a part of your motherboard. That's not really a conflict you can fix - it's just something to know. Similarly, many motherboards disable one of the PCIe slots when an NVMe M.2 SSD is installed. It's simply that way. If two slots share a given resource, then only one can be used at a time.

The graphics card issue is bigger. Download the chassis manual from Phanteks and read what it says about maximum CPU cooler size and maximum graphics card size. And see if the case has removable drive bays. It sounds like the graphics card you chose is long enough that to fit in the case, you have to remove some drive bays. Make sure that the drive bays are actually removable.

I would recommend you download the manuals for the motherboard and chassis, read them through, and see if you have any questions.
 


This is the manual for Phanteks eclipse p400s: http://www.phanteks.com/assets/manuals/PH-EC416PTG_Western.pdf

Also this is the official website for it: http://www.phanteks.com/Eclipse-P400S-TemperedGlass.html

On the official website it makes it seem the drive bays are optional and removable, but I can't seem to find any information on the manual that the drive bays are removeable. Based on the illustration, I would need to remove atmost 2 out of the 4 drive bays to fit the graphics card which is fine as I don't plan to install anything in the drive bays. Also regarding the SSD I changed my build to the Samsung - 860 Evo 500GB 2.5'' SSD SATA, so I don't need to worry about the configuration issue with the motherboard.
 
So looking at the case the issue with the GPU would be if you were installing 4 extra HDD bays on top of the 4 2.5" and 2 3.5" bays, the M.2 SATA SSD pretty much always takes up a SATA connection, it'd be like plugging in a HDD to the SATA so not an issue, you' still have 5 left for other expansion options.
 
You'll have a smoother gaming experience in triple A titles with 10 extra threads:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($369.00 @ Mighty Ape)
Motherboard: MSI - X470 GAMING PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard ($209.00 @ Umart)
Memory: G.Skill - Flare X Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($335.00 @ Umart)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($115.00 @ Austin Computers)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8 GB DUKE Video Card ($599.00 @ Umart)
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA NEX 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.00 @ Umart)
Case Fan: Fractal Design - FD-FAN-SSLL-120-WT 41.8 CFM 120mm Fan
Total: $1825.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-04 00:46 AEDT+1100

Ever since Ryzen "stepped back up to the plate", triple A games have been leveraging more cores, so this build is my take.
 


I think the relevant part of the manual is item number 12 on page 16, titled, "HARD DRIVE CAGE." It looks like removing the hard drive cage requires removing screws from above and below. But yeah, the picture is really unclear.

Ironically, the product description page you linked is clearer. (I'm just perturbed. The manual ought to be the clearest description of how to use the product!! Grr!!!) You can see the picture has a blue box labeled, ""LONG GPU 395mm (15.2 in)", and it overlaps with the white dotted outline of a hard drive cage.

So yeah, it looks like mounting a long graphics card requires removing the hard drive cage. So you should be good to go if that's okay with you.

 
Solution


Yeah I agree. The manual is so difficult to understand. The product description is clearer haha.
 
Building your first gaming pc is a more exciting thing. But if you don't have proper knowledge about the right component, you could end up with one of the worst PC ever.
I wrote a whole article about a pc building guide. You should read that. I cover all the points and suggestion.
Here's the link:
PC building guide 2019