Ok, here is my final build... Finally. I'm ready to order it, I'd just like some feedback if possible.

[MrCanEHdian]

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/kR73mG

So, assuming that link worked, that is the build.

I'm using Newegg.ca for everything, I'm very new to this and would prefer to deal with one re-seller.

I went with the Z97 because it was on sale and onle $30 more than the H97 I originally planned on going with, so someday I can SLI or overclock if I decide I want to.

I went with 16GB of RAM, because it may become relevant for gaming someday and RAM prices seem to be rising all the time.

I chose the i5 4690 because I won't be OCing, and it seems to be very good, and less expensive than the Xeon.

The GPU was on sale and came highly reviewed.

The HDD is simple and cheap, I don't need much more than that lmao. I won't be using an SSD since it's an additional cost I threw into RAM or something.

The monitor is a decent 1080p, if I understand, and can downsize it 720p if necessary, which is nice.

The case is a bit pricier than I originally intended, but has lots of fans and tons of excellent reviews.

The power supply was highly recommended by some and seems very good, plus it has 10 year warranty... Seems pretty awesome.

I just threw the keyboard in there to get a better idea of costs, I dunno what peripherals I'll use.

I'm uncertain whether to go with Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. I'm leaning towards Win7 because I'm familiar with it.

I'll be pretty much using this build for gaming, not much else that's intensive. No video editing or coding or anything like that.

*UPDATE*

Am I missing anything at all? I do have a different aftermarket cooler because the Vortex wasn't available. The 212 EVO weighs too much for my motherboard, I don't know if the 450g max weight is legit, on Gigabyte's website, but I figured I'd respect it and find a lighter cooler. Anyways, I'm only getting one to be on the safe side for cooling the CPU.

Thank you for your time .

 

[tiny voices]

A CX PSU is acceptable for an office build, or a no-GPU build. That's about it. They really are pretty awful.

I prefer Antec to all personally. XFX makes great stuff, but for the tie being I would stay away from EVGA until they prove themselves in the PSU sector. There have been plenty of Gold rated PSUs be junk in the long run. Corsair RM (except 1000w) for example.

What is Antec customer support like? I know some companies are supposed to have dreadful support, a lot of Newegg reviews say SeaSonic has awful support.

I found this one
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371056&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=10&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

Antec EarthWatts Platinum Series EA-650 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS PLATINUM

From my basic, noob outlook, it looks good, is decently reviewed and has the bonus of being 80 plus platinum.

Antec TruePower Classic series TP-750C 750W 80 PLUS GOLD

This one looks good too, basically the counterpart to the EVGA G2 in terms of wattage, efficiency, and price.

Antec has some of the bets support there is. Anything by them which is OEM'd by Delta (HCG-750 non-modular) is generally considered as good as it gets. I own a HCG-750. It is actually a 900w GOLD PSU, but they market it as a 750w Bronze unit so people don't think it's too good to be true. Delta really is the best of the best in PSU OEMs.

 

[tiny voices]

I would DEFINITELY not recommend a CX PSU. Also, a 4gb 770 is pointless for 1080p. I would get a 2gb one, unless you plan to add another relatively soon for SLI. That is the only place it will really matter.

I lost $400 worth of parts to a cx600. THey really are barely average quality.

I would consider a 2gb 770, although it's way more than I need, if one was on a decent sale, I'd be down to fork over the extra cash. I am planning on ordering everything but the GPU seperately, and building without the GPU, and then adding the GPU a bit later on because I'm afraid to miss out on some nice sales.

I was hoping for a Z97 so I could have the option to SLI down the road, that makes the GTX 760 more attractive to me, two working in tandem are supposed to be really awesome.

So, you had a CX series PSU and it damaged some of your hardware? Did the warranties cover the damage? That's awful :/.

No, Corsair told me to pound sand. They will only replace the ruined components if the PSU at fault was an HX, TX, AX, CSM unit. It actually does say that in VERY small print on most of their boxes and things. Corsair, although making SOME very good products is EXTREMELY shady. There have been tons of accounts where an h100i or h80i has leaked and ruined the components on a PC, and Corsair has done nothing due to their fine print on the box even though thy say the warranty covers *MOST ALL* damages caused by a product.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

A CX PSU is acceptable for an office build, or a no-GPU build. That's about it. They really are pretty awful.

I prefer Antec to all personally. XFX makes great stuff, but for the tie being I would stay away from EVGA until they prove themselves in the PSU sector. There have been plenty of Gold rated PSUs be junk in the long run. Corsair RM (except 1000w) for example.

What is Antec customer support like? I know some companies are supposed to have dreadful support, a lot of Newegg reviews say SeaSonic has awful support.

I found this one
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371056&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=10&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

Antec EarthWatts Platinum Series EA-650 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS PLATINUM

From my basic, noob outlook, it looks good, is decently reviewed and has the bonus of being 80 plus platinum.

Antec TruePower Classic series TP-750C 750W 80 PLUS GOLD

This one looks good too, basically the counterpart to the EVGA G2 in terms of wattage, efficiency, and price.

Antec has some of the bets support there is. Anything by them which is OEM'd by Delta (HCG-750 non-modular) is generally considered as good as it gets. I own a HCG-750. It is actually a 900w GOLD PSU, but they market it as a 750w Bronze unit so people don't think it's too good to be true. Delta really is the best of the best in PSU OEMs.

The one you mentioned, the HCG 750 is out of stock, but there is a 900w Bronze PSU 80+ Bronze for $150. Steep price, but if it's a quality piece of merchandise... Then again, 900w is way way more than I'd ever need.

The only Gold PSUs I see by Antec on Newegg are TP series. What do the acronyms like TP and HCG mean?

 

[tiny voices]

I would not buy a 900w anything for your system.

The acronyms are just the model line. HCG=High Current Gamer and TP= True power. Just meaningless names.

You do not need a GOLD PSU by any means. I have a *bronze rated* PSU and it passes 80+ GOLD certification. They mark it down on purpose. Many high end PSU makers do this.

The EVGA, Any Antec or XFX will all be VERY good and honestly basically the same.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

I would DEFINITELY not recommend a CX PSU. Also, a 4gb 770 is pointless for 1080p. I would get a 2gb one, unless you plan to add another relatively soon for SLI. That is the only place it will really matter.

I lost $400 worth of parts to a cx600. THey really are barely average quality.

I would consider a 2gb 770, although it's way more than I need, if one was on a decent sale, I'd be down to fork over the extra cash. I am planning on ordering everything but the GPU seperately, and building without the GPU, and then adding the GPU a bit later on because I'm afraid to miss out on some nice sales.

I was hoping for a Z97 so I could have the option to SLI down the road, that makes the GTX 760 more attractive to me, two working in tandem are supposed to be really awesome.

So, you had a CX series PSU and it damaged some of your hardware? Did the warranties cover the damage? That's awful :/.

No, Corsair told me to pound sand. They will only replace the ruined components if the PSU at fault was an HX, TX, AX, CSM unit. It actually does say that in VERY small print on most of their boxes and things. Corsair, although making SOME very good products is EXTREMELY shady. There have been tons of accounts where an h100i or h80i has leaked and ruined the components on a PC, and Corsair has done nothing due to their fine print on the box even though thy say the warranty covers *MOST ALL* damages caused by a product.

What do they mean by "pound sand" onto it? Ok, so basically, other than cases and maybe RAM, avoid Corsair?

 

[tiny voices]

Pound sand is a polite version of the expression "suck it".

I like Corsair cases. Their RAM is always more expensive than comparable RAM form others. I like their PSUs (AX, TX, HX ONLY). I like their ambition towards all in one water coolers, although I would never buy one.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

Pound sand is a polite version of the expression "suck it".

I like Corsair cases. Their RAM is always more expensive than comparable RAM form others. I like their PSUs (AX, TX, HX ONLY). I like their ambition towards all in one water coolers, although I would never buy one.

Seriously..... They wouldn't do anything to help you? That's pathetic, with one experience like that, I'd never deal with a company like that again. If I dealt with that with my first build, I'd likely be turned off from building PCs all together.

Which RAM would you recommend to a gamer? G-Skill? Or Kingston? AIO coolers are very cool, I like how they don't need to hang onto the motherboard, that is great.

 

[tiny voices]

Personally I do not like AIO coolers as a better air cooler can always be had for less money and is quieter.

For RAM, all the chips on ram sticks come from the same factory in Asis, making ALL modern DDR3 RAM the same quality. The only thing different between the brands is the actual silicon board. The answer to your question, is the cheapest RAM that is 1600mhz and 1.5v cl9 you can buy. Brand does not matter and makes no difference.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

Personally I do not like AIO coolers as a better air cooler can always be had for less money and is quieter.

For RAM, all the chips on ram sticks come from the same factory in Asis, making ALL modern DDR3 RAM the same quality. The only thing different between the brands is the actual silicon board. The answer to your question, is the cheapest RAM that is 1600mhz and 1.5v cl9 you can buy. Brand does not matter and makes no difference.

True, all AIOs I've seen are pretty pricey. But, AIO coolers don't get mounted on the motherboard, taking stress off of the motherboard, right?

So... Find "cheap" RAM, and buy it? I'm beginning to wonder if Newegg reviews are even worth reading anymore.

 

[tiny voices]

To be honest, no average user reviews are not really helpful at all.

AIO coolers use a backplate just like air coolers. Also, it is a HUGE misconception that big coolers stress boards alot. They come with strong backplates which take almost all the stress off the board. In reality the stock intel cooler (no backplate) stresses the motherboard more than an enormous nh-d14 or anything like that.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

To be honest, no average user reviews are not really helpful at all.

AIO coolers use a backplate just like air coolers. Also, it is a HUGE misconception that big coolers stress boards alot. They come with strong backplates which take almost all the stress off the board. In reality the stock intel cooler (no backplate) stresses the motherboard more than an enormous nh-d14 or anything like that.

Ya... I'm beginning to notice that haha, although I came across some super in depth reviews of a Gigabyte motherboard that I enjoyed reading.

So, are those backplates the same thing as bracings? And does that mean they attach to the case for support? Wait... The Intel stock cooler doesn't come attached to the CPU?

 

[tiny voices]

No, they do not attach to the case. Yes, they support basically all the weight of the big coolers by transferring the torsional force into a vertical force along the plane of the board eliminating the possibility for a "bend"

The intel stock cooler does come attached, but has no backplate. It just sticks to the motherboard with 4 push pins. This means it has no support behind the motherboard (no backplate) and all of it force is torsional (bending) instead of vertical. The truth of it is, The small light intel cooler will bend a motherboard worse than a properly installed giant cooler with a backplate.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

No, they do not attach to the case. Yes, they support basically all the weight of the big coolers by transferring the torsional force into a vertical force along the plane of the board eliminating the possibility for a "bend"

The intel stock cooler does come attached, but has no backplate. It just sticks to the motherboard with 4 push pins. This means it has no support behind the motherboard (no backplate) and all of it force is torsional (bending) instead of vertical. The truth of it is, The small light intel cooler will bend a motherboard worse than a properly installed giant cooler with a backplate.

So, if I wanted to be "safe" I could go with a light, 320g Zalman, and really be safe? I won't be OCing, so no need for crazy air cooling. I'm ordering tonight.... Finally.

 

[tiny voices]

Yeah, that cooler would be fine, but I recommend the Coolermaster hyper 212 EVO. VERY cheap and very good quality.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

Yeah, that cooler would be fine, but I recommend the Coolermaster hyper 212 EVO. VERY cheap and very good quality.

Ugh! So tough to choose on so many things... Still torn on the motherboard. I'm gonna have to read some more.... Thank you so much for all your time and help!

 

[tiny voices]

What seems to be keeping your from choosing a motherboard?

 

[MrCanEHdian]

What seems to be keeping your from choosing a motherboard?

Well, my needs aren't high, but the Asus Z97-A seems to be the most recommended and they have an RMA place in Ontario, making them more attractive to deal with. I'm pretty sure I want to go with it, but I don't think it'll fit in the cases I'd like.

It's width seems to be too much. I'd like the Fractal Design Define R4 Black OR the Cooler Master HAF 922....

Wait, the Fractal has a width of about 13.7 inches, whle the Asus mobo has a width of 12 inches, so it should fit but doesn't leave much room. The Asus mobo is an ATX mobo, but I thought ATX mobos could fit well into mid ATX cases?

 

[MrCanEHdian]

What seems to be keeping your from choosing a motherboard?

The Fractal says in its specs on its website that it supports up to ATX sized motherboards, but looking at the dimensions of the case vs the dimensions of the motherboard, it looks like it will fit with very little room to spare.

 

[tiny voices]

The Z97-A is a standard sized ATX board and will fit in ANY ATX case.

Mid-tower cases are 100% ATX compatible. They are DESIGNED for ATX boards.

It will fit just fine. Both those cases are very large and designed to fit ANY ATX board. No problems at all.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

The Z97-A is a standard sized ATX board and will fit in ANY ATX case.

Mid-tower cases are 100% ATX compatible. They are DESIGNED for ATX boards.

It will fit just fine. Both those cases are very large and designed to fit ANY ATX board. No problems at all.

Great, in that case, here's what I'm ordering tonight (to not miss sales).

- Either XFX PSU or Supernova G2 750w.... tough call, I like the G2 a lot for some reason.

- i5 4690 (no k model for now, maybe someday) Also looking at 4490 because I'm cheap xD.

- Asus Z97-A motherboard

- Fractal Design Define R4

- Western Digital WD Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM (found cheapest good quality I could find, had to 7200 RPM and at least 500Gb).

- ARCTIC MX-2 (4g) Carbon-Based Thermal Compound (2 orders to be safe)

- CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (One stick so I can dual channel with 16Gb someday later, not wanting dual channel right away)

- ZALMAN CNPS5X Performa 92mm FSB (Fluid Shield Bearing) Powerful Cooling Performance CPU Cooler (light for the mobo and cheap).

- SAMSUNG DVD Burner SATA (cheap, all I wanted was something for the occasional DVD).

This Friday I will get a dedicated GPU, maybe a gaming mouse/keyboard combo, and when the PC comes in at Purolator, I will buy one of the nice Samsung monitors at The Source, and maybe a cheap set of speakers (I have a gaming headset).

 

[tiny voices]

The 4490 will perform 99.9% the same in games. Don't expect any change between the 2 in FPS.

I would just get 2x4gb RAM. Dual Channel is always faster.

You have no need to buy an thermal paste. The cooler comes with some.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

The 4490 will perform 99.9% the same in games. Don't expect any change between the 2 in FPS.

I would just get 2x4gb RAM. Dual Channel is always faster.

You have no need to buy an thermal paste. The cooler comes with some.

Ya... I was afraid the 200 Mhz wouldn't make much difference. Ok, 4490 it is then. But, what if I wnated to upgrade to 16GB someday? Ok, no thermal paste then . Do you think the build is ok so far? Good quality parts or is anything low quality/prone to crap out?

 

[tiny voices]

The build looks fine.

If you want to upgrade to 16gb, you just add 2 more 4gb sticks and you have 4 stick but it still runs in dual channel.

 

[MrCanEHdian]

The build looks fine.

If you want to upgrade to 16gb, you just add 2 more 4gb sticks and you have 4 stick but it still runs in dual channel.

Oh... Very easy then. Any reason to go with the Corsair Vengeance RAM with the spike things? I don't like the way they look, but do they have some sort of advantage? Like dissipate heat?

 

[tiny voices]

No reason at all. Ram coolers are 100% for visuals only on DDR3 RAM as it does not even get warm. DDR and DDR2 RAM got hot and made use of these heatsinks, but DDR3 RAM is so cool that they are simply for looks. I have removed mine completely from my old DDR3 RAM as it did not match my build color scheme. They are 100% not needed.

You want the smallest one or none at all if you can get them, this way there is no chance of them interfering with your CPU cooler.