Thoughts on this as my first gaming PC?

[Kroftyy]

Hi guys,

I've been putting in some time to get a build together that will suit my needs, and it want to see some opinions from people other than reddit. My budget is $1500 AUD, and all parts must be purchasable from IJK here in Australia. While this budget does allow a 390 or 970, I have chosen to go for the cheaper GPU to ensure that all my parts are high quality rather than just a couple. Here is what I have so far:

PCPartPicker part list: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/k4Hd7P
Price breakdown by merchant: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/k4Hd7P/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($266.00 @ IJK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-GAMING 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($149.00 @ IJK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.00 @ IJK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($70.00 @ IJK)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card ($349.00 @ IJK)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($98.00 @ PLE Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($135.00 @ CPL Online)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($119.00)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN881ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($19.00 @ IJK)
Monitor: Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor ($190.00 @ IJK)
Other: Antivirus ($15.00)
Total: $1489.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-04 18:03 AEST+1000

Someone has mentioned that this PSU sucks, but I couldn't seem to find why. Apart from that, just how is the system in general.

Edit: I was also considering getting another fan to act as intake, giving me a 'negative pressure' inside the case. Apparently this is the best for cooling?

Thanks in advance,
Kroftyy

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The OEM for the PSU is FSP, and they use cheaper parts with less high-performance durability. Gold is an efficiency standard (like l/100km for a car) it says nothing about the build or component quality.

This PSU http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-110b20750vr is slightly cheaper, mostly Silver in efficiency, and is made by Super Flower, one of the top two or three OEMs in the business.

Given your market, the rest is good. Positive pressure keeps the dust out and means a lot less cleaning, if you have filters on your intake.

 

[blue_smoke]

Hi guys,

I've been putting in some time to get a build together that will suit my needs, and it want to see some opinions from people other than reddit. My budget is $1500 AUD, and all parts must be purchasable from IJK here in Australia. While this budget does allow a 390 or 970, I have chosen to go for the cheaper GPU to ensure that all my parts are high quality rather than just a couple. Here is what I have so far:

PCPartPicker part list: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/k4Hd7P
Price breakdown by merchant: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/k4Hd7P/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($266.00 @ IJK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-GAMING 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($149.00 @ IJK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.00 @ IJK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($70.00 @ IJK)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card ($349.00 @ IJK)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($98.00 @ PLE Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($135.00 @ CPL Online)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($119.00)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN881ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($19.00 @ IJK)
Monitor: Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor ($190.00 @ IJK)
Other: Antivirus ($15.00)
Total: $1489.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-04 18:03 AEST+1000

Someone has mentioned that this PSU sucks, but I couldn't seem to find why. Apart from that, just how is the system in general.

Edit: I was also considering getting another fan to act as intake, giving me a 'negative pressure' inside the case. Apparently this is the best for cooling?

Thanks in advance,
Kroftyy

Look for something like an XFX or Super Flower or Seasonic power supply. Otherwise, its fine. Do not go with a negative pressure setup, while it may reduce temps by a little bit, it will massively increase dust input, which will overtime massively affect how your temps are.

 

[Kroftyy]

Hi guys,

I've been putting in some time to get a build together that will suit my needs, and it want to see some opinions from people other than reddit. My budget is $1500 AUD, and all parts must be purchasable from IJK here in Australia. While this budget does allow a 390 or 970, I have chosen to go for the cheaper GPU to ensure that all my parts are high quality rather than just a couple. Here is what I have so far:

PCPartPicker part list: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/k4Hd7P
Price breakdown by merchant: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/k4Hd7P/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($266.00 @ IJK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-GAMING 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($149.00 @ IJK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.00 @ IJK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($70.00 @ IJK)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card ($349.00 @ IJK)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($98.00 @ PLE Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($135.00 @ CPL Online)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($119.00)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN881ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($19.00 @ IJK)
Monitor: Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor ($190.00 @ IJK)
Other: Antivirus ($15.00)
Total: $1489.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-04 18:03 AEST+1000

Someone has mentioned that this PSU sucks, but I couldn't seem to find why. Apart from that, just how is the system in general.

Edit: I was also considering getting another fan to act as intake, giving me a 'negative pressure' inside the case. Apparently this is the best for cooling?

Thanks in advance,
Kroftyy

Look for something like an XFX or Super Flower or Seasonic power supply. Otherwise, its fine. Do not go with a negative pressure setup, while it may reduce temps by a little bit, it will massively increase dust input, which will overtime massively affect how your temps are.

How would I go about getting positive pressure? The motherboard only supports three case fans, and the case comes with one installed at the top and back. If I buy another one, what positions should they be in?

 

[blue_smoke]

you can put as many fans as you want, they come with molex adapters to your power supply. Every fan should be blowing in and the only one blowing out should be the rear fan.

 

[Kroftyy]

you can put as many fans as you want, they come with molex adapters to your power supply. Every fan should be blowing in and the only one blowing out should be the rear fan.

Shows how little I know about building computers. I thought they could only be connected to your motherboard...

 

[blue_smoke]

you can put as many fans as you want, they come with molex adapters to your power supply. Every fan should be blowing in and the only one blowing out should be the rear fan.

Shows how little I know about building computers. I thought they could only be connected to your motherboard...

Its not about how little you know. This industry is about learning. When you order extra fans almost every company will give you molex-3pin fan connectors so you can run your fans directly off of your power supply.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

I would not do things that way. Running them off Molex has them at full power all the time. That wears them out faster and can be noisy. Your motherboard will come with multiple Case-fan headers and each header can run at least two fans via a splitter cable. You can also consider adding a dedicated fan controller, if your case does not come with one, for more sophisticated fan control.

Because hot air rises, the top rear is a good place for an exhaust. All the others (2 or 3) should be intake, but it does depend on the specifics of your case.

 

[Kroftyy]

I would not do things that way. Running them off Molex has them at full power all the time. That wears them out faster and can be noisy. Your motherboard will come with multiple Case-fan headers and each header can run at least two fans via a splitter cable. You can also consider adding a dedicated fan controller, if your case does not come with one, for more sophisticated fan control.

Because hot air rises, the top rear is a good place for an exhaust. All the others (2 or 3) should be intake, but it does depend on the specifics of your case.

The case comes with one installed at the top and one at the rear (at the top). If I put these two fans at the front, and then bought a third as an outtake at the back (the motherboard has three headers) would that be fine for the 380?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Yes, YMMV. Adding more fans, if needed, is easy as is moving them around if needed. Predicting all of this is difficult due to environment, location, orientation, cable management, and contents differences.

What size are the fans? Two fans for the same purpose, will easily run of a $5.00 Y splitter cable.