Help with my first build

Type-8

Type-8

New member
Firstly, im new to the forum so i'd just like to say hi.

ok, so im preparing to build my first pc. the PC i have now was built for me a few years ago so it never felt very personalized. it was also built to a very limited budget so it's starting to fall behind.

before i buy anything, i wanted to get some opinions on the build and make sure that it'll work. in short, im wondering if there are any incompatibility issues, sub-par components or other problems i may have overlooked. any help would be great!


Proposed System Specs:

Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (windowed, so no side fan)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD4H

CPU: Intel Core i5 4670k

Graphics: ASUS Radeon R9 280x DirectCUII Top 3gb
Or perhaps an AMD Radeon R9 290x (if some 3rd party chips with better cooling get released soon and i can afford them)

RAM: Corsair Vengeance Pro 8gb (2x4gb)

PSU: Corsair RM-850 Gold

SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 250gb

CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken x60


i plan on mounitng the Kraken on the bottom of the case and sticking an extra 200mm fan on the top of the case.

i also intend to overclock the CPU, hopefully to around 4.4Ghz, perhaps a tiny bit more (i think 4.6 would be my optimistic goal). will my cooling be sufficient for that?

any feedback would be useful, either good or bad. thanks!
 
Welcome to the forums bud :) Tbh this build looks quite good, it looks like you have done your research instead of expecting someone else to do it for you.

Will you not need an HDD? for storage or you already have one?
Also look at 16GB kits of ram, I know its overkill but it usually isn't much more expensive and it will be better than having 4x4Gb in case you decide to upgrade in the future.
 
Thanks maniac! Yeah i have 3tb HDD which i'll just carry over

I still might get the 16gb of ram, but it depends on budget. right now i'm sitting about $30 under and in Australia (the land of the overpriced electronics) the equivalent 16gb kit is getting on for double the price.

right now i figure that with 8gb i can still upgrade to 16 easily and i think that's plenty seeing as its purely a gaming rig.
 
It's amazing how I see people asking for component advice yet give little to no detail on what type of application they will be running.

Software has always driven the hardware - without the software, the hardware will fail.

If the idea is just to slap together a new rig - then any modern rig will do fine. But that type of advice isn't novel and very little on the way of creativity is required to put such a system together (buy parts -> tighten a few screws together -> install windows).
 
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dev_tomato said:
It's amazing how I see people asking for component advice yet give little to no detail on what type of application they will be running.

Software has always driven the hardware - without the software, the hardware will fail.

If the idea is just to slap together a new rig - then any modern rig will do fine. But that type of advice isn't novel and very little on the way of creativity is required to put such a system together (buy parts -> tighten a few screws together -> install windows).
Click to expand...

If you looked at his specs you could tell he was aiming for a gaming rig. Hence the higher end GPU and 4670k over a 4770k. No need for the negativity?:confused:

OP: I would go for the non TOP version of the DCU2. You yourself can overclock it to those speeds, unless you want a highly cherry picked gpu(still no guarentees it will OC farther). Dropping this would save money but if you feel the need to have it then go for it.

If you are not planning on Xfire later then lower the PSU to a 650watt. But if you do plan on it in the future the 850 watt will be plenty.

Keep the X60 in the roof. Will look far more sexy then having random tubing come from the bottom. Put the 200mm fan somewhere else or occupy the bottom with fans. Be aware though the x60 fans are quite loud and fan speed reducers are highly recommended.

Get red pro ram to match the motherboard. Looks matter and make a difference.
 
dev_tomato said:
It's amazing how I see people asking for component advice yet give little to no detail on what type of application they will be running.

Software has always driven the hardware - without the software, the hardware will fail.

If the idea is just to slap together a new rig - then any modern rig will do fine. But that type of advice isn't novel and very little on the way of creativity is required to put such a system together (buy parts -> tighten a few screws together -> install windows).
Click to expand...

For your fifth post, you're not getting any points for this one... :mad:

Also please, link me to your vast and extensive list of knowledge and software driven posts, giving advice and making everyone's lives easier.

You don't get to talk to people like there here after being a member for less than a month, especially not new guys like this looking for a little help.

Keep the Troll in check please, or I will.




Now that's out the way, this looks like a pretty solid build, a warm welcome to the forums as well :)

I'd definitely be getting 16GB of ram for this build, and perhaps looking at a 290 instead of a 290x (I saw something about them now being flashable with 290x firmwares to unlock the extra stream processors)
 
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Thanks for the input guys!

NeverBackDown yeah i went for the 280x GPU purely so that i could have the option to xfire it with a 290x down the track (i can do that right?)
and definitely going for the red ram!

Excalabur thanks! i'll have a look at that!
 
Err no I don't think you can xfire a 280x and a 290x, AMD experts will be here soon to clarify.

P.S. I read your post as a 290x not a 280x lol.. my bad:)
 
You can't crossfire a 280x with a 290x, they're different architectures for starters :P (tahiti and Hawaii respectively).
 
I thought they were pretty much the same so I would go the cheaper one. But wait for someone who know more about amd cards. Also maybe go watch tom's video on the rebranding
One thing to keep in mind when choosing your card is the colour scheme(maybe asus as it is black and red)
 
7970 GHz is essentially the same as a 280x. You can even put these cards in CrossfireX. I'm assuming this is why you've picked an 850w PSU?
 
have i just read a topic where no one has been called a noob for picking amd over nvidia? i think the internet is growing up ^_^

if i was me i would go for 7970 or 2

1. it's slightly cheaper than the 280/x
2. free games (other than the BF4 promotion) that you can sell on ebay ect to make some money back or put towars a h100 or a bigger SSD or some led strips to light up your smexy rig.....
 
In the US i can get a 280x for same price as a 7970ghz ed. Weirdly and oddly enough looking at benchmarks a 280x is always ahead of a 7970ghz ed card by a noticeable amount. Same card be rebranded and gives off a big step up in performance? Ya i am assuming drivers but who knows(only amd do). 280x in crossfire will easily dominate for a another few years.

Also should point out that a 280x is nearly on par with a 780. In many benchmarks the 780 is less than 10fps at most and sometimes behind at worst. These cards are rocking the price to performance ratio. If you really want more horses than a 290 will be the cheapest of the "super single cards".
 
I still stand by my suggestion, and assuming he is building a gaming rig - which is a knowledgeable guess (according to another member) - but still a guess never the less. You'd be surprised how many people I know bought GTX 760 and all they do is word processing.

What types of games is he going to play? For instance - the CPU requirement for Battlefield 4 MP online is very different say from Minecraft.

For your fifth post, you're not getting any points for this one... :mad:

Also please, link me to your vast and extensive list of knowledge and software driven posts, giving advice and making everyone's lives easier.

You don't get to talk to people like there here after being a member for less than a month, especially not new guys like this looking for a little help.

Keep the Troll in check please, or I will.
Click to expand...
Asking him to clarify his software requirements implies trolling? My intent was not to be negative or discourage OP in any way. It is silly of you to think of that way. My advice/question for the OP was sound, genuine and professional.

Tom, I hope you are reading this. One person asking for detailed use case and technical clarification implies trolling by your recruited webmaster. I wanted that info so we could better suggest him components that will keep him happy. Otherwise for the OP, since we have no info on what software/games you will be running - just buy i7 4960X and everyone on this forum can go home and sleep. *done*.

Please keep out of my posts and let Tom figure/moderate them out. # of posts is not a unit of measure for knowledge.
 
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dev_tomato said:
Asking him to clarify his software requirements implies trolling? My intent was not to be negative or discourage OP in any way. It is silly of you to think of that way. My advice/question for the OP was sound, genuine and professional.
Click to expand...

Your tone within the post did not come across as helpful. You had a hostile attitude in my opinion.

dev_tomato said:
Tom, I hope you are reading this. One person asking for detailed use case and technical clarification implies trolling by your recruited webmaster.
Click to expand...

Too right he'll be reading this, and I can tell you which side of the argument he'll fall on pall, we're a family here and your post felt wrong to me so I told you. Take it or leave... it.

dev_tomato said:
Please keep out of my posts and let Tom figure/moderate them out. # of posts is not a unit of measure for knowledge.
Click to expand...

Excuse ME but Tom's got a team of people to deal with posts, he has little/not much time for moderation and keeping people such as yourself in check. We have an established team of guys who manage that, guess who's managing them?


Secondly this isn't your post, you posted in someone else's thread.

# of posts is certainly not a measure of knowledge, but it's certainly a way for us to judge how long someone has been around, and since you signed up *this* month and have 5 posts, I'm perfectly within the scope of telling you to GTFO of a thread and/or the forums I/we slave over to keep a happy and safe place. You earn your place and respect here, you don't get it automatically.

If someone comes along who's attitude/candour doesn't feel like it *fits* then that person is swiftly dealt with.
 
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dev_tomato said:
It's amazing how I see people asking for component advice yet give little to no detail on what type of application they will be running.

Software has always driven the hardware - without the software, the hardware will fail.

If the idea is just to slap together a new rig - then any modern rig will do fine. But that type of advice isn't novel and very little on the way of creativity is required to put such a system together (buy parts -> tighten a few screws together -> install windows).
Click to expand...

dev_tomato said:
I still stand by my suggestion, and assuming he is building a gaming rig - which is a knowledgeable guess (according to another member) - but still a guess never the less. You'd be surprised how many people I know bought GTX 760 and all they do is word processing.

What types of games is he going to play? For instance - the CPU requirement for Battlefield 4 MP online is very different say from Minecraft.

Asking him to clarify his software requirements implies trolling? My intent was not to be negative or discourage OP in any way. It is silly of you to think of that way. My advice/question for the OP was sound, genuine and professional.

Tom, I hope you are reading this. One person asking for detailed use case and technical clarification implies trolling by your recruited webmaster. I wanted that info so we could better suggest him components that will keep him happy. Otherwise for the OP, since we have no info on what software/games you will be running - just buy i7 4960X and everyone on this forum can go home and sleep. *done*.

Please keep out of my posts and let Tom figure/moderate them out. # of posts is not a unit of measure for knowledge.
Click to expand...

Sarcasm and assumptions are no way to answer a technical question. The OP asked for some help which is why he did not know what information we needed to give an answer. It was therefore up to us to ask in a well worded way for the information needed to give the correct answer.

The other thing that is important here is if you as a poster on an open forum give poor advice technically or in poor tone it can and should be challenged by other members of the forum.
 
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