My first ever (Personal) PC Build!

[Jubilant Lancer]

Greetings c3d:!

In this thread I will be documenting my first ever personal PC build! For those of you who haven't read my introduction thread I will start with a small introduction. I am a 20 year old computer enthusiast who has never really gotten an opportunity to build (or even upgrade) my own PC. I have however been helping others build and upgrade systems for quite a while now.

Now for a background on my history with using PC's.

I have always used my dad's (who has always built his own rigs) computers when it came to anything I wanted to do. I eventually moved out with my brother who let me use his computer (which my dad had built) and in return for allowing me to use it I kept up on the maintenance. During this time I was always very interested in computers and have aided friends and family build and upgrade PC's. I always wanted to build my own PC but have never had the funds to do so until now!

Now the reason for this thread.

So I have already ordered my parts and they are in the mail, I'm just waiting for the mail to arrive! (Which takes AGES...at least that's was a week feels like right now.) The content I will post here will definitely be extensive and a lot of it may seem elementary to a lot of you (I am SUPER stoked about a lot of common things now adays (e.g. MEM OK! & DirectKey buttons, and USB BIOS Flashback) but they are all luxuries I have never had) but the reason for that is as I said, I am VERY excited and happy to have the project underway; I have never had my own PC and the one I use is 5 years old, so the smallest things will be some of the coolest. Another amazing perk I am looking forward to owning my own custom rig is the customization capabilities such as overclocking and water cooling that are finally opening up to me. Sidenote watercooling is something am am ecstatic to undertake, I have done and still do extensive research on what's up and coming in watercooling and is actually how I found these forums (You guys have some AWESOME loops here) I hope to find some aid here when I reach the funds to start my own custom loop. Back to the PC I am building; I wanted nothing but the most power I could have (Who doesn't?) but I did have a monetary limit I had to abide by so I did have to settle for some economy build aspects, but nothing that I cannot upgrade in the near future ;]

I hope you all enjoy following my journey and if you have any advice based on what you see feel free to help me out, feedback is always much appreciated!

_________________________________________________________________

One last thing before I end this post I will tell you the current specs my brother's computer runs.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300
MOBO: Intel - DP45SG
RAM: DDR3 8GB Dual Channel 1300Mhz
GPU- Nvidia GTS 250

So as you can see kind of lack luster.

 

[NeverBackDown]

Any specs for the new build or any exact plans for it?
You have a lot of enthusiasm and its always interesting to see what exactly enthusiasm will bring. I'm subbed and waiting for updates

Welcome to OC3D!:wavey:

 

[Jubilant Lancer]

First Shipment!

Where I purchased my parts and why.​

All of the parts excluding the MOBO (Only because Amazon was out of stock so Newegg it was) I purchased from Amazon with good reason. Let me say I did A LOT of research into pricing of the parts I wanted (Do to me being hospitalized for a lung surgery for a week and Amazon has the lowest prices I could find ANYWHERE (e.g. Newegg, Tiger Direct, Ebay, ect...) not to mention the shipping is almost always free which I have Prime so it was all free (Which is HUGE for Alaska) This all being said I will post my product links from Newegg being the overviews, specifications, and reviews are of a lot higher quality from Newegg than Amazon.

Now on to the shipment I received today!​

Today I received my Full Tower Case and my Motherboard! The Tower I got is the AZZA CSAZ-XT 1W. The reason I went with this tower is for a couple of reasons. The first is because I definitely wanted A LOT of space to work with inside for future watercooling and possibly SLI. Second I also wanted good enough cable routing options to keep my system as tidy as possible. (Something I have no hope for with the system I use now.) Third I will only buy a white case as they look the cleanest and sexiest in my opinion and those blue LED's just accent in a great way. (My dream is to have all purple LEDs but that can wait.) Lastly is because this case offered everything I love in a case all for only $119.99 with free shipping there was no going wrong! The Motherboard I got is the ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 :amd:. The main reasons I went for this motherboard over others (e.g. MSI 990FXA-GD80 V2, GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD5, or the ASUS Crosshair V Formula-Z (expensive dreamboard)) is for the TUF components and pricing. This board is relatively cheap (Compared to ASUS Crosshair V Formula-Z) and has amazing durability, also the CeraM!X heatsink coating for cooling has gotten some positive reviews. I am very excited of a lot of the features this board as they offer things I have never had the opportunity to play with. These features being USB BIOS Flashback, AI Suite II, USB 3.0 Boost ( Or really USB 3.0 in general as I have never owned such a port ), Remote Go!(SUPER amped about this feature), MemOK!, E.S.P, DIGI+ Power Control, and lastly the UEFI BIOS. So basically every feature this MOBO offers I am ecstatic for. All in all I think this was the right choice in MOBO for the price range I was trying to stick to.

Links!​

AZZA CSAZ-XT 1W: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811517024

Sabertooth FX990 R2.0: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131877

Photos!​

Unopened

Some sexy packaging:

Tower Pictures

Here is the bare bones without the add on aesthetics they have:

Here is the case with the clip-ons:

I love this design especially for the power button, great accent lines, cool logo, good port layout, just a fantastic design overall:

HDD Hot swap! :yumyum:

Just look at that panel windows:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the tooless drive bays, not to mention how the HDD and SSD slots have the ports to the back for better hidden cables, sooooo sexy: :drool:

I just CAN'T get over this hot swap: ;]

This is something I found as a VERY pleasant surprise in most towers I have worked with, mine included, these expansion slot covers snapped off never to be reattached so this will be nice for rearranging when I upgrade:

The cable routing behind the side panel is a VERY nice upgrade from what I am use to. This has plenty of cable tie down points, good sized entry and exit holes, and ample space between the panel and wall without being excessive:

Motherboard Pictures

First here is the content of the box all laid out for you fine gents. I was very happy with the 90 degree SATA 6GB/s cables it came with, a very nice color and high quality materials. The decals it came with will definitely be put to good use, I am very satisfied with them. Lastly that peripheral backplate cover I am in love with it contains such a beautifully designed layout. I'll post another picture of a close up:

I love the rugged look this Mobo has, it isn't as flashy with the colors as I would like but the color scheme isn't ugly either, it will do nicely in my rig:

Just look at this sexy plating:

That will conclude my first shipment, in order to see what other parts I purchased you will just have to wait until I get them and post up m. progress: (Just to keep the suspense up a bit :harhar

If you have any questions or comments on my decisions please let me know, again I love feedback!​

 

[Jubilant Lancer]

The specs you'll just have to wait and see

I have a post pending for moderators to approve with my first shipment I received today (My tower and MOBO.) The build will be pretty standard for sure as I spent all my money on the hardware and barely had enough left over to buy an aftermarket fan heatsink for my CPU. There are definitely future plans of an extensive custom loop watercooling system, as well as aesthetics add-ons (e.g. LEDs, Better LED fans, more color coordinated SATA cables, ect.) There are still some upgrades I have to make as well, to raise the power a bit of my build as well as future proof it further, but I'll get into that later. I am glad you are subscribed and I hope to be seeing you around, thank you for the warm welcome! :lol:

 

[wassupdoc]

I can't say I like the case at all but nice specs and good luck with your first!

 

[barnsley]

I thought Azza only sold those cases to Cyberpower PC. I'd not trust a hotswap that comes with a case until its tried with an old HDD. The coolermaster ones (for example) are known to fry hard drives so be careful .

Well I'm interested to see where this build goes and what the specs are going to be.

 

[Jubilant Lancer]

Shipement #2

Alright so I received my second shipment today and I now have EVERYTHING except my blasted thermal paste.

This time you'll get a picture first because I only have one to show.

Parts and Reasoning:



CPU- AMD FX-6350 Vishera 3.9GHz:

Now this is one of the parts that my funds did play force me to compromise but you can't always build exactly what you want when you are on a budget. I would have much preferred the FX-9370 for increased performance and a more "future proof" processor. The issue with going with that processor is not only the initial higher cost but I would also be almost forced to start up watercooling (Or more expensive cooling in general) and that would raise my expenditures even further. The FX-6360 offers me everything I need for video editing, gaming, streaming, and multi-tasking. It is a HUGE upgrade from my Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300. So as you can guess I am very excited to try this puppy out.

Memory- Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (DDR3 1866MHZ):

Now this is a part of my build I had to heavily economize and I am a bit sad about it but RAM is not too difficult to upgrade and I don't need to do and heavy multitasking for a couple of months, so I do have time to buy another set of these and make me happy. The honest main reason I got this RAM over others, is because (besides I would only ever buy Corsair RAM) this is some aesthetically BEAUTIFUL memory.

GPU- EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB (ACX Cooler):

I am an AMD CPU fanboy but an Nvidia GPU fanboy that being said I also have a budget I have to stay within. So this I did some extensive research and debating upon. I was doing a lot of back and forth between the Geforce GTX 760 and the Radeon R9 270X. The R9 270X would have saved me $40-60 (depending on the deals I was finding on eBay) at the cost of some power. So when I get enough money to go SLI/Crossfire even more money would be saved. So after a lot of thinking I decided to stick with the GTX 760 out of not only fanboyism but the desire for the extra power.( All at the cost of a couple more comic books D: )

Webcam- Logitech C920 HD Pro Webcam:
Now I know this is a peripheral and not integral to building but the reason I am building my PC is for the gaming website I am setting up as well as a Twitch Stream, Vlog, Let's Playish type YouTube channel, and Videogame critic. So this is an integral part to my build. This was the highest quality webcam I could find for under $100 . The 1080p recording with the 30FPS is beautiful and the way it sits on the monitor is very secure but easy to move and adjust. All in all a FANTASTIC product for $70.

CPU Cooling- Zalman CPU Fan with 92mm Fan LED (CNPS9500A LED-CU):
This was a part I definitely needed (do to the stock cooling being god awful) but I had to economize on. I was almost out of money at this point and my comic collecting funds already took a huge hit and I won't be able to get any for a while (All for a fantastic cause!) That all being said this cooler had gotten some fantastic reviews AND it has a blue LED to match my build (SUPER stoked about that, aesthetics are almost everything to anything I build.) The fan is pretty quiet and comes with it's own speed controller. I would have preferred to get a closed loop cooling system but I honestly didn't even have another $5 to spend at this point.

Conclusion:


Now I have everything that I ordered and I'm just waiting on my Thermal Paste before I start actually building! All of this only cost me $975 including the shipping (All free except for my MOBO from Newegg $25) That really isn't too bad at all. Soon I will be adding more to that cost with some upgrades for sure though. The upgrades I have planned (in this order) are more memory, a fully modular PSU, another videocard for SLI, SSD's, Watercooling, a better CPU, and lastly a blue-ray drive.

I know I never mentioned a couple of things and that is because my brother is giving them to me from his computer. The PSU is ATX-JV650W I know this PSU is very lacking but it will run what I have. (JUST short of Amps on the 12v for the GTX 760 but I have already powered my brothers GTX 760 with it do I know it will be sufficient.) One of the first things (After my memory) that I will upgrade is this piece of crap.
I already have 2 hard drives, one Western Digital 2TB (intellipower)and one WD 1TB (7200RPM I believe I forget). Also (living in Alaska especially) I have to have a DvD drive due to internet data caps, I use this to install a lot of things and save my music on my PC. I also burn a lot of music for listening to in the truck. I have no idea what kind this is and I don't really care haha I will eventually be getting a blue-ray drive.

Well that is all for this shipment the next one I will not be posting as it is just thermal paste haha I purchased Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound. So the next post/posts will be me putting it all together.

Stay tuned, come Monday (Maybe Tuesday depending out the time of shipping) the building begins!

EDIT:

The build will be delayed until Thursday do to a part change!

I decided to go with a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO in conjunction with a Corsair Air Series SP120. This was due to it coming to my knowledge (thanks to the advice from the kind people of the forums) how outdated my choice was and this is a much more efficient option.

So I returned my old one to Amazon and this one is on it's way!

 

[Squidlorock]

Hey Lancer! That's one descriptive post you got there That is a lovely motherboard and you should be able to overclock that cpu a treat with that and a nice cooler! I would personally try to change that psu asap, if a power supply goes wrong it can take everything if it wants with it :huh: I'm not sure on the one you want, but you should look at Seasonics, antecs, XFX (if money is tight) or some Corsairs (the ones to go for are the oems of Seasonics) So not so much the CX (green) ones as for an eg they arent made by Seasonic, but another company i can't remember the name of.

Also im not 100% sure but be careful if the ram might block the cpu cooler (tall) It might be ok, but i can't be sure for certain! Oh and grab ze SP fans for that cooler

It looks good though man, and as you say will be a huge improvement on what you had!

 

[Jubilant Lancer]

Hey Lancer! That's one descriptive post you got there That is a lovely motherboard and you should be able to overclock that cpu a treat with that and a nice cooler! I would personally try to change that psu asap, if a power supply goes wrong it can take everything if it wants with it :huh: I'm not sure on the one you want, but you should look at Seasonics, antecs, XFX (if money is tight) or some Corsairs (the ones to go for are the oems of Seasonics) So not so much the CX (green) ones as for an eg they arent made by Seasonic, but another company i can't remember the name of.

Also im not 100% sure but be careful if the ram might block the cpu cooler (tall) It might be ok, but i can't be sure for certain! Oh and grab ze SP fans for that cooler

It looks good though man, and as you say will be a huge improvement on what you had!

Yes I believe you are right about the PSU and I actually just came into enough money to upgrade it (Once it clears in PayPal) so I guess it comes down to which I have started a thread in build suggestions with a couple I have found and am debating upon, if you would like to give me some further tips.

 

[Jubilant Lancer]

UPDATE:

It's Build Time!


So I FINALLY got all of my parts in

I am just finishing up a backup and repartition then I will be assembling everything and I'll hopefully be making my next post from my shiny new rig later today!

 

[Squidlorock]

Nice! Will be great to get this rig up and running, hope it went well/is going well man! :rambo1: (new emote! )