Forums » Off-Topic and Casual Chatter

My First Proper PC Build - Completed

    • Moderator
    • 9115 posts
    January 20, 2017 6:14 PM PST

    Hey folks,

    [Edited to reflect changes to build]


    I am making an effort to build my first ever PC from scratch, I have always had prebuilt PCs that I just modify myself over time with simple parts like GPU, SSD etc. My PC is 6-8 years old but has been replaced several times under warranty so it is a bit deceiving in age but it is starting to fail and is giving me some serious headaches trying to fix it with the stress I put it under for gaming.

    I plan on formatting, fixing and replacing a few parts to give to my brother as a surprise, here is what I currently have.

    Current Specs:

    Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (10.0, Build 14393) (14393.rs1_release.161220-1747) 
    System Manufacturer: Alienware
    System Model: Aurora-R4
    BIOS: A11
    Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3970X CPU @ 3.50GHz (12 CPUs), ~3.5GHz
    Memory: 32768MB RAM
    DirectX Version: DirectX 12
    Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti

    Monitors:

    Monitor Model: ASUS ROG Swift PG278Q 2560 x 1440 (32 bit) (144Hz)
    Second Monitor: Dell 24" HD S2440L 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
    Third Monitor: Dell 24" HD ST2420L 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
    Fourth Monitor: SONY 42" Ultra HD TV 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)

    Sound:

    Astro A40's

    Keyboard:

    Corsair K95 RGB with Cherry MX Brown

    Mouse:

    Logitec G502

    Pic of Setup: (for some reason this pic makes the room look really small which must be my photography skills, as it is bigger than it look here lol)



    I will be keeping my Monitors, Mouse, Keyboard, Astro's and the 980 Ti to put into the new system as it is only a few months old, I will be putting my GTX 690 back in to give to my bro, it is only 2 months old and pretty beast for its time.

    So, knowing all of that, here is what I plan on building!

    Budget: $3,500

    PCPartPicker part list: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/T2mvNN
    Price
    breakdown by merchant: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/T2mvNN/by_merchant/

    CPU: Intel Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($495.00 @ Centre Com)
    CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X62 Liquid CPU Cooler ($234.00 @ Skycomp Technology)
    Thermal Compound: Noctua NT-H1 3.5g Thermal Paste ($11.00 @ PCCaseGear)
    Motherboard: Asus STRIX Z270-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($325.00 @ Shopping Express)
    Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($284.90 @ Newegg Australia)
    Storage: Samsung 960 Pro 1.0TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($819.00 @ Shopping Express)
    Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($289.00 @ Shopping Express)
    Case: Corsair 760T Black ATX Full Tower Case ($235.00 @ Umart)
    Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($313.00 @ IJK)
    Sound Card: Asus STRIX SOAR 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card ($125.00 @ Mwave Australia)
    Case Fan: Corsair SP140 49.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($19.00 @ Mwave Australia)
    Case Fan: Corsair SP140 49.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($19.00 @ Mwave Australia)
    Speakers: Logitech Z906 500W 5.1ch Speakers ($120.86 @ Skycomp Technology)

    Total: $3289.76

    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
    Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-26 13:41 AEDT+1100


    This post was edited by VR-Mod1 at January 25, 2017 6:43 PM PST
    • 633 posts
    January 20, 2017 6:44 PM PST

    If I was dropping that much money on a computer, I would definitely get a U.2 drive instead of the SATA SSD, especially since the motherboard supports it.  If I had to, I'd drop to a 4 core I7 processor to balance out the cost if I had to.  Other than that, everything looks great.


    This post was edited by kelenin at January 20, 2017 6:44 PM PST
    • 31 posts
    January 20, 2017 7:44 PM PST

    Allow me to post my recommendations. 

     

    1) upgrade to 1000w on the PS. Corsair is great.

    2) Go with a triple radiator cooler that fits the case. You can also replace the stock fans on the dual radiator water cooler with higher rpm pwm fans, and/or add two additional silent slim fans on the opposite sides (sandwich the radiator) to create a push-pull exhaust configuration. This will add cooling capacity, in case you proceed to an advanced cooling configuration and include your GPU and/or RAM In the loop.

    3) If you choose to increase cooling capacity, a few of my favorite drool options are listed below, you can engineer some great things here and compliment the whole system look by using a variety of UV reactive cooling fluids that compliment your mobo colors. The ram blocks will cool up to 4 DIMMs each and are installed on both sides of the CPU

    3) Consider going with a 3.4ghz 6core  i7 CPU for the price point, your performance will not suffer. 

    Some of this might be a bit ambituos for a first time builder, however, you will not be disappointed in the result.

     

    I posted a pic of my last Core i5 3.4 Ghz (OC to 4 ghz) Quad core build. Runs at 30C idle, 38C during long gaming sessions. It's almost 3 years Old now and ready for refresh. It includes some of the parts above.


    This post was edited by SyriusNorthstar at January 25, 2017 9:17 PM PST
    • Moderator
    • 9115 posts
    January 20, 2017 9:15 PM PST

    kelenin said:

    If I was dropping that much money on a computer, I would definitely get a U.2 drive instead of the SATA SSD, especially since the motherboard supports it.  If I had to, I'd drop to a 4 core I7 processor to balance out the cost if I had to.  Other than that, everything looks great.

    Thanks Kel, I will check it out :)

    • Moderator
    • 9115 posts
    January 20, 2017 9:18 PM PST

    SyriusNorthstar said:

    Allow me to post my recommendations. 

     

    1) upgrade to 1000w on the PS. Corsair is great.

    2) Go with a triple radiator cooler that fits the case. You can also replace the stock fans on the dual radiator water cooler with higher rpm pwm fans, and/or add two additional silent slim fans on the opposite sides (sandwich the radiator) to create a push-pull exhaust configuration. This will add cooling capacity, in case you proceed to an advanced cooling configuration and include your GPU and/or RAM In the loop.

    3) If you choose to increase cooling capacity, a few of my favorite drool options are listed below, you can engineer some great things here and compliment the whole system look by using a variety of UV reactive cooling fluids that compliment your mobo colors. The ram blocks will cool up to 4 DIMMs each and are installed on both sides of the CPU

    3) Consider going with a 3.4ghz 6core  i7 CPU for the price point, your performance will not suffer. 

    Some of this might be a bit ambituos for a first time builder, however, you will not be disappointed in the result.

     

    I posted a pic of my last Core i5 3.4 Ghz (OC to 4 ghz) Quad core build. Runs at 30C idle, 38C during long gaming sessions. It's almost 3 years Old now and ready for refresh. It includes some of the parts above.

    That is some great advice, thank you and you know the only thing that makes me slightly nervous with this whole build is the thought of setting up and messing up the liquid cooling! I am not sure I will need it that urgently but those pictures definitely have me considering my options lol.

    Everything else I am fairly comfortable with, I will be paying extra attention when connecting the CPU/CPU Cooler, though.

    • 31 posts
    January 20, 2017 9:25 PM PST

    I hear you, it made me nervous until I learned most water cooling fluid is non-conductive. You can definitely make a mess but you won't damage expensive parts trying to put it all together. Anyways, you got time to level your pc building skillz , you don't have to be max level to have the most uber rig, you just have have uber friends :p oh and some $$ helps...


    This post was edited by SyriusNorthstar at January 20, 2017 9:27 PM PST
    • 255 posts
    January 21, 2017 3:36 PM PST

    Depending on your time frame when you need to build it, you might want to wait until the new AMD RYZEN CPU's are released.

    I am waiting for that myself before my next build. Depending on reviews I see will depend on whether I go Intel or AMD.

    Intel prices might drop as well.

     

    • Moderator
    • 9115 posts
    January 22, 2017 1:58 AM PST

    SyriusNorthstar said:

    I hear you, it made me nervous until I learned most water cooling fluid is non-conductive. You can definitely make a mess but you won't damage expensive parts trying to put it all together. Anyways, you got time to level your pc building skillz , you don't have to be max level to have the most uber rig, you just have have uber friends :p oh and some $$ helps...

    Haha yeah, that is exactly right ;)

    • Moderator
    • 9115 posts
    January 22, 2017 1:59 AM PST

    Boulda said:

    Depending on your time frame when you need to build it, you might want to wait until the new AMD RYZEN CPU's are released.

    I am waiting for that myself before my next build. Depending on reviews I see will depend on whether I go Intel or AMD.

    Intel prices might drop as well.

     

    That is a good point my friend, and one I had considered but this PC is causing me a lot of issues, so I was hoping to purchase all of these parts and built the new PC within the next few weeks if possible.

    • Moderator
    • 9115 posts
    January 25, 2017 6:44 PM PST

    Updated to reflect a lot of changes, this is the build I will be going with, fingers crossed I don't mess it up lol :D

    • 31 posts
    January 25, 2017 8:55 PM PST

    Three of these would be a dream, they're going for 349.00 each for another 6 days, newegg's anniversary sale.

    LG 34UM67-P 34" Class 21:9 UltraWide IPS FreeSync Gaming Monitor 5ms 2560 x 1080 5ms GTG 60Hz 5,000,000:1 Contrast Ratio with 4-Screen Split

    https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0JC-000D-003Z3


    This post was edited by SyriusNorthstar at January 25, 2017 8:57 PM PST
    • 334 posts
    January 26, 2017 2:40 PM PST

    Kilsin,

    I'd like to jump in and throw in my opinion that a sound card is quite unnecessary these days. Most motherboards include ample built in sound capabilities, and if you're looking for a great audio experience and you have the equipment (i.e., a nice pair of headphones or speakers), an external DAC/Amp would be a much better investment of your money.

    Otherwise, that's a badass computer, man.

    • 633 posts
    January 26, 2017 3:10 PM PST

    Sicario said:

    Kilsin,

    I'd like to jump in and throw in my opinion that a sound card is quite unnecessary these days. Most motherboards include ample built in sound capabilities, and if you're looking for a great audio experience and you have the equipment (i.e., a nice pair of headphones or speakers), an external DAC/Amp would be a much better investment of your money.

    Otherwise, that's a badass computer, man.

     

    I somewhat agree with this.  What are you using right now, or plan to use for your audio?  Got a stereo with speakers?  Little mini-speakers with separate subwoofer?  Standard headphones?  Gaming headphones?

    • 186 posts
    February 15, 2017 10:36 AM PST

    only nerds build their own computers

     

    • 668 posts
    February 15, 2017 8:06 PM PST

    Kilsin I am proud that you can or want to do all that yourself...

    Part of my personal budget is a computer tech on the side that maintains and upgrades all my stuff.  Every 4 or 5 years, I trade in my system to him (except monitor / keyboard etc..) and get a whole new tower.

    I don't like the software side of things, I will always screw something up and then I get pissed!!  Lol

    • Moderator
    • 9115 posts
    February 16, 2017 2:53 AM PST

    SyriusNorthstar said:

    Three of these would be a dream, they're going for 349.00 each for another 6 days, newegg's anniversary sale.

    LG 34UM67-P 34" Class 21:9 UltraWide IPS FreeSync Gaming Monitor 5ms 2560 x 1080 5ms GTG 60Hz 5,000,000:1 Contrast Ratio with 4-Screen Split

    https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0JC-000D-003Z3

    Thanks man but I already have a triple monitor setup with my main being an ASUS ROG Swift :)

    • Moderator
    • 9115 posts
    February 16, 2017 2:55 AM PST

    Sicario said:

    Kilsin,

    I'd like to jump in and throw in my opinion that a sound card is quite unnecessary these days. Most motherboards include ample built in sound capabilities, and if you're looking for a great audio experience and you have the equipment (i.e., a nice pair of headphones or speakers), an external DAC/Amp would be a much better investment of your money.

    Otherwise, that's a badass computer, man.

    That is great advice and I would usually agree but I switch between a surround sound system, a TV and my Astro A40's for many things, the Astro's get used the most and if that was all I would use I wouldn;t bother with a sound card but for some things I like that added extra quality, if only very small, I wasn't strapped for cash so I threw it in as a bit of a splurge but you are right, there is minimal difference for most things.

    • Moderator
    • 9115 posts
    February 16, 2017 2:55 AM PST

    VitaKorp3n said:

    only nerds build their own computers

     

    Then I am a Nerd and proud my friend! :)

    • Moderator
    • 9115 posts
    February 16, 2017 3:00 AM PST

    Pyye said:

    Kilsin I am proud that you can or want to do all that yourself...

    Part of my personal budget is a computer tech on the side that maintains and upgrades all my stuff.  Every 4 or 5 years, I trade in my system to him (except monitor / keyboard etc..) and get a whole new tower.

    I don't like the software side of things, I will always screw something up and then I get pissed!!  Lol

    Thank you, Sir!

    I have always bought pre-built PCs, my last one was an Alienware which was ridiculously overpriced but I was making great money and didn;t mind as I really liked the brand, logos, lighting etc. but I have always wanted to build my own, I was just worried I will spend a lot of money and mess it up but after countless videos watching others do various builds and getting advice from friends and community members I finally took the plunge and it has been very rewarding, I will never go back to pre-built PCs now, it is just like expensive lego that can blow up and catch fire! Nothing to worry about at all... ;)

    I had to wait a long time for my RAM to finally arrive two days ago, it was the only part that came from the US, the rest was shipped within a few days in Australia, so the last two days I have been putting it all together in my small pockets of spare time and so far it has been really enjoyable, I think I have everything wired up, connected and good to go, I just need to wait until tomorrow so I can take my GPU and extra SSD out of this PC to use in the new one, then hit the power button and hope for the best!

    If you happen to see a mushroom cloud on the horizon tomorrow, you will know something went wrong, so send halp! haha :D

    • 624 posts
    February 16, 2017 4:31 AM PST

    Kilsin's new rig choice

    Makes bards sing - "Let all rejoice!"

    Pre-alpha must be 'soon'

     I hear you: Your old gear needed desperately to level up - DING!  Your brother would benefit at the same time.  You would personally get the fun of building your own (welcome to the club sir).

    But why exactly now, oh Keeper of Beans? (*wink wink nod nod*).  Sure, your backstabbin' on the next stream will be that much more enjoyable.  But could it be something else is on the horizon?

    Bards have to keep the rumor mill turning...it's an occupational hazard (too much time spent in taverns I would wager).


    This post was edited by Kumu at February 16, 2017 4:32 AM PST
    • 186 posts
    February 16, 2017 5:36 AM PST

    Kilsin said:

    VitaKorp3n said:

    only nerds build their own computers

     

    Then I am a Nerd and proud my friend! :)

     

    Haha touché

     

    In all seriousness, I have built my last 4, it is incredibly rewarding! Particularly when you turn it on and there is no "magic" smoke pouring out the back ;) 

    • Moderator
    • 9115 posts
    February 16, 2017 5:36 AM PST

    Kumu said:

    Kilsin's new rig choice

    Makes bards sing - "Let all rejoice!"

    Pre-alpha must be 'soon'

     I hear you: Your old gear needed desperately to level up - DING!  Your brother would benefit at the same time.  You would personally get the fun of building your own (welcome to the club sir).

    But why exactly now, oh Keeper of Beans? (*wink wink nod nod*).  Sure, your backstabbin' on the next stream will be that much more enjoyable.  But could it be something else is on the horizon?

    Bards have to keep the rumor mill turning...it's an occupational hazard (too much time spent in taverns I would wager).

    Hahaha, my previous build (the one I am on now) is still a beast and easily runs Pantheon at high frame rates on a 27" monitor at 1440p, and I actually compared this build to my new one and the new one comes out on top by around 5%-15% in most areas other than using the same GPU, so it is a step up but more shiny than anything :D

    The reason was pretty much timing, this PC is old now and my bro needs one but can;t afford anything too special, he doesn't know the first thing about building one and has no interest it in but spends a lot of time on a PC for work and I thought it would be a nice surprise, so no beans my friend, sorry! lol :P

    • 624 posts
    February 16, 2017 7:48 AM PST

    Dreams crushed.

    • 595 posts
    February 16, 2017 8:53 AM PST

    Kilsin said: 


    I have always bought pre-built PCs, my last one was an Alienware which was ridiculously overpriced but I was making great money and didn;t mind as I really liked the brand, logos, lighting etc. but I have always wanted to build my own, I was just worried I will spend a lot of money and mess it up but after countless videos watching others do various builds and getting advice from friends and community members I finally took the plunge and it has been very rewarding, I will never go back to pre-built PCs now, it is just like expensive lego that can blow up and catch fire! Nothing to worry about at all... ;)

    I had to wait a long time for my RAM to finally arrive two days ago, it was the only part that came from the US, the rest was shipped within a few days in Australia, so the last two days I have been putting it all together in my small pockets of spare time and so far it has been really enjoyable, I think I have everything wired up, connected and good to go, I just need to wait until tomorrow so I can take my GPU and extra SSD out of this PC to use in the new one, then hit the power button and hope for the best!

    If you happen to see a mushroom cloud on the horizon tomorrow, you will know something went wrong, so send halp! haha :D

    Nice! Grats Kilsin <3

    I look forward to some sexy glam shots.

    • 38 posts
    February 16, 2017 9:25 AM PST

    Hi Kilsin,

    Your computer and budget are much like mine I built around a year ago. 1151 socket and Kraken liiquiid cooliing. You wont be sorry that I'm sure of.  I hope everyrthiing goes together smooth.

    I would be interested to hear if you Kraken mounts to the top of your case fine?  I had to provide some feedback that wasn't positiive on my HAF case when my Kraken x61 wouldn't mount up wiith out some modding..

     

     

    Anyways, congrats on a cool computer.


    This post was edited by Bardee at February 16, 2017 9:26 AM PST