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[Build Complete] A beginner's step from laptops.
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crimsonblod is in Build Complete
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So, after starting on an e-machine in 2001, the mistake of a cheap HP laptop (dv61030us) that failed mere days after it's warranties expired, and a mid range gaming laptop in 2010 (Asus g7), I have finally joined the big leagues.I'll be honest about the build, I had a friend helping a TON. He pretty much talked me through it, and it was an awesome experience, and so here I am, following up on my build help request from earlier.

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Below, I'll mention about some of the pros and cons of this build, and what I personally learned.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type Item Price
CPU Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor $335.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler Zalman CNPS9900MAX-R CPU Cooler $49.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard $124.99 @ Micro Center
Memory Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory $163.99 @ Amazon
Storage Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $229.99 @ Amazon
Storage Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $124.00 @ Amazon
Video Card Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card $359.99 @ Amazon
Case NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case $69.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply Corsair CX 600W 80 Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply $67.99 @ Micro Center
Monitor Dell P2414H 60Hz 23.8" Monitor $229.99 @ Micro Center
Keyboard Corsair K70 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard $169.99 @ Amazon
Mouse Logitech G502 Wired Optical Mouse $70.44 @ Amazon
Headphones Logitech G35 7.1 Channel Headset $94.95 @ Amazon
Total
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available $2092.29
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-21 03:42 EST-0500

All the parts were bought at our local microcenter, which is also why I have this motherboard. Originally we were planning on a Asus Maximus VII Hero, but this was $100 cheaper, and according to people who knew way more about motherboards than I, it's almost exactly the same board.

Absolutely loving the setup I have. It is better than every machine I've ever used in the past, and with the old dell monitor we had extra, is quite nice in dual screen! The new one listed above is also incredible. It has a lot of port options, many USB's, and has a massive viewing angle.

With the fans we have in there, it's whisper quiet. Unless the cpu breaks 80*C. Then the strongest fan turns up to 5,000rpm for a tiny bit to bring it back down. But it never reaches that high anyway.

The cable management with this case was a lot easier than most people seem to make it out to be as well. Though that was mostly because my friend totally knew what to do.

Here are some issues that we encountered for anybody who's interested. We ended up putting a third fan in, because we wanted a positive pressure setup for the airflow, and the stock fans on the case were all pointed out, creating a negative flow inside, and completely negating the amazing filters it has. Not really a big deal to fix.

The metal of the case is thick, but the paint on the case is a bit fragile, and some of the awesome hand turned screws where the PSU mounts could use washers.

For the 970, we had to replace the stock thermal paste. We have another person with a 970 in the house who was having heating issues, and that solved it for him. Mine was a little better, but the new paste reduced the idle temps significantly.

I also have a recurring issue with my G35 headset and some intermittent buzzing sounds that I can't diagnose, but that's with the headsets, not the computer. Amazing headset, but be warned, mine at least has a lot of subtle bugs.

And the final build issues were that the motherboard was a pain to get working fully with all drivers it needed. Most installations failed 5 or 6 times before they would finally start for the first time. We also have yet to get the corsair software to recognize the keyboard. (Though it still works beautifully).

tl;dr: Awesome case, amazing hardware, and a whole bundle of small technical issues that cruised through it's test run of Hl2 downsampled from 4k at 50-60fps while compiling an unreal project. This, was a pretty good week.

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9 years ago