Harribo's First PC Build

Harribo

aa
Nov 1, 2009
871
851
Hey, so to be able to play TF2 again I'm going to need to get a new PC. All I have of the one I used to use is a mouse, keyboard and my headset. I've got about a grand to spend and I've got a build list ready but having people look over would be really helpful. Here's my build so far:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£155.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Enermax ETS-T40-TB 86.7 CFM CPU Cooler (£29.74 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£120.61 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£66.45 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£89.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£52.79 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£176.11 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Cooler Master CM 690 II (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£70.00 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£52.27 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-208DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer (£55.95 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.65 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: ViewSonic VX2370Smh-LED 23.0" Monitor (£129.98 @ Amazon UK)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£15.15 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1084.68
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-01 21:51 BST+0100)

I'm aware I can get the OS cheaper elsewhere but it's there so everyone knows what I'm going for. Anything I need to know about building a PC for the first time that everyone seems to forget? I stuck it on reddit's /r/buildapc too if people wanaa have a look: http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/271yh4/build_ready_1000_build_for_gaminglevel_design3d/
 

A Boojum Snark

Toraipoddodezain Mazahabado
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Nov 2, 2007
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Not sure if you care about it, but the only thing that sticks out to me is getting a PSU that is 80+ Gold or higher. It is the efficiency rating, higher the better because you'll be drawing less out of the wall.
 

YM

LVL100 YM
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Dec 5, 2007
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Seconded. Get three of those and an extra (dirt cheap) graphics card so you can have three.

Believe me after using two you'll never go back to one. After stretching Hammer onto two, you'll instantly want a third.

Also ditch the wifi adapter and use a proper ethernet cable. (unless you're just using it to turn your pc into a hotspot for your phone/tablet)
 

DonutVikingChap

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 15, 2013
233
139
I made a few changes to the list that I felt were appropriate:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£155.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.24 @ CCL Computers)
(An extremely popular cooler, slightly cheaper than the other one)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£105.52 @ CCL Computers)
(A newer & cheaper version with support for some upcoming CPUs if you ever feel the need to upgrade)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£66.45 @ Amazon UK)
2133Mhz is a bit overkill, but it was cheap, so whatever.
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£89.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£52.79 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£176.11 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£69.65 @ Dabs)
(A very nice case by a great manufacturer)
Power Supply: Fractal Design Tesla R2 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£74.99 @ Novatech)
(80+ Gold certified and only slightly more expensive, also good quality)
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-208DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer (£55.95 @ Amazon UK)
(I don't see why you'd need a Blu-Ray drive, but okay)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£79.99 @ Amazon UK)
(Because frankly, windows 7 is almost obsolete now with all the customization you can do to make windows 8 more like it, unless you have a specific program that can't run on windows 8 for some reason. Also, you get used to it)
Monitor: ViewSonic VX2370Smh-LED 23.0" Monitor (£129.98 @ Amazon UK)
(If you absolutely want an IPS monitor, I don't have many better options. But in my opinion, saving up for a 144Hz TN monitor (like the XL2411Z) is one of the best investments you can make if you want an overall better experience. (I certainly don't regret it!) Also, you might want multiple monitors for productivity. I use my old one as a secondary, and it creates a plethora of possibilities! )
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£15.15 @ Amazon UK)
(If you really want Wi-Fi, you should perhaps get a slightly more expensive motherboard with integrated Wi-Fi instead, but that's up to you.)
Total: £1097.80
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-02 00:28 BST+0100)
Otherwise, great choices and good luck!
( And perhaps you finally won't need to complain about ctf_infiltration ;) )

EDIT:
Also, to answer your questions in /r/buildapc:
1. Yes.
2. Pretty much just a phillips-head screwdriver, and an anti-ESD wrist-strap if you want to feel safer. All necessary accessories for mounting should come with the case, and all necessary accessories for connections should come with the motherboard and/or the parts they belong to.
3. The disc-reader will make windows installation easier if you plan to install from a disc. Whether you need the HDD or not is up to you, I'd say it's definitely more comfortable having it right away though.
4. A single 8GB stick will provide more upgrade options (since it would only take up one slot), while two 4GB sticks are usually cheaper and sometimes have better timings. I'd reccomend 2x4 in this case.

Thermal. Paste.

Do not forget it.

It should come with the cooler.
 
Last edited:

Crash

func_nerd
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Mar 1, 2010
3,315
5,499
I highly recommend a NZXT case if you find one you like. I got one for my wife and it was a really good price on top of being one of the easiest cases to work on, with plenty of cable management options and lots of conveniences.
 

DonutVikingChap

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 15, 2013
233
139
I highly recommend a NZXT case if you find one you like. I got one for my wife and it was a really good price on top of being one of the easiest cases to work on, with plenty of cable management options and lots of conveniences.

I've read a bunch of reviews of NZXT cases and in my mind they are't really anything special compared to other high-quality cases like Corsair's and Fractal Design's, but their new H440 case is very nice! (Though very expensive and it lacks optical drive bays)
 

Freyja

aa
Jul 31, 2009
2,994
5,813
H440 is an excellent case, I extremely reccomend. Optical drive bays aren't really necessary these days, but obviously if you want one H440 isn't for you. But pretty colours!

2x4GB ram can be better if you have a dual channel mobo. Not sure really how they work, but having two identical ram sticks in a dual channel mobo apparently makes it a bit faster. But don't quote me.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z97prowifiac

This mobo is a bit more expensive but is ready for new CPU generations and has wifi built in. Pretty solid board from what I've been told, if you'd rather this than the wireless adapter card.

Apart from that your build seems pretty good from my limited knowledge and research from looking into my own new build.
 

DonutVikingChap

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 15, 2013
233
139
H440 is an excellent case, I extremely reccomend. Optical drive bays aren't really necessary these days, but obviously if you want one H440 isn't for you. But pretty colours!

2x4GB ram can be better if you have a dual channel mobo. Not sure really how they work, but having two identical ram sticks in a dual channel mobo apparently makes it a bit faster. But don't quote me.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z97prowifiac

This mobo is a bit more expensive but is ready for new CPU generations and has wifi built in. Pretty solid board from what I've been told, if you'd rather this than the wireless adapter card.

Apart from that your build seems pretty good from my limited knowledge and research from looking into my own new build.

I agree with this motherboard reccomendation if you want integrated Wi-Fi. The biggest downside, however, is that it focuses less on the integrated sound. (It's probably not a huge quality difference, though.)
 

A Boojum Snark

Toraipoddodezain Mazahabado
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Nov 2, 2007
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Power Supply: Fractal Design Tesla R2 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£74.99 @ Novatech)
(80+ Gold certified and only slightly more expensive, also good quality)
...who the heck is Fractal Design? Power Supplies are one thing that the advice has always been to go with known reliable brands, because a bad PSU can ruin your entire system. Last I checked the recommends were still Antec, Corsair, and a couple others I don't recall off the top.
 

Ravidge

Grand Vizier
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May 14, 2008
1,544
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Fractal Design are fairly new but they're already pretty well established and respected here in Sweden (It's a Swedish company). They are more known for their cases.
They've been manufacturing PSU's for a few years now and I've not heard/seen any reports of the failure rate being higher than that of the 'reliable' brands.

Their build quality is legit, to me they are just as trustworthy as antec or corsair.

I haven't read the thread or kept up with PC parts in recent months/year, so I can't say you should definitely pick that particular PSU, I simply haven't done the research to give advice.
I'm just trying to say that you are doing yourself a disservice by removing Fractal Design's stuff from your options for no reason!
 

DonutVikingChap

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 15, 2013
233
139
...who the heck is Fractal Design? Power Supplies are one thing that the advice has always been to go with known reliable brands, because a bad PSU can ruin your entire system. Last I checked the recommends were still Antec, Corsair, and a couple others I don't recall off the top.

Fractal Design is a very reputable swedish company, mostly known for their cases. Since they started doing power supplies too they are getting really good reviews from all directions. I've used this particular PSU myself in a friend's build, powering a 4670K and a GTX 780, and I personally find there aren't any much better options in this particular price range. ( It also looks pretty nice :) )
 

Harribo

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Nov 1, 2009
871
851
Cool, thanks for all the suggestions, i'll address them all in order.

Duel monitors is certainly not an option and neither is the money i'd need for more graphics cards, I don't even know where i'd fit it if I had 2. Though I should probably ask, can I even put more than one graphics card in my motherboard, i'm pretty sure my GPU can't do the crossfire/SLI thing so can 2 still be in my rig?

Yeah, I know wired internet connection is prefered but there's no way it'll be ok for me to drill a hole to get an ethernet cable up a floor and i've been playing on a wireless connection all this time too so i'm sure I won't notice any difference. Why would a built in wifi adapter be preferable or the card? I'd have thought it's like built in sounds cards to separate sound card where normally getting a dedicated one is always better.
 

DonutVikingChap

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 15, 2013
233
139
Cool, thanks for all the suggestions, i'll address them all in order.

Duel monitors is certainly not an option and neither is the money i'd need for more graphics cards, I don't even know where i'd fit it if I had 2. Though I should probably ask, can I even put more than one graphics card in my motherboard, i'm pretty sure my GPU can't do the crossfire/SLI thing so can 2 still be in my rig?

Yeah, I know wired internet connection is prefered but there's no way it'll be ok for me to drill a hole to get an ethernet cable up a floor and i've been playing on a wireless connection all this time too so i'm sure I won't notice any difference. Why would a built in wifi adapter be preferable or the card? I'd have thought it's like built in sounds cards to separate sound card where normally getting a dedicated one is always better.

1. Yes, if you used - for example - my suggested configuration, you would be able to add an additional graphics card in SLI since both the motherboard and the graphics card supports it. However I would not reccommend it since it's usually not worth it in terms of performance. It is usually reccommended to just buy a better single graphics card in that case, since SLI/Crossfire generates more heat, draws more power, has much worse driver support and can in some cases cause issues like microstuttering. Also, you can run up to 3-6 monitors on almost all modern graphics cards without SLI/Crossfire anyway.

2. Because a built in Wi-Fi adapter is a lot more convenient. Also, the dedicated card you chose is really cheap, and probably not even a lot better than what you'd get on a decent Wi-Fi motherboard.
 

YM

LVL100 YM
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Dec 5, 2007
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Yeah I'm not using any kind of SLI. That's why I said get a good gfx card, and then get a super super cheap (possibly even handmedown) one for the third screen. It's not a screen for any gaming.

I would hope you aren't dueling with your monitors, but it's sad to see dual monitors aren't an option, single monitor computers are so pitifully useless.
 

DonutVikingChap

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 15, 2013
233
139
Yeah I'm not using any kind of SLI. That's why I said get a good gfx card, and then get a super super cheap (possibly even handmedown) one for the third screen. It's not a screen for any gaming.

I would hope you aren't dueling with your monitors, but it's sad to see dual monitors aren't an option, single monitor computers are so pitifully useless.

I see, but why would you need that second card in the first place if your good graphics card already supports three monitors? (Unless for a negligible performance improvement)
 

Harribo

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Nov 1, 2009
871
851
Right so that's the large majority of my parts bought, All I didn't pick was the 2TB HDD, the disk drive and Windows key. With the Windows key/disk I'm wondering how to install, could I stick a copy of the disk onto a USB stick and then boot from that and then use the key? Also, any significant reason why people would suggest Win 8 over 7? I couldn't give a toss about more features in my OS, I don't think, but feel free to try and perswade me. Hopefully I should be up and running by next weekend :D
 

DonutVikingChap

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 15, 2013
233
139
Right so that's the large majority of my parts bought, All I didn't pick was the 2TB HDD, the disk drive and Windows key. With the Windows key/disk I'm wondering how to install, could I stick a copy of the disk onto a USB stick and then boot from that and then use the key? Also, any significant reason why people would suggest Win 8 over 7? I couldn't give a toss about more features in my OS, I don't think, but feel free to try and perswade me. Hopefully I should be up and running by next weekend :D

Well aside from added features, Windows 8 is cheaper than Windows 7 on most sites, and it performs better in some games & applications. It will also get better support than Windows 7 in the future, so I hardly see any reason to choose Windows 7 at this point.

As for how to install it; I found this guide: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows-8/a/install-windows-8-usb.htm

It covers both how to do it from a DVD and from download.

Good luck with the build!
 

Empyre

L6: Sharp Member
Feb 8, 2011
309
187
Download Classic Shell to get rid of that ugly metro interface. After I did that, I have no complaints about Windows 8.