New Build!

[JustChilliing]

Hello, new to this place. Been watching Linus for a while, thought it time to get on this.

 

Build a new rig a few days ago. It's not super awesome powerful, but I'm pretty proud of it.

 

It's a white and black build, and I had my CPU, GPU, drives already on hand from my last PC.

 

i5 4690, Samsung SSD 120GB, Seagate 1TB, Asus STRIX GTX 970.

 

 

I bought;

 

NZXT H440:

White case, big windows to show off my GPU and (rather average) cable management. It also allowed me to mount my CPU cooler on the front, and have 2 more AF fans to blow air round the rest of the system.

 

Corsair H80i GT:

Probably overkill, but it is much, much quieter than my old air cooler. I also liked the LEDs behind the Corsair logo. Should I ever get an unlocked CPU, I'm ready!

 

MSI Z97s Krait Edition mobo:

Apart from also being black and white, this motherboard supported more RAM than my old one (an Asus h81-m PLUS) and can support another GTX 970, which I'm adding to the system later.

 

Corsair RM850i:

I was recommended to get an 850W PSU by a computer man at the shop. I didn't buy one from him but I thought I might as well seeing as I'll have 2 GPUs to power soon. I went for the RM/i version rather than the normal one or an 860W ATX purely because it was on sale at the time. Didn't matter on colour because the case has a PSU shroud.

 

HyperX Fury 4GBx4, White

Came in nice colours, my old ram was mismatched and one stick was *shudders* that ugly PCB green that they do. I also don't like huge tall RAM so easy decision. And it was on sale as well!

 

The Corsair cooler was a pain to install, you need 5 hands and a cool head to put it on. I initially had the wrong standoffs on it which didn't help, but I finally managed after 20 or so minutes and the addition of another pair of hands. Cable management in the back was pretty nice, although the lovely soundproofing on the back (as shown by Linus in his review of the same case) is now dented and punctured due to the small amount of room it leaves, and the use of cut up cable ties.

 

Only fan I can hear is the 140mm fan on the back blowing gently. I think I'll get another pair of AF fans for the top, as the back and single one I've got at the moment seem to just blow air around the top. I also want to get some white cables but they're a lot more expensive than I'm willing to pay, looking into getting my own stuff to do it myself.

 

Was going to include photos but my OneDrive is playing up... so later!

 

 

 

..*later*...

 

Please excuse the zip tie holding up my GPU. It was bending horribly on the left side and making a funny sound until I did this. I'm going to add a more hidden ties in the back to support it up, but for now it's fine!

 

PS; The pictures came out flaming enormous, apologies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT 1:

 

I've just spied some black & white CableMods cables for sale. I was going to try it myself but I'm running out of time to do it, so I thought money well spent - and I can't find any SATA cable connectors either. If I can find a flat one (the ones with my RM/I PSU are either halfway down a cable or right angles, and don't allow me to put SSDs on the PSU shroud) then I will do myself!

 

I'll have to do something about the front panel button connectors, showing their colour as well. I also want to install an LED strip in the top, just a normal white one, because it's very dark in my case, which was not the intention. I'll need a creative way to hide the tangle of wires hanging off the Corsair H80i GT as well.

 

 

Someone in another thread posted a graph that showed an i5 4690k (I have the locked one) doing 4.8GHz. I now want a unlocked 4690. Maybe next year, or if I suddenly earn a huge bonus, I'll try Skylake and that beautiful z170 Krait from MSI. All the new Z170 Mobo's look awesome. Always when I upgrade, new stuff is teased for the first time a day or two later.

 

This system has cost me approx. £800? £850? Didn't have to buy a processor, any drives, and I need to get the GPU @ £280 or less, 2 new fans, £15, cables, £73 (OUCH) and the LEDs, £4. So worst case scenario, I've spent £1350 on it. Wonder how much I could sell it for.

 

NOTHING BECAUSE IT'S MINE  

[Watercooler970]

Looking forward to the photos!

[WaffleDealer]

Black + White is beautiful, at least I think so, but Purple + Black is still my favourite of any color combinations, looking forward to see the build though!

[JerkyMcDilerino]

He should have gone with i5 4690k since that H80i can get i5 4690k running around 4.4GHz or more. i5 4690k and i7 4790k is the best overclocked chip at the moment. 

[JustChilliing]

I would have got the 4690k, but I already had a 4690 from a previous computer that I had. And I haven't had a scenario that made me go "Jeeze I sure wish I had a unlocked chip"

[JustChilliing]

So now I am close to having all the parts for my finished product. Still waiting on a SSD, some cables and another 970.

 

This build so far has cost me around £900, with the only component to actually purchase is the 970 - bringing it to a total of £1187. I got loads of stuff at a discount, and from my chosen merchant, Scan, the more you buy at once, the cheaper delivery is - spending £600 on Amazon to be handed further £60 worth of  delivery, whereas Scan charged £10 and some change flat rate shipping. I picked here and there, got stuff from Amazon on sale, RAM because the Scan RAM kits were extremely overpriced in my opinion!

 

Of note below is the £300 savings - I didn't have to buy a new CPU, and I kept the EVO SSD from my previous computer as well.

 

I will take some more (awful) photos when the new stuff arrives. Almost forgot a small LED loop to brighten things up. White LEDS, nothing too blingy.

 

Merchants in Bold indicate I did not buy those parts from there, and I have changed the cost of my GPUs and the total at the end as well. It only changed by £2.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/rYQTgs
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/rYQTgs/by_merchant/

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£169.41 @ Ebuyer)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i GT 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£77.00 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£88.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£39.33 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£39.33 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£67.76 @ PC World Business)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£64.91 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£32.40 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (£272.00 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (£287.00 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: NZXT H440 (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  (£88.07 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Corsair 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£112.00 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit)  (£75.08 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: Dell U2414H 60Hz 23.8" Monitor  (£169.99 @ Aria PC)
Total: £1472.04
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-16 11:03 BST+0100

[Mannimedia]

Gotta love the bargin hunting Awesome bro !

[JustChilliing]

ALMOST DONE...

 

So I purchased my other 970 today. I was meant to wait until the end of the month but I couldn't wait, so I'm a little behind, mainly because I keep ordering stuff for other people and waiting for them to pay me back, but now I've got everything... I think?

 

I decided to not go with the white cables. I bought the 2 SATA cables for my new SSD and the old SSD, and you can't even see them - not a waste because I still needed them, but yeah. Saved £70+ from that .

 

I have had to temporarily install 2 old fans on the top of my case that are blue LED, which is annoying A) because they are blue and B) it actually looks alright, with the H80i GT LED blue as well. ANYWAY the air in the case was getting quite hot, and the one fan on the top was blowing out and around the case, so wasn't really helping. For some reason Rocket League was making my GPU run super hot (68C). Lots more air coming out now.

 

I'm super excited to try out SLI. Bloody better work and all! More pictures on their way.

[JustChilliing]

NEW GPU ARRIVED!

 

My new 970 arrived today. After an update it's up and working, GTA fully maxed running at 100+fps. Turned on V-sync though to keep it at 60Hz to keep it from stuttering. Happy .

 

I though I was getting the normal card not the factory OC card - but I got an OC card, and it is identical as thought. I need to check temperatures when on load but it's looking good!