First Build Advices

[Monkey_Shoulder]

Hello everyone!

I am planning on building my first pc (after the death of my old laptop). I want to know if I am doing any mistakes or if something could be improved (1400€ Budget)

I will build this rig around June-July so I don't know if I should wait for Pascal GPUs or not. Here's the build:

 

Case: Corsair Carbide 450D

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790k

CPU cooler: Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 (Turned 90° so the writing is normal and fan toward the top as exhaust, remove the side fan for GPU clearance)

Mobo: Asus Z97-Pro (Wi-Fi ac)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 2 x 4 Go 1600 MHz

GPU: Asus GTX 970 Strix OC

Storage: Samsung SSD 850 pro 128 Go (owned) and scavenge the 500 Go HDD of my dead laptop at first

Power Supply: Corsair RMx 750W (possible SLI?)

Fans: Dual Pack Corsair AF140 Quiet Edition (front intake) + Single AF120 Quiet Edition (rear intake)

 

I also intend to make this build semi-passive for silence (all fans at 0 rpm if the computer is not under load). I will not overclock in the first time.

 

Sorry for my English, it is not my native language.

[Hydrogen1803]

3 minutes ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

Hello everyone!

I am planning on building my first pc (after the death of my old laptop). I want to know if I am doing any mistakes or if something could be improved (1400€ Budget)

I will build this rig around June-July so I don't know if I should wait for Pascal GPUs or not. Here's the build:

 

Case: Corsair Carbide 450D

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790k

CPU cooler: Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 (Turned 90° so the writing is normal and fan toward the top as exhaust, remove the side fan for GPU clearance)

Mobo: Asus Z97-Pro (Wi-Fi ac)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 2 x 4 Go 1600 MHz

GPU: Asus GTX 970 Strix OC

Storage: Samsung SSD 850 pro 128 Go (owned) and scavenge the 500 Go HDD of my dead laptop at first

Power Supply: Corsair RMx 750W (possible SLI?)

Fans: Dual Pack Corsair AF140 Quiet Edition (front intake) + Single AF120 Quiet Edition (rear intake)

 

I also intend to make this build semi-passive (all fans at 0 rpm if the computer is not under load). I will not overclock in the first time.

 

Sorry for my English, it is not my native language.

This looks like a good build.

[Castdeath97]

What are you going to use the build for?

Why not pick the i7 6700k?

[Moonzy]

8 minutes ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

I will build this rig around June-July so I don't know if I should wait for Pascal GPUs or not

if you're going to build by then, pascal is probably already out lol

 

y u no pc part picker D:

comments on build:

Spoiler

1) the dark rock pro 3's fan wont work if you want the word right side up and the top fan pulling air out, i tried  the fan blades will be scratching the fins unless u use a spacer between the fan and the cooler

2) have you considered a 390 over a 970? it performs slightly better and cost almost the same if not cheaper

3) i dont suggest going dual gpu with mid-range cards lol, but solid PSU choice 

all in all, not bad  7/10

 

edit: where r my manners... Welcome to the forumz

remember to quote someone when you reply them so they get a notification and will read the post

[Monkey_Shoulder]

2 minutes ago, Castdeath97 said:

What are you going to use the build for?

Why not pick the i7 6700k?

 

I'm planning on gaming fairly much (I'm not a heavy gamer "yet") and also quite much GIS software (such as ArcGIS) for work, plus a bit of everything (which is why I'm not going for console, Polyvalence)

 

I don't know  I was thinking it would be cheaper going with i7 4790k (mobo wise).

[Castdeath97]

5 minutes ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

 

I'm planning on gaming fairly much (I'm not a heavy gamer "yet") and also quite much GIS software (such as ArcGIS) for work, plus a bit of everything (which is why I'm not going for console, Polyvalence)

 

I don't know  I was thinking it would be cheaper going with i7 4790k (mobo wise).

It wouldn't be much cheaper, but since you will be mostly gaming get the i5 6600k and save some more money to get a better GPU. 

[Castdeath97]

6 minutes ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

 

I'm planning on gaming fairly much (I'm not a heavy gamer "yet") and also quite much GIS software (such as ArcGIS) for work, plus a bit of everything (which is why I'm not going for console, Polyvalence)

 

I don't know  I was thinking it would be cheaper going with i7 4790k (mobo wise).

Sometimes the i5 6600k even beats the i7 4790K in gaming (goes to show that single core IPC still matters!)

 

 

 

 

 

[Monkey_Shoulder]

8 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

if you're going to build by then, pascal is probably already out lol

 

y u no pc part picker D:

comments on build:

  Hide contents

1) the dark rock pro 3's fan wont work if you want the word right side up and the top fan pulling air out, i tried  the fan blades will be scratching the fins unless u use a spacer between the fan and the cooler

2) have you considered a 390 over a 970? it performs slightly better and cost almost the same if not cheaper

3) i dont suggest going dual gpu with mid-range cards lol, but solid PSU choice 

all in all, not bad  7/10

 

edit: where r my manners... Welcome to the forumz

remember to quote someone when you reply them so they get a notification and will read the post

 

Thanks for the quick answer!

I thought about it but since they don't have any French retailler I didn't wander much on it. But I agree it could have been more handy ^^7

 

1) I don't really get it. Don't the cooler comes with two fans (one between the fins and one out)? I'm planning to remove the one on the outer-side only and leave the stock one inside. What touches what then? ^^' I thought that turning it would give me a better passive cooling as warm air rises.

2) Then I guess I will orient myself toward the Pascal if it is not too expensive (or at least the 970 will be cheaper eventually). I like the 970 strix for its 0dB fan mode plus I am leaning toward the green side for this first build (I was with AMD on my laptop before so I want to try Nvidia to see)

3) Okay, well it was just in case I try to, worse case when the money comes I'll revise the build. Do you know if the PSU can stop its fan to 0 rpm (though mobo maybe?)? 

 

Thanks! I am not very use to writing on forums and all so I might not have the best layout and way to answer

[Moonzy]

2 minutes ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

I'm planning to remove the one on the outer-side

i thought you were moving it to the other side of the cooler lol

if you're removing it outright then its fine, though performance of the cooler will drop considerably

3 minutes ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

Then I guess I will orient myself toward the Pascal if it is not too expensive (or at least the 970 will be cheaper eventually). I like the 970 strix for its 0dB fan mode plus I am leaning toward the green side for this first build (I was with AMD on my laptop before so I want to try Nvidia to see)

good point, agreed lol

3 minutes ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

Do you know if the PSU can stop its fan to 0 rpm (though mobo maybe?)? 

err... only premium psu comes with this feature

and none can be controlled by user i think, because having your psu overheat is bad so the manufacturers only allow monitoring, but not controlling

but if you're that much a silence freak (like me!) get a passive psu like the enermax digifanless  though it only comes in 550W

 

5 minutes ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

I am not very use to writing on forums and all so I might not have the best layout and way to answer

its fine as long as people understand what you're saying

whats most important is you dont write your points in one big paragraph

it hurts the reader's eyes ._.

[Monkey_Shoulder]

11 minutes ago, Castdeath97 said:

Sometimes the i5 6600k even beats the i7 4790K in gaming (goes to show that single core IPC still matters!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah that seems a good idea! I'll explore that then.

i5 6600k gives a 100€ difference with the i7 4790k so yeah good call. Do you know if mobos are cheaper also? what chipset should I get?

 

Thanks for the answer

[Castdeath97]

1 minute ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

 

Yeah that seems a good idea! I'll explore that then.

i5 6600k gives a 100€ difference with the i7 4790k so yeah good call. Do you know if mobos are cheaper also? what chipset should I get?

 

Thanks for the answer

Get Z170 so that you can overclock. Do you need wifi in your board?

[Monkey_Shoulder]

7 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

i thought you were moving it to the other side of the cooler lol

if you're removing it outright then its fine, though performance of the cooler will drop considerably

good point, agreed lol

err... only premium psu comes with this feature

and none can be controlled by user i think, because having your psu overheat is bad so the manufacturers only allow monitoring, but not controlling

but if you're that much a silence freak (like me!) get a passive psu like the enermax digifanless  though it only comes in 550W

 

its fine as long as people understand what you're saying

whats most important is you dont write your points in one big paragraph

it hurts the reader's eyes ._.

 

ahah no, I guess I didn't expressed myself well enough. yeah I am aware that the performance will drop, but maybe I'll be able to put the large fan at the top then, so looking from GPU to top it would give:

GPU -> First thins -> inner fan (toward top) -> second thins -> (Second fan if it fits toward top) -> top of the case

 

Ok then I'll be patient and see how it evolves then.

 

Yeah it makes total sense, I'll mail Corsair to ask if they have the 0rpm mode on this PSU, otherwise I'll check your recommendation (550W would be enough?)

 

Talking about silence, do you know if HDD would be noticeable then? like dual Seagate Barracuda 1To in RAID 0 for example? or should I re-purpose and old pc to host them? 

 

oh! big paragraphs like I just did?  thanks for the tip!

[Monkey_Shoulder]

9 minutes ago, Castdeath97 said:

Get Z170 so that you can overclock. Do you need wifi in your board?

Ok! I'll have a look at it and see how far I get with it.

 

I aim for ethernet cable but since I will move in a near future and I have no idea where I'll be setting this I was thinking that Wi-Fi would be a safe choice so I don't have a cable running across the room (OCDs you know)

[Moonzy]

13 minutes ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

550W would be enough

for single gpu and cpu, yes

not enough for dual gpu setup im afraid

and that psu bears a heavy price tag lol

14 minutes ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

do you know if HDD would be noticeable then? like dual Seagate Barracuda 1To in RAID 0 for example?

im glad you asked... im crying at the moment now because i regret buying my wd blue 3.5inch hard drive

because when it spins, it vibrates and i can hear it (i cant hear my pc even when i put my ear near the intake fans, because im a silence freak)

 

but really its not that bad... its just noticeable, and its just me being a silence freak

 

but funny how my 2.5inch hard drive doesnt make a sound

while my 3.5inch is like making my case going through an earthquake lol

[Monkey_Shoulder]

3 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

for single gpu and cpu, yes

not enough for dual gpu setup im afraid

and that psu bears a heavy price tag lol

im glad you asked... im crying at the moment now because i regret buying my wd blue 3.5inch hard drive

because when it spins, it vibrates and i can hear it (i cant hear my pc even when i put my ear near the intake fans, because im a silence freak)

 

but really its not that bad... its just noticeable, and its just me being a silence freak

 

but funny how my 2.5inch hard drive doesnt make a sound

while my 3.5inch is like making my case going through an earthquake lol

 

Ok, well I try to plan possible upgrade at the same time, just in case. I just read on "materiel.net" (French) that the RM 750x  fan turns on at 40% load and get spinning fast at 70% so I guess this problem is solved haha. Plus I want silence only under light load, if I'm gaming it will be noise from the game or I'll be wearing a headset so it is not a big deal then.

 

Plus, I just got a replacement laptop where I switch the HDD for my SSD and I have to say that silence is awsome but also stressing at first, I'm always scared that the computer will boil

 

Sorry to hear! hmm I'll guess I'll have to figure that one out then.  Personal NAS for od computer could work

Did you try to insert thin rubber pads to dampen the vibrations?

[Moonzy]

2 minutes ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

 

my case (the N450) comes with hard drive sleds with rubber isolators lol

its a pretty decent case but yea

[Monkey_Shoulder]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

my case (the N450) comes with hard drive sleds with rubber isolators lol

its a pretty decent case but yea

Well I'm sure you thought about it anyway lol

I heard of special enclosures that can help but it cost a lot if I remember well

[Moonzy]

Just now, Monkey_Shoulder said:

Well I'm sure you thought about it anyway lol

I heard of special enclosures that can help but it cost a lot if I remember well

well maybe my drive just vibrates super hard lol

it is a wd blue after all

 

well i rarely use the hard disk so it only spins during boot and sometimes when i access file explorer, most of the times (especially when im watching movies on my 2.5inch hard drive) its off so no problems there

 

im beginning to feel like we're going off topic here lol

is there any questions u want answered?

[Monkey_Shoulder]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

well maybe my drive just vibrates super hard lol

it is a wd blue after all

 

well i rarely use the hard disk so it only spins during boot and sometimes when i access file explorer, most of the times (especially when im watching movies on my 2.5inch hard drive) its off so no problems there

 

im beginning to feel like we're going off topic here lol

is there any questions u want answered?

haha yeah true!

 

well do you know if putting the CPU cooler like this will give me RAM clearance issues? also is 1600MHz enough? or should I get higher clocked RAM

Otherwise I'm also looking into the i5 6600k as Catdeath97 suggested, seems like a good idea.

 

Thanks again!

[Moonzy]

Just now, Monkey_Shoulder said:

CPU cooler like this will give me RAM clearance issues?

im glad you asked...

 

this is my ram clearance

Spoiler

 

i cant install 4 sticks of ram because of this cooler, no matter the orientation `-`

so i went out and buy 2x8gb sticks just to get my system to 16gb

and i now have spare 2x4gb ram laying around

you can read more about it in my build log, links is in my signature

 

3 minutes ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

is 1600MHz enough?

yes

3 minutes ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

should I get higher clocked RAM

would be better if you can, though it depends if your motherboard and cpu supports it too

 

4 minutes ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

I'm also looking into the i5 6600k as Catdeath97 suggested

if you're purely gaming, the 6600k is a fine option, though you would have to change to a z170 chipset motherboard and most probably ddr4

if you're looking to multitask, the 6700k is a better option for you

if you can, get the 6700k  i believe games nowadays will benefit from more threads

especially since dx12 is coming soon

 

but the 6600k is fine too if the 6700k will break your bank lol

[Monkey_Shoulder]

3 hours ago, Moonzy said:

im glad you asked...

 

this is my ram clearance

  Hide contents

 

i cant install 4 sticks of ram because of this cooler, no matter the orientation `-`

so i went out and buy 2x8gb sticks just to get my system to 16gb

and i now have spare 2x4gb ram laying around

you can read more about it in my build log, links is in my signature

 

yes

would be better if you can, though it depends if your motherboard and cpu supports it too

 

if you're purely gaming, the 6600k is a fine option, though you would have to change to a z170 chipset motherboard and most probably ddr4

if you're looking to multitask, the 6700k is a better option for you

if you can, get the 6700k  i believe games nowadays will benefit from more threads

especially since dx12 is coming soon

 

but the 6600k is fine too if the 6700k will break your bank lol

 

Oy! that doesn't leave a lot of space indeed! I'll check your rig to see what components you have. Does that clearance depends on the mobo or will I have this problem no matter what with this Cooler?

 

Okay, well I'll try to narrow down my researches on this then ^^ as long as the money allow me

 

do you think going with skylake would be a cheaper solution for similar results then? I see that I have a 50€ difference between the i7 haswell and skylake so I guess the deal will be done around the mobo and RAM. I'd like to keep the rig quite multytasking just in case.

 

I can work around the money if it gets dampened over time. If I can keep the skylake longer before being outdated then I guess it makes it worth it (that will really matters with the price of the GPU then maybe, You have a price range for the new pascals?)

 

DX12 will be only on windows 10 right? I am not so keen on going down with 10 yet  

[Moonzy]

4 hours ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

Does that clearance depends on the mobo or will I have this problem no matter what with this Cooler?

i suppose it depends on motherboard too

though mine lacked a few mm clearance, so its probably going to affect a few boards, since mine is not that compact

 

4 hours ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

do you think going with skylake would be a cheaper solution for similar results then?

nah, going skylake is going to pay a slight premium price now, not as much as before, but the price gap is still there, though its just a few dollars

i still suggest going skylake, because you can most likely re-use DDR4 in your next rig thus saving back the cost of going haswell now

and skylake performs better in games  and have the benefit of faster ram

 

4 hours ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

You have a price range for the new pascals?

nah, but i suspect they will replace current gen product's prices lol

normally a cpu will outlast a gpu by a long shot

because it takes 3 of the best current gen gpu to make the best current gen cpu a bottleneck, atleast for this gen (3 titan x vs 5960x)

so it'll take awhile for a normal gpu to bottleneck a cpu

some people are still using their 2600k happily till now lol

 

for people who want to use their cpu for a long time and will upgrade their gpu once every two years or so

i normally recommend getting a better cpu unless you have to sacrifice a ton on the gpu side,

 

for people that wants to keep his rig as is for a long time without upgrading, i will recommend getting a better gpu, and skimp on cpu, because its more likely his gpu will be a bottleneck long before his cpu does

 

4 hours ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

DX12 will be only on windows 10 right? I am not so keen on going down with 10 yet

yea, it will only be for windows 10

 

why not windows 10? ive been using it since it launched and i am absolutely happy with it,

it boots faster than windows 7, comsume less ram upon booting than windows 7

the UI is much more advance than windows 7

its snappier than windows 7 lol

 

and windows 7 is greater than 8 and 8.1 imo, so theres that

[Monkey_Shoulder]

13 hours ago, Moonzy said:

i suppose it depends on motherboard too

though mine lacked a few mm clearance, so its probably going to affect a few boards, since mine is not that compact

 

Okay, well I guess I'll see that on the moment when I will have parts in my hands haha. anyway I don't think I'll go with 4 sticks anyway. at least for the moment

13 hours ago, Moonzy said:

nah, going skylake is going to pay a slight premium price now, not as much as before, but the price gap is still there, though its just a few dollars

i still suggest going skylake, because you can most likely re-use DDR4 in your next rig thus saving back the cost of going haswell now

and skylake performs better in games  and have the benefit of faster ram

 

Yeah well I'll prepare two builds then, same case and cooler, and then I guess I'll see if the prices dropped a bit with the new pascals, maybe it can square stuffs a bit so I could get up to skylake. otherwise I'm sure I won't be disapointed with haswell (at least I hope  ) 

13 hours ago, Moonzy said:

nah, but i suspect they will replace current gen product's prices lol

normally a cpu will outlast a gpu by a long shot

because it takes 3 of the best current gen gpu to make the best current gen cpu a bottleneck, atleast for this gen (3 titan x vs 5960x)

so it'll take awhile for a normal gpu to bottleneck a cpu

some people are still using their 2600k happily till now lol

 

yeah, the super high end GPU is not the must since at first I will only be using at large 1080p tv so I won't push it to the 4k and all. Then I can play the "patience" card on the GPU and get a safe CPU since they are more or less linked to the mobo chipset. easier to change a GPU as you said.

13 hours ago, Moonzy said:

for people who want to use their cpu for a long time and will upgrade their gpu once every two years or so

i normally recommend getting a better cpu unless you have to sacrifice a ton on the gpu side,

 

for people that wants to keep his rig as is for a long time without upgrading, i will recommend getting a better gpu, and skimp on cpu, because its more likely his gpu will be a bottleneck long before his cpu does

Plus if I use the computer for any potential work (even though I'm not keen on bringing work at home) then that's a plus to focus on CPU.

13 hours ago, Moonzy said:

yea, it will only be for windows 10

 

why not windows 10? ive been using it since it launched and i am absolutely happy with it,

it boots faster than windows 7, comsume less ram upon booting than windows 7

the UI is much more advance than windows 7

its snappier than windows 7 lol

 

and windows 7 is greater than 8 and 8.1 imo, so theres that

 

Well I have to admit, windows 10 looks neat!! but I don't really like the turn that Microsoft is taking (says the dude using windows 8 at the moment). I was using it on my hp 3025sf with combo ssd and hdd and it was slower than win 8 at booting and all (certainly outdated hardware) but I'll give it a try still just in case, as we say at home "only dummies never change point of views".

 

I just don't enjoy the more or less explicite lack of privacy of windows 10 (even though I have nothing to hide). Do you know if Service Pack 1 got out? But yeah DX12 might make it worth it in the end  

[Moonzy]

7 hours ago, Monkey_Shoulder said:

Do you know if Service Pack 1 got out?

no sry D: i just use it lol