N.I.N.A

[Alex-vs-Alex]

Firstly the title stands for No Interesting Name Associated as couldn't think of anything to call it and started thinking of abbreviations which this was the best of lol. I'll warn you now I have a tendency to get carried away writing things like this so may go on a bit so if you just look at the pics I don't blame you :-p

 

Original collection of parts:

 

 

Background:

This is my first build and I decided from the get go that I wanted a ROG motherboard for no other reason then I always followed Asus and Asus ROG UK on Facebook and seeing constant pictures of how nice they were I had to have one so picked the Hero VI. This is where my first issue came about as upon first boot up with the Hero board it just failed to do anything other than give a 00 error with no POST. I sent it back to the retailer who then recovered it to a working condition and sent it back as working, this meant I lost my shipping due to it working for them but I let that go. When I got it back I fitted everything exactly the same way making sure to be extra careful and got exactly the same problem! I contacted them again (on the weekend) explaining everything and got one guy tell me I must be doing something wrong but had a follow up phone call on the Monday from the guy I'd originally been dealing with who offered me a deal to swap the board out for the Z97 MSI Gaming 7 so that they could rule out if it was an issue with the board or something else and this way changing manufacturer they could say they'd tried everything possible. Lucky for me it was the same price as the Hero which was on offer at the time I bought it so no money had to change hands. It matched my red and black colour scheme I wanted so I agreed and all was good, they shipped it out next day and I got on with trying again with success. I now had a working board and could continue with the rest :-)

Most of my purchases were done off the back of ordering by user rating on PC Part Picker, seeing what I liked the look of, checking it was in my budget and then looking at other people's builds for feedback on the items. I think I've done quite well all in all even though I could've easily saved money on certain parts but this was about future proofing in places and liking what I was buying which I certainly do. My PC is going to be used for playing Watchdogs (only game I've got so far), surfing the net and watching movies mainly so yes it's probably overkill for now but I'm happy as can see myself getting into gaming now I have a machine capable. So on to the part choices.

 

Parts:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  (Purchased For £160.68) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (Purchased For £85.86) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 7 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (Purchased For £132.98) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (Purchased For £55.08) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For £56.29) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (Purchased For £43.10) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB DirectCU II  Video Card  (Purchased For £252.98) 

Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For £79.99) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (Purchased For £64.99) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  (Purchased For £71.67) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 High Performance Edition (2-Pack) 62.7 CFM 120mm  Fans  (Purchased For £21.60) 

Total: £1025.22

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

I've not had the best luck so far with my build as not only did I have a faulty motherboard, my H100i had bent fins on the rad which I didn't like as was really obvious so sent that back also. The replacement turned out not to be much better so think they may have some quality control issues but this was at least wasn't in a big block so not as noticeable. This one also has noise issues when using any fans connected to the y splitter cables at full speed so am running them at around 1100 RPM. I've read a lot that they don't seem to like sharing sata power but I want to control the case and rad fans off Link so found a good compromise which helps with noise. My most recent issue is my PSU which has a noisy fan so Amazon are collecting it tomorrow and giving me a refund as they have no stock to replace it. I now need some help with picking a good replacement that preferably offers a braided cable upgrade similar to the EVGA G2 series cables or Corsair pack but they're only compatible with PSU's a lot more expensive than what I paid. Any ideas? In the UK we don't have retailers offering braided cables which aren't extensions and don't really want extensions as will mean even more cables behind the back panel.

 

I don't think I've done too badly for my first attempt with the cable management but with braided cables I know it'll look much nicer.

 

Pics:

Test fit:

 

The rest:

 

 

My setup: ignore cables behind stand as need to sort it all out

 

As I knew this won't be the final look I didn't worry about using discreet cable ties ect as going to remove it all again anyway and that black cable going from bottom left to top is the only way I could reach the H100i fan splitter cable so will also try find a longer cable to replace this.

 

Upgrades to come - would like recommendations:

• Braided cables - The UK seems limited for choice so if anyone has found somewhere that will do full cables and not extensions I'm interested
  
• FreeSat DVB-S2 TV card - I'd like to get rid of my set top box from my stand as it's really slow to start up and may as well get it all into my PC if I can
  
• Case fans - would like to replace the 2 Fractal fans that came with the case for quiet good quality fans and get an extra 140mm for the front intake so I need 3 140mm fans in all
  
• Possibly a NXT Hue if I ever put the PC in a place that it can be seen
  

 

Hope I've not bored you and any recommendations for my upgrades will be appreciated especially with regards to the PSU as need a replacement for my EVGA ASAP to get my PC back up and running after tomorrow.

Thanks

Alex

[Student]

nice build! looks great!
very nice collor theme.

[AlwaysFSX]

I can't see any of your text on my tablet because it's the same color as the background but the build looks great! Only thing I'll nitpick on its the power cables fire your gpu.

[TEDWARDS]

Bent fins on the rads are normal

[Alex-vs-Alex]

nice build! looks great!

very nice collor theme.

 

Thanks   I like red and black even though it's probably the most common lol.

 

I can't see any of your text on my tablet because it's the same color as the background but the build looks great! Only thing I'll nitpick on its the power cables fire your gpu.

 

Hmm I didn't change any colours so is just default black I believe. Yeah I know I was trying to bend it around the card or tuck it under but the single braided cable is a bit thick and hard to work with. I'll sort it out when I replace the PSU and cabling but thanks 

 

Bent fins on the rads are normal

 

Thanks that's good to know I just wasn't double unlucky 

 

Can anyone help with PSU recommendations as sending the noisy one back tomorrow so want to get a replacement ordered ASAP. This one cost me £65 and I know a Corsair RM650 costs just under £90 so was thinking of replacing it with the EVGA 750 G2 so that I can buy the specific individually braided EVGA cables in red as this PSU is also just under £90. I know the power will be overkill as probably don't need 650w but future proofing now is always a good thing right?

[CJPowell27]

That GPU sag though lol, nice build.  It's nice to see a black/red build that isn't ROG

[Alex-vs-Alex]

That GPU sag though lol, nice build.  It's nice to see a black/red build that isn't ROG

 

Thanks, even though that's how I nearly went lol Yep I hate that. Trying to work out how people solve this but Google will be my friend and I'll solve it 

[OverachievingSnowfall]

Thanks   I like red and black even though it's probably the most common lol.

 

 

Hmm I didn't change any colours so is just default black I believe. Yeah I know I was trying to bend it around the card or tuck it under but the single braided cable is a bit thick and hard to work with. I'll sort it out when I replace the PSU and cabling but thanks 

 

 

Thanks that's good to know I just wasn't double unlucky 

 

Can anyone help with PSU recommendations as sending the noisy one back tomorrow so want to get a replacement ordered ASAP. This one cost me £65 and I know a Corsair RM650 costs just under £90 so was thinking of replacing it with the EVGA 750 G2 so that I can buy the specific individually braided EVGA cables in red as this PSU is also just under £90. I know the power will be overkill as probably don't need 650w but future proofing now is always a good thing right?

I just got my G2 1000W, and I really like it.  It's got a nice quiet fan on it.  If you're curious about how PSUs really perform, check out jonnyguru.com, he has lots of reviews, and he knows what he's talking about.  He just did one on the G2 750W, and I believe he took a look at the RM650 too.

[Accursed Entity]

That's a really nice build, I like the name. How's the sound on that board?

[Alex-vs-Alex]

I just got my G2 1000W, and I really like it.  It's got a nice quiet fan on it.  If you're curious about how PSUs really perform, check out jonnyguru.com, he has lots of reviews, and he knows what he's talking about.  He just did one on the G2 750W, and I believe he took a look at the RM650 too.

 

Good to hear it's nice and quiet, I ended up choosing the 750 G2 as user reviews were good and that review you mentioned was awesome (9.8/10) and has a great warranty on it too.

 

That's a really nice build, I like the name. How's the sound on that board?

 

Thanks   I have no complaints on it and use it for movies and music a lot. Comes with soundblaster management software too which no idea if that helps any. I use some 2.1 Logitech THX certified speakers I've had for years and doesn't fail to put through clean audio. Overall it's a really nice board.

[MarQue98]

Lol a girl i know is called nina and she has one big booty so thats why i was interrested in this topic

Now some usefull info, here in the Netherlands we have some places that sell braided cables. I myself use red bitfenix ones, but i believe there's silverstone aswell. + they sell most colors

[Alex-vs-Alex]

Lol a girl i know is called nina and she has one big booty so thats why i was interrested in this topic

Now some usefull info, here in the Netherlands we have some places that sell braided cables. I myself use red bitfenix ones, but i believe there's silverstone aswell. + they sell most colors

 

That's as good a reason as any to take a look  I just realised for some reason my pics messed up so have re-added them.

 

The only bitfenix braided cables I've found are extensions which I think are the ones I'll end up with as can't find any full cables except for the EVGA G2 cables which don't look that well made as I've swapped out my 650 for the 750G2 PSU due to fan issue. Like that the 750G2 has a fan shut-off eco-mode so using that and the PC is even quieter.

 

I'll be putting up an update this week with my new Phantek fans that I've bought once I find time to get them in. Added a bit more colour and went with white so may even get white or red/white cables if I can find some