Is this too ambitious for a first-time build?

[ducecake]

Well it is a bit of money but why not go all out the first time right? It looks sweet and will last you a long time for sure and you will prolly love it! 

[Hecknologist]

an AC card is useless without a Router that is also AC

Very true, was assuming that someone willing to spend $3500 on a pc would have a decent router.

[patrickjp93]

In terms of your WIFI choices, go with a USB solution. It's one less card putting heat anywhere near your GPU, and it saves you PCI lanes if you want to get a 2nd GPU or install a dual gpu card. Also, it gives you greater flexibility in positioning the antenna. Rosewill and Netis both make great USB solutions.

 

Also, Samsung's 840 series does not have RAID support. That comes with the 850 series.

 

ADATA lacks full-disk encryption, and Samsung lacks RAID support except for their M.2 SSD line (which is hellishly expensive).

[na1nsxr]

840Pro is a bad choice in today's market.  Sandisk Extreme II is a better choice for around the same or less money, and the Sandisk Extreme Pro and Samsung 850 Pro are both way better performers for marginally more money.  These 3 drives are the only consumer drives I'd take over an 840 EVO, because that is the drive that draws the line in the sand.  If you are going to spend more, you need to spring for the top end prosumer drives to make it worthwhile, and even so, it may be practically marginal as a upgrade depending on your workload, and if you are going to spend less, you better go way down to the depths and get a lot more GB/$ or there is no excuse to pass up 840EVO level performance.

 

I would err on the side of 2 DIMMs as well when possible.  It is a dual channel platform, so why corner yourself into no more RAM expandability when there is no price difference between kits?  I am sure you can find a 2x8GB 1866 CAS8 kit for $190 or less.

 

Also, I am not really convinced Gigabyte's Windforce is really all that superior to MSI's TF4 or ASUS DCII....noise or thermals...but it is a lot bigger.

 

Also overall I do not see why this needs to be full ATX or utilize a 240mm radiator.  Devil's Canyon looks to hit a wall at around 4.6-4.7GHz, so if you can keep temps reasonable at those clocks in the 1.3V range or slightly above, you might as well move your focus to noise after that.

 

If it were me, I would get a pair of Sandisk Extreme II, Extreme Pro, or 850 Pros instead, switch to 2 DIMMs, downsize the video card to a 10.5" TwinFrozr4 or DirecuII, and move the whole thing into mATX form inside a Silverstone Temjin TJ-08E or something like that with a Noctua D14/15.  The only way I would stick with full ATX is if I had plans to put another video card in.

[patrickjp93]

840Pro is a bad choice in today's market.  Sandisk Extreme II is a better choice for around the same or less money, and the Sandisk Extreme Pro and Samsung 850 Pro are both way better performers for marginally more money.  These 3 drives are the only consumer drives I'd take over an 840 EVO, because that is the drive that draws the line in the sand.  If you are going to spend more, you need to spring for the top end prosumer drives to make it worthwhile, and even so, it may be practically marginal as a upgrade depending on your workload, and if you are going to spend less, you better go way down to the depths and get a lot more GB/$ or there is no excuse to pass up 840EVO level performance.

 

I would err on the side of 2 DIMMs as well when possible.  It is a dual channel platform, so why corner yourself into no more RAM expandability when there is no price difference between kits?  I am sure you can find a 2x8GB 1866 CAS8 kit for $190 or less.

 

Also, I am not really convinced Gigabyte's Windforce is really all that superior to MSI's TF4 or ASUS DCII....noise or thermals...but it is a lot bigger.

 

Also overall I do not see why this needs to be full ATX or utilize a 240mm radiator.  Devil's Canyon looks to hit a wall at around 4.6-4.7GHz, so if you can keep temps reasonable at those clocks in the 1.3V range or slightly above, you might as well move your focus to noise after that.

 

If it were me, I would get a pair of Sandisk Extreme II, Extreme Pro, or 850 Pros instead, switch to 2 DIMMs, downsize the video card to a 10.5" TwinFrozr4 or DirecuII, and move the whole thing into mATX form inside a Silverstone Temjin TJ-08E or something like that with a Noctua D14/15.  The only way I would stick with full ATX is if I had plans to put another video card in.

Eh, the Sandisks don't seem to have AES full-disk encryption available or have decent RAID support. Honestly the Samsung 850 Pro or (good lord how am I suggesting this) the new line from OCZ are the only choices which have it all.

[na1nsxr]

Eh, the Sandisks don't seem to have AES full-disk encryption available or have decent RAID support. Honestly the Samsung 850 Pro or (good lord how am I suggesting this) the new line from OCZ are the only choices which have it all.

 

What from the OP suggests to you that drive encryption is a deal breaker, and what do you mean by RAID support?

[patrickjp93]

What from the OP suggests to you that drive encryption is a deal breaker, and what do you mean by RAID support?

SSDs are notoriously known for wasting writes in RAID configurations. It kills the Samsung 840 Pro series for instance.

 

As per disk encryption, you'd have to be ignorant and/or stupid now not to have it. If you encrypt your OS drive the chances of a malicious attack occurring are minimized. It's also a great idea for keeping financial data secure, and it doesn't detract from performance at all. It's dumb to not have it these days.