First PC-Build: any recommendations?

[MSurai]

Hi guys!

 

I'm planning to buy and build a pc, so i'd like to hear some recommendations because i'm still a newbie to pc stuff.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/C8XG23

              CPU:    Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor

  CPU-Cooler:    Corsair H100i

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

         Memory:    G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory

          Storage:    Samsung 840 EVO 250GB

                          Seagate Barracuda 3TB

    Video Card:    Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970

              Case:    Phanteks Enthoo Pro

Power Supply:    Corsair 760W

  Optical Drive:    Asus BW-12B1ST

 

I'll use it mainly for gaming, programming, 3d editing and of course normal tasks like watching videos and stuff.

I have about 1500€ (=1924,65 US-Dollar), though saving some would be pretty nice as i want to uprade the pc later (better fans, more memory, maybe 2nd graphics card?) and i still don't have a monitor and a keyboard yet.

I have to use WiFi because i don't have access to ethernet in my room. I don't know whether i want to buy a motherboard with wifi on it or an pci wireless networking card.

I was thinking about getting a NH-D15 instead of the H100i, but the looks of aircoolers really annoy me plus Corsair Link seems to be pretty nice. As far is i understood it, i can control all the fans on the radiator, the pump and the fans on the video card, but i couldn't find out whether i can control the speed of the front and back fans of my case. (i think i read something, that only pwm-fans can be controlled)

I don't really want to overclock, i'm not sure yet.

 

Thanks for help in advance.

[JuTheBarbarian]

I'd say if you're using this for gaming, you could probably bump your RAM speed down to 1866mhz instead of 2400. It'll probably be cheaper and from what I've seen, 1866mhz seems to be a happy spot for gaming and may actually gain you a frame or two instead of losing performance. Other than that it's a pretty good build from what I can tell ....

[CowsGoRoar]

The build is good. It wouldn't hurt to have the 4790K though, you never know when you feel like overclocking in the future.

I got the 4770K although at first I wasn't planning on overclocking but now I did it anyway.

[Sack]

Hi guys!

 

I'm planning to buy and build a pc, so i'd like to hear some recommendations because i'm still a newbie to pc stuff.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/C8XG23

              CPU:    Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor

  CPU-Cooler:    Corsair H100i

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

         Memory:    G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory

          Storage:    Samsung 840 EVO 250GB

                          Seagate Barracuda 3TB

    Video Card:    Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970

              Case:    Phanteks Enthoo Pro

Power Supply:    Corsair 760W

  Optical Drive:    Asus BW-12B1ST

 

I'll use it mainly for gaming, programming, 3d editing and of course normal tasks like watching videos and stuff.

I have about 1500€ (=1924,65 US-Dollar), though saving some would be pretty nice as i want to uprade the pc later (better fans, more memory, maybe 2nd graphics card?) and i still don't have a monitor and a keyboard yet.

I have to use WiFi because i don't have access to ethernet in my room. I don't know whether i want to buy a motherboard with wifi on it or an pci wireless networking card.

I was thinking about getting a NH-D15 instead of the H100i, but the looks of aircoolers really annoy me plus Corsair Link seems to be pretty nice. As far is i understood it, i can control all the fans on the radiator, the pump and the fans on the video card, but i couldn't find out whether i can control the speed of the front and back fans of my case. (i think i read something, that only pwm-fans can be controlled)

I don't really want to overclock, i'm not sure yet.

 

Thanks for help in advance.

Corsair Link is broken! don't get the cooler just because of the software, it's really nothing special at this time. The cooler itself is good though, but it's probably cheaper to buy a noctua aircooler. You say the air cooler annoy you with their looks, trust me, you won't be looking in through the window after a couple of days.

 

As someone else said you can probably scale down your memory, rather than getting the highest clockspeed on them get a nice 1600 MHz pair of CL9 memory for cheaper.

 

Fan controling on the GPU is done via overclocking tools from asus, evga, msi etc. The fans on the H100i can be changed in teh corsair link, the lights are also configurable there. The case fans needs to be PWM to be configured by your MB tools (assuming you get such software) else you need to control them by limiting their power.

 

Optical drive, do you really need one? I actually forgot to order one, and didn't notice until I was gonna install windows on it... so I put it on memory stick with the software you can get from microsoft, boom, works perfectly.

 

Else I think it looks really solid

[MSurai]

I'd say if you're using this for gaming, you could probably bump your RAM speed down to 1866mhz instead of 2400. It'll probably be cheaper and from what I've seen, 1866mhz seems to be a happy spot for gaming and may actually gain you a frame or two instead of losing performance. Other than that it's a pretty good build from what I can tell ....

Alright i'll look into it!

 

 

The build is good. It wouldn't hurt to have the 4790K though, you never know when you feel like overclocking in the future.

I got the 4770K although at first I wasn't planning on overclocking but now I did it anyway.

That was exactly my thought. I guess i'll take the 4790K. It's just about 5$ more than the 4770K (does anyone even know why? ^^ )

 

 

Corsair Link is broken! don't get the cooler just because of the software, it's really nothing special at this time. The cooler itself is good though, but it's probably cheaper to buy a noctua aircooler. You say the air cooler annoy you with their looks, trust me, you won't be looking in through the window after a couple of days.

 

As someone else said you can probably scale down your memory, rather than getting the highest clockspeed on them get a nice 1600 MHz pair of CL9 memory for cheaper.

 

Fan controling on the GPU is done via overclocking tools from asus, evga, msi etc. The fans on the H100i can be changed in teh corsair link, the lights are also configurable there. The case fans needs to be PWM to be configured by your MB tools (assuming you get such software) else you need to control them by limiting their power.

 

Optical drive, do you really need one? I actually forgot to order one, and didn't notice until I was gonna install windows on it... so I put it on memory stick with the software you can get from microsoft, boom, works perfectly.

 

Else I think it looks really solid

 

There are so many programs for fan control, i've lost view in which can do what. I'd basically want to have a program with which i can see all the temperatures of my pc (cpu, gpu, ...), the speed of all my fans (case fans, cpu fan and/or pump, gpu fan) and set profiles like: when the gpu is xx °C hot, the fanspeed shall be set to xx rpm. I've read about so many different ways like external controllers (don't like them very much), bios, software etc.

Any recommendations on that?

[CowsGoRoar]

That was exactly my thought. I guess i'll take the 4790K. It's just about 5$ more than the 4770K (does anyone even know why? ^^ )

It's the same thing. Unlocked for $5? Totally worth it. 

[JuTheBarbarian]

 

That was exactly my thought. I guess i'll take the 4790K. It's just about 5$ more than the 4770K (does anyone even know why? ^^ )

 

My theory is that the 4790k was just meant to replace the 4770k entirely, so it's basically the same price for more performance.

[MSurai]

It's the same thing. Unlocked for $5? Totally worth it. 

My theory is that the 4790k was just meant to replace the 4770k entirely, so it's basically the same price for more performance.

 

 i7-4790 = 269.99€ (346.42 USD)

 i7-4770 = 276.35€ (354.58 USD)

i7-4770K= 294.85€ (378.32 USD)

i7-4790K= 301.79€ (387.23 USD)

The 4790 is cheaper than the 4770, i really don't get some of these prices ^^

 

You mean the 4790K is the 4770K, just with a higher stock clockspeed? Like the GTX 680 and GTX 770?

 

Edit:

Wow, pc stuff is quite expensive in germany

About 50 USD more for the 4790K

[CowsGoRoar]

Yes, the ##90(K) is just a cooler and higher speed version of the ##70(K).

[Sack]

Alright i'll look into it!

 

 

That was exactly my thought. I guess i'll take the 4790K. It's just about 5$ more than the 4770K (does anyone even know why? ^^ )

 

 

 

There are so many programs for fan control, i've lost view in which can do what. I'd basically want to have a program with which i can see all the temperatures of my pc (cpu, gpu, ...), the speed of all my fans (case fans, cpu fan and/or pump, gpu fan) and set profiles like: when the gpu is xx °C hot, the fanspeed shall be set to xx rpm. I've read about so many different ways like external controllers (don't like them very much), bios, software etc.

Any recommendations on that?

What you are asking for is a very complex program that could monitor all your temps, and adjust the volt of your pumps and/or fans. I don't think this has been made/coded yet, though Linus uses something that monitors his temps, and adjusts his fans. However he says it's so badly made and so hard to configure you'll want to die, this is a big chunk of hardware that sits in his case (check out the "personal rig" videos).

 

You can however use the GPU overclocking tool to set custom fan curves, and you can also see the temperature there, Corsair Link will let you set custom fan curves too. If you want to controll all the case fans you will need to limit the amount of fans to the amount of PWM slots on your board, or you will need to buy a splitter and hook that up to the board, and have less control over each individual fan, or you can control them by limiting their volt (I have no experience with this).

[Captain_Slow]

It's the same thing. Unlocked for $5? Totally worth it. 

 

not the samething, 4790k is 4 ghz and 4790 is 3.6

[CowsGoRoar]

not the samething, 4790k is 4 ghz and 4790 is 3.6

You most be fun at parties.

 

not the samething, 4790k is unlocked and 4790 is locked

[Captain_Slow]

You most be fun at parties.

 

not the samething, 4790k is unlocked and 4790 is locked

 

you most be great at spelling.

 

you said the 4790 and 4790k only differs in ability to be OC'd, just pointing out your mistake.

[CowsGoRoar]

you most be great at spelling.

 

you said the 4790 and 4790k only differs in ability to be OC'd, just pointing out your mistake.

You must be really really fun at parties.

[Captain_Slow]

You must be really really fun at parties.

 

do you always resort to stupid insults when you happen upon people that know more than you?

[CowsGoRoar]

do you always resort to stupid insults when you happen upon people that know more than you?

You took that as an insult? Wow. Really really really fun at parties.

 

You don't know any more than me, clock speeds and one letter difference is nothing when you're talking in the figure of speech.

[Captain_Slow]

...

[MSurai]

What you are asking for is a very complex program that could monitor all your temps, and adjust the volt of your pumps and/or fans. I don't think this has been made/coded yet, though Linus uses something that monitors his temps, and adjusts his fans. However he says it's so badly made and so hard to configure you'll want to die, this is a big chunk of hardware that sits in his case (check out the "personal rig" videos).

 

You can however use the GPU overclocking tool to set custom fan curves, and you can also see the temperature there, Corsair Link will let you set custom fan curves too. If you want to controll all the case fans you will need to limit the amount of fans to the amount of PWM slots on your board, or you will need to buy a splitter and hook that up to the board, and have less control over each individual fan, or you can control them by limiting their volt (I have no experience with this).

 

That is exactly the kind of program i'm looking for ^^

As far as i know there are enough programs to do these tasks individually, but having all of it available in one program would be really neat.

As i said in one of the earlier posts, i was thinking about getting a NH-D15 first. I considered the H100i only because of the looks (yeah i know, they're not as important as performance but if it performance good AND looks good it's even better ^^) and Corsair Link, as this program seems to be able to do all of the above. However i've read loooots of complaints about Corsair Link about not being reliable, crushing often, having mistakes in the program, etc.

I'm not really sure which one to get

[Sack]

That is exactly the kind of program i'm looking for ^^

As far as i know there are enough programs to do these tasks individually, but having all of it available in one program would be really neat.

As i said in one of the earlier posts, i was thinking about getting a NH-D15 first. I considered the H100i only because of the looks (yeah i know, they're not as important as performance but if it performance good AND looks good it's even better ^^) and Corsair Link, as this program seems to be able to do all of the above. However i've read loooots of complaints about Corsair Link about not being reliable, crushing often, having mistakes in the program, etc.

I'm not really sure which one to get

If you want Corsair Link to do all of that you need to get the Corsair kit, it' won't do anything besides controlling your CPU cooling unit out of the box, but you can get some fan controller unit thinkg, which basically is a fan splitter or something. I don't think it will monitor your temps though, for that I think you will have to look at the unit that Linus and Luke uses (see the "Personal rig update" videos, it's in there somewhere).

 

I really get what you're saying though, I would fill my case with Noctuas if it weren't for their colour scheme that looks like... hearing-aid colour

 

 

Edit: Sorry it seems this is the thing you're after http://www.corsair.com/en/corsair-commander-mini , I have no idea how well it works, I suggest you post a seperate thread asking for any info from others regarding the Corsair commander mini.

[MSurai]

If you want Corsair Link to do all of that you need to get the Corsair kit, it' won't do anything besides controlling your CPU cooling unit out of the box, but you can get some fan controller unit thinkg, which basically is a fan splitter or something. I don't think it will monitor your temps though, for that I think you will have to look at the unit that Linus and Luke uses (see the "Personal rig update" videos, it's in there somewhere).

 

I really get what you're saying though, I would fill my case with Noctuas if it weren't for their colour scheme that looks like... hearing-aid colour

 

 

Edit: Sorry it seems this is the thing you're after http://www.corsair.com/en/corsair-commander-mini , I have no idea how well it works, I suggest you post a seperate thread asking for any info from others regarding the Corsair commander mini.

 

You mean the Fancontroller T-Balancer/bigNG?

I was looking into the program "SpeedFan" and it seems to be able to monitor pretty much all the temperatures and rpms, even if it isn't that good-looking. I read many times that it takes some time to get into the program, but once you've understood it and set up your profiles it seems to be amazing. I'll try to get a look at it and see whether i like it. I also noticed that the fans included in the Phanteks Enthoo Pro are both 3pin fans (1 x 140mm in the back and 1 x 200mm in the front), so i'm not sure about how to control these (there are lots of topics in forums about that so i guess i'll find something).

 

Edit:

In this video about the Phanteks Enthoo Pro by Linus he talks about that fan-thingy.

http://phanteks.com/Enthoo-Pro.html

Phanteks says at their Website under: Overview -> Cooling

     - The PWM hub makes it possible to control all the connected fans (also 3-pin fans) with PWM function through 1 PWM connector and create better cable management.

So... it makes 3-pin fans to 4-pin fans? Does this end up in programs like SpeedFan recognising all the fans that are plugged into the pwm hub as one fan, thus making it impossible to control the fans individually?

[Orangezorki]

Looks like a great build, but like the other comments I'd get slower ram, but possibly a 32gb kit for the 3D modelling and an unlocked processor as the price difference is so low.

 

Apart from AMD APUs, I've seen little to convince me that RAM over 1600Mhz DDR3 makes any meaningful difference.

 

David

[Sack]

You mean the Fancontroller T-Balancer/bigNG?

I was looking into the program "SpeedFan" and it seems to be able to monitor pretty much all the temperatures and rpms, even if it isn't that good-looking. I read many times that it takes some time to get into the program, but once you've understood it and set up your profiles it seems to be amazing. I'll try to get a look at it and see whether i like it. I also noticed that the fans included in the Phanteks Enthoo Pro are both 3pin fans (1 x 140mm in the back and 1 x 200mm in the front), so i'm not sure about how to control these (there are lots of topics in forums about that so i guess i'll find something).

 

Edit:

In this video about the Phanteks Enthoo Pro by Linus he talks about that fan-thingy.

http://phanteks.com/Enthoo-Pro.html

Phanteks says at their Website under: Overview -> Cooling

     - The PWM hub makes it possible to control all the connected fans (also 3-pin fans) with PWM function through 1 PWM connector and create better cable management.

So... it makes 3-pin fans to 4-pin fans? Does this end up in programs like SpeedFan recognising all the fans that are plugged into the pwm hub as one fan, thus making it impossible to control the fans individually?

Yes that was the piece of hardware I meant.

 

Well it's a splitter, that's what splitters do, they split the signal up so more than one unit can recieve it, i.e the same signal will be sent to all fans and it will only be recognised as one fan.

 

I have not tried speedfan, but I have doubts about how good it is, if it was really good, then Linus would probably use it instead of a expensive and cumbersome hardware controlled solution.

 

3 pin fans can be controlled by external fan controllers, you can fit them in one of your optical bays usually, and some of them looks quite good actually

[MSurai]

Looks like a great build, but like the other comments I'd get slower ram, but possibly a 32gb kit for the 3D modelling and an unlocked processor as the price difference is so low.

 

Apart from AMD APUs, I've seen little to convince me that RAM over 1600Mhz DDR3 makes any meaningful difference.

 

David

Yes, i'll get the 4790K and some other ram (maybe this: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/a-data-memory-ax3u1866w8g10dmv ?).

 

 

Yes that was the piece of hardware I meant.

 

Well it's a splitter, that's what splitters do, they split the signal up so more than one unit can recieve it, i.e the same signal will be sent to all fans and it will only be recognised as one fan.

 

I have not tried speedfan, but I have doubts about how good it is, if it was really good, then Linus would probably use it instead of a expensive and cumbersome hardware controlled solution.

 

3 pin fans can be controlled by external fan controllers, you can fit them in one of your optical bays usually, and some of them looks quite good actually

The problem about controlling the fans with software and a splitter would be, that the fans couldn't be controlled indiviudally, right?

External fan controllers look really ugly in my opinion, and i know its not about the looks but about the performance, but of course i'd like to keep it good looking if possible plus using software that can set up profiles for the fans would spare me of always manually regulating the rpms.

 

Edit:

If i'd just plug all the fans into the motherboard, they'd just go full rpm, right?

It would be louder but i just want to be sure, before i'm having problems with software and my pc burns out ^^

I'll have to wait untill i buy it because the GTX 970 isn't available in Germany yet (i think it will be in a few days, but it will probably be sold out pretty fast so i guess i'll have to wait a bit untill i can actually buy all the parts ^^ )

[Sack]

Yes, i'll get the 4790K and some other ram (maybe this: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/a-data-memory-ax3u1866w8g10dmv ?).

 

 

The problem about controlling the fans with software and a splitter would be, that the fans couldn't be controlled indiviudally, right?

External fan controllers look really ugly in my opinion, and i know its not about the looks but about the performance, but of course i'd like to keep it good looking if possible plus using software that can set up profiles for the fans would spare me of always manually regulating the rpms.

 

Edit:

If i'd just plug all the fans into the motherboard, they'd just go full rpm, right?

It would be louder but i just want to be sure, before i'm having problems with software and my pc burns out ^^

I'll have to wait untill i buy it because the GTX 970 isn't available in Germany yet (i think it will be in a few days, but it will probably be sold out pretty fast so i guess i'll have to wait a bit untill i can actually buy all the parts ^^ )

If they are 3-pin they will go full power, if they are 4-pin you can configure them with some kind of software.

 

Well to each his/her own taste, but I don't think these are so bad http://www.nzxt.com/category/products/10-fan-control

[MSurai]

I know this post is really old but i think i found a suiting software for me. The ASUS motherboards come with Fan Xpert 3 (at least the one's i find interesting) with which i seem to be able to control cpu and case fans, no matter whether they're 3 or 4 pin fans. However my budget is different now due to some complications. I'm not sure how much it has changed or will change so i guess i'll have to come up with a new build or wait a little bit.

Thanks everyone!