Tips for a First Time PC Build

[Adamwarz]

Hello everyone, I've been saving up for a while now and I've been wondering if this is a good build and what could be added or modified.

 

-My budget is pretty much as it is on the pcpartpicker link... So roughly around $1k .. A little more is fine, but not my much... 

-It'll be a gaming ONLY pc, with the exception of getting a few things like skype and chrome installed on it.

-I'll be using 1 monitor and only plan to use one.

-I already have a keyboard/mouse so I'm good there...

-I'm going to be upgrading from a mid 2007 24" iMac purely for gaming

 

My specs for this build are http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Df4rXL

 

CPU- Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor     (I chose this over the i5-4590 since it's newer... I don't really plan to OC though)

 

CPU Cooler- Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler   (A pretty good cpu cooler that's cheap!)

 

MoBo- ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard     (I won't be doing SLI, but I'm concerned if it's a "good" motherboard.. Like if it's "good" quality and will last...)

 

Memory- Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

 

Storage- Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive     (Will be used for bootdrive)

             - Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive     (Not sure if Caviar Black is better or not for gaming)

 

Video Card- MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card

 

Case- NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case     (I like a case with a side panel, good airflow, good cable management, and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.)

 

Power Supply- Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

 

Optical Drive- Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer    (For installing OS and just to have one for who knows what)

 

Operating System- Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit)      (I know it's not OEM, but I read somewhere that it's "not legal or something like that" so I'd rather be safe than sorry... Unless if there's no reason to pay extra for the 'full version'

 

Wireless Adaptor- TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter     (I chose this since it had good reviews and was relatively cheap)

 

Oh another thing to note is that I'll be playing some newerish games like far cry 3, tomb raider, planet side 2, dota 2, csgo, saints row 3/4, while playing some older games like half life 2 and star wars knights of the old republic... The GPU will be coming with the Witcher 3 for free, so I'm excited about that! (I'll admit, I'm a bit of a NVIDIA fanboy so no amd gpu, an amd cpu would be fine, if it's better than what I have listed though.

 

If you guys see anything that should be replaced since it's cheaper and gets the job done at the same level of quality or should just be replaced or removed from the list, please let me know!

 

Thanks!!

[Suffokation]

Do NOT get a phantom case. I have built in it before and it was a nightmare. It feels cheap and cable management is total shite. Get this instead:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.99 @ Micro Center) 

Total: $64.99

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-07 19:35 EDT-0400

 

It has a PSU shroud and is essentially a budget H440.

[Adamwarz]

I saw that case, but what about front intake for airflow on that case?? Err basically does it have good airflow? How's the cable management ??

Oh and will it fit the CPU cooler?

[Vek1313]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/X3YMgs

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/X3YMgs/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.99 @ SuperBiiz)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.75 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($82.98 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($49.97 @ NCIX US)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($314.99 @ Newegg)

Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Corsair CSM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit) ($99.89 @ OutletPC)

Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($34.80 @ Amazon)

Total: $1074.31

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-07 19:41 EDT-0400

Made some edits to your original. Cheaper but still decent SSD. Cheaper 970. A 450w 80+gold because you aren't going to SLI so you don't need 600w.

[zlolslavez]

pick up a 4690 if you don't plan to oc.

[Adamwarz]

Ok thanks! I think the NZXT S340 looks nice, but does it fit the Hyper 212 Evo?

[Suffokation]

I saw that case, but what about front intake for airflow on that case?? Err basically does it have good airflow? How's the cable management ??

Oh and will it fit the CPU cooler?

 

Ok thanks! I think the NZXT S340 looks nice, but does it fit the Hyper 212 Evo?

 

 

Front intake is great, and I don't have an issue with it. Cable management kicks ass. The H440 and S340 are a dream to work in.

 

And yeah, yeah it will.

[Adamwarz]

Awesome thanks! I didn't realize that it had good airflow... And how's the Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard over the one in my build? Any big pros/cons ?

 

Oh I sort of forgot to mention this, but I already ordered the ram...  
I heard that getting a single stick instead of 2 for dual lane (or channel) isn't that much slower...