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First Build Advice

Varalis
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600w is more than enough. stock clock speed is more than enough. Don't bother with a sound card unless youre driving studio quality headphones, or you will notice no difference unless you're a professional audiophile. stock corsair fans are fine, just a bit loud once they get going. that gpu is totaly good for what you plan, i can't think of anything that really offers more. 

 

Get the OS from G2A or microsoftsoftwareswap for 1/15th the price, and a legit copy. And get two 4gb dimms of ram over one 8gb dim, that will give you a bit better performance for most likely less cost.

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     Hello I am going to build my very first gaming desktop soon. I was wondering if I could get a few questions answered about my planned setup. Here are the specs:

 

Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX Motherboard

CPU: Intel Core i5 4690K

GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970

Power Supply: Corsair CX 600m

RAM: Single 8GB Corsair Vengeance

Wireless Card: TP-LINK Dual Band Wireless Adapter

Soundcard: Xonar DX Soundcard

HDD Storage: WD Blue 1 TB

Aftermarket Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5

Case: Corsair Carbide Series Mid-Tower Gaming Case

Optical Drive: Asus Internal Optical Drive

Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

 

Questions: 

So, will the 600W power supply be enough? Should I get a 750W just in case? Will an out-of-the-box CPU clock speed of 3.5-3.9 GHz be good for gaming or should I overclock? Should I get the Xonar DX sound card? I have heard excellent reviews and want a really immersive experience in games (I know that speaker/headphone quality matters with sound cards as well). Also, should I keep stock Corsair case fans or buy aftermarket ones? Should I go for a different brand on the GPU? There were lots of different ones on Amazon. By the way, I am not an audiophile or enthusiast, I just want an immersive and fun game experience.

 

Reasoning:

  • I am not getting an SSD boot drive because I don't want to mess with multiple drives
  • I got a different CPU cooling because of a lack of confidence in stock CPU fans and possible overclocking
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Your build is great how it is, 600w should be fine unless you want to SLI the 970 later on.

 

as for the multiple drives, it's REALLY easy to add a 2nd drive in windows, and the speed boost from the SSD is extremely noticeable. Plus if you have any trouble with getting the secondary HDD working, there's always a forum right here to help you out. 

 

EDIT: you may want to go for 2x4gb ram, as dual channel has a bit better performance, but will also probably cost a bit more. 

Specs: i7 4790k, r9 280 windforce OC, 8gb hyperx fury 1866 RAM, z97 PC Mate, 256gb mx100, black pearl r4, 2tb WD Red (soon)

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I am not getting an SSD boot drive because I don't want to mess with multiple drives  <---mess with multiple drives?...all you do is install the ssd and hdd and use the ssd as the OS drive....games and stuff go on the hdd

If you need remote help fixing something on your computer

I can help over Teamviewer if you wish

just msg me on my profile

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and change your psu to a seasonic or xfx

If you need remote help fixing something on your computer

I can help over Teamviewer if you wish

just msg me on my profile

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  • Solution

600w is more than enough. stock clock speed is more than enough. Don't bother with a sound card unless youre driving studio quality headphones, or you will notice no difference unless you're a professional audiophile. stock corsair fans are fine, just a bit loud once they get going. that gpu is totaly good for what you plan, i can't think of anything that really offers more. 

 

Get the OS from G2A or microsoftsoftwareswap for 1/15th the price, and a legit copy. And get two 4gb dimms of ram over one 8gb dim, that will give you a bit better performance for most likely less cost.

Updated 2021 Desktop || 3700x || Asus x570 Tuf Gaming || 32gb Predator 3200mhz || 2080s XC Ultra || MSI 1440p144hz || DT990 + HD660 || GoXLR + ifi Zen Can || Avermedia Livestreamer 513 ||

New Home Dedicated Game Server || Xeon E5 2630Lv3 || 16gb 2333mhz ddr4 ECC || 2tb Sata SSD || 8tb Nas HDD || Radeon 6450 1g display adapter ||

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Posted

snip

You'll be fine on about 450W so don't worry about wattage. I suggest you get a better PSU though. What you have has sufficient wattage but isn't the greatest PSU out there. Get something from EVGA or Seasonic bar the NEX series.

 

You do not need a sound card if you're not working with music or movie production. You will have enough audio power to run nearly anything but the absolute top-notch headphones (Sennheiser HD 800s for example).

 

You should get an SSD as your boot drive. It really isn't hard to figure the multi-drive setup out.

 

You should get something better than Arctic Silver 5. It's not a hug edeal though. Perhaps some Noctua stuff.

 

EDIT: Also, welcome to the forums, please follow your own topic and don't forget to use the "Quote" button to respond to people.

|PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. 

My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon ||

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 Alright, this has been very helpful already! Thank you guys very much!

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 Alright, this has been very helpful already! Thank you guys very much!

I can explain the multi-drive thing if you want :)

If you got it all sorted out then cool!

|PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. 

My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon ||

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Looks good. Buy a Damn cat-6 cable! You'll appreciate it trust me. It may be a little added work poking the holes and running the cable but its easy peasy and you cant beat the consistent lag free connection and greater DL speeds of a hardline.

My Rig- CPU: Phenom II X4 955 3.2@3.6ghz (OC) Motherboard: MSI 790FX-GD70 Ram: 2x4GB Patriot Viper 1333@1666Mhz (OC) Cooling: Corsair H55 liquid cooler (CPU), 3x120mm 3 speedTricool blue LED case fans (2 front 1 rear), 1x200mm 3 speed Tricool turbine (top)  PSU: Corsair CX600  GPU: XFX R9 270X 1050@1150 (OC) Storage: 1x60gb OCZ Vertex III (Boot) 1x500GB Western Digital Black (Storage) Keyboard: Roccat ISKU Alien FX Multicolor  Mouse: Roccat Cone Pure Multicolor  Headset: Logitech G430 Display: LG Flatron W2353V

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I can explain the multi-drive thing if you want :)

If you got it all sorted out then cool!

     I think I got it, but thanks!

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     I think I got it, but thanks!

No problem! If you ever need more help then don't be afraid to send me a PM :)

|PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. 

My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon ||

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Looks good. Buy a Damn cat-6 cable! You'll appreciate it trust me. It may be a little added work poking the holes and running the cable but its easy peasy and you cant beat the consistent lag free connection and greater DL speeds of a hardline.

     I just won't be near a place where I can plug in ethernet so I am going wireless, which I am fine with :)

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     I just won't be near a place where I can plug in ethernet so I am going wireless, which I am fine with :)

May the WI-FI gods bless you with a decent router.

My Rig- CPU: Phenom II X4 955 3.2@3.6ghz (OC) Motherboard: MSI 790FX-GD70 Ram: 2x4GB Patriot Viper 1333@1666Mhz (OC) Cooling: Corsair H55 liquid cooler (CPU), 3x120mm 3 speedTricool blue LED case fans (2 front 1 rear), 1x200mm 3 speed Tricool turbine (top)  PSU: Corsair CX600  GPU: XFX R9 270X 1050@1150 (OC) Storage: 1x60gb OCZ Vertex III (Boot) 1x500GB Western Digital Black (Storage) Keyboard: Roccat ISKU Alien FX Multicolor  Mouse: Roccat Cone Pure Multicolor  Headset: Logitech G430 Display: LG Flatron W2353V

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     I just won't be near a place where I can plug in ethernet so I am going wireless, which I am fine with :)

NCIX has a video on creating your own ethernet cables. you can buy a spool of cable, run it the exact length you need, and then crimp on the connector on each end. It really is better than wifi. 

Specs: i7 4790k, r9 280 windforce OC, 8gb hyperx fury 1866 RAM, z97 PC Mate, 256gb mx100, black pearl r4, 2tb WD Red (soon)

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NCIX has a video on creating your own ethernet cables. you can buy a spool of cable, run it the exact length you need, and then crimp on the connector on each end. It really is better than wifi. 

     Thanks for the tip, but I would rather be able to easily open and close doors and deal with wifi downsides. It does have to go through 3 rooms as well which is very awkward with a really long ethernet cable running through all of them xD.

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DON'T BUY RETAIL OS without visiting /r/microsoftsoftwareswap (it's a subreddit.) There, you can look for microsoft keys (the code you put in) from legit sellers. once you do that, download the windows 7 installer online and then install the OS that way

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Corsair psu is nice and stuff but it would be smarter to change it to evga.

CPU: i7 4790k @ 4.4 GHz                                                 Case: Fractal Design Define R5                       SSD: Samsung Evo 850 250gb          Monitor:  Benq GL2760        
   GPU: MSI GTX 970 SLI (+140 Core|+400 Mem)               Motherboard: Msi Z97-G5                                 HDD: WD blue 1TB                             CPU Cooler:  Hyper 412s
      RAM: 16GB HyperX DDR3 1600MHz                                PSU: Cooler Master v850                                 Storage: Adata HV610 1TB                  OS: Windows 10           

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