First time building a PC

[JKev18]

Hey guys, I have currently got an Alienware M17x and am considering upgrading to a new custom PC but I have no idea what I am doing. Below is a link to an amazon wishlist to the parts that I was considering using in the build:

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/JKev18/saved/zM7LrH

 

It will be primarily used for gaming but would be used for studying/projects for Uni next year. There are still some aspects that I will need to deal with while completing the build and using it:

• I will need a wi-fi adapter as the pc will be situated quite a distance from the router/modem with no easy way of connecting them together.
• A disk drive would be a nice addition to the build to allow me to install large games as Australian internet connections are not that great
• Cooling will be a major issue as where I live, temperatures get up to 35/95 degrees in the summer
• I currently have all the peripherals that I need besides a monitor for the setup but do have displays for setting up the build

I would like to keep the price around the point that I have it or less. Any pointers would be nice on parts to get as well as tips to build it. I would like to keep the budget around $2500 AUD (currently exchanges to $1800 USD).

Thanks

[Morgan MLGman]

The link does not work. Give us your budget and purpose of the PC

[pyro1212]

Creepy, you have the same wish list as me. 

[Streetguru]

Hey guys, I have currently got an Alienware M17x and am considering upgrading to a new custom PC but I have no idea what I am doing. Below is a link to an amazon wishlist to the parts that I

What budget what country? also use PC part picker

[LukeTim]

Hi @JKev18, and welcome to the Linus Tech Tips forum.

First off, I'd recommend using PC Part Picker to select components and then show us your list. The main benefit of this is that it does price aggregation, so you can get the best price for each item, but it also makes it easy for us to amend your list to show you alternative builds.

If you do that, we can help tweak the build to suit your needs.

Also, a budget would be helpful too.

[jackvannlammonby]

yep, link is not working. Use PC Part Picker. Great site. Easy to make changes to your build and it will mean you get the best price on everything. 

[JKev18]

Sorry about the bad link. I have changed it in the first post as well as adding info that should help you help me. It is also below if needed.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/JKev18/saved/zM7LrH

 

Thanks

[Streetguru]

Sorry about the bad link. I have changed it in the first post as well as adding info that should help you help me. It is also below if needed.

Here, this is much better balanced, and it includes a 144hz 1440p free-sync display, built on the AUS part picker

PCPartPicker part list: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/GK7qCJ

Price breakdown by merchant: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/GK7qCJ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($369.00 @ Centre Com)

Motherboard: Asus H81M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($89.00 @ Mwave Australia)

Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($60.00 @ Centre Com)

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($235.00 @ IJK)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($69.00 @ Centre Com)

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 390 8GB PCS+ Video Card  ($449.00 @ CPL Online)

Case: Deepcool TESSERACT BF ATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.99 @ Mwave Australia)

Power Supply: Fractal Design Integra R2 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($98.00 @ CPL Online)

Monitor: Acer XG270HU 144Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($679.00 @ PCCaseGear)

Total: $2097.99

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-16 15:32 AEDT+1100

[techguru]

his list 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($509.00 @ Centre Com) 

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($115.00 @ CPL Online) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($259.00 @ CPL Online) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($130.00 @ IJK) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($235.00 @ IJK) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($235.00 @ IJK) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($509.00 @ CPL Online) 

Case: Corsair Air 540 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($179.00 @ Umart) 

Power Supply: Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($169.00 @ CPL Online) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro Full (32/64-bit)  ($245.00 @ CPL Online) 

Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-AC68 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($105.00 @ CPL Online) 

Total: $2690.00

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-16 15:34 AEDT+1100

[fishymamba]

My suggestions:

 

1. You honestly don't need that huge cooler even in your hot weather. A Hyper 212 Evo will do fine. Unless you are overclocking of course.

 

2. Why do you want 2 SSDs? I would drop one of those and get a large hard drive instead. Use the SSD for OS and programs, and some games, and use the HD for video/photo/etc.

 

3. Spend the money from swapping out the SSD on a little better GPU. 

 

4. PSU is pretty overkill. Something in the 600 range will do just fine. 

[techguru]

Here, this is much better balanced, and it includes a 144hz 1440p free-sync display, built on the AUS part picker

PCPartPicker part list: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/GK7qCJ

Price breakdown by merchant: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/GK7qCJ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($369.00 @ Centre Com)

Motherboard: Asus H81M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($89.00 @ Mwave Australia)

Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($60.00 @ Centre Com)

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($235.00 @ IJK)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($69.00 @ Centre Com)

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 390 8GB PCS+ Video Card  ($449.00 @ CPL Online)

Case: Deepcool TESSERACT BF ATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.99 @ Mwave Australia)

Power Supply: Fractal Design Integra R2 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($98.00 @ CPL Online)

Monitor: Acer XG270HU 144Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($679.00 @ PCCaseGear)

Total: $2097.99

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-16 15:32 AEDT+1100

balanced?...you gave him a POS h81 board

[techguru]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($509.00 @ Centre Com) 

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($89.00 @ CPL Online) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($259.00 @ CPL Online) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($130.00 @ IJK) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($235.00 @ IJK) 

Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($170.00 @ Centre Com) 

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card  ($699.00 @ CPL Online) 

Case: Corsair Air 540 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($179.00 @ Umart) 

Power Supply: SeaSonic G-750 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($169.00 @ CPL Online) 

Total: $2439.00

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-16 15:37 AEDT+1100

[techguru]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($355.00 @ IJK) 

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($89.00 @ CPL Online) 

Motherboard: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($259.00 @ IJK) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($137.00 @ IJK) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($235.00 @ IJK) 

Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($170.00 @ Centre Com) 

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card  ($699.00 @ CPL Online) 

Case: Corsair Air 540 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($179.00 @ Umart) 

Power Supply: SeaSonic G-750 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($169.00 @ CPL Online) 

Total: $2292.00

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-16 15:39 AEDT+1100

[Streetguru]

balanced?...you gave him a POS h81 board

That board is fine, it has a USB 3.0 header and the CPU is locked anyways, overclocking has lost it's luster a fair bit, spending extra on the unlocked chip+motherboard only matters if you're trying to run every game at 144hz for some reason.

[stconquest]

Comparative build:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($519.00 @ CPL Online)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver.2 44.2 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler  ($57.00 @ IJK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($185.00 @ IJK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($179.00 @ IJK)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($235.00 @ IJK)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 390 8GB PCS+ Video Card  ($449.00 @ CPL Online)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case  ($139.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Power Supply: XFX PRO Black Edition 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($179.00 @ CPL Online)  <<Went 850W to support two GPUs
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($139.00 @ CPL Online)  <<$100 extra for Pro, you can't be serious =/
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-AC56 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($74.00 @ CPL Online)
Total: $2155.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-16 15:46 AEDT+1100

[techguru]

That board is fine, it has a USB 3.0 header and the CPU is locked anyways, overclocking has lost it's luster a fair bit, spending extra on the unlocked chip+motherboard only matters if you're trying to run every game at 144hz for some reason.

under no circumstance should you recommend a h81 board for anything...min should be like a b85...and for this budget..theres no reason what so ever to suggest anything other then a higher end board

[RichieXtheXboss]

best site to build a pc because it does it for you

http://choosemypc.net/

[stconquest]

best site to build a pc because it does it for you

http://choosemypc.net/

 

Seems okay, but not better than knowing components and picking your own... not the best, no. 

[Streetguru]

under no circumstance should you recommend a h81 board for anything...min should be like a b85...and for this budget..theres no reason what so ever to suggest anything other then a higher end board

Is there any major difference? It's not like AM3+ boards where you need a higher end board just for power delivery

[techguru]

Is there any major difference? It's not like AM3+ boards where you need a higher end board just for power delivery

true..but manufactures use the cheapest quality components in those extreme low end boards in order to keep the price down

can't tell you the number of h81 boards clients of mine have had...that died relatively quickly

[Streetguru]

true..but manufactures use the cheapest quality components in those extreme low end boards in order to keep the price down

can't tell you the number of h81 boards clients of mine have had...that died relatively quickly

I suppose, some higher chipset boards aren't much more with a few more power phases, although that board has pretty good reviews all around

[JKev18]

My suggestions:

 

1. You honestly don't need that huge cooler even in your hot weather. A Hyper 212 Evo will do fine. Unless you are overclocking of course.

 

2. Why do you want 2 SSDs? I would drop one of those and get a large hard drive instead. Use the SSD for OS and programs, and some games, and use the HD for video/photo/etc.

 

3. Spend the money from swapping out the SSD on a little better GPU. 

 

4. PSU is pretty overkill. Something in the 600 range will do just fine. 

 

I was thinking of getting the two SSDs for faster speeds and the original list did have a 6TB hard drive with a single 1TB SSD but I realized that it was a bit excessive for my needs. I originally had a large PSU for future expand-ability as I see myself tweaking the build throughout the next few years. I do not intend on overclocking. Thanks for the pointers, I will take them into consideration when I make my final decision.

[JKev18]

Here, this is much better balanced, and it includes a 144hz 1440p free-sync display, built on the AUS part picker

PCPartPicker part list: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/GK7qCJ

Price breakdown by merchant: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/GK7qCJ/by_merchant/

Total: $2097.99

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-16 15:32 AEDT+1100

 

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

Total: $2439.00

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-16 15:37 AEDT+1100

 

 

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

Total: $2292.00

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-16 15:39 AEDT+1100

 

 

 

Comparative build:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: XFX PRO Black Edition 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($179.00 @ CPL Online)  <<Went 850W to support two GPUs

Total: $2155.00

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-16 15:46 AEDT+1100

 

Thanks for the lists. I probably should have mentioned that I do have a preference to Nvidia GPUs due to previous experience with them. I want a build that will last me for a while before I need to make some major changes. I do not intend on overclocking the rig and do not intend to use multiple graphics cards in the near future due to the issues I have seen online with configuring them. I want a case that will allow me to see the inner workings of the computer and I will most likely have the rig on my desk. Cheers for the advice and I will take it into consideration when making the final build.

[Streetguru]

Thanks for the lists. I probably should have mentioned that I do have a preference to Nvidia GPUs due to previous experience with them. I want a build that will last me for a while before I need to

Ya, I dunno man, nvidia's maxwell DX12/Vulkan support is in question, and you'll save a good deal of money on a free-sync display vs a G-sync display. and about the only nvidia card that's faster than an equivalent AMD card is the 980ti

[stconquest]

Thanks for the lists. I probably should have mentioned that I do have a preference to Nvidia GPUs due to previous experience with them. I want a build that will last me for a while before I need to make some major changes. I do not intend on overclocking the rig and do not intend to use multiple graphics cards in the near future due to the issues I have seen online with configuring them. I want a case that will allow me to see the inner workings of the computer and I will most likely have the rig on my desk. Cheers for the advice and I will take it into consideration when making the final build.

 

Nvidia GPUs are fine.

 

Getting a K-Series CPU does not mean you have to overclock right away.  If 3-4 years when you need the extra CPU performance, it will be as simple as watching a few videos and punching in a few numbers.  Will give you a few more quality years with that CPU.

 

The Corsair Air 540 is fine.