Critique for first time pc builder

[Mrtrickzter]

Hey guys, I have been wanting to build myself a pc, here are the list I have choose for myself. This is a sub $1200-ish for gaming and college engineering work. I want to know what are you guys opinion on my part list and think what I should change if you guys think there is something else better and cheaper. Thank you everyone for helping. Hoping to see everyone opinion soon.

 

Note: I wanna mention that I won't be overclocking any of my gpu or cpu

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor  ($233.73 @ SuperBiiz) 

CPU Cooler: CRYORIG C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($31.86 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: Asus Z87-Plus ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($67.00 @ NCIX US) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($69.05 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($47.79 @ OutletPC) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($48.74 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($350.54 @ Newegg) 

Case: Fractal Design FD-CA-CORE-3300-BL ATX Mid Tower Case  ($53.11 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($76.29 @ Newegg) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($95.61 @ NCIX US) 

Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link Archer T2U 802.11a/b/g/n/ac USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($27.63 @ B&H) 

Total: $1101.35

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-04 14:39 EST-0500

Edited January 4, 2016 by Mrtrickzter

[pckid]

R9 390 would be a better option.

[Becausei'mBatman]

you can buy windows 10 cheaper on g2/reddit

[manofsteel]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HpT4cf

this build (which is mine btw or rather gonna be soon) is better becasue MB is for OC and CPU can be easily OC . GPU is STRONGER  PSU is future proof i mean crossfire right?. Ram is nearly the same as yours case and CPU cooler are rather matter of choice and storage is pritty similar

[Mrtrickzter]

R9 390 would be a better option.

 

will heat be a problem? from my experience, I got higher temps from using amd gpu than using nvidia gpu

[Mrtrickzter]

you can buy windows 10 cheaper on g2/reddit

 

ohh didn't know about that lolz, maybe I will check it out.

[Mrtrickzter]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HpT4cf

this build (which is mine btw or rather gonna be soon) is better becasue MB is for OC and CPU can be easily OC . GPU is STRONGER  PSU is future proof i mean crossfire right?. Ram is nearly the same as yours case and CPU cooler are rather matter of choice and storage is pritty similar

I understand, but this is a complete build so I will need an OS and wifi card. I will consider your build style in the future when I just want to upgrade small part of my pc

Edited January 4, 2016 by Mrtrickzter

[pckid]

will heat be a problem? from my experience, I got higher temps from using amd gpu than using nvidia gpu

Shouldn't be noticeable.

I understand, but this is a complete build so I will need an OS and wifi card

Could you use a powerline?

[Abir Vandergriff]

I'd change out the cooler for a bigger one, like a Hyper 212 Evo.

The memory could go down to a 1600 MHz kit, if you're just gaming.

The Kingston V300 Now is slow these days, there are other options near that pricepoint which would be better with either higher capacity or better performance. The speed is why I have two in RAID 0, though the capacity is also something to consider. 

The GPU you got does trade blows with a 390, though the 390 more commonly wins out. If you're not overclocking, go with the 390, if you are, get a well cooled 970 and overclock the hell out of it.

I'd go with a bigger power supply if it's in the budget. 750W is nice for future headroom, such as if you ever want to do 2-way SLI/X-Fire.

Don't get an OEM OS if you plan on ever upgrading. They're cheaper, but changing motherboards is a giant pain in the ass. Had that issue myself. 

I'd get an internal WiFi adapter, honestly. Saves a USB port.

 

Edit: Wifi adapter on the internal makes sense, too. The motherboard you chose has a PCIe 1x above the 16x slot, almost precisely for something like a WiFi card.

[Mrtrickzter]

Shouldn't be noticeable.

Could you use a powerline?

 

hmm okay. As for the power line, I will save all the speed for my brother as he will need for his program works. I won't be using power line unless I live on my own my friend but appreciate the consideration of power line

[manofsteel]

I understand, but this is a complete build so I will need an OS and wifi card. I will consider your build style in the future when I just want to upgrade small part of my pc

Well i tried searching for price of MSI z97 mbs with wifi but couldnt find them on pcpartpicker sadly becasue z97 could provide better OC and some features on mb i think

[Abir Vandergriff]

If it's in the budget, you might also get a bigger HDD. I don't regret going 3TB at all. The Seagate Barracuda 3TB drives were about $85 last I checked, so it's not much more for triple the space. Oh, is it worth it, though.

[ShiroArikawa]

hmm okay. As for the power line, I will save all the speed for my brother as he will need for his program works. I won't be using power line unless I live on my own my friend but appreciate the consideration of power line

mine with a different gpu lol

[bucklingspring]

If I were you, I'd look for a different SSD. In my experience, the SSDNow V300 series doesn't perform well compared to its competitors.

[Abir Vandergriff]

If I were you, I'd look for a different SSD. In my experience, the SSDNow V300 series doesn't perform well compared to its competitors.

Pretty accurate. I am doing two in RAID 0 just for decent speeds. 

[Mrtrickzter]

I'd change out the cooler for a bigger one, like a Hyper 212 Evo.

The memory could go down to a 1600 MHz kit, if you're just gaming.

The Kingston V300 Now is slow these days, there are other options near that pricepoint which would be better with either higher capacity or better performance. The speed is why I have two in RAID 0, though the capacity is also something to consider. 

The GPU you got does trade blows with a 390, though the 390 more commonly wins out. If you're not overclocking, go with the 390, if you are, get a well cooled 970 and overclock the hell out of it.

I'd go with a bigger power supply if it's in the budget. 750W is nice for future headroom, such as if you ever want to do 2-way SLI/X-Fire.

Don't get an OEM OS if you plan on ever upgrading. They're cheaper, but changing motherboards is a giant pain in the ass. Had that issue myself. 

I'd get an internal WiFi adapter, honestly. Saves a USB port.

 

Edit: Wifi adapter on the internal makes sense, too. The motherboard you chose has a PCIe 1x above the 16x slot, almost precisely for something like a WiFi card.

okay, I can see your point.

I will consider samsung 250 evo then for ssd.

For RAM, it's kinda funny that I found ddr3-1866 MHz (the one I choose) price around 1600 MHz speed ram from company like kingston or crucial. 

For GPU, I don't know whether this is a problem of software or not but check this out, R9 390 seems to struggle with fallout 4 on ultra in 1080p but I will try to check things around with gtx 970 and r9 390 (I won't be overclocking since I fear the lifespan of my component will die on me faster). 

For Wifi adapter, hmm then I can consider the gigabyte wifi pcie card. 

For CPU cooler, hmm that looks like a good cooler too.

[Mrtrickzter]

If I were you, I'd look for a different SSD. In my experience, the SSDNow V300 series doesn't perform well compared to its competitors.

yeah, I consider samsung 850 evo

[Mrtrickzter]

Well i tried searching for price of MSI z97 mbs with wifi but couldnt find them on pcpartpicker sadly becasue z97 could provide better OC and some features on mb i think

 

it will break my budget I guess if I able to find one. lol

[bucklingspring]

yeah, I consider samsung 850 evo

Yeah, that's a good one.

[Abir Vandergriff]

okay, I can see your point.

I will consider samsung 250 evo then for ssd.

For RAM, it's kinda funny that I found ddr3-1866 MHz (the one I choose) price around 1600 MHz speed ram from company like kingston or crucial. 

For GPU, I don't know whether this is a problem of software or not but check this out, R9 390 seems to struggle with fallout 4 on ultra in 1080p but I will try to check things around with gtx 970 and r9 390 (I won't be overclocking since I fear the lifespan of my component will die on me faster).

For Wifi adapter, hmm then I can consider the gigabyte wifi pcie card. 

For CPU cooler, hmm that looks like a good cooler too.

The Hyper 212 is pretty universally considered great, especially at $30. If I air cooled, I'd probably be using that.

Just took a look, and that is actually pretty nice. CAS 10 and the same price as most of the 1600 MHz kits. Good find, man.

As for Fallout 4, it is a pretty recent game and AMDs drivers have been lagging behind a bit lately, so maybe look out for that. 

Overclocking doesn't have enough of an effect that you should ignore it, in my opinion. If you plan on upgrading your GPU every 2-3 years, it'd be totally fine. 

[manofsteel]

okay, I can see your point.

I will consider samsung 250 evo then for ssd.

For RAM, it's kinda funny that I found ddr3-1866 MHz (the one I choose) price around 1600 MHz speed ram from company like kingston or crucial. 

For GPU, I don't know whether this is a problem of software or not but check this out, R9 390 seems to struggle with fallout 4 on ultra in 1080p but I will try to check things around with gtx 970 and r9 390 (I won't be overclocking since I fear the lifespan of my component will die on me faster). 

For Wifi adapter, hmm then I can consider the gigabyte wifi pcie card. 

For CPU cooler, hmm that looks like a good cooler too.

As above amd didint realese drivers for F4 yet so try other games plus you can use resolution scaling better since r9 390 has more vram and better ram bus buffer .

And if you dont have gigabit wifi transmitter in da house you rly dont need such speed becasue first you will never have 100% range meter in block of flats unless you put transmitter inside rig next to wifi card or smth like that (dunno about 1 family houses) and ofc there is always ISP problem if he can give you such speed. In other words i would go for cheaper card that can access 600 mb speed or 500 becasue i am here on lan cable with like 100 mb/s speed and can dl huge things like games from steam in couple min. so i hope you got my point here.

And about mb actually it wouldnt cost that much because there is gaming and power series and they can have price diffrence for example gaming m9 with wifi can be a little bit cheaper than max power one which is for EXTREME OC . but if you plan on buying PCIE card for wifi than you could go for z97 m5 for that or some gigabyte with same chipset to make system as good as possible in your bugdet .

 

And last but not aleast thing is that i was curious if you can have skylake platform in your budget so i started picking parts for it and i kinda manage to break your bugdet with AIO (just fun fact ). Btw if you dont plan on OC your CPU i would than consider a cheaper MB with cheapset that does not provide OC and with CPU that is non K becasue you pay more for the fact you can OC if you dont plan to OC i see no point on going with your CPU tbh ;p

 

EDIT: now i noticed that you got OEM CPU also i better suggest you to find BOX version cuz OEM tend to have higher chance of begin damaged during shipping and you dont have stack cooler in haswell line (becasue its CPU alone without nothing ) and box is just a little bit more expensive but still