[Build Log] "CYv2" - Sleek, black, and blue!

[FoxxyRin]

 

" C Y v 2 "
A Black & 'Corsair Blue' Build

 

Cy is the name of my "gaming laptop" that I got back in 2011 from CyberPower. (I'm just so clever at naming, huh? My old Lenovo laptop's name was Lenny!) She's been a great trooper and all, but she's reached the point where overheating, BSODs, and random glitching from the media controller is unavoidable. (I'm pretty sure the motherboard is slowly dying.) Confined to smaller games like Terrarria and 100% Orange Juice for months, I've finally decided that enough is enough! So, with the help of my generous boyfriend and our amazing tax refund this year, I'm getting to finally work on my dream PC, which I can upgrade every few years rather than having to buy a whole new system! Computers are a passion of mine, so being able to finally have this computer to work on is a huge deal to me, and I couldn't be happier! Most parts are out for delivery today (February 6th), but the rest are scheduled to be delivered on Monday (Februrary 8th). I have a friend loaning me their super awesome camera, so I'll be able to provide pics as I go!

 

NOTE: Yes, I know a few parts in here are overkill, such as the PSU. In most cases, I'm doing this with two things in mind: aesthetics and upgrades. For example, I know that a 750W Platinum PSU is definitely overkill, but between that pretty matching label and the fact that in a year or two when I get a second card for SLI, it will be a much better match. The parts are already bought, so there is no changing a single thing!

 

PART LIST

>> PC Part Picker <<

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K

The CPU was a pretty easy choice since I picked out my motherboard first. I simply went with the best i5 for that generation, since an i7 would be a bit too overkill for my needs. Also, looking into benchmarks between Haswell and Skylake, there really wasn't too much of a difference asides from RAM, and Haswell-E was just too pricey for comparable specs. So, I decided to go with good ol' Z97 for now!

 

COOLING: Corsair H110i GT

Again, overkill. I'm only planning to do some minimal overclocking, but with how hot it gets in the summer where I live, I figure that the more cooling, the better. I'm not the biggest fan of this AIO's design (I honestly preferred the H100i's look), but I'm a huge fan of Corsair's coolers in general, and I think with some minor modding (aka vinyl wrapping the silver accents), it will look a lot nicer in my build! It's a shame that Corsair has continually delayed the colored face-plates for the cooler, otherwise I would have considered buying some! As for mounting, I'm going with putting it in the front of the case, simply because I have a cat, and Fractal Design did kind of derp with the top of the case in terms of dust prevention with the moduvents open!

 

MOTHERBOARD: ASRock Z97 Extreme4

I'm kind of crossing my fingers on this board. There's several reports of the board not wanting to turn back on if there's a power outage or something, but I plan to test this right out of the box. If it doesn't work, I'll RMA it immediately and upgrade to the Extreme6, which doesn't seem to have the issues. Hopefully, all will be good, though. This motherboard honestly has all the specs I could possibly need, with nothing too crazy to jack up the price. The blue is gorgeous, and it's SLI compatible for when I decide in a year or two to get a second GPU.

 

MEMORY: Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB 1866MHz (2 x 4GB)

I'll likely end up updating to 16GB down the line, but for now, 8GB should be enough, and I doubt I'll need more than 16GB for a few years, assuming games even get up to that point. By then, I'll probably have moved on to a new system which uses DDR4, so I see no reason for going any higher than that. Other than that, my only reason in choosing these in particular was aesthetics. It was a tossup between the Vengeance Low Profile and Pro modules, but after lots of ogling other builds, I decided that the Vengeance Pro have that perfect sleek look to them.

 

STORAGE: Samsung 850 EVO (250GB) + Western Digital Black 2.5" (750GB)

The SSD is an obvious choice. 250GB is plenty for my OS, base programs, and my current addictions when it comes to games. As for the HDD? Yes, you read that right. I'm going with a 2.5" HDD, which may seem weird since I'm going with a rather large case with plenty of HDD cages. Well, with the radiator mounted in the front, I have limited options, and have decided to go with completely removing the drive cages, rather than moving one back and having the corner of it peaking out the window. I'm so used to having only 500GB on my laptop that I feel completely comfortable with having 1TB of storage combined, but if I do happen to fill it all up, I'll just use some trusty 3M double-sided tape to mount my SSD somewhere else, and put a second HDD in the mounting point behind the motherboard.

 

VIDEO CARD: EVGA GTX 970 FTW+

At first, I planned to go with the GTX 960. I figured it would be more than enough for me, but so many people criticized me for not going ahead and getting the GTX 970 instead. So, I decided to go ahead and splurge. When I was looking around at the various models, I found that the FTW+ not only has a backplate, but it also has a better potential than the FTW edition, mostly due to better cooling and a higher thermal ceiling. Plus, since buying the FTW edition and backplate vs. the FTW+ edition ends up around the same price, I figured why not? I'm essentially paying for the backplate and getting some better clock speeds and cooling for free!

 

CASE: Fractal Design Define R5

I looooove this case. At first, I disliked the new moduvents compared to the R4's, but they quickly grew on me, as well as all the other improvements FD made with it. The only case I like more than this is the Lian Li PC-O8, but I simply couldn't justify the price. Maybe one day I'll go ahead and snag one, but for now I'm more than happy with my second favorite case on the market! It's just so sleek and simple, making the perfect frame for the main attraction inside. I plan to do some incredibly simple mods to the case, but they're nothing noteworthy. I just want to replace the PCI slot covers with black ones and then vinyl-wrap the front of the case with some brushed metal vinyl in blue, so that it matches my theme. (Inspired by this R5 from CES 2014.)

 

POWER SUPPLY: Corsair HX750i + CableMod Sleeved Cables

Okay... This is definitely one of those overkill parts I mentioned. I could easily get away with a 500-600W Gold PSU, but with the Define R5's lack of basement (the only thing I think it's missing), I figured I'd splurge and get the only PSU on the market that matches my blue theme so well! I really do love Corsair's consistency when it comes to colors, and I wish more brands would stop being so back and forth with what colors they use. (I miss ASUS's old blue motherboards so much!) Oh well. It's a great PSU and I'm okay with splurging a slight bit on it simply because it matches! Also, in a few months I plan to get the new "Corsair Blue" sleeved cables which CableMod has confirmed to me on Facebook are coming "by March." I really can't wait for these, and I feel special that they're going out of the way to make them as per my request (borderline begging)!

 

OPTICAL DRIVE: ASUS 24X CD/DVD Drive

Does this even need an explanation? I'm one of those weirdos who still uses optical drives, but have no reason to go for Blu-Ray. This is one of the most used and highest rated CD/DVD drives on the market, so it seemed to be the best choice. Plus it was only like $16 after a coupon. Thank goodness for the R5's wonderful front panel, though. Optical drives are ugly!

 

FANS: Corsair AF140 Quiet Edition & SP140Ls

For the fans, I'm keeping things relatively simple. I'm ditching the included case fans due to them not matching my build, and plan to use the included SP140L fans from the Corsair H110i GT in the front of the case since they won't be seen. For the rear fan, I'm splurging for the Corsair AF140, simply because of that pretty blue ring it comes with! Well, that and the fact that they are great fans. I might upgrade the front fans to Noctuas (Linus Edition, maybe!?), but I'll see how my temps end up before deciding. $50-60 is a lot for just two fans.

 

OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 10 Pro

I'm not really sure what to say about the OS. I'll miss Windows 7, but I was given Windows 10 Pro by a family member who works in IT, so why not? They saved me some big bucks, and I'm really digging the OS on my laptop and tablet so far. It really is great, especially with Classic Shell!

 

MONITOR & PERIPHERALS: SCEPTRE 1080p 40" HDTV & Anker CB310 Wireless Mouse & Keyboard Set

Oh boy... This is where my computer gets a bit wonky. After all of this sexiness, I really had to settle when it came to my monitor and peripherals. Why? Well, long story short, my boyfriend and I share a tiny room as if it were an apartment. We have no room for desks, so he uses his dresser while I'll be using my keyboard and mouse on a laptop tray from the edge of the bed and using our TV as a monitor. I don't really mind this too much, since the TV is amazingly good quality to be a cheapo TV we got during the post-Christmas sales. The keyboard and nice are surprisingly great quality for their price, too!

 

OTHER STUFF: DeepCool RGB LED Kit & COSMOS Bay Drawer

With a pretty blue build like this, I'd be silly not to add some lighting to show it off, even if it will be rare for anyone but my boyfriend and I to see it! So, I went with the DeepCool RGB lighting kit since it seems to be the best RGB option in terms of price vs. performance, and I bought some magnetic tape to stick on the backs so that I can move them around however I want. As for the drawer, well... I wanted something in the second bay is all, and I like the idea of having a little drawer for things like my flash drives and other adapters and such.

 

Have an idea for a better name? Let me know! CYv2 is just what I've been calling this build, but I may change it!