First build in Canada

[Megazero]

So I just recently move to Canada, Windsor to be exact, and all I can bring with me from my old PC was my GTX 1070, my 2 HDD and my Logitech G502. Hoping to find a great secondhand market like how easy it seem Linus and Luke can do in Scrapyard War, I was thoroughly disappointed to learn that Windsor have a very bad secondhand computer market.

So with the help of forums like hardwarecanucks, ebay, and buying the rest new/refub/weekly discount on NCIX, with a budget of around 1300 CAD I was able to buy the rest of the things I need, with my final PC spec coming to this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($456.50 @ shopRBC) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($35.84 @ Vuugo) 
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($142.50 @ Vuugo) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($139.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: ADATA Premier SP550 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($169.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.84 @ Vuugo) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($89.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card  ($579.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Case: Thermaltake Versa N21 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($62.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($74.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit  ($172.50 @ Vuugo) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN881ND PCI-Express x1 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter  ($24.13 @ DirectCanada) 
Monitor: AOC G2460PF 24.0" 1920x1080 144Hz Monitor  ($588.31 @ Amazon Canada) 
Keyboard: G.Skill Ripjaws KM780 MX Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($118.86 @ DirectCanada) 
Mouse: Logitech G502 Wired Optical Mouse  ($82.50 @ Vuugo) 
Other: GAMDIAS Hephaestus V2 ($80.00)
Total: $2878.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-31 21:16 EST-0500

 

 That 2k8 do seem abit imitating consider what I actually spend... 

Eitherway, to the build itself

First, installing the CPU, and dont worry, I did remove the bag later after remembering that it's actually not good to put it on top of that. The board was a refub one, CPU and RAM is 2nd hand, but working well so far

Next is the H212 EVO. Heard so many good things about this from Luke and Linus, finally got my hand on one. The installation process was a bit confusing at first and I did accidental touch the thermal paste with the bracket of the H212 Evo, but otherwise it was fine. The cooler is barely short enough to not affect the RAM slot, but it will definitely be a problem on smaller form factor. 

 

Putting all of that into the case. The IO Shield was a bit annoying to pop in

 

Along with the H212 Evo, I've always wanted a semi modular PSU, and I finally got one. The CX550M. Installing it was a walk in the park, and cable management too. I plugged in all the power, restart, usb and audio cable from the case to the Mobo as well, and zipped all the cables up on the back.

SSD and HDD next. I couldnt find out how many SATA cable the mobo come with, so I was short on 1, have to go out to buy 1 really quick + an USB to install Windows later. Also the position of the Drives bay in the case is at the bottom right, making it a bit weird to route all the power cables from the PSU to the drives. The 480GB SSD only cost 150CAD, which was a surprise for me, so I bought it in hope of putting GTA V on it as well as a few other, performance seem great so far.

Now to the fun part, my GTX 1070, and my wireless PCI-E Adapter too. I didnt know that PCI-E x1 can be install on x16 as well, but now I know. 

 

That's it, my computer is built. My peripherals was set up before hand cause those arrive alot earlier so I use them with my laptop. But now with my PC I can finally run the monitor at 144hz, another dream of mine back home (In case you didnt know, that monitor only support 144Hz on DVI-D port). 

 

There's nothing really crazy being done here, given that I didnt even plan to spend that much money to begin with, and I just come to Canada to boot. But with this done I can finally settle in, and start planning for other things to do once I got a job and some money to spend. For now, this is what I have, and I'm happy with it.

[Guest]

That is a disturbingly small table and the blue on G502 makes it off tbh

[gtx1060=value]

i feel really bad for you my fellow new canadian (btw welcome to the land of beavers and prime ministers that have been on the covers of GQ) but for 2.8 grand, i honestly feel like you could've gotten a better build if you were in the right location for used parts. You could've shopped detroit's craiglist as it's right across the river 

[gtx1060=value]

1 minute ago, deXxterlab97 said:

That is a disturbingly small table and the blue on G502 makes it off tbh

he/she/other should've just gone to detroit for used parts

[Megazero]

29 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

That is a disturbingly small table and the blue on G502 makes it off tbh

It's more like a disturbingly small room so that table is the one that fit the rest of the space I have  And well... hand on mouse all the time! I did buy it way back when RGB wasnt a thing

 

29 minutes ago, gtx1060=value said:

i feel really bad for you my fellow new canadian (btw welcome to the land of beavers and prime ministers that have been on the covers of GQ) but for 2.8 grand, i honestly feel like you could've gotten a better build if you were in the right location for used parts. You could've shopped detroit's craiglist as it's right across the river 

Well.. Like I said I didnt have 2.8 grands, it's around 1300 for all the things i bought, which is everything except GPU and 2 HDD. I cant go to Detroit without visa, and I did consider that option but ultimately decided that it's not worth it.

[gtx1060=value]

22 minutes ago, Megazero said:

It's more like a disturbingly small room so that table is the one that fit the rest of the space I have  And well... hand on mouse all the time! I did buy it way back when RGB wasnt a thing

 

Well.. Like I said I didnt have 2.8 grands, it's around 1300 for all the things i bought, which is everything except GPU and 2 HDD. I cant go to Detroit without visa, and I did consider that option but ultimately decided that it's not worth it.

oh, you aren't a canadian citizen? 

[Megazero]

5 minutes ago, gtx1060=value said:

oh, you aren't a canadian citizen? 

I did say that I just moved to Canada didnt I  

[gtx1060=value]

1 minute ago, Megazero said:

I did say that I just moved to Canada didnt I  

oh well. may i ask from which country?

[Megazero]

Just now, gtx1060=value said:

oh well. may i ask from which country?

Vietnam

[8uhbbhu8]

39 minutes ago, Megazero said:

Vietnam

Well welcome to Canada! Hope you enjoy your time here!

[Megazero]

Just now, 8uhbbhu8 said:

Well welcome to Canada! I do agree that those prices do seem a bit bad but if that's what was available in your area of the country then you did the best you could! Hope you enjoy your time here!

1300 for everything except GPU and HDD is bad :P? And what scare me the most is actually not the price itself, but price after that 13% tax... 

[8uhbbhu8]

1 minute ago, Megazero said:

1300 for everything except GPU and HDD is bad :P? And what scare me the most is actually not the price itself, but price after that 13% tax... 

lol whoops misread part of the post  That price is not bad at all! And yeah the taxes are terrifying! Thats why I buy as much used as I can most of the time to avoid it

[Megazero]

2 minutes ago, 8uhbbhu8 said:

lol whoops misread part of the post  That price is not bad at all! And yeah the taxes are terrifying! Thats why I buy as much used as I can most of the time to avoid it

It still make me feel like I'm being tricked everytime I buy anything cause I forgot to add the tax in... 

[8uhbbhu8]

2 hours ago, Megazero said:

It still make me feel like I'm being tricked everytime I buy anything cause I forgot to add the tax in... 

haha yeah XD. I work as a cashier and honestly it's super funny watching the looks on peoples faces that don't realize there are taxes on top when they see the totals and see the taxes. The confusion is real!!! 

 

It's soooo stupid its not included in the total price... Capitalism is shit sometimes