[COMPLETED] First Ever Build!

[sundawg89]

So I thought this was going to be a lot harder and painstaking than it was! I really enjoyed building this rig as it is the first time I have ever attempted something like this and I even managed to achieve a stable overclock at 4.8ghz @ 1.26volts. After stress testing overnight, temperatures never increased more than 52C on the CPU and having everything cranked up on heaven benchmark, the GPU peaked at 67C. 

 

Please excuse the cable management, it was the best I could do first time around!

 

I changed all the case fans to Corsair's ML fans, 2 140's at the front, 1 140 at the top and 1 120 at the back of the S340 Elite. The red and black theme I was going for works well and I am really happy with the results.

 

If there are any improvements anyone can suggest it would be great so I know what things to tweak / change.

 

Full Part List: 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£298.98 @ Aria PC) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H115i 104.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£122.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: MSI - Z270 GAMING M7 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (£213.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  (£274.95 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£281.00 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Western Digital - BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£68.98 @ CCL Computers) 
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB GAMING X Video Card  (£735.09 @ BT Shop) 
Case: NZXT - S340 Elite (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case  (£76.80 @ Aria PC) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 (EU) 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£114.31 @ Amazon UK) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  (£82.20 @ Aria PC) 
Case Fan: Corsair - ML120 Pro 75.0 CFM  120mm Fan  (£15.29 @ Aria PC) 
Case Fan: Corsair - ML140 97.0 CFM  140mm Fans  (£23.99 @ Aria PC) 
Keyboard: Corsair - K70 LUX RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard  (£145.47 @ Amazon UK) 
Mouse: Corsair - M65 PRO RGB FPS Wired Optical Mouse  (£49.98 @ PC World Business) 
Total: £2503.98

 

[jools]

nice build, now enjoy.....personally for cable management ,if its hidden its OK otherwise get your cutters and crimpers and colored wires plus more bucks . all in all you've got a tasty build , im envious.

[sundawg89]

29 minutes ago, jools said:

nice build, now enjoy.....personally for cable management ,if its hidden its OK otherwise get your cutters and crimpers and colored wires plus more bucks . all in all you've got a tasty build , im envious.

Thanks!

[jools]

future tips.....

 

a bigger hdd ....3tb or bigger for movies,games etc ....these fill up pretty fast and six months down the line your 1tb hdd will be nearly full, mine was. I mite just keep the current game im playing on ssd for quick load times but I generally have this on hdd and don't notice to much delay (when I do its loaded 0.3secs)

 

no mention of monitor , its the other half of a computer beast, I would recommend a XB271HU, its ips for great colors and gsync for buttery smooth game play @144hz. but you may have that covered

 

peripherals ...covered... maybe gamepad if gamer

 

main pc usage....not mentioned , so limited response as to future tips...... ie gaming,video editing,number crunching, surfing web,streaming ......each choice or collection of choices requires different system requirements.

 

theres your food for thought

 

[sundawg89]

6 minutes ago, jools said:

future tips.....

 

a bigger hdd ....3tb or bigger for movies,games etc ....these fill up pretty fast and six months down the line your 1tb hdd will be nearly full, mine was. I mite just keep the current game im playing on ssd for quick load times but I generally have this on hdd and don't notice to much delay (when I do its loaded 0.3secs)

 

no mention of monitor , its the other half of a computer beast, I would recommend a XB271HU, its ips for great colors and gsync for buttery smooth game play @144hz. but you may have that covered

 

peripherals ...covered... maybe gamepad if gamer

 

main pc usage....not mentioned , so limited response as to future tips...... ie gaming,video editing,number crunching, surfing web,streaming ......each choice or collection of choices requires different system requirements.

 

theres your food for thought

 

Thanks for the great input. I use this mainly for general browsing, gaming and very light work stuff (word processing and excel). I have a Xbox One controller and in terms of the monitor, I am going to be pairing this with a 4k 40" TV as I will only be gaming in single player games, Multiplayer I do on my PS4. I made another thread on the TV I am going to be using as it has very low input lag so will work well for my needs. 

 

In terms of the additional storage, I think you are right so later down the line I will get another HDD. 

[Tech Learner]

Great build. How long did it take you to build it?

[sundawg89]

6 hours ago, Tech Learner said:

Great build. How long did it take you to build it?

Around about 2-3 hours. The biggest problem or struggle I had was holding the radiator in place at the front and trying to screw in the holes through the fans into the radiator. Because the Corsair's tubing is pretty rigid, it took a while! Everything else was pretty straight forward. I spent a lot of time reading instructions and checking vids on youtube to make sure I was doing everything right.

[DMODZ]

Grats man popped your cherry!

[sundawg89]

On 24/07/2017 at 1:50 AM, DMODZ said:

Grats man popped your cherry!

Thanks! Was a long time coming haha!

[koen__2000]

Epic build man! Maybe is it an idea to put a led-strip in above the motherboard to show of all the components. 

[Tech Learner]

I agree. Some magnetic led strips would light up your world. 

[sundawg89]

On 26/07/2017 at 2:01 PM, koen__2000 said:

Epic build man! Maybe is it an idea to plut a led-strip in above the motherboard to show of all the components. 

Hmmm I might just do that!

[Glennieboyyy007]

hey, i saw this thread the day you posted it and crossed it again now. i wondered the last time i saw it, why the black around the glass was so shiny. now i noticed. you got the glass the wrong way around. the part that should be on the inside is outside. if you look at the glass, it also has a sort of curve, so it looks nicer at the edges, but those are on the inside now

[sundawg89]

1 hour ago, Glennieboyyy007 said:

hey, i saw this thread the day you posted it and crossed it again now. i wondered the last time i saw it, why the black around the glass was so shiny. now i noticed. you got the glass the wrong way around. the part that should be on the inside is outside. if you look at the glass, it also has a sort of curve, so it looks nicer at the edges, but those are on the inside now

Damn seriously lol? I can't tell which way around it is supposed to go!

 

I have taken it off and had a look and have corrected it now. The glass on the inside slopes inwards to kind of meet the case so thats fixed now! Thanks for the heads up!

[Glennieboyyy007]

17 minutes ago, sundawg89 said:

Damn seriously lol? I can't tell which way around it is supposed to go!

 

I have taken it off and had a look and have corrected it now. The glass on the inside slopes inwards to kind of meet the case so thats fixed now! Thanks for the heads up!

no problem. and remember, if you liked it more the other way around than you can just do that

[Braigwen]

Beautiful build! But I am literally wincing at that GPU sag... 

[BatyGaming]

I have a h110i in this case and it technically didn’t fit so I have 6 screws in it, did you have any issues with the radiator? 

[sundawg89]

On 30/07/2017 at 8:55 AM, Braigwen said:

Beautiful build! But I am literally wincing at that GPU sag... 

So was I! I have fixed this using an acrylic 3mm by 3mm rod and it looks pretty sweet now!

[sundawg89]

15 hours ago, BatyGaming said:

I have a h110i in this case and it technically didn’t fit so I have 6 screws in it, did you have any issues with the radiator? 

It fit fine for me although it did take me a while to get it into position because of the toughness of the tubing. Do you have a pic of your problem so I can let you know how I overcame it?