Corsair/Asus(ROG) Build, 1st Timer

[Pez510831]

 

Hello Everyone!,

 

I'm going to start this build log with a description and move along from there!

 

I appreciate any feedback (agree or disagree), just keep it adult, polite, and a friendly discussion.

 

First off, this is my first PC build. I got into PC gaming about 1-2 years ago without knowing much. That's why I went out and bought me a Samsung Series 7 Gamer laptop. Still an awesome machine (with Intel Core I7 with 2.3Ghz/Intelboost@3.3, 16Gb ram, GTX675m, and beautiful Samsung 17" screen), but I wanted to build my own. Not only build my own, but as nice as a noob could think of, watching Youtube and making my own biased decisions.

 

With all that said, let's break it down!

 

Case: Corsair 900D

PSU: Corsair AX1200i

Mobo: Asus Maximus VI Extreme

CPU: Intel 4th Gen. Haswell Core I7 4770k

Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 2x8 @ 2400

GPU: Asus GTX780ti (reference model being that the digi+ model is not out yet)

Cooling: Corsair H100i (with 4 SP PWM fans is push/pull), 3x Noctua PWM 120mm intake fans and 1x Noctua 140mm 3pin exhaust fan

Storage: Sandisk (non-consumer) 256Gb SDD, 750Gb Hitachi HDD (pulled out of my laptop when replaced with 128Gb Samsung 840 Pro SSD, which I plan on moving into this build)

Sound: Razer Tiamat 7.1 gaming headset

Acc.: Asus Blu-ray Writer, Rosewill multimedia drive bay, handy USB 3.0 flash drive, Articsilver 5 and cleaners, plenty of air in a can,

 

I'm going to get some pics up soon, some gameplay data/footage, and what it took ordering all this (which ended up being a huge pain in my ass)!

[madscientist56]

If I were you I would go with a 750d, if you use the 900 and you are not planning on expanding to a large custom loop its gunna look kinda empty just cause its such a big case.

[Analog]

If I were you I would go with a 750d, if you use the 900 and you are not planning on expanding to a large custom loop its gunna look kinda empty just cause its such a big case.

 

Good advise man! The 900D is HUGE and I mean really rally HUGE! That H100i will look minuscule in there. Get the 750D unless you are planing of filling the case with an insane amount of radiators. However if you want a big nice looking case the Cooler Master Cosmos 2 is really nice as well and won't look so empty as the 900D. Other than that your choice of parts is amazing!

[LifesCompanion]

Uhhhh your build seems a tad over kill, 

1) If you're just gaming, you don't need an i7, an i5 is better/cheaper

2)Your MB (IMO) is a silly, get something better bang for buck
3) Your PSU is way over kill, you don't need a Platinum PSU, period. 

4) Get lower frequency RAM for cheaper, the performance difference between high frequency and low frequency is minimal

5) The headset you got, the Tiamat is horrible, there is no way that a tiny 7.1 system will sound good, heck, no freaking way till will it beat my ATH-M50's in terms of sound quality and it will get stomped by my XBA-4's 

 

Disclaimer: this is purely my opinion and thus not fact nor will it represent what others think. 

[Osmium]

I have several criticisms of your build (constructive of course )

 

First is you really do not need a 900D. No matter how big it looks in the picture it is always bigger in person With your configuration I would say go for a 750D or a Fractal Design ARC Midi.

 

My other complaint is the ROG board. Sure it looks cool but you are spending a lot of money on a piece of hardware that will give you no performance boost at all. Also I might as well clear this up, the onboard audio on ROG boards are not actually vastly superior to other boards like they say they are.

 

Also high speed RAM really is generally considered useless. It just costs more.

 

Third is your set of headphones. Not only are Razer's headsets bad in general, but all gaming headsets are actually bad for gaming. What you want are Audiophile grade headphones plus a mic, they have a much better soundstage that makes it much easier to clearly locate people.

 

Ill be editing this some more giving more detail on these but that is my main advice.

[JAKEBAB]

Good advise man! The 900D is HUGE and I mean really rally HUGE! That H100i will look minuscule in there. Get the 750D unless you are planing of filling the case with an insane amount of radiators. However if you want a big nice looking case the Cooler Master Cosmos 2 is really nice as well and won't look so empty as the 900D. Other than that your choice of parts is amazing!

 

 

Uhhhh your build seems a tad over kill, 

1) If you're just gaming, you don't need an i7, an i5 is better/cheaper

2)Your MB (IMO) is a silly, get something better bang for buck

3) Your PSU is way over kill, you don't need a Platinum PSU, period. 

4) Get lower frequency RAM for cheaper, the performance difference between high frequency and low frequency is minimal

5) The headset you got, the Tiamat is horrible, there is no way that a tiny 7.1 system will sound good, heck, no freaking way till will it beat my ATH-M50's in terms of sound quality and it will get stomped by my XBA-4's 

 

Disclaimer: this is purely my opinion and thus not fact nor will it represent what others think. 

 

 

I have several criticisms of your build (constructive of course )

 

First is you really do not need a 900D. No matter how big it looks in the picture it is always bigger in person With your configuration I would say go for a 750D or a Fractal Design ARC Midi.

 

My other complaint is the ROG board. Sure it looks cool but you are spending a lot of money on a piece of hardware that will give you no performance boost at all. Also I might as well clear this up, the onboard audio on ROG boards are not actually vastly superior to other boards like they say they are.

 

Also high speed RAM really is generally considered useless. It just costs more.

 

Third is your set of headphones. Not only are Razer's headsets bad in general, but all gaming headsets are actually bad for gaming. What you want are Audiophile grade headphones plus a mic, they have a much better soundstage that makes it much easier to clearly locate people.

 

Ill be editing this some more giving more detail on these but that is my main advice.

I don't think any of u read this part "I'm going to get some pics up soon, some gameplay data/footage, and what it took ordering all this (which ended up being a huge pain in my ass)!" im assuming he already has everything...

[Osmium]

Never mind...

[Analog]

I don't think any of u read this part "I'm going to get some pics up soon, some gameplay data/footage, and what it took ordering all this (which ended up being a huge pain in my ass)!" im assuming he already has everything...

 

Unfortunately not, why is it at the end of the post?

[Osmium]

I don't think any of u read this part "I'm going to get some pics up soon, some gameplay data/footage, and what it took ordering all this (which ended up being a huge pain in my ass)!" im assuming he already has everything...

Wow, I could have sworn that last sentence was not there when he first posted

[jscho]

5) The headset you got, the Tiamat is horrible, there is no way that a tiny 7.1 system will sound good, heck, no freaking way till will it beat my ATH-M50's in terms of sound quality and it will get stomped by my XBA-4's 

 

You'd be surprised. They aren't nearly as bad as people say they are. If tiny little drivers in in-ear earphones can sound good, so can mini 7.1 drivers. Of course, they're expensive and dedicated headphones are the way to go, but they are not horrible... Not by any standard.

[Lays]

You'd be surprised. They aren't nearly as bad as people say they are. If tiny little drivers in in-ear earphones can sound good, so can mini 7.1 drivers. Of course, they're expensive and dedicated headphones are the way to go, but they are not horrible... Not by any standard.

 

I think he's speaking comparatively, I had astro a50's for quite a while, I thought they sounded really really good, once I upgraded to my ad-900x's it was like no comparison, I started hearing noises in games I'd never heard before, music became less muddy and more clear, new noises in music I'd never heard, it just makes a huge difference IMO.

[brob]

From the size of the psu I assume another three 780Ti will be added?

[Monty007]

So I wanted to chime in. First off congrats on trying to put your own build together! Everyone has an opinion but your money buys what you want. You have chosen some high quality parts. Some can be carried forward to future builds. I too have the 900d. This is my favourite case thus far and I can do anything I want to in it. I have an extensive cooling loop with room to spare. So yeah it might make everything seem really small with your components in it but it's a great case. FYI it weighs 40lbs empty. It is just a little shorter than my 3 year old daughter LOL!

Have fun with it. Your money and your time! Enjoy in good health

[SynapseBreak]

No way dude, i have that exact same laptop its freaking amazing.    Id reconsider the 1200w psu though, little too much

[brob]

 

Hello Everyone!,

 

I'm going to start this build log with a description and move along from there!

 

Cooling: Corsair H100i (with 4 SP PWM fans is push/pull), 3x Noctua PWM 120mm intake fans and 1x Noctua 140mm 3pin exhaust fan

 

I'm going to get some pics up soon, some gameplay data/footage, and what it took ordering all this (which ended up being a huge pain in my ass)!

 

 

Hi.

 

Looking forward to it.

 

Did you consider using Noctua NF-P12 or NF-F12 fans for the H100i instead of the SP120?

 

Looking forward to the pics.

[Quantum]

1) Get a lower wattage psu (RM 650/RM 750)
2) Lower frequency ram (1866 would work fine)
3) Get a different mobo (Maximus VI Formula/Hero)
4) Get a different pair of headphones (Sennheiser HD 558 + Blue snowball)
5) I would personally go with a 750D or a Define R4

[zxcvbnmmssdh]

Do you plan on doing a fair amount of gameplay editing, you might as well keep the 4770k. And unless you are extreme editing, 8gb of ram should be fine. Considering you are getting the h100i you are OCing and I assume you will be adding more GPU. I think you could still run 4 780 ti off of a 1000w power supply (RM 1000)

[Pez510831]

If I were you I would go with a 750d, if you use the 900 and you are not planning on expanding to a large custom loop its gunna look kinda empty just cause its such a big case.

So I do plan on going with two more gpu's, and full custom loop including memory and vrm.

Uhhhh your build seems a tad over kill,

1) If you're just gaming, you don't need an i7, an i5 is better/cheaper

2)Your MB (IMO) is a silly, get something better bang for buck

3) Your PSU is way over kill, you don't need a Platinum PSU, period.

4) Get lower frequency RAM for cheaper, the performance difference between high frequency and low frequency is minimal

5) The headset you got, the Tiamat is horrible, there is no way that a tiny 7.1 system will sound good, heck, no freaking way till will it beat my ATH-M50's in terms of sound quality and it will get stomped by my XBA-4's

Disclaimer: this is purely my opinion and thus not fact nor will it represent what others think.

Thanks for the tip,

1)Not tripping on money

2)Love the look of the ROG boards and I believe the Formula isn't capable of 4-way SLI. Also wanted the OC Panel for the looks and functionality in optical bay.

3)The AX1200i is fully loaded and suppose to be at the top of it's class. Also going 3-way SLI w/ internal soundcard or ROG Raidr card or 4-way(haven't decided yet).

4)I did realize that but the 2400 was around my price concern. With XMP profiles I can always lower it for OC'ing(I've hit 4.6 at 2400 already).

5)I really don't know too much about sound being a noob. That being said, They are super comfortable, they sound great to me right now, I'm going with a Razer peripheral theme, and the design and functionality I find to be awesome for my tastes.

I have several criticisms of your build (constructive of course )

First is you really do not need a 900D. No matter how big it looks in the picture it is always bigger in person With your configuration I would say go for a 750D or a Fractal Design ARC Midi.

My other complaint is the ROG board. Sure it looks cool but you are spending a lot of money on a piece of hardware that will give you no performance boost at all. Also I might as well clear this up, the onboard audio on ROG boards are not actually vastly superior to other boards like they say they are.

Also high speed RAM really is generally considered useless. It just costs more.

Third is your set of headphones. Not only are Razer's headsets bad in general, but all gaming headsets are actually bad for gaming. What you want are Audiophile grade headphones plus a mic, they have a much better soundstage that makes it much easier to clearly locate people.

Ill be editing this some more giving more detail on these but that is my main advice.

I appreciate your advice.

1) I like the design of the 900D and don't worry about size.

2)ram and headset, replied to that above.

You'd be surprised. They aren't nearly as bad as people say they are. If tiny little drivers in in-ear earphones can sound good, so can mini 7.1 drivers. Of course, they're expensive and dedicated headphones are the way to go, but they are not horrible... Not by any standard.

Thank you, I feel the same.

So I wanted to chime in. First off congrats on trying to put your own build together! Everyone has an opinion but your money buys what you want. You have chosen some high quality parts. Some can be carried forward to future builds. I too have the 900d. This is my favourite case thus far and I can do anything I want to in it. I have an extensive cooling loop with room to spare. So yeah it might make everything seem really small with your components in it but it's a great case. FYI it weighs 40lbs empty. It is just a little shorter than my 3 year old daughter LOL!

Have fun with it. Your money and your time! Enjoy in good health

Thank you for the Input

Hi.

Looking forward to it.

Did you consider using Noctua NF-P12 or NF-F12 fans for the H100i instead of the SP120?

Looking forward to the pics.

No I am probably just going to run the noctuas is the front, My local computer store didn't have static pressure PDW 4-pin fans in the Noctua and I like that the corsairs go with the build. I don't know I'm on the fence.

No way dude, i have that exact same laptop its freaking amazing. Id reconsider the 1200w psu though, little too much

Isn't It. Love my SamGam(for those that cant figure it out, Samsung [series 7] Gamer)

Do you plan on doing a fair amount of gameplay editing, you might as well keep the 4770k. And unless you are extreme editing, 8gb of ram should be fine. Considering you are getting the h100i you are OCing and I assume you will be adding more GPU. I think you could still run 4 780 ti off of a 1000w power supply (RM 1000)

I replied above to my PCI plans above. As for the RAM, I plan on throwing two more in so I can utilize the ROG RamDisk software more.

Now, after all those late responses, this is an apology to all everyone I neglected by not following up on my thread.

I am sorry for leaving you guys hanging!

I have been super busy at work due to holidays, and also am primary caregiver for my grandfather(which is most important!

[brob]

No I am probably just going to run the noctuas is the front, My local computer store didn't have static pressure PDW 4-pin fans in the Noctua and I like that the corsairs go with the build. I don't know I'm on the fence.

 

The stock H100i fans can be reasonably quiet when not working too hard.

 

I have to say that its going to be fun seeing the pics. In reading the specs I caught myself wondering why only 2x8GB memory and not 4x8GB.

[paulsterio]

I think if you're going ROG, go with the Maximus VI Formula, a much better looking board and less "wasteful" features than the Extreme. 

[Pez510831]

The stock H100i fans can be reasonably quiet when not working too hard.

 

I have to say that its going to be fun seeing the pics. In reading the specs I caught myself wondering why only 2x8GB memory and not 4x8GB.

Then hold on, making post right now, just configuring pics I have right now. Can you advise me how to upload directly from my system. All I see is from URL.

[brob]

Then hold on, making post right now, just configuring pics I have right now. Can you advise me how to upload directly from my system. All I see is from URL.

 

Go to More Reply Options. You will see an attachments section bottom left. Browse to the pic & select, then click Attach This File. Repeat as needed. They don't show up until you save.

[Pez510831]

I think if you're going ROG, go with the Maximus VI Formula, a much better looking board and less "wasteful" features than the Extreme.

I did want to go with the formula, but as I posted:

1) I wanted more PCIE

2) I plan on doing a custom(I think XS-PC) VRM water cooling block.

3) I wanted the OC Panel for my optical bay. I have all my bays mapped out and want to use all of them.

Thanks for the vote of personal choice though. I like hearing these even when I have, as I said, "my own biased" layout for this build.

I don't think any of u read this part "I'm going to get some pics up soon, some gameplay data/footage, and what it took ordering all this (which ended up being a huge pain in my ass)!" im assuming he already has everything...

I don't mind the Input though. Thank you guys, for your interest. It makes the money I blew that much more worth it!

Wow, I could have sworn that last sentence was not there when he first posted

It was

Go to More Reply Options. You will see an attachments section bottom left. Browse to the pic & select, then click Attach This File. Repeat as needed. They don't show up until you save.

Also, never done much picture uploading, my pics are about 6mb. I need to get them done to 2mb it says. Any recommendations?

[Guest]

Also, never done much picture uploading, my pics are about 6mb. I need to get them done to 2mb it says. Any recommendations?

Upload the pictures to imgur and use the links of the pictures to embed them in the post.

[Pez510831]

Upload the pictures to imgur and use the links of the pictures to embed them in the post.

Thank you, I'm starting to get tired so I'm actually going to upload tomorrow since it's more work than I thought.