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What would you change about this build?
Been messing around on this site a bit and want to get some feedback. I'm going to be ordering a new PC very shortly. What would you change about this build, if any? http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/MkwtCy
When all is said and done, more is always said than done.
Post edited by OhhPaigey on
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And why a mini itx MB in full tower case? Seems if you are going full tower get a full size MB so you have fewer issues on working on it or upgrades or whatever.
Why the liquid cooling? Are you planning on overclocking?
Just my thoughts on it so far.
If you're not planning extreme overclocking then that whole liquid cooler is overkill. Something like Coolermaster 212 EVO that costs about 30$ would do the cooling job well enough. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099&cm_re=coolermaster_evo-_-35-103-099-_-Product
Buying a full ATX tower and mini ITX motherboard is a strange choice. If I were you, I'd try to go with ATX motherboard because there's room for one inside that case. Also, have you verified that you can attach a mini ITX motherboard to that case?
And most importantly, you forgot to add SSD disk to that build. That build is so expensive that not including SSD disk is just stupid.
And yeah, I thought I had added a SSD on the first build, apparently I didn't.
Windows 7 is a good OS, and in some ways for desktop PC it's even better than Win 10, but I'd go for Win 10 for the better future support.
That EVGA power supply you have picked is really good, but since you dropped from GTX 1080 to GTX 1070, and removed the liquid cooling so that you're likely not planning extreme overclocking either, you don't need that much power.
If you're considering getting another GTX 1070 for SLI at some point, then keep the 850W power supply.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151118
Getting 3200 MHz memory will very rarely gain you anything, especially on a CPU with "only" four cores. (Four cores is typically plenty for gaming, but server chips typically have a lot more cores and thus need more memory bandwidth.) If you were going to use the integrated graphics heavily, you'd need the memory bandwidth, but you're not. So you could save perhaps $50 or so by getting 2400 MHz memory instead.
And then I'd take the savings from those items and get a bigger SSD.
Processor: You really don't need an i7 for gaming. Heck, you don't need an i7 for much outside of gaming unless you're doing some really heavy CPU tasks like rendering videos, converting files, compiling programs. If you're like the vast majority of home computer gamers, and you use it to browse the internet, listen to music and play games, then an i5 processor is more than fine.
Memory: Hoo boy, DDR4 3200 MHz is big time overkill. Like Quiz said, 2400 is perfectly good for all the above named tasks and gaming. You won't notice any real world differences between the two. The differences are measured in parts of a second.
Motherboard: Personally, I think the motherboard is overkill too. I usually spend about 150=175 on my motherboards and all I'm looking for really is overclocking features and reliability. Gigabyte, ASUS, MSI are all good brands, and hell, my current mobo is an ASRock and it's been working hard for two years now. If you buy a motherboard with the word "gaming" in front of it, expect to pay extra for that word.
SSD: Nearly $100 for a 240GB SSD? You can find them much cheaper than that. I would wait a couple weeks until Black Friday and pick up a 500GB SSD for about the same price and I would buy a Samsung all day long instead of a Kingston.
HDD: Caviar Black is the only way to go. HDD's are super damn cheap, even the top of the line models. Don't skimp on a blue here if you have money for $250 motherboard.
Video Card: I never buy EVGA because they tack a premium onto their cards for the name. I buy MSI or Gigabyte Cards because you get the same damn card with great cooling for a significant chunk less.
Computer Case: This is the one component that you will re-use over and over for years. I've been using the same case for the last three builds and I love it. I use a Coolermaster HAF 932, but there's lots of great options. The Rosewill THOR v2 is great, the Thermaltake Chaser and the CM Storm Stryker is just damned sexy.
Power Supply: 850w is vastly overkill. Just get a 650 watt from Seasonic. They're a fantastic brand of Power Supplies. I prefer fully modular myself. Makes builds a lot cleaner.
CPU Cooling: That's a great CPU cooler, just make double sure that it fits the CPU that you choose. Personally, I use the H100i because I'm too lazy to do all my own watercooling, and it keeps my CPU super frosty.
Is my Motherboard overkill?
Also how can I tell if I'll need a mid size PC tower or a full one?
I do plan on streaming which is why I picked an expensive CPU. It seems to be my main problem with my current PC.
Also I don't plan on overclocking unless it's just with OCGenie lol.
1. Z170 is good motherboard chipset, and I'd recommend getting some Z170 motherboard. But you could probably get a motherboard with Z170 chipset and everything you want at about $50 cheaper if you wanted.
Your choice isn't so expensive that I'd call it an overkill. It's a decent choice. But if you want to save money, you could try picking up a bit cheaper motherboard.
2. It's not so much about what size you need as about what you want. Full size tower is a bit easier to build and a bit easier to cool since there's more space in it, but the difference is small.
If you want to place your computer case on a shelf or somewhere with limited place, then go for smaller case. On the other hand if you're just going to place it under table then full sized tower is often more convenient.
Mid Tower fits up to ATX motherboards and PSUs, up to 4 3.5" HDDs, and have maybe 2 or 3 5.25" bays. This is the "standard" gaming computer case - it's big enough to fit up to 2x SLI/CF, but not so big that it will take up a lot of floor/desk space. Since these are "standard" - ATX components are usually the least expensive and the most variety.
mATX (uATX, or microATX) is a step down from ATX. Those cases may only have spots for 1-2 3.5" HDDs, maybe 1 or no 5.25" bays. These ~may~ require a specific sized power supply, and require some consideration for your heat sink size. These will save a good deal of room on your desktop, but they are also pretty cramped to build yourself, and can make it difficult getting things like cable runs and larger components installed.
mini-ITX is even smaller still. These usually are the extremely small form factors, and have room for nothing. They almost always require a special power supply, special heat sinks, and need a lot of consideration for TDP and cooling.
You can always fit smaller motherboard/PSU in a larger case, but you can't go the other way.
Not getting 1080 because I only game on a 1080p 120hz monitor. I'm actually still considering keeping my 970 for awhile and upgrading my GPU when something new comes out.
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/Mh48HN
Any last ideas? Hoping this will let me play and stream new games without an issue for a little bit.
Also just to add, I want to make sure my PC and all the parts will be properly cooled. Even though I'm Canadian my room can get pretty hot during the summer.
One problem is that in order to get the front fans to work, you have to track down some mess of cables that is buried and plug a power supply molex power connector into roughly the middle of the mess of cables. That runs exactly two of the three case fans, but not all three. That part of the design is reasonable if documented, but the problem is that it's completely undocumented, as the case pretty much has no documentation whatsoever--whether included or online. Now that I've told you what to look for, you could find it without too much trouble, I'm sure, but might trip up on something else that is also completely undocumented and I happened to guess the first time.
A bigger problem is that the screw holes for the case fan mounts are enormous. You could drop a pencil straight through them, for example. So most fan mounting screws will fall right through the screw holes. That would be fine if the case came with its own screws with large heads to mount fans, but it doesn't. I had to find some thumbscrews that came with an older case in order to mount anything beyond the fans that came with the case.
That case also basically doesn't support liquid cooling, which is kind of ridiculous in a $100 case. You might not care, but I ran into that problem because my Radeon R9 Fury X is liquid cooled, and there really isn't a nice spot to put the radiator. All of the fan mount spots are simply in the wrong place to fit a radiator, and the only place I could get it to fit at all was literally pressing against the memory slots. When the computer died and I moved the Fury X to my older Antec Three Hundred Illusion case--which was about 2/3 of the price and 20% smaller by volume--fitting and mounting the radiator wasn't a problem at all.
I thought getting a relatively large mid-tower case would be nicer to build in, but it just isn't. It intuitively felt smaller on the inside than some Antec and Cooler Master cases I've used in the past, even though it was bigger on the outside and more expensive. Things are just laid out wrong or something.
I still swear by Lian Li cases. They are pricey, and without a lot of frills, but I really like them in general. I ended up pulling everything out of the Carbide and putting it into another Lian Li not too long ago.
I always use a bigger power supply he is talking about. It goes back to power supplies used on military transmitters and other systems. They overkill the PS for reliability.
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