Hi SEN! It's been a while since I've done anything but lurk, but I finally came out of hiding since I could use some advice. The site's looking a lot prettier these days, by the way

The short story is that my laptop, which has served me well for 7 years, has finally reached its end-of-life. I'm thinking this time around rather than get another heavy-power laptop I'm going to instead build a good desktop and just keep a light laptop around and remote into the desktop when necessary.

Now, I haven't kept up with computer hardware over the past year and a half or so, so it's probably best to assume everything I know is obsolete and that I know almost nothing. I have some general requirements, but nothing's fixed.

I'm also going to use this thread to ask any questions I have and to post the build (with pictures!) when it's done, so please be patient with me. I'd like to make this a learning experience since it's the first time I'm actually building a whole PC from scratch; please do not get offended if I ask why you picked a certain brand or if I link to another part that happens to be on sale and ask you if it is any good compared to the one you chose.

Now, with all that aside, the basic run-down:

• Need everything inside the case, including the case itself. Motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM, HDD, the works.
  
• My budget is $1000 CAD, but this isn't set in stone. I could go up to $1300 if the parts are worth it. Exchange rate from CAD to USD is pretty bad right now, so for USD probably it should just be $800-$1k.
  
• I have about $500 set aside separately for two 1080p screens, and recommendations on those would be appreciated. I would prefer smaller screens though, nothing over 23 inches; my room is quite cramped and there just isn't space for two large screens. Whatever leftover money from the screens can go towards the rest of the build, if need be. IPS please, not TN.
  
• I would like a quiet rig, even if it costs more. I get distracted easily by loud noises.
  
  
• CPU: A beefier CPU would be appreciated. My work is mainly in programming but I find that I spend a lot of time twiddling my thumbs waiting for code to compile or unit tests to complete, so any speedups in this department would be great.
  
• Cooler: Priority is noise > cooling. I've never set up a liquid cooling kit before, but am willing to learn if it's recommended.
  
• PSU: No preference.
  
• Motherboard: No preference.
  
• GPU: My preferred gaming resolution will only be a single 1080p screen (have the other screen with Skype open and whatnot), though I do play some modern titles and would like to get 60 FPS.
  
• RAM: 8GB please. No real preference otherwise.
  
• HDD: No preference. I don't use up a whole lot of space, so 1TB would be fine. I'd love to get me a 1TB SSD, but I don't know if that can fit in the budget.
  
• Case: I've heard a lot of great things about the Fractal Design Define R4 and I love the way it looks. That being said, if there are similar cases for the same or lower price then I'm sold on those too.
  

Alright, I think that's everything. Thank you to anyone that helps!

I cut some corners, but look over this and tell me what you think:

What corners did you cut, and what might you change if there were, say, another $100 headroom? It seems solid, though I think I might drop another $20-40 on a cooler with less noise (this one any good?)

Most likely going to go with two of these monitors, which frees up $120 towards the build.

There are several reviews on that GTX 970 that claim that performance drops like a brick at max load and that Nvidia falsely advertised the RAM as being 4GB when it's effectively only 3.5. Is this an issue I should worry about?

Lots of corners. I would switch to a 4690k with a Z97 motherboard first, then get an SSD, and then if there's still money left over, consider upgrading the cooler/HDD/PSU/case in no particular order.

Don't know if it's worth mentioning, but Skylake is around the corner (Intel was bragging about it during Computex this week), so if you're not in a rush to build a PC, you could very well wait for the new line of CPUs expected sometime before the end of this year.

In my opinion, dropping more on the cooler is going to be a waste of money unless you're overclocking your CPU; spend that money on case fans instead. I have a Hyper 212+ in my system and I never hear it because it's never running on 100%.

But yes, be quiet! has excellent quality CPU coolers, that one being no exception.

If you're gonna be running your GPU at max load, your computer isn't going to be silent; even the water-cooled R9 295x2 gets up to 45-50 dBA. That aside, the RAM is in fact 4GB, it's just divided into two pools of 3.5GB and 0.5GB for an optimization, where 3.5GB can be accessed at its full speed, but the last 0.5GB is slower.

It is not an issue you should worry about, however, especially considering you're getting 1080p monitors. Many people (myself included) are still happily using 2GB cards to play modern titles at that resolution.

You'll really want a SSD, even if it's just a cheap 120GB one. (They are still worlds faster)
The rest of what you have to spare should go into a CPU upgrade. For the compiling you'll need single threaded performance, meaning more GHz, not more cores.

After taking into account NudeRaider and Roy's suggestions and putting the leftover from the monitors to the rest of the build, I've modified Roy's build to this:


Changes are: 4690K, Z97 mobo, SSD, pricey cooler. SSD was pushing my budget right up against the wall, but since the 240GB was only $35 more than a similar 120GB I figured I could just cover the difference by going to work overtime this weekend.

Motherboard could probably be a bit cheaper, not sure on this. I picked one that had the Z97 chipset, all the connections I think I would (ever) need and seemed to be well-built and well-reviewed.

Also not sure if 550W will still be sufficient with the more power-hungry parts. I'm not planning to do any serious upgrades in the future (may pop in more RAM or another storage HDD if that ever becomes an issue, but that's all) and PCPartPicker tells me it will still be fine, so I'll leave it as is unless you recommend otherwise.

Yeah, Gigabyte has great mobos, but when on a tight budget you should go for Asrock. The one I'd suggest is $50 cheaper (though $30 through mail-in rebate) but lacks the following:
- DVI, VGA connectors for the onboard (only has HDMI) -- since you have a discreet card this shouldn't matter much.
- Can't be upgraded to multi GPU setup -- not recommended anyways.
- 2 fewer USB 2.0 (only has 2 USB 2.0, 4 USB 3.0, which is fine)
- slightly worse audio chip and no digital out (HDMI still carries digital audio)

You know, a 120GB SSD is perfectly manageable* if you feel you're going over budget too much. The loss in speed is negligible.
The model you picked is solid.
* Here I'm explaining how

You upgraded the CPU from regular and a bit cheaper to overclockable. That means out of the box you pay more but don't get more. So this only makes sense if you actually plan on using the unlocked multiplier. Don't be put off though, ~4 GHz are easy and safe to do. You don't even need to know anything. The Intels are taking it so well that the mobos usually offer some standard overclocking. Turn on and forget. A mild frequency boost doesn't even seem to impact longevity anymore. Plus the CPU cooler would be more reasonable, which would otherwise be overkill on a non-overclocked Intel.

The 550W is still plenty for this system--any standard system actually. Don't let the market trick you into buying oversized PSUs. All they do is work more inefficiently and thus not only have a higher initial cost, but also draw more power from the socket.
The build from your last post needs probably around 350-380W at full load. The 550W is headroom for upgrades, taking aging into account and adds some safety margin so it isn't stressed by operating at peak power.

Good picks, but I find it ridiculous that you're spending as much on your CPU cooler as you are on your case. How high are you planning on overclocking? Yes, it moves a lot of air quietly, but without decent case fans, you're just pushing that air around inside the case.

Get a cheaper cooler like the be quiet! PURE ROCK and then spend the other $30 on case fans to maximize airflow. Since your case supports both 120mm and 140mm fans at every mount, just grab a couple of these.

Also, don't forget to buy thermal paste for your CPU cooler.

I like his motherboard pick. His PSU is large enough to support two 970s in SLI, so I think he should at least have that option if somewhere down the line he wants to do so. (Though it looks like he'd need an adapter to get that last 6-pin for SLI.)

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jun 6 2015, 3:31 pm by Roy.

Yup, great mobo, just a bit on the pricy side. Going dual-gpu has its own set of problems so I never consider it an option except for demands that a single card can't handle. So I'd rather see these $50 go into immediate gain instead of into an option that is probably not going to get called.

Ex's take on this:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4820K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.99 @ Memory Express)
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek Dark Knight SD1483 Night Hawk 90.3 CFM CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($248.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Mushkin Redline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($120.88 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($119.99 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($228.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($83.08 @ shopRBC)
Total: $1334.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-06 12:23 EDT-0400

Reasonings:
You want CPU? You got CPU. i7.
Xigma makes some good coolers and is cheaper than be quiet because they aren't greedy Germans. In all seriousness its a nice cooler with a 140mm fan. As you no doubt are aware a larger fan can move more air at lower RPM which in most cases equals lower noise. Its also one of Xig's quieter fans from what I can tell.
ASROCK is a great brand to know when on a budget. Solid board.
RAM is taking a nosedive in prices. Get it while the gettings good. 16GB of Redline for 120$ CAD? Yes please.
EVOs are pretty standard SSD fare, and the EZEX is one of WD's best values right now. I currently own 3 of them.
Nothing special on the GPU. A 960 should handle most games at 1080p without issue. I'd have liked a 970 but the budget just isn't there because of other things. If you went down to the i5 you could probably swing it. Yes I know I'm overbudget as it is.
The R4 is a way nicer case than the core. Stop being silly and fondling yourself over the be quiet coolers and get the kind of case this build deserves. The core is more mesh which usually means more dust and noise versus the nice solid paneling of the R4. I owned an R4 previously, loved it.
For PSU SeaSonic is the best you can get in most cases. This one is semi modular to keep plugs clean and is 'rated' at 520w which being SeaSonic I'd be surprised if you couldn't comfortably pull another 50w out of it. That said the system draws under 400w stock according to PCPP's calculator, so even if you OC you've got headroom.

If it were me this is the way I'd do it.

Apparently I wasn't up to date on the compiling department. Multi core compiling is very possible, which means green light for the virtual cores of the i7. Unless your compiler/language can't do it? You probably know this better yourself.

Regarding the 970 vs. 960: The 970, while considerably more expensive, is necessary to cover one of the few requirements in the OP: 1080p@60 fps for modern titles. The 960 performs around 45 fps at the more demanding titles, while the 970 manages 70 fps:
http://www.tomshardware.de/nvidia-geforce-gtx-960-maxwell-test,testberichte-241727-3.html (ignore the German and check the pics)
That being said, personally I'd be fine with the 960 because everything above 30 fps is good enough for me and there's always the option of playing at high or medium details. But ultimately you gonna have to decide yourself.

Regarding the HDD: The Blue and the Barracuda are basically the same, so I'd stick with the cheaper Seagate.

Just a note on the PSU: It's fully modular. (not that it matters)

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jun 6 2015, 6:16 pm by NudeRaider.

@NudeRaider: Yeah, VS lets you specify an arbitrary number of threads to use for the compiling process.

Okay, I'll scrap the current cooler and take Ex's recommendation for it on both counts. It seems to come down to i5 + GTX970 or i7 + GTX960.

@Ex: Yeah, that's overbudget. I can take it if I only get a single 1080p screen for now and get a second one later. A 970 with that is out of the question though, since that would push it to over $1400.

So with the i5/970:
(May still change the case to the Define R4 for this one. There's not much headroom in the budget for it though.)

And with the i7/960 (Changed the HDD into the slightly cheaper Barracuda):


I've got about 3 days before I should start ordering the whole shebang, so I'll check prices regularly and see if any sudden deals pop up in that time (or should I order now?). If not, I'll probably go with Ex's build since the extra CPU horsepower would be worth sacrificing some FPS to me.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jun 6 2015, 7:21 pm by xAngelSpiritx.

If you're stepping down from the GTX 970, I would go with the R9 280X.



Not going with the GTX 970 means you're putting gaming second.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jun 7 2015, 3:08 am by Roy.

What's the justification for buffing the i7-4820K to i7-4790K? From what I read they roughly overclock the same.

If you're going to put gaming second to favor CPU intensive work I support the switch to the R9 280X. Because of the 3GB it will age better. 2GB has already been not enough for especially demanding titles like Watch Dogs a year ago. And this will probably get worse as the years pass. Not to mention that it already performs better (but still worse than a 970.

CPU/board combo comes out significantly cheaper and the 4790k has better performance:

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-4820K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-4790K/1675vs2384
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-4820K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-4790K

LGA2011 boards are too expensive; you're paying a premium for the board and have to get a weaker CPU to make up for it. What's the justification for paying $55 more for a slower system?

I see.

So I ordered everything, it arrived in due time, and I've got a brief story to tell for it.


I missed UPS's delivery of the case, so I had to go and pick it up from the delivery center. It's not far from my house, so I thought "hey, why not just walk?", which is exactly what I ended up doing.

The problem came when I actually arrived at the UPS center, signed off the package and realized that I'd underestimated how bloody heavy this thing is. So I quickly checked my phone, perhaps to call a buddy to pick me up -- then I realize I'm retarded and didn't bring my phone. So no help.

Without any other options I was forced to soldier up and carry the whole thing back home. Two kilometers isn't that far of a distance, but it's a lot more when you're carrying a 13-kilogram case. If you can imagine a skinny Asian guy walking down the street struggling to carry something he can barely wrap his arms around and panting like he's running a marathon, well, that was me.

Nonetheless, after much swearing and promises to never walk to the UPS centre ever again in my life, I got the case back to my house and unpacked it. It's everything I expected it to be. Solid, heavy, roomy on the inside, and sleek and understated on the outside. Awesome.

I'm gonna collapse the rest of the post because I haven't done any editing of the pictures and they're very large:


Now, after getting everything stable and running, I went to overclock the CPU. The nice folks at overclockers.com pointed me to this guide, though I skipped overclocking the RAM and focused only on the CPU. I found that my chip could handle a maximum stable OC of 4.4GHz with Vcore set to 1.25V; but at that point the temperatures were quite high (~85C under AIDA64 stability test) so I dialed it back down. My final OC is 4.2GHz, which puts temps at 55-60C idle, 65-75C load, and 75-80C under stress testing.

Thank you everybody who helped! The build is a success, it was a great experience, I had a lot of fun and learned many things.

Very happy for you dude, enjoy.

I recently got my Corsair Obsidian 750D in the mail but I had to go pick it up. I don't have a car so I thought it wasn't a big deal to carry it to the nearest bus stop and take it home. Yeah, I learned my lesson with trying to walk even medium distances with cases.