• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Custom build

K

kcooldude

Junior Member
Hey everyone!

I am trying to make my first ever desktop. I will be gaming on it, I usually play old games like skyrim and borderlands 2, some online games like League of Legends. I normally wait until games cost about $5-$15 before buying them, so I never play the new and latest games, I am usually a few generations back.

So, I have a custom build already.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/k7WTgs

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/k7WTgs
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/k7WTgs/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($191.98 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: ASRock H97 PERFORMANCE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($70.98 @ Newegg)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card

Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($87.98 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $593.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-10 20:31 EDT-0400

So, basically, I have no idea on what cooler, fan and expansion cards to buy. I want good sound and internet, because I stream a lot of movies/tv and my internet is pretty bad since a lot of people are connected to it and are all streaming.

I know very little about buying parts and what is needed, so I am not even sure what cooler or fan to buy. More so, I do not know anything about how to pick expansion cards. Could someone please give me some advice? Also, I would love to hear feedback on the current build, a fellow forum member actually recommended it to me.

Thank you,

Moved from Motherboards, merged, and cleaned up crosspost.

mfenn
General Hardware Moderator
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Would recommend posting in General Hardware next time.

If you're ONLY gonna be playing old games, and you plan on keeping this rig for several years, this looks pretty good TBH. I would downgrade the motherboard to something cheaper unless you need/want the features of H97, would upgrade SSD to 240GB and (personally) would switch the HDD to a WD Blue 1TB (WD10EZEX). BTW, the graphics card in that price list is out of stock/has no price.

(If you're gonna be playing AAA games from 2014/2015 in 2018)
 
If you have bad internet, there is nothing that a new computer can do to fix that. Other than that, what eton said.
 
Thanks for your feedback,

Eton your right I should have posted this in general builds.

Ketchup I have bad internet and I know no computer can fix that, I just posted it just to stress the importance of good expansion cards.

The thing is I have no idea how to pick expansion cards. I think I might just repost in general builds and fine tune my question.

Thanks for your feedbacks!
 
kcooldude said:
Ketchup I have bad internet and I know no computer can fix that, I just posted it just to stress the importance of good expansion cards.

The thing is I have no idea how to pick expansion cards. I think I might just repost in general builds and fine tune my question.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you're getting at here. On a normal <$1000 gaming machine, there is no need for any expansion cards other than the GPU.
 
kcooldude said:
I am not even sure what cooler or fan to buy.
Click to expand...

You may as well use the stock Intel cooler provided with the CPU, at least to start with.

Nothing wrong with it at all as you apparently have no overclocking intentions and have not expressed any sensitivity to noise levels. The stock cooler becomes quite audible as the PC comes under a good load and the fan goes beyond 2000 rpm, but a lot of people are not bothered by that.

Likewise, I'd build it with whatever case fans are included in your chosen case.

After the thing has been up and running for weeks or months, you can re-evaluate the noise and temperature situation and then possibly buy a replacement cooler or fans if need be. I haven't looked at your case details, but if it uses 120 mm fans, there are a number of high quality/low noise fans that could easily replace the stock fans. You can't really anticipate noise levels or temps with any accuracy before you complete the build anyway, so I wouldn't worry about that issue right now.
 
I see, then I will just go with the integrated sound. I read up a little bit more about pci vs usb wifi adapters, and I think I will go with the pci adapters due to performance.

I will stick with stock fans unless they just do not seem to work for me.

Another question, what do you all normally put in your sdd/hdd. I plan on using my sdd for windows and games, and put everything else (movies, documents, music, etc) on my hdd. Would this be effective?
 
To your question, pretty much yes. I have apps on the ssd. Pics, videos, music, and extra apps that may or may not be installed are on the terabytes hard drives (on another desktop used as a server, in my case).
 
kcooldude said:
So what your saying is that the sound card and wifi cards are already included in my motherboard and gpu?
Click to expand...

The sound card is integrated, yes.

As for WiFi, I would never use WiFi for a fast-paced online competitive game like LoL. Jitter on your standard residential WiFi can easily be in the high tens of milliseconds, which can easily double or triple your ping to the server at the most inopportune times. You should run an Ethernet cable unless it is completely impossible.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top