New Build Advice Please

[username1111]

Hello. I hope this is the right place to post this, I will remove if not.

My good friend decided that he wanted to build a computer, and in his excitement purchased components immediately based on a recommendation I made. Normally, I would have done more research first, but now I'm really just concerned that I gave him something that can work. Can anyone please double check the list below and tell me if I made any huge flaws and possibly give us some advice for building the thing?

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

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($314.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($102.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($70.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($86.95 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($82.71 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($296.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1075.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-08 12:44 EST-0500

I know it's missing a OS at this time, we will work that out. I just now learned that we've moved on to LGA1151, but hopefully that's not a huge flaw if everything is compatible.

Thank you so much for your time and help!

Editted for grammar

 

[VirtualLarry]

PSU chosen is a bit on the weak and cheap side, but other than that, I don't see any glaring incompatibilities. (Not familiar with that case though, I'll let others comment on that.)

 

[username1111]

PSU chosen is a bit on the weak and cheap side, but other than that, I don't see any glaring incompatibilities. (Not familiar with that case though, I'll let others comment on that.)

I didn't think of that, I know Corsair is a respected brand but I didn't check that model. He won't be overclocking. Maybe after more feedback I'll recommend he contact Newegg before the order is processed.

Thank you for your response!

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Corsair is respected, CX series is their "system builder" series - inexpensive, not fancy. Good enough for most uses, but not something you'd want to put in a system that is likely to stress the power supply. (multi-GPU setups, water cooling rigs, monster OCs, etc.) For the rig you have up there with a mild overclock on air cooling, it's probably fine.

I have a CX430M in my server at home. It's been on 24/7 since last thanksgiving without so much as a burp.

Everything that Fractal Design does is a work of art. The R5 is just a... BIG work of art. Not my cup of tea, personally, but people who have them love them.

IMHO, you should spring for a 500GB SSD. Not a huge price premium and you'll want it soon enough anyway.

 

[username1111]

Corsair is respected, CX series is their "system builder" series - inexpensive, not fancy. Good enough for most uses, but not something you'd want to put in a system that is likely to stress the power supply. (multi-GPU setups, water cooling rigs, monster OCs, etc.) For the rig you have up there with a mild overclock on air cooling, it's probably fine.

I have a CX430M in my server at home. It's been on 24/7 since last thanksgiving without so much as a burp.

Everything that Fractal Design does is a work of art. The R5 is just a... BIG work of art. Not my cup of tea, personally, but people who have them love them.

IMHO, you should spring for a 500GB SSD. Not a huge price premium and you'll want it soon enough anyway.

This is super helpful, I feel a lot better about it now. I agree about the SSD but I was already pretty over budget, maybe he can upgrade to a PCIe drive in the future. Thank you both so much!

 

[Charlie98]

I would pick a different HDD... the 3TB Seagate is getting some criticism for reliability issues... it would not be my first choice. (The 3TB Barracuda only, none of the other current Seagate drives seem to have the same reliability issue. I actually have one of these drives, it's given me no problems mind you, but I'm just mentioning it.)

Everything else seems OK, the PSU is reasonable, given the purpose.

 

[Yuriman]

The only "flaw" I can see is that you picked an older Haswell CPU instead of Skylake, but the performance difference isn't huge, and overall a Skylake system would've cost slightly more. Overall it looks like a solid system.