windows Custom pc I plan on building

[JoeDirt]

Once you go ROG you never go back. I would not go for an AMD chip, since the TDP is massive so the heat output is gonna be an issue, if you overclock you gonna need at least AIO watercooler. Source: me, I own latest AMD and Intel comps that I have built in the last 6 months.

[LA_Kings_Fan]

As NoGooD is saying ...

 

you need to plan ahead when it comes to integrating SSD & HDD's into a custom build.

The nice thing about today's MoBo's is they usually come with all the SATA connections you can ever think of using.

 

I use a 128 GB SSD for just my BOOT and OS Drive ONLY, this way should you have to reinstall windows (which you WILL at some point) it's simple and fast and that's ALL that's on this SSD.

 

I use another SSD drive (size varies depending on need) for all my APPLICATIONS and GAMES, etc. You could use a HDD for this also, but SSD's are getting cheaper and cheaper and they do improve load times for programs and games. Less time waiting is always a plus in my book.

 

And lastly comes the HDD's, for STORAGE only ... ALL your FILES, documents, Music, pictures, videos, etc. should all be on HDD's that are in some sort of array for back up safety, either multiple HDD's inside in some RAID set-up or connected to a NAD or CLOUD RAID array.

 

... planning this out now ahead of time will save you headaches later on while doing the build. 

[FinZeroX]

Tulsa, it's a great board. I have the version a couple before, the ASUS ROG Maximus IV Gene Z68, it's a GREAT MINI BEAST, and not $$$.

That's the plus side of going with a mATX MoBo, and he could still do crossfire / SLI with GPU's if he wanted.

The Asus ROG (Republic of Gamers) stuff is far and away a notch above the other manufacturers IMO.

 

Yes, ROG has quality points. In some sides it overcomes other products. On the whole, the price/quality ratio is shit. You should only go with ROG if you have some extra money, as you will get more out of going with normal mobo and buying better products.

 

 

 

Major2309 you may want to check out the site,  overclock.net  , I'm on there and it's where I picked up a lot a valuable information and insight when I did my first computer build a couple years ago now. I fully recommend check the site out BEOFRE you buy ANYTHING.

 

Yes. You don't find much here, it's a gaming community site. You should go find people that play with this shit daily. I do it on the finnish forums, but here aint place for that.

 

ALSO ... it should be pointed out, BLACK FRIDAY & CYBER MONDAY, and then Christmas and New Years SALES are right around the corner, and I fully endorse the idea of buying the components of a build like this piece by piece as they are on sale. Especially with Newegg and NCIX (I hate TigerDirect) they are always putting stuff on sale, and sending you cyber coupons after you buy something to buy MORE with ... so take advantage of that, and you'll get it cheaper than buying it all at once, and you're in no real rush to build this right ?

 

Yes. Go for the sales.

 

As for the gear, Personally ....

 

- I'm an INTEL guy, for the CPU and MoBo, BUT to be fair I haven't kept current with the AMD stuff and these newer FX and A series CPU's look pretty hard to beat for the $ as well  , and ASUS ROG does make an AMD version motherboard.

 

There's no reason to go with AMD on the CPUs. Recent news tell that AMD has dropped all plans on high-end CPUs. They resigned. Game over. Maybe they'll push more generations later but the next gen is cancelled. On single thread level Intel is way better, and so far there is no use for multi-thread. So even if Intel is more costy, you get better price/performance and less TDP.

 

- CASE, I like simple and clean ... a GAMERS case screaming LOOK AT ME does nothing for me. It's a computer, it should be BLACK and RECTANGULAR 

I like the stuff Corsair, Fractal Design and Silverstone put out for compact ATX to mATX cases.

 

To make it plain: led means noisy. Ventilation means noisy. Less known manufactors are mostly... bad. So I recommend reading reviews. Less ventilation and more planned air routes.

 

 

- GRAPHICS CARD, here I'm an AMD guy. They just make great high performance cards for the money that nVidia has a hard time matching up against. But again at this level

nVidia cards are world beaters themselves in terms of performance, but IF I was buying a new GPU today I'd be getting an AMD R9 290X

 

Both NVidia and AMD are good. AMD is better on price-level but nvidia is better performer, as said. Nowadays the recommendation for price and performance is: 7990 - 290X - 290 - 780(Ti) - 280X - 770. Just pick one.

 

- POWER ... I like the CORSAIR PSU units. But any HIGH END unit will do, get what's on SALE at the time.

 

Corsair is good. But remember: PSU aint the one you want to save from. Just reserve money for it. ie. Seasonic P660 XP2 or Corsair AX***i are good. Remember to ask and read before buying.

 

- Memory has got to be G.Skil or Corsair, and colored to match or contrast your MoBo if your case has a side window!

 

This point is neutral. Just go for a cheap option. 8GB or 16GB recommended. 1600Mhz

 

- SSD's, are a MUST IMO, and CRUCIAL or IBM are the ticket IMO. I strongly suggest staying away from any SSD using SandForce controllers (though they claim they have fixed the issue, it burned many a early buyer of SSD drives) ... and for HDD's I always get WD's Cav blacks.

 

1 or 2 SSDs. Minimum 240Gb total recommended. I gave up on HDDs inside my case: USB3 will do just fine. Got 2Tb in that, and total of 300GB on SSDs.

 

- For Cooling it's tough to beat the Corsair Hydro stuff, I use AIR cooling in my rig, Noctua like Tulsa listed, but I'd love to do a new build using the Corsair Hydro stuff on the CPU and GPU ... some of the higher end graphics cards came with self contained liquid coolers already on them, and they are the ticket IMO.

 

If you got a high-temp GPU, go for closed loop CPU cooling (water). If not, go for good air cooling. Phanteks, Noctua etc.

 

- The other stuff, (keyboards - Cherry Reds) (mice - whatever works for YOU) (Monitor - the biggest and as many as your budget allows) is all kind of personal preference items as even more so.

 

Mechanical keyboard. Mouse that fits your hand structure. For monitor, try 1440p? You get 2560x1440 resolution and 120Hz with only 300 USD!

 

ALL THAT SAID ... have fun with the build, but be careful ... once you get going you want to keep building them I found

As I cannot refer to every point presented on this thread, I'll grip to LA_Kings' as it seems categorized.