First build. Opinions?

1. Avoid any Corsair PSU with a "C" in the model number. For $20 less you can have the EVGA SuperNOVA 750 B2 .... 9.0 performance rated / 9.5 build quality rated w/ 5 year warranty .... savings = $20 and huge quality upgrade
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=393
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438028

or the new 10 year warranty EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650 G1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438026

2. Corsair DDR3-1600 for $160 ? 16 GB of superior Mushkin Redline DDR3-2133 CAS 10 (Hynix modules) are $25 cheaper.....savings - $25 ... $45 so far total and again a significant performance upgrade and itv will eliminate clearance issues with your cooler.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226420

3. Great HD ... in its day.... Not so much anymore. And the SSD is great for what fits on the SSD but does squat for what's on the HD. Spend an extra $10 for something faster ... why ?

a. The Seagate SSHD is 50% faster.

Seagate SSHD is 9.76 MB/s in gaming benchmark
WD Black is 6.34MB/s in gaming benchmark

b. It has a built in SSD which automatically moves your frequently used files to the SSD portion .... so if you are playing BF4 off the SSHD, it's files will be moved to the fastest part of the drive.... if you then switch to Witcher 3 in February, the Witchers files will replace BF4's files with the Witchers.

Extra cost = $10 ...savings to date = $35

4. Great GFX card that and the Gigabyte G1 are the best choices.

5. With the $35 saved so far above, I'd consider putting that towards the $62 ya need to upgrade to the new Enthoo Evolve. Huge performance and aesthetic improvement....see videos as to why

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=Phanteks+Evolve&N=-1&isNodeId=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3m2DQmmTX4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnvpFZ64hI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_Mso3V5SAw

So far ya build costs $27 more.

6. Replace the Fans with better cheaper ones and stick to ones where the noise won't drive you crazy. For most, the fastest fans I would use is 1500 rpm, I use 1200 rpm and manually set my speed at 850 rpm at which they are inaudible.

Here you see the Phanteks beating the Noctua AF15's by 3C ..... while spinning 300 rpm slower !

Better fan for 1/3 the price ... available with red, white, blue or orange LEDs also
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709023

The case has a built in fan hub for up to 11 fans.

It already has a 200mm in front and 140mm in rear. You could add 2 more to the top for $20.... savings = $28 ... so far ya built cost only $5 more.

Both Gigabyte and MSI have great MoBos and GFX cards in this price range. So, for two reasons I'd suggest considering getting both from same manufacturer.

a. Aesthetics .... color schemes will be a better match
b. Tech support calls are greatly simplified as the 1st thing learned in TS 101 is "blame the other guy" ... they can't do that when both are from same manufacturer. So....

MSI Z97I AC LGA w/ MSI GTX 970 Gaming or
GIGABYTE GA-Z97N-Gaming 5 w. Gigabyte GT 970 Gaming G1

Of course case design choice is primarily an aesthetic consideration but I would consider each of these changes.... all in all each change will result in significant performance / quality improvements and the cost difference is $5 ... perhaps less with some astute shopping

One final consideration .... while it has a significant cost impact, it will have a big big impact on CPU overclocking. The Swiftech H220-X or H240-X. You'd save $10 on fans, save $27 in ya cooler ... which still leaves ya spending an extra $100. Do ya need it, I dunno...depends on ya overclocking goals. The Noctua DH14 beats the Hyper 212 by 7 - 10C ... the DH-15 is 3-5C cooler than that and the H220-X is 5 C cooler than that



So you are looking at a temp drop of 15-20C. Is that worth $100 ... only you can decide that