First PC Build, how to improve?

FriedSalmon_ · May 10, 2016

Alright, so soon (within a month or two) I'm going to be building my very first PC. I've put parts in pre-existing computers before, but this will be the first time I start from scratch. My budget is roughly $1500-$1600, and I plan on using the PC for gaming, schoolwork, possibly video editing and things of that nature.

Below is the build I've come up with after a few edits, I've already purchased keyboard, mouse, and RAM. I have to buy a copy of Windows and would like to get a monitor but it's not 100% necessary. There are some things that I'm not aware of like will the CPU come with its own thermal compound, and if so is it of good quality? And how many fans should I have and of what sizes? A few things I'm insistent on are having an SSD as the primary drive and an HDD as the secondary drive, as well as NO water cooling. This is something that I would like to leave room to upgrade in the future. Also, I would like to get the 1070 when it comes out instead of the 970, or even the 1080 (although that is probably out of reach without major modifications to the build).

Any help is appreciated! Thank you.

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

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($343.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Thermal Compound: Noctua NT-H1 3.5g Thermal Paste ($8.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($123.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Sandisk Extreme Pro 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($106.00 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 850W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full - USB (32/64-bit) ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 39.9 CFM 120mm Fans ($25.88 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 39.9 CFM 120mm Fans ($25.88 @ OutletPC)
Fan Controller: NZXT Sentry Mix 2 Fan Controller ($29.88 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VX228H 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Razer BlackWidow Ultimate 2016 Wired Standard Keyboard (Purchased For $0.00)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder Chroma Wired Optical Mouse (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $1563.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-10 10:15 EDT-0400

sadams04 · May 10, 2016

Not bad. My thoughts are below...

CPU COOLER - Also consider the Cryorig below as a good budget minded cooler.
THERMAL PASTE - Not needed.
MB - At that price range I like the Gigabyte Gaming 5 or the ASUS Z170-A better than the ASRock.
SSD - Nice and all, but a bit of overkill. The Samsung 850 EVO will perform just fine and save you on the budget as well as the Sandisk Z400s is priced nicely at the moment. Also, look toward the M.2 form factor.
HD - Less failures with Western Digital.
FANS + CONTROLLER - Not needed. The case fans will be fine as will the MB controlling the fans.
MONITOR - Changed to an IPS LED panel at 24"

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($343.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($145.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Sandisk Z400s 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($69.85 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($72.33 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($331.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 Blackout Edition w/ Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($124.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full - USB (32/64-bit) ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: LG 23MP57HQ-P 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($108.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Razer BlackWidow Ultimate 2016 Wired Standard Keyboard (Purchased For $0.00)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder Chroma Wired Optical Mouse (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $1470.50

CV_Taihou · May 10, 2016

Well in a nutshell there's a number of things I'd change. Not completely sold on the i7 unless you're doing a bunch of editing and work right off the bat. That's more so personal opinion than anything. If it was me I'd stick with the unlocked i5, since it will perform virtually as well in most games, and should you need the upgraded CPU in the future, it's a simple matter of popping out the i5, selling it, and picking up the i7 (actually what I'll be doing in around a year or so). I'd go for the Cryorig H7 over the 212 Evo since the H7 is all around a superior cooler. I swapped out the SSD for the Samsung option since it's cheaper and will perform just as well. I swapped out the PSU for a cheaper unit that will still perform just as fine for less cost. Case has been changed to a cheaper option as well that has a built in fan controller. I purposely left out the GPU as you said you wanted to go with the 1070 on release, though if you wanted a card now, you could easily throw in something like an R9 390X for a decent price.

Here's the updated Build (with the i7, though an i5 would let you probably pick up a 1080 on release

Dark Lord of Tech · May 10, 2016

FriedSalmon_ :

Alright, so soon (within a month or two) I'm going to be building my very first PC. I've put parts in pre-existing computers before, but this will be the first time I start from scratch. My budget is roughly $1500-$1600, and I plan on using the PC for gaming, schoolwork, possibly video editing and things of that nature.

Below is the build I've come up with after a few edits, I've already purchased keyboard, mouse, and RAM. I have to buy a copy of Windows and would like to get a monitor but it's not 100% necessary. There are some things that I'm not aware of like will the CPU come with its own thermal compound, and if so is it of good quality? And how many fans should I have and of what sizes? A few things I'm insistent on are having an SSD as the primary drive and an HDD as the secondary drive, as well as NO water cooling. This is something that I would like to leave room to upgrade in the future. Also, I would like to get the 1070 when it comes out instead of the 970, or even the 1080 (although that is probably out of reach without major modifications to the build).

Any help is appreciated! Thank you.

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

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($343.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Thermal Compound: Noctua NT-H1 3.5g Thermal Paste ($8.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($123.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Sandisk Extreme Pro 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($106.00 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 850W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full - USB (32/64-bit) ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 39.9 CFM 120mm Fans ($25.88 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 39.9 CFM 120mm Fans ($25.88 @ OutletPC)
Fan Controller: NZXT Sentry Mix 2 Fan Controller ($29.88 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VX228H 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Razer BlackWidow Ultimate 2016 Wired Standard Keyboard (Purchased For $0.00)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder Chroma Wired Optical Mouse (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $1563.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-10 10:15 EDT-0400

Nice build , all solid component choices.

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First PC Build, how to improve?

FriedSalmon_

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Dark Lord of Tech

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CV_Taihou

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Dark Lord of Tech

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