Finally started my 1st build

[bendy86]

Well, after putting in many hours into research and numerous threads started asking for advice and opinions from the many members of toms hardware, I have finally started to build my rig. I'm still waiting for one more part before I can fire it up and check that everything is behaving and doing what it should be doing. Here is a quick run through of what I've purchased and done.

THE PLAN.

The plan for this rig was to build a out and out gaming pc which will be used daily just for games. I wanted to get the best parts possible but also save as much money as possible. I was also thinking about future upgrades as in about 12 months time I would like to SLI. The GPU. I also set myself a budget of £800-£850 which, if I'm honest, was quite hard but after alot of research and hours spent in search engines comparing prices, I've actually stuck to budget.

PARTS AND COMPONENTS

Installed parts:-

PSU - Antec high current gamer 750w - £64.99 eBay

Mobo - asrock z77 extreme4 gen 3 - £109.99 BT shop

RAM - Corsair vengeance 8gb (2x4gb) 1600 low profile - £39.99 eBay

GPU - EVGA GTX670 2gb - £270 eBay

Case - cooler master storm enforcer - £35 eBay

HDD - 500gb Samsung HDD 7200rpm - free from old computer

DVD-RW - DVD RW - free from old computer

Still to be installed:-

CPU cooler - noctua NH-d14 - £39.99 ebuyer

OS - Windows 7 home premium 64 bit oem - £60 eBay

Still to purchase:-

CPU - intel i5 3570k - £160 amazon

All parts are brand new apart from the case and the 2 components I pulled from old computers I had laying around.
As soon as the motherboard turned up I started the build. I've installed the GPU, ram onto the mobo before putting that inside the case. Before I installed the mobo, I installed all the other parts like PSU, HDD and DVD drive.
Once everything was in place I decided to connect everything that I could to the mobo so I could get the cables tidied up and put out the way. While I did this and whole that side of the case was off, I decided to install the backplate for the cooler. I did this so I now don't have to remove that side of the case anymore during the build( I hope ).
So now all I'm waiting for is the purchase of my CPU. Once I have that, I can install the rest of the cooler and get the windows 7 install done.
I'm happy with the budget as well, it's roughly £835. My thinking was to spend money now to save money in the future as hopefully I won't need to upgrade for a lil while. Especially when I SLI the gtx670.

So, this is where I'm at with the build. Hopefully all will go well with the 1st boot up after the CPU has been installed. I'm so close but yet so far.

Just a quick question though which I'm still un sure of is will I be able to format my drive during install of windows 7 to remove all data including an old OS? Any help would be much appreciated.

So there's my rig that I'm putting together. As said before, this is the 1st time I've built a pc so I'm excited but nervous at the same time. Just hope nothing goers wrong.
I found installation pretty easy and even the wiring in was straight forward. It's not as scary as I 1st thought but I think that all comes down to the research that I put in. I already new the layout of the board before I got it due to downloading the user guide weeks a go. I certainly wouldn't reccomend anyone going into this blind as I feel the books that come with the components don't really give you all the info in the right terms. It can be quite hard for a newbie (like myself) to follow these guides.

So people, what do you think. I'm going to be happy with it as it will run the games I wanna play at ultra settings and should do for a while yet.

Will add pictures soon.

Any advice and opinions would be great and well received.

 

[bendy86]

I also forgot to mention that the reason I got the noctua cooler is that I'm hoping to hit a overclock of around 4.5 ghz on this CPU.
I know it depends on luck of the draw with the CPU but do you think this is a possible overclock?

 

[manofchalk]

Its a good build, nothing wrong with the components you picked. It should play high end games very nicely.

I am not sure if during the install it will format the drive. Theres an option to upgrade or custom install, if the stuff on there isn't important, go custom and it should (Not entirely sure) reformat the drive and install windows 7. Make sure to back up anything you may want on the drive.

I would actually advise putting on the CPU and heatsink outside the case, it is much easier than trying to do it inside. It will also give you the opportunity to test-bench the system before going to the effort of installing it into the case (again).

Watch this guide on Cable management from NCIX, very useful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERhxmzQR6xA&feature=plcp

 

[bendy86]

Thanks. I'll have a look at that video. On the HDD situation, im not worried about any of the data on it, I just weren't sure if you can do custom install with oem version of windows 7.
I've heard that it can be a right pain installing the noctua cooler inside the case but it can also be a right pain getting a mobo with the cooler on into the case. I've already fitted the back plate of the cooler so it should hopefully just slot in.

I'm quite happy with the cable management that I've done but as I have a non modular PSU, I'm not to sure of what to do with the un used cables that come from it.

 

[manofchalk]

Just run them behind the motherboard tray, between it and the side panel, then zip tie them down. Usually the right corner of the case will be empty of cables, so just put them there.