Another Set of Eyes Appreciated - New Build!

[Pieintheface]

Greetings all.

I'm looking to build a new PC over the next few weeks. My current system is ~6 years old, and I made a few mistakes with it - namely getting a motherboard restricted to DDR2 memory to save myself $50 bucks and that sort of thing. Still, it's been good to me for a long time with a couple minor upgrades, but it's time to start anew.

I would really appreciated another set of eyes on the build, it's been awhile since I've put one together.

Here's my tentative list:

Fractal Design Define R5 FD-CA-DEF-R5-BK Black Computer Case
MSI 970 Gaming AM3+ AMD 970 6 x SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core 4.0GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W
MSI GTX 970 GAMING 100ME 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5
Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
EVGA 220-G2-0750-XR 80 PLUS GOLD 750 W Fully Modular PSU
WD BLACK SERIES WD2003FZEX 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache 3.5" Internal HD
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120 mm PWM Fan
OEM Copy of Windows 7 Professional
DVD Drive That Will Get Used Very, Very Rarely Because Let's Be Honest

Current Total: $1,278.90 + 2.99 Shipping

Planning to buy it all from Newegg because that's what I've always done, ease of RMA/etc.

Traditionally I've always run with AMD, both for CPU and GPU, but this time around I'm thinking of running nVideo for the GPU for the sake of trying out the other side.

Does this build seem viable, and/or wise? I was hoping to keep the build more ~$1-1.1k, but I don't want to short myself in a dumb way for the sake of saving myself $50. I could probably swing up to $1,350-1,400 if I absolutely needed to and there'd be big benefits.

Am I missing something with the above build? Will it all work together without issue, no dumb compatibility mistakes? Any recommendations on swapped parts? I didn't bother linking the copy of Windows or the DVD drive because nobody cares about those. I may upgrade to Windows 10 down the line when things actually start utilizing DX12, but I see no point in the immediacy of the moment.

Thoughts and comments would be super appreciated - thanks and cheers!

 

[Pieintheface]

As a specific question in addition to the rest of the build, does anyone have a recommendation over the first MSI card I posted, and the following?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487088

Not sure if the EVGA is a better buy, I can actually get it cheaper.

Any responses would be appreciated, I'm thinking I might order the parts by the end of the evening/weekend.

 

[fport]

Well you're off to the races it seems.

Where's the SSD?

 

[Pieintheface]

I didn't choose an SSD because there's simply not enough benefit for me. I've been using your standard platter based hard drives for...pretty much ever, except at work where I've got an SSD, and the extra seconds saved here and there just don't justify the purchase. I don't restart my PC often, games wouldn't get installed to the SSD anyway, and beyond that my most commonly used app is Photoshop for large projects that would fill up an SSD too quickly anyway.

But, that being the only comment, I guess I can assume the build should work and that I haven't missed anything critical over the past few years. Thanks!

 

[fport]

beni_rohit said in another thread:

"2)CPU cooler- The Hyper 212 Evo is so popular not because its has the best performance but only because it has the best price to performance ratio... you wont be able to achieve very good overclocks with it..... i would suggest increasing your budget by a little for the CPU cooler.... consider the following as per your budget:
i) Noctua NH-D 15... the best air cooler on the market... almost as good as the best water coolers on the market... for about 100$
ii) Noctua NH- U14S... comes close to the D15 in performance... very good for the price... for about 80$
iii) DeepCool Gamer Storm Lucifer..... much better then the 212 Evo and only slightly expensive... for about 45$"

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2707647/processor-gpu.html

I'm wondering if you want a little more headroom without water for the AMD chip you are using?

 

[Pieintheface]

That's definitely something I guess I need to consider, fport. This is the first build I've put together that will be using something other than the stock cooler for the CPU.

I don't plan to do any overclocking, I mostly picked the Hyper 212 Evo because of price/performance, I didn't want an utterly inefficient jet engine in my case using the stock cooler. I thought the 212 Evo would suffice for non-overclocking, general use, but I will investigate those other suggestions. Thank you!

 

[Pieintheface]

Decided to go with the Noctua NH-U14S instead of the 212 Evo. That was good advice, thank you.

Also decided to go with the EVGA GPU rather than the MSI, mostly due to the faster clock speed and it actually being the cheaper of the two at the moment.

Ordered the parts just a moment ago - thank you all for your input!