Building PC - Need advice

[Man2002]

hi,
my and my brother TiMoN are building a somewhat good gaming PC, he's mostly doing all the work but both of us are funding it.

So anyway we've gathered information regarding PC building and figured this build will be ok
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RsXJHx

However we need help choosing:
A good PSU, TiMoN and I have read/watched a couple of videos/websites about choosing a PSU, so we figured that a Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze would be sufficient for our 327W PC.

A good CPU Cooler, my brother watched some PC building vids and noticed that water-cooling is the most advanced and good cooling system, however we don't know which to use. Most videos used a Corsair H100i or 105 which seem the same to us.

A sufficient motherboard, the asus vii hero is good but a little hefty on the price tag, if you guys can suggest a motherboard that can provide some of features the hero has, it would be great.

GTX 960, is it good? Should we ditch it and go for something less fancy? We picked a 4GB version for $249.99 which is $50 more than the 2gb one.


Also please note that we aren't thinking of changing the following at all:
The Case, we have already bought the H440 Black & Red, it looks very cool and we aren't planning to replace it. Also please note that it comes with 4 pre-built case fans, so purchasing more won't be required.



Please understand that we are a on 4,500 AED budget, which is about $1,200, so we aren't looking for overly-fancy GPUs and stuff.

Thanks!

[brian1996]

Powerwise, the PSU ain't bad but I'd still change it to a different series like the RM series for more quality.

I had an H100i before I upgraded it and I would recommend it as it's basically one of the best AIO liquid coolers on the market.

The motherboard is a bit over the top considering the rest of the setup, It can be cheaper. Go with the Asus Z97 Sabertooth mark 2 and you'll save around 30 dollars, besides that the Sabertooth boards are known for their outstanding quality and as a result come with a 5 year warranty.

4GB on a 960 is a bit too much imho, I can't imagine someone using the full amount of it anyway considering that you won't be playing at high/ultra settings. 2GB would be ok but it all depends on the kind of games you want to play and on what kind of graphic settings.

[Janar]

For power supply, refer to this: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html
Pick a power supply from Tier 1 or Tier 2. Tier 3 only if you are on very tight budget. This is vital part of your PC and is not worth taking the risk by choosing a lower quality PSU. You might lose more by saving up on PSU.

As for motherboard, it is quite a expensive one. You won't get any performance difference by choosing another one, only the features will be different. If it fits your budget, ok, why not. Personally, I would go for something less expensive. There might be features, that are there to show-off and feel good about, but you won't have any real use for them (dual LAN port for example, am yet to see the real improvement by that).

For GPU, go for GTX 970 if you can. Better bang for buck in my opinion. I was at two minds as well about these two, decided for GTX 970 as it is more futureproof. Even though it has the memory issue (0.5 GB part works only at 1/7th of normal speed), it is nothing too bad to worry about. Even GTA V doesn't use that much.

If you are not planning to overclock your CPU, you will be fine with air cooling (Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is a great one). If you plan to overclock to high speeds, then liquid cooling will be worth it. Your call.

[Man2002]

Powerwise, the PSU ain't bad but I'd still change it to a different series like the RM series for more quality.

I had an H100i before I upgraded it and I would recommend it as it's basically one of the best AIO liquid coolers on the market.

The motherboard is a bit over the top considering the rest of the setup, It can be cheaper. Go with the Asus Z97 Sabertooth mark 2 and you'll save around 30 dollars, besides that the Sabertooth boards are known for their outstanding quality and as a result come with a 5 year warranty.

4GB on a 960 is a bit too much imho, I can't imagine someone using the full amount of it anyway considering that you won't be playing at high/ultra settings. 2GB would be ok but it all depends on the kind of games you want to play and on what kind of graphic settings.

Considering that the RM 450W is gold certified, that ,means it uses about 87% of the energy it draws, so I guess it would be enough for my 327W build. As for the 960, what do you mean with "you won't be playing on high/ultra anyway"? Are you hinting that the gtx 960 is somewhat weak?

[brian1996]

The 960 is basically the entry level GPU of the 900 series. It ain't powerfull enough to run every game on high settings with good framerates.
As Janar said, if you can afford it go with the 970. It is indeed a better bang for the buck and pretty much runs every game that is out there nicely.

[LoHi]

Stay the hell away from Seagate. Their failure rates are OVER 40% (on that drive you picked). Western Digital Reds are good drives, although a bit expensive. I could only find the Pro one on PCPartPicker, but the regular should be cheaper. Hitachi drives are also very reliable.

[brian1996]

Western Digital Reds are good drives, although a bit expensive.

I'd suggest Blue or Black instead. Reds are more geared towards NAS and backup solutions.

[Man2002]

Thanks to everyone, the advice regarding the PSU, storage and GPU were amazing. One last question, as I don't intend to OC my CPU anytime soon, should I ditch the H100i for a CM Hyper Evo? Or just stick with the H100i in case I change my mind?(which is improbable)

[brian1996]

You can ditch it if you don't intend to overclock but considering the CPU you've picked. It has a lot of overclocking potential. If you choose a good air cooler overclocking it in the future wouldn't be a problem either. In this case I can't really help you since it depends on you.

[Man2002]

I guess I'll stay with the H100i, as for the rest, here's the updated parts list.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nHgFrH I'll think about the vii hero overnight, I can't thank you guys enough.

[LoHi]

I guess I'll stay with the H100i, as for the rest, here's the updated parts list.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nHgFrH I'll think about the vii hero overnight, I can't thank you guys enough.

If you are not planning on overclocking, definitely switch away from the H100i... Something like this is fine, and MUCH cheaper. Personally I would also pick a cheaper case, but in the end you should get something that fits your needs, and looks good.

[Man2002]

I swapped the 960 with a 970 which was a quite big hit on the price, so I'm considering getting another motherboard, and I'm kind of in between these 3. ASRock Z97 Killer, an MSI Gaming 5, or an ASUS Z87 VI Hero. I'll continue to research about them meanwhile, appreciate the help.