First Time Gaming Desktop Builder ***ADVICE PLEASE***

Hi there advice needed I’m a first time desktop builder after suffering far too long with a substandard laptop and I’m currently raising funds and will be buying parts every 2 weeks for a gaming rig and this is my first attempt. My aim is to possibly get ultra to max settings on nearly anything I use and enable me to game unhindered for my first time ever without ultra low settings my main games are WOW, SWTOR, LOL, FOOTBALL MANAGER but will be adding marvel heroes, DOTA 2, ESO, Battlefield 4 and many others once I’m able to have a rig that handles it for once. also I heavily watch alot of movies so I will be adding a BLU-Ray Drive to allow this I will post the links below of each part if found that I would like.

Processor: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-proce...165953&creativeASIN=B00EONU086#productDetails
Motherboard: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/RAMPAGE_IV_EXTREME/
Graphics Card: http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-290X-GA...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00HQJBWIM
Ram: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007BGWJ1O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
SSD 1, 240GB: http://www.amazon.co.uk/HyperX-2-5-inch-240GB-Upgrade-Bundle/dp/B007R9NRZC
SSD 2, 480GB: http://www.amazon.co.uk/HyperX-2-5-inch-240GB-Upgrade-Bundle/dp/B007R9NRZC
Blu-Ray Drive: http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-BH16NS40-AUAR10B-Internal-BD-RW-Retail/dp/B00AK29B26
Cooling System: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0062K6BIC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Case: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Master-Storm-Stryker-XL-ATX/dp/B0083XVWSA

these are what I have so far and a power pack I haven’t sorted yet as I will wait to see if what I’ve put together is correct and also 1 or 2 questions I need answered before I look for a power pack or directed to one.

• 1. The power pack that I would require how many volts or should I be looking at and how many would be overkill.

• 2. possibly at a later stage I would like to add a 2nd graphics card and I seen my motherboard allows SLI, crossfire but is there anything when looking at the graphics care I should be looking for that says it allows SLI, crossfire.

• 3. I’ve picked a 240GB ssd for my operating system and programmes that I will require, the 2nd SSD is 480GB which will house many of my games to free it up to run smoothly but a question is I heavily watch movies alot also and would it be possible for an additional HDD n not a SSD solely for movies again so it frees up space from my other SSD and with it being a HDD it would mean I could purchase 1TB or 2TB alot cheaper than an SSD and its for movies so great speed isn’t too much an issue.... is it.

• 4 Sound Card I see the motherboard has 7.1 soundcard and as I will also be watching alot of movies is it recommended to get a better sound card to allow great sounds when watching movies and can someone recommend something £100-£200 and would that be enough.

• 5. The fan I’m using has already been bought and used by my friend and he says he has no issues what so ever or should I be looking at a water cooled tower and is it easier or harder to set up a water cooled tower to a fan one.

I think at this stage I have all the questions down I need until someone replies about my build I have yet to pick a monitor as I will use my HD TV at first and once its fully build will acquire a gaming monitor but thanks in advance for any advice like I say I have never build before and have checked out YouTube vids and just need questions answered before I start making the purchases.

Thanks guys

X79 is previous generation stuff already, X99 is out now and about the same price as far as MB and CPU goes. If you're building a rig to play games and watch movies, you've got a serious case of overkill going on. If you end up using a X79/X99 motherboard and then throw a quad-core CPU in it, you might as well save some money and go with a Z97 setup. For gaming and watching movies, 32 GB of memory is far more than you need, 16 GB is plenty. As far as your SSD choice goes, I'd probably be looking at the Samsung 840 EVO series SSDs, they are top notch and probably the same price or even a bit less. Running two of the R9 290X graphics cards at a later date in Crossfire would probably require somewhere between a 850 to 1000 watt PSU to give you a bit of headroom. Whatever you choose for a MB and GPU, read the specs... it'll tell you if they are crossfire or SLI ready. Sound is subjective to the individual user, so try the onboard first and upgrade if it doesn't meet expectations.

thanks dude

Lvcoyote summed it up pretty well.

As he wrote, go with a z97 mobo (asrock is my favourite, and I would avoid MSI...) and a 4970k.

Don't forget to change the Noctua 2011 for the regular NH-D14 (or 15) as the mounting gear is different for the 2011 platform.

I'd go for a 1000W power supply.

Once OC'ed, these 290x's are power hungry!

manu2b said:

and a 4970k.

Click to expand...

That would be a 4790K

Lol! I guess you're right

cheers guys will look into those changes and thanks again

so following Lvcoyote and manu2b advice i changed out the motherboard, fan and possibly the ram but will decide if to drop or not but this is how it stands now after there guidance.

Processor: i7 4820K Quad Core processor(3.70GHz, 3.70GHz, 10MB, 130W, Hyper-Threading Technology)
Motherboard: Mod 1150 ASUS Z97-A ATX Motherboard
Graphics Card: MSI AMD R9 290X GAMING Graphics Card (4GB, DDR5, PCI-E)
Ram: G.Skill 32GB Ripjaws X Quad Channel Memory Kit - Red (4x 8GB, DDR3, 1866MHz, 1.5v, F3-1866C10Q-32GXL, XMP Ready) or 16GB as suggested
SSD 1, 500GB: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5-inch Basic SATA Solid State Drive
SSD 2, 500GB: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5-inch Basic SATA Solid State Drive
Blu-Ray Drive: LG BH16NS40.AUAR10B 16x SATA Internal BD-RW Retail Kit
Cooling System: Noctua NH-D15
Case: Cooler Master Storm USB3.0 Trooper Window Side Panel Edition XL ATX CASE
Power Supply: 1000W (yet to search)

question i have is now that its a different mothboard will everythign click especially with my tower or will i need to look for a smaller one and thanks again for your guidance as the moherboard you suggested is saving me £150 and the SSD are about the same price but instead of 240GB + 480GB i will get 2x500gb for same price which is more space for me thanks and again thanks for advice and anything else suggested i will take on board as i plan to spend my first maybe £600-£700 in 2 weeks then every 2 week from there buy 1 or 2 pieces.

THANKS

the cpu is not compatible with the z97 chipset. you need a 4790k (socket 1150)

found it here thanks http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Core-i7-4790K-Socket-LGA-1150/dp/B00KPRWAX8

cool so that should be my i hope and again that tower i randomly picked is that tthe correct sizing of tower for that motherboard

I would avoid the MSI video card and go with the ASUS R9290X-DC2OC-4GD5 instead. MSI has been flakey. As for power supply, go with the EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 G2 for the Xfire of the two 290x's. Everything else is choice!

thanks guys again and thanks Nebolous as im sure thats the 2nd time i was informed to change from msi video card so definately and the power supply thanks it saves me researching for one i can't wait to get this built and for once i will have something that will allow me to game without every single setting being on low as i currently use a sony vaio vgn fw31j which isnt for gaming and im sure this will have me crying tears of joy when i have this up and running. n im sure i will look at the tower ive chosen and possibly change it once im closer to that purchase date.

That's a great rig on it's way... Enjoy!

Edit: keep in mind the gtx980 is around the cornet. It should perform a bit better than the 780ti and cost less!

thanks guys and how close is the gtx980 as my plan is to buy each part every week to 2 weeks and i estimate with what i have inn money now to buying each week it will be purchased in around 10wks providing i dont use any funds for a party or anything o if anyone knows someone who wants one of my kidneys to push this along. then i have the task of building which i have bookmarked vids on it so im sure i got this lol.

It will be there before this timeframe: mid october Max.

cool and on this motherboard does that new graphics card fit into that one as my graphics card will be my last purchase and if thats out once i have everything else then i would consider it

Yes.

As Manu stated, that's one heck of a pc build! It's gonna eat through games like it's nobody's business! Enjoy and keep us posted!

question for the guys i have assembled most parts of this rig and only have PSU, SSD and Graphics card. i believe by the end of next week i will only need the graphics card but have a question regarding my motherboard which im a noob at finding this out.

does it have an onboard graphics card to simple just install win 8 and then once its installed then allow me to transfer all my movies on this rig and even download all my games so that when my Graphics card arrives i can assemble install and play coz the thought of waiting for my graphics card then having to do all the installing and transfering would be frustrating.

the motherboard is ASUS Z97-A ATX Motherboard http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mod-1150-ASUS-Z97-A-Motherboard/dp/B00K80MMJ4

i would be gratefull if someones could let me know.

thanks

Yes, there is an integrated gpu in the cpu.

You can assemble and fire up your rig without ta discrete graphic card.