Looking For Input on this Build

Hi guys,

How does the following build look so far?

http://amzn.com/w/8RBIPQGPXKYX

SeaSonic G Series 550-Watt ATX12V/EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply SSR-550RM
$79.99 1 0

Genius SW-G2.1 1250 2.1 Speaker System
$49.99 1 0

EVGA EVGA GeForce GTX 970 ACX 2.0 4GB GDDR5 256bit, DVI-I, DVI-D, HDMI, DP SLI Ready Graphics Card Graphics Cards 04G-P4-2972-KR
$329.99 1 0

Mushkin Radioactive 997123Y DDR3 UDIMM 16GB kit 2x8GB PC3-19200 2400MHZ 11-13-13-31 Frostbyte Yellow 1.65V
Offered by J-Electronics. $198.02 1 0

Z97 Extreme6 Desktop Motherboard - Intel Z97 Express Chipset - Socket H3 LGA-1150
Offered by PC Parts Depot. $194.75 1 0

Samsung Electronics 840 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Single Unit Version Internal Solid State Drive MZ-7TE500BW
$229.99 1 0

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-​R2)
$33.03 1 0

Intel Core i7-4790K Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.40 GHz) (BX80646I74790​K)
$309.99 1 0

Thermaltake Chaser A71 No Power Supply Full Tower Case VP400M1W2N
$111.71 1 0

Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro - Full Version
Offered by Cyberdyne Technologies. $175.38 1 0

Asus 24x DVD-RW Serial-ATA Internal OEM Optical Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black)
Offered by Acumen Disc.

Click to expand...

I already have an HD monitor from my previous build, and I'm going to steal the hard drive from my old build, so those components are not needed here.

This will of course be for gaming. Thanks for your help and input!

Live near a Microcenter?
What resolution do you play at and do you really need SLI? If possible go with the GTX 980 over 2 GTX 970's.

Save yourself some money:
You don't need Arctic Silver 5 the paste with the 212 is fine.
Suggestion on arguably one of the best Psu's on the market today and it's less money then the Corsair. Evga SuperNOVA 750 G2
I'd Grab these sticks instead of the Corsairs, since you're going Air for cooling you have a better chance of fitting them under the heatsink. Do you really need DDR3 2400 sticks? For gaming you talking a couple of FPS more going above 1866 Mhz in most cases.
Just an FYI the motherboard will come with Sata cables, unless you really need more.

+1 Manny, also for game look at the i5, the 4790k is awesome, but if a budget is set this might help.
+2 manny on the psu, I love my evga.

Mandrake4565 said:

Live near a Microcenter?
What resolution do you play at and do you really need SLI? If possible go with the GTX 980 over 2 GTX 970's.

Save yourself some money:
You don't need Arctic Silver 5 the paste with the 212 is fine.
Suggestion on arguably one of the best Psu's on the market today and it's less money then the Corsair. Evga SuperNOVA 750 G2
I'd Grab these sticks instead of the Corsairs, since you're going Air for cooling you have a better chance of fitting them under the heatsink. Do you really need DDR3 2400 sticks? For gaming you talking a couple of FPS more going above 1866 Mhz in most cases.
Just an FYI the motherboard will come with Sata cables, unless you really need more.

Click to expand...

Would be nice to live near somewhere that sells PC parts to avoid the shipping costs, but unfortunately, not that I know of.

I play at 1920x1080 on my monitor. I'm running just one monitor, so SLI probably isn't all that important.

Thanks for the help, guys.

Also depending on the case you go with a lot of them have places to mount ssd's so that bay may not be needed.

For 1 monitor at 1080p 1 GTX 970 is plenty and in that case you may want to drop the PSU to a quality 650w. You can even do a 500w, up to you.

You don't need the 3.5" to 2.5" adapter.

For the PSU look at a Seasonic G-550.

Z97 Extreme6 Desktop Motherboard - Intel Z97 Express Chipset - Socket H3 LGA-1150
Offered by PC Parts Depot. $194.80 1 0

GOOD CHOICE

Samsung Electronics 840 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Single Unit Version Internal Solid State Drive MZ-7TE500BW
$229.99 1 0

ALSO GOOD CHOICE

Silverstone Tek 3.5-Inch to 2 X 2.5-Inch Hard Drive HDD SSD Bay Converter, Silver (SDP08)
$7.99 1 0

YOUR CASE LIKELY HAS PROPERLY PLACED SSD MOUNTS SO THEY LINE UP WITH YOUR HDD'S. THIS IS UNNECESSARY.

Monoprice 18-Inch SATA III 6.0 Gbps Cable with Locking Latch and 1 x 90-Degree Plug (108783)
$2.81 1 0

YOUR MOTHERBOARD WILL INCLUDE SATA CABLES.

EVGA Pro SLI Bridge 2-Way Graphics Cards (100-2W-0021-L​R)
$27.62 1 0

YOUR MOTHERBOARD WILL INCLUDE AN SLI BRIDGE. ALSO, I ONLY SEE 1 GPU SO... HMMM?

EVGA EVGA GeForce GTX 970 ACX 2.0 4GB GDDR5 256bit, DVI-I, DVI-D, HDMI, DP SLI Ready Graphics Card Graphics Cards 04G-P4-2972-KR
$329.99 2 0

EXCELLENT CHOICE. MIGHT WANT TO SPRING FOR THE GIGABYTE G1 MODEL. OVERCLOCKS LIKE A M'AFK

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound 3.5 Grams

UNNECESSARY. ALSO A GUTTER TRASH PRODUCT. CAPACITIVE, IMPOSSIBLE TO CLEAN OFF PROPERLY, TAKES 200 HOURS TO BREAK IN, INFERIOR THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY VS ALL MODERN COMPOUNDS. GARBAGE.



Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-​R2)
$33.03 1 0

GOOD ENOUGH FOR A MODERATE OVERCLOCK

Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB 2x8GB DDR3 2400MHz PC3 19200 Desktop, Red CMY16GX3M2A240​0C11R
$182.99 1 0

2133 IS ALL YOU NEED


Intel Core i7-4790K Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.40 GHz) (BX80646I74790​K)
$309.99 1 0

GOOD CHOICE

Thermaltake Chaser A71 No Power Supply Full Tower Case VP400M1W2N
$111.71 1 0

IMO, ANYTHING THERMALTAKE IS GARBAGE BUT ITS UP TO YOU TO GET A CASE YOU LIKE

Corsair Professional Series HX 750 Watt ATX/EPS Modular 80 PLUS Gold (HX750)
Offered by Good Luck Bargains. $137.00 1 0

THERE ARE OTHER POWER SUPPLIES FOR THE SAME PRICE THAT I LIKE BETTER.

Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro - Full Version
Offered by thebargainbookstore. $142.94 1 0

YES. GOOD. DONT BE A WIN 7 HOSER

Asus 24x DVD-RW Serial-ATA Internal OEM Optical Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black)

GOOD OL OPTICAL

lol. Thanks for the help. I should have put "2X" in front of the GTX 970s. Typo. I think I may just go with one GTX 970, unless if getting 2 for SLI has huge benefits for the cost. My monitor is 1080p and it's just one monitor.

Seems like just using the Hyper 212 thermal paste should be good enough. I used AS last time, and seems like I was just wasting my money. Oh well. Is there any heatsink/fan superior to the Hyper 212 that you know of for the same price?

I've also ditched the SSD mount and cable.

Never realized MBs include SLI bridges. I ignored my last one, since I just had one video card and didn't want to get another. Good to know. Thanks.

I also opted for Mandrake's suggestion of the Seasonic G-550.

The case is definitely open for changing at the moment. I only chose the Thermaltake case because it was recommended in a sticky in the OC cases section. What brand do you like more? Cooler master? I'm looking for a large case that will fit everything and isn't flimsy.

Thanks for the suggestions, all. Still open for more input. Thanks for your help!

I would just stick to one 970, personally. You're playing on a single 1080p screen, there's no need for SLI at all.

I'm not sure why your price is so high for the Z97 Extreme6, Newegg has it for $165 ($145 after mail-in).

Is there a particular style you're going for with the case? I prefer NZXT or Corsair for mid/full tower cases.

What is everyone's opinions on getting a Soundblaster Z (or a similarly priced sound card)? I use a good pair of headphones a lot, and am wondering if it's worth the extra money?

I've also added speakers to the list - got any better suggestions than those?

Edit to Reply to ATMINSIDE - What I usually do is create a list in Amazon so that I have all the parts in one place, and then shop around for the best price. As for a certain case style - I'm not looking for a certain style in general, though I do prefer cases that light up and/or have windowed doors to the traditional PC case style. It's certainly not a deal-breaker, though. Just anything that will allow for enough room to fit the components and make it easy to move around in there when removing dust / replacing parts.

You shouldn't need it with the audio section on the Extreme6, but if you find the onboard lacking it's an easy piece to add later.

Check out PCPartPicker for keeping that list

The Corsair 350D would be a good fit for you.

For lights, check out:
http://www.icemodz.com/webshop/#!/RGB-LED-Package-Incl-Remote/p/22177940/category=5346676
RGB color, you can pick solid color or patterned flashing, adjust brightness, or turn it off. All by remote.

DungeonOgre have you tried pcpartpicker.com?

To give credit where credit is due Atmin suggested the Seasonic Psu, albeit a very good one.

What is everyone's opinions on getting a Soundblaster Z

Click to expand...

I find the on board sound to be fine for me, try it and if you feel it's not up to your standards then get a Sound Card?!?

The edited Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 16G sticks are almost $40.00 more then the same ones I linked on newegg.

I will also re-iterate for 1080p the GTX 970 is more then enough.

For speakers I really like these

DungeonOgre said:

What is everyone's opinions on getting a Soundblaster Z (or a similarly priced sound card)? I use a good pair of headphones a lot, and am wondering if it's worth the extra money?

I've also added speakers to the list - got any better suggestions than those?

Edit to Reply to ATMINSIDE - What I usually do is create a list in Amazon so that I have all the parts in one place, and then shop around for the best price. As for a certain case style - I'm not looking for a certain style in general, though I do prefer cases that light up and/or have windowed doors to the traditional PC case style. It's certainly not a deal-breaker, though. Just anything that will allow for enough room to fit the components and make it easy to move around in there when removing dust / replacing parts.

Click to expand...

PC sound is crap. Sound from soundcards is crap. It's just too noisy inside a PC and honestly even $200 soundcards aren't using the best parts. For $300 you can get an external DAC/AMP that will obliterate integrated/soundcard quality sound. Otherwise just use the rear panel connectors for your headphones on the ASRock mobo. Don't use the front panel. The cable that links the HDA/AC97 header to the FP acts like a little antenna and picks up a lot of noise. Also the cable is schit quality and that will injure the sound as well.