Hey Guys!

After much time being jealous of the PC gaming world I am finally diving into it head first with building a brand new gaming PC to play anything and everything out there. This is my first time even attempting anything like this. I have done my research (I think) and have picked out the parts. I will be purchasing them all from Newegg over the course of this holiday season for all the sales on the items.

Here is the parts list:

Case - Cooler Master HAF X - High Air Flow Full Tower Computer Case with Windowed Side Panel and USB 3.0 Ports

Motherboard - ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Processor - Intel Core i7-4790K Haswell Quad-Core 4.0GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor BX80646I74790K

RAM - CORSAIR Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CML16GX3M2A1600C10

Graphics Card - EVGA 04G-2983-KR GeForce GTX 980 Superclocked 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 ACX 2.0 PCI Express 3.0

Power Supply - EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 80 PLUS PLATINUM Certified 1000W Active PFC ATX12V v2.31/EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready ECO Thermal Control Full Modular PSU 10 Year Warranty 220-P2-1000-XR NEW Intel 4th Gen CPU Ready Power Supply

SSD - SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE250BW 2.5" 250GB SATA 6Gb/s 1x nm Samsung Toggle DDR 2.0 3-Bit MLC NAND Flash Memory (400Mbps) Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Hard Drive - WD BLACK SERIES WD1003FZEX 1TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

After-Market Fan - CORSAIR Hydro Series H100i Extreme Performance Water/Liquid CPU Cooler. 240mm

Monitor - ASUS PB Series PB278Q 27" 5ms (GTG) WQHD HDMI Widescreen LED Monitor 300 cd/m2 80,000,000:1 Built-in Speakers, Height & Pivot Adjustable

Keyboard - RAZER BlackWidow Chroma RZ03-01220200-R3U1 USB Wired Gaming RGB Mechanical Keyboard

Mouse - Logitech Wireless Gaming Mouse G700

And thats my list!!!

Now I believe I have done my due diligence here but again, I am very new at this. Like Brand new. So any experienced insight into this would be amazingly helpful and appreciated. Did I miss anything? Is there anything on here you would change for any reason? Please let me know.

This build is insane if you're just using it for gaming. The processor is extreme overkill and 16GB of RAM is twice as much as you want.

You need an operating system also.

EDIT: Oh it's for video editing, go nuts then. Seems fine.

Your power supply is crazy overkill, but everything else looks really nice. You seem to have a lot of money ready to go on this, so go for it. I know I'm envious!

As for the PSU, you can very easily do this build with something 500W or less as far as I can tell. Platinum rating is great, means high energy efficiency (low energy bill), though. If you decide to get a different PSU, look for one that has good sonic ratings - PSU fans can be the noisiest part of your build. I'd recommend one that has a fan idle setting, wherein the fan actually turns on only when it reaches a certain temperature threshold. Lots of brands make lots of good supplies, so no single recommendation is needed - just don't skimp, but you don't seem to be a skimper if the other gear is any indication. I have had good experiences with SeaSonic, personally.

PSU calculator: http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

On the same note, might want to see what others say about the sound rating on your case, as well. For me, I leave my comp on a lot, so I like when I can't hear it. The quietest parts of a comp's sound output can be its most annoying - really thin, high-pitched electrical sounds can drive you crazy if you spend any time near your comp in silence.

Anyway, stuff to think about. The build is great, you just might be spending too much on a power supply is all.

EDIT: and I would recommend keeping the 16GB of RAM, it's not like RAM is that expensive. CPUs and mobos are the biggest and most expensive pain in the ass to replace, so if you can afford it, go big here, too. That's my opinion, anyway.

It seems fine overlooking it, but a few overkill items there. I don't think you need a 1000w PSU. 750w should be fine (and even 750 may be a lot, but it's fine).

16gb of RAM is overkill. There won't be anything that utilizes it (when it comes to games). I mean you can do that if you have the cash, but just saying you don't need more than 8 right now and RAM is easy to upgrade later.

Final note: don't forget thermal paste. I only mention it because it's easy to forget.

Anyway, it seems fine just from glancing at this and not looking up anything for variables.

@cornbredx: I know it may seem like the 16GB of ram is overkill but it came in that pack and I don't mind spending that little bit extra for it now. Also the after market liquid cooler says that it comes with thermal paste pre-applied. Is the stock paste not worth using? Should I use something different?

@kcin: I am planning on upgrading this PC as well. Adding GPUs hard drives and other add-ons. Is it not worth spending the extra cash now to save on paying for a new power supply later? Also I couldn't really find an accurate count for how much wattage I need for the list I have.

@corevi: Down the line I think this may turn into a programming/video editing machine as well.

Also the money factor is a bit of an issue but I am willing to pay just that little bit more for the better quality stuff if it is reasonable and worth the extra cost.

Edit: One other note is that I will be using my Astro A40s as my primary sound output as those are what I game with with anything. I am pretty sure those will cover up any noise my fans or PC in general will make. Right?

@spence_5060: If you can legitimately afford this build, do it. I went big on my CPU 4 years ago and still don't need another, and I'm glad for it. A good mobo with the latest technologies in it is more of a pleasant luxury than a lot of people may think it is, too, so good on you for that choice.

I can almost guarantee you that you'll never need 1000 watts in a PSU, though. The calculator had almost all of your parts in it, and I ran the equation which gave a minimum PSU requirement of a paltry 380W. Seriously, you will never need 1000W unless you're running five GPUs at 100% mining bitcoins or something.

Looks fine overall for what you're going to be doing with it, I'd go with more than 1 TB on the WD Black though. Those drives are cheap, bump it up to 3 or 4 TB. You'll burn through 1 TB in no time.

Also, I own an HAF 932 ADV which is the predecessor to the HAF X and it is an amazing case. Tons of room and great airflow, you'll love it as long as you don't mind the size and weight. I think my fully loaded case weighs around 45-50 pounds.

You don't need to put your own thermal paste on the cooler, but you may as well just get some Arctic Silver 5 and do it right. That way you also have extra if you ever need to move things around or replace components or something. Or you could smear the paste around and screw up the preapplied pad when your'e doing the installation, you never know. As far as the cooler itself, the H100i is a nice unit and I've used Corsair closed loop coolers myself before, but my favorite is still cooling on air with the Noctua. It's quiet and awesome looking, plus it keeps my CPU idling about 12 degrees above ambient and locks it down around 66c under full load at 4.6ghz while staying nice and silent.

Keep the 16gb for editing and CPU virtualization. Adobe Premiere and stuff like that will eat up as much RAM as you can throw at them.

Finally, in my most recent build I went with the VII Hero and a 4790k coupled with a Noctua NH-D14. If you need any specific advice about overclocking or working in the bios or whatever let me know.

@spence_5060: I think I accidentally deleted my comment.

Well shoot. I'll sum up. The heatsink usually comes with a little white pad on the bottom of it that is the thermal paste. I usually add a little more silver based thermal to that. The most important thing is that it keeps the CPU cool.

As for the RAM, that makes sense. Since you were talking video editing, if that's a serious thing you may end up wanting 24 gigs of RAM at some point.

You won't need a 1000W PSU ever. 650w is usually high end, and I usually go for 750w just for breathing room. Anymore is unnecessary unless you overclock or mine bitcoins or something you probably aren't doing that involves server configurations.

@mb: I haven't really owned a PC and have the experience enough to overclock and work with bios in general. Much less this specific one. Any help once I get the parts and build it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all for the advice so far. A lot of the stuff you guys have told me has made me really think about some of the choices I made and may make me rethink some of them. We will see. But please continue with the advice if you have any. Please. I will need it. That also includes that actual build. This will be my first time building it as well. I have seen many many videos of building PCs but I do still would love any advice on it.

lol that exactly, well almost exactly the same pc I am building currently. freaky.

@spence_5060: Well shoot me a PM and I can help you out later on if you need it in a Google hangout or Steam chat or something. Building a PC is pretty easy these days but most people usually run into a snag or two along the way.

As far as your peripherals go, you may want to consider going with a wired mouse unless you really need wireless. Also, there are some better options than Razer for mechanical keyboards depending on your budget, what you're looking for, and how serious you are about a good keyboard.

@cornbredx: I will probably be overclocking my CPU at some point to try and really get as much power as I can out of it, but again I am so new at this I really don't know what kind of power consumption that will take up.

My biggest concern is overheating on any part. My last PC experience was of a pre-built gaming laptop which when the overclocked setting (I don't know if all processors or motherboards or whatever have just an automatic setting set to overclock, but this laptop had that feature) was turned on and running for a while, it eventually burned through and melted some parts inside the computer and ruined it. My biggest goal is to keep everything as cool as possible.

Now I know that everyone is saying that I don't need this big of a power supply but let me ask you this:

If I have a bigger power supply with a bigger power saving rating which gives me more breathing room, wouldn't that device stay cooler since the power supply isn't using as much of its maximum power wattage. Wouldn't that end up being cooler than the smaller limit?

@mb: I put my logitech mouse on there but that Mouse is the only part that I already own. Also it is a hybrid wireless and wired mouse. I definitely am willing to pay for the better quality of keyboard. I am only looking for a small but decent number of macro keys to work with. Something with a few more bells and whistles would be nice versus none at all. I really liked the color and lighting effects of the chroma which was a big plus for me but if there is a better keyboard out there without those lighting effects then that would not be a deal breaker at all.

Heat from your PSU isn't really a concern, it's minimal. Many PSUs from EVGA, Corsair, Seasonic and others are so efficient that their fans don't even come on under typical conditions. A 750w 80+ Bronze should be fine, maybe 850w. 850 would be enough to support your system as configured plus an additional GTX 980, maybe even two more.

@spence_5060: This is the new hotness from Corsair just for comparison sake.

http://www.corsair.com/en-us/landing/k70-rgb

Other than my distaste for ugly 'gamer' cases, and the above mentioned things, that's a great build I am a tad jealous sir!

E: Also no, the rating is what the PSU draws from the wall - I think - so if your PC uses less it makes no difference.

@mb: Thank you I will definitely look into that if the cost benefit is worth it. Tho I would probably want to go with a platinum rating because the cost benefit to my power bill I believe will be worth it in the long run to me with how often and how much I will be using this PC.

@spence_5060: I'll say first that you don't need to overclock. At least not right away (especially with this build you're presenting). As you have experienced, overclocking has detrimental effects on hardware and most importantly it causes it to die faster. You can if you want, but I just want you to be aware of the cons. In my opinion overclocking is not necessary for most people, but you can if you want. I always just advise against it, especially for people who are new to PC gaming. They seem to think it will be necessary to have an optimal experience, and I am telling you it won't.

Also, so it's clear; thermal paste is only for between the heatsink and the CPU. I just want make sure that is understood haha- just in case there's some confusion about that.

The bigger PSU doesn't make your computer cooler. It may actually may make it hotter. The power saving rating mostly means it is using power more efficiently so your electrical footprint is less. In short it saves you on your electric bill (you see this on many high usage electronics such as washers, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, etc.). What would keep your computer cool is correct airflow (which will come with correct hardware placement in your tower and proper fan configuration). There are many schools of thought on how to best place your fans.

Laptop configurations are different (because they're compact) and would explain why you had a meltdown. It's interesting that it had a overclocking switch like that- that seems like a dangerous thing to put on there. But I guess you learned an important lesson with that- overclocking makes electronics hotter haha

Yep...better off going with a lower wattage but higher efficiency Platinum PSU.

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/143029-empowered-can-high-efficiency-power-supplies-cut-your-electricity-bill/3

In the case of a configuration like this with a 4790k and a beefy cooler, you can increase stock clock speeds by 500-600mhz without increasing vcore - and the H100i (or Noctua) or whatever will keep the CPU cooler than the stock heat sink could at stock clocks. So this is a bit more complex than just "faster is hotter."

But anyway, overclocking a Haswell can significantly reduce rendering times. Gains in gaming may not be so much, that's where GPU overclocks can provide big benefits.

@cornbredx: Thank You for that. Yes I do understand that the thermal paste is just for the heatsink and the processor. If the overclocking really is not needed for the set up I am projecting on having here then I would also prefer not to do that if it is not needed because of the effects (again I do know them clearly, also if you are interested the gaming laptop was an Asus G73Jh, it had a overclock button right on the keyboard). Ultimately I might try overclocking first for the exprience of doing it and knowing how to do it and then to see if it does do any of a noticeable difference from my eyes and point of view. And if it ends up not being the case then I will leave it alone. I want all my parts here to be as long lasting as possible. This is ending up being a very costly endeavor of mine after all.

It's been a while since I did a complete PC rebuild, but MB's right about getting a good, high efficiency PSU. These days they're probably all a bit better than they used to be, but PSUs are what people like to spend the least amount of money on and have fail causing them all sorts of grief. I've always gone Seasonic in the past, personally. And yeah, you don't need anywhere near 1000W for one Maxwell graphics card and a Haswell CPU.

I've never had much luck with wireless mice, but I prefer SteelSeries mouseseses for their build quality. I like the Noctua D14 (I think there's a D15 now?) for air cooling, Corsair H105 for liquid AOI. If you care about noise, you can also spend far too much money on Noctua fans like I have. The newer NZXT cases are also pretty great. I have a H440.

The OC3D forums and Tiny Tom Logan's videos are a good place to learn about components, placing them in your case, airflow, overclocking and all sorts regarding PC building. (UK focus and tea/coffee and biscuits required, long videos.) Tested have also done a few PC builds over the years. Of course, if you want the most professional and current knowledge about all things PC building, you want to check out the Vinny/Alex GBEAST build saga.

@spence_5060: @mb: interesting, MB.

Spence_5060 I am not a super expert on overclocking so I would take MBs advice the most on that. He seems to know more ins and outs of it than I do. I don't personally think you'll need it, but I'm still stuck in terms of gaming. There may be some benefits to the editing side I haven't considered (the editing I've done never needed it, but I don't do it professionally so take that for what it's worth).

But ya. I totally get where you're coming from. I've been there before.

@cornbredx: Yes I agree with everything you both are saying and yes the editing may be and probabky be something I do in the future but for at least the first year with this machine will be a pure gaming machine. But I do want to turn it into more down the line.

You are spending more money than you need to achieve Ultra settings in games for the next 5 years. It is like you looked at a component list and picked the top of everything. There is nothing wrong with that but seriously this rig is overkill and returns will diminish over time still. You might get 2+ years of max settings gaming on this rather than a build half the price. At the end of the day over a decade you could either build this for ~7 years or build two ~5 years each PCs and have the same and eventually better gaming experience for the same price. Also only about half that list is likely to be on sale.

I'm liking what I see and can only say welcome to the master race...oh and look into getting a different PSU

My only remarks are that

A) Water cooling is highly over-rated and I would recommend that you get a Noctua NH-D14 heat sink, you plan on getting a Haf X which is the case I use and it is plenty of space for the massive dual fan heat sink

B) The PSU is overkill however I can't really talk because I have an 850 Supernova in my new rig even though I could likely have gotten away with my old 650 builder series

C) Gskills Ram is generally better than corsair and it also has better heat dispersion

Also don't let anyone tell you not to get a 4790k the improved thermals and lower power consumption are worth it alone even if currently it isn't the most efficient performance increase per dollar when it comes to gaming. Also if you plan on doing any sort of editing of video capture its great

• The PSU is overkill for that system. You could easily get away with something in the 750-850 watt range and be fine. The higher the efficiency rating the better, and you'll probably want to get a modular one unless you plan on doing crazy overclocking. I would look at Seasonic OEM, or any of the big name-brands like Coolermaster, Corsair, Thermaltake
• I would look a a hybrid SSD drive for storage. Not that more expensive than a regular mechanical hard drive and noticeably faster and quieter.
• You might want to go with an IPS panel monitor rather than a PLS panel monitor. From what I understand the IPS panels have better color matching and viewing angles.
• Wired mouse. Always. Unless you need a wireless mouse. Logitech, Razer, Steelseries, Mad Catz.. Take your pick.
• Check out Corsair for mechanical keyboards, and also WASDkeyboards - they aren't flashy, but the quality is the best on the market and you can customize to keyboard any way you want.

I would recommend a Microsoft mouse over a Mad Catz if you're looking for a cheaper/simpler mouse.

For all the people saying you don't need more than 8gb of ram, don't listen to them. We are reaching that point where 8gb is borderline and 16gb is the way to go to make sure you arn't bottlenecking yourself. Also future proofs yourself. Otherwise, cool beans on the build.

Get a wired G-Series Logitech mouse.
Razers keyboards never did anything for me esp the prices, rockin a Cooler Master Quickfire TK
Listen to no one else, if you can afford that, that's a bitchin build.

Edit: You really don't need that cooler unless you are gonna overclock.
Could always get this instead: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo

Thank you all. Seriously. You guys have legitimately changed my view on a lot of stuff on here. Just to let you know I have edited my list and is now current. Only a couple of things have changed. Again this is my first time building it as well. So if you guys have any building tips of anything I have to look out for (especially for these current parts) please let me know.

Thank You all for the advice and tips you gave me. You all helped out immensely.

I have my build and this is what came of it.

@spence_5060: Looks incredible, man. Nice work. Seems like you did some pretty good cable management on the inside too. Definitely looks neat for a first build.