1st custom PC, ALL the feedback!

[Twerking As Intended]

I'm upgrading from an eight-year-old retail PC to a custom gaming PC for under $800 that should last long without upgrades, be modular enough for future upgrades (double 800+ GPU) and run Blizzard games like Legion on high at a stable 50+ FPS. I have a PSU and semi-dated GPU at the ready that should keep up with the rest of the rig.

Tell me what you think of this build. I'm not 100% on the case for several reasons as I'll divulge into with the following questions.

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core
Motherboard: Asus Z97-E/USB3.1 ATX LGA1150
Memory: G.Skill TridentZ Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3200 OR G.Skill TridentZ Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive OR Hitachi Travelstar 1TB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full - USB (32/64-bit)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 TI
PSU: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Case(?): ZALMAN Z5 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

• Is a CD/DVD drive worth the investment if the OS is booted from a USB stick?
• How many fans will I need to keep it cool with overclocking in mind?
• What's the recommended speed (RPM) for an HDD if it's only used for storage?
• Can a case's drive bays accommodate both a 2.5" SSD and a 3.5" HDD, or should I pick one size?
• Is it worth buying a 32+64-bit OS or will 64-bit cover all recent games?
• Would I need a separate PCI card for wireless internet if the router is in the same room?

[--Code--]

-DDR4 memory isn't compatible with a Z97, get DDR3.
-Non "k" cpus have a locked multiplier which means you can't overclock. Might want to a get a "k" CPU like the 4690k, as you can't OC a non "k".
-Stock fan(s) will keep it relatively cool. Unless you are going balls deep on OC stock fans are fine.
-Not having a CD/DVD drive that one time you need one is annoying af, spend the few bucks and get one.
-Most SSDs come with a drive adapter, and some cases have the smaller SSD bay, if neither get an adapter.
-64 bit is a no brainer.
-You can run an ethernet cable from your router/modem directly to your motherboard's ethernet port (you'll get better speeds through ethernet compared to WiFi), or if you want WiFi instead, you'll need either a USB WiFi card (usually 30$ or so) or a PCI one, both are about equal on speed. Make sure you get one thats 5ghz compatible.

[Dedweight]

-Most SSDs come with a drive adapter, and some cases have the smaller SSD bay, if neither get an adapter.

Or some decent Velcro and mount it to the back of the motherboard tray. Not the most elegant but it's a viable option if you want the inside of the case to look somewhat tidy.

[Deleted]

Just grab a new rig altogether if wow is what you are primarily worried.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Pro4S ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($82.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.49 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($154.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black/Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $805.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-19 02:44 EDT-0400


I've placed a very good 550w psu in there so you can grab say a gtx1070 next year or something if you wish. Otherwise this setup will run fine with a good quality 350-380w psu.

[Mythbredor]

Or some decent Velcro and mount it to the back of the motherboard tray. Not the most elegant but it's a viable option if you want the inside of the case to look somewhat tidy.

I honestly recommend some black tape uhh electricians tape. Veclro is pretty and all but the heat can cause it to slide/fall off and you will never see the SSD unless you have a strange case assuming you attach it to the back of the mobo tray. Honestly I'd just duct tape the sucker back there.

[Deleted]

buy a USB dvd burner if you are concerned you need one. cost almost the same and works on all your devices.

[Twerking As Intended]

Just grab a new rig altogether if wow is what you are primarily worried.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Pro4S ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($82.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.49 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($154.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black/Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $805.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-19 02:44 EDT-0400


I've placed a very good 550w psu in there so you can grab say a gtx1070 next year or something if you wish. Otherwise this setup will run fine with a good quality 350-380w psu.

That's a cool build but I'm not sure the CPU can be overclocked, and I would avoid buying an OEM OS that can't be booted on more than one system, in case the motherboard needs replacing. Apparently you can get Windows 10 for free if you sign up to Windows Insider.

Someone suggested this build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($233.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.49 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($113.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($26.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($69.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 380X 4GB WINDFORCE 2X Video Card ($210.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $779.20

I would likely pick up the gold-rating PSU you suggested for longevity, substituting the Radeon GPU with the GTX 550 TI for about a year, until GTX 1080 prices drop. It likely won't run Legion on ultra but I'd finally put that card to use. As for storage, I'm leaning toward a hybrid or SSD+HDD combo so I can store files long-term without wearing out the SSD too soon.

[Kagthul]

I honestly recommend some black tape uhh electricians tape. Veclro is pretty and all but the heat can cause it to slide/fall off and you will never see the SSD unless you have a strange case assuming you attach it to the back of the mobo tray. Honestly I'd just duct tape the sucker back there.

Command Strips.

- - - Updated - - -

That's a cool build but I'm not sure the CPU can be overclocked, and I would avoid buying an OEM OS that can't be booted on more than one system, in case the motherboard needs replacing. Apparently you can get Windows 10 for free if you sign up to Windows Insider.

In response to the bolded - Microsofts new policy is basically that all copies are OEM copies. If you build a new computer, you need a new Win 10 license. You can get around it sometimes, but not reliably. There's no real difference any more. That being said, as long as you dont mind running "beta" builds of Win 10.. Windows Insider is the way to go. I haven't had a single issue and i signed up like two weeks after Win 10 launched.

Someone suggested this build:

That was me.

[Twerking As Intended]

That was me.

Gahh I've been exposed! Does a beta OS update differently than the normal ones? Would I need a fresh reinstall every build?

[Kagthul]

Gahh I've been exposed! Does a beta OS update differently than the normal ones? Would I need a fresh reinstall every build?

Its exactly like the non-beta version, youre just a few builds ahead of the release builds. You wont even notice the difference.

[Deleted]

That's a cool build but I'm not sure the CPU can be overclocked, and I would avoid buying an OEM OS that can't be booted on more than one system, in case the motherboard needs replacing. Apparently you can get Windows 10 for free if you sign up to Windows Insider.

I would likely pick up the gold-rating PSU you suggested for longevity, substituting the Radeon GPU with the GTX 550 TI for about a year, until GTX 1080 prices drop. It likely won't run Legion on ultra but I'd finally put that card to use. As for storage, I'm leaning toward a hybrid or SSD+HDD combo so I can store files long-term without wearing out the SSD too soon.

No it can't be overclocked but it was outside your budget to fit one since you need an aftermarket cpu cooler as well if you count in o/s in that budget.

As far as longetivity goes gold or bronze has no impact on that. That is efficiency which doesn't directly translate to longetivity. Quality does, you can have gold rated psu's that fail after 2-3 years and bronze ones that go on strong after 7-8years.

For the o/s is up to you really, again its how much money you want to invest. If say mobo goes bad doesn't mean your o/s is useless. You can call up MS and tell them you had to replace it and its done.

[Twerking As Intended]

Its exactly like the non-beta version, youre just a few builds ahead of the release builds. You wont even notice the difference.

I might not be eligible for it, as my old PC ran Vista which can't be upgraded to 10 :C

To become an Insider, you’ll need to have a copy of Windows 10 on your machine. Right now, you can still get Windows 10 for free, as long as you have a license for Windows 7, 8, or 8.1.

Comparing the suggested motherboards, the difference seems to lie in their SATA ports. Is the third Express port worth the extra $30 at the cost of two 6-gig ports?

[Kagthul]

I might not be eligible for it, as my old PC ran Vista which can't be upgraded to 10 :C


Comparing the suggested motherboards, the difference seems to lie in their SATA ports. Is the third Express port worth the extra $30 at the cost of two 6-gig ports?

do you really see yourself adding tons of external storage?

Hmm, seems they changed the Insider rules, then. Previously, you could just sign up to be an Insider on their website.

My win 7 was never legit, and i did a fresh install of 10 as an Insider and it's worked fine ever since.

Would really suck if theyve changed it.

You can find legit keys for pretty cheap if you look around (~30$).

[Twerking As Intended]

To be eligible for the Windows 10 Upgrade Offer, you must be using a qualified, genuine Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 device. That's fine, I wasn't too keen on voiding my hardware warranties anyway.

Guess I'd only need one other port for an HDD down the road, which should work with a 6-gig if I depend solely on the SSD for quick loading. If Windows 10 doesn't come on a USB stick I could get an external optical drive instead.

[Kagthul]

You can download and create the install USB yourself. Even if you dont have a license. It's completely free.. Microsoft even has a tool for it.

[Twerking As Intended]

So the download is free, but the installation requires a key?

[Kagthul]

So the download is free, but the installation requires a key?

No, you can install it without a key. You're legally allowed to use it for 30 days (or more? i dont recall right now) before you buy it. You can add the key later.

[Twerking As Intended]

Final build's looking a lot better. Initial purchase totals $659, will take a 550 TI for now, and will be ready for a HDD, GTX 960 and PCI card later on.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($233.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Pro4S ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($82.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($26.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($85.79 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($163.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($37.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $905.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-21 19:25 EDT-0400

[Kagthul]

I wouldnt waste money on a GTX 960. If youre going to use the 550Ti as a holdover, you might as well save up a little longer spend the extra ~110$ or so on the GTX 1070. It will massively outperform e 960 and outlast it by a mile.

[Dedweight]

I honestly recommend some black tape uhh electricians tape. Veclro is pretty and all but the heat can cause it to slide/fall off and you will never see the SSD unless you have a strange case assuming you attach it to the back of the mobo tray. Honestly I'd just duct tape the sucker back there.

That works too, I used Velcro because I had a few heavy duty pieces laying around that weren't being used and it was a simple solution that didn't require me to to pull out my driver kit.