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[Skytip]

My first time building a PC, so I might have made some mistakes in picking the parts. So far I have following:

CPU: Intel i5-4690k
CPU Cooler: Hyper 212X
Motherboard: MSI z97 Gaming 5
Memory: haven't actually decided, but I assume that it doesn't matter much as long as it's 8GB.
HDD: WD 1TB Blue 3.5" HDD
SSD: Kingston V300 120GB SSD
Video Card: 970 Windforce
Case: NZXT H440 White
PSU: Coolermaster Vanguard 650W 80+ Gold semi-modular PSU

Now, I have a few concerns:

1) Should I get extra thermal paste, or is the one that comes with the CPU cooler adequate? Do different thermal pastes achieve different results?
2) Is the MSI z97 Gaming 5 motherboard an overkill?
3) Is there going to be bottlenecking with this particular CPU/graphics card combo without overclocking?
4) I read that WD HDDs come in green, blue and black, in order of efficiency. Is black worth the extra money?
5) Does the video card manufacturer matter? I could probably get a 970 from a different manufacturer at a cheaper price.
6) The NZXT H440 case comes without an optical drive bay. Personally, I love the aesthetics of the case but the lack of an optical drive is seriously making me consider different cases. Any suggestions?
7) Are the stock fans that come with the case enough for this build? Being a newbie, I highly doubt seeing myself overclocking this PC, so I hadn't given much thought to getting extra fans.
8) How would this PC handle modern games, for example using Witcher 2 as a benchmark?

Any other suggestions?

[Remilia]

Do you have a specific budget?

[Skytip]

Do you have a specific budget?

I'm from Australia, so I haven't posted the prices. I believe in the US a PC like that would be about $1-1.2k, so something like that. Even so, the conversions are complicated since there's about a $200 USD markup for the entire build when buying in Australia. I would prefer it if you just recommended similarly priced parts or even cheaper.

[Remilia]

The listed things you put together is about $1600 in AUD.
I kept the same case in.
Other case suggestions imo are NZXT S340 or Fractal Design Define R4.
Choosed an actually functioning SSD. V300 is bad now since they changed the internals without changing the name.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($313.00 @ Scorptec)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($88.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($144.00 @ PLE Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.00 @ PLE Computers)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($507.00 @ Centre Com)
Case: NZXT H440 (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($159.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.00 @ CPL Online)
Total: $1506.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-07 15:45 EST+1100

[Skytip]

The listed things you put together is about $1600 in AUD.
I kept the same case in.
Other case suggestions imo are NZXT S340 or Fractal Design Define R4.
Choosed an actually functioning SSD. V300 is bad now since they changed the internals without changing the name.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($313.00 @ Scorptec)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($88.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($144.00 @ PLE Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.00 @ PLE Computers)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($507.00 @ Centre Com)
Case: NZXT H440 (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($159.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.00 @ CPL Online)
Total: $1506.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-07 15:45 EST+1100

What was the rationale behind choosing a different motherboard?

Also, I was talking about this PSU (it was a bit difficult to find on pcpartpicker): http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-...ly-rs650amaag1 . Is yours still better?

Should I get an aftermarket CPU cooler?

[Remilia]

Aside from cutting cost, it has it's needed features while not being too much. Of course there are better but that starts to climb cost enormously in Australia.

I believe the CM VSM are Enhance builds, they're not the greatest but they're not bad.
If you want a gold semi modular http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/seas...upply-ssr550rm is a good pick.

And oops I forgot I didn't add an aftermarket cooler. Intro would be CM Hyper 212 EVO. There are some other ones if you're looking to invest more into it.