[Mr Anonymous]

So, I am building my £900+ gaming pc today with a friend. This is my first build, but, he has built a few computers in the past. Anyone got any recommendations, do's and dont's? Feel free to share them with me.

- My Specs -


Case: Thermaltake Chaser MK-1
Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V LX S1155 Intel Z68 DDR3 ATX
CPU: Intel Core I5 Processor
Power Unit: Corsair Memory 600W Builder Series CX V2 ATX PSU
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600MHz CL9 XMP
SSD: OCZ Technology 60GB Agility 3 SSD Series Sata 6Gb/s 2.5" Solid State Drive
HDD:Seagate 1TB Barracuda Sata 6Gb/s 74MB 7200RPM Hard Drive
Graphics Card: Asus GeForce GTX 560 Ti 900MHz PCI-Express HDMI (DirectCU II TOP)
Wireless Card: Linksys By Cisco Wireless-N PCI Adapter with Dual-Band
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-S223 22x DVD-RW SATA OEM (Black)

- Extra's -

Anti-Static Discharge Band: Best Value Duratool Antistatic Wrist Band
Motherboard Stand-Offs: 8x Copper Motherboard Stand-offs
Fans:

- 2 x 200mm Thermaltake Colour shift fan (Blue LED, 600~800RPM) *In-Built*
- 1 x 140mm TurboFan (Exhaust, 1000RPM) *In-Built*
- 2 x 200mm Coolermaster MegaFlow (Blue LED)
- 1 x 120mm Coolermaster Sickleflow (Red LED)
- 1 x 120mm Coolermaster Sickleflow (Green LED)

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium x64 BIT SP-1 (OEM Edition)

Any advise to assembling / problems that may accrue with this set-up / things I may need / Things that I should and shouldn't do. Is welcomed!

[reapaninja]

[Meekle]

Are you going to be using the stock CPU heatsink or an after market cooler? If you're using the stock then you wont need thermal paste, otherwise you will need it. Also, make sure the tools you are using to build the rig have magnetic tips. Makes the build far easier. Apart from that it's just obvious things like make sure you don't build it on carpet, make sure you handle your parts with care, don't start prodding bare circuitry etc. Also, have fun!

[Maloof?]

I don't see the point in SSDs for consumer/gaming machines. You'll get a few seconds shaved off of game load times and a faster boot but it's not going to give you any in-game advantage or make your life much easier, or at least not to the extent that I'd spend that much money on one.

[Mr Anonymous]

Maloof? posted:

I don't see the point in SSDs for consumer/gaming machines. You'll get a few seconds shaved off of game load times and a faster boot but it's not going to give you any in-game advantage or make your life much easier, or at least not to the extent that I'd spend that much money on one.

SSD is only going to have my OS on it.

[Meekle]

Maloof? posted:

I don't see the point in SSDs for consumer/gaming machines. You'll get a few seconds shaved off of game load times and a faster boot but it's not going to give you any in-game advantage or make your life much easier, or at least not to the extent that I'd spend that much money on one.

I agree. I'd much rather spend more on a better CPU, MoBo, GPU etc. than include an SSD. A 500GB-1TB HDD is more than enough for a gaming rig.

[Allstone]

I would personally get a graphics card and cpu that gives good speed for what is required then add an SSD. My graphics card gets me 60fps at high on 1080p for most games, which is as much as is necessary. Buying a higher card over saving money for a newer card earlier tends to be a worse decision in general and I've found the improvements in boot time and program startup made using my computer a fair bit easier to use.

Edited:

Apart from that, what's the price of that case? You might be able to get a case with more proven thermal performance for the same price or cheaper.
If the ASRock Z68 Extreme3 can be had for the same price or cheaper than the motherboard you have there I'd definitely consider it, as it has similar reliability and has more power phases.
What are your other options for the power supply? The CX series bar the 430W model aren't exactly stellar in terms of actual power delivery.
For SSDs I'd generally recommend you avoid OCZ's sandforce drives, as they've had a rather rocky history. If the Crucial M4, Samsung 830 or Intel 520 can be had for similar prices I'd definitely recommend them, but otherwise the Corsair Force 3 is a good option as well.
That hard drive's model no. is ST1000DM003, correct? If so, that's perfectly fine. If not I'd probably try and see if the ST1000DM003 is available at a similar price or, failing that, the Spinpoint F3.
An anti-static discharge band is a fairly pointless peripheral. A static discharge is exceedingly unlikely, let alone one that will significantly damage your computer.
Are you sure your case will not include motherboard standoffs?

[Takkuull]

Don't wash it with water.

just kidding,
don't forget to install fans.

[Overv]

Maloof? posted:

I don't see the point in SSDs for consumer/gaming machines. You'll get a few seconds shaved off of game load times and a faster boot but it's not going to give you any in-game advantage or make your life much easier, or at least not to the extent that I'd spend that much money on one.

I disagree, it has made a huge difference for me with booting Windows and running programs like Photoshop and After Effects.

[Lazore]

Why so many fans when you aren't building the strongest type of computer?

[ItWasNiceToKnow]

SSDs are the biggest upgrade you can do to your computer.

When did you find yourself screaming at the monitor cause it took 5 mins to load a program?
I installed an old SSD ( 1 year ) which is about half as fast as the new, and it's the best upgrade I ever made, firefox loads almost before I click it, boots in around 30-40 seconds, and you don't have to wait 3-5 mins every single fucking time you boot, waiting for programs to start up.

Edited:

And your case is going to a dust magnet with that many fans.