~Advice ~ Spec Check Pretty Please??

[dave2245]

You're welcome.

You just need to check what type of inputs the monitors you decide on have too. For example, those Asus 1080p IPS I specced have 2 x HDMI and 1 x Analogue/VGA/D-Sub (same thing, different names) each. Unless you want to bother with adapters, the easiest thing would be to hook up your gaming monitor to the graphics card's single HDMI port and your other monitor to the motherboard's HDMI port, because that graphics card only brings 1 x HDMI.

Unless your intention is to use both for gaming, in which case you need a solution which allows you to run both monitors from the graphics card. Or different monitors with other type of ports. Or another graphics card with 2 x HDMI.

I cant see any on overclockers but a quick google has came up with a number of display port to hdmi cables. Would that suffice since the GPU appears to have 2 display ports.

Budget being around £40 like the Antec GX500?

yeah say around the £50 mark, give or take a tenner.
I've been told to look for something with decent cable management for decent air flow. And ideally i'd like something thats easy to clean, if it needs it?

 

[Danny75]

I cant see any on overclockers but a quick google has came up with a number of display port to hdmi cables. Would that suffice since the GPU appears to have 2 display ports.

Well, I just checked the accessories for that monitor and the MSI 970. The 970 brings a DVI-to-VGA dongle. And the monitor just appears to bring a VGA cable, which I think is accurate because I remember having to go out and buy a HDMI cable around that time. So you could go with that VGA cable and DVI-to-VGA adapter, for one monitor.

Does seem you will need a HDMI cable for the other monitor, so include one of those if you don't have one laying around.

So yeah, the cheapest option is to use the provided VGA cable/DVI adapter for one monitor, and buy a HDMI cable for the other.

yeah say around the £50 mark, give or take a tenner.
I've been told to look for something with decent cable management for decent air flow. And ideally i'd like something thats easy to clean, if it needs it?

Phanteks have the cable management gig covered. Looks like it has decent airflow if not optimal, think it'll be fairly easy to clean. The liquid cooler radiator can go on the rear or possibly the front, the top is not designed for them but you never know.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Phanteks Eclipse P400 Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Window= £47.99

​

Gun metal colour is the cheapest just now, prices change tomorrow.

 

[Laputacake]

I cant see any on overclockers but a quick google has came up with a number of display port to hdmi cables. Would that suffice since the GPU appears to have 2 display ports.


yeah say around the £50 mark, give or take a tenner.
I've been told to look for something with decent cable management for decent air flow. And ideally i'd like something thats easy to clean, if it needs it?

I'll second the P400, getting one myself soon and for the price it's a really nice case. For the GPU the RX 480 is being released, well the NDA is being lifted and so you could grab the 480 or find a cheap 980 or 970. As for power supply the fully modular 550w is on sale right now https://www.overclockers.co.uk/supe...lus-gold-power-supply-gunmetal-ca-048-sf.html

 

[dave2245]

1 x Antec H600 Kuhler 120mm AIO Liquid Cooler= £39.95

I just realised that this is a liquid cooler. i'd never even considered a liquid cooler as i had NO experience with it at all.
I've just done a bit of research now, in your opinion is this low end one definitely worth it over similar priced mid-range air coolers?
Also do you think water cooling is definitely something worth working into my build? (I assume so for only an extra £40) ?

I'll second the P400, getting one myself soon and for the price it's a really nice case. For the GPU the RX 480 is being released, well the NDA is being lifted and so you could grab the 480 or find a cheap 980 or 970. As for power supply the fully modular 550w is on sale right now https://www.overclockers.co.uk/supe...lus-gold-power-supply-gunmetal-ca-048-sf.html

I do like the look of that case to be fair, is the fan on the front/top efficient / good enough? Just seems to be in a weird place haha.
I think im going to be getting the 970.
Hoping it will drop a bit more in price within the next month or so then i'll pick one up. It just appears to fit my price range better than the others (also, i'd prefer a nvidia card over amd).

 

[Laputacake]

I just realised that this is a liquid cooler. i'd never even considered a liquid cooler as i had NO experience with it at all.
I've just done a bit of research now, in your opinion is this low end one definitely worth it over similar priced mid-range air coolers?
Also do you think water cooling is definitely something worth working into my build? (I assume so for only an extra £40) ?


I do like the look of that case to be fair, is the fan on the front/top efficient / good enough? Just seems to be in a weird place haha.
I think im going to be getting the 970.
Hoping it will drop a bit more in price within the next month or so then i'll pick one up. It just appears to fit my price range better than the others (also, i'd prefer a nvidia card over amd).

The fans it comes with should be enough though might be on the loud side though it does come with a fan controller. As for GPU maybe look around for a cheap 980 or wait for the 1060 and see how that affects prices.

 

[Danny75]

I just realised that this is a liquid cooler. i'd never even considered a liquid cooler as i had NO experience with it at all.
I've just done a bit of research now, in your opinion is this low end one definitely worth it over similar priced mid-range air coolers?
Also do you think water cooling is definitely something worth working into my build? (I assume so for only an extra £40) ?

Check out the feedback thread for those Antec coolers: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18705983

I bought and tried one myself and was very impressed other than the mounting system for 115X (which they are going to improve, if they haven't already done so).

Hard to say whether it can beat every air cooler priced the same. That didn't use to be the case with 120mm AIO's in the past but from feedback I've seen here and there, seems people with similar-priced or cheaper air coolers are struggling to get 60C Cinebench/RealBench temps with i7-6700K @ 1.37 Vcore (which is what I was getting). I did notice the pump ran at 3000+ RPM (couldn't hear it) as opposed to the pump on my H100i running at 2,300 RPM. So maybe that's one reason for the seeming improvement of some 120mm AIO's like this one. Probably water block improvement too. But as I said, hard to say because it depends on other things like case airflow. All I can say is the H600 and H1200 are great value for money, and I don't see a hugely compelling reason to go for more expensive ones.

I do like the look of that case to be fair, is the fan on the front/top efficient / good enough? Just seems to be in a weird place haha.
I think im going to be getting the 970.
Hoping it will drop a bit more in price within the next month or so then i'll pick one up. It just appears to fit my price range better than the others (also, i'd prefer a nvidia card over amd).

Yes, fan is fine there. If you use a 120mm liquid AIO and have it on the rear, you can move the rear fan to the front for 2 x 120mm there.

RX 480 prices starting at £175 today.

If you're going to go with Nvidia, there have been pictures of the upcoming 1060 which may be better than 970, but no idea when they are due for release.

 

[dave2245]

Check out the feedback thread for those Antec coolers: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18705983

I bought and tried one myself and was very impressed other than the mounting system for 115X (which they are going to improve, if they haven't already done so).

Hard to say whether it can beat every air cooler priced the same. That didn't use to be the case with 120mm AIO's in the past but from feedback I've seen here and there, seems people with similar-priced or cheaper air coolers are struggling to get 60C Cinebench/RealBench temps with i7-6700K @ 1.37 Vcore (which is what I was getting). I did notice the pump ran at 3000+ RPM (couldn't hear it) as opposed to the pump on my H100i running at 2,300 RPM. So maybe that's one reason for the seeming improvement of some 120mm AIO's like this one. Probably water block improvement too. But as I said, hard to say because it depends on other things like case airflow. All I can say is the H600 and H1200 are great value for money, and I don't see a hugely compelling reason to go for more expensive ones.

Yeah i'd love to get my feet wet with some basic water cooling as its something i've wanted to do but never thought i'd be able to. I always looked at it as only used for high end gaming rigs with tubes of neon blue liquid flowing everywhere, so i think a basic AIO is a good way to start.
I'll have a look around and check out some reviews, but may end up just going with the one you suggested unless you think theres others i should be looking at. (For a similar price).

Yes, fan is fine there. If you use a 120mm liquid AIO and have it on the rear, you can move the rear fan to the front for 2 x 120mm there.

RX 480 prices starting at £175 today.

If you're going to go with Nvidia, there have been pictures of the upcoming 1060 which may be better than 970, but no idea when they are due for release.

Can you clarify how the air flow should work.
Is it in the front / top and out the back?

And as for the water cooler, that would be getting fitted to the GPU, not the CPU, right?
Ended up picking up a GTX 970 from scan for £205, so im pretty happy with that.

 

[groovesection]

yeah say around the £50 mark, give or take a tenner.
I've been told to look for something with decent cable management for decent air flow. And ideally i'd like something thats easy to clean, if it needs it?

If you can stretch to £53 the NZXT 340 is a nice case, just got it for my new build, (I paid £60) awesome cable management, lots of cooling potential (you get 2 120mm fans with it) but you can add 2 more at the front, has dust filters for the front and PSU which is hidden away), strong build quality too.
Just remember to install the 3.5" HDD's first or you will have to take the PSU out to get the screws in lol (you can thank me later

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/nzxt-source-340-midi-tower-case-black-window-ca-152-nx.html

 

[dave2245]

Hey peeps, just an update.
So far i've purchased:

CPU: i5 - 6600k
Mobo: Gigabyte Z170XP-SLI
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2x8gb) 3200MHz
GPU: GTX 970
HDD: 1tb WD
SSD: 240Gb Kingston


Still Need:
Case
Fans(If Necessary)
CPU Cooler
GPU Cooler????

I'd like to dabble in some basic water cooling to get my hands wet (Not literally). But not sure where to go.
I'd also like a case with decent air flow.
Do i need a cooler for the GPU, would it help?
I do plan on overclocking too! (New to all this so figured it was a pretty good time to start).

Any advice on the components required or anything else would be really cool!

 

[Poneros]

Basic watercooling = AIO (all-in-one) unit, e.g. for cpu like Corsair H110i. But that's just plug and play really, can't say it's worth the expense. Real watercooling requires a lot more money & tinkering with. I'd say read about it some more before making a decision and do it in a year or so if you still feel like it.

 

[dave2245]

Basic watercooling = AIO (all-in-one) unit, e.g. for cpu like Corsair H110i. But that's just plug and play really, can't say it's worth the expense. Real watercooling requires a lot more money & tinkering with. I'd say read about it some more before making a decision and do it in a year or so if you still feel like it.

Yeah? so just get a normal air cooler for now and maybe come back to it later?
Can i still overclock fine with an air cooler?

 

[groovesection]

Yes, but something other than the stock heatsink would be required.
Overclocking is a fine art, there are so many variables that can limit what you achieve, cooling is certainly a high priority, but other things like MB, RAM and even whether you get a 'good' chip all can be the limiting factor on how far you can OC before hitting the limit for your set-up.

 

[dave2245]

as far as im aware, i have a good cpu for OCing, Mobo and RAM also seems good as far as i can tell.

 

[Borealis]

You've got a good hardware spec for sure, but that doesn't guarantee you'll get an amazing OC.

What groovesection is referring to is known as the "silicon lottery". The 6600K is a good chip for OCing, but some chips are better than others. It's down to the way that they're manufactured.

For example, I know someone who's got an i5 4670K that will easily OC to 4.6GHz. Mine tops out at 4.2GHz, no matter what I do. We both have the exact same spec, so he's got a good chip and I've got a poor one.

 

[dave2245]

You've got a good hardware spec for sure, but that doesn't guarantee you'll get an amazing OC.

What groovesection is referring to is known as the "silicon lottery". The 6600K is a good chip for OCing, but some chips are better than others. It's down to the way that they're manufactured.

For example, I know someone who's got an i5 4670K that will easily OC to 4.6GHz. Mine tops out at 4.2GHz, no matter what I do. We both have the exact same spec, so he's got a good chip and I've got a poor one.

Ah right, i see what you mean.
Well i've heard good things about the 6600k and the mobo so hopefully should be ok.
I need a cpu cooler regardless as the one i've purchased doesn't come with one.
Do you think something like https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cooler-master-hyper-212x-cpu-cooler-hs-072-cm.html work ok?
I also need a case but theres so many to choose from!

 

[Borealis]

For cooling, you have a lot of options. You can go air or AIO, or even custom water - I'd suggest air or AIO. With air coolers, you must make sure that there is sufficient height clearance in your case for the cooler and that it will clear your RAM (Corsair Vengeance LPX won't be a problem). Here's a few coolers to look at:

Rajintek Themis - compact but reliable. Won't let you get up to insane OC speeds, but very decent and good value.

Alpenfohn Matterhorn - Bigger and better than the Themis but not insanely huge.

Noctua NH-D14 - Huge cooler, but extremely good. Mine didn't fit LGA2011-v3, so I sold it to someone with a 6700K. He loves it.

Phanteks PH-TC14PE - Another monster cooler, but not beige/brown. It's equally as effective as the Noctua, just a more "mainstream" colour.

Antec Kuhler h600 - Decent 120mm AIO.

Antec Kuhler h1200 - Decent 240mm AIO.

On the case front, there's a lot of choice and it depends what you like. I'm a fan of Phanteks, as their build quality is great and they're not too expensive. This is what I've got, but I accept that not everyone will like it!

 

[dave2245]

For cooling, you have a lot of options. You can go air or AIO, or even custom water - I'd suggest air or AIO. With air coolers, you must make sure that there is sufficient height clearance in your case for the cooler and that it will clear your RAM (Corsair Vengeance LPX won't be a problem). Here's a few coolers to look at:

Rajintek Themis - compact but reliable. Won't let you get up to insane OC speeds, but very decent and good value.

Alpenfohn Matterhorn - Bigger and better than the Themis but not insanely huge.

Noctua NH-D14 - Huge cooler, but extremely good. Mine didn't fit LGA2011-v3, so I sold it to someone with a 6700K. He loves it.

Phanteks PH-TC14PE - Another monster cooler, but not beige/brown. It's equally as effective as the Noctua, just a more "mainstream" colour.

Antec Kuhler h600 - Decent 120mm AIO.

Antec Kuhler h1200 - Decent 240mm AIO.

On the case front, there's a lot of choice and it depends what you like. I'm a fan of Phanteks, as their build quality is great and they're not too expensive. This is what I've got, but I accept that not everyone will like it!

I quite like the look of the H1200 but the socket compatibility doesnt list 1151 which is what i think my CPU is? (Please correct me if im wrong).

I like the look of trying a AIO, since its pretty much the same price as the good air coolers and id imagine performance is going to be the same as a good air cooler.

I quite like the look of the Phanteks to be fair, im looking for something fairly simple, maybe with a little bit of flair / style but nothing too flashy.
Build quality and cable management > design.
Theres so many to look through haha.

 

[Borealis]

Any cooler that fits 1150/1155/1156, will fit 1151 as it's the same hole spacing and height clearance. I think the manufacturers may have got fed up with Intel changing the last digit of the socket every year/2 years! I know some coolers now say "fits 115x".

 

[dave2245]

Any cooler that fits 1150/1155/1156, will fit 1151 as it's the same hole spacing and height clearance. I think the manufacturers may have got fed up with Intel changing the last digit of the socket every year/2 years! I know some coolers now say "fits 115x".

Ah ok fair enough!
I think i'll probs go with one of thoes AIOs.

Does the GTX970 require a cooler? (Would it be very beneficial / would i see the benefit) ?

 

[Borealis]

The GTX970 doesn't need a cooler, no. Although you might see a small benefit at this stage, I'd advise you not to mess around removing GPU coolers if this is your first DIY build.

Some people do remove the stock cooler/backplate and fit an AIO or custom waterblock though. That's usually if they're OCing it and/or running SLI. If you OC the GPU it can get pretty toasty. Likewise, SLI setups get hot due to lack of airflow between the cards.