The use case
This computer will be used for midrange computer gaming, so it will need to, at a minimum, be able to handle graphics for moderately demanding games, as well as those I may want to play in the future, including World of Warcraft, Fallout 4 and Borderlands 2. Otherwise, I may also need to burn the occasional Blu-Ray disc, watch the occasional Blu-Ray film and transcode the occasional video. Of course, a computer that meets these requirements will be more than enough for web browsing and emails.
Since computer games tend to depend more on the video card than the CPU, I will not need to get a top-of-the-line processor. Out of the Intel range, I would definitely save money choosing a Core i5 instead of a Core i7.
I ended up getting a seventh-generation (Kaby Lake) Intel Core i5 CPU for my system. Just to be safe, a got the best-performing one, a 7600K, which also gives me the option to play around with overclocking should I ever get interested in it, and should last me the next few video cards. At the time of purchase, a 7600K was only around $20 more than a non-K, which did not really bother me that much.
Since I chose an overclockable CPU, I really should be choosing a motherboard that supports overclocking. This necessarily means one with an Intel Z270 chipset. Of course, I could choose a Z170 instead, but Intel Optane support does seem nice for the future. As far as motherboard features are concerned, I would also like it to have a USB 3.1 Gen2 10Gbps Type-C port, two M.2 slots and, hoping to do away with a sound card, decent onboard audio. I also do want to customise this build with LED lighting and whatnot later on, and a black-and-white colour scheme would work with the widest variety of colours.
I found that the ASUS PRIME Z270-AR fit all these criteria. This also means I will need to get a computer case that will fit a full-size ATX motherboard.
I was probably most strict in my criteria with regard to the computer case. Since I can use it for future computer builds, I should be very particular with the design and specs. Apart from the obvious requirements like fitting the motherboard, I also want it to:
- Have a side panel entirely of tempered glass, and possibly the 'other' side panel too, which can be seen through to the fitted motherboard
- Fit at least one 5.25" optical drive
- Be mid-tower in size; full tower does seem too large for me, especially moving from a micro-ATX system
- Have dust filters for all intake fan slots
- Support USB 3.0 in its front panel
- After noting certain desktops without one (I'm looking at you, Dell XPS Tower...), a front-panel HDD activity indicator light.
I did look at the reviews and noted that it has established quite a notorious reputation among system builders, leading to a few caveats working with this case. Most importantly, it does not have as much CPU cooler clearance as other cases, with only 138-145mm to work with. In addition, some reviews said that, despite there being a cable routing hole for the 24-pin power cable, it will not fit one with the motherboard fitted. I found that, at least with the motherboard I chose, thanks to the standoffs, it will just barely allow for the cable.
Some other things I noted in the reviews:
- You are supposed to do without the motherboard I/O shield, because the case does not have any attachment points for it.
- Not only the 24-pin motherboard cable, you also need to route the EPS12V cable before installing the motherboard, because you cannot fit it through the cable management holes with the motherboard in place.
- It is extremely frustrating to attach the cables to the optical drive you install, because there is a very small hole for them and you cannot actually sight the ports on the optical drive while it is slotted in. Nor can you attach the cables before slotting it in, as the bottom fan intake area does not leave any clearance for that.
- You cannot attach a SATA power connector to the 2.5" bays where the connector is not at the end of the cable.
Since I do want room to overclock the CPU (and because K-series Intel CPUs do not come with stock coolers), I will need to get an aftermarket cooler that also fits the tight clearance of the computer case. I am not comfortable with water cooling at this stage, so I will need to find a decent air cooler, possibly one with a tower heatsink.
This was a difficult decision with a concern for saving on shipping by ordering from as few places as possible. Buying from the same vendor as for the computer case, I decided to go with the Antec A40-PRO tower air cooler. With a reported height of 136mm, it just barely fits within the case's CPU cooler clearance (it turned out to be somewhere around 138mm, at the lower end of reported clearances). It is not ideal because the fan has a blue LED that cannot be programmed, though I should be able to find colour schemes that work with it.
It just so happened that I decided to get a new computer during the cryptocurrency mining craze. Hearing about the prices even on NVIDIA midrange video cards, I decided to carry over the video card, itself bought used, from the old computer. It is a GTX960 assembled by ASUS, which still runs my most frequently played games very well. I will probably wait for the prices to come back down, or possibly even the next generation of NVIDIA video cards, before upgrading.
Since the motherboard supports DDR4 memory, this type of memory should be what I get. To maintain some freedom of future overclocking, I should get some memory that is overclockable to at least 2400MHz and is also on ASUS' Qualified Vendors List for the motherboard. I managed to find Corsair's Vengeance LPX memory on said list, which was also available from a seller from which I could buy other parts, saving quite a bit on shipping.
My previous computer booted off a SSHD (solid state hybrid drive) which, while a little faster than a straight HDD (hard disk drive), is still much slower than a proper SSD (solid state drive). For my new computer, I am looking to store Windows and programs on an SSD and the less frequently accessed data files on much cheaper magnetic storage. As far as I am concerned, any SSD is a huge upgrade, and I plan to exclusively use SSD storage in the future once it becomes cheap enough without splurging on it now. The Intel 600p would certainly serve as a good stop-gap for that. As far as space is concerned, I don't plan on installing that many applications and games, and I was using a 2TB hybrid drive at the time of retiring my old computer, so half of a terabyte of solid-state storage should be enough.
For the hard drive component of the secondary storage solution, it was a simple enough choice to just carry over the magnetic storage, a Seagate 2TB SSHD, from my old computer. It is only two years old, so it still has plenty of life left in it.
Having gone without a Blu-Ray player all this time, I would say the time has come to add that functionality to my computer. I would also like the option to burn high-capacity Blu-Ray data discs, as well as archive files on Millenniata M-Discs, so the writer needs to be able to handle those requirements. I chose an LG Blu-Ray writer for this build because much of their range supports these features, and this particular model because it came with included software at least from the seller from which I bought it.
The In Win case I chose only has mounting points for two case fans: a 120/140mm bottom intake and 92mm rear exhaust, so I should look to make best use of these. Also, it would be good for them to have ASUS Aura Sync LED support. Unfortunately, there were no 92mm fans I could find that supported RGB, so I settled for a neutrally coloured Noctua fan (apparently a more recent introduction of Noctua's). As for the bottom intake fan, I managed to find the Cooler Master MasterFan Pro. Being an intake fan, I went for the Air Flow option, and the 140mm size at that.
The accounting: 43% out-of-pocket savings
| Component | List price | I paid | Savings |
| Intel Core i5-7600K |
383.00
|
306.40
|
-76.60
|
| ASUS PRIME Z270-AR |
260.00
|
209.00
|
-51.00
|
| In Win 904PLUS |
199.00
|
199.00
|
0.00
|
| Antec A40-PRO |
29.00
|
29.00
|
0.00
|
| ASUS GeForce GTX 960 Mini |
240.00
|
0.00
|
-240.00
|
| Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 |
214.00
|
172.20
|
-41.80
|
| Intel 600p 512GB SSD |
284.00
|
228.20
|
-55.80
|
| Seagate 2TB SSHD |
159.00
|
0.00
|
-159.00
|
| LG BH16NS55 Blu-Ray Writer |
91.95
|
91.95
|
0.00
|
| Cooler Master MasterFan Pro 140 |
25.00
|
25.00
|
0.00
|
| Noctua NF-B9 Redux-1600 PWM 92mm |
21.00
|
21.00
|
0.00
|
| Windows 10 Pro |
339.00
|
0
|
-339.00
|
| Totals: |
$2244.95
|
$1281.75
|
-$963.20
|
As far as how much it actually cost to obtain these parts, it certainly helped that I managed to carry over the video card and SSHD from my old system. I was able to obtain a free Windows 10 licence from the Microsoft Dreamspark program. The case, CPU cooler and fans I bought from a bricks-and-mortar store with an online presence, though the rest of the parts I ordered over eBay.
Another reason for the timing of this build was that eBay was running a promotion where it absorbed 20% of the purchase price of stuff bought from select stores. Thankfully, this included sellers of computer components, so I was able to secure a good discount on many parts I needed. Ignoring cryptocurrency mining and inflated memory module prices, this was great timing!
In the next part (mind the pun) of the series, I record my experiences building a computer system from scratch for the very first time. See you there!
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