My 1st ever Build

[Ashers]

hey everyone,
just after thought on my build im currently funding and looking at building during the christmas holidays. I do think after some research that it may be a bit ott but ah well. Still any thoughts opinions tips etc would be much appreciated thanks

Microsoft Windows 10 64-Bit
Corsair DDR4 32GB Vengeance LPX Black Memory Black
MSI X99A GODLIKE GAMING,
Samsung 256GB 850 PRO Enterprise SSD/Solid State Drive
MSI GeForce GTX 980Ti
Cooler Master HAF X V2 Tower performance Gaming Case
Corsair Gaming M65 RGB Black Mouse
Corsair Raptor K30 Gaming Keyboard
Cooler Master V8 High Performance CPU Cooler
Seagate 2TB 3.5" ST2000DX001 SSHD Solid State Hybrid Drive 8GB
Corsair RM Series 750W Modular Power Supply
Intel Core i7 5820K Unlocked, S 2011-3, Haswell-E, 6 Core, 3.3GHz Clock
SAMSUNG S24E510C Full HD 27" Curved LED Monitor x3

[bromax333]

The rig is awesome, but :
1. I'll change win 10 with win 7(then i'll upgrade it to 10 for free, is cheaper - win 7/64bits/ultimate edition/SP1 is 14$ on GA)
2. Pick better TI (Strix or G1)

[kalniel]

I'd go for a bigger SSD - given you're getting overkill everywhere else, seems a shame not to for the SSD too. I wouldn't bother with the hybrid drive though, get a good storage drive instead.

Other general point is when you're building an uber rig like that, don't skimp on the retailer just for the sake of a few quid free delivery - go with a retailer with an excellent returns and support policy. Places like SCAN are great if you need to scrounge the cheapest possible budget, but in your case I'd look for someone a little more customer friendly even if it's a touch more expensive.

[Giraffe]

kalniel, you mention Scan as being, er, 'budget'. I'm considering a new build and would consider Scan (8 years since last build!). Which retailers do you consider to be good and, if you can say, where does Scan fall down?

[kalniel]

kalniel, you mention Scan as being, er, 'budget'. I'm considering a new build and would consider Scan (8 years since last build!). Which retailers do you consider to be good and, if you can say, where does Scan fall down?

Every shop is different and has it's own strengths and weaknesses. SCAN has a great range of components, and has very competitive pricing, but the trade off for lower margins etc. seems to be a slightly lesser customer experience, particularly in the unfortunately event of a return. Of course SCAN aren't doing anything illegal as far as I know. I have seen them push customers to manufacturers for returns in preference of returning to the retailer - in some cases that could be best thing for the customer, but in the UK it's normal practise for (and indeed the responsibility of) the shop to handle that, and the best shops will send out replacements from stock themselves rather than leaving it to the manufacturer which involves additional waits. The testing of returned components also looks like it's a bit of a pain at SCAN - mistakes seem to be made on occasion and customers may have been accused of damaging items that are faulty or even simply being returned without being opened. On other occasions items are passed onto the manufacturer for additional testing and it seems to be entirely beholden on the manufacturer's reimbursement to SCAN before the customer is then reimbursed. Stock control in general also doesn't seem to be a strong point!

A different way of operating is to place the relationship between the customer and the store at the forefront - in effect leaving the manufacturer out of it - so the customer gets their needs addressed as soon as possible, and the reimbursement of the store's stock/credit is handled behind the scenes without impact on the customer. This way of operating increases costs, since there is the chance a manufacturer won't reimburse the store, and it may involve writing down a certain amount for goodwill returns/refunds - which are above and beyond that required by the law. Those costs eventually have to be met by the customer, meaning prices might be higher, but it's something you factor in when buying.

Examples of stores with a good customer focus? It's hard to judge from what they say as they all seem to promise the earth! Amazon have a fantastic returns policy, but they will cap their losses and if you have to return too much you may find yourself out of luck - however they do warn you before this and I think it takes quite a lot!

Ebuyer seem slightly better than SCAN, but you can be sure they are working behind the scenes to reduce RMAs as will any store to be honest. They also have a history of misleading promotions according to the ASA.

I would rate cclonline quite highly. Overclockers used to have a bad rep, but I've heard better things of late. I've not tried Dabs recently, but I think they're pretty OK too. I've never bought from Novatech or Aria - not for any particular reason, just haven't had the occasion. Novatech seem to reply to messages on review sites which is a good sign.

Going further up the chain to more system-like providers gets you even better support - Dell, Apple, John Lewis etc. all have excellent customer service but of course you are limited in terms of what you can buy.

The other thing to check is whether you have any local independent stores in a town/city near you. The price will likely be significantly higher, but there's often room for negotiation, and customer service is so key to their business model that if they've survived for any number of years you're more than likely to get great service.

[KnightInd2000]

Personally I doubt that you'd notice the difference in speed between the Samsung 256GB 850 PRO SSD and an 850 Evo; and for the price you could have the 500GB version. But being as your spec is high end, I get the feeling that you've already thought of this and gone for the speed option. In this case why not get a 256GB 850 PRO M.2 NVMe for about £160? Then you are getting something noticeably quicker.

[Giraffe]

kalniel,
Thank you for that. I've always gone to Scan for most components (CCL for a special mouse and Crucial for RAM are the exceptions) but, looking at CCL's site and reading a bit in OCUK's forums, they look OK.
The one example of service from CCL was very good - but that was 7 years ago! I do remember that there was an extra charge for using a credit card; that might have changed by now.

[Ashers]

The rig is awesome, but :
1. I'll change win 10 with win 7(then i'll upgrade it to 10 for free, is cheaper - win 7/64bits/ultimate edition/SP1 is 14$ on GA)
2. Pick better TI (Strix or G1)

Thanks for advice
Is there much difference between the professional and standard windows?? Windows 10 on usb stick is only £87 and the professional is £115.
Also im thinking after crimbo is done out the way getting another TI to SLI them

[Ashers]

I'd go for a bigger SSD - given you're getting overkill everywhere else, seems a shame not to for the SSD too. I wouldn't bother with the hybrid drive though, get a good storage drive instead.

Other general point is when you're building an uber rig like that, don't skimp on the retailer just for the sake of a few quid free delivery - go with a retailer with an excellent returns and support policy. Places like SCAN are great if you need to scrounge the cheapest possible budget, but in your case I'd look for someone a little more customer friendly even if it's a touch more expensive.

Thanks for advice
To be honest id like a 1tb SSD but i'm kinda cutting it short doing my xmas shopping hence why i thought about going the way above for now may stretch to a 500gb one instead of 256 for now and then get a TB next year and swap in out in place of the 2tb seagate one. Is there any reason why you'd go external storage rather that internal (assuming thats what you mean by storage drive??)
cheers

[Ashers]

Personally I doubt that you'd notice the difference in speed between the Samsung 256GB 850 PRO SSD and an 850 Evo; and for the price you could have the 500GB version. But being as your spec is high end, I get the feeling that you've already thought of this and gone for the speed option. In this case why not get a 256GB 850 PRO M.2 NVMe for about £160? Then you are getting something noticeably quicker.

Cheers for reply
To be honest i'm kinda Peeing in the wind with this whole build as i'm currently sat using mac book air only use windows for cad/cam at work so this is first time i've considered doing more with windows so i basically picked my motherboard cause it has lights on it that i can control with my phone (sad i no but ah well) and then spec'd the rest from the compatibility page on the MSI website and that just said about the Pro rather than the Evo and am a tad worried that come christmas break when i start building running into problems cause ive steered away from what that says. I guess thats a bit naive of me but i am completely new to this side of computer as am typically mac user and console gamer
cheers

[EndlessWaves]

It is an extremely high end computer. The X99 platform is generally only bought by people who are doing demanding computer tasks. It's primarily Intel's Workstation/Server design and the desktop version just caters to people who need the power but not features like ECC memory as well as providing an expensive option for those that want to throw money at a computer.

You haven't said what you're using it for or what your priorities are (speed/noise/price/eco-friendliness etc.) so it's difficult to make comments about the suitability of components.

[Ashers]

It is an extremely high end computer. The X99 platform is generally only bought by people who are doing demanding computer tasks. It's primarily Intel's Workstation/Server design and the desktop version just caters to people who need the power but not features like ECC memory as well as providing an expensive option for those that want to throw money at a computer.

You haven't said what you're using it for or what your priorities are (speed/noise/price/eco-friendliness etc.) so it's difficult to make comments about the suitability of components.

Just being used for gaming and maybe for some cad/cam stuff for work maybe and cause i fancy having ago at building a computer, give me summat else to do other than sit in the pub while the wifes at work christmas. Only real priority going into this was to try and keep it future proof which i guess to a certain extent i have done, i kinda just chose parts that i liked the look of hence only reason for going for that motherboard is cause of the lights built in. only thing i wished id of got different is the cpu cooler wish id have done a water cooled radiator one but ah well

[TechZilla]

get a 1tb hdd and either a 120gb or 250gb ssd

[Ashers]

get a 1tb hdd and either a 120gb or 250gb ssd

Ive already said im getting a 2tb hdd and a 256gb or 500gb ssd why would a tb less be any better