Looking for Advice

[RedRogue]

I am thinking about building my first computer and appreciate any feedback. Here are the specs based off the CustoMac mATX. I mainly want to know that everything is compatible and if not, what substitution do you recommend.


Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Black Pearl Silent ATX Mid Tower Case

GIGABYTE GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i5-4690 Haswell Quad-Core 3.5GHz LGA 1150 84W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4600 BX80646I54690

ASUS STRIX-GTX960-DC2OC-2GD5 GeForce GTX 960 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready Video Card ASUS STRIX-GTX960-DC2OC-2GD5 GeForce GTX 960 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready Video Card

Cooler Master V550 – Compact 550W 80 PLUS Gold PSU with Modular Molex/SATA Cables, Great for Mini-ITX Builds

SAMSUNG 850 EVO-Series MZ-75E250B/AM 2.5" 250GB SATA III 3-D Vertical Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

WD BLACK SERIES WD1003FZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9Q-16GBXL

TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 Dual Band Wireless N900 PCI Express Adapter, 2.4GHz 450Mbps/5GHz 450Mbps, IEEE 802.1a/b/g/n, WEP/WPA/WPA2

HP Pavilion 23xi Silver / Black 23" 7ms HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor, IPS Panel

Product Links:
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5
Processor: Intel Core i5-4960
Graphics: ASUS STRIX-GTX960-DC20C-2GD5
RAM: G. Skill Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9Q-16GBXL
Power Supply: Cooler Master V550 Semi-Modular
Case: Fractal Design R4 - Window
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO
HDD: WD Black 1TB 7200 rpm
WiFi: TP-Link TL-WDN4800
Monitor: HP Pavillon 23xi
Keyboard: Apple Numeric Keyboard

 

[Adrian B]

Looks like it will be a nice fast build.

 

[RedRogue]

I did a little me reading about the case and discovered that it comes with only two fans. Will this be sufficient or will I need to to supplement? If so, what are some suggestions? The quieter the better.

 

[Adrian B]

I did a little me reading about the case and discovered that it comes with only two fans. Will this be sufficient or will I need to to supplement? If so, what are some suggestions? The quieter the better.

I would start off with the two fans that are supplied in the case - these should be sufficient to keep the inside of the case cool. Difficult to actually gauge how much or how little noise you will get until you actually build it. There is likely to be most noise from the standard Intel CPU fan, the PSU fan and GPU fans.

How important is silence to your build?

 

[RedRogue]

Next question.

If I install the graphics card into the PCIEX16 slot (i assume this is where it goes), will this block the PCIEX1, which I intend to use for the TP-Link WiFi card.

Any thoughts on an M.2 SSD vs SATA SSD for my boot partition? The motherboard manual indicates that using M.2 will disable the SATA Express as well as two of the SATA3 ports. Any pros or cons to this?

 

[agrajag]

The PCIex1 card for wifi will fit in any of the 3 slots (it is electrically compatible with the x4 or x8 slots), but the graphics card in the x16 slot should not block the x1 slot anyway.

 

[Adrian B]

Next question.

If I install the graphics card into the PCIEX16 slot (i assume this is where it goes), will this block the PCIEX1, which I intend to use for the TP-Link WiFi card.

Any thoughts on an M.2 SSD vs SATA SSD for my boot partition? The motherboard manual indicates that using M.2 will disable the SATA Express as well as two of the SATA3 ports. Any pros or cons to this?

Installing on Sata SSD may be the most straight forward way installation process. There is no harm in trying an installation using a compatible M.2. SSD - think that BIOS will possibly need suitable adjustments for this.

 

[RedRogue]

Installing on Sata SSD may be the most straight forward way installation process. There is no harm in trying an installation using a compatible M.2. SSD - think that BIOS will possibly need suitable adjustments for this.

Is there any noticable performance difference between the M.2 and SATA?

 

[Adrian B]

Is there any noticable performance difference between the M.2 and SATA?

M.2. scores faster read/write speeds but a good Sata 3 SSD works about as well in the real world.

 

[RedRogue]

M.2. scores faster read/write speeds but a good Sata 3 SSD works about as well in the real world.

The PCIe connector on the M/B limits my choices, which are a bit pricey. I think I'll go with the SATA.