# My first rig - i7 4790k and GTX 970



## thegr8anand (Oct 7, 2014)

Hi guys,

Been lurking here for a while and wanted to post my experience assembling for the first time. Have always been a gamer since youth and after PS2's life ended started gaming solely on PC. I only stuck to gaming laptops mainly because of the mobility they provide (bed, diff rooms, office ) 

My first was Dell XPS M1710 with gtx 7800m with 1920x1200 res. It was (is) a sexy laptop and though unusable now because of dead gpu and screen, makes for a good showpiece  It lasted around 3 years before those problems happened. I tried to bake the gpu and it worked but was a temporary solution before it stopped working alltogether.

After that i got Asus G73JH with 5870m but res of 1600x900. At first was a pain after using higher res xps but got used to it as gaming on lower resolution is easier too. It has worked brilliantly for the past 3.5 years except for dead battery since past one n half year but always used it plugged in and am typing this on it.

But recently got dissatisfied with the gaming experience as for new games i have to settle for med settings. Can play game like watch dogs fine on med settings and around 25fps but was not happy enough. With my US trip coming up i decided its finally time to make a change. I was only going to be there for a week and with Maxwell cards announced at first i wanted to grab a laptop under $1500 with 970m. 980m would have been over 1800 but anyways it wasn't going to be launched in my timeframe. So i thought fish this, enough of paying over the odds for a gaming laptop i'll build my first rig. Get the parts from US and assemble back home. Try my luck with customs and see what happens.

With extensive research i decided on the following parts (and bough them):

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (Purchased For $301.00) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  (Purchased For $33.13) 
Motherboard: Asus Z97-PRO(Wi-Fi ac) ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (Purchased For $214.00) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  CL 8-9-9-24 (Purchased For $97.00) 
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $112.00) 
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (Purchased For $75.00) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card  (Purchased For $387.00) 
Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For $150.00) 
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (Purchased For $113.00) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Monitor: AOC i2369VM 60Hz 23.0" Monitor  (Purchased For $202.00) 
Keyboard: Logitech G105 Wired Gaming Keyboard  (Purchased For $55.00) 
Mouse: ROCCAT Kone Pure Wired Laser Mouse  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Speakers: Logitech Z623 200W 2.1ch Speakers  (Purchased For $148.00) 
Total: $1887.13
Intel Core i7-4790K, MSI GeForce GTX 970, NZXT H440 (Black/Red) - System Build - PCPartPicker

Thats what i have actually paid in dollars. Few items i have ordered here in India because bringing them was not feasible. The monitor, case, keyboard and speakers. I had bought Kone pure mouse couple of months back from flipkart.

Funny thing happened about customs at the mumbai airport. I had open up all the stuff and put it 2 different bags so that it looks used. Still the boxes of PSU, mobo, gpu were very big. Oh well i said lets see what happens. Turns out when i reached Mumbai none of baggage arrived and the airline couldn't even trace them. I had arrived at 1am and same night had a train to my city. They said they will send the bags to my city when found but they too had to clear customs in that case. So i left having no option and was more worried if i lost those bags completely. Along with the electronics i had a lot of stuff in there and even if they find it who knows what customs would charge etc, i had hoped to settle with them in that situation. Luckily in the afternoon i get a call that my bags had arrived on a different flight and i can collect them. I immediately went there as i had to catch my train later on and the airline person handed them outside to me  Maybe it was cleared by customs but i simply had to take them back and everything was done. Was so relieved and how this turned out 

So yesterday i decided to test out my parts hoping nothing was damaged as i wait for the case and monitor. I used this great vid where the guy shows how to test parts before installing which was really helpful for a noob like me. *www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls Everything seemed fine- the cpu, gpu, ram, mobo and psu. Now i wait for the rest of parts to complete the build and start stress testing.

No showoff yet but intend to as i start


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## amjath (Oct 7, 2014)

Congrats, do post lots of pics especially 970 benches.

[strike]Did you/someone brought the GPU from US or you shipped them[/strike]
Read it


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## thegr8anand (Oct 7, 2014)

Yup just need the case so i can start testing and benchmarking. I ordered on 2nd morning in India while i was in US from PrimeABGB but it only shipped yesterday. Am so spoiled with eKart delivering in 2 days  thought it would have reached by now. The monitor bought from indiatimes and speakers from Snapdeal seem even more late. Will always order from flipkart next time unless they don't have an item at all.

Some pics of the test setup:

*i.imgur.com/aiLA6BHl.jpg

*i.imgur.com/mBWCe6Ul.jpg

*i.imgur.com/LelUDZ3l.jpg

*i.imgur.com/R25gn0yl.jpg


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## Vyom (Oct 7, 2014)

Welcome thegr8anand. Your entry to the forum have been phenomenal with that story of yours. I hope rest of the parts arrive safely and we get to see a rocking i7 config.
All the best.

- - - Updated - - -

Update: Ok. Looks like your post was approved just now. Pics look great so far!


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## amjath (Oct 7, 2014)

Bring out the 970 bench, let other cards cry lol. Pics looks great


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## thegr8anand (Oct 7, 2014)

Yeah really happy with the 970 release timing. Since i was only going to get a 1080p monitor 980 would have been overkill. Even 970 is on older games but with is efficiency and price/performance ratio no other card made sense. I was really lucky with the MSI card too. I had been searching the whole time to get a 970 but since it was just released it immediately sold out everywhere like newegg, amazon. Even visited Microcenter  on 27th but they said they only got 20-25 units which immediately got sold. On 1st evening i visited them again as i had to look at a laptop and i had almost left at the exit i though why not just try my luck last time. And it turns out they had received the MSI 970 4g only in the afternoon and their website wasn't updated when i checked before coming. I bought it right there even though i had to pay $28 tax extra because of buying instore and not online. I wanted either the MSI or the Gigabyte 970 G1 because of so many issues with the EVGA. Before i got lucky i was planning to get the zotac 970 back in India for 30k.


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## amjath (Oct 8, 2014)

^ I hate to see the last line


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## thegr8anand (Oct 8, 2014)

Got my AOC i2369vm earlier. Looks sleek. Case and Keyboard should arrive in some time. Can't wait to get started 

*i.imgur.com/Pvs2beWl.jpg

*i.imgur.com/R2mxnVjl.jpg


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## amjath (Oct 8, 2014)

^ tell us more about i2369vm I'm looking to buy one if I get in Amazon sale


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## thegr8anand (Oct 8, 2014)

I chose it because i wanted a 1080p 5ms monitor along with IPS and not TN panel, its also AH-IPS which is better than older IPS specifications. It was the cheapest in those categories and its reviews are good too. So bought it. I read you can get it lot cheaper locally less than 11-12k. I paid 12.3k from Indiatimes.

AOC i2369Vm review: sleek and well built entry-level 23in display - PC Advisor

AOC i2369Vm Review | Expert Reviews


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## amjath (Oct 8, 2014)

How is indiatimes?? packing and shipping? is it depend on seller? never visted indiatimes so far


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## thegr8anand (Oct 8, 2014)

I don't think you can choose different sellers on indiatimes. It comes under their name only. Well in the morning i gave them a rough treatment as since past 2 days the tracking number they were showing wasn't working and at first the guy said please wait till the 13th as they promised. I said i am not going to wait as I had placed the order on 2nd Oct and either you tell me exactly where the item is and give a proper tracking number or i will call my bank and cancel the transaction. He then talked to his admin and it turns out they were showing that it was shipped with First Flight courier where as the tracking number was for On Dot courier. I tried the same by going on their website and it worked and showed it had already reached my city yesterday so i went and collected it myself. Considering there were holidays i think they did well except for the tracking number mistake.


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## amjath (Oct 8, 2014)

^ okay I'm def getting monitor *look at the bezel*
Dell and this has this thin bezel I guess


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## thegr8anand (Oct 8, 2014)

Btw i was just checking an hour ago Snapdeal has this for 11300 at present from a reputed seller. 1k less than what i got.

Access Denied


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## amjath (Oct 8, 2014)

thegr8anand said:


> Btw i was just checking an hour ago Snapdeal has this for 11300 at present from a reputed seller. 1k less than what i got.
> 
> Access Denied


Actually I have SBI card for cash back in amazon so if Amazon gives deals then I will have double advantage so waiting  thanks for looking one for me.


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## bikramjitkar (Oct 8, 2014)

Man, I love the look of shiny new hardware. That gfx card looks sexy as hell!

Congrats on the beastly rig!


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## thegr8anand (Oct 10, 2014)

Oh god. Been at this for 7 hours and finally its all done. H440 def not an easy case for first time but worth it.

- - - Updated - - -

Time for the pics.

Here my G105.

*i.imgur.com/pRjGMlFl.jpg

Case unboxed

*i.imgur.com/X3Hz8abl.jpg

*i.imgur.com/dihqb6Tl.jpg

*i.imgur.com/wMHV3u9l.jpg

*i.imgur.com/eG1gBaFl.jpg

Installation

*i.imgur.com/8TGPcNal.jpg

messy wiring 

*i.imgur.com/LQE1sMol.jpg

Finally completed after working at for so long. Turns out the first time i tried to power on nothing happened. I got worried and disassembled everything to try out the parts individually PSU, mobo, cpu. After going back to test build found out it was simply the PSU power plug (american plug) which doesn't fit properly in the socket. So assembled everything back and finally it worked.

*i.imgur.com/UBcF7fHl.jpg

*i.imgur.com/ioN6HTpl.jpg

*i.imgur.com/G7R0fpZl.jpg

*i.imgur.com/Npt8F4sl.jpg

*i.imgur.com/6F9Rrdql.jpg

Suffice to say am really happy with the final result


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## Vyom (Oct 10, 2014)

Why is the cabinet so black in front? There's no HDD/PowerOn LED indicators? And no DVD Drive?


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## thegr8anand (Oct 11, 2014)

Yup no dvd drive, got an external dvd writer. The power buttons, HDD/Power leds, usb ports all on top. In the last pic you can see the white glow on top. And in other pics usbs attached on top.

- - - Updated - - -

So tried ocing the 970. Hers the GPUZ with stock and overclocks. Core +150 and memory +450 seem to be doing fine. I tried 200 and 500 but during benchmarking it resets to default.

*i.imgur.com/wsPtw67.gif

Only ran Uniengine Heaven at present.

Stock
*i.imgur.com/0mpuJ7F.jpg

OCed
*i.imgur.com/Wlt37r0.jpg

- - - Updated - - -

Next up tried Watch Dogs. I set everything in Nvidia Control panel to quality or the highest possible. Also set DSR to 1.78x giving me resolution of 2560x1440. In game also set everything except motion blur to highest possible setting. The games looks beautiful. Even running at higher resolution i was getting ~38 fps and it was smooth. Will add screen shots later on. Also will test Metro Last Light Redux afterwards.

DSR is excellent.

Oh also tried OC the CPU. Though i can put it at 4.6/4.7 ghz the 212 EVO is not sufficient because the voltage goes over 1.3v. The temps within 2-3 mins of OCCT or AIDAx64 hit above 85 and stop. So i am resigned to keep it at stock clocks though the 2-300 mhz doesn't have that much effect as compared to OCing the GPU. btw the temps of the MSI when OCed never go over 70 in Heaven and 74 in OCCT which shows how impressive the MSI cooling is.


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## petergriffin (Oct 24, 2014)

CONGRATS MAN !
Killer Rig and the setup looks awesome too
i just wanted to know did you have any coil whine issue with the msi card ?
as i'm planning to get the same card next week.

thanks


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## amjath (Oct 24, 2014)

^ you can consider Asus strix as well


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## sam_738844 (Oct 24, 2014)

MSI looks better , OP and me now can now open MSI 970 club


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## petergriffin (Oct 24, 2014)

amjath said:


> ^ you can consider Asus strix as well


yeah but i was interested in the msi card since its slightly a better performer  .
but in the end it ll just be the case of availability of stock (nehru place)


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## amjath (Oct 24, 2014)

Here in Chennai Asus card is famous than other cards


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## Nerevarine (Oct 24, 2014)

Yup, in BBSR as well.. because of 3 separate service centers i believe 

anyway, that rig gave me an eyegasm.. especially that sexy sexy cabinet


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