Building first gaming PC

[nbacoventry 0]

19 hours ago, NBouc said:

 I would base my choice on which one gives you better RAM and Graphic card clearance.

Going on my choices so far, which would be better you reckon?

[NBouc 54]

3 hours ago, nbacoventry said:

Going on my choices so far, which would be better you reckon?

For easier access to your RAM should you need to, I would go for the D15S (better RAM clearance because it has only 1 fan and the tower has a 65 mm clearance for RAM vs 64 mm for the D15). But the D15, with its second 140 mm fan, only provides 32 mm clearance under the fan for RAM. Thus the importance to not buy taller RAM sticks.

As mentioned before, even if you OC your CPU, the D15S will keep you CPU almost as cool as the D15 would (very little temp difference).

That said, it does not mean that choosing the D15 would be a mistake. The D15S is basically a D15 with only one fan and the cooling towers are slightly offset from the center of the CPU for better PCIe slot clearance (about 8 mm farther away for the PCIe first slot). Should you find that the second fan of the D15 is covering your RAM too much, you can always remove it and end up with a "non-offset" D15S 🙂

My NH-U14S has the same width as both the D15 and D15S (150 mm) and stands a good 20 mm away from my 1080 Ti, so not having an "offset" cooling tower is not a problem. 

In the end, follow your preference. 

[nbacoventry 0]

Hi all, back again.

This is what I'm considering at the moment. Would like your thoughts.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/BTB8Ft

CPU: Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor  (£346.69 @ Amazon UK) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15S 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler  (£71.19 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (£194.45 @ Box Limited) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  (£84.09 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  (£100.80 @ CCL Computers) 
Storage: Samsung 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£113.77 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB GAMING OC Video Card  (£509.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case  (£87.94 @ CCL Computers) 
Power Supply: EVGA 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  (£83.00 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £1591.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-15 07:39 BST+0100

I used the outervision website to see what kind of PSU it recommended me, it came to a 650W PSU. When I looked at the recommended PSU for that RTX 2070 Super, it also said 650W. So this is the one I am thinking of getting: https://www.amazon.co.uk/EVGA-Modular-Power-Supply-210-GQ-0750-V3/dp/B017RO39TK

The 750W PSU is only £5 more than the 650W, I might as well go with the 750W then?

Lastly PCPartPicker gives me a compatibility note saying: The motherboard M.2 slot #1 shares bandwidth with a SATA 6.0 Gb/s port. When the M.2 slot is populated, one SATA 6.0 Gb/s port is disabled.  I don't understand what that means, googled it I believe I should be fine. Since my motherboard I've chosen has 6 SATA ports I believe.

Thanks again.

[NBouc 54]

8 hours ago, nbacoventry said:

The 750W PSU is only £5 more than the 650W, I might as well go with the 750W then?

Definitely go for the 750W. Who knows what device you might add in the future requiring a bit more power 😉 

8 hours ago, nbacoventry said:

The motherboard M.2 slot #1 shares bandwidth with a SATA 6.0 Gb/s port. When the M.2 slot is populated, one SATA 6.0 Gb/s port is disabled. 

My current motherboard (Asus Z390-A) has the same and is intended for those installing a M.2 SATA SSD in that slot (instead of NVMe). The M.2_1 slot can be configured as either SATA or NVMe mode. If used in SATA mode, it disables my SATA_2 port (leaving only 5 additional SATA ports instead of 6).

But since your 970 EVO is NVMe, simply make sure in your BIOS that the M.2_1 slot is configured as NVMe if you intend to install in that slot and all 6 SATA ports will be available.

On my system, and because I am not planning on having a second M.2 SSD drive for the moment, I put my 970 EVO NVMe (Boot drive) in the M.2_2 slot because I did not want to have to remove my Noctua Cooler if I ever needed to replace the NVMe SSD, but that is a personal choice. You may install yours in either slot.

You should be satisfied with this new computer. Have fun !