Put together a new rig to form a core gaming and test machine.
CPU: Intel i7 4790K
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H
RAM: G-Skill Ripjaws 2x8GB 2133MHz
SSD: Plextor M5-Pro 256GB (already owned)
HDD: Old one
ODD: Old one
Case: Fractal Design Arc XL
PSU: EVGA SuperNova G2 750W
First up is the impression of the case, the Fractal Arc XL, big-brother to the
Arc Midi I used last month.
It's a big spacious case, looking very similar to the Midi. The top panel has a couple of extra USB ports.
Also comes with a bucket load of screws and a few cable ties. A few notes on the XL from during and after the build:
- Just like the Midi, the XL is great to build in. Spacious, good quality all round.
- The feet on the case come with stoppers that don't slide very well. My machines sit under
a desk, and when sliding it in place one of the stoppers came off.
- The built-in fan controller requires a 4-pin molex power connector.
I had to connect a dedicated cable to the PSU purely for the fan controller.
- The HDD caused the front panel to buzz/vibrate. I had used the rubber anti-vibration
rings to install the HDD, but had them done too tight. After loosening them off, the
noise went away.
- The PSU is mounted on rubber stands &emdash; haven't seen that before.
EVGA SuperNova G2 750W
Made by OEM SuperFlower, I got this guy on the back of some really strong reviews at
JonnyGuru and
TechPowerup.
SuperNova G2 in box, loads of cables
Comes with a lot of cables and velcro cable ties. The modular cabling is nice,
but as above with the fan controller, sometimes you need to use "just one more"
for that extra little thing you need to connect.
Out of box
Mounting it was painless. As noted above the XL has rubber mounts for the PSU
to sit up on.
I can only assume this is for a little extra airflow to the PSU fan.
SuperNova G2 mounted. Mind the gap
I kinda knew that while this was a solid board, it had a potential issue at stock
speeds with an unlocked chip like the 4790K. Thought I'd give it a go anyway.
Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H
It's a nice looking board with lots of features.
Only thing of note really is that it was somewhat thinner than I expected. It felt no different
to other cheaper boards like the H97 line, whereas I've heard it claimed in the past that
the PCB on expensive Z boards is thicker. Didn't seem to be the case, but then I didn't
pull out any of my older (cheap) boards to do a direct comparison. The board is plenty
strong enough though.
Update 21/11/2014:Should note there is an issue with the UD5H and the 4790K at stock settings —
details at this thread.
Initial Build/Setup
Putting it together, it was a nice case to use with plenty of cable routing options.
Finished product looks fairly neat even without tying any of the cables down.
Obviously there are two big omissions from this initial setup:
- It's using the stock cooler. I've got an aftermarket cooler to put on,
but my plan was to test out the stock cooler with the 4790K and UD5H.
Will document later.
- There's no GPU. That's still to come. I was trying to track down an
MSI GTX970, but they're pretty difficult to come by. Instead will probably
get my hands on the Gigabyte G1 Gaming. :)
