Computer building basics

[Kellie Gator]

Hello everyone, after much thinking I've considered that I might wanna build my own computer, but, err, I've never done it before and don't know how. What should I keep in mind? How do I build it without breaking it when I have such long hair, etc.

I was mostly thinking of building a Hackintosh, and I've found all the right parts, but it's the assembling I'm not sure I'll be able to get.

On top of that, I'm really confused about cases and don't know what case I should get to fit everything in. I'm planning a pretty expensive rig, to boot. I'll offer a preliminary list based on various Hackintosh compatible components I found.

Motherboard: ASUS Maximus VII Ranger

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K

Graphics: EVGA GTX Ti 6GB ACX 2.0+

Hard drive: Samsung 850 EVO 1TB or 2 TB (undecided, but most likely the cheaper option)

Cooling: Undecided but judging from this site I'll go for a Cooler Master Seidon 120 or a Corsair H60 (I know water coolers are controversial, just going by recommendations)

PSU: I have no idea how much power I'll need 'cause I'm a newb, but the site recommends Corsair AX 760W but I also found an 860W one.

RAM: Crucial Ballistix Elite 32GB

Case: ???

I'll probably make some PC users cringe here, idfk. Just asking for some help here since I wanna get into this.

[Luccus]

The i7-6700K is an LGA1151 socket chip!
Your mainboard is a LGA1150 socket. Those are not gonna be compatible.

You want a 1151 board like the MSI Z170A SLI Plus. Check for compatibility with Hackintosh!

And with that you'll need different RAM as the board only supports DDR4 RAM. ... Check for compatibility with Hackintosh!

4 hours ago, Kellie Gator said:

Graphics: EVGA GTX Ti 6GB ACX 2.0+

I suspect you meaning a EVGA GTX 980 Ti. ;3
I personally don't know if you choose this for compatibility reasons, but EVGA - considering the other cardmakers on the marked - makes pretty noisy cards.
ASUS as well as MSI do a much better job at keeping things quiet.

As for the PSU: You can't really do something extremely wrong by choosing a more powerful one, like the Corsair AX 760W you just mentioned. Make sure to choose one with all the needed connectors.

The case is pretty much a matter of taste. If I'm not mistaken the ASUS Maximus VII Ranger (wich you are not gonna use because it's incompatible) is a standard sized ATX board so there are plenty to choose from. Look out for the ATX form factor and support of long graphics cards like the 980 Ti.
If you like the design Fractal Design makes very nice quality cases which usually come with some fans included. See Define R4 and Define R5.

 

[Kellie Gator]

34 minutes ago, Luccus said:

The i7-6700K is an LGA1151 socket chip!
Your mainboard is a LGA1150 socket. Those are not gonna be compatible.

You want a 1151 board like the MSI Z170A SLI Plus. Check for compatibility with Hackintosh!

And with that you'll need different RAM as the board only supports DDR4 RAM. ... Check for compatibility with Hackintosh!

I suspect you meaning a EVGA GTX 980 Ti. ;3
I personally don't know if you choose this for compatibility reasons, but EVGA - considering the other cardmakers on the marked - makes pretty noisy cards.
ASUS as well as MSI do a much better job at keeping things quiet.

As for the PSU: You can't really do something extremely wrong by choosing a more powerful one, like the Corsair AX 760W you just mentioned. Make sure to choose one with all the needed connectors.

The case is pretty much a matter of taste. If I'm not mistaken the ASUS Maximus VII Ranger (wich you are not gonna use because it's incompatible) is a standard sized ATX board so there are plenty to choose from. Look out for the ATX form factor and support of long graphics cards like the 980 Ti.
If you like the design Fractal Design makes very nice quality cases which usually come with some fans included. See Define R4 and Define R5.

 

Whoops, turns out there are two motherboards called ASUS Maximus VII Ranger; Z170 and Z97. Z170 is what I was thinking of, it's 1151. But thanks for letting me know.

And the graphics card, yes, that's what I meant. Should've clarified. Also seems like I can't find the brands you mentioned in the compatibility list.

Thanks for all the other info, I will look into that, too. :3

I might choose a different processor though, since there seems to be some trickiness with Skylake processors.

Edited March 14, 2016 by Kellie Gator