Cloud Nine Squad {C-iX}

Info
PC Name: Vega
Cost: $800 (760)
Total Build Time: 10 hours

Build Pics
Parts


First Boot


Parts Breakdown
Case: Rosewill Galaxy-01 Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower
Motherboard: ASUS H81M-K
CPU: Intel Core i5 4570 @3.2GHZ (no OC)
RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) - Team Vultran
GPU: MSI Radeon R9 270x 2GB (no OC)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM
PSU: EVGA 500 B 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified 500W
Optical Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner
Monitor: AOC E2425SWD Black 24" 5ms Widescreen LED

Future Upgrades
- SSD
- New keyboard (using an old Compaq one from 2005)
- New mouse (this one's dying)

Initial Thoughts
I'm VERY happy with this build thus far. Being my first build, it took FOREVER to get everything right, but I was rewarded by a successful boot on the first attempt. I've put it under CPU and GPU stress tests. The CPU test (Prime95) ran for about 2 hours while pushing all cores to 100% utilization. The temps never exceeded 80c, so I believe I'll be OK there. I ran a GPU stress test as well (FurMark) and the max temp was 66c. I'll keep looking into that, but I believe I'll be OK without overclocking.

I've only had time to test it a little, but I of course installed Skyrim, and this build murders it on Ultra settings, even with 8xAA and Ultra shadows which bring many systems to their knees). I never drop below 60 FPS, even in GPU-intensive areas.

The only thing I'm not happy with is the monitor. I went for big and cheap when I probably should've went for a smaller one with higher quality. The colors look fairly washed out and are hard to get used to.

Concerns/Questions
Do the temps listed above look worrisome? Looks like my max temp for the CPU is 100c (based on a field in Core Temp), and after 2 hours of full capacity, the hottest core maxed at 83c. What about the GPU temp?

Also, my case came with 3 pre-installed 120mm fans. 2 of the fans (front and top) came with molex adapters, so I was able to plug them directly into the PSU. The 3rd fan is a 3-pin fan with no molex adapter. My MOBO only has a spot for a 4-pin fan header. Should a 3-pin be able to fit there? I haven't been able to get it to so far. If not, should I invest in some kind of converter? Or should 2 120mm fans be enough?

I used to prefer hard drives over solid state drives but then I took an arrow to the knee.

Your temps are kosher. Your GPU can safely handle over 100C, although much over that is in the danger zone; 66C under load gives you room for overclocking, if you're of a mind to try it. 80C is a tiny bit warm for your CPU, but considering that's after 2 hours of full load, I would say you're in the green so long as you don't overclock it. If you want to overclock it, get an aftermarket CPU cooler, first.

A 3 pin fan will work fine in a 4 pin motherboard port. The fourth wire is to control the PWM frequency so the fan speed can automatically be adjusted as the temperatures change - since you don't have it, the fan should automatically run at 100% all the time. Two of the wires are the ground and power, the third wire is the RPM sensor, and the fourth wire is the pulse width control.

Finally got the 3-pin to fit. The dark case and room I was in prevented me from seeing an obvious tab sticking up to prevent me from inserting it the wrong way. Anyway, I'm now running 3 beautifully quiet 120mm fans.

I'm getting some weird scan lines while playing games, but I believe it's due to using a VGA to DVI converter (other people have reported similar issues). I'm going to buy a pure DVI cable today and see if it resolves the issue. The monitor doesn't support HDMI for some reason.