I've built (more accurately, just assembled) numerous desk top gaming computers in the past, but not in at least a decade. The current computer I've got is 7+ years old and I purchased it pre-rebuilt from an on-line retailer. So I'm a tad rusty assembling a PC, and there are some new tech I'm not accustomed to (like SSDs). For my new computer (parts are arriving today/tomorrow) I  decided to assemble it myself to save some money.

Here are the parts for my new PC I'm assembling:
Case = Cooler Master HAF 912 - High Air Flow Mid Tower Computer Case
Power = ENERMAX NAXN ADV. 82+ ETL650AWT 650W ATX12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Mobo = ASUS Z97-A ATX DDR3 2600 LGA 1150 Motherboards Z97-A
CPU = Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz LGA 1150 Boxed Processor
RAM = Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model BLS2KIT4G3D1609DS1S00
HD = Western Digital WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive - OEM
SSD = Samsung Electronics 840 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Single Unit Version Internal Solid State Drive MZ-7TE250BW
Video Card = EVGA w/ ACX Cooling 02G-P4-2773-KR GeForce GTX 770 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support Video Card
Optical Drive = ASUS DVD Writer 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24F1ST - OEM
OS = Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium

What are some tips, tricks, or general advice you might have for me to think about when doing this build?

Here are some tips I've gleaned from the web or lessons learned from going through this build process:
1) Hook up all the components to each other, but don't assemble them in the case. Once hooked-up, run a boot-up test to see that everything works
2) Before installing the OS, disconnect the HD to make sure all the install files only install to the SDD
3) When connecting the front control panel wires (power light, etc.) to the motherboard, if your aren't labeled with a +/- the positive will have a small triangle imprinted on the plastic housing. Just because each set of wires has one white one don't assume that is always the ground.
4) Have a wiring plan before you start bolting everything down
5) Have a install plan - think about which parts you want to install first, second, etc. For example, it might be foolish to install giant video card, that will probably be in the way, before attaching all power cords, cables, etc.
6) Don't zip tie together your cords together until you are totally done and absolutely sure of where everything is going to go

Thanks!

Sounds like you pretty well know what you're doing already. One other thing I'd suggest looking in to: SSD performance is very much related to block size. Do some research on block size and paging to determine what block size will suit your application best.

Thanks! Since I have no idea what "block size and paging" are in relation to a SSD drive I will hit up Google.

From Wikipedia



Basically, blocks are the smallest chunk of a drive that can be individually accessed. In simplest, most general terms, you want the largest block size divisor of your average file size with the largest possible fraction remainder. So if your block size choices are 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32kb, and your average file size is 132kb, you'd want a block size of 4kb - for a total of 33 blocks. Or, possibly 8kb, for 16.5 blocks. If you chose 32kb, it would be 4.125 blocks - thus wasting 7/8 of a block (and disk space). If you chose 2kb, you would have an even 66 blocks, but the drive would have to look up, find, and read twice as many locations for the same amount of data - thus degrading performance.

It's not something to spend the next 6 weeks of your life researching, but it is a significant factor to consider if you're doing stuff that makes a SSD worth using.

Here's a great 2-page article about optimizing a SSD for Windows 7:

SSD Speed Tweaks

I've never really bothered with assembling outside of the case, personally, but I'm pretty confident in hooking everything up right.  It's a pain in the ass when you have a dead mobo, but I've only ever had that problem when I bought the cheap Gigabyte brand, it's never happened to me with an Asus.  I also usually get a new heatsink for the proc if it's my personal computer, generally I just go to newegg, pick my socket type and find the one with the best review in my price range.  Don't forget the thermal compound!  With a mid tower case you should be ok space wise for a good heatsink.  I think I used a Cooler Master in my current PC.  Your tip 2 on the hard drive thing is exactly how I did it on my PC, the OS is pretty much the only thing I have on my SSD, and all files and installations usually go to my regular HD.  The SSD is awesome, when I boot into Windows it's ready to go in 12-15 seconds.

I'm toying with the idea of building a gaming system.  I haven't put one together in over 10 years.  So I look forward to updates, and tips.  

Before buying price check on microcenter. They have generally beat prices elsewhere.





http://www.microcenter.com/

Make sure your ram is on the list of approved ram for that MB.  I have had compatability problems with ASUS motherboards and ram that is not on their approved list.

Build list looks very solid. You're already planning on test building the components before putting it all in the case -- everything looks good to go so far.

I made sure to compatibility check all my components before buying. But still great advice!

Since I to hadn't built a PC in over ten years I was skeptical because the last time I built a PC I somewhat recollect it being a painful process. I would have preferred to go with an established eTailer for my new PC for the warranty, but since money is tight these days and PC components have come a long way I thought I would tackle this kind of project again. Ended up being a real easy, painless process, and actually enjoyable process. I probably spent more time picking and researching the components than I did assembling the PC and installing software.

You did a great job.

Here are a few pics from the build process:

Early Christmas, everything arrived in the mail over the course of two days!


Mobo, CPU, Optical drive, SSD and HD are in (case is a ATX mid-tower for size reference). Something I noticed about this build (versus ones I did a decade ago) is that all the cables for the front controls (power switch, reset button, etc.) are now clearly labeled so it is far easier to match them to the correct pins on the mobo (which are also conveniently labeled). One thing this case didn't do, though, was print a +/- on each cord connector so you knew which was the positive and negative wire. Each cord had two wires, one of which was always white. But that white wasn't always the ground. Fortunately after some quick web searching I found out that, on the connector housing (little plastic head that actually connects to the pins on the mobo), there is a small triangle impression in the plastic that signifies the positive wire.

Now to attach and route all those power cords out of the way for optimal air flow. This is a great case BTW. Easy to add more fans (came stock with two, front and rear). The removable housing bay for drives also made working inside the case a breeze. Maybe a minor downside to this case is that the two USB ports on the front top (above the optical drive) are only USB 2.0, but the numerous rear USB ports are USB 3.0.


Added the two sticks of RAM and the Video card, routed all the power cords behind the mobo mounting plate, and viola! She is done.


Case all closed up, bios check/set-up is complete! You will notice this pretty much a no-frills case (no cool blue lights, no windowed side, etc.). For me that is fine since it sits under a desk out of sight anyway.


Got my Window 7 Home Premium 64-but OS installed, updated, and let see how she performs! Ran 2D Mark's demo. The top four scores are from my old computer, bottom four scores are the new one. Pretty sizable improvement in scores.


Unfortunately, I'm currently on satellite internet (getting fiber optic installed sometime in the next two weeks) which limits me to 10 GB of data usage per month. Just installing all the windows updates, video card updates, etc. consumed the remainder of my monthly data allotment (with 25 days still to go until it resets). So I couldn't install any of my games on Steam to test this baby out.

Thanks! Going to turn my old PC into a kids gaming PC (they are only 8 and 10 yrs old, so all they play is Minecraft, LEGO games, etc. which that old PC can easily handle). Because I installed my OEM copy of Windows 7 on my new PC I will apparently have to uninstall it from my old PC. That kinda sucks since my Vista OS is just an upgrade version, which means I will have to first install my Windows XP OS, then install the Vista upgrade. But hey, gotta do what ya gotta do.

Oh, and icing on the cake was finding the brand new, still in the box, Logitech G930 headset my friend gave me for a birthday gift back in June. Totally had forgotten I had it. Thing is amazing.