Build advice

varg · Oct 29, 2014

In the early planning stages of a new gaming rig build. My old one is outdated and I'm currently using a laptop for my gaming needs. I want to go small, so I was considering going m-itx or m-atx. What I can salvage from my old build are pretty much the PSU and drives.

Motherboards I've been looking at are the ASUS Z97M-PLUS (m-atx) and ASUS Z97I-PLUS (m-itx) - ASUS components have always done the job for me, so I tend to stick with them, but not a must.

So my main question is: Does my RevoDrive3 120GB PCI-e card still hold it's own, and therefore justify choosing m-atx for the second PCI-e slot? I'm thinking yes.

On the CPU I'm going back and forth between i5 vs i7, with regards to cost vs performance. My main goal is to have something that can run Star Citizen with acceptable performance/quality. Not really sure how much difference this will make. I am thinking either i7-4790k or i5-4690k.

GPU I tend to stick with NVIDIA. Been looking at the STRIX GTX 980 or GTX 970 for now, but open to suggestions here.

And finally throw in a Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3 1866MHz 16GB kit

Thanks in advance for any advice and suggestions

ATMINSIDE · Oct 29, 2014

What's your budget?
What resolution are you gaming at?

varg · Oct 29, 2014

Don't really know how comparable prices are, since Norway tends to be more expensive. I keep ending somewhere just under $1600 for what I listed here, going for the better spec of my options. I could stand lowering that slightly, but most of these components are the ones you don't really want to compromise on.

Will be upgrading my monitors at some point as well, but 1920x1200 I guess is my current default.

rayraysfunhouse · Oct 29, 2014

Do you plan on doing any video editing or rendering? If it is just for gaming the i5 will do just fine

ATMINSIDE · Oct 29, 2014

Speaking of parts you don't want to compromise on, what is the PSU you're planning to carry over?
How old is it?

varg · Oct 29, 2014

rayraysfunhouse said:
Do you plan on doing any video editing or rendering? If it is just for gaming the i5 will do just fine

Just gaming really, so i5 I guess will be fine then.

ATMINSIDE said:
Speaking of parts you don't want to compromise on, what is the PSU you're planning to carry over?
How old is it?

I will double check the exact model when I get home, but I think it should be good. But I guess it's true what they say about assuming. To be continued!

varg · Oct 29, 2014

This is the one I have currently. Might be ready for a replacement as well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817379006

ATMINSIDE · Oct 29, 2014

I wouldn't trust that PSU as far as I can throw it...

Look at "Little Power" in my signature, that'll get you a great start on an ITX machine.
You don't need more than a quality 500W PSU for an i7/980 setup.

Check the Air 240 for a case, and a Seasonic G-550 PSU.
Good stuff without breaking the bank.
You can fit up to a 290mm GPU in the Air 240.

The Xeon E3-1231 V3 is an i7 equivalent, but only costs marginally more than a 4690K.
It's a great option if you still want the extra threads.

For overclocking (4690K/4790K):
The ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac will save you a decent amount over the Asus you mentioned, it's a very solid board.
If you want mATX for the Revodrive go with a Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5.

For the Xeon (not overclocking):
On ITX look at the ASRock H97M-ITX/AC.
mATX check out the Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI.

Go with a GTX 970. It'll save you quite a bit of cash without a noticeable performance hit on 1080p/1440p.

Corsair RAM is overpriced, just an FYI.
The prices of their 1600MHz kits are equivalent to the prices of G.SKILL's 2133MHz kits.
I'd go with any G.SKILL 1866 or 2133 kit that keeps the CAS Latency to 9 or 10 in a 2x8GB configuration.

If you're planning to overclock just keep in mind that you'll also need a different CPU cooler from the stock one.

EarthDog · Oct 29, 2014

PSU is fine (is overpowered) though a bit old... but I agree with the rest!

varg · Oct 29, 2014

ATMINSIDE said:
I wouldn't trust that PSU as far as I can throw it...

Look at "Little Power" in my signature, that'll get you a great start on an ITX machine.
You don't need more than a quality 500W PSU for an i7/980 setup.

Check the Air 240 for a case, and a Seasonic G-550 PSU.
Good stuff without breaking the bank.
You can fit up to a 290mm GPU in the Air 240.

The Xeon E3-1231 V3 is an i7 equivalent, but only costs marginally more than a 4690K.
It's a great option if you still want the extra threads.

For overclocking (4690K/4790K):
The ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac will save you a decent amount over the Asus you mentioned, it's a very solid board.
If you want mATX for the Revodrive go with a Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5.

For the Xeon (not overclocking):
On ITX look at the ASRock H97M-ITX/AC.
mATX check out the Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI.

Go with a GTX 970. It'll save you quite a bit of cash without a noticeable performance hit on 1080p/1440p.

Corsair RAM is overpriced, just an FYI.
The prices of their 1600MHz kits are equivalent to the prices of G.SKILL's 2133MHz kits.
I'd go with any G.SKILL 1866 or 2133 kit that keeps the CAS Latency to 9 or 10 in a 2x8GB configuration.

If you're planning to overclock just keep in mind that you'll also need a different CPU cooler from the stock one.

Sounds like you know your stuff, sir. With those changes the build would go from $1600 down to $1200 with the i5 mATX version.

Just a note though the Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI seems to be a mITX card?

ATMINSIDE · Oct 29, 2014

varg said:
Sounds like you know your stuff, sir. With those changes the build would go from $1600 down to $1200 with the i5 mATX version.

Just a note though the Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI seems to be a mITX card?

That drop leaves you enough extra cash for a great CPU cooler for the i5 like the Swiftech H220-X. (if you plan to overclock)
If you're not planning to overclock then the stock cooler is plenty for the i5. That'll let you put the cash away and buy a brew or two :thup:

Sorry, looked at the wrong line! Check the Gigabyte GA-H97M-HD3 for mATX.

varg · Oct 30, 2014

That looks like a nice cooler in deed. Nice touch that you can swap the fittings if you want to make a custom loop later on.

From a little bit of further reading, I can see that overclock beats hyperthreading for my everyday needs. So thanks for the quality and speedy feedback

Now comes the difficult part. Convincing the wife that I need this

ATMINSIDE · Oct 30, 2014

varg said:
Now comes the difficult part. Convincing the wife that I need this

That's always the hardest part! :rofl:

Good luck with it!

Robert17 · Oct 30, 2014

With the money saved by checking in at OCF first, you need to take her out and buy her some shoes. She'll become compliant at that point.

Theocnoob · Nov 1, 2014

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/mistersprinkles/saved/pwJBD3

"good enough" motherboard, "good enough" cooler. Should be able to get 4.2-4.3Ghz which is more than you're going to need as a gamer anyways.

Corsair Air 240 wouldn't come up on pcpartpicker for me for some reason... It's a good case. I've heard the build quality is a little flimsy but otherwise excellent design. Very nice.

varg · Nov 1, 2014

Theocnoob said:
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/mistersprinkles/saved/pwJBD3

"good enough" motherboard, "good enough" cooler. Should be able to get 4.2-4.3Ghz which is more than you're going to need as a gamer anyways.

Corsair Air 240 wouldn't come up on pcpartpicker for me for some reason... It's a good case. I've heard the build quality is a little flimsy but otherwise excellent design. Very nice.

That's actually the exact case I've been looking at, along with the Bitfenix Prodigy. I really like the flexibility of the Corsair case, and build quality isn't really a huge issue, as I tend to cut up my cases and mod them in some way. Don't think I've had a pc I haven't modded in some way in almost 20 years now. That's why the Swiftech H220-X cooler is so appealing to me, as it can be modded later on if I feel like making a custom loop. Making a custom loop with acrylic tubing somewhere down the road would be fun, and the size of this build would make it a nice challenge as well. My previous builds so far have always been over size, over kill, top spec builds, but currently that kind of thing is out of my budget.

Theocnoob · Nov 1, 2014

varg said:
That's actually the exact case I've been looking at, along with the Bitfenix Prodigy. I really like the flexibility of the Corsair case, and build quality isn't really a huge issue, as I tend to cut up my cases and mod them in some way. Don't think I've had a pc I haven't modded in some way in almost 20 years now. That's why the Swiftech H220-X cooler is so appealing to me, as it can be modded later on if I feel like making a custom loop. Making a custom loop with acrylic tubing somewhere down the road would be fun, and the size of this build would make it a nice challenge as well. My previous builds so far have always been over size, over kill, top spec builds, but currently that kind of thing is out of my budget.

The Air 240 is a smarter design with better air flow potential and better cable routing. I have never liked the prodigy cases. I find them an inefficient use of space, ugly, and those flimsy "soft handles" really bother me.

varg · Nov 4, 2014

Theocnoob said:
The Air 240 is a smarter design with better air flow potential and better cable routing. I have never liked the prodigy cases. I find them an inefficient use of space, ugly, and those flimsy "soft handles" really bother me.

I can agree with you on that. I do like that the handles on the Bitfenix lift the case up a bit, especially if you have the case on the floor, but I don't like the quality of them. I've also looked at some other Prodigy builds around, and it seems that cable management is a real challenge. I prefer my cables to be as hidden as possible. I actually hate that the power connectors on GFX cards are where they are, just because it's harder to hide the cables.

I guess I could make some "handles" for the Air 240 out of acrylic or aluminium or something. Would still be better quality than the plastic on the Prodigy.

Theocnoob · Nov 4, 2014

varg said:
I can agree with you on that. I do like that the handles on the Bitfenix lift the case up a bit, especially if you have the case on the floor, but I don't like the quality of them. I've also looked at some other Prodigy builds around, and it seems that cable management is a real challenge. I prefer my cables to be as hidden as possible. I actually hate that the power connectors on GFX cards are where they are, just because it's harder to hide the cables.

I guess I could make some "handles" for the Air 240 out of acrylic or aluminium or something. Would still be better quality than the plastic on the Prodigy.

Yup. If you're good at modding the sky is the limit. IMO the Air 240 is the best designed MATX case out there, if only lacking in build quality. The best ITX cases IMO are the 250D and the Hadron. Those leave something to be desired in the way of cable management, though.

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