New Build; Thoughts, Review

[Summability]

How's it going guys. I'm looking to try a new thing with this build. I'm at college and have a small work space, I'm building a mini-itx tower to save space, but also have a potent gaming rig.

Things to know:
Budget: $1,100.00, but really closer to $1,000.00 because I'll probably end up buying a new monitor.
Resolution: 1080p, like I said before new monitor, around $100-130
Games/Use: I've been playing a lot of Dayz recently, and games like Rome II and such. Want to get into Arma III, and buy AAA titles to play at school. Looking to maximize frame-rate and texture. I also want to get into streaming and video making, but not heavily or too much with this PC.
Country: US, will mostly be using amazon unless huge difference in price
OS: It is accounted for in the build.
No Peripherals needed other than that monitor.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zgtQNG
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zgtQNG/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.75 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H55 57.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Z97I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($148.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($124.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($75.79 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($179.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($35.00 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1009.13
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-02 09:57 EST-0500

I'm a little worried about the water cooled CPU, but I'm also looking to keep it quiet and not have a huge CPU fan. I wanted to get a modular PSU, but I'm only at 350 Watts give or take so I didn't see the need. Not doing any over-clocking, and want to keep it as cool as possible (even for a mini-itx). Thanks Guys!

[Fascinate]

If you arent planning on an OC you could save a bunch of money dropping down to an i3/h97 board, which is actually not a terrible idea as you could use the stock heatsink.

Im not a huge fan of the elite 130 the layout just bothers me inside where the PSU is above the CPU, this is the build id go with:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4330 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($129.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($329.00 @ NCIX US)
Case: Thermaltake Core V1 Mini ITX Tower Case ($41.80 @ Directron)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Plus 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($93.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Acer G226HQLBbd 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($87.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1060.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-02 10:43 EST-0500

You could save ~130.00 bucks dropping down to a gtx 960, depending on your games. You really dont wanna go below a 256gb SSD the speeds start to drop at 128gb, plus a 256 is only 100 bucks. Went with a fully modular PSU you really want this in a itx build and i went with 8gb of ram instead of 16 to save money but apparently some people do actually use that much ram (personally ive never seen my rig go over 5.5gb's of usage). The monitor is on an outstanding sale right now, full 1080p with DVI cable included for 88 bucks, they cant be making money on this lol.

[Summability]

If you arent planning on an OC you could save a bunch of money dropping down to an i3/h97 board, which is actually not a terrible idea as you could use the stock heatsink.

Is the i5 that terrible of an idea? or is it really that worth it to go with the 970?

[Fascinate]

Most games dont use more than 2 cores, its a waste in your case because you said you arent interested in overclocking. If it was me id get an i3 and gtx 960 to save some money, i just threw the 970 in there cause it fit the budget you set.

What i suggest you do is look up benchmarks for all the games you play, here is a recent game just to show how good i3's can be (this is even an older i3):

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ce,3996-4.html

[Deleted]

I would go for a 4460 instead of the i3. real cores > HT. Would also fit just under the 1100.

[Fascinate]

Like i said it honestly matters on what games he is playing. But here is the logic, if you are gonna get an i5 for 190 bucks it makes sense to spend another 15 bucks for an unlocked model, but given its in an itx case and he said he has no intentions of OC'ing that is why i suggested the i3.

[Deleted]

Like i said it honestly matters on what games he is playing. But here is the logic, if you are gonna get an i5 for 190 bucks it makes sense to spend another 15 bucks for an unlocked model, but given its in an itx case and he said he has no intentions of OC'ing that is why i suggested the i3.

The 4460 is 40 bucks cheaper, plus another 10 bucks for the mobo (compared to a 4690k/z97 combo). It is a bit more in this case.

I wouldnt buy an i3 when there is room for an i5

[Fascinate]

But the i3 has a 300 mhz higher clock rate, you need to spend more on a higher end i5 to match the i3. Again it really depends on the games were talking about here, but take WoW for example the i3 would have better FPS than your i5.

[Killora]

Buying an I3 when there is room for an I5 is Ridiciulous. While yes, WoW does rely more on clock speed than core count for performance, it still benefits from having a quad core vs a dual core. Not to mention every other game made that it'd matter what CPU you had would be a hell of a lot better with an I5. Any newer game will be choked on the I3 if you're using a 970, or even a 960. Playing Assassin's creed would be a good example of this.

None of this is even to mention that he wanted to get into streaming.

[Fascinate]

oW does rely more on clock speed than core count for performance, it still benefits from having a quad core vs a dual core. Not to mention every other game made that it'd matter what CPU you had would be a hell of a lot better with an I5.

Oh really? :
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...e,3849-10.html

WoW really does not care if you have two cores or four.

[Deleted]

But the i3 has a 300 mhz higher clock rate, you need to spend more on a higher end i5 to match the i3. Again it really depends on the games were talking about here, but take WoW for example the i3 would have better FPS than your i5.

The OP did not list wow tho. And if the game will use more than 2 treads, the i5 should pull ahead.

[Fascinate]

Again, that depends on the game lol. TBH the majority of games do not use more than 2-3 cores, look at the shadow of mordor benchmark i linked that game just came out and an i3 gets virtually identical fps to the i5.

Im not against suggesting an i5 of course, its just that in this particular scenario with an itx build it made a lot of sense considering they didnt have any interest in overclocking. If he wants to go with a standard i5 thats fine, but get at least a i5-4590.

[Kagthul]

Im unclear why "its an ITX case" means you have to use an i3 over an i5 (or how that is beneficial in any way to an ITX build).

I have one of the smallest iTX cases on the market - the Hadron Air - and run an i7 4790K clocked at 4.5Ghz on a simple air cooler. Temps are fine.

[Summability]

The OP did not list wow tho. And if the game will use more than 2 treads, the i5 should pull ahead.

Yes, I used to play WoW but eh. I am gunna go with the i5 for sure

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I'm going to go with the i5