Need help deciding which build to go with

[lolJon]

Hey guys!

I've built a few machines and made almost all the beginner mistakes in those previous plans.
Knowing that I'll over look SOMETHING I'm looking for some suggestions on which build to go with.

Looking for:
-Best bang for my buck
-Reliable, solid components
-As "future-proof" as is possible (I know in 1 year everything will change!)


Phanteks mITX

Phanteks mATX

X99-mATX


Thanks for any advice!

[Kagthul]

My thoughts:

GPU General Statement: The 980 does NOT perform significantly better than the 970 at 1080p (about 15% faster, and considering the 970 will already handle 1080p/60fps Ultra on just about every game under the sun, 15% aint that worthwhile) Unless you are planning on gaming at 1440p or really want to push 1080p to the max with Supersampling and 144hz, save yourself the cash and stick with an overclocked 970. 200$+ cheaper for almost the same performance at 1080p/60.

For the mITX build, if that's your style, consider the EVGA Hadron Air (case) instead. Its a similar form factor, very attractive, will fit a full length GPU, and comes with a 500W Gold 80+ PSU built in for about the price of that Phanteks case alone. (Can usually pick up the Hadron Air on Amazon for 129.00). I use it for my current mITX build, and its a champ. Good airflow, my Core i7 4790K and GTX 970 have superb temps. Only thing i would recommend is getting some quieter 120mm fans for the top of the case. THey are super easy to replace, and the stock fans are a bit noisy. I replaced mine with some Noctua PWM fans (with a splitter so the MoBo can run both) and they work great. (And yes itll run the GTX 980 - plenty of people have put 980s in Hadron's - Titan's too)

Also - that EVGA Stinger Board is built specifically for the Hadron Air. All the cable connections are super easy to make.

mATX build looks solid, with the same caveat about GPU as above.

For the X99 build... meh. For gaming, you wont notice much of a difference between an i7 4790K and that 5930K at all. In fact, at stock clocks, the 4790K will perform beter, because its clocked at 4.0Ghz vs 3.5 on the 5930. Either one will still crush the snot out of most games, as very few games are CPU bound (MMOs being a notable exception) and the few that are, the difference between 4Ghz and 3.5Ghz on the same Intel architecture aren't pronounced - a few fps maybe.

The 6+ core CPUs are tougher to overclock - generally requires a good custom water loop to get anything substantial - because of the additional heat issues the extra cores cause.

It WILL have a bit more longevity as a general use computer (and a substantially higher performance profile in "work" applications - 2 extra cores/4 extra threads is nothing to sneeze at for rendering, graphics apps, etc) because of the extra cores and threads, but we're talking about the difference between replacing your computer in 3 1/2-4 years and 4 1/2-5 years.

Chances are, you were going to replace it earlier anyway if you're an enthusiast because in 3 1/2-4 years, there will be two (or maybe even three) newer generations of CPUs, GPUs, and RAM out there, and you're going to want to new goodies.

TLDR on that one is, i wouldnt bother with X99/Haswell-E unless you ALSO use the machine to do some heavy-lifting real-world work like rendering, 3D work, lots of Virtual Machines, etc. Consider stepping up from the i5 4690 to the i7 4790, though, as the Hyperthreading helps out quite a bit and the higher stock clock as well. I overclock my 4790K to 4.5Ghz on air alone with no noticable rise in temps (becomes unstable due to voltage much higher than that - got a middling result on the silicon lottery).

Also: all of those recommendations change slightly (or substantially) if you have a Micro Center within driving distance. They have STEEP in-store discounts on the Intel CPUs (i5 4690K is 199$ vs the 259$ MSRP, i7 4790K is 279$ (269$ in some markets) vs the 369$ MSRP, and the i7 5820K (just slightly slower at 3.3Ghz than the 5930) is 299$ vs the 429$ MSRP - the 5930K, if that's still your bag, is 120$ off the MSRP as well) - but only in-store/in-person. They also offer 40$ off any compatible Motherboard when you buy it with a compatible K-series CPU, and 10$/8GB of RAM (10$ off 8, 20$ off 16, etc) when you buy them with the motherboard (brand is Crucial Ballistix, which is very solid low latency RAM).

You can easily end up saving 140-200$ on the CPU/MoBo/RAM if you can drive to a Micro Center.

- - - Updated - - -

And the last update:

The "Can you wait?" debate:

Right now is ... not a great time to be building unless you MUST have a rig right now because you dont have one.

New parts from every manufacturer are right around the corner:

Intel will be shipping Skylake in Late July/Early August, alongside the new Z170 Chipset and Socket 1151. The new Skylake CPUs are said to have better overclocking potential (the issues that made overclocking somewhat underwhelming on Ivy Bridge and Haswell being solved/not present) and better IPC for 6-10% better performance at identical clocks. Also puts you in at the ground floor of Z170/Socket 1151, instead of at the end of 1150/Z97, which is end-of-life and on the way out. So, better longevity (as youll be able to put Skylake and its refresh into the Z170/Socket 1151 board for at least 2-3 more years). Z170 also brings mainstream DDR-4 support (some boards will ship with both DDR3 RAM slots and DDR4 slots on the same board)

AMD is about to release the R9 3XX series GPUs (Any Day Now, TM) - the R9 390/X is supposed to be quite a beast and will be at least a bit faster (if not substantially faster) than the GTX 980 or the Titan X. Even if it isnt the miracle child AMD claims, it will force immediate price drops from nVidia anyway, and the likely quick release of 970Ti and 980Ti parts (which are already starting to appear in leaked drivers) to compete. Either way, new GPU (and likely for cheaper as it will be a hot price war for a bit) from whichever manufacturer you choose.

So if you CAN wait a few months, you'd be FAR better off.

Not that any system you build now in your price range is going to be *bad* by any means - but getting in on the ground floor of Skylake and waiting for competition to drive prices down in the GPU market (and new GPUs) cant hurt.

IF you can wait, wait. If you have to build right now, do so knowing that any high end machine you build will still be a solid performer for years.