Background: I'm looking to build a small form factor gaming rig to replace my nearly 10 year old current PC. It's served well, but it's an i7 920 and it's just not able to keep up anymore. I've only built Intel systems previously, but I'm liking the AMD Ryzen line because of the promised forward compatibility to 2020 so that I have some room to upgrade if something much better comes out. Also, the lower prices don't hurt.
Budget: right around $1600
Location: Near Austin, TXSpecific Use: Web browsing/Netflix, lots of spreadsheets, occasional administrative work from home, and gaming. My gaming is mostly Ark or WoW with a side of Stellaris or Civ.Any preferred components?: I'd really like to move to something smaller than my (huge) full tower chassis so I want to explore an MATX build if that's doable for the gaming I do. Also, I'd like to go Ryzen unless there's a huge performance difference between that and a relative similar priced Intel? Oh, and I really want to cram an NVME boot drive into this price.Any spare parts you can re-use?: I have a 1000w PSU (this is probably way overkill - is it worth the cost to scale down?) and a Radeon 390 or 390x (I'll have to double check that). If it's still good enough to work then I have no issue reusing it in my next build. Oh, and an optical drive, if I need it.Overclocking your processor?: Nope.Need an Operating System?: Yes, I think it's time that I purchased Windows 10.Need a Monitor? / Mouse? / Keyboard?: I would like to upgrade my monitors sometime later, but that doesn't need to be part of the price here. My mouse and keyboard are in good working condition.Need a Wireless Card or Adapter? Nope.Need Another Component? (Specify): Speakers, for the love of Gaben. I have to use my headset for everything and that's really bad for my hearing. I don't need top of the line, but something with good sound quality and a smallish profile for >$75 of the budget would be nice.Preferred Case Features: I want something significantly smaller than my current HAF 832. Also, I'm not a fan of white cases as my husband's 10 month old NZXT Phantom 630 is already very yellow in places. Windows are meh for me. They're cool, but almost always on side of the case that faces a wall. Number of Monitors: 2 (or three... I really do want three, but I'm told that's overkill).Other Info?: I'm probably about 2-3 months from this budget so ballparks are fine. I know prices change.
Current part list at PCPartPicker: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/PTnDD8
