Building a micro-ATX Gaming-System!

[JenK]

Dear linustechtips-Users,

 

I've been following the linustechtips-YoutubeChannel for a long time and helped me in many ways.

Finally i need some Advices for my next Plan...

 

I'm basically a Lan-Player who participated on many Lans and so on, but it was always difficult to travel around in Europe with a Full Tower Case... <_<

Well since i've planned to upgrade my System i was thinking about: Why should i not build a micro-ATX System? It looks cool, saves space on my Table and is practically better to bring that System on Lans.

 

Actually my current System:

• AMD FX 8320 @ 4,0 Ghz
• CPU-Cooler CNPS9900, Max Blue by ZALMAN
• 2x 4GB DDR3 1600mhz by G.Skill
• ASRock 990FXA Extreme 3
• AMD Radeon HD 6950 2GB by XFX
• M620 Power Supply by Cooler Master
• A Chaser 71 Case by Thermaltake
• 1x 120GB SSD by SanDisk
• 1x 1TB Black Edition by Western Digital
• 1x Optical Drive [CD/DVD]
• Sound Blaster Z by CREATiVE

 

What i'm going to upgrade and why:

 

Replacing the AMD FX 8320 with an Intel Xeon E3-1231v3 because of lower Powerconsumption, better Single-Threaded Perfomance, less heat, no reason to overlock, no interest on an intengrated Graphicchip + HyperThreading.

Replacing the Motherboard, but i'm not sure which mATX-Board would be the best Choice... (i need Place for my Dual-Slot-Graphiccard and a Single-Slot-Soundcard). I won't run a SLi- or Crossfire-System.

Replacing the Case, but i'm not sure which mATX-Case would be good enough because i'm actually someone who wants Space for Cable-Managment, Space for an Optical Drive and maybe a Window on the Sidepanel since i care so much about the look inside of my System.

Replacing the Graphiccard to an AMD R9 285 because of lower Powerconsumption, running faster on several Applications, less heat, new architecture, better PricePoint than nVidia.

 

 

So finally i need some Advices from you, which Case would be perfect for an unique look and enough Space for 1x Graphic- and 1x Soundcard and an optical Drive (incl. some Cablemanagment-Option?)

Which Motherboard would you recommend for my System? In the Future i'll upgrade my Ram to 16Gigs since i work so much on Sony Vegas and Photoshop.

 

If my Plan has some Mistakes, i beseech you to recommend me something else.

I want to keep that all in a lower-Budget Area, i don't need an i7 or a GTX 980 since i'm mainly playing CS:GO and Guild Wars 2. (just sometimes newer Games )

I hope it makes sense to build a micro-ATX System... :wacko: ?

 

 

 

I hope guys that you can help and i wish you a great evening!

 

 

Best Regards,

JK

[brob]

If you are wiling to use the good quality on-board sound instead of a discreet sound card and can live without a built-in optical drive, you might consider an mITX build. The new Corsair 380T has a unique shape with an integrated handle and windowed top.

 

I have used pcpartpicker.com with US pricing. Mostly because the US part list offers the broadest range of choices. You will have to verify availability and pricing with local merchants. I have presumed that the memory and storage in the existing system can be moved to the new build. (The boot drive will have to be wiped and rebuilt.)

 

If I understood the OP correctly, there is no interest in overclocking or in having a hyperthreaded cpu. As a result I would suggest the i5-4690 cpu. The Xeon E3-1231 V3 is hyperthreaded, a bit more expensive, and 100MHz slower. TDP of the i5 is only 4W more than the Xeon.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus H97I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($107.24 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Sandisk Extreme II 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($348.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 380T Mini ITX Tower Case  ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $871.20
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-09 01:24 EDT-0400

[JenK]

If you are wiling to use the good quality on-board sound instead of a discreet sound card and can live without a built-in optical drive.

 

Excuse me, but i really need that optical Drive for any kind of Issues on a Lan-Tournament.

I could replace my dedicated Soundcard with an Extern Soundcard but that would cost me again 90 Bucks more... <_<

[brob]

Excuse me, but i really need that optical Drive for any kind of Issues on a Lan-Tournament.

I could replace my dedicated Soundcard with an Extern Soundcard but that would cost me again 90 Bucks more... <_<

 

If you need an built-in optical drive obviously the 380T will not do. If the optical drive is not used a great deal then an external unit would be an option.

 

Why is a sound card needed? The motherboard has very good onboard sound.