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Any Improvements I can make on my Micro ATX Build?

zVitiate
By zVitiate
in New Builds and Planning
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I was wondering what you guys thought about my upcoming build I plan on doing. Do you see anything wrong or anything that can be improved for the build? Thanks so much  :)

 

Updated Build:

 


 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4930K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor  ($579.99 @ Newegg) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Gene Micro ATX LGA2011 Motherboard  ($278.99 @ Amazon) 


Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $120.00) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($439.95 @ Newegg) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (Purchased For $540.00) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($669.99 @ NCIX US) 

Case: Corsair 350D Window MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($84.99 @ NCIX US) 


Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  (Purchased For $54.00) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit)  (Purchased For $80.00) 


Case Fan: Scythe Gentle Typhoon 37.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  (Purchased For $19.65) 

Case Fan: Scythe Gentle Typhoon 37.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  (Purchased For $19.65) 

Other: Professional Series™ HX / Enthusiast Series™ TXM / Builder Series CXM Individually Sleeved Modular Cables — White ($27.00)

Other: EVGA Pro SLI Bridge 2-Way Graphics Cards (100-2W-0021-LR) ($29.99)

Total: $3384.16 ($2550.86 not paid for)

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

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-snip-

Do you have an overall max budget? :D

"You have got to be the biggest asshole on this forum..."

-GingerbreadPK

sudo rm -rf /

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Get an MX100 instead of m550. 

Get a cheaper motherboard. 

 

Also, why the samsung ssd? 

PSU Tier List | CoC

Gaming Build | FreeNAS Server

Spoiler

i5-4690k || Seidon 240m || GTX780 ACX || MSI Z97s SLI Plus || 8GB 2400mhz || 250GB 840 Evo || 1TB WD Blue || H440 (Black/Blue) || Windows 10 Pro || Dell P2414H & BenQ XL2411Z || Ducky Shine Mini || Logitech G502 Proteus Core

Spoiler

FreeNAS 9.3 - Stable || Xeon E3 1230v2 || Supermicro X9SCM-F || 32GB Crucial ECC DDR3 || 3x4TB WD Red (JBOD) || SYBA SI-PEX40064 sata controller || Corsair CX500m || NZXT Source 210.

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Do you have an overall max budget? :D

 

I'd like to keep it ~$2500 (I know it says $3119.89, but because of the parts I'm taking from my past build it's only a $2549.90 upgrade). So I'd say I could spend a few hundred more, esp if I use my current 840 pro and don't upgrade to the 850 pro.

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I was wondering what you guys thought about my upcoming build I plan on doing. Do you see anything wrong or anything that can be improved for the build? Thanks so much :)
 
 
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($89.99 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII GENE Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($209.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Crucial M550 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($473.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (Purchased For $540.00) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($669.99 @ NCIX US) 
Case: Corsair 350D Window MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($84.99 @ NCIX US) 
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  (Purchased For $54.00) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit)  (Purchased For $80.00) 
Other: EVGA Pro SLI Bridge ($29.99)
Other: Professional Series™ HX / Enthusiast Series™ TXM / Builder Series CXM Individually Sleeved Modular Cables — White ($27.00)
Total: $3119.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

I like it, but I wouldn't get an SSD that is 1TB and then 128GB. Get a small SSD and a large HDD.

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I'd like to keep it ~$2500 (I know it says $3119.89, but because of the parts I'm taking from my past build it's only a $2549.90 upgrade). So I'd say I could spend a few hundred more, esp if I use my current 840 pro and don't upgrade to the 850 pro.

You can mark the parts you already have as purchased on PCPartPicker.

"You have got to be the biggest asshole on this forum..."

-GingerbreadPK

sudo rm -rf /

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Get an MX100 instead of m550. 

Get a cheaper motherboard. 

 

Also, why the samsung ssd? 

 

The 850 pro is the fastest SSD out right now, so I thought I'd make it my OS drive. Also the MX100 doesn't go to 1TB, so getting two 512GB would make it the same as the m550. Which motherboard would you suggest?

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You can mark the parts you already have as purchased on PCPartPicker.

I did, but it still put it into the total. idk if I did something wrong, but if you read the OP it says which were purchased.

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I like it, but I wouldn't get an SSD that is 1TB and then 128GB. Get a small SSD and a large HDD.

I'd prefer to go full SSD for this build.

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I'd prefer to go full SSD for this build.

I would only go with a Samsung SSD.

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@zVitiate I'd get a motherboard with a two slot gap between the two GPUs (leaving one slot free for airflow or another single-slot expansion card if you wanted). This means better airflow and also that extra expandability if you needed it in the future. The 350D has an extra PCI-E expansion slot for this reason (it has 5, even though mATX motherboards only have 4 slots).

 

BRB with a recommendation.

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I'd prefer to go full SSD for this build.

 

The Samsung 840 Evo 1TB is $30 cheaper, and better in most regards.

Build: CPU: Intel Core i5 4690k | CPU Cooler: Hyper 212 Evo | Motherboard: MSI Z97 Gaming 5 | RAM: 8GB G-Skill Ares 1600Mhz CL9 | Storage: 120GB Samsung 840 Evo + WD Blue 1TB 64MB Cache + Seagate Barracuda 2TB 64MB Cache | GPU: MSI GTX 960 | Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer | Power Supply: EVGA 600B Non-Modular | 

 

 

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@zVitiate I'd get a motherboard with a two slot gap between the two GPUs (leaving one slot free for airflow or another single-slot expansion card if you wanted). This means better airflow and also that extra expandability if you needed it in the future. The 350D has an extra PCI-E expansion slot for this reason (it has 5, even though mATX motherboards only have 4 slots).

 

BRB with a recommendation.

Okay, that sounds great. If you could find a micro ATX MB that has that, I would be very grateful!

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Okay, that sounds great. If you could find a micro ATX MB that has that, I would be very grateful!

 

 

These are essentially the options:

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/motherboard/#sort=a8&qq=1&f=7&xcx=0&c=89,99&l=2

Unfortunately most of them (particularly the more expensive and probably better ones) don't fit the red-black colour scheme I suppose you're aiming for, so take a look and see what you like. Like I said, I'd recommend getting a board with the ability to do SLI with a gap between the cards, although this technically isn't 100% necessary so do as you please.

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Yes, get Noctua's instead of Corsairs if you can.  And get a gryphon board or something not an ROG, unless your going to be overclocking like mad (good luck with an h100i) which you really need custom watercooling to go beyond the limits TUF boards are great because they have 5 year warranty's and thermal radar is awesome :)

 

The other thing you could do is get a custom set of Corsair Cables, and put them in to give the build a nice color.  Oh and some Bitfenix alchemy strips! 

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*snip*

You could definitely save money on a few things without sacrificing performance, but I won't mention these unless you want me to because it's your money, your build. Now onto what I do see as a potential problem. Heat. You have two high end GPU's with aftermarket coolers that will be pumping a good amount of the heat they extract from the PCB components into your case, stacked closely together as it's an mATX motherboard. The fact that like most Corsair Obsidian cases the front panel airflow on the 350D is pretty shitty will mean that this build might run hotter than you might like. 

Bert & Ernie before squirting spermie. 

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Okay, that sounds great. If you could find a micro ATX MB that has that, I would be very grateful!

There are a couple of boards with that PCIe Layout, are you going to keep the red/black theme? There are few boards that can do this, and they are often not this colors.

Remember that the lane must run at least on 8x mode to get SLI working, crossfire can be done on x4 mode without problems.

Motherboards like the Asus Gryphon have the slots on the right positions, but they are not wired properly for SLI, you still need to use slot 1 and 3 for the cards.

So yeah, unless you get something like a PCIe extender cable/pcb you are stuck with both GPUs one very close to the other.

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There are a couple of boards with that PCIe Layout, are you going to keep the red/black theme? There are few boards that can do this, and they are often not this colors.

Remember that the lane must run at least on 8x mode to get SLI working, crossfire can be done on x4 mode without problems.

Motherboards like the Asus Gryphon have the slots on the right positions, but they are not wired properly for SLI, you still need to use slot 1 and 3 for the cards.

So yeah, unless you get something like a PCIe extender cable/pcb you are stuck with both GPUs one very close to the other.

Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 should work then, right?

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I had that case and the maximus vi mobo with SLI GTX 780s and sli does not work well in it. The top gpu kept overheating and throttling and it was not worth it. If you SLI in that case, you need reference design gpus as well as having that slot in between like others have said. The Gigabyte Gaming board is your best shot if you want to keep that red/black look.

My personal rig - 4790k 4.8Ghz, Asus Z97 Pro (wi-fi ac), Corsair Dominator Plat 4x8GB, SLI GTX 1080 TI FE, Samsung 850 Evo 1TB, Crucial MX100 512GB, EVGA G3 1000W, and cooled by a hardline liquid cooling loop. 

 

Safe Practices and Complete Guide to Buying/Selling on the Classifieds and other forums

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I had that case and the maximus vi mobo with SLI GTX 780s and sli does not work well in it. The top gpu kept overheating and throttling and it was not worth it. If you SLI in that case, you need reference design gpus as well as having that slot in between like others have said. The Gigabyte Gaming board is your best shot if you want to keep that red/black look.

I'm assuming you mean the Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5? If I keep my Asus cards and get that motherboard and don't overclock should I be fine?

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I'm assuming you mean the Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5? If I keep my Asus cards and get that motherboard and don't overclock should I be fine?

 

Edit: Or even better yet the ASUS Rampage IV Gene?

The Rampage IV Gene will definitely work. I recommend getting a used LGA2011 cpu. Overclock.net marketplace has a few for a pretty good deal. After looking at the Gigabyte one again, the very bottom one might only run in 4x so it won't work. I had a gigabyte gtx 780 windforce and a EVGA ACX cooler one and they were overheating with no overclock. If you want completely avoid throttling, reference gpus are needed. It might be okay if the lower one is not reference but I really recommend at least one reference cooler. 

My personal rig - 4790k 4.8Ghz, Asus Z97 Pro (wi-fi ac), Corsair Dominator Plat 4x8GB, SLI GTX 1080 TI FE, Samsung 850 Evo 1TB, Crucial MX100 512GB, EVGA G3 1000W, and cooled by a hardline liquid cooling loop. 

 

Safe Practices and Complete Guide to Buying/Selling on the Classifieds and other forums

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The Rampage IV Gene will definitely work. I recommend getting a used LGA2011 cpu. Overclock.net marketplace has a few for a pretty good deal. After looking at the Gigabyte one again, the very bottom one might only run in 4x so it won't work. I had a gigabyte gtx 780 windforce and a EVGA ACX cooler one and they were overheating with no overclock. If you want completely avoid throttling, reference gpus are needed. It might be okay if the lower one is not reference but I really recommend at least one reference cooler. 

So if I get the Rampage IV Gene + LGA2011 Cpu and the top GPU is my current 780ti, and the bottom one is a refrence 780Ti I should be okay? Is it possible to put back on a refrence cooler on my Asus 780ti?

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Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 should work then, right?

The board has 4 expansion slots, the first one is PCIe 3.0 x16 wired. the second one is x1, the 3rd one is PCIe 3.0 x16 (x8 wired) and the last one sadly is x16 (4x wired). To run SLI you need the slot to be at least x8 wired.

 

You can see the wiring of the slots on this picture.

 

 

See how the 4th slot says    PCIEX4 ? It means you can only have the 780ti's on the 1st and 3rd slot.

 

gigabyte_z97mx_gaming5-13.jpg

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So if I get the Rampage IV Gene + LGA2011 Cpu and the top GPU is my current 780ti, and the bottom one is a refrence 780Ti I should be okay? Is it possible to put back on a refrence cooler on my Asus 780ti?

Yeah you should be able to get away with that. I'm actually not sure if you can put that on the Asus one because it's a custom PCB. reference coolers are very hard to find by themselves anyway so you likely can't do that even if you want ti. 

My personal rig - 4790k 4.8Ghz, Asus Z97 Pro (wi-fi ac), Corsair Dominator Plat 4x8GB, SLI GTX 1080 TI FE, Samsung 850 Evo 1TB, Crucial MX100 512GB, EVGA G3 1000W, and cooled by a hardline liquid cooling loop. 

 

Safe Practices and Complete Guide to Buying/Selling on the Classifieds and other forums

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Yeah you should be able to get away with that. I'm actually not sure if you can put that on the Asus one because it's a custom PCB. reference coolers are very hard to find by themselves anyway so you likely can't do that even if you want ti. 

I could get http://www.ebay.com/itm/GTX-780-Reference-Cooler-/191233050337?pt=US_Video_Card_GPU_Cooling&hash=item2c8660c6e1 if it would fit my current 780 Ti

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