Thinking of a new build: $1200 - $1400

[Purify]

Hello there!

 

So around a year ago, I sold my desktop computer since I was moving to Germany. I've lasted about a year and I can't take using my laptop anymore, I have to buy a desktop. My previous rig was pretty gaming oriented albeit a budget gaming rig. It's specs were as follows:

 

• i5 2500k
• 8GB Corsair Vengence Black RAM 
• ASUS P8H77 Motherboard
• Sapphire HD 7770 1GB OC Edition GDDR5 Graphics Card
• Be Quiet 530W Pure Power PSU

 

So in terms of performance this seemed to be enough for what I needed (ish, of course a little more would've been nice). I don't game a massive deal and so I don't need a massively beastly machine to run Crysis at max settings (not that I would get that for my budget!). Normally I'll be doing web dev, graphic design (Photoshop etc) stuff and quite a bit of multitasking between all of that.

 

I have some ideas and was wondering what people thought. Maybe they're terrible ideas, tell me!

 

• Intel Core i5 4690K
• Mini-ITX Motherboard
• Bitfenix Prodigy
• Maybe a GTX 660?
• 8/16GB RAM?

 

I'm finding it difficult to predict what's underkill and what's overkill.

 

So ya'll got any ideas?

[Egoist]

So you are in germany and have around 1000€ for the PC? Do you need an OS or anything apart the PC? 

[Silmano]

A general idea for the components to choose could be:

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690k (thats a good one)

MOBO: Any Z97 mITX if you want to overclock, else any H87/B85 should be enough

Memory: 2x4Gb its ok, but if you haven't reach your budget, you can think about getting 2x8Gb instead.

Video Card: I would choose between GTX 770 and R9 280 (or 280X). If the video card comes with 3Gb memory thats a good plus!

PSU: Anything between 500-600W should be enough for this build.

 

Oh! Also if you don't want to overclock, you can get the i5-4690 instead (without the 'K'), it should be a little cheaper.

[79wjd]

Unless size is a big issue, matx or atx will be cheaper and better for upgradability down the road

[Purify]

So you are in germany and have around 1000€ for the PC? Do you need an OS or anything apart the PC? 

 

Yes I am, and nope! I have an OS.

 

 

A general idea for the components to choose could be:

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690k (thats a good one)

MOBO: Any Z97 mITX if you want to overclock, else any H87/B85 should be enough

Memory: 2x4Gb its ok, but if you haven't reach your budget, you can think about getting 2x8Gb instead.

Video Card: I would choose between GTX 770 and R9 280 (or 280X). If the video card comes with 3Gb memory thats a good plus!

PSU: Anything between 500-600W should be enough for this build.

 

Oh! Also if you don't want to overclock, you can get the i5-4690 instead (without the 'K'), it should be a little cheaper.

 

It's probably that I won't overclock, but I overclocked my previous a little bit and I'm worried the none k version might be a little too less power. Also kinda interesting you chose the 770 over the 660, any particular reason? Of course it's better but do you think I would have to go that far up the graphic card ladder to get what I need it to do?

 

 

Unless size is a big issue, matx or atx will be cheaper and better for upgradability down the road

 

If I'm honest, I've always kinda liked the idea of M-ITX and the Prodigy looks like an amazing case, that's why I specifically chose M-ITX.

[Megazero]

 

Yes I am, and nope! I have an OS.

 

 

 

It's probably that I won't overclock, but I overclocked my previous a little bit and I'm worried the none k version might be a little too less power. Also kinda interesting you chose the 770 over the 660, any particular reason? Of course it's better but do you think I would have to go that far up the graphic card ladder to get what I need it to do?

 

 

 

If I'm honest, I've always kinda liked the idea of M-ITX and the Prodigy looks like an amazing case, that's why I specifically chose M-ITX.

 

So is it 1200 EUR or USD? Let's say it's EUR then... about this, price taken from http://www.mindfactory.de/ (Most of it anyway)

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  (€203.00) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  (€32.00) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97I Gaming AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  (€126.00) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (€79.90 @ Caseking) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€70.98 @ Pixmania DE) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€51.25 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  (€488.00) 

Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (€61.00) 

Other: Bit Fenix Prodigy ITX (€68.00)

Total: €1180.13

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

But in all honestly, I really dont like M-ITX, Micro ATX is already not ok for me, since working with small case and mobo is really troublesome, especially with the big GPU like the 780 and then there's the air flow problem that will make your CPU/GPU hotter than it should be since there's no space inside an M-ITX case for them to breath. So if you dont absolutely need the small form factor, I'd suggest changing the mobo to MSI Z97 G45 and Case to a Corsair 450D.