Around 1000$ mostly gaming PC

tautog · July 26, 2015

Hey guys

I'm facing a fact of buying a new PC because my i7 920 is aging (I think , it also has C0 stepping which is much worse overclocker than D0) and GPU which was in it (HD4850 1GB) died a while ago. I have a nice offer to sell it and I'll have about 1000 dollars of savings for a new rig ( btw - I live in Poland so prices vary a lot from these in USA or Canada because of taxes).

I will use it mostly for gaming but I'm starting to study at college in October so few renderng and 3D applications work may happen from time to time. I don't need a lot of expansion also. At this moment I use single 1080p Samsung P2370HD monitor but I'm planning on buying in the next year or two new 21:9 panel (maybe 3440x1440p but rather 2560x1080p).

Only one condition for this PC, it must have BitFenix Pandora (I absolutely fell in love with it ) or case which also looks so stunning. And another question - should I wait for bigger ATX Pandora or this mATX version is good? I'd like this PC also to last for about 4 years as my X58 platform, with possible small upgrades.

Thanks in advance for all your help

EDIT:
Sorry, forgot to add that I'm going to keep my 1TB WD Blue HDD and I have Win 7 64-bit copy

Edited July 26, 2015 by tautog

Gale · July 26, 2015

I'm pretty sure things in Europe are more expensive, so I tried to stay below $1000 USD (I'm too lazy to change my setting in PCPartPicker >_>).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Vortex Plus 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($25.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI H97M-E35 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($331.99 @ Amazon)
Case: BitFenix Pandora Core MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($130.30 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $946.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-26 14:06 EDT-0400

mATX is fine. I don't have any idea if Bitfenix is going to release a bigger version any time.

tautog · July 26, 2015

From what I have learned BitFenix already presented an ATX version of Pandora case on Computex 2015 but it was not specified when this case will be available in Europe as it was a sort-of prototype.

Nena Trinity · July 26, 2015

For 1440p I vote for MSI, Sapphire or XFX 390/390X!

tautog · July 26, 2015

I was also thinking about those Radeons but I've got a headache of choosing between 390 and 970 because in most benchmarks I saw 390 wins in resolutions above 1080 and 970 wins in 1080 but those fps are close to each other. I want this pc to be somewhat "futureproof" and in the end I'm leaning towards 390 (non-x). Is it a good choice?

Gale · July 26, 2015

I was also thinking about those Radeons but I've got a headache of choosing between 390 and 970 because in most benchmarks I saw 390 wins in resolutions above 1080 and 970 wins in 1080 but those fps are close to each other. I want this pc to be somewhat "futureproof" and in the end I'm leaning towards 390 (non-x). Is it a good choice?

Yeah, that should be okay.

Starelementpoke · July 26, 2015

Hey guys

I'm facing a fact of buying a new PC because my i7 920 is aging (I think , it also has C0 stepping which is much worse overclocker than D0) and GPU which was in it (HD4850 1GB) died a while ago. I have a nice offer to sell it and I'll have about 1000 dollars of savings for a new rig ( btw - I live in Poland so prices vary a lot from these in USA or Canada because of taxes).

I will use it mostly for gaming but I'm starting to study at college in October so few renderng and 3D applications work may happen from time to time. I don't need a lot of expansion also. At this moment I use single 1080p Samsung P2370HD monitor but I'm planning on buying in the next year or two new 21:9 panel (maybe 3440x1440p but rather 2560x1080p).

Only one condition for this PC, it must have BitFenix Pandora (I absolutely fell in love with it ) or case which also looks so stunning. And another question - should I wait for bigger ATX Pandora or this mATX version is good? I'd like this PC also to last for about 4 years as my X58 platform, with possible small upgrades.

Thanks in advance for all your help

EDIT:

Sorry, forgot to add that I'm going to keep my 1TB WD Blue HDD and I have Win 7 64-bit copy

Could you order from UK or Deutschland?

Inception9269 · July 26, 2015

Hey guys

I'm facing a fact of buying a new PC because my i7 920 is aging (I think , it also has C0 stepping which is much worse overclocker than D0) and GPU which was in it (HD4850 1GB) died a while ago. I have a nice offer to sell it and I'll have about 1000 dollars of savings for a new rig ( btw - I live in Poland so prices vary a lot from these in USA or Canada because of taxes).

I will use it mostly for gaming but I'm starting to study at college in October so few renderng and 3D applications work may happen from time to time. I don't need a lot of expansion also. At this moment I use single 1080p Samsung P2370HD monitor but I'm planning on buying in the next year or two new 21:9 panel (maybe 3440x1440p but rather 2560x1080p).

Only one condition for this PC, it must have BitFenix Pandora (I absolutely fell in love with it ) or case which also looks so stunning. And another question - should I wait for bigger ATX Pandora or this mATX version is good? I'd like this PC also to last for about 4 years as my X58 platform, with possible small upgrades.

Thanks in advance for all your help

EDIT:

Sorry, forgot to add that I'm going to keep my 1TB WD Blue HDD and I have Win 7 64-bit copy