"Forced Upgrade"

[BMRX]

Long story short, my case is destroyed. Like it's crushed, cannot even become a jimmy rigged unit.

I've always been very interested in having a nice portable/small case. I would just build a new PC but with the Canadian dollar in the tank and with my CPU running fine I just don't see a point in upgrading at the moment. (Also I just cannot afford it)

Now to the nitty-gritty. My Asus Z97-A *seems* to be in good condition meaning after pulling it out of the "case" and running it off a cardboard box it boots up windows... I even gamed for a bit because it was a moment. But (there's always a but) it's scratched and seems to have some cracks in the motherboard itself. I worry that it would break upon reinstalling it into a new case or more likely fail. 

So I need a new Mobo and case, here's the issue. I'm running LGA 1150, and there seems to be a lack of mobo's that I can use for over clocking. (i5-4690K) with this forced "upgrade" I figure I should over clock it as it is hitting it's second year of life. (OCing was always the plan for later) 

Anyone have suggestions? I'm looking at ITX, Micro ATX, or even small ATX cases. Whatever is smaller. I'm trying to save as much money as I can obviously, as a "build" this is an oddity. If anyone has any suggestions on how I should proceed I'd greatly appreciate it.

[GauntletV2]

Yeah, i definatly would not trust that mobo, if you want to give a price range id be glad to help, ive built a few itx builds, (i have an ncase myself)

[unidentical]

I'm running the z87 version of this board and it's been lovely:

 

http://www.ncix.com/detail/gigabyte-z97m-d3h-matx-lga1150-z97-7d-96902-1312.htm

 

As for case I would also happily recommend the silverstone TJ08B-E if you can find one. Very tidy little case.

[thatguyyouknow75]

There's a good story in there he's holding out on

[BMRX]

@GauntletV2 Seeing as I only really need a mobo, case, and *possibly* a power supply I think $200 should be reasonable however if I have no choice I'll be willing to spend $300. Less is of great benefit.

@unidentical I'm not too well versed in all of this so please bare with me but I was led to believe that a z87 board would not be suitable for overclocking/gaming? If not then this is great news!

@thatguyyouknow75 Good for you, a horrific nightmare for me. It all happened so fast, yet the moment in question was in slow motion. I haven't felt adrenaline or rage like that since my last attempt to quit smoking.

[thatguyyouknow75]

Just now, BMRX said:

@thatguyyouknow75 Good for you, a horrific nightmare for me. It all happened so fast, yet the moment in question was in slow motion. I haven't felt adrenaline or rage like that since my last attempt to quit smoking.

Now I gotta know how it happened 

[unidentical]

4 minutes ago, BMRX said:

 

@unidentical I'm not too well versed in all of this so please bare with me but I was led to believe that a z87 board would not be suitable for overclocking/gaming? If not then this is great news!

Any Z series will overclock, I linked a Z97 though to match your generation of CPU.

 

Edit: Suppose I could elaborate. Z**(*) is chipset, this determines your CPU compatability and basic features. you already have a Z97, and a k series processor, so you're all set to overclock. It's the H and B series that typically do not OC.

 

As for gaming, your motherboard is irrelevant beyond that it supports your CPU and GPU.

[GauntletV2]

Heres the parrts, z-xx motherbaords in itx are rare now, but the prices are still the same, which is nice, id say youstill dont really need to oc your cpu right now as preformance from cpus has been nominal lately, and is not a bottleneck. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KB7HwP

[BMRX]

3 minutes ago, unidentical said:

Any Z series will overclock, I linked a Z97 though to match your generation of CPU.

Awesome, thanks! I had no clue.

5 minutes ago, thatguyyouknow75 said:

Now I gotta know how it happened 

TL;DR my roomies drunk girlfriend was too drunk to understand English, because of her lack of tact she took me speaking about my new promotion and the current state of the economy as me bragging. She raged and ran off, she threatened to break something of mine I came around the corner to see my PC come flying down the stairs. 

1 minute ago, GauntletV2 said:

Heres the parrts, z-xx motherbaords in itx are rare now, but the prices are still the same, which is nice, id say youstill dont really need to oc your cpu right now as preformance from cpus has been nominal lately, and is not a bottleneck. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KB7HwP

The issue is that this mobo does not seem to be available anywhere?