The Deathcube

[Rukai]

Hey guys, I've got a build a friend asked me to put together  Well, sorta. He suggested the idea and we both forgot about it and now I want to see if it's possible for under 1,000.

The total must account for computer and case, but not keyboard, mouse, or other peripherals

And guys, please give your detailed opinion of it And please list any better Mini-ITX cases, with a side window, if you know any ^.^

This build is designed for 1080p at 60-120FPS and is based on a red/black theme with an AMD video card  It is also intended to be taken wherever necessary so I can game anywhere

And 1080p at Ultra on all current and hopefully new games

Total Budget is 1k or less, please

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qx46YJ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qx46YJ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($64.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($43.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card  ($309.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($42.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($88.00 @ Amazon) 
Total: $944.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-08 05:23 EST-0500

 

List is finalized now, no further changes shall be made as this is now going to be my reference for what hardware I need to purchase. Thank you everyone for helping me fine-tune this

Edited February 8, 2016 by Rukai

[Tagiau]

Whatever you do, do not force that asus card on your friend. the 390 chip will never forgive you. But seriously, asus is horrible for amd coolers, get a sapphire or msi card. 

[Killervolt]

You may have some heat problems with a 390 in an ITX case . . . Also, get the i5-4460 instead, there will be pretty much no performance gain with the 4590.

[Rukai]

1 minute ago, Tagiau said:

Whatever you do, do not force that asus card on your friend. the 390 chip will never forgive you. But seriously, asus is horrible for amd coolers, get a sapphire or msi card. 

Do you have any suggestions for tweaking the PC build for better cooling/pricing?

[Rukai]

2 minutes ago, Killervolt said:

You may have some heat problems with a 390 in an ITX case . . . Also, get the i5-4460 instead, there will be pretty much no performance gain with the 4590.

Okay, do you have a better AMD card, or an NVIDIA card, that you'd suggest?

[Tagiau]

2 minutes ago, Rukai said:

Do you have any suggestions for tweaking the PC build for better cooling/pricing?

Pick up a sapphire nitro 390 as it is currently the cheapest. 

[TheRandomness]

8 hours ago, Rukai said:

Okay, do you have a better AMD card, or an NVIDIA card, that you'd suggest?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($111.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($64.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($84.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($84.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 390 8GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($274.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($84.99 @ Directron) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ NCIX US) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($87.95 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $1039.47
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-08 04:19 EST-0500

 

You don't need an aftermarket cooler for a locked chip. 

[Rukai]

25 minutes ago, TheRandomness said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($111.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($64.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($84.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($84.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 390 8GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($274.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($84.99 @ Directron) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ NCIX US) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($87.95 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $1039.47
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-08 04:19 EST-0500

 

You don't need an aftermarket cooler for a locked chip. 

Got it

I came up with this, shaves off some more money and gives me 1 TB of storage, just in case.

And I decided this is my take-it-everywhere rig, so I can run my games anywhere. In that case, is two SSD's better than one SSD and one hard drive?

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/trz2Hx

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($64.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($43.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card  ($309.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($42.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($72.99 @ Amazon) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($88.00 @ Amazon) 
Total: $937.52

[stconquest]

$6 over:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG M9i 48.4 CFM CPU Cooler  ($25.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($69.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($65.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($121.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 390 8GB PCS+ Video Card  ($283.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec ISK600 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $985.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-08 05:01 EST-0500

 

You would have to play with the airflow to see what does better.  There is only one fan mount.  It can be a intake (most desirable) or an exhaust.  You also have the CPU cooler fan to give you some flexibility by directing air out through a vent (if possible). 

[TheRandomness]

22 minutes ago, Rukai said:

Got it

I came up with this, shaves off some more money and gives me 1 TB of storage, just in case.

And I decided this is my take-it-everywhere rig, so I can run my games anywhere. In that case, is two SSD's better than one SSD and one hard drive?

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/trz2Hx

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($64.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($43.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card  ($309.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($42.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($72.99 @ Amazon) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($88.00 @ Amazon) 
Total: $937.52

Bad PSU, change for the one in my build. 

[Rukai]

4 minutes ago, stconquest said:

$6 over:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG M9i 48.4 CFM CPU Cooler  ($25.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($69.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($65.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($121.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 390 8GB PCS+ Video Card  ($283.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec ISK600 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $985.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-08 05:01 EST-0500

Is Skylake honestly worth it? I was thinking about browsing hardware swap forums and picking up a lot of the LGA 1150 specific pieces (CPU, motherboard, video card, etc) for cheap, and I actually have a spare set of DDR3 RAM (G. Skills Ripjaws) sitting around atm that I can use.

[Rukai]

1 minute ago, TheRandomness said:

Bad PSU, change for the one in my build. 

I've seen everyone say NEX is a bad choice, but my worry here is that 550W is too little for what my partner has said is a power-hungry card.

My only problem with the Supernova you recommended is that it's almost 20 dollars more for 650W versus the NEX version.

[TheRandomness]

Just now, Rukai said:

I've seen everyone say NEX is a bad choice, but my worry here is that 550W is too little for what my partner has said is a power-hungry card.

My only problem with the Supernova you recommended is that it's almost 20 dollars more for 650W versus the NEX version.

550W is more than enough, the entire system could run off a 400W PSU. Also, the NEX series is of low quality. Would you rather take the chance to same money and potentially kill your system?

[Rukai]

Just now, TheRandomness said:

550W is more than enough, the entire system could run off a 400W PSU. Also, the NEX series is of low quality. Would you rather take the chance to same money and potentially kill your system?

In that light, I'll get the 550W version. You're sure about the video card being fine? (Not trying to be stubborn, just worried, as I've never used an AMD card before and I'm just unsure

You should see the discussions my partner and I get into He's a huge AMD fan and I'm just absolutely in love with NVIDIA

[TheRandomness]

3 minutes ago, Rukai said:

In that light, I'll get the 550W version. You're sure about the video card being fine? (Not trying to be stubborn, just worried, as I've never used an AMD card before and I'm just unsure

You should see the discussions my partner and I get into He's a huge AMD fan and I'm just absolutely in love with NVIDIA

The 970 and the 390 both use very similar amounts of wattage, around a 20-40W difference between the two. 

[Rukai]

Just now, TheRandomness said:

The 970 and the 390 both use very similar amounts of wattage, around a 20-40W difference between the two. 

Okay, got it I've finalized my list now.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qx46YJ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qx46YJ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($64.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($43.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card  ($309.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($42.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($88.00 @ Amazon) 
Total: $944.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-08 05:23 EST-0500

[TheRandomness]

1 minute ago, Rukai said:

Okay, got it I've finalized my list now.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qx46YJ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qx46YJ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($64.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($43.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card  ($309.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($42.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($88.00 @ Amazon) 
Total: $944.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-08 05:23 EST-0500

Ewwww that SSD (about as fast as a fast HDD). Go with an Adata SP550 or Crucial BX200 if you want a decent one. 

[Rukai]

1 minute ago, TheRandomness said:

Ewwww that SSD (about as fast as a fast HDD). Go with an Adata SP550 or Crucial BX200 if you want a decent one. 

How's this SSD?

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-internal-hard-drive-shfs37a120g

[TheRandomness]

1 minute ago, Rukai said:

How's this SSD?

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-internal-hard-drive-shfs37a120g

Much better

[stconquest]

14 minutes ago, Rukai said:

Is Skylake honestly worth it? I was thinking about browsing hardware swap forums and picking up a lot of the LGA 1150 specific pieces (CPU, motherboard, video card, etc) for cheap, and I actually have a spare set of DDR3 RAM (G. Skills Ripjaws) sitting around atm that I can use.

Consider it like this:  All I am missing when compared to your build is the mass storage drive. 

 

What I do have is:

 

-A decent SSD (480GB) instead of that crappy V300 (128GB).

-A faster CPU and a better/quieter CPU cooler

-Faster RAM

-A better PSU ... and FFS, the 550W is more than enough

 

It is not my build.  You do what you want. 

 

[Rukai]

Just now, stconquest said:

Consider it like this:  All I am missing when compared to your build is the mass storage drive. 

 

What I do have is:

 

-A decent SSD (480GB) instead of that crappy V300 (128GB).

-A faster CPU and a better/quieter CPU cooler

-Faster RAM

-A better PSU ... and FFS, the 550W is more than enough

 

It is not my build.  You do what you want. 

 

I've conceded that 550W is good enough

I may consider the Skylake version, but right now I'm putting out the Haswell on to hardware swap forums. If I can get enough parts for way cheaper from hardware swap forums I'll go with the Haswell, but if I get little to no offers, I'll go with brand new Skylake