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Is it worth buying an LGA 1150 mobo today?

da_drake
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So I'm looking at scaling down my rig to a mini ITX case (Fractal Design Nano S) but don't want to necessarily rebuild the entire thing. I have an Asus Sabertooth Z97 Mk 1 with an i7 4790k and 8g DDR3 RAM, but need a new mobo to fit the case. I don't want to replace the CPU if I can get away with it (only motivation is the case), but honestly would not mind upgrading the mem to DDR4. My GTX 970 is still rocking so I'm looking at (case + mobo) = ~$120 USD. Should I just spring for the new CPU and RAM, or is sticking with DDR3 on an LGA 1150 board worth it these days? I really want to keep this route >$400 but it's not worth it to me to get less than an i3. 

 

Option #1

 

 

Option #2

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4 minutes ago, da_drake said:

So I'm looking at scaling down my rig to a mini ITX case (Fractal Design Nano S) but don't want to necessarily rebuild the entire thing. I have an Asus Sabertooth Z97 Mk 1 with an i7 4790k and 8g DDR3 RAM, but need a new mobo to fit the case. I don't want to replace the CPU if I can get away with it (only motivation is the case), but honestly would not mind upgrading the mem to DDR4. My GTX 970 is still rocking so I'm looking at (case + mobo) = ~$120 USD. Should I just spring for the new CPU and RAM, or is sticking with DDR3 on an LGA 1150 board worth it these days? I really want to keep this route >$400 but it's not worth it to me to get less than an i3. 

 

Option #1

 

 

Option #2

option #1. no reason to get ddr4 with the trade-off being a worse cpu. 

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Z97 ITX mobo and case. Going from unlocked i7 to locked (and slow) i5 is painful. Getting H81 mobo means no overclocking, not ideal. Make sure everything you have now, other than the mobo, fits into the case

CPU: i7-2600K 4751MHz 1.44V (software) --> 1.47V at the back of the socket Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme4 (BCLK: 103.3MHz) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 RAM: Adata XPG 2x8GB DDR3 (XMP: 2133MHz 10-11-11-30 CR2, custom: 2203MHz 10-11-10-26 CR1 tRFC:230 tREFI:14000) GPU: Asus GTX 1070 Dual (Super Jetstream vbios, +70(2025-2088MHz)/+400(8.8Gbps)) SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (main boot drive), Transcend SSD370 128GB PSU: Seasonic X-660 80+ Gold Case: Antec P110 Silent, 5 intakes 1 exhaust Monitor: AOC G2460PF 1080p 144Hz (150Hz max w/ DP, 121Hz max w/ HDMI) TN panel Keyboard: Logitech G610 Orion (Cherry MX Blue) with SteelSeries Apex M260 keycaps Mouse: BenQ Zowie FK1

 

Model: HP Omen 17 17-an110ca CPU: i7-8750H (0.125V core & cache, 50mV SA undervolt) GPU: GTX 1060 6GB Mobile (+80/+450, 1650MHz~1750MHz 0.78V~0.85V) RAM: 8+8GB DDR4-2400 18-17-17-39 2T Storage: HP EX920 1TB PCIe x4 M.2 SSD + Crucial MX500 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD, 128GB Toshiba PCIe x2 M.2 SSD (KBG30ZMV128G) gone cooking externally, 1TB Seagate 7200RPM 2.5" HDD (ST1000LM049-2GH172) left outside Monitor: 1080p 126Hz IPS G-sync

 

Desktop benching:

Cinebench R15 Single thread:168 Multi-thread: 833 

SuperPi (v1.5 from Techpowerup, PI value output) 16K: 0.100s 1M: 8.255s 32M: 7m 45.93s

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Option 1, but if you can wait for a Z97 ITX board to pop up at the right price, I recommend doing so. If you're near a Micro Center, one will occasionally find its way into their used board rack. Likewise, Fry's sometimes has something come up on clearance at a stupid low price--and even be able to ship it!

 

Of course, there's always eBay. I haven't had much luck with niche items like ITX Z-series boards on local sites, but that's not to say one isn't out there.

I enjoy buying junk and sinking more money than it's worth into it to make it less junk.

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As @aisle9 said, finding SFX on the used market is a challenge, but possible.

 

As far as the options go - they're a hard choice.

Personally, I'd go with #1; for the RAM market is crazy right now. I got a 1x16 GB stick a year (ish) ago for $75. It has nearly doubled.

 

What made you choose the Nano S case over other SFF Cases? (I'm doing a year-long manufacturing project.)

 

 

Fan Comparisons          F@H          PCPartPicker         Analysis of Market Trends (Coming soon? Never? Who knows!)

Designing a mITX case. Working on aluminum prototypes.

Open for intern / part-time. Good at maths, CAD and airflow stuff. Dabbled with Python.

Please fill out this form! It helps a ton! https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/841400-the-poll-to-end-all-polls-poll/

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@da_drake if you happen to live near Houston, the Fry's there has a Z87 ITX mobo open box for $70.

 

Of course, thinking about that again, if you live near Houston, you're probably not worried about a motherboard right now.

I enjoy buying junk and sinking more money than it's worth into it to make it less junk.

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Thanks everyone!! I knew this was the right place to ask around. 

 

All considered, I'll keep searching for a better ITX mobo. I forgot that H81 can't overlock, and I was thinking about getting a AIO water cooler to do just that. 

 

 

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16 hours ago, Imbellis said:

What made you choose the Nano S case over other SFF Cases? (I'm doing a year-long manufacturing project.)

I currently have a Fractal Define S and absolutely love the case. It's a little too large to display on top of my crowded desk (4 monitors and a big hutch taking up space) so I wanted to downsize. When I realized the Nano S was just a shrunken version I was already sold. I love the look of Fractal's cases: very clean, minimalist, and plenty of utility with things like mounting storage on the back of the mobo tray to leave room for water cooling. I also like how unassuming some of their cases are. I had a Radimax, transformer looking case, for years and I guess with age the dramatic looking cases have become less appealing. 

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Hey @aisle9,

 

I'm in rural Arkansas so places like OKC, Tulsa, Memphis are about the closest major(ish) cities but are still a few hours drive. I'm having a hell of a time on eBay; what other used marketplaces do you use that aren't murderous with shipping? Even if they don't have these weird Z-series ITX 1150 boards, I need to start expanding outside of Newegg, Amazon, eBay, etc.

 

Thanks for your help

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