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Need help getting the price down on my mATX gaming build..

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  • Gaming
  • Build
  • Motherboards
  • Systems
Last response: in Systems
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August 5, 2014 4:14:57 AM

Hi Guys,

I'm trying to spec up a gaming system on a mATX board, and would like to ask for advice on optimising the build and hopefully cutting a bit of cost out and also the compatibility of parts.

The main information I am trying to get is:

    1. Is the choice of Motherboard "overkill"? Is there a cheaper alternative that doesn't compromise too much on performance (bearing in mind that I'm not too bothered about overclocking)?

    2. Will the CPU cooler I've chosen fit the motherboard (current selection) without fouling the Gfx card or memory?

    3. I really didn't know what Memory to go for, but I wanted something nice and fast, so any advice here would be great.


[PCPartPicker part list](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/vZh6pg)
[Price breakdown by merchant](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/vZh6pg/by_merchant/)


**CPU** [Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54690...) | £163.14 @ Aria PC

**CPU Cooler** [Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhu12...) | £48.79 @ CCL Computers

**Motherboard** [Asus MAXIMUS VII GENE Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-maximu...) | £143.57 @ Ebuyer

**Memory** [Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cmy8gx3m...) | £67.98 @ Amazon UK

**Video Card** | [MSI Radeon R9 290X 4GB LIGHTNING Video Card](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r9290xli...) | £477.95 @ Scan.co.uk

**Case** [BitFenix Phenom M Midnight Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/bitfenix-case-bfcphm300...) | £74.95 @ Aria PC

**Operating System** [Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-fqc04649) | £34.50 @ Amazon UK

**Mouse** [Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/razer-mouse-rz010084010...) | £61.40 @ Scan.co.uk

Total = £1072.28

I really appreciate any help that can be offered.

Nubbz

More about : price matx gaming build

August 5, 2014 4:27:20 AM

Your video card is the most expensive part on the list, so start looking for a cheaper one.
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August 5, 2014 4:34:05 AM

Expensive motherboard is a gimmick in a mATX case.
You won't see any benefit as you will run out of room in your case and it will overheat before hitting OC limits.
Don't get fooled by marketing departments. :D 
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Related resources
a b 4 Gaming
a b V Motherboard
August 5, 2014 4:45:53 AM

Here are some changes, in case you want to keep the GPU:

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£163.14 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.98 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£78.00 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£60.92 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290X 4GB LIGHTNING Video Card (£477.95 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: BitFenix Phenom M Midnight Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£74.95 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£34.50 @ Amazon UK)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse (£61.40 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £975.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-05 12:42 BST+0100


And if you are willing to go for a lower tier GPU (but still very powerful), in case you are using a single monitor at 60+ Hz:

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£163.14 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.98 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£78.00 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£60.92 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (£305.46 @ Amazon UK)
Case: BitFenix Phenom M Midnight Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£74.95 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£34.50 @ Amazon UK)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse (£61.40 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £803.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-05 12:45 BST+0100
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August 5, 2014 6:12:38 AM

kajjot said:
Expensive motherboard is a gimmick in a mATX case.
You won't see any benefit as you will run out of room in your case and it will overheat before hitting OC limits.
Don't get fooled by marketing departments. :D 


This is what I was fearing...I only really picked it as I have pretty much always had ASUS motherboards.

With 2 kids, I don't have enough time in the day to fiddle around overclocking [even though I enjoyed it]. I will have a look at some of the suggestions on this thread.

Cheers
Nubbz
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August 5, 2014 6:21:29 AM

Pr3di said:
Here are some changes, in case you want to keep the GPU:

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£163.14 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.98 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£78.00 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£60.92 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290X 4GB LIGHTNING Video Card (£477.95 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: BitFenix Phenom M Midnight Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£74.95 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£34.50 @ Amazon UK)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse (£61.40 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £975.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-05 12:42 BST+0100


And if you are willing to go for a lower tier GPU (but still very powerful), in case you are using a single monitor at 60+ Hz:

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£163.14 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.98 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£78.00 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£60.92 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (£305.46 @ Amazon UK)
Case: BitFenix Phenom M Midnight Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£74.95 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£34.50 @ Amazon UK)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse (£61.40 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £803.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-05 12:45 BST+0100


Thanks Pr3di this is great.

Just for my information - I do have an old monitor that only does 60Hz, so does that mean the the GPU I picked is a bit of a waste.?

If I upgraded my monitor, would you have any suggestions.? (19"+ in size, no real idea on a reasonable budget, but I would need it to last me)

Thanks again for taking the time to have a look at the build.

Nubbz







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a b 4 Gaming
a c 81 V Motherboard
August 5, 2014 6:29:43 AM

yes, a 290x would be watsed ona 60hz monitor, especially the lightning, which is suited for extreme overclockers, and you say you don't overclock, so get a gtx 770 or a r9 290, unless you plan on getting higher res or multiple monitors then either of the 2 cards I listed will be fine

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/hkkGbv This will suit you better, i've suggested a monitor on there, the gpu is still unchanged as I don't know what you will be adding in the future
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Best solution

a b 4 Gaming
a b V Motherboard
August 5, 2014 7:09:09 AM

Nubbz said:
Pr3di said:
Here are some changes, in case you want to keep the GPU:

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£163.14 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.98 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£78.00 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£60.92 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290X 4GB LIGHTNING Video Card (£477.95 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: BitFenix Phenom M Midnight Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£74.95 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£34.50 @ Amazon UK)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse (£61.40 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £975.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-05 12:42 BST+0100


And if you are willing to go for a lower tier GPU (but still very powerful), in case you are using a single monitor at 60+ Hz:

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£163.14 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.98 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£78.00 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£60.92 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (£305.46 @ Amazon UK)
Case: BitFenix Phenom M Midnight Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£74.95 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£34.50 @ Amazon UK)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse (£61.40 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £803.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-05 12:45 BST+0100


Thanks Pr3di this is great.

Just for my information - I do have an old monitor that only does 60Hz, so does that mean the the GPU I picked is a bit of a waste.?

If I upgraded my monitor, would you have any suggestions.? (19"+ in size, no real idea on a reasonable budget, but I would need it to last me)

Thanks again for taking the time to have a look at the build.

Nubbz



Well, the size of the actual screen doesn`t matter. I recommend that you get something between 23 and 27".
What matters is the pixel density, to be exact the difference between 1080p, 1440p, 4K let`s say.

If you will plan to get a 4K display (very expensive for now) or something else over the usual 1080p, you can go for a R9 290/x, or GTX 780/TI.
However, if you`ll stick to a 1080p monitor, the R9 290 will be more than enough, even if you have a 144Hz screen.
If you can afford it, you can even get two of those and crossfire or SLI, but it would be a waste without a 4K screen.
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August 7, 2014 5:49:35 AM

Thanks All for your suggestions. I am going to go with the following:
[PCPartPicker part list](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/hkkGbv)

Really appreciate the support from all.

Thanks Nubbz :) 



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