$1000 Micro ATX build

detective

Honorable
Nov 20, 2012
9
0
10,510
Approximate Purchase Date: from now till Xmas
Budget Range: $1000 ± $200
System Usage from Most to Least Important: multi page/tab IE web browsing, multi Adobe Acrobat pro, MS office, flash, im, video
Are you buying a monitor: Yes, 2 actually, IPS i supposed
Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse,speakers, OS, DVD
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: ncix.com or it doesn't matter if its cheap
Country: Vancouver, Canada
Parts Preferences: i5-4690K+ 8G Ram + 250GB SSD + Intel Z97 or Intel H97 Micro ATX or Mini ITX board
Overclocking: Maybe
SLI or Crossfire: no
Monitor Resolution: 1080p, 1920 x 1080
Additional Comments:
i5-4690K could be cheaper than i5-4690 during sale, and I suppose Asus motherboard is better than the other brands right? even its worst kind?

In addition, please choose a mini-atx case and power supply (since, I have no clue how big Watt PSU is needed, please choose one for me)

For ssd, I want reliability and performance, so those are the ones im considering at the moment
Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $179.00
Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $174.98
OCZ ARC 100 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $134.64
Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $119.97
Crucial M550 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $162.25
Sandisk Extreme II 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $182.50
OCZ Vector 150 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $139.99
Plextor M6S 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $149.95
Sandisk Extreme Pro 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $161.24

 
Solution
1866 ram will have a default speed of 1333 which will allow you to boot and get into the bios.
In the bios, you will have to pick one of the XMP profiles to get 1600 or 1866 speed.
XMP is a profile of voltage and cas numbers that the ram maker programs into each stick.


Ram speed is not all that important, you are looking at a difference of 2% or so in real app performance or fps.
More ram trumps faster ram for performance.
If you are using the integrated graphics, then faster ram is more important.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($234.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($93.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($94.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.98 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($378.50 @ Vuugo)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($47.50 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($58.98 @ NCIX)
Monitor: Acer H226HQLbid 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($139.00 @ Vuugo)
Total: $1235.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-12 16:57 EST-0500
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($244.48 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Asus Z97I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($172.39 @ DirectCanada)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($115.00 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($174.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.48 @ DirectCanada)
Monitor: AOC i2367Fh 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($169.00 @ Canada Computers)
Monitor: AOC i2367Fh 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($169.00 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $1184.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-12 17:05 EST-0500
 
Here are some of my thoughts:

1. 250gb ssd is a great thought. I like Samsung or Intel for reliability. They source all their own parts.
In the past, they have been more satisfying.
http://www.behardware.com/articles/881-7/components-returns-rates-7.html
All of the referenced ssd's will perform about the same in actual desktop usage. Of the bunch, the Samsung 850 PRO has done better in benchmarks. If you will store video files which are large, you can add a Hard drive later.

2. For high levels of multitasking, buy a 16gb kit of 2 x 8gb ddr3 1.5v 1866 ram.
All are good, look at G.skil, Corsair, Kingston....
And... buy a low profile kit. Tall heat spreaders are useless and will interfere with coolers.
3. For normal desktop usage and video playback, the integrated video of the 4690K is fine. You can attach three 1080P monitors.
You might want to consider a pair of 27" 2560 x 1440 monitors which will need a small discrete video card that supports 2560 x 1600 resolutions. $60 or so will buy one.
4. I would use a Z97 based motherboard to give you the ability to overclock the "K" You need not do it initially, but it is a free 20% boost in compute power. Most any will do. They are all good, ASUS or Gigabyte might be the best quality. I like the M-ATX size.
5. For a conventional case, I like the Silverstone PS07 case. Nice ventilation, quiet, with easily accessible washable intake filters.
http://www.ncix.com/detail/silverstone-ps07b-precision-black-matx-e5-66764.htm
6. The power supply you need will be gated by the graphics card and not much else.
With no graphics card, 300w is fine. With a top gaming card like a GTX980, a 550w psu is all that is needed.
I might suggest a 550w unit up front regardless on speculation of future needs.
A PSU will only use the wattage demanded of it, regardless of it's max capability.
Whatever you do, buy only a quality psu like Seasonic, xfx, antec.
Pick a tier 1 or 2 unit from this list:
https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx?Redirected=true
7. Buy an aftermarket cpu cooler. It will be easier to mount and it will be cooler and quieter than the stock intel cooler.
A tower type air cooler with a 120-140mm fan is all you need. Noctua, Phanteks would be good.
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator
1. 250gb ssd is a great thought. I like Samsung or Intel for reliability. They source all their own parts.
In the past, they have been more satisfying.
http://www.behardware.com/articles/881-7/components-ret...
All of the referenced ssd's will perform about the same in actual desktop usage. Of the bunch, the Samsung 850 PRO has done better in benchmarks. If you will store video files which are large, you can add a Hard drive later.

I definitely agree about Samsung SSDs, I wouldn't buy anything else personally. Intel SSDs are good as long as you get the 700 series, I don't think I would get anything else from Intel at the moment.

I think for the OP's uses a GTX 970 definitely isn't necessary, I would do something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4340 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($157.99 @ Directron)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.48 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($80.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($169.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.59 @ Directron)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($120.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12G 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($76.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Directron)
Total: $796.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-12 17:36 EST-0500
 
Endurance is not an issue, even for heavy desktop usage.
Larger ssd's like 250gb will do better than smaller drives, they have more nand blocks to spread the updates around.
Endurance is a non issue. By the time these devices wear out, they will be long obsolete.
The difference between a evo at 10 years and a pro at 15 years is not important.
And... even if a ssd runs out of updates, it is still readable, so it can be still cloned to a replacement drive.
 

detective

Honorable
Nov 20, 2012
9
0
10,510

i like and appreciate detailed replies like yours. any recomendation for picking a 21.5+ inch ips monitor? like, i have never heard of AOC...
now, if i got a 1866 ram, will the motherboard start up with a i5-4690K not overclocked?
 

Entomber

Admirable
The reseller often does not matter that much with displays, since most displays are made in the same factories anyways. The main difference will be in the length of warranty, quality of customer service, and quality of materials other than the display itself.
 

detective

Honorable
Nov 20, 2012
9
0
10,510


"display reseller" = brands
"displays are made in the same factories anyways" = using the same supply?
 
1866 ram will have a default speed of 1333 which will allow you to boot and get into the bios.
In the bios, you will have to pick one of the XMP profiles to get 1600 or 1866 speed.
XMP is a profile of voltage and cas numbers that the ram maker programs into each stick.


Ram speed is not all that important, you are looking at a difference of 2% or so in real app performance or fps.
More ram trumps faster ram for performance.
If you are using the integrated graphics, then faster ram is more important.
 
Solution