i5 4690K based Multimedia/Work System

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
N

NewSystem

Reputable
Apr 4, 2015
17
0
4,520
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mbhzRB
Case: Cooltek Coolcube Maxi (HTPC)

Hello. I am a student and instead of getting a new Laptop (because my current one is getting too slow for me) I decided to go for a Computer to get more power for less money.

I want the system to be future proof and not having to change any components in at least 3 or 4 years.

I don't play games (although I might start a little bit, if the system is capable enough). I use it mainly for studying/browsing/youtube/movies. I know that the i5 is overpowered for this, but I multitask a lot, and I want the system to stay lightning fast in the future.

Since the i5 has a HD4600 onboard, I was thinking of not getting a graphics card now (since I don't play games) but there is always the option of getting one later if I ever need one.
Is the HD4600 strong enough to multitask and handle for example several tabs with youtube videos?

I was thinking of going µATX to have a nice small neat silent case, but if you think that ATX would give me more performance for the same price, I would go for ATX and a bigger case as well, since the computer won't be moved much.

I would also overclock the CPU to get more power, with a good CPU fan, not the boxed one.

So mainly I want a fast, silent and future proof system that I could always upgrade with a new graphics card to handle new games (if I would start playing more).

Any help or feedback is much appreciated.
Thank you in advance!
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
S

Suztera

Polypheme
Mar 18, 2014
12,730
0
60,960
You don't really need to overclock the cpu for your needs.
You can move to an mini-ITX case and motherboard if you want it to be smaller.
The SSD will help your OPS to be snappy.
For studying/browsing/youtube/movies, the build is fine. Several tabs on chrome is not that demanding. If you open 100+ tabs then maybe you hitting the limit on the 8GB ram.
Silent will depend on the fans you use for the case and the cpu cooler used.
If you want to upgrade to a graphic card in the future, get a decent 550-650W psu such as XFX, seasonic or an EVGA.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

NewSystem

Reputable
Apr 4, 2015
17
0
4,520
Thank you very much for your answer.
About the overclocking, I don't think I would do it immediately when I get the system (although I might), but in some time, when programs get more demanding and some boost would be nice instead of having to upgrade again to keep everything snappy.

How does the performance of motherboards compare between ATX µATX and mini ITX? I don't want to compromise performance for size. If I have to, I would even go for ATX. I just don't know, if they are equal performance wise or not, and how big the difference is.

I don't what the 4690k to work sub optimally on a µATX of miniITX just for the sake of having a small case, which I would maybe move once in 2 years
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

Suztera

Polypheme
Mar 18, 2014
12,730
0
60,960


Motherboards don't have much impact on performance. Just get a motherboard which meets your needs with the ports.
Getting an ATX will allow you to have more space for expansion cards. a mini ITX will limit you to a single graphic card/ expansion card. micro atx is just a bit smaller than ATX and just has less expansion slots.
You want a Z97 motherboard if you want overclocking. The low end Z97 offers mild overclocking. Once you passed the $100, you get decent Z97 motherboards such as ASUS Z97-A, Asrock Z97 Extreme4
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

NewSystem

Reputable
Apr 4, 2015
17
0
4,520
Thanks!

The ASUS Z97-A is ATX and the Asrock Z97 Extreme 4 is ATX too.

The mainboard I chose (ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard) should be good enough, even for overclocking, or not?
and it is µATX which is neat, since I don't need much extension slots and if the performance is the same, I can get a smaller case which would be neat.

and it even has 2 PCIe.

So should I go for that one, or a full ATX you suggested?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
giantbucket

giantbucket

Dignified
BANNED
Nov 17, 2013
3,881
1
15,960
med school should be nose-deep in books, not youtube.

an ITX build is more than enough. no need to overclock unless you do crazy video editing. and nothing is future-proof, not even your dad's old 80286 that he spent $4000 on back in 1987.

future-proof: do you know exactly what you will do in 3 years, 11 months, 14 days, and 3 hours from RIGHT NOW? probably not. then how in the hell are any of US (including you) supposed to know what intel/AMD are going to spit out on that same day, in the future?

buy today what you need today. it'll be obsolete by Christmas anyways. spend less now, invest what you didn't overspend, and use that in 4 years to buy again.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

Suztera

Polypheme
Mar 18, 2014
12,730
0
60,960


The Z97 Mpro 4 will be fine.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
bsod1

bsod1

Distinguished
Feb 7, 2013
1,834
0
20,160


great advice but are you having a bad day, sir?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
giantbucket

giantbucket

Dignified
BANNED
Nov 17, 2013
3,881
1
15,960
I've had my coffee. my day is great! just seen too many people buy gaming/surfing/browsing machines while claiming that they are students. if I knew that my doc spent his/her school time surfing youtube or watching movies or fragging in BF4, I'd find a new doc.

now, if he/she is in school to be a janitor or hot-dog vendor, then by all means buy an i7-k, Z97, dual Titans, and frag away! :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

NewSystem

Reputable
Apr 4, 2015
17
0
4,520
Believe it or not, there are actually educational videos on youtube!
And thanks for the advice. I'm sure you know what it takes to be a good doctor.

Budget shouldn't be more than 750-800 Euro

What about the PSU? 630W for just over 50 Euro. Should I get a better one with less Wattage?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
bsod1

bsod1

Distinguished
Feb 7, 2013
1,834
0
20,160


hey I am in college, too. just cuz I have a gaming PC doesn't mean I'm gaming every free hour I get. anyway.

use this guide: http://es.pcpartpicker.com/guide/Wqp9TW/full-guide-gaming-htpc-setup-feb-2015
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

NewSystem

Reputable
Apr 4, 2015
17
0
4,520
I also took this mainboard into consideration now:

ASRock Z97M-ITX/ac

I guess it's the same as the µATX version, just smaller?
Does the ITX have limitations regarding overclocking or performance compared to the µATX version?

One perk would be that it has bluetooth and WIFI, so I wouldn't need an extra WIFI card. And the case could be even smaller. Would a small case like this cause any problems regarding heat with the 4960K and decent fan?
Downside, only one PCIe slot and nothing else. But I doublt I would ever use 2 graphic cards at the same time.

Any suggestions to what would be the smarter choice?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

NewSystem

Reputable
Apr 4, 2015
17
0
4,520


Thank you. That's where I got the idea for the ITX board.

But I still don't know if the difference in the motherboards is purely the size and slots with exactly the same performance, or if the performance differs
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
giantbucket

giantbucket

Dignified
BANNED
Nov 17, 2013
3,881
1
15,960
ITX only limitation is that you can only have one expansion slot and (usually) only two ram slots. other than that they're great, esp since a lot of them have built-in Bluetooth/WiFi modules. usually one expansion slot is enough, and a single good card is better than 2 shitty cards. for all your medical research, of course!

there's a few good ITX cases that don't affect the BT/WiFi, and a good mobo will include an external WiFi antenna anyways, so the case is a non-issue. but if you're gonna OC it then plan ahead - what cooler are you going to use? will your ITX case of choice actually allow it to fit? some ITX cases shove the power supply right above the CPU / rear IO ports, which seriously limits your cooler options.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

NewSystem

Reputable
Apr 4, 2015
17
0
4,520
just looking at some ITX cases now, it looks really .."small", and as you said, the CPU fan is practically directly under the PSU fan.

Since I'm not moving the case and size is not priority, I even found this case "Cooler Master HAF XB Evo" which is full ATX and not that big either
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
giantbucket

giantbucket

Dignified
BANNED
Nov 17, 2013
3,881
1
15,960
I have the HAF XB EVO. it's big. it's for a full size ATX board. benefit is that it's easy to work on all of the mobo stuff and since the mobo is flat, the graphics cards are vertical so they don't sag. but getting to the hard drive space underneath can be a bit of a pain if you want to fill it up completely with every hard drive known to man (like I did). I love it, though. esp the two hot-swap bays.

for ITX, I use an Antec ISK600 case, which puts the power supply up front so the entire space above the mobo is free for whatever cooler you want. there are other cases that put the power supply in a similar location, so look for that feature.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

NewSystem

Reputable
Apr 4, 2015
17
0
4,520
The Cooler Master HAF XB Evo seem ideal to me now. I didn't want to get a standard tower and the fact that the mainboard is lying flat is ideal when I have to relocate in the future, so I don't have to worry about a big CPU fan and bumpy roads.

And the reviews speak for itself. I can also go full ATX and have all possibilities open in the future.

Just have to find a suitable PSU now and I'm set
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

NewSystem

Reputable
Apr 4, 2015
17
0
4,520
GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-SLI or ASRock Z97 Pro4

both 2 PCIe and almost identical, and around 120 Euro.

Wouldn't matter which Mainboard, right?

The ASRock Z97 Extreme4 is more than 40 Euros more expensive than the Pro4. Do they differ much overclocking wise?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

NewSystem

Reputable
Apr 4, 2015
17
0
4,520


And may I please ask which CPU fan you are using in that case?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
giantbucket

giantbucket

Dignified
BANNED
Nov 17, 2013
3,881
1
15,960
any ATX board will fit. I have an ASRock Z77 Extreme3 and there's still a few cm of space between the edge of the board and the front panel where the two 140mm fans mount.

for cooling, I had a Corsair H50i but I removed it yesterday and put in a DeepCool Lucifer V2. it's HUGE, but the top cover still fits on. I don't have a 200mm fan mounted in the top, but I think even if I did, the Lucifer would fit OK. in the same chassis, I had an AMD system for about 2-3 days and that had a Scythe Orochi cooler. it fit just fine too, with space to spare.

but I don't overclock (even though I have a Z77 board and an i5-3570K processor). I bought those because they had the right options and were on sale at the time, so the Z/K feature was just a bonus. my system is also on 24/7 so the H50i fan's noise was getting annoying.

for PSU, most standard ones will fit but don't get one that TOO long because you need space to manage the cables without hitting the back of the hot swap bay. with my standard-size PSU installed, there's at least 80mm of space between PSU and hotswaps, maybe more (I was easily able to slide in an 80mm fan while experimenting with extra cooling hacks)

here's a sample image of the cooler I have (not my pic, just "borrowed"). THAT will fit inside the HAF XB EVO, except mine has the fan on the opposite side, above the rear I/O ports instead of above the ram slots.

24435_deep%20cool%20gamerstorm%20lucifer%20review%20-install%20complete%2001.jpg
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom