Mini ITX Build - dilemma

[babyface_yo]

Hi peeps. Ok, I did a build about 8 months ago, It was a coolermaster 130 elite case with the main parts - Intel 4770k i7 Processor, ASUS Maximus VII Impact ITX motherboard and a Asus Nvidia GeForce GTX 760

I only ever turned my new build on a few times which was a let down so I just sold the processor and the motherboard before it really goes out of date, surprisingly I got my money back for both of them, so that's not to bad However I want to build an updated version of the BUILD I previously had and this time I will use it lol

So I am now waiting for the ASUS Maximus VII Impact ITX motherboard to be released this month hopefully and I thought about getting the intel i7 4790K processor. But before I buy this processor, is there any newer versions that are going to come out?? Will this processor remain in the top for now and how long for?

I also got a Asus Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 Graphics Card, Which I could get most of my money back for, I thought about selling it and maybe getting a mini version or get a Asus GTX 770

What do you all think??

Thanks

 

[Alex Kelly]

The 4790K won't be replaced for a very long time, as it was only just released. It's massive overkill though, an i5 4690K is also brand new and will perform exactly the same, for gaming. It'll give you more money to spend on a new GPU, too.

Go ahead and sell your 760, and with the money you save by getting the i5 you will be able to afford a great 770, or even a 780.

 

[Rammy]

With the Elite 130, you are always going to be airflow limited, so the amount you spend on motherboard+CPU is hugely debatable - spending loads isn't going to net you huge performance gains as you just can't exploit them with this case.
Don't get me wrong, it's fantastic value and really useful for fitting in basically everything you need, but thermally it's pretty weak for CPU cooling (vented side panel means graphics cards are mainly fine).

Assuming it's a gaming machine I'd agree with Alex Kelly, save your money on CPU (and motherboard) and spend more on graphics as that's where you'll get the returns - especially with the Elite 130.

@ 4790K - It's very hard to make a case for it on a price/performance ratio. In most games even a dual core can keep up still, and it's only certain types of software which can really exploit the value of Hyperthreading (stuff like video editing/rendering). Most of the time you are better off with an i5. If the Elite 130 is the best case for your needs (size/features) then I'd seriously consider ditching overclocking altogether. H97 chipsets can be incredibly well featured and the non-overclocking i5s can be much better bang-for-buck on any system, even more so if you are going to be limited by your CPU cooling options.

@ Maximus VII Impact. The new Impact will be more or less the same as the old one, but it's worth mentioning that to guarantee Haswell refresh (4690K/4790K etc) support out of the box you'll need a 90-series board anyway (H97/Z97). It's still great, but still incredibly overpriced.

@ Graphics Ignore any "mini" versions of cards, they are a bit gimmicky. In the 130 you can fit more or less any graphics card on the market so I'd use the space you have.
Working in USD, you have at least $300 you could chop off your budget if it's gaming focused, which would put you comfortably into GTX780, R9 290X range if you wanted to blow the whole thing on graphics. In fact, even the GTX780Ti would be within potential reach. All of those cards are potentially massive overkill of course, but it does show how much flexibility you might have.