Micro ATX gaming PC $1000 (not including gpu)

Boggan

Reputable
Jun 1, 2015
9
0
4,520
Approximate Purchase Date: 1 week

Budget Range: $1000 not including gpu

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Games, Media

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: I have one old unused thermaltake 750w psu that might fit but I could use another PSU recommendation.

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: none

Overclocking: (EDIT) Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: My 7 year old computer can't run any modern games and will likely die soon.


Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
EDIT: After reading this hardware ranking, it's possible that the i7 is the least efficient cost/performance processor for gaming. I might be better off geting the Intel Xeon E3-1231v3 or just overclocking a 4690K

ASRock Fatal1ty Z97M Killer Micro ATX
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card
Silverstone SG10B MicroATX Mini Tower Case

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XdNHZL

Additional Comments: Trying to fit this rig in the smallest case possible while having the option to SLI in 1-2 years when I want/need more gpu power. I would like this pc to be as quiet as possible. I'm not really lock in on any of the parts except the i7 because I don't want any bottleneck issues when I upgrade my gpu. Originally I was considering the gtx 970 because it seemed to provide the best performance for the price but just read the 970 isn't a 4gb vram card, it's actually a ~3.5gb card. I'm considering a 980 because it might offer better future proofing, any thoughts? I maybe don't need 16gb ram. If anybody has any cpu cooler suggestions that would be great. With regards to cooling, many people suggest blower type cards for smaller cases but the SG10B has fans all along the lower side where the gpus fits so I was wondering if a blower is even necessary. Also, am I missing out on some value by not considering the option of overclocking my Gpus?

TL;DR Sli in 1-2 years. I'm flexible on parts except i7. Can't decide on gtx 970 vs 980. Does this case need blower type gpus?
 

sirstinky

Distinguished
Aug 17, 2012
644
0
19,360
^ you need overclockable chipset. the "H" series boards can do CrossFireX, but you need the Z chipset to do SLI. If you don't want to overclock, get a non "K" SKU i7 and save some $ for a good motherboard. ASRock has that same Pro 4 board in Z97. MSI makes a G43 in mATX, Gigabyte makes a real nice Z97 board too. If it were me, I'd get MSI's Z97M Gaming. The Gigabyte Z97MX Gaming 5 is also a good board for cheap. For future proofing, the 970 is fine. In 1-2 years, who knows what will be out from NVIDIA. I'm guessing the 970 will still be a good card, but it won't be "new." The 980, like the 970 will be "old" in 1-2 years. There's already a "ti" version of it out now. Overclocking your GPU's won't give you a big boost in performance. Just buy factory overclocked ones. As far as an inline fan cooler, yes, it's good in that it vents air out the back of the card, but no in that it can be noisier than a non-reference cooler and not cool as well. Venting air into the case isn't ideal, but it's not a huge issue if you have good cooling. 16 GB RAM isn't necessary unless you want to get the most out of your games and can afford it. Make sure you get low-profile DIMMs (like Crucial Ballistix or Kingston BLU) and not Corsair Dominator or Vengeance with tall heatsinks. I had to clip off some of the cooling fins on the Vengeance RAM to fit into an mATX case once. As far as a good CPU cooler, for a fan-type, I like the Zahlman CNPS98xx series coolers-low profile to squeeze into the small case, but awesome cooling, or the Corsair h80i. Good thermal paste makes a difference with cooling efficiency, by the way.
 

Boggan

Reputable
Jun 1, 2015
9
0
4,520


k is 4.0Ghz and the regular 4790 is 3.6Ghz. Or is this money wasted? I'm just going off of what I read in this thread
 

Boggan

Reputable
Jun 1, 2015
9
0
4,520


From what I read on the Silverstone SG10B specs it can support full tower coolers. Or is it better not to use a full tower so air flow isn't restricted? I was considering getting a water cooling system but my concern is that I will get the one unit that leaks after 1 year and it will destroy components.