So I've finally decided to go back into gaming and build my own PC, which I will also use for some mild image editing, coding and some movie viewing. The thing is that the last PC I built was almost 5 years ago, so I'm kind of lost with all those new socket options and architectures, Haswell, Maxwell, and some other folks I never heard of.
That being said, I want to build something that's compact (mini-itx), somewhat quiet and under US$ 1,400.00 including peripherals and a good monitor - preferably 1440p. I'll be gaming at 1080p, but since I'll be using some design oriented software, that real estate will be useful for me.
Anyway, enough of my life story, here is what I came up with after some research trying to catch up with the new stuff: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4JC8CJ (I'm a little over my budget now, but that's a tolerable margin)
What do you guys think? I'm not going to do any overclocking, and WiFi is essential for me since my PC will be a bit far, across the room from my router. Is this overkill? Should I go for and AMD system instead and save some money without losing too much in performance? I like that Rosewill case that I've picked, but I'm willing to switch for other that has similar form factor and is cheaper (but not entirely ugly).
Any help is much appreciated!
PS: I've been using my work macbook at home for more than a year now. A MAC. In MY HOUSE. This has to stop, URGENTLY.
Looks like a decent build. Couple of things though. What games? Light image editing?
You prob don't need the CPU cooler. You prob don't need 16GB of RAM. 512GB of SSD storage is unnecessary. The R9 280X can be had for the price of the 960 and is better. Look at the R9 290 too. It is only a little more. Easily enough for 1440p gaming too. The 960 will struggle with that. I like the 250D from Corsair better. A korean monitor will be cheaper but the ASUS may be a little better for image editing.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CQqdzy
Grab a Korean 1440p monitor and whatever peripherals you'd like.
I'm actually thinking that Micro ATX may be better since having only one GPU on M-ITX means that you can't max out a lot of stuff.
2nd the korean monitor. you could even be cool and get the crossover 21:9 1080p monitor reviewed by logan.
if i was going to build my desktop RIGHT now this would be my setup. the in win 901 is an awesome looking itx case.
I LOVE AMD, but as far as ITX goes, nothing come close to the performance of the i5.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Jj2kmG
It would be mostly FPS and strategy games (Civ V, BF4). I do mostly stuff for web, so It's only basic image treatment of mid-res photos (72dpi, not bigger than 8 or 10 megapixels).
Thanks for the tips! I'll tone down the ram to 8GB and look at the R9 cards. I think I'll stay with the ASUS monitor, very relaiable.
That's a good point... You think if only at 1080p I couldn't max out BF4 on a R9 290, for example? If so, I probably should move to an Micro ATX, you're right.
Excellent config! Thanks for the case tip, I didn't knew that one, it looks great!
definitely. why spend $1000 on a computer and not have an awesome case to show it off in?