With the recent Shopping Express deal, I snatched the Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 and Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD. Current rig is an E8400 (for those playing at home, it's from '08). That CPU + the DDR2 are both showing their age, so I decided I'm just going to build a new system.
Current parts list has some notes on my parts choices, also quoted below. Please let me know if any of this is not sensible!
Budget is in the region of $1500. That parts list is sitting on $1497.55 and, amazingly, all remaining parts are listed as cheapest from CPL Online. Delivery is $38.80, so just pushing the total past the budget.
I don't need it straight away — just hoping to get all parts by 15 December.
OzBargainer question: Should I order the parts now, or should I wait for deals on parts to trickle in? Noting that Black Friday is coming up, and XMas sales are approaching.
If the cplonline rep is reading this… ;)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (Black) - Mini ITX for portability, but will I be moving it often? Probably not. But won't need a second GPU, and unlikely to need more than 3 drives in at any time. No ODD needed. Main concerns are space for components (esp. CPU cooler), cable routing (hence modular PSU) and airflow (hence CPU cooler). Aesthetics is not an issue, but popularity means it's well reviewed and well tested. Few reported issues. Concerned about lack of external airflow. Maybe need a large case fan?
CPU: Intel i5-4690K - Current best i5, overclockable. Do not need i7 for gaming.
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 - Powerful yet relatively quiet. Great for overclocking CPU. HUGE, might have difficulty fitting with other components? Lots of internal airflow, for the small case. Not trusting liquid coolers. Unlikely to need NH-D15; which might not fit in case anyway.
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-Z97N-WIFI Mini ITX - Well reviewed. Good placement of ports towards edge of board. Should give clearance for components, esp. CPU cooler. Z97 for CPU overclocking. Have Gigabit Ethernet, so likely won't need onboard WiFi. Same price as ASRock Z97E-ITX/AC; won over by port placement.
RAM: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 - Board only has 2 DIMMs, so 2x8GB, which is mobo's max. Looking at G.Skill. Same-priced ($205) alternatives: DDR3-1600 CAS 9, DDR3-1866 CAS 10 or DDR3-2400 CAS 11? Don't plan to overclock RAM.
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB - Maybe 500GB would be more suitable? Too late, already purchased on sale. Also have Samsung HD204UI 2TB for general storage, and 24TB networked.
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 970 4GB G1 - 980 is too much. One of the best 970s on market. Purchased with substantial discount. Should just fit in case lengthwise.
PSU: Silverstone Strider Plus 600W 80+ Bronze - Full modular, for easier cable routing. 600W is more than needed, and won't need much overhead anyway (no room for second GPU) but was cheapest full modular.
Remaining components total to $910 from CPL plus $38.80 delivery. (Confirmed on online site as of 19/11/2014.)
Rumors are that Broad well and Skylake are coming out next year in 2015. As to whether its worth waiting for is unknown, most likely it may not have such a huge performance advantage over Haswell but its something to consider .
Your build is fine. You could probably source some parts from Amazon if you want, some people have posted a few CPU bargains but the savings are fairly minimal.