MATX Build Advice?

jezza

New member
I'm looking into building a gaming PC though I do want to keep it small in size.

I have decided to go for MATX and decided on the below builds with the Corsair Air240 (Isn't yet showing PC part picker). However I'm split on the two builds would there be any noticeable difference between the two and the pros and cons?

I'm sure it's not to everyones taste a MATX build though I want a rather small build that will allow me to play up coming games, run multiple VM's (Testing Purpose), Media Server to stream to TV, and every other day tasks.
PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/QLjxxr
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/QLjxxr/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£164.34 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£78.73 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£111.56 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Fury Red Series 8GB (1 x 8GB ) DDR3-1600 Memory (£60.11 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£49.98 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£49.98 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 2GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£173.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£77.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £766.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-25 11:37 BST+0100


PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/nyyzXL
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/nyyzXL/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£164.34 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£78.73 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI Z97M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£106.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Fury Red Series 8GB (1 x 8GB ) DDR3-1600 Memory (£60.11 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£49.98 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£49.98 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£169.92 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£77.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £757.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-25 11:37 BST+0100
 
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I'd go for an SSD and a 2tb hard drive, not just two 2tb hdds. You can also get better bang for buck with switching to an AMD gpu as well.
 
Yes the SSD will give you such a day to day boost in performance once you have one you will not want to use a mech drive for your OS or Games
 
Above all other things your going to want a 2x4GB memory kit so that it runs in dual channel. ;)

I know you've sorta set your sights on a case and if it works for you and that's part of the aesthetic of the build it's not a bad choice but I would personally go for a 350D, my friend has one and it's a nice thing with a small footprint and conventional to work with. I saw an Air 240 the other day though and the exterior quality looked nice but it just looked a bit tight and different on the inside to make a real clean build in.

As Barnsley says I would definitely want an SSD in there but i'm not a storage freak at all.

I'd go with the MSI bits just entirely down to preference and aesthetics not really performance. Assuming your going to be gaming at 1080p I would see if there's room in the budget for a 280X or really just a 280 should have an edge over the 760. I actually just built an mATX rig with a 760 Striker which clocked at 1300 is definitely good enough for occasional fun at this moment in time but for a main build you want to get a couple of years gaming out of i'd see if you could squeeze something just a little more.

JR
 
I will be taking the two 2TB hard drives out from my HP MicroServer that I will no longer be using and put them into this build.

I had thought about an SSD and it does make sense to go for one. It doesn't need to be anything big, I could get away with a 60GB from Kingston. It will only be used for the OS or should I be also using it to install games on too?

--------------------

Above all other things your going to want a 2x4GB memory kit so that it runs in dual channel. ;)

I know you've sorta set your sights on a case and if it works for you and that's part of the aesthetic of the build it's not a bad choice but I would personally go for a 350D, my friend has one and it's a nice thing with a small footprint and conventional to work with. I saw an Air 240 the other day though and the exterior quality looked nice but it just looked a bit tight and different on the inside to make a real clean build in.

As Barnsley says I would definitely want an SSD in there but i'm not a storage freak at all.

I'd go with the MSI bits just entirely down to preference and aesthetics not really performance. Assuming your going to be gaming at 1080p I would see if there's room in the budget for a 280X or really just a 280 should have an edge over the 760. I actually just built an mATX rig with a 760 Striker which clocked at 1300 is definitely good enough for occasional fun at this moment in time but for a main build you want to get a couple of years gaming out of i'd see if you could squeeze something just a little more.

JR

Yes agreed on your point. Something that didn't cross my mind on the dual channel. I was thinking for saving money and future I would upgrade to another 8GB at some point.

I think I'm set on that 240 Air as you can hide the PSU, Hard Drives and SSD on the other side. I would like to have a clean build and will go down the route of using sleeved cables. The 350D is also a nice looking case but the window will expose the PSU and the Hard Drives.

Graphics wise I've never looked at AMD. So if I were to look at a R9 280X these are in line with the GTX 770? There is a bit of a difference in price.
My knowledge isn't great on AMD but would the XFX Radeon R9 280X Black Edition 3072MB be a good card? (Found a offer that come with a free 60GB SSD) I presume it would last for 3/4 years to the current standard of gaming and if I could stretch my budget to an R9 290X is even better.
I will be gaming in 1080p I have a Samsung P2270HD which is old but still will do the job.

I presume that there isn't much difference between to the two motherboard and I'm not going to notice any performance issue. The reason I've gone for either of these motherboards are that they seem the best for audio at that price range.
 
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I'm looking at a 240 air myself :)

It looks to be a great little case. I had been looking at the Bitfenix Prodigy or the Phenom but then saw the 240 Air.

Waiting to see some real builds, see what graphic cards they will fit in there and the temps.

Do you already have a current system or buying all from new?
 
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