New case and motherboard needed after embarrassing accident.

[LunarNeedle]

Imagine this, five guys in a room building a budget computer with reject parts from other builds and cheap components all around. One guy says "Give me a motherboard standoff" and the other guys hand him a hard drive screw, unaware what damage that will cause. Speed loop three hours later when he realizes a small motherboard screwing mistake (or part mismatch) caused his GPU's ports to not be available. Speed loop to him desperately bending the case metal back with a metal cutter. Speed loop to him now having to buy a new case.

That's my condition. I had a relatively tight budget to fill in the gaps of my friends other parts. I bought an N200 and a Gigabyte B85M-HD3 to fill in the gaps. After building a decent quality PC for my girlfriend, I build this cheap but powerful monster with a i7-4770 and a HD7970 from a friends old build. But than the motherboard stripping happened. Now I'm running the nearly destroyed case and having to hold my 400$ GPU on SNES games and an old copy of Pirates Of The Caribbean.

So, I'm in the market for a new motherboard and have a lot more money to spend on these two components this time around. I could disassemble the PC and save the motherboard with god knows what, but I really feel I need quality components to go with the hardcore parts I have running the joint.

So, for my budget and parts. I have roughly 350$ to spend on this w/ taxes and shipping, but I can allocate a lot more money if need be. I'd prefer a nice looking computer to compliment my odd list of parts, so I've come here for advice.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/LunarNeedle/saved/z3LcCJ

CPU: i7-4770 (non-K)
Graphic: HIS AMD HD7970 (stock cooler)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 2x4 GB @ 1600mhz (black)
Storage: 1TB Seagate
SSD: A-Data XPG SX900 128GB
Power Supply: bequiet! Pure Power 600w

I have 350-400$ and I live in Canada near Toronto. I'd prefer keeping the build as nice looking as possible, but my cheap PSU might make things weird. For those who don't know the brand, the cabling is similar to Corsairs CX500, so it shows it's red and yellow through the braiding.

So OC3D forums, what should I do?

 

[deigima]

Perhaps this for motherboard?
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z87pro3

For case, only real requirement is form factor (to fit motherboard) and ability to fit components (eg will it fit the full length of gpu)

One of my favourite cases at the moment is the nzxt h440, and its at a pretty decent price point.

on the topic of keeping the build looking nice, your parts are making a bit of a rainbow already. i linked a black mobo so its not going to clash with either your blue ram, or red gpu.
if you chose h440 you will have to decide blue or red unless you go for the white one

Edit-
before getting any case look up reviews on it, if oc3d has reviewed it you're sure to decide whether you want it from watching that, TTL goes very indepth

 

[shambles1980]

Perhaps this for motherboard?
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z87pro3

For case, only real requirement is form factor (to fit motherboard) and ability to fit components (eg will it fit the full length of gpu)

One of my favourite cases at the moment is the nzxt h440, and its at a pretty decent price point.

on the topic of keeping the build looking nice, your parts are making a bit of a rainbow already. i linked a black mobo so its not going to clash with either your blue ram, or red gpu.
if you chose h440 you will have to decide blue or red unless you go for the white one

Edit-
before getting any case look up reviews on it, if oc3d has reviewed it you're sure to decide whether you want it from watching that, TTL goes very indepth

there was no TTl video on the Haf 922
and i didnt fully read the written review
kinda wish i had though

 

[LunarNeedle]

Perhaps this for motherboard?
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z87pro3

I'm from the great white north, so it appears to be a bit exorbitantly priced. Also, hasn't ASRock been considered a trash manufacturer for awhile with thin motherboards and poor support? I haven't been aware since the old ASRock hype with the 3570k. Haha.

(also, my RAM is indeed black! The generic colors are blue though, I got myself some black ones)

 

[deigima]

go for a asus z87 chipset mobo then? or gigabyte? whichever fits price and aesthetic. same chipset will mostly perform the same.