Budget Micro ATX PC Build

[TylerHartman]

Here's a Budget PC Build I'm putting together, Need some advise on a GPU

Here's some stuff I had laying around ($0 Cost)
-Intel Core i5 2500K ($0.00)
-Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H ($0.00)
-1TB Western Digital Blue drive ($0.00)
-Windows 7 64Bit Pro ($0.00)
-Carbide Series Air 240 Arctic White High Airflow MicroATX $94.37
-Corsair CX Series 600 Watt Power Supply CX600M 68.97
-Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) 85.99


My next buy is GPU I'm willing to spend a Penny on this being i've only spent $249.33 on everything so far. I'm goals are to run DSS (Deep Sky stacker) A very memory heavy program for my past experiences when using .Raw's, Some light games such as dirt 3, Minecraft, GTA5 and maybe get my feet wet with more serious games in time, then my normal low powered Arduino, SDR Sharp.. apps in that nature along with driving two 1920X1080 21.5 LCD's.

I was almost thinking of picking up a GTX960 or a r9 290 but figured i'd get some advice before making the next step

 

[Ken g6]

For a video card, it looks like maybe you should look at the used market. It looks like you're in the right neighborhood, though, with the 960 - it's similar to a 7970:

Similar options to the 7950/7970 would be R9 280, 285, 280X, or 380. Any modern card should be able to drive 2 1080P monitors.

But anyone lurking has a good recommend 1155 Micro ATX Board i'd love to hear them

That could be a problem. 1155 boards are going out of stock, as they're quite old at this point. Are you using a full ATX case now? What's wrong with continuing to do so?

 

[TylerHartman]

I've Been looking at Benchmarks and really torn on Cards but i'm in the right zone. Thank you, as for the board I guess whatever money i'd spend on a new 1155 board I could put towards a new CPU/Motherboard/Ram in due time No this is a scratch build

 

[Yuriman]

Be aware that your GPU is limited to 290mm, which is a hair over 11.5". Most Radeon 290's will be pushing the limits of that, or longer.

 

[Charlie98]

1155 mobos are ancient history... I know from trying to find one even a year ago. Your best bet would be the used market if you insist, but there isn't really anything wrong with your current one. It may not be a huge OC'er (mine isn't) but it should get you a reasonable 4.1GHz or so. The only real problem I see is fitting your current ATX board in that mATX case...

I probably wouldn't bother with the 30GB SSD, just wait to upgrade to a 256GB.

 

[nk215]

Basically, you are only using the HDD and the CPU out of the stuffs that you have laying around.

From that spare parts, you are buying power supply, case, memory and a GPU with a potential purchase of a 1155 mother board. That’s a lot of stuffs you are buying just to reuse a few parts and live with an old socket.

If you can’t fit your Gigabyte in your new case, return the case and get an ATX one.
As for GPU, I don’t recommend the 960, it doesn’t have enough memory (2GB). Instead, I would look at a B-stock GTX970 for the same price ($255) – basically same price range for a 4GB 960. The 970 card will not bottle neck your next upgraded system in the next few years.

Don’t get me wrong, the 2GB 960 can do what you need right now but it’s not best bang for your buck. It will bottle neck your new setup.

 

[vailr]

There's a mATX Gigabyte Skylake board: GA-Z170M-D3H ($115 at Newegg):
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5489#ov
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128845

 

[TylerHartman]

I didn't see I got replies opps.. I 100% Agree with your guys judgement. only decided on the hardware because the Hard Drive, Motherboard, and CPU and win7 we're free to me so only made sense.. But now stepping back I regret my choice on the case. I do indeed love the look, But limited due to size. I guess a New intel based build is in my future