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[LegionAgent]

Hey guys, I'm thinking of buying one of this coolers for my CPU before I overclock it. Which one would you recommend?

Coolermaster Seidon

Thermaltake Water 3.0 Performer

Corsair Hydro Series H55

Anyone?

 

[RamaTheVoice]

Hey guys, I'm thinking of buying one of this coolers for my CPU before I overclock it. Which one would you recommend?

Coolermaster Seidon

Thermaltake Water 3.0 Performer

Corsair Hydro Series H55

Based on what I've read I'd go with the CM or the Thermaltake. If you want to go with Corsair maybe consider an H75/H80i rather than an H55 (not so great for OC it turns out). Or if your case supports it go full on 240mm with something like an Antec Kuhler or an H100i/H110.

E: I wasted so much time looking at 240mm liquid coolers just to realize that the Fractal Define R5 makes them completely impractical. Either you mount them on the top, which means you remove part of the top panel (which has no dust filter, so you're essentially leaving a big, dust-sucking hole in the top of your case, not to mention completely negating the soundproofing) or you have to mount them in front, which not only fucks with airflow but means you have to remove the HDD cages.

Welp, now I'm seriously considering building a new PC right now instead of next year. Here's my idea:

Case: Fractal Define R5
MB: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI
CPU: i5 6600K
Cooler: Antec Kuhler H1200 (I've heard good things, any advice?) CM Nepton 140XL
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V 2x8Gb DDR4-3000Mhz

Gonna scavenge the PSU (Corsair CS750M 80+ Gold), SSD (Samsung 500Gb 850 EVO), HDDs and GTX 980 from my current build, then sell the 980 and get a 1070 once they hit the 400€ mark.

I'm looking at a 652€ build. What do you think, PCGAF?

E: looking to game at 1440p downsampled (1080p60 monitor) but definitely upgrading to a WQHD monitor some time this year.

No love?

 

[Joco]

Welp sure enough, even after a completely new install of Windows on a new SSD, still getting the blue screen of death when playing a game. I guess I should have assumed that this wouldn't fix it.

*sigh* time for more troubleshooting

Edit: Getting irql not less or equal and memory management errors (again). Bad motherboard maybe?

I've updated everything I can think of with no luck.

 

[Daante]

Looked quickly at the reviews for the new
Intel 6 core cpus.

Make no senaste imo to go x99 compared to Skylake.

6700k and gtx 1080 for me this summer!

 

[LegionAgent]

Thanks, also, for OC purposes, would you guys go for normal cooling or water cooling? I ask this because I'm a little worried about the maintenance aspects of water cooling, given that it would be my first time buying one. What do you guys think? Also, the air flow on my city is not the best, meaning that not much air flows in or out of my apartment normally.

 

[RamaTheVoice]

Thanks, also, for OC purposes, would you guys go for normal cooling or water cooling? I ask this because I'm a little worried about the maintenance aspects of water cooling, given that it would be my first time buying one. What do you guys think? Also, the air flow on my city is not the best, meaning that not much air flows in or out of my apartment normally.

What's your setup? Really high-end WC (custom-loop stuff) will get you the best OC performance, but if you're not looking to push your CPU too hard something like the Noctua NH-D15 will be just as good (though much heavier on your MB) as "lower-end" liquid coolers. The main advantage of WC is that it'll bring your CPU temps back down much quicker when idling, which should prolong your CPU's life.

If your apartment doesn't have good airflow just make sure your case does, IMO.

 

[Salsa]

I have a weird question

but its about a laptop, kinda, tho just in general too I guess

dunno where else to post it and it doesnt seem thread worthy. its mostly software related I gather

my screen on this old laptop is cracked in several prices

I can still get use from it tho

so here's the question:

is there any software at all to be able to move the image?

as in, put the whole of what's displayed on the laptop screen on a smaller "box" on a certain part of the screen? so I can avoid the cracks obscuring part of the image.

it sounds really silly, but I do wonder. it'd make shit easier for sure

 

[ISee]

Looked quickly at the reviews for the new
Intel 6 core cpus.

Make no senaste imo to go x99 compared to Skylake.

6700k and gtx 1080 for me this summer!

(6700k usere here)
Depending on your system, for people with SLI/Crossfire setups the 40 PCI-E lanes really seem to help in some games. Granted SLI/Crossfire is normally something for enthusiasts, but so is the boradwell-e series. The rest of us should get very good performance with 6600ks/6700ks.

 

[Joco]

If someone could advise me on what to do next I would GREATLY appreciate it. Latest blue screen dumps.

http://imgur.com/a/8c9W2

Have tried doing a new install of Windows, changed the RAM, nothing so far has worked. As I said before, could this be motherboard related?

 

[RamaTheVoice]

If someone could advise me on what to do next I would GREATLY appreciate it. Latest blue screen dumps.

http://imgur.com/a/8c9W2

Have tried doing a new install of Windows, changed the RAM, nothing so far has worked. As I said before, could this be motherboard related?

Have you tried running Who Crashed? It was pretty useful in helping me identify the actual culprit last time I was having BSODs. I'm no good with dumps, sorry :/

 

[ISee]

Welp sure enough, even after a completely new install of Windows on a new SSD, still getting the blue screen of death when playing a game. I guess I should have assumed that this wouldn't fix it.

*sigh* time for more troubleshooting

Edit: Getting irql not less or equal and memory management errors (again). Bad motherboard maybe?

I've updated everything I can think of with no luck.

Same error even after a fresh windows installation? irql_not_less_or_equal messages often indicate that something is wrong with you registries or drivers.

Please check if you really installed the correct mobo drivers, also uninstalling (removing) any new kind of peripherals (like expansion cards, sound cards etc.) can help to identify the problem.

Try to boot your windows into safe mode and start something like Blueescreen view to read you dumb files (crash summaries after each blue screen of death). This should give you a better idea what's wrong with your drivers.

There are also automated solutions to clean identify faulty drivers/ broken registry entries, but I never used them so no idea whats good.

edit
IRQL not less or equal repair kit Could work, use on own risk.


edit 2:
I still think its something with your drivers. You can also try this, but pls read before using., even some tools (dvd player software, iso mounting software, burning tools etc.) can cause this kind of problems.

 

[LegionAgent]

What's your setup? Really high-end WC (custom-loop stuff) will get you the best OC performance, but if you're not looking to push your CPU too hard something like the Noctua NH-D15 will be just as good (though much heavier on your MB) as "lower-end" liquid coolers. The main advantage of WC is that it'll bring your CPU temps back down much quicker when idling, which should prolong your CPU's life.

If your apartment doesn't have good airflow just make sure your case does, IMO.

I'm looking for something simple, that's why I was looking between the Corsair, Coolermaster and Thermaltake watercoolers. As long as I can just install it and make it work without overly complicated wiring and connecting of tubes and what not, I'll be fine.

 

[Vuze]

Welp sure enough, even after a completely new install of Windows on a new SSD, still getting the blue screen of death when playing a game. I guess I should have assumed that this wouldn't fix it.

*sigh* time for more troubleshooting

Edit: Getting irql not less or equal and memory management errors (again). Bad motherboard maybe?

I've updated everything I can think of with no luck.

I think I missed your recent posts but did you try replacing the PSU yet?
This just sounds so awfully similar to the situation I had, I can't help it.

If a new PSU didn't help, I'm out of ideas as well. These generic BSODs are a pain.

 

[LilJoka]

Welp sure enough, even after a completely new install of Windows on a new SSD, still getting the blue screen of death when playing a game. I guess I should have assumed that this wouldn't fix it.

*sigh* time for more troubleshooting

Edit: Getting irql not less or equal and memory management errors (again). Bad motherboard maybe?

I've updated everything I can think of with no luck.

List every driver and software you installed after installing windows.

Do BSOD occur only when gaming?
You were able to rule out the PSU/game by testing with unigene heaven? You could try unigene heaven and prime95 stressing 50% of your CPU cores.

Are you running ram at XMP frequency? Or stock?

 

[ISee]

I have a weird question

but its about a laptop, kinda, tho just in general too I guess

dunno where else to post it and it doesnt seem thread worthy. its mostly software related I gather

my screen on this old laptop is cracked in several prices

I can still get use from it tho

so here's the question:

is there any software at all to be able to move the image?

as in, put the whole of what's displayed on the laptop screen on a smaller "box" on a certain part of the screen? so I can avoid the cracks obscuring part of the image.

it sounds really silly, but I do wonder. it'd make shit easier for sure

This may sound stupid but just don't put your programs/games in fullscreen and use the window mode and just move the windowed area to the good part of your screen. It's very obvious how to do this with most programs like word or your internet browser. It can be a bit more tricky with games. You need to select a resolution that is lower than your native screen resolution and than enable the windowed option in the games settings or press alt+enter while in the game (should work in most cases).

 

[Daante]

(6700k usere here)
Depending on your system, for people with SLI/Crossfire setups the 40 PCI-E lanes really seem to help in some games. Granted SLI/Crossfire is normally something for enthusiasts, but so is the boradwell-e series. The rest of us should get very good performance with 6600ks/6700ks.

Yes agree 110%, although i have never been a SLI/Crossfire user and i hardly believe i ever will be.

 

[Armadilo]

Budget : $300 to 400

Use: stream console games on twitch (wii/ps4) and video editing if possible

Deadline: waiting until i find something

 

[RamaTheVoice]

As a means of saving some money, does anyone have any experience with the cheap Windows 10 OEM keys sold on websites such as Kinguin? I may not be able to transfer my current license to a new computer and would rather avoid having to spend an extra 120€.

 

[ISee]

As a means of saving some money, does anyone have any experience with the cheap Windows 10 OEM keys sold on websites such as Kinguin? I may not be able to transfer my current license to a new computer and would rather avoid having to spend an extra 120€.

Normally there is no downside in using an OEM license, I did this for windows XP and 7 a couple of years ago.

But you can use your current win7/8/8.1 key to register a new windows 10 installation (even on a brand new machine) as long as you took advantage of Microsofts free upgrade offer.

 

[Joco]

Have you tried running Who Crashed? It was pretty useful in helping me identify the actual culprit last time I was having BSODs. I'm no good with dumps, sorry :/

I have tried running WhoCrashed, it seems to indicate something's wrong with a driver incompatibility issue or something with the registry. Which unfortunately I don't know a whole lot about.

Same error even after a fresh windows installation? irql_not_less_or_equal messages often indicate that something is wrong with you registries or drivers.

Please check if you really installed the correct mobo drivers, also uninstalling (removing) any new kind of peripherals (like expansion cards, sound cards etc.) can help to identify the problem.

Try to boot your windows into safe mode and start something like Blueescreen view to read you dumb files (crash summaries after each blue screen of death). This should give you a better idea what's wrong with your drivers.

There are also automated solutions to clean identify faulty drivers/ broken registry entries, but I never used them so no idea whats good.

edit
IRQL not less or equal repair kit Could work, use on own risk.


edit 2:
I still think its something with your drivers. You can also try this, but pls read before using., even some tools (dvd player software, iso mounting software, burning tools etc.) can cause this kind of problems.

I went to the ASROCK site and downloaded their tool for detecting what updates you need. I updated everything they had for my motherboard but the errors still persist. Also hesitant to use a registry/driver repair tool as it seemed to make the errors more frequent in occurrence the last time I tried something similar.

I think I missed your recent posts but did you try replacing the PSU yet?
This just sounds so awfully similar to the situation I had, I can't help it.

If a new PSU didn't help, I'm out of ideas as well. These generic BSODs are a pain.

I said fuck it tonight and ordered a different motherboard and PSU. If changing both of those out doesn't work I can pretty much eliminate a hardware issue.

List every driver and software you installed after installing windows.

Do BSOD occur only when gaming?
You were able to rule out the PSU/game by testing with unigene heaven? You could try unigene heaven and prime95 stressing 50% of your CPU cores.

Are you running ram at XMP frequency? Or stock?

Well this isn't the most specific but just yesterday I:
-did a fresh installation of Windows 10 on a new SSD (Samsung 850 Evo)
-downloaded Nvidia Geforce experience for my EVGA 970 - downloaded latest driver, currently on v368.22
-run Windows update to get everything up to date for the os
-download the latest Asrock drivers for my motherboard (Asrock Fatality Z170 itx)
-Then proceed to download a few programs like Google Chrome, League of Legends, Battle.net and Overwatch, Steam client, and Malwarebytes.

BSODs seem more likely to occur when gaming but I have gotten crashes on the desktop as well or when in browser.

Have not tried running Unigine's Heaven or prime95, I will do that.

Don't really know about running RAM at XMP frequency (sorry I'm a noob), so I'm assuming stock?

Thanks for all the replies guys, and sorry if I've been flooding the thread with questions for help. Just been really frustrated by this the past couple of weeks. Thanks again.

Edit: Huh, downloaded Unigine's Heaven but got an error message saying the program could not start because MSVCP100.dll is missing. Deleted the program, downloaded again, same message. Related to the bsod maybe or something completely different?

 

[ISee]

Edit: Huh, downloaded Unigine's Heaven but got an error message saying the program could not start because MSVCP100.dll is missing. Deleted the program, downloaded again, same message. Related to the bsod maybe or something completely different?

MSVCP100.dll is part of microsofts c runtime library and is essential for you system to work probably so it could be the problem.

I'd try downloading Visual C++ Redistributable maybe this will solve the problem.

You can also try to download the missing dll, copy it to your windows/system folder and than register it manually.
(There are some guides out there how to do it exactly)

edit: And something messed up the dll in the first place. Could still be something driver related but I'd also recommend to search your other hard drives for maleware/a virus with something better than a freeware tool ( Malwarebytes seems to be okay, still going with a proper (and good) licensed programm is always recommended)

 

[ashbash159]

Looks like I'll be getting my GTX 1080 FE (shut up, I know) this afternoon!

I currently have an i5 3570K. How will I be able to tell when a game is being bottlenecked by my CPU, and would it be worth upgrading when the new CPUs come out later this year?

P.S. When are the new CPUs coming out?

 

[Vuze]

Looks like I'll be getting my GTX 1080 FE (shut up, I know) this afternoon!

I currently have an i5 3570K. How will I be able to tell when a game is being bottlenecked by my CPU, and would it be worth upgrading when the new CPUs come out later this year?

P.S. When are the new CPUs coming out?

CPU is at 100% usage, GPU is <100% usage = CPU is bottlenecking

 

[ValfarHL]

CPU is at 100% usage, GPU is <100% usage = CPU is bottlenecking

Does there exist a good benchmark to measure this?

 

[ISee]

Looks like I'll be getting my GTX 1080 FE (shut up, I know) this afternoon!

I currently have an i5 3570K. How will I be able to tell when a game is being bottlenecked by my CPU, and would it be worth upgrading when the new CPUs come out later this year?

P.S. When are the new CPUs coming out?

Upgrading your cpu is a great idea, especially for the 1080 because even an overlcoked 3570k will be bottlenecking you in most games. My 3570k was even bottlenecking my 980 and going for the new skylake architecture boosted my performance significantly in most games.

Kabylake and Zen should come out this fall/winter. We have no idea about Zens performance and everything is pure speculation atm, but it could be become the new king in the price per performance category.
Intels skylake successor kabylake will be around ~5% faster than skylake (according to rumors) and offer some other 'minor' improvements like nativ usb 3.1 support (skylake motherboards use third party chips for that), better integrated gpus and some other stuff. Nothing mind blowing afaik.

 

[RamaTheVoice]

Upgrading your cpu is a great idea, especially for the 1080 because even an overlcoked 3570k will be bottlenecking you in most games. My 3570k was even bottlenecking my 980 and going for the new skylake architecture boosted my performance significantly in most games.

Kabylake and Zen should come out this fall/winter. We have no idea about Zens performance and everything is pure speculation atm, but it could be become the new king in the price per performance category.
Intels skylake successor kabylake will be around ~5% faster than skylake (according to rumors) and offer some other 'minor' improvements like nativ usb 3.1 support (skylake motherboards use third party chips for that), better integrated gpus and some other stuff. Nothing mind blowing afaik.

Goddamn it's about time I ugrade then. I'm still running an i7 875K so the gains from upgrading to a 6600K on my GTX 980 should be quite significant.

 

[ashbash159]

I might get a 6600K after seeing how my 1080 performs on my 3570K later today. Sounds like the new CPUs are months and months away.

Can anyone explain the differences between the motherboards in the recommended builds in the OP?

 

[Jijidasu]

So guys, I've got a rough build in place using a 6700k and a new 1080. But now I see the new e-broadwell line. How would you pitch a 6800k against a 6700k? Seems to be a roughly $140 difference in Japan.

 

[ISee]

I might get a 6600K after seeing how my 1080 performs on my 3570K later today. Sounds like the new CPUs are months and months away.

Can anyone explain the differences between the motherboards in the recommended builds in the OP?

B150 low level entry stuff, no OC and often enough doesn't feature XMP for ram.
H170 mid tier stuff, no OC features, a bit less pcie and high-speed IO lanes (compared to the z170 boards) but offer enough stuff for most people. Not recommended for K processors.
Z170 high tier stuff, offers the ability to overclock the k series. Performance wise all z170 boards are more or less on the same level but the equipment varies (like soundchips, sli support, number of usb ports, wi-fi etc.).

Goddamn it's about time I ugrade then. I'm still running an i7 875K so the gains from upgrading to a 6600K on my GTX 980 should be quite significant.

You could compare your performance yourself if you own the Witcher 3.
Settings were: 1080p, no hairworks, everything on 'ultra' but shadows (set to high). Location: Hierarch Square, Novigrad
edit: shadows are/were set to high because on my 3570k fps went below 60 too often with shadows on v.high.

3570k (4.3ghz, 16gb ddr3 2400mhz, overclocked 980)
6700k (4.3ghz, 16gb ddr4 3000mhz, overclocked 980)

So guys, I've got a rough build in place using a 6700k and a new 1080. But now I see the new e-broadwell line. How would you pitch a 6800k against a 6700k? Seems to be a roughly $140 difference in Japan.

Hard to make a recommendation to people with high end gear (or planing for high end gear). In most current gaming scenarios the 6700k seems to be the the better solution because of it's higher clockspeed as multi threading still isn't as good as it should be. Still this could change in the future but even then the 6700k should/could be able to give you enough power.
Bringing the 6800k up to 4,4ghz seems to be hard, often unstable and only doable with good water-cooling (according to some reviews). 4.0 ghz seems to be doable but still heat management needs to be good (water cooling recommended). For comparison: 4.5 ghz are easily done with most 6700ks and good air-cooling.

It's a bit different for people with sli systems as the additional pci-e lanes seem to help here (28 lanes for the 6800k, 40lanes for the 6850k, 'just' 16 lanes for the 6700k).

If you really want to you can go for the 6800k, if you don't mind the 140 premium price point. It's a very good multi thread CPU. Is it necessary or help in gaming situations on 1xgpu setups? Currently no but of course the 6800k could be more 'future-proof' (not that Pc futre-proofing exists, it's more a delaying the inevitable).

 

[RamaTheVoice]

You could compare your performance yourself if you own the Witcher 3.
Settings were: 1080p, no hairworks, everything on 'ultra' but shadows (set to high). Location: Hierarch Square, Novigrad
edit: shadows are/were set to high because on my 3570k fps went below 60 too often with shadows on v.high.

3570k (4.3ghz, 16gb ddr3 2400mhz, overclocked 980)
6700k (4.3ghz, 16gb ddr4 3000mhz, overclocked 980)

Thanks, I do own the Witcher 3 but... I haven't gotten to Novigrad yet ^^

What's performance like on the 3570K then?

E: I is blind, scuze me.

 

[ISee]

Thanks, I do own the Witcher 3 but... I haven't gotten to Novigrad yet ^^

What's performance like on the 3570K then?

64fps you can find it in the upper right corner on the screenshot.

 

[RamaTheVoice]

64fps you can find it in the upper right corner on the screenshot.

Sorry about that. Ok, so upgrading from my current rig should be quite an experience then ^^

 

[AndyMoogle]

Does there exist a good benchmark to measure this?

Total War: Warhammer.

 

[RamaTheVoice]

Total War: Warhammer.

Maybe Catzilla, with the physics?

 

[AndyMoogle]

Maybe Catzilla, with the physics?

It's kind of pointless to use anything but a game you actually want to play to see if your CPU bottlenecks your GPU. Use MSI Afterburner and see if your GPU is far below 100% while one or more cores uses 100%. Buying a new CPU because it might be fully used in a non-game benchmark is kind of stupid.

If the 3750k isn't overclocked, then it most definitely will bottleneck a GTX1080 in some games. Even with a decent OC it will probably be a slight bottleneck.

 

[RamaTheVoice]

It's kind of pointless to use anything but a game you actually want to play to see if your CPU bottlenecks your GPU. Use MSI Afterburner and see if your GPU is far below 100% while one or more cores uses 100%. Buying a new CPU because it might be fully used in a non-game benchmark is kind of stupid.

Good point.

Does there exist a good benchmark to measure this?

So what do you want to play?

 

[haloxk9]

Hey guys, I'm wanting to build a PC for the first time. I have a complete build planned out but I have a lot of lengthy questions to ask about it. Where is the best place for me to get help with that?

 

[AndyMoogle]

Hey guys, I'm wanting to build a PC for the first time. I have a complete build planned out but I have a lot of lengthy questions to ask about it. Where is the best place for me to get help with that?

In this thread? Getting help with your PC build is what this thread is about after all.

 

[RamaTheVoice]

Hey guys, I'm wanting to build a PC for the first time. I have a complete build planned out but I have a lot of lengthy questions to ask about it. Where is the best place for me to get help with that?

I kinda think that's exactly what this thread is for

Fire away (and don't forget to post your planned build).

 

[DryvBy]

I just went from an i5-2500 to an i7-6700k. I've upgraded computers since the mid 90s with my parent's business so I'm not new to this. However, this new build is giving me so many problems. I'll just list them as bullet points:

**First off, the motherboard upgrade is a Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 and 16GB of Corsair Vengeance LPX (2x8GB). I also have an nVidia 670.**

**Problem One**
-Installing Windows 8.1 and 10 was giving me a "Whea_Unrecoverable_Error" BSOD.
-Reset Windows 10 after it quit booting altogether. I reset BIOS and reconfigured it.
-Windows would randomly boot but typically after waiting a bit. While in Windows, it never BSOD. Only on boot.
-I figured this problem out as being my CPU fan, a Cooler Master V8, is probably too heavy for the board. I flipped the case to the side where the fan is upright and it boots every time. So this brings me to the new problem.

**Problem Two**
-While playing any game like Overwatch, which ran perfectly fine on my 2500, runs smooth for about 30 seconds then drastically drops to around 30fps then to around 15-20 (lowest I saw was 8). Several other games are doing this as well.
-It's not overheating or pushing any load onto the CPU according to task manager (which I kept open), CPU-Z, or GPU-Z. Everything was running at appropriate heat levels.

So with this information, I'm assuming the CPU went bad or the motherboard is busted, or since this stuff is only 3 days old, something wasn't working in the first place. I ordered a new CPU fan (Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO).

-------------------------------------
Do you guys think it's the CPU or the motherboard or possibly the PSU (which, again, was running fine with my 2500)?

Update on this: just formatted and reinstalled again. Same issues. Crashed overnight with that same BSOD error which I'm assuming is the CPU.

Anyone have any idea?

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

What's generally the best time to buy PC parts? Black Friday?

I'm way past overdue for an upgrade, but it looks like I'll have to swap practically everything out.

 

[AndyMoogle]

Update on this: just formatted and reinstalled again. Same issues. Crashed overnight with that same BSOD error which I'm assuming is the CPU.

Anyone have any idea?

Have you updated the BIOS? (If there is an update that is)

 

[RamaTheVoice]

Update on this: just formatted and reinstalled again. Same issues. Crashed overnight with that same BSOD error which I'm assuming is the CPU.

Anyone have any idea?

Also, Who Crashed?

 

[DryvBy]

Have you updated the BIOS? (If there is an update that is)

Updated already.

Also, Who Crashed?

If I don't see a driver causing the crashes with this program, can I assume it's hardware related?

 

[RamaTheVoice]

If I don't see a driver causing the crashes with this program, can I assume it's hardware related?

Good chance, yeah. Either that or it'll show a driver crash for the hardware that's malfunctioning. That's how I diagnosed my R9 290's RAM issue.

 

[Erekiddo]

It took me two days, across two PCs, to get one installed with a fresh copy of Windows 7 and the other to Windows 7 from 10.

Even with their newly released rollup pack, getting them installed with all the latest updates was a pain in the ass. I never want to see "checking for updates" ever again.

 

[GlamFM]

Final part.

IT`S DONE!

 

[MThanded]

So I'm trying to decide If I should stick with my itx mobo or go to micro-atx.

I'm a fan of minimal stuff. However, I can't find many itx cases I like. I'm actually interested in the manta nzxt however, at that case size I should probably just get a micro-atx board and a micro-atx case.

Bought all the parts but I am just unsure about what to do at this point.

CORSAIR 16GB 8X2 D4 3000 VGN C15 75
ASROCK Z170GAMING ITX/AC LGA1151 160-30 =130
CORSAIR CXM 650W 80+B SM PSU 70
CORSAIR CARBIDE AIR240 BLACK MATX 90
SAMSUNG E 500GB 850 EVO SSD 150
INTEL BOX INTEL CORE I7-6700K 309
Waiting on a 1070

If I were going to upgrade from the itx mobo here what would be an equivalent micro-atx. The board costs around 160(-30 dollars for the cpu bundle from micro center).

Also any advice for good looking micro-atx and itx cases. Thought I would like the air240 but I am not a fan of the aesthetics after placing it in my office.

 

[TheExodu5]

So I'm trying to decide If I should stick with my itx mobo or go to micro-atx.

I'm a fan of minimal stuff. However, I can't find many itx cases I like. I'm actually interested in the manta nzxt however, at that case size I should probably just get a micro-atx board and a micro-atx case.

What are you looking for in a case?

I feel like most of the interesting case designs these day are ITX.

But I went mATX in the end. I ended up getting a Phanteks Enthoo Evolv mATX. It's large for an mATX case, but it's hands down the best case I've ever worked with, in terms of design, building ease, and construction. They have a cheaper ITX design for it as well that's really nice, though it's steel panels rather than aluminium.

Having built systems using Corsair, Cooler Master, Silverstone, and Lian-Li, I don't see myself going with anything other than Phanteks in the future. I feel like they're currently offering the best blend of design, inginuity, and price. Very impressed with them.

 

[MThanded]

What are you looking for in a case?

I feel like most of the interesting case designs these day are ITX.

But I went mATX in the end. I ended up getting a Phanteks Enthoo Evolv mATX. It's large for an mATX case, but it's hands down the best case I've ever worked with, in terms of design, building ease, and construction. They have a cheaper ITX design for it as well that's really nice, though it's steel panels rather than aluminium.

Having built systems using Corsair, Cooler Master, Silverstone, and Lian-Li, I don't see myself going with anything other than Phanteks in the future. I feel like they're currently offering the best blend of design, inginuity, and price. Very impressed with them.

I will look into Phanteks. Thanks for the heads up.

I'll have to order the case online. Doesn't seem like microcenter carries it.