Considering building a new rig for my wife. Her biggest complaint with her current build is the bulky CoolerMaster HAF-X sitting under her desk, so I'm looking at a micro build for her. Some of her existing components I would like to use with the new build if possible - namely the Corsair AX-850 PSU, the EVGA GTX-980 reference card (with titan cooler), and hopefully the Corsair H90 CPU cooler - it's a 140mm fan/radiator, which restricted the choice in cases.
 
She currently uses a 23" 1920x1080 monitor, not a heavy gamer at all, but does use photoshop and video processing software.
Current rig is X79 Rampage IV Formula with an i7-3820k @ 4GHz, 16GB RAM @ 1600MHz, 180GB Intel 520 SSD for o/s, and a 2TB Caviar Black for data/media etc.
 
So here's what I'm considering - would appreciate any recommended changes (or a thumbs up if it's all good), or even advice to wait for next gen, change to 120mm radiator and different case etc. etc.:
 
CPU Cooling : Corsair H90 (140mm) [link] - already have it..
GPU : EVGA GTX-980 [link] - already have it..
PSU : Corsair AX-850 [link] - already have it..
Motherboard : EVGA Z97 Stinger Core3D micro-ITX [link]
Case : Thermaltake Core V1 Mini ITX cube [link] - one of the few that can take 140mm rad/fan, plus it's still very small compared to most mITX cases.
CPU : Intel i7-4790k [link]
Memory : 2 x 8GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 1600MHz (9-9-9-24) [link] - this model is on EVGA compatibility list.. 
 
Appreciate any thoughts.
 
edit: Corsair Obsidian 250D case [link] pretty nice too..

 
Thanks, I'm liking the looks of that 250D, although it's a little bigger than the Core V1, but not by much. The Core V1 has power button, USB etc. on the side which is a little unusual.. plus for where it would be placed here, that would be the wrong side lol.. so maybe the 250D will be the go.
 
Glad to hear the Z97 Stinger is doing well - don't see a lot of comments about it on the forums one way or the other.
 
I use Corsair Platinums on my own rig and know it to be very good ram, plus many of the other recommended ram in the 2x8GB range seem to be mostly out of stock. I could go Corsair XMS instead, about half the price.. or maybe Corsair Vengeance Pro 2133MHz [link] but it's not on the recommended list - I'm not sure how picky the Z97 Stinger is about ram that isn't on the recommended list. My wife's current mobo (Rampage IV Formula) is definitely picky. What ram do you use on your Stinger rig(s)? I'm looking at 2x8GB with minimum 1600MHz, but 2133MHz would be better obviously.. I think the Stinger can handle up to 2666MHz....
 

Nereus
 
Thanks, I'm liking the looks of that 250D, although it's a little bigger than the Core V1, but not by much. The Core V1 has power button, USB etc. on the side which is a little unusual.. plus for where it would be placed here, that would be the wrong side lol.. so maybe the 250D will be the go.
 
Glad to hear the Z97 Stinger is doing well - don't see a lot of comments about it on the forums one way or the other.
 
I use Corsair Platinums on my own rig and know it to be very good ram, plus many of the other recommended ram in the 2x8GB range seem to be mostly out of stock. I could go Corsair XMS instead, about half the price.. or maybe Corsair Vengeance Pro 2133MHz [link] but it's not on the recommended list - I'm not sure how picky the Z97 Stinger is about ram that isn't on the recommended list. My wife's current mobo (Rampage IV Formula) is definitely picky. What ram do you use on your Stinger rig(s)? I'm looking at 2x8GB with minimum 1600MHz, but 2133MHz would be better obviously.. I think the Stinger can handle up to 2666MHz....

 
I'm using the Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB 1866 CL9.  I think I got them for $65 on sale.  I had the Platinums before too, but honestly can't tell any real world difference between the two.  Benchmarks and overclocking yeah, but not much on the Z97 platform.  
 
You really only hear bad things, people never comment when the boards are doing well. Lol

 
Looked at the 380T but that's bigger than the 250D in all three dimensions, which in turn is bigger than the Core V1.. trying to go small as practicable.
 
Core VI : 10.9" x 10.2" x 12.4"
250D : 11.4" x 10.9" x 13.8"
380T : 14.0" x 11.5" x 15.5"
(height x width x depth)
 
Going with Z97 though.. was even wondering when and what the next gen is and if it's worth waiting for (EVGA don't have a X99 board in that mini size, ASRock are the only company that does).
 
It appears the Z97 isn't too picky about ram, so yeah, the Vengeance Pro or GSkill Tridents look good, thanks.
 
Just have to convince my Mrs that spending more money on a new build is to make her happy, not me...
 
Found some pics of the 250D with a 140mm radiator mounted up front.. there was room enough for push & pull fans on the radiator with room to spare, so I'd go that way, and maybe not even need any other fans in the case at all.
 

RainStryke
1600MHz RAM is like... 2009 stuff. You are paying out the butt for those corsair heatspreaders. I highly suggest these instead;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231589
 
The Corsair 250D and 380T are my favorite ITX cases.
 
Forgot to mention, because you are going ITX, you don't need to go just Z97, you can also find a Z87 board that will be basically the same thing... The main reason you want Z97 over Z87 is because of M.2 support and added broadwell support. The problem is, ITX doesn't have M.2 slots and broadwell is just a die drop of haswell, the new i7 5775C isn't going to be worth getting if you have a i7 4790K.

 
ASUS Maximus Impact and Z97I-Plus both have M.2 support.

Well if you do decide to get the stinger and go with m.2 you could always go flush bt and wifi dongles def has enough usb's. 

RainStryke

absoluteczech

RainStryke
1600MHz RAM is like... 2009 stuff. You are paying out the butt for those corsair heatspreaders. I highly suggest these instead;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231589
 
The Corsair 250D and 380T are my favorite ITX cases.
 
Forgot to mention, because you are going ITX, you don't need to go just Z97, you can also find a Z87 board that will be basically the same thing... The main reason you want Z97 over Z87 is because of M.2 support and added broadwell support. The problem is, ITX doesn't have M.2 slots and broadwell is just a die drop of haswell, the new i7 5775C isn't going to be worth getting if you have a i7 4790K.

 
ASUS Maximus Impact and Z97I-Plus both have M.2 support.

The Z97I does technically have a slot, but if you want to use it, you have to sacrifice your WiFi and BT 4.0 since they are all ready utilizing the slot for those features.

sorry my bad forgot to add that on the z97i-plus. personally i always disable the onboard wifi and bt controller anyways.

cool

 
Well hell... EVGA have removed both of the Z97 stinger boards from the site (Core3D and WiFi)... that's just brilliant.
 
Amazon only has used ones through resellers (same price as new though, lol), Newegg out of stock, blah blah. Perhaps this is fate telling me to wait (and maybe my Mrs too).
 
Btw, the Stinger WiFi had the M.2 based bluetooth and WiFi, the Core3D didn't have it at all I believe.
 
 
 
 

Since it is for the wife, compile a list of suitable cases and let her pick.
The case often mandates which parts would be best suited for thst particular build. You might want to include micro-atx cases also if portability not an issue.

 
Seems EVGA Z170 series motherboards coming out later this year, maybe August-September, and there's a Z170 Stinger mini included, so I will wait for that release.
 
New EVGA X99 micro coming out in July too (revision).
 
Check out this video with Jacob; [link].
 
Nice.
 
..damn, almost thinking of switching my own rig to a mini + Titan X instead of the X79 + 2 x 980-SC I'm running now (see sig).
 

 
Yeah might be (M2 for WiFi).
 

 
Just purchased a Z87 Stinger, thanks JLMS2010
 
My only concern was the audio quality, but reviews I've read indicate output is pretty good, so W( O)(o )T!!!
 

Nereus
 
Just purchased a Z87 Stinger, thanks JLMS2010
 
My only concern was the audio quality, but reviews I've read indicate output is pretty good, so W( O)(o )T!!!
 

You're welcome sir. I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I did. :)

so how's it running so far?