Build for another friend. To beat Mac Mini

[renigadecrew]

Hey.
I friend wanted me to make him a custom build to beat the $800 Mac Mini. It couldn't go over $850. Is this build any better than the Mac Mini?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3BQyM
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3BQyM/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3BQyM/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus H81I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($76.79 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Value Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 4GB Superclocked ACX Video Card ($271.30 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DVD-E818AAT/BLK/B/GEN DVD/CD Drive ($18.60 @ NCIX US)
Total: $821.63
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-01 06:01 EDT-0400)

 

[juve9le]

Hello,

I made the following build

Keep in mind that the apple mini has 4GB ram and no GPU

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3BTzg
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3BTzg/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3BTzg/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($192.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 750GB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (White) Mini ITX Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $805.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-01 09:00 EDT-0400)

 

[renigadecrew]

Hello,

I made the following build

Keep in mind that the apple mini has 4GB ram and no GPU

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3BTzg
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3BTzg/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3BTzg/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($192.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 750GB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (White) Mini ITX Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $805.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-01 09:00 EDT-0400)

The point wasn't to make a new build, but to ask if my current build was good.

 

[Moees36]

Yes, Your build is pretty good but you could improve performance A LOT by tweaking a couple of thins. If I were you this is what I would do:


1. Chane the RAM to 8GB. 8GB is PLENTY of RAM even if your are video editing or gaming.
2. Change the CPU to a i5-4670K. You can now overclock!
3. Change the board to a mini ITX Z87 board. Although they are quite expensive however you could get some killer performance when overclocking.
4. Change the 760 to a EVGA GeForce GTX 750 ti 2GB. You will get way better performance than the Mac Mini and still be good at gaming. If you want you can even ditch a GPU and add the money saved to an i7-4770k ad get a cooler along with it like the Noctua L9-Hi. Since the i7-4770k and the i5-4670k have built in gpu's they can play games like bf4 on low and medium. But it is still BETTER than the Mac mini.