[SOLVED] Cheap setup with gtx 970?

[Ben-B]

I'm looking to upgrade my main pc with a 1070, and thought I'd try and create a budget gaming rig for my son with the 970. I've ordered a Kolink Satellite Plus case, looks like it needs either a particularly small micro atx (less than 18cm ,whereas most seem to be 24x24cm) or a mini atx motherboard.
Can anyone with good knowledge of the specs from when the 970 was newer figure out a cheap setup of motherboard, cpu and ram for me? I think I have a power supply that can be reused (that is, if it fits this case!)

 

[Aeacus]

GTX 970 came out when Intel released their Haswell family of CPUs. That would mean DDR3 system if you want to match GTX 970 release date with CPU's. Though, thing is that at current date, you'll get far better performance of the same amount of money as you'd get with Haswell system, e.g:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i3-8100 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($118.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - B360I GAMING PRO AC Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($93.91 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $307.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-03 14:26 EST-0500

Few words
Put in i3-8100 which is a bit better and much cheaper than i5-4590 (Haswell), CPU cooler is also included,
comparison: https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-4590-vs-Intel-Core-i3-8100/2604vs3942

For MoBo, put in mini-ITX board since as you said, you have concerns of micro-ATX MoBo not fitting to the case you ordered. And lastly, put in 2x 8GB 2666 Mhz RAM as well. 16GB of RAM is more than enough for gaming, even when using GTX 970.

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

Personally, before you spend money on that i3, I'd consider ryzen. Depending when you are doing this, I think AMD is announcing zen 2 at ces next week. Rumors online about a 6 core 12 thread ryzen 3 for about 99 bucks. I don't know if those are accurate, but depending on your timeline, it might be worth checking into. Because for 100, plus maybe another 60-80 for a decent board, you might be able to get that kind of performance.

If those rumors are even half true, then it's amazing that we are starting to get that performance level at those prices.

 

[Aeacus]

Personally, before you spend money on that i3, I'd consider ryzen. Depending when you are doing this, I think AMD is announcing zen 2 at ces next week. Rumors online about a 6 core 12 thread ryzen 3 for about 99 bucks. I don't know if those are accurate, but depending on your timeline, it might be worth checking into. Because for 100, plus maybe another 60-80 for a decent board, you might be able to get that kind of performance.

If those rumors are even half true, then it's amazing that we are starting to get that performance level at those prices.

That's speculation and this method works only if and IF OP is willing to wait unspecified time (could be 2 months, could be 6 months) to save what? 40 bucks? If there's any saving at all.

My take on all PC hardware is this: if you need something, buy what is currently available. Waiting something based on rumors spends a lot of time and may not be better deal at all.

 

[Ben-B]

Thanks for all the responses - very helpful and exactly what I was looking for! With the way the technology moves on it's definitely helpful to get advice on these things - I had no idea I could get an 8th generation i3 so inexpensively that would rival an older chip - I was fully expecting to get out of date used parts, but for this money I'd certainly consider a modern setup!
Any idea what the main differences are in the motherboards called B360i, B360-F, B360-G B360N etc?
I don't mind waiting to see what the new Ryzen is like too, would be silly to get it all just before a new release

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

I admit, I'm not up on all of the Intel boards. But if you are going Intel, I would not recommend going less than a 6 core i5. If what you are doing is gaming, what you might find is some newer games are starting to utilize multiple cores. I know there were some complaints with battlefield 1 for example. So that being said, I'd say if you can, get an i5, or a ryzen with at least 4 cores and 8 threads. Otherwise in a year or so, you might be needing to upgrade again.

 

[Aeacus]

Since all 4x MoBos (B360i, B360-F, B360-G, B360N) are B360 chipset, they differ mainly feature wise. E.g:

B360I (MSI B360I Gaming Pro AC) = mini-ITX MoBo with built-in wi-fi,
specs: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B360I-GAMING-PRO-AC
B360-F (Asus ROG STRIX B360-F GAMING) = standard ATX MoBo,
specs: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-B360-F-GAMING/
B360-G (Asus ROG STRIX B360-G GAMING) = micro-ATX MoBo,
specs: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-B360-G-GAMING/
B360N (Gigabyte B360N WIFI) = mini-ITX MoBo with built-in wifi,
specs: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B360N-WIFI-rev-10#kf

Because MoBo size plays a role for your case, standard ATX MoBo is too big for it. Even micro-ATX MoBo is too big for it since standard micro-ATX MoBo is 24.4cm x 24.4cm, while case supports MoBos up to 22.6cm x 18cm. So, mini-ITX MoBo (17cm x 17cm) would be only choice for that small cube case.

That narrows MoBo selection down quite a bit since not many mini-ITX MoBos out there with B360 chipset. I count only 5x MoBos,
first four, pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/hjNv6h,44BTwP,cRgzK8,26qhP6/
and 5th one as well, pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/CFKcCJ/gigabyte-b360n-aorus-gaming-wifi-mini-itx-lga1151-motherboard-b360n-aorus-gaming-wifi