FIRST BUILD! Fan positioning, GPU design and OC help for micro ATX please? (Core V21 case)

[jescobar]

Hi everyone!

I've been slowly been caught up into learning about this whole PC building world in the past 2 years, sold my PS4 and have been saving up money to have my very own build and hopefully will be able to start it by the end of the year, it will be mainly used for gaming and normal everyday stuff (web browsing, MS Office, etc).

Anyway, I might be able to study abroad a masters degree in the next 3 years, so that made me check some Micro ATX and Mini ITX parts and prepare a couple of builds on PCPartpicker, I've settled with using a Core V21 as my case due to all its features in a Cube Mini Tower form factor, meaning I might be able to bring it in a carry on bag (22x13.5x12" at least) or in the center of one of my main luggage (in that case I will remove the HDD, RAM and CPU tower Cooler to avoid damage).

This would be the parts that I aim to get:

• 
  ■ CASE: Thermaltake Core V21
  = I leave you with Thermaltake's site if you guys are curious about this beautiful cube case:
  http://www.thermaltake.com/Chassis/Cube_Case_/Core/C_00002559/Core_V21/design.htm
  ■ CPU: i5 6600K / Kaby Lake i5 K / AMD Zen
  = Depends on sales and release dates
  ■ CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Macho Rev. B
  = Best bang for my buck for ~$50
  ■ MOBO: MSI Z170M Mortar / Z270 micro ATX / AM4 micro ATX
  = Depends on sales and CPU
  ■ RAM: 1x 16 GB Kingston Fury (CAS 14, 2133 Mhz)
  = More than enough for gaming
  ■ STORAGE: One 240 GB SSD (MyDigitalSSD) + One 3 TB HDD (Hitachi/HGSM)
  = The SSD has the best speeds at its price range and Hitachi have less failure rate (right?)
  ■ GPU: RX 490 or RX 480
  = Depending on the 490 price and release date
  ■ PSU: EVGA SuperNova 750 GQ (80+ Gold)
  = Future proofing, I might Crossfire in 3-4 years and I would like to learn to overclock, so I prefer the extra 100W just to be safe

QUESTION 1: IS THE FAN POSITION CORRECT?
The V21 comes with a 200mm fan on the front and I will have five 120mm fans, so here's the fan position that I've figured out, red being exhaust and blue being intake, setting up the clear panel at the top of the case:

I think this is quite optimal to have a positive air pressure (which is what I aim for), my main doubt is if it's worth to move a fan to the bottom of the case since it's not even below the GPU and that's the space that I will use for cable management, pretty much like this:

QUESTION 2: WHICH GPU DESIGN?
I want to get an AOC 1080p144hz monitor with Freesync since G-Sync is way too damn expensive, so I will be team Red definitely on my GPU. That said, either if I go with the 480 or the upcoming 490 I want to know if I would need to get a reference blower design or if it will be ok to get a dual or triple fan 3rd party card, the latter are way more overclockable but since this is a small form factor case I don't know if it's prudent to...

QUESTION 3: IS IT OK TO OVERCLOCK IN THIS?
I think this case is amazing, giving me up to 3 HDD and 3 SSD positions, with tons of fans combinations too, allowing me to get tall CPU air coolers and micro ATX motherboards and up to 2 GPUs... that said, would it be viable to overclock the CPU and GPU? I think I'm ok with the CPU with that beautiful 6 pipe cooler, but as stated above the GPU might generate too much heat... specially if I decide in a couple of year to throw in a second GPU in Crossfire. And a as a last thought, should I consider overclocking ram too? I think it's not worth it for 1080p gaming.

To wrap this long post (hey I made an account to have the privilege to ask this awesome community, this had to be long right?), I just want to thank you all in advance since I have 0 practical knowledge as of right now, hopefully I wasn't too egocentric... it's just that I have become really passionate about this project.

Do you have any other advice for my build besides this 3 main questions? Please list it in the comments as food for thought/discussion

 

[Zerk2012]

Just about no you need to rethink everything.
1 With what you picked SLI is not going to happen.
2. Get the GS or G2 PSU the GQ has a rather bad fan curve for noise.
3. Best bang for the buck CPU cooler Cryorig H7.
4. Memory single 16GB no get a 2X8GB set.
5. The case actually has a larger footprint than some mATX cases.
6. I would never build with or recommend a MSI board unless you were paying me to I just don't trust them.

 

[jescobar]

Just about no you need to rethink everything.
1 With what you picked SLI is not going to happen.
2. Get the GS or G2 PSU the GQ has a rather bad fan curve for noise.
3. Best bang for the buck CPU cooler Cryorig H7.
4. Memory single 16GB no get a 2X8GB set.
5. The case actually has a larger footprint than some mATX cases.
6. I would never build with or recommend a MSI board unless you were paying me to I just don't trust them.

Thank you very much for providing your input! I would try to discuss all of this good points:

• 
  1. Yeah I was afraid of that... it's because 2 GPUs would generate way too much heat right?
  2. Well I read customer and professional reviews and even Jonny Guru has a lot of praise for the GQ line, but the newer GS and G2 are both more silent you're correct! In this case I went for the GQ to save some money TBH.
  3. You're right! The H7 is the budget king (more than the 212 evo), but I decided to throw in $20-25 extra and the best that I can get is the Macho rev.B which is almost on par with a Noctua DH-15.
  4. About this I read and checked some benchmarks that showed that dual channel ram sticks don't impact the actual framerate on games, so that's why I've decided to start populating each dimm with its maximum capacity!
  5. Well I've checked a lot of mATX cases and this one was one of the most compact designs that has all the features that I seek (dust filters, at least two 3.5" bays, good cooling and cable management, great cpu cooler and gpu compatibility). HOWEVER, thanks to you I've re-checked everything and the Corsair Air 240 seems to be a more compact option, but it is pricier though... and I lose cooler and gpu compatibility.
  6. This is interesting, it's the first anti-MSI opinion I've come across! I have an MSI laptop and recommended a friend an MSI Z97 Gaming 5 motherboard for his build and another laptop for a friend and we're all quite happy with our products. What's wrong with MSI mobos? I checked the reliability reports and they are in the Top 5 most reliable in the last 3 years and they come with tons of features, other than that I lean towards Gigabyte and Asus (I don't find AsRock very newbie friendly).

Pardon me for insisting, but about my main questions:
Q1: If I get a Core V21, do you agree with that fan placement? (ignoring the bottom positions too)
Q2: Do I have to buy a blower design GPU or I'll be fine with dual/triple fans taking fresh aire from the side fans?
Q3: With all those fans in it, do you think I will be able to overclock my CPU and/or GPU?