First time upgrade - could use a few pointers from you guys!

[Tweetwood__Mac]

Hi all, I need some guidance and figured this was the best place to come. My computer is quite a few years old, and so it needs beefing up a bit. I have recently got a new case and graphics card - AMD Radeon HD 7800 - but I would like everything else to be improved upon. So far, I have found a processor, some RAM, an SSD and a motherboard. I have (well, what I consider quite a decent budget), and what I have found so far has come to about £430.

Intel Core i7 i7-4790K CPU (Quad Core 4GHz, Socket H3 LGA-1150)

MSI Z97 Gaming 3 Intel LGA1150 Z97 ATX Motherboard (4x DDR3, 6x USB3.0, 6x USB2.0, GBE, LAN, HDMI, DVI, DP, VGA)

Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 Mhz CL9 XMP Performance Desktop Memory Kit Black

Crucial CT120M500SSD1 120GB M500 SATA 6Gb/s 2.5 Inch Internal Solid State Drive

Those are the bits I'm looking into so far, but of course any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Excuse any silly questions, but from what I can ascertain, all that hardware is compatible? Also, the motherboard I currently have is micro-ATX (ASRock G31M-GS R2.0). Sorry if you can't tell without seeing it, but would my case be able to house a normal ATX motherboard? And would I need anything additional? I bought a new power supply when I got the graphics card, but maybe a fan would be needed.

Apologies again for all the questions, but it's better to be safe, and there's only far Google can get you 😛. I'm more than happy to provide more information.

Thanks again -
Sean

 

[geofelt]

If your case is M-ATX, you will not be able to fit a full ATX motherboard.
Does your case have 4 or 7 rear slot openings?
If 4, you need a Z97 based M-ATX motherboard which might actually be a bit cheaper.

i7-4790K is a gem of a cpu. Since you have the budget, don't change it out.
The stock cooler will do the job, at least up to a point.
I might use a cm hyper212 cooler with a 120mm fan which will cool better and be quieter. They are not expensive.

Your ram is good, but that particular version has extra tall heat spreaders which are mostly marketing.
Look for the low profile version which may be cheaper. the specs are fine. Look at the G.skil ares low profile ram also.

I think 120gb for a ssd is a bit small today. Once a ssd approaches full, it will slow down and lose endurance.
Look for 240gb which seems to be at reasonable prices.
My preferred brands are Samsung and Intel. I think they are better quality.

 

[Tweetwood__Mac]

Thanks for the reply. My case has 7 openings. Is it worth getting another M-ATX board anyway? I take it the benefit of the full sized board is more slots.
I'll pick up the cooler as for the price, it's worth its weight in gold - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-120mm/dp/B0068OI7T8

I found the low profile variant for the same price, although that's just Amazon and I'd shop around. The G.Skill RAM (http://www.amazon.co.uk/G-Skill-Channel-9-10-9-28-Extreme-Profile/dp/B007OTFE24) sounds good, but can I ask what the difference is between that and the Corsair RAM, other than the G.Skill's slightly higher clock speed? I ask as there's quite a decent price difference, and they both have 5* reviews. Just wondered if the price hike was reflected in performance.

As for SSDs, how about one of these? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-250GB-Basic-Solid-State/dp/B00E3W1726/ref=sr_1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1416940654&sr=1-4&keywords=240gb+ssd

Thanks

 

[geofelt]

Full ATX is fine for the reasons you stated.
I like M-ATX because I have restricted space for a case and M-ATX cases can be smaller.
Functionally, ATX and M-ATX are the same. If you ever wanted to consider dual cards(which I would not generally recommend)
the larger ATX boards will have better separated graphics slots.

I have used that exact same G.skil ares ram before, and it is excellent.
Ram vendors have found that fancy heat sinks sells, so they can charge more.
1866 is a fine speed, I would not go higher.
Considering that it has the same lower cas number, costs less, and has higher speed, I think the G.skil you found is a no brainer choice.

The Samsung evo is as good as it gets. More expensive PRO versions are equivalent in performance but have longer endurance.
Evo might have a lifetime of updates of 10 years in a desktop environment. the pro 15.
It is a moot point because both will be long obsolete by then.

 

[Tweetwood__Mac]

The g.skill ram is a bit pricer, but it's only by £25 or so so it's ok. I'll be getting many of the components on Friday and the rest in the January sales. I reckon that's about all. Thanks for all your help.