For a Micro ATX Build - Mid-Tower Case or Mini Case?

gumbob3

Respectable
Mar 5, 2016
410
0
1,810
Here is the build I am thinking about doing. Mid-Tower Case or a Mini Case? PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A10-7870K 3.9GHz Quad-Core Processor ($130.74 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus A88XM-A Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($70.94 @ Mac Mall)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Case: Xion XON-310_BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($22.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $347.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-11 10:16 EST-0500
 
Solution
Looks good, but the PSU could be changed.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A10-7870K 3.9GHz Quad-Core Processor ($130.74 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus A88XM-A Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($70.94 @ Mac Mall)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Case: Xion XON-310_BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($22.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $345.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and...

HonkyKong97

Reputable
Feb 7, 2016
256
0
4,960
Looks good, but the PSU could be changed.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A10-7870K 3.9GHz Quad-Core Processor ($130.74 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus A88XM-A Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($70.94 @ Mac Mall)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Case: Xion XON-310_BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($22.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $345.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-11 10:20 EST-0500
 
Solution
Your M-ATX motherboard is a subset of full ATX. It will fit in either a M-ATX case or a ATX case. mid-tower and other such descriptions are not very good.

FWIW
You buy a APU for the excellent integrated graphics.
But, there are no real good upgrades, particularly for a gamer.
If you install a superior discrete graphics card, you will have thrown away the big advantage of the APU.
Then, you are left with a relatively weak cpu. Most games depend on only a few fast cores.
The possible upgrades are to more cores, but few games will use more than 2-3 cores so 6+ cores are not very helpful.
Bottom line.....
What you get with a APU is what you will live with forever.