mini itx ultimate gaming rig

[lost66]

hi all
I am now in the process of planning my first mini itx build and I am already suffering from information overflow

.GIGABYTE GA-Z170N-Gaming 5
.ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac
.MSI Z170I GAMING PRO AC
.ASUS Z170I PRO GAMING
.MAXIMUS VIII IMPACT

did I miss something.

first things first, I need a motherboard. but which one?

I will appreciate all the help you can give me and everyone else interested in following the build as is evolves.

once we have come to an agreement on what board to get, then we could move on to the next part of this project

thanx again (in advance) for your help

 

[DonkeyOatie]

I'll let you know in years. If the case is run at positive pressure and the window goes on the top it should be OK. The 3D printing class is supposed to be making some magnetized screens for us or you could modify a set from the bigger V21.

 

[Chayan4400]

I'll let you know in years. If the case is run at positive pressure and the window goes on the top it should be OK. The 3D printing class is supposed to be making some magnetized screens for us or you could modify a set from the bigger V21.

I don't think it will be possible to achieve positive pressure with the large meshed area on the side panels 🙁. Normally this wouldn't be that important, but here in Sri Lanka it is so dusty that my ATX case with a single AF120 (No where to plug in the second, still waiting on parts.) as intake gets clogged about once every 6 months.... Oh well, I guess it's back to the Node 304 for me. Shame though, the V1 looks like a very capable case, although the 304 isn't that bad too. I'm gonna stop there; I've already gone off topic enough 😀. Sorry!

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The 200mm fan on the front is screened.

 

[lost66]

this build is going places 😉
I see both of you have now gone with the ASRock Fatal1ty, would you stick to that?
I am leaning more to the Asus PRO GAMING after all we are using the Asus GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB STRIX

something to consider:
(a reply on another thread)

"I just ordered the Asus Z170I Pro Gaming based on consideration of every model you listed. It has the best combination of features for the price. It's nearly impossible to find in stock at the retail price, however, so my next choice would have been the MSI Z170I GAMING PRO AC currently listed in the guide, or potentially the Asrock.

If you want the fastest GTX 980 TI, you need the EVGA Hybrid liquid cooled version, but these will not fit on slim cases. That's why you need to decide on a form factor first. Next best options would be MSI GTX 980TI GAMING 6G for a small ITX system, or a EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB SC GAMING, 06G-P4-4992-KR. I'll be testing a few designs in the upcoming how-to article."


(MSI Z170I GAMING PRO AC with the MSI GTX 980TI GAMING 6G also sounds like a good option)
as for the case, well...

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Here's the thing, the features that mean the most to me and Chayan4400 may not mean the same things to you. Usually that means features the boards have which cost money, but which we will get no use or value out of. You might get the 'just in case' or 'sounds cool, it's worth a little more'.

If this were a Haswell system, where the motherboards have been around for a couple of years, we would know where all the bodies are buried. Skylake is new and I don't have the years of experience yet to be certain what is best at the fine-detail level we are working.

I chose the STRIX because of the good cooling, and quiet operation in mITX with good performance. The MSI is powerful, a little hotter and a little noisier.

If you are thinking of something other than a slim case solution, then, as I mentioned, the balance between fast, cool, and quiet, can be adjusted. For the RVZ02B case I suggested, I stand by the STRIX. For the motherboard, the ASRock is good enough, and the ASUS board was eliminated because it lacked WiFi, which I consider essential for a SFF system.

My essential features for this build are:

M.2 for very fast SSD
Wifi
Good audio codec
Good board layout
Decent power phases (mITX cannot have really good ones, but Skylake doesn't seem to need it so much)
'Premium' board and parts.
DDR4

 

[Chayan4400]

Personally, I'd go with the ASUS, again not because the ASRock is bad or anything but because:

1. I like the overall look of the board. It has a cleaner layout, with the WiFi module as well as the wires connecting the antenna connectors all integrated in to the board.

2. With a build like this I'd get a good pair of headphones to match. The audio chipsets of the ASRock seem to be one of the places where ASRock cut costs, as it has only basic stereo out and only three ports total. I'd doubt it would be powerful enough to drive even a pair of decent headphones like the Sennheiser Momentums with good sound quality. The ASUS on the other hand has much better on board audio with it's Supreme FX technology (ASUS and Creative are basically the Intel and AMD of Sound cards.) integrated on the board itself, 5.1 audio out and most importantly a headphone Amp built in to drive 300Ω headphones.

Other than that, the two motherboards are almost equal, so if you don't care about the look of the motherboard, and won't be using a good pair of headphones with this build, the ASRock will be fine.

EDIT: The post above gives a good summary for all the questions that you asked. One small correction though: The ASUS board does indeed have onboard 802.11ac Wi-Fi, with 2 x 2 dual-band 2.4 / 5GHz antennas.

 

[lost66]

ok so here is a kick in the teeth


http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/msi-gtx-980-ti-gaming-1156.aspx (R 12,499.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/msi-z170i-gaming-pro-ac-1347.aspx (R 3,499.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/intel-core-i7-6700k-1241.aspx (R 5,699.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/hyperx-savage-16gb-2x8gb-ddr4-3000mhz-1374.aspx (R 2,799.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/kingston-hyperx-predator-240gb-pcie-ssd-1096.aspx (R 4,199.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/cooler-master-hyper-d92-cpu-cooler-1421.aspx (R 649.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/western-digital-blue-1tb-hard-drive-731.aspx (R 699.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/antec-hcg-620m-620w-gaming-power-supply-486.aspx (R 1,149.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/buy-corsair-obsidian-250d-mini-itx-computer-case-812.aspx (R 1,299.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/windows-10-home-64-bit-oem-1207.aspx (R 1,699.00)
total (R 34,190.00)
that is a total of $ 2 451,05 ($ 500.00 odd more if I buy here in south Africa)
I could have bough this with that money
Monitor: LG 29UM57-P 60Hz 29.0" Monitor ($283.89 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard ($166.94 @ Newegg)
Mouse: Logitech G502 Wired Optical Mouse ($78.00 @ Amazon)



some of the part are not exactly the same, but I did try match up the best I could.
the reason I picked that motherboard is because i can only find that and the gigabyte
z170 here in south africa

so once again I live up to my name LOST

 

[Chayan4400]

All this time I think we were under the impression you were buying from the US . Never mind, here is an adapted version:

GPU: Click here. R 11,000

CPU: Click here. R 5,200

Motherboard: Click here. R 3,525

Storage (SSD): Click here. R 1,780

Storage (HDD): Click here. R 740

PSU: Click here. R 1,780

Case: Click here. R 1,140

RAM: Click here. R 1,815

Cooler: Click here. R 1,210

Total: R 28,190 ($2,022)

I had to downgrade the RAM to 2666MHz HyperX Fury, change the SSD to a 250GB 850 EVO (The 950 M.2 is almost twice the cost.), change the motherboard, graphics card and case due to non-availability of the original ones and go watercooled with the Corsair H80i, as it is cheaper than similarly performing air coolers like the Noctua NH-U12S in South Africa. This config will perform much the same as the original one, and will still allow you to buy a few more nice addons .

 

[lost66]

All this time I think we were under the impression you were buying from the US . Never mind, here is an adapted version:

GPU: Click here. R 11,000

CPU: Click here. R 5,200

Motherboard: Click here. R 3,525

Storage (SSD): Click here. R 1,780

Storage (HDD): Click here. R 740

PSU: Click here. R 1,780

Case: Click here. R 1,140

RAM: Click here. R 1,815

Cooler: Click here. R 1,210

Total: R 28,190 ($2,022)

I had to downgrade the RAM to 2666MHz HyperX Fury, change the SSD to a 250GB 850 EVO (The 950 M.2 is almost twice the cost.), change the motherboard, graphics card and case due to non-availability of the original ones and go watercooled with the Corsair H80i, as it is cheaper than similarly performing air coolers like the Noctua NH-U12S in South Africa. This config will perform much the same as the original one, and will still allow you to buy a few more nice addons .

how do you do that. lol

i feel like i can do this, BUT... yip there it is, the big but.
it feels like a bit of a compromise (well it is with availability, inflated prices and all) so here comes the question.

do i compromise and build this rig,
should i be patient and wait for the better rig to become available and at better prices,
or do i build the ultimate rig using tried and tested cheaper tech

 

[Chayan4400]

In my opinion, go for it. That is a VERY good build, and will last for years to come. Yes, you will have to make some compromises, but still the PC you get will perform almost identical to the original one.

Also, remember that computer hardware changes extremely fast, so what is new now will not be new in 6 months. Thus, if you plan on waiting for prices to come down and for new tech, you will be waiting forever as prices only usually come down just before the next gen of products are released. If a major release like Intel's 7th Gen CPUs or Nvidia's Pascal GPUs is only a few weeks away, then the wait is warranted, but since the 6th Gen Skylake processors have just been released, and the Pascal GPUs are about half a year away still, it really isn't worth the wait.

You may think that SA is limited in terms of computer hardware, but let me put that in perspective for you: Here in Sri Lanka, we have only 3 or 4 proper computer hardware shops, and no online stores, with the rest being old used parts shops that sell Core 2 Duo era parts. An ASUS Strix 980 Ti costs $883 here, so I'd say you aren't that bad off .

I did just realize that I missed out on windows, which will cost another R 1,630: Click here.

With windows, the total comes to R 29,820 ($2117), which is still quite reasonable. Do you have a monitor, keyboard + mouse and other peripherals, or would you need those as well?

 

[lost66]

$ 931,19 here as far as I can see, but I do feel a bit better, thanx
I have a 3 year old x7 v-track mouse http://www.x7.cn/en/product.asp?id=55 and that's it.

a interesting idea http://www.wootware.co.za/powercolor-ax-r9-fury-x-4gbhbm-dh-4gb-hbm-4096-bit-pci-express-3-0-desktop-graphics-card.html
compact for the itx and water cooled to match your build R300.00 more just one problem, its not a gtx (probably wont get it for that price again anyway)

if only we could get everything over the net without import costs, we coud do a lot better with that $2117 😉

 

[lost66]

just throwing this into the mix for fun (but considering I still have to buy all the peripherals) it is upgradable

http://www.evetech.co.za/n/1342/msi-gt72-6qd-dominator-g-i7-gaming-laptop-deal.aspx (starter)
http://www.evetech.co.za/n/1341/msi-gt72s-6qe-dominator-pro-g-i7-gaming-laptop.aspx (almost every thing you need)
http://www.msi.com/product/notebook/GT80S-6QE-Titan-SLI.html#hero-overview (this is over the to and over priced but nice) don't have a real world price on it

off topic I know 😉

 

[Chayan4400]

I posted a long answer, but something happened and it got deleted when I posted it 🙁.

I'm paraphrasing because I don't have time to rewrite it from what I remember, so forgive me if it sounds a bit rude.

The watercooled Fury will not fit in the case because it has only one 140mm fan slot, which will be taken up by the CPU water cooler radiator.


Here is what I recommend:

Monitor: Click here. R 5,570
Keyboard: Click here. R 1,810
Mouse: Click here. R 1,240

Total: R 8,620 ($608)

SA is a bit devoid of R ~4500 monitors, and doesn't seem to have any good mid range 1440p ones on offer. The monitors are either cheap at around R ~3000 for a 1080p one, or expensive for a fully decked out 1440p or 4K one at R 6000+.

Since it would be a shame to have a 980 Ti and get only a 1080p display, get the ultrawide display above; it's relatively cheap, looks good and will give you a more immersive gaming experience.

Just look at how awesome it looks!


The logitech G710+. Excellent keyboard for the price, has white backlighting and additional macro keys, mechanical key switches and multimedia controls.

One of the best mice on the market is the Logitech G502, with again not a very hefty price tag and good features like programmable buttons, high mouse acceleration and adjustable weight.

Now I know you are dropping $2730 on this entire setup, but keep in mind that is is a top of the line PC, which will last for years to come (3-4 years at the very least, and much more if you don't mind play games below very high settings.). When custom building a PC, the initial cost is high, but afterward since things like the monitor, keyboard, etc can be re-used when upgrading or building a new PC, in the long run your cost will be lower.

Those laptops you posted are really nice, but keep in mind that except for the GT80, which has an upgrade plan, they cannot be upgraded as they start getting slower. In the long run, they will cost you more as in 2-3 years as you will have to drop $2000 again on another laptop to keep up with the ever growing needs of games, as opposed to spending $1000 to upgrade the desktop to meet the needs of those games.Also, another point is performance, as none of the laptops short of the GT80 compare to this PC, and i'm pretty sure the GT80 cost something around $3600 .

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Personally, I'd go with the ASUS, again not because the ASRock is bad or anything but because:

1. I like the overall look of the board. It has a cleaner layout, with the WiFi module as well as the wires connecting the antenna connectors all integrated in to the board.

2. With a build like this I'd get a good pair of headphones to match. The audio chipsets of the ASRock seem to be one of the places where ASRock cut costs, as it has only basic stereo out and only three ports total. I'd doubt it would be powerful enough to drive even a pair of decent headphones like the Sennheiser Momentums with good sound quality. The ASUS on the other hand has much better on board audio with it's Supreme FX technology (ASUS and Creative are basically the Intel and AMD of Sound cards.) integrated on the board itself, 5.1 audio out and most importantly a headphone Amp built in to drive 300Ω headphones.

Other than that, the two motherboards are almost equal, so if you don't care about the look of the motherboard, and won't be using a good pair of headphones with this build, the ASRock will be fine.

EDIT: The post above gives a good summary for all the questions that you asked. One small correction though: The ASUS board does indeed have onboard 802.11ac Wi-Fi, with 2 x 2 dual-band 2.4 / 5GHz antennas.

Yes. PCPartPicker lied when it told me no WiFi, and when I looked at the board to check, could not see one, but it has a built-in Dongle. Also will not take the 950 Pro, but that is moot now we know the market is not USA.

Different solution (for US)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($369.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: RAIJINTEK PALLAS 56.5 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($39.90 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z170I GAMING PRO AC Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($152.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX200 250GB M.2-2260 Solid State Drive ($93.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($489.99 @ Amazon)
Case: EVGA Hadron Mini ITX Tower Case w/500W Power Supply ($124.99 @ Micro Center)
Optical Drive: LG GS40N DVD/CD Writer ($39.95 @ B&H)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($91.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1575.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-06 17:20 EST-0500

 

[DonkeyOatie]

I posted a long answer, but something happened and it got deleted when I posted it 🙁.

I'm paraphrasing because I don't have time to rewrite it from what I remember, so forgive me if it sounds a bit rude.

The watercooled Fury will not fit in the case because it has only one 140mm fan slot, which will be taken up by the CPU water cooler radiator.


Here is what I recommend:

Monitor: Click here. R 5,570
Keyboard: Click here. R 1,810
Mouse: Click here. R 1,240

Total: R 8,620 ($608)

SA is a bit devoid of R ~4500 monitors, and doesn't seem to have any good mid range 1440p ones on offer. The monitors are either cheap at around R ~3000 for a 1080p one, or expensive for a fully decked out 1440p or 4K one at R 6000+.

Since it would be a shame to have a 980 Ti and get only a 1080p display, get the ultrawide display above; it's relatively cheap, looks good and will give you a more immersive gaming experience.

Just look at how awesome it looks!


The logitech G710+. Excellent keyboard for the price, has white backlighting and additional macro keys, mechanical key switches and multimedia controls.

One of the best mice on the market is the Logitech G502, with again not a very hefty price tag and good features like programmable buttons, high mouse acceleration and adjustable weight.

Now I know you are dropping $2730 on this entire setup, but keep in mind that is is a top of the line PC, which will last for years to come (3-4 years at the very least, and much more if you don't mind play games below very high settings.). When custom building a PC, the initial cost is high, but afterward since things like the monitor, keyboard, etc can be re-used when upgrading or building a new PC, in the long run your cost will be lower.

Those laptops you posted are really nice, but keep in mind that except for the GT80, which has an upgrade plan, they cannot be upgraded as they start getting slower. In the long run, they will cost you more as in 2-3 years as you will have to drop $2000 again on another laptop to keep up with the ever growing needs of games, as opposed to spending $1000 to upgrade the desktop to meet the needs of those games.Also, another point is performance, as none of the laptops short of the GT80 compare to this PC, and i'm pretty sure the GT80 cost something around $3600 .

I've seen them, but those 29" monitors are too short for my taste. Perhaps you can find an open box or refurbished 34".

 

[lost66]

from what I can see and find in sa:
motherboard http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/msi-z170i-gaming-pro-ac-1347.aspx R 3,499.00
memory http://www.wootware.co.za/g-skill-f4-3200c16d-16gtzb-trident-z-series-16gb-2x-8gb-3200mhz-ddr4-cl16-1-35v-desktop-memory.html R 1,999.00
gpu http://www.wootware.co.za/galax-98irh5dhf7hf-geforce-gtx-980-ti-hof-6gb-gddr5-384-bit-pci-express-3-0-desktop-graphics-card.html R 10,999.00
cpu http://www.firstshop.co.za/intel-core-i7-6700k-BX80662I76700K-p-28170 R 5,199.00
ssd http://www.loot.co.za/product/transcend-mts800-m-2-solid-state-drive-sataiii-256gb/yspn-3220-g280?referrer=pricecheckcampaigns R 1,858.00
hdd http://www.firstshop.co.za/wd-blue-wd10ezex-hard-WD10EZEX-p-12610 R 750.00
os http://www.pclinkshop.co.za/?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1&view=productdetails&virtuemart_product_id=17641&virtuemart_category_id=45 R 1,631.00

that's a total of R25,935.00 does not leave much for the case, cooler and psu
I tried to take the best (I think) of both with out 'to much of price difference' just to see where it goes.
this is getting rather frustrating ;/ it is a fine balancing act and I can hardly stand up straight

 

[DonkeyOatie]

PSU is critical. DO NOT! cheap out there. Skylake needs less robust coolers than Haswell, but if your case lacks access to the rear of the motherboard, choose wisely because getting a backplate on an installed motherboard in a working system can be a bear. to me, a case is a box to put parts in, and that's one place I would cheap out on (not junk, just very budget)

 

[samcow2]

Excellent, this is the exact post I was hoping to find!

I've been looking at these exact motherboards for days now, and cannot decide. Initially I felt that Gigabyte had the best option, the Impact lacks M.2 so was immediately thrown out, and now after reading this I kind of think the Asus option might be superior to Gigabyte.

Edit: Hm Asus doesn't appear to have USB Type-C. Gigabyte v. ASRock now? These motherboards just seem so identical

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The ASUS is limited to M.2 60, so the EVO 950 M.2 80 will not fit.

 

[lost66]

what do you think about the msi
http://www.msi.com/product/motherboard/Z170I-GAMING-PRO-AC.html#hero-overview

MAXIMUS VIII IMPACT has got c
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS-VIII-IMPACT/

 

[samcow2]

I dont know what you mean, Asus states it's M.2 80
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z170I-PRO-GAMING/

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Then I mis-read the information. I though that the EVO 950 would not fit on that board.

 

[Chayan4400]

Are you comfortable downgrading to an i7 6700? We can save some money there, the only trade-off being that it is unrecoverable. Also, seeing as you want to stick within $2000, can we safely assume that that is your budget for the build?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

I would rather that we started again from scratch. The availability and prices in RSA mean that we need to re-calibrate our thinking.

 

[lost66]

this is where it all started
Motherboard: Asus Z170I PRO-NZXT Kraken X6 or ASRock Fatal1ty Z170-Scythe BIG Shuriken 2
CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($369.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB STRIX Video Card ($654.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Samsung SN-208FB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($19.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Mushkin Redline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($168.98 @ Directron)
Total: $1930.00 odd

this was the best match i could fid in sa
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/msi-gtx-980-ti-gam... (R 12,499.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/msi-z170i-gaming-p... (R 3,499.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/intel-core-i7-6700... (R 5,699.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/hyperx-savage-16gb... (R 2,799.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/kingston-hyperx-pr... (R 4,199.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/cooler-master-hype... (R 649.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/western-digital-bl... (R 699.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/antec-hcg-620m-620... (R 1,149.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/buy-corsair-obsidi... (R 1,299.00)
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/windows-10-home-64... (R 1,699.00)
total in sa (R 34,190.00) that is a total of $ 2 451,05

this was option .....1 working in rand helps 😉
GPU: Click here. R 11,000
CPU: Click here. R 5,200
Motherboard: Click here. R 3,525
Storage (SSD): Click here. R 1,780
Storage (HDD): Click here. R 740
PSU: Click here. R 1,780
Case: Click here. R 1,140
RAM: Click here. R 1,815
Cooler: Click here. R 1,210
Total: R 28,190 ($2,022)

option....2
CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($369.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: RAIJINTEK PALLAS 56.5 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($39.90 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z170I GAMING PRO AC Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($152.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX200 250GB M.2-2260 Solid State Drive ($93.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($489.99 @ Amazon)
Case: EVGA Hadron Mini ITX Tower Case w/500W Power Supply ($124.99 @ Micro Center)
Optical Drive: LG GS40N DVD/CD Writer ($39.95 @ B&H)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($91.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1575.54

this was wat I found (how good, I don't know
from what I can see and find in sa:
motherboard http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/msi-z170i-gaming-p... R 3,499.00
memory http://www.wootware.co.za/g-skill-f4-3200c16d-16gtzb-tr... R 1,999.00
gpu http://www.wootware.co.za/galax-98irh5dhf7hf-geforce-gt... R 10,999.00
cpu http://www.firstshop.co.za/intel-core-i7-6700k-BX80662I... R 5,199.00
ssd http://www.loot.co.za/product/transcend-mts800-m-2-soli... R 1,858.00
hdd http://www.firstshop.co.za/wd-blue-wd10ezex-hard-WD10EZ... R 750.00
os http://www.pclinkshop.co.za/?option=com_virtuemart&Item... R 1,631.00

that's a total of R25,935.00 excluding the case, cooler and psu


if we can still get something good out of this, then we must compromise,
makes me wander if the compromise should be size looks like we have a lot more options on with atx insa

I must admit, looking at the components in us$ and rounding it off into rand, gave me a false impression of the cost