Rebuilding My PC, Need Suggestions

[Poltregeist]

Hey guys, i'm thinking about rebuilding my current setup to a smaller form factor so I can take it to school with me this fall. The only parts i'm saving are a 1TB HDD, 120GB SSD, 750W PSU, and GTX 970 Reference. I would like the smallest case to fit my 970, while not being too hard to work in. I'm mainly looking for case and CPU/motherboard suggestions, I was hoping to get an i7. Any input is greatly appreciated!

 

[VR PC-BUILD]

What is your budget?

 

[Poltregeist]

What is your budget?

I'd say $500 to $600 USD. I'm pretty set on an i7-6700k, but i'm looking for mobo and case suggestions.

 

[VR PC-BUILD]

Here is the build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($314.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170M Pro4S Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Node 605 HTPC Case ($150.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $645.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-13 11:24 EDT-0400

Went a little overboard to make it portable.

 

[CV_Taihou]

What make and model is the PSU? If it's a poor quality unit it might be worthwhile upgrading while you have everything apart. This one uses a Mini-ITX Board. I do know that the case takes most full size GPU's, and full size PSU's as well. I threw the C7 Cooler in since it's quieter and better looking than the stock Intel cooler, but it is an extra you could take out if you didn't want to spend the money.

i7-6700 Build

 

[Poltregeist]

Thanks for the suggestions, I was already looking at that exact motherboard! I'm buying from my local microcenter so I'll see what cases they have, and they usually bundle processors and mobos too, so I'll probably save more money. Thanks again!

 

[CV_Taihou]

I am curious what would make the micro ATX seem more portable than a mini-itx build. Be aware that the H60 is a pretty low end liquid cooler, and won't support much aside from stock cooling. Best of luck with the build though.

 

[Poltregeist]

I am curious what would make the micro ATX seem more portable than a mini-itx build. Be aware that the H60 is a pretty low end liquid cooler, and won't support much aside from stock cooling. Best of luck with the build though.

I'm not the biggest fan of mini-ITX, the form factor is weird to me, I like vertical towers rather than boxes. And i'm not really trying to overclock my i7 for a while, i'm moving from an FX-8320 so it's fast enough for me haha. Thanks for the suggestion tho!

 

[CV_Taihou]

So your just going with the overclocking setup in case you decide to oc in the future? If you don't want to at all you can save a good chunk of money going with a locked chip and chipset

 

[Poltregeist]

So your just going with the overclocking setup in case you decide to oc in the future? If you don't want to at all you can save a good chunk of money going with a locked chip and chipset

Not exactly, my local microcenter is actually selling both the locked and unlocked chips for $289.99, so I might as well get the unlocked so I at least have the expand-ability in the future.

 

[VR PC-BUILD]

So your just going with the overclocking setup in case you decide to oc in the future? If you don't want to at all you can save a good chunk of money going with a locked chip and chipset

Not exactly, my local microcenter is actually selling both the locked and unlocked chips for $289.99, so I might as well get the unlocked so I at least have the expand-ability in the future.

Going for the unlocked one if they both are at same price makes sense.
Go for it.......the unlocked one

 

[Poltregeist]

Now that I've looked, i'm kind of considering a normal ATX case, just because of the very few mATX mobos I like. So now the question is, best case/mobo able to fit a 240mm radiator in the smallest size and weight possible for an ATX mobo, and can fit a GTX 970.

 

[VR PC-BUILD]

Corsair 200R is my favorite. NZXT also has good options.

 

[Poltregeist]

I ended up going for the 6700k w/ a Hyper 212 EVO, MSI Gaming M5 mobo, 16GB of Crucial Ballistix DDR4, an Intel 500GB SSD to boot from, and the Corsair SPEC.02 case. It was on sale at Microcenter and was one of the few smaller form factor ATX cases they had, without going to mATX or mITX, for which they had no good mobos.