Much like the difference between a 2015 and 2016 model car .... slight performance and other improvements from "last year's model", software is tweaked a little better too. No reason to get the old model unless you get the big discount.
Use the newegg compare function to see the spec differences
As for rest of build, things to consider:
1. The CX is fine for an office or browsing box, but I wouldn't use it on a gaming box ... caps just ain't up to that kind of loading. The EVGA B2 will habdle two 960s (even 2 970s) and i $10 cheaper.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-110b20750vr
2. By the time the box is a year old you will find Windows taking up about 70 - 80 GB. A 128 GB SSD actually fits 119 GB of files. Setting aside the recommended 15% for blank space, that leaves you with 101 GB..... or enough to fit one of today's AAA games. The rest of your games get no benefit from the SSD, since they are on the HD. Would therefore suggest that you swap out the HD for a SSHD and pick up a 50% speed improvement in gaming
Seagate SSHD - 9.76 MB/s
WD Black - 6.54 MB/s
It's $12 cheaper too.... or $9 more for 50% speed increase and twice the storage space.
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/hdd-charts-2013/-17-PCMark-7-Gaming,2915.html
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dx001
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st2000dx001
In essence, you can get a bigger, better PSU capable of SLI'ing two 960s, double your storage capacity, increase your storage speed by 50% and put a dollar back in your pocket.
3. I'd also suggest swapping out for aMoBo with proven better performance. hugely better user satisfaction and $52 cheaper
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130770
a) More performance
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/msi_z97_gaming_6_review/10
Setting the fastest card in the test above to 100% and the others as a % of that, we see that the MSI Gaming 5 is a bit more than 6% faster than the Hero and the Gigabyte Gaming 5 is a bit over 1% faster
MSI Z97 Gaming 9 - 100.00%
MSI Z97 Gaming 5 - 99.86%
MSI Z97A Gaming 6 - 98.96%
Asus Z97 TUF Sabranco - 96.13%
Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 5 - 95.00%
Gigabyte Z97X SOC Force - 94.95%
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Hero - 93.67%
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Formula - 93.58%
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Gene - 91.69%
Asus Z97-A - 89.57%
MSI Z97 Mpower MAX AC - 88.20%
MSI Z97S Krait SLI - 71.01%
b) User Satisfaction as judged by the number of board owners who posted an extremely negative (1 egg) review on newegg. Hero had about double the number of very unhappy reviewers compared to the MSI G5 and about a third more than the Gigabyte G5.
Asus Z97 TUF Sabranco - 3%
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132414
MSI Z97 Mpower MAX AC - 4%
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130765
MSI Z97 Gaming 5 - 10%
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130770
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Gene - 11%
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132136
MSI Z97A Gaming 6 - 12%
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128709
Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 5 - 14%
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128709
MSI Z97S Krait SLI 19%
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130801
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Hero - 19%
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132125
Asus Z97 Maximus VII Formula - 26%
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132247
Asus Z97-A - 27%
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132118
MSI Z97 Gaming 9 - 28%
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130808
Gigabyte Z97X SOC Force - 29%
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128704
Asus had a couple of "off years" with Z87 and Z97 .... I expect that they have taken steps to improve things and will come back strong w/ Z170.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram