1. If you're going to get a kickass motherboard, pair it up with a processor with the -K suffix for maximum overclocking and memory rated for OC as well.
2. 550 Watts is more than enough for a 970. The 970 is not a power hog, and people recommending 750W+ are encouraging you to spend money you don't need to spend.
3. That being said, get a modular power supply. It's 2015...useless cables in your case are a preventable tragedy.
4. Dollar for dollar, the R9 390 beats the 970. It uses more power and generates more heat, but it does win and it has more onboard memory making it more future proof.
5. People are all about the SLI Krait board...and then recommend SSDs that don't use it's M.2 capabilities.
6. Hard Drive: 500 GB and get the Black. Buy an external drive if you REALLY need more. The Krait board can handle USB 3.0, so it will transfer plenty quickly.
7. That Noctua cooler is like, from another planet. An ice planet. It's incredible for air cooling.
PCPartPicker part list /
Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($241.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($93.04 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($122.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung XP941 Series 128GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($110.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB SOC Video Card ($334.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($111.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($91.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1273.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-05 16:35 EDT-0400
Notes on managing costs:
If you decide to go with the 970, you can back off the PSU to 550W. ($40 savings)
The case is a preference of mine. It also matches your motherboard. Do what you like there. ($50 savings)
You can go with the Cooler Master EVO 212 to shave off $50 or so on the CPU cooler and still get quality performance. ($50 savings)
You can also forgo the M.2 SSD and just go with a regular version...but the board supports M.2 so I went with that. ($30 savings)
I also picked the 390 that matches your case...the MSI 390 is probably better but it's red. Do what you like there, also. ($0 savings)
The total is $1172 if you get it at the "best price" retailers. I just kept it at Newegg for simplicity. With another $180 shaved off via the above recommendations, it's probably around $980 or so.
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