Pretty solid build. Only thing I would might change, considering you will do video encoding is the RAMs. For 1$ or 2$ more you can buy one of those kits :
G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866(would go with this)
It won't be the biggest different in the world but for those 1-2$ you can take 1866 instead of 1600 and with better timings.
EDIT: And just noticed your Mobo won't support 1866 RAMs. ohhh. Well you might then could go for something like G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 which cost +2$ and has 8 CAS instead of 9, but it's something almost unnoticeable, BUT it might worth those 2$.
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Yeah, from what I can tell, the H97X boards top out at 1600. Anything higher than that I think I would need a Z97X board and those are at least $30~50 more for non "premium" ones. Is it worth it?
As for the 1600, what about this one?
I figured I'd save a little money by going for an H97X instead of a Z97X and choosing a non "K" CPU, since I'm not gonna bother with overclocking. But maybe it's worth the Z97X + K for future "proofing"? Not sure.
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You should only get Z97 if you plan on getting broadwell cpu but they are coming out in like 3 months so if you really want one you better wait than buy a haswell cpu right now and upgrade in the future.
I don't know why you're buying a custom cooler if you are not going to overclock the cpu.
Also i5 4690 costs 35$ more than i5 4460 and it has only 0.3 GHz higher clock speed and 0.4 GHz higher turbo.
Don't know much about that psu and case but I would get at least 500w psu
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That's a good point as well, I'm not really interested in Broadwell at the moment, but in the future, possibly, so that's a reason to consider the Z97X, thanks.
The cooling is because of the tight setup, it's not really necessary, but I tend to run the PC for long periods of time and that includes the video encoding.
I'm opting in for the 4690 mainly since it's the best CPU shy of an i7, which will come handy in video encoding, as it's CPU intensive.
Not really, 450W should be enough for this setup, even if I OC.
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Well to be honest I don't think it's worth another 30+$ for mobo just for the RAMs. Those are differences counted in milliseconds.
Um, not really. Even though it's just one dollar, it's timings you can achieve by yourself with any kit from the previous(1600) mentioned. Only thing you have to do is to go on BIOS and set the custom timings. It's not "huge" OC so you are not going to have instability.
If you are not going to OC then there is no need for Z mobo. + What ithoran said about the CPU. Good catch.
About the PSU I think it's fine. New systems don't consume much power and this one is even a Gold Cert so I think you are more than fine.
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That mobo only supports 2 fans (1 cpu and 1 case) while the case has 2 pre-installed, at least according to Newegg. So that would mean you're one fan connector short. Unless the case comes with some kind splitter, you should look into a other motherboard or simply order this thingie; http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812162026
The person above here says that 450W is not enough. I'd like to say otherwise, it's more then enough and I've build pc's similar to this that are still running. The 970 uses around 150W max, the cpu around 90W, so you'll have enough left.
On the other hand. NO SSD! ;_;
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SSD it always worth it imo, but indeed they ar more expensive.
Btw you should look at the height of the RAM. I'm pretty sure it will fit but those 'OMG LOOKS HOW COOL OUR HEAT SPREADERS LOOK!!!', that are 99% of the time not necessary, might disturb some airflow. (I don't know this specific case so don't take me on my words.) I would search for some low profile ones. I'm a big fan of 'Crucial Ballistix Tactical' myself.
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It's subjective I guess, it's just the cost-to-benefit ratio involved is too low IMHO.
I was actually thinking the same thing, but the Ballistix is a bit expensive. I was thinking of something along the lines of the CORSAIR Vengeance or the Kingston HyperX.
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Just looked a bit on Newegg, these seem to be the lowest available; http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148660&cm_re=Low_Profile_Desktop_Memory-_-20-148-660-_-Product. That is seriously reall really low, tho there seem to be a problem with some motherboards. But worth the extra 5$ if it works, definitely in a case like that with a chance of thermal throttling. (I wouldn't expect it to happen tho but you never know.)
Also, I'd look into a EVGE gpu. Why? EVGA has fantastic warranties. If it breaks theres a big chance they'll just send you a new one without too much hassle.
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I need something small enough to pack into a suite case when I go on vacation and doesn't take much space on my desk when I'm at home. Laptops might sound ideal, but affordable ones are mostly inadequate and powerful ones are extremely overpriced, so I thought of the SFF (mini-ITX).
I was hoping to stay below the $1000 mark, but I don't see that happening, at least not without gimping out on the CPU/GPU which I rather not do, since I might regret later on. I had high hopes for the GTX 960 which is supposed to be released this month, but early reports suggest that it will 128-bit and 2GB which is a bit underwhelming.
As I mentioned, my main usage would be gaming (1080p) but I also do a lot of video encoding (HandBrake..etc). That being said, I have little-to-no interest in over-clocking.
I'm in no rush at all but I figured I should at least research my options and plan ahead accordingly.
Any thoughts/opinions on the matter are appreciated.
Case: SilverStone RAVEN Series RVZ01B
PSU: SILVERSTONE ST45SF-G 450W SFX12V 80 PLUS GOLD Certified
GPU: ZOTAC ZT-90101-10P GeForce GTX 970 4GB
CPU: Intel Core i5 4690
Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 120M
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/ac
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Storage: Seagate Hybrid Drive ST1000DX001 1TB MLC/8GB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s NCQ 3.5" Desktop SSHD
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