PC Hardware → [Parts Check] Recommend some hardware

My iMac at home is now over 6 years old and it's dying a slow death, not to mention it's become a bear to use. Since I have a fairly new retina MacBook Pro thru work, I don't really need or want to buy a new Mac for home use. Instead I was hoping to build a rig for everyday use, it's been a while since I've built anything though.

Anything mid-range would be fine I think, I don't plan to overclock or do much gaming or video rendering. Therefore what I've been looking at mostly is an i5 Ivy Bridge or Haswell, with 8GB of RAM. Onboard video is fine for now, though I wouldn't mind a dedicated GPU upgrade in the future.

That said, I've picked up a few components already. I picked up a Rosewill FBM-02 micro ATX case on sale for $21.99, and a Thermaltake TR2 500W power supply on sale for $39.99 with a $20 mail-in rebate. So I'll need me a micro ATX motherboard to fit.

I've also got a 1TB Hitachi GST 0A38016 HDD laying around, it's actually my Time Machine backup on the iMac right now but I plan to repurpose it for the PC. I've also got an HP w2216h 21" LCD and some JBL Creatures for speakers.

So it really just comes down to getting a CPU, motherboard, and some RAM to fit in. I was looking to spend about $250 on a CPU/motherboard combo, in fact I was looking hard at this Newegg combo right here. Any thoughts or suggestions? I'm in no hurry to build. Thanks!

As far as the old iMac goes, I'll probably install something like Xubuntu on it and put it in the garage.

I don't know about that power supply. Lacks efficiency and I don't know yet what the reviews are like on tests with it.

Also, mid range is acutally the i3, IMHO, because there's Pentium and Celeron still, below it. i5 is upper range, but even for a basic system, nice to have. I assume you want Haswell based? 1150? The K processors are the unlocked multi units, if you aren't OCging, no major need. S is efficient.

The P-series CPUs lack integrated graphics, so you will have to get a discrete video card if you buy that combo. I'd also get a better power supply as well, Thermaltake isn't known for quality units. The 450w model of this one would be more than enough for a build with integrated graphics. Depending on what video card you get (if you do end up getting one), you might want to go up to 500-550w.

What are your intended uses?

The tr-500 should be a channel well build . As it has already been purchased the question is whether it is something to be worried about. I think it will be ok for this build.

A 4430 cpu and a B85 based motherboard should get you close to $250-260. I can help you select a specific board if you want.

If you would prefer to go with something less expensive have you considered an amd apu setup? For everyday use it should be more than adequate.

No reason not to consider AMD, I've always done Intel but if it performs reliably then I wouldn't be opposed. What would be comparable?

Oh derp, missed the part where the PSU was already purchased.

None of these will have the performance of the i5 but the quad core apus should have plenty of performance for daily use. You won't tell that much difference between them unless you are doing something intensive.

I would consider either the previous generation trinity A8 5600k

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 19113281

or the A10 6790K richland:
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 19113356

The cpu differences between them are not huge. If you want better integrated graphics performance, for a bit of gaming, then the 6790 would be the better choice.

I found a review that gives some idea of the performance comparison of the 6790 and an i5 4430.

»www.kitguru.net/componen ··· -review/

Again though, in most every day use, you aren't going to detect a lot of difference.

When you iron out the cpu direction I can give more input on motherboard choice.

That 6790K looks pretty nice. I would just need a Micro ATX motherboard to stick it in.

I've had another setback though cause I've somehow literally fried the hard drive I was going to use. I was moving it and accidentally dropped it a few inches onto a glass desk, now when I plug it in to my enclosure it smokes a little. No idea what's happened, but I accept it's gone now so I'll have to add a new hard drive to my parts list.

asrock FM2A88M-HD+ micro atx motherboard:

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 13157465

gskill 1866 ripjaws ramp 8GB:
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 20231538

The 6790 supports max 1866 ram.

Hopefully someone else will check this for any problems or details I missed.

Looks like this will work!

I meant to respond about the hard drive as well.
I would just get a 1TB western digital blue which is a good, inexpensive standard drive.

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 00YU4026

That's the plan. I don't need a ton of storage since I have a file server, but the price difference between 500GB and 1TB is negligible.