Gaming - Capture - Streaming PC build advice

[hyt3k9]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Gaming @ 1900x1080p on 42" Panasonic Plasma
Streaming & Capturing Video (Wanting to get into streaming games I play on Twitch.Tv)
Video Editing & Rendering (Wanting to get into recording games and uploading them)
Virtual Machine (Win 7x64 alongside 8x64) -Win 7 for a couple work proprietary programs
General Use (Main desktop I will use) - I have an 15" Asus gaming laptop, but this is main

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

$1000.00 Preferred
$1200.00 Max
Taxes, shipping all included in above figures.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.


Ohio
Directly between Columbus & Cincinnati

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

Case
Power Supply
CPU
Motherboard
RAM
Graphics Card
Optical Drive

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

HDD's
Monitor
Keyboard
Mouse
USB External Storage device

6) Will you be overclocking?

Nope

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?

42" Panasonic Plasma - 1900 x 1080p

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

Now
"Soon" if there's a big sale coming up

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.

Sata 6Gb/s
eSATA (external a plus)
Firewire 800 - I have a Drobo S
WiFi on motherboard a plus (B/G/N) because capture card will take the PCI-E 1x slot
Gigabit LAN

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

Yes, x64 of both Win 7 & 8

 

[Dangman]

So how far are you from these Microcenter locations?:
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/columbus.aspx
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/sharonville.aspx
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/mayfield-heights.aspx

 

[hyt3k9]

So how far are you from these Microcenter locations?:
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/sharonville.aspx

75 miles

 

[hyt3k9]

My first attempt
I noticed by "not" buying everything at Micro Center, I saved $65 in Ohio sales tax. The only thing I'm paying shipping on, online is the video card.
Which brings me to my big question, does MSI make quality graphics cards? I've owned their motherboards, but never a graphics card. Seems they're the only ones doing a 4GB version of the 760GTX.



CPU - Intel Core i7 4770K 3.5GHz Socket LGA 1150 http://microcenter.com/product/413248/Core_i7_4770K_35GHz_Socket_LGA_1150_Boxed_Processor
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD4H Socket LGA 1150 ATX Intel Motherboard http://microcenter.com/product/414773/GA-Z87X-UD4H_Socket_LGA_1150_ATX_Intel_Motherboard
RAM - Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) CL9 @1.5V http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006YG9EEW/?tag=extension-kb-20
Graphics Card - N760 TF 4GD5/OC GeForce GTX 760 4GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127748
Power Supply - PC Power & Cooling 750W Silencer MK III Series http://www.amazon.com/PC-Power-Cool...1375603251&sr=1-1&keywords=pc+power+&+cooling
Optical Drive - LG OEM 24x Super Multi Internal SATA DVDRW DL Drive http://microcenter.com/product/407512/24x_Super_Multi_Internal_SATA_DVD±RW_DL_Drive_-_Bare_Drive


Case - NZXT Phantom 410 Series CA-PH410-B1 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006I2H084/?tag=extension-kb-20
-OR-
Case - Cooler Master HAF XB - LAN Box and Test Bench Mid Tower Computer Case http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-HAF-Motherboard-RC-902XB-KKN1/dp/B00A76E46I

Open to other case suggestions...

[SSD - Will buy later, already over budget - will use a mechanical HDD in meantime]
[Capture card - Will buy later, already over budget]

 

[Dangman]

Which brings me to my big question, does MSI make quality graphics cards? I've owned their motherboards, but never a graphics card. Seems they're the only ones doing a 4GB version of the 760GTX.
....
Graphics Card - N760 TF 4GD5/OC GeForce GTX 760 4GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127748

MSI do make solid cards. Hence why we recommend them from time to time when they're priced right.

However you're playing at a relatively moderate resolution of 1920x1080. As such, I don't see a real need for you to spend that extra $56 for the 4GB GTX 760. If you actually need that amount of VRAM, more than likely you're also going to need a faster GPU to keep up. Thus I can see the GPU on the GTX 760 itself being the main limitation before the VRAM amount. So that extra cash is a bit wasted. Especially when that extra cash can go towards a SSD.

eVGA does make a 4GB GTX 760:
$320 - eVGA 04G-P4-3768-KR GTX 760 4GB PCI-E Video Card

CPU - Intel Core i7 4770K 3.5GHz Socket LGA 1150 http://microcenter.com/product/413248/Core_i7_4770K_35GHz_Socket_LGA_1150_Boxed_Processor
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD4H Socket LGA 1150 ATX Intel Motherboard http://microcenter.com/product/414773/GA-Z87X-UD4H_Socket_LGA_1150_ATX_Intel_Motherboard

Just in case you missed it: If you buy the CPU and motherboard together, you can save $40.

So you save $55 on the CPU and $75 on the motherboard. Then there's the additional $40 discount. So for those exact parts, you would save $170 by buying them from Microcenter. However driving 75 miles is going to take up quite a bit of gas and therefore money. Not to mention the time spent and the possibility of traffic. Then there is your sales tax. So that $170 savings could easily dwindle

Since you're not overclocking, you actually don't need either that CPU or motherboard. You would be fine with the $295 Core i7 4770 and a solid $100 to $120 motherboard. Since you could get the non-overclocking parts online, you avoid the drive, gas costs, time spent, and sales tax.

So in other words, you might want to do additional math to see which option is the more cost-effective for you: A non overclock build that you can get totally online or an overclock build that would require a bit of expenditure in gas, time, and money.

Power Supply - PC Power & Cooling 750W Silencer MK III Series http://www.amazon.com/PC-Power-Cool...1375603251&sr=1-1&keywords=pc+power+&+cooling]

You're not overclocking nor have you mentioned plans for GTX 780 SLI or having 20+ hard drives. As such, this PSU is overkill. Fropm what you've written so far, you'll be fine with this PSU:
$80 - Seasonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W Modular PSU

With the money saved on the PSU and GPU, you can afford a SSD for the OS and a handful of games:
$99 - Samsung 840 120GB SSD

Case - NZXT Phantom 410 Series CA-PH410-B1 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006I2H084/?tag=extension-kb-20
-OR-
Case - Cooler Master HAF XB - LAN Box and Test Bench Mid Tower Computer Case http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-HAF-Motherboard-RC-902XB-KKN1/dp/B00A76E46I

Not a fan of either case: The former because it's rather cramped and the latter because it's fugly. I would look at these cases instead:
$80 - Corsair Carbide Series 300R ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Antec 1100 ATX Case

 

[Hop-Scotch]

Gotta say I just built one of my gaming machines into a Corsair Carbide 200R and absolutely love it. Danny is always recommending them and that whole series is a steal for the prices they ask.

 

[tiraides]

Based on what Danny mentioned earlier, here are my recommendations:

$295 - Intel i7-4770
$98 - MSI H87-G43
$120 - Kingston HyperX KHX1600C10D3B1K2/16G 2x8GB DDR3 1600
$260 - MSI N760 TF 2GD5/OC GTX 760 2GB
$98 - Samsung 840 120GB SSD
$20 - LG GH24NS95B SATA DVD burner
$80 - Seasonic G Series 550 watt modular PSU
=====
$971 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

I think it's safe to assume that Micro Center's a literal no-go, right?

The only significant deviation from Danny's recommendations is the motherboard, which is actually a cheaper variant of the one he recommended to you. But neither board has eSATA or FireWire 800 (aka IEEE 1394b). Fortunately, it's cheap and easy to convert one (or two) of your internal SATA ports into eSATA ports (though you can also choose an add-on card, which is considerably more expensive). Unfortunately, if you want FireWire 800, you'll have to pay for it (neither FireWire 400/IEEE 1394a nor FireWire 800/IEEE 1394b is native to Haswell).

(Is it safe to assume that the eSATA and FireWire 800 requirements are for your Drobo? If so, which does it run faster off of?)

Looking at video capture for gaming, I thought that FRAPS would be enough for your needs. Since you're looking for a capture card, however, I found one that seems to be recommended often:

$180 - AVerMedia C985 Live Gamer HD 1080p PCI-E x1 capture card

You can get all of the above parts plus the case if you lower your (price) standards a bit:

$44 - NZXT Source 210 Elite ATX mid-tower case

The NZXT Source 210 Elite isn't as spacious as any of the Corsair cases, but it's considerably cheaper in comparison. For example, the Corsair 200R rarely goes on sale; if it does, it's only for about $10 off, at best.

 

[hyt3k9]

(Is it safe to assume that the eSATA and FireWire 800 requirements are for your Drobo? If so, which does it run faster off of?)

I was wrong, my Drobo is the second gen regular Drobo. Mine has 2 FW800 and a single USB 2.0 output. FW800 seems to stick to higher transfer speeds than USB2.0.

Do most of these newer motherboards only have 1 PCI-E 1x slot? That might be a problem for add-in cards for me, since I'm not only looking for FW800 but also a capture card.

You're right, FRAPS wouldn't work out too well for me, I appreciate the recommendation on the add-in capture card. Are they're any other folks out there that use capture cards that can clue me into something as a comparison or features to look for in a capture card? I can understand this one is popular, but is it the "go to" card on the market?

Lastly, If I we're to consider an AMD system build with ATI graphics would I be giving up tons of performance, capabilities with ditching the Core i7? Just trying to cover all bases, since I've built AMD systems in the past that came in hundreds of dollars below Intel cost.

 

[tiraides]

I was wrong, my Drobo is the second gen regular Drobo. Mine has 2 FW800 and a single USB 2.0 output. FW800 seems to stick to higher transfer speeds than USB2.0.

Get the FireWire add-on card. I agree with you that USB 2.0 sucks when it comes to transfer speeds.

Do most of these newer motherboards only have 1 PCI-E 1x slot? That might be a problem for add-in cards for me, since I'm not only looking for FW800 but also a capture card.

The PCI-E x1 card will work in any PCI Express slot. The MSI H87-G43 has three slots you can fit it into: the top x1 slot, the first x16 directly below it, and the second x16 slot (which is actually a x4 slot electronically).

In other words, you'd put the FireWire card in the top x1 slot, the video card in the first x16 slot, and the capture card (more on that in a moment) in the second x16 slot.

You're right, FRAPS wouldn't work out too well for me, I appreciate the recommendation on the add-in capture card. Are they're any other folks out there that use capture cards that can clue me into something as a comparison or features to look for in a capture card? I can understand this one is popular, but is it the "go to" card on the market?

I don't know much about capture cards myself, so I had to conduct a quick Google search for recommendations. Given your specific needs, that card was mentioned most frequently in the threads and forums that I reviewed.

Lastly, If I we're to consider an AMD system build with ATI graphics would I be giving up tons of performance, capabilities with ditching the Core i7? Just trying to cover all bases, since I've built AMD systems in the past that came in hundreds of dollars below Intel cost.

The i7-4770 outperforms most AMD processors in gaming and multitasking. The few AMD (hex- and octo-core) processors that are better than the i7-4770 in multitasking suck when it comes to gaming (which, in many cases, is still largely single-threaded). The i7-4770 also runs cooler than most of the "equivalent" high-end AMD processors.

You're better off sticking with Intel in this case.

 

[Dangman]

Lastly, If I we're to consider an AMD system build with ATI graphics would I be giving up tons of performance, capabilities with ditching the Core i7? Just trying to cover all bases, since I've built AMD systems in the past that came in hundreds of dollars below Intel cost.

Well for graphics, at the current $260 price point, the GTX 760 is still king. So even if you went AMD for the CPU, we'd still probably recommend the GTX 760 at the $260 price point for the GPU.

Now you would save about $100 or so with an AMD FX-8350 CPU setup. However, you would lose about 15% to 35% in video editing/rendering performance depending on the application you're using for video editing/rendering. As for gaming performance, if the game is particularly CPU heavy, you would lose about 35% in performance. Then there's the increased power usage and heat generation of the AMD setup. So IMO, the extra $100 for an Intel setup. is well worth it considering there are noticeable and tangible benefits with going with a Core i7 4770 over an AMD FX-8350.

 

[hyt3k9]

You're better off sticking with Intel in this case.

Well for graphics, at the current $260 price point, the GTX 760 is still king.

IMO, the extra $100 for an Intel setup. is well worth it considering there are noticeable and tangible benefits with going with a Core i7 4770 over an AMD FX-8350.

SOLID recommendations guys. Thank you!
I will post a follow up on the build when I get all the parts ordered / picked up.

 

[hyt3k9]

After spending much of the day debating where I stand with my sub 1200.00 build, I decided to actually get more into a mid range price point for my Core i7 setup & make it a bit more future proof since this will be my main rig for the next couple years.

Motherboard: http://www.microcenter.com/product/414820/Z87-G41_PC_Mate_Socket_LGA_1150_ATX_Intel_Motherboard
CPU: http://www.microcenter.com/product/413248/Core_i7_4770K_35GHz_Socket_LGA_1150_Boxed_Processor
CPU Cooler: http://www.microcenter.com/product/404943/Hydro_Series_H80i_Extreme_Performance_Liquid_CPU_Cooler
RAM: http://www.microcenter.com/product/...11_Desktop_Memory_Kit_(Two_8GB_Memory_Modules)
Graphics: http://www.microcenter.com/product/...e_GTX_760_2048MB_GDDR5_PCIe_30_x16_Video_Card
SSD: http://www.microcenter.com/product/...TA_60Gb-s__25_Internal_Solid_State_Drive_(SSD)
PSU: http://www.microcenter.com/product/407825/Silencer_Mk_III_750W_ATX_Modular_Power_Supply
Case: http://www.microcenter.com/product/...puter_Case_with_Carrying_Handle_-_Black-White
Optical: http://www.microcenter.com/product/407512/24x_Super_Multi_Internal_SATA_DVD±RW_DL_Drive_-_Bare_Drive
Monitor: http://www.microcenter.com/product/406703/VX238H_23_Widescreen_Full_HD_1080p_LED_Monitor
Grand total sitting in cart now $1520.90 subtotal, $98.86 tax = $1,619.76.

A couple things to note in this build. I actually gave some serious thought to overclocking and came to the decision I actually wouldn't mind tinkering with the stock speeds a bit for a modest overclock to around 4.2 - 4.5 OC. I decided that the H80i would be beneficial to a lazy bastard like myself to just slap it on and forget it without having to mount an 80lb air cooler on the mobo and hearing fans sounding like a tornado.

Another thing, I'm not 100% happy with this case, but it DOES meet a couple criteria I had. I wanted something white for a change, big enough for single or double rad for CPU around the motherboard, spacious for unlimited upgrades. It has a decent style that kind of reminds me of the old CM Stacker cases from the mid 2000s. I also considered the Rosewill "Thor" case in white, but in the end I can't get myself to buy anything by that company. Seems cheap. Not sure why I get that impression when I think about their company.

I also threw in a Asus 1080p monitor so I can leave my plasma where it is. I wanted something a bit smaller for everyday tasks, and can also tote the 23" around to my buddies LAN parties.

In the end, I couldn't resist the PC Power & Cooling PSU. I like the 7yr warranty, 80+ gold cert and the future proofing the machine for a second 760 or 18 HDDs in the future. I debated on going with a HX series Corsair, or splurging on a AX series - but I don't think PCP&C can be beat for this price. (Even if it's made by Seasonic)

Lastly, I decided that I plan to purchase each and every item at Micro Center. This is mainly because the cpu/motherboard was in a deal together for $328. That's getting my motherboard (granted an entry level z87) for $55.00 instead of $104.00. Also, I will be able to bring all these goodies home tomorrow night and build the shit out of it.


Feel free to improve on the build in any way or mention a part that is better than I have listed. The only things I'm set in stone about are the CPU/Motherboard combo (for sale price) & the graphics card. Everything else just seem to fit with the spirit of the build, with OCing in mind along with my other demands listed above.

 

[Dangman]

The pricing just seems bad. You can save $34 alone by getting the CPU HSF online:
$86 - Corsair Hydro H80i Liquid Cooling System

Most of the other parts can be had for cheaper online. In other words, is instant gratification worth spending an extra $100 to $150?

As for the choice of the PC P&C PSU: The biggest reason not to get that PSU is due to the fact that OCZ owns them. As such, you'll be dealing with OCZ's customer support. Or their influence. OCZ is well known for crappy customer support. As such, I'd rather recommend the Corsair HX750 or AX760 or Seasonic X750 since their customer support are not in doubt.

As for the SSD, considering your budget, that SSD is a bit overpriced. The Samsung 840 250GB is only $30 more and provides roughly the same performance as , if not better than, the Samsung 840 Pro 128GB while providing significantly more space.

As for the case, I don't like any of the Coolermaster Storm series cases since they seem a tad cramped compared to other cases. You can kind of see what I'm talking about in the following photos of the Full Tower Storm Stryker:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/Storm_Stryker/images/instmb.jpg
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/cm_storm_stryker/images/39.htm

Compare those to the mid-tower Corsair 650D:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Corsair/Obsidian_650D/images/install1.jpg
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/corsair_obsidian_d/images/45.htm

Despite being a full tower, the Storm Stryker appears to have a bit less space between the GPU and the HDD cage than the mid-tower Corsair 650D. Also compare the Antec 1100:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Antec/Eleven_Hundred/images/instmb.jpg
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/antec_1100/images/22.htm

So you can see why I don't think the CM Storm Stryker is a good choice for a case.

In regards to Rosewill, Rosewill does have the reputation of being "cheap". However they have had quite a few products out there that are of pretty great to high quality. Like the Rosewill Capstone PSUs. So Rosewill quality today isn't as huge of a concern as it was in the past with Rosewill. With that said, it is Newegg's house brand so you might have to deal with Newegg's customer support. Their customer support have gone downhill apparently.

 

[hyt3k9]

The pricing just seems bad.
Most of the other parts can be had for cheaper online. In other words, is instant gratification worth spending an extra $100 to $150?

Good point. I'm working in Cincinnati tomorrow for my job, so I won't be out the difference of tax and gas, just the tax. I know it seems foolish to overspend, but I've been researching all weekend and would like to get it built and start gaming ASAP. Also, as soon as I started investigating the "free shipping" offers, some we're ground or worse offers with 7-10 days for shipping. Lastly, I don't have any stress about my components getting thrown around by FedEx. (Yes, I'm grabbing for straws and trying to justify paying more)

As for the choice of the PC P&C PSU: The biggest reason not to get that PSU is due to the fact that OCZ owns them. As such, you'll be dealing with OCZ's customer support. Or their influence. OCZ is well known for crappy customer support. As such, I'd rather recommend the Corsair HX750 or AX760 or Seasonic X750 since their customer support are not in doubt.

I will price all three you have listed here and decide on one. I didn't realize that OCZ owned PCP&C, what the hell is this economy coming to?

As for the SSD, considering your budget, that SSD is a bit overpriced. The Samsung 840 250GB is only $30 more and provides roughly the same performance as , if not better than, the Samsung 840 Pro 128GB while providing significantly more space.

The Samsung 840 (250GB) that's only $30 is SKU 035469 and has read speeds rated at 530MBps and write speeds rated at 240MBps w/ a 3yr warranty. The Samsung 840 (250GB) I priced earlier was $239.99, SKU 035402 and has read speeds rated at 540MBs and write speeds rated at 520MBps w/ a 5yr warranty. The Samsung 840 (128GB) that was in my cart was the higher end, more expensive one SKU 035386 which has the same higher write speeds and better warranty like the latter of the two 256's mentioned above. Therefore, the price gap is much more than $30 it's $100

As for the case, I don't like any of the Coolermaster Storm series cases since they seem a tad cramped compared to other cases.
So you can see why I don't think the CM Storm Stryker is a good choice for a case.

Yeah, I was into the white for a change. I plan on actually checking out some of the cases on their sales floor tomorrow and make my decision on a Corsair in person. I will most likely scrap the idea of getting a white case, since the selection sucks in them.

In regards to Rosewill, Rosewill does have the reputation of being "cheap". However they have had quite a few products out there that are of pretty great to high quality. Like the Rosewill Capstone PSUs. So Rosewill quality today isn't as huge of a concern as it was in the past with Rosewill. With that said, it is Newegg's house brand so you might have to deal with Newegg's customer support. Their customer support have gone downhill apparently.

I was actually quite surprised how many recommendations we're made pointing to Amazon.com when returning here for advice. I was wondering if the reason for that was a declining customer support problem with Newegg. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Dangman]

Good point. I'm working in Cincinnati tomorrow for my job, so I won't be out the difference of tax and gas, just the tax. I know it seems foolish to overspend, but I've been researching all weekend and would like to get it built and start gaming ASAP. Also, as soon as I started investigating the "free shipping" offers, some we're ground or worse offers with 7-10 days for shipping. Lastly, I don't have any stress about my components getting thrown around by FedEx. (Yes, I'm grabbing for straws and trying to justify paying more)

You do have a point about the rather long-ish wait for free delivery. But the pricing is close to $150 more man. For that much, you could just pay for two-day shipping on parts and still probably save money. As we're about to see with the SSD, you really are hampering the performance and capability of the PC buying all of the parts locally.

I will price all three you have listed here and decide on one. I didn't realize that OCZ owned PCP&C, what the hell is this economy coming to?

Actually, OCZ bought out PC P&C back in 2007, a little before the....economic troubles began.

The Samsung 840 (250GB) that's only $30 is SKU 035469 and has read speeds rated at 530MBps and write speeds rated at 240MBps w/ a 3yr warranty. The Samsung 840 (250GB) I priced earlier was $239.99, SKU 035402 and has read speeds rated at 540MBs and write speeds rated at 520MBps w/ a 5yr warranty. The Samsung 840 (128GB) that was in my cart was the higher end, more expensive one SKU 035386 which has the same higher write speeds and better warranty like the latter of the two 256's mentioned above. Therefore, the price gap is much more than $30 it's $100

FYI, read and write speeds don't mean much when it comes to SSDs. The real identifier of SSD performance is the random read/write speed and/or the seek speed. YOu have to read actual reviews to find that info. As for the $30 price difference, I was comparing online pricing to the MC pricing. The Samsung 840 250GB costs $171 online:
$171 - Samsung 840 Series 250GB SSD

Whereas the Samsung 840 128GB costs $140 from Microcenter and $138 from Amazon.com. So yes, the price difference is actually ~$30. AGain, really consider whether or not you should buy the rest of the parts locally. $30 literally gets you nearly twice as much space and very similar performance. That's well worth the trouble of buying that part online.

Yeah, I was into the white for a change. I plan on actually checking out some of the cases on their sales floor tomorrow and make my decision on a Corsair in person. I will most likely scrap the idea of getting a white case, since the selection sucks in them.

Yeah seeing cases in person does help change one's mind about a case. I use to recommend the Antec 900 all the time since it look good on paper. Once I actually saw it in person, I stopped recommending that case altogether. It was very over-hyped and poor case. Seeing the Coolermaster Storm cases and some of the HAF cases in person also changed my mind about them.

Anyway, here's the rest of my recommended case list:
$90 - Fractal Design Define R4 Arctic White ATX Case
$112 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Arctic White ATX Case
$110 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li PC-7HX Black Aluminum ATX Case
$105 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Gunmetal Black ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Arctic White ATX Case
$115 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$135 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Black Pearl ATX Case
$135 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Titanium Grey ATX Case
$140 - Corsair Obsidian Series 550D ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-W ATX case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-WA ATX case
$154 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$168 - Silverstone TJ04B-EW ATX Case
$167 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B-USB3.0 ATX Case
$250 - Silverstone FT02S-W-USB3.0 ATX Case
$245 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW ATX Case

I was actually quite surprised how many recommendations we're made pointing to Amazon.com when returning here for advice. I was wondering if the reason for that was a declining customer support problem with Newegg. Thanks for the clarification.

A variety of factors actually:
- Newegg's Customer support has gone down
- Amazon.com sometimes have better pricing.
- Amazon.com actually supports HardOCP financially. Newegg completely cut-off all financial support for HardOCP earlier this year due to a change in management over there that wanted to pretty much cut back all the commissions that HardOCP was getting. As a result, HardOCP created a new web plug-in that led all Newegg links to Amazon.com.

 

[hyt3k9]

That's another thing I've noticed since returning..

I've never heard of Fractal Design computer cases.
No mention to Lian Li cases. EDIT: I see 1 in the list, lol!

Seems like a different world today

EDIT: Already swapped out the PCP&C for the HX760 & the 128GB SSD for the $170 256GB. I'm also liking the Corsair 600T in graphite. Will have to see it in person.
Loving the information you have. Caught me up to speed in a flash!