New setup, i5 8400???

Caporegime
Joined
4 Jun 2009
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Looking at a new system (CPU + RAM + MB) and need recommendations, don't want to be spending much more than £400, £500 at a push......

Main priority is stability, which is why I'm put off the ryzen stuff, don't want to have to faff about with different clock speeds, voltages just to get better performance than the intel equivalent but at the cost of stability....

Main thing is the motherboard, want a micro-atx this time. GPU being connected will be a MSI GE 290 (maybe a 1080/ti/1170 in the future) along with an asus essence stx 2 sound card.

Games will be BF1/5, anthem, division 2, metro. Generally game at 1080P @ 120 HZ or 4k @ 60HZ

Any recommendations for a nice case too (Micro atx form), I like clean/minimal look, something like the phanteks evolve, the quieter the better and of course that is good for temps, got at least 4 drives to connect.

Thoughts/recommendations?
 
My initial thoughts are you'll struggle to get a decent m-ATX case with the space for 4 additional drives, and even if you do the case will be on the large side which means you may as well go ATX. You may also struggle to get one that accommodates the more powerful GPUs. The only other option would be to get external caddies for some of them but that means cables and additional boxes.

The i5 8400 is a good shout, it's a fantastic performer for the price. I've picked a more compact full ATX case below. If you really need m-ATX then you need to reconsider your requirements really :)

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £517.26 (includes shipping: £12.30)​
 
Thanks, looks good that spec!

I should be more clear with the drives, I've got 2 SSD's and 3 x 3.5" hard drives. I could probably just drop to 1 SSD and 2 x 3.5" drives though.

GPUs wise, would definitely need 1080+ power, be that in the form of nvidia's new GPUs or a 1080 itself, possibly a Vega nano/64 if prices ever drop to something sensible but amds cards are probably going to be too hot for a matx case.....
 
When you start looking a bit more deeply at the quality m-ATX cases out there you soon find they're usually not far off regular ATX midi towers in dimensions. For example, the case I linked above is 432mm tall where-as the Enthoo Evolv m-ATX case is 453mm tall.

(edit) If you do decide to go ATX then you'll have many more options open to you. The In-Win is just one of many decent and compact ATX cases out there
 
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £463.62 (includes shipping: £11.70)

Would have picked 2666 ram but the 3000 is on offer for cheaper.

I have and am a big fan of the Focus G Mini. It just won't fit all of your drives.
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

And yes, I should have also noted that too. I need good spacing for the PCI slots due to the amount of room GPU takes up as well as my asus essence STX II sound card. Currently with my GA P55 UD 3 board, I can't use the daughter board of the soundcard (don't need it atm but at some stage I might look into surround sound system) and the main sound card is sitting right on top of my 290 :/

Liking the look of all these cases too :cool:

What about the CPU cooler? I know for ryzen, the wraith is very good but intel still need a 3rd party one, don't they?

Do you guys think the i5 8400 would be the right call? As said, I would love to go ryzen but I just really don't want to be faffing about with stability issues etc. Is there anything CPU wise due by October/November?
 
I don't play that game personally but videos show good framerates, providing you pair it with a half decent GPU. It really is a very good budget gaming CPU :)

 
I don't play that game personally but videos show good framerates, providing you pair it with a half decent GPU. It really is a very good budget gaming CPU :)


Thanks.

That video just goes to further show how random BF 1's optimisation is, amiens is hammering the i5 8400 yet on my i5 750, amiens runs the best compared to most maps :/
 
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