Tired of Vanilla

[FMod]

That area has a space that is 22" wide x 15" high x 17" deep. I need a case that will fit in that space. While snooping around on New Egg I found a class of cases they call HTPC or home theater personal computer case. These seem quite large.

It's just a bit less than the size of a proper midi tower. A large HTPC case seems to be the way to go here.

 

 

When it comes down to cost it turning out to be somewhat of a wash. I increased my budget to $1200 for a gaming PC. While a new iMac will cost $2200 with proper upgrades I now have a buyer for my old Mac and I will get $900 for that.

You have an A1312/2374 model AUIU.

In PC part prices the value of your GPU upgrade is $350, CPU+platform $100, RAM $50, SSD $150, a total of $650. Your old mac is out of warranty and I'd put value decay at 10%/year, so a fair worth of about $1,100 (sale value is lower, since the buyer needs a good deal).

 

All in all you're losing a value of $250 on this upgrade, i.e. for $1,300 you're getting a gain of $1,050. Whether it's a good deal is up to you.

[wismas]

 

In PC part prices the value of your GPU upgrade is $350, CPU+platform $100, RAM $50, SSD $150, a total of $650. Your old mac is out of warranty and I'd put value decay at 10%/year, so a fair worth of about $1,100 (sale value is lower, since the buyer needs a good deal).

 

All in all you're losing a value of $250 on this upgrade, i.e. for $1,300 you're getting a gain of $1,050. Whether it's a good deal is up to you.

 

 

FMod, you sound like some accountants I used to work with! :geek: I get what you are doing but I'm not processing it right now. Very tired, haven't slept much recently. Anyway in absolute terms a new iMac will cost me about $1300 after the sale of the old one while I'm budgeting the PC around $1200 (or so).

 

In regards to the HTPC cases, I will check out a few and post links on here if you or others don't mind evaluating them for me.

[wismas]

I've been educating myself on building my own system since my last post. This isn't as easy as I first thought but I'm not deterred, not yet anyway. Now the plan is to build the system and buy another monitor and just set up the PC in my office where it will share desk space with the current Mac.

 

All that is really not the point of this post though. The real point is figuring out the particular components and how they work together.

 

Here is the build: https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=21448331

 

- I'm not 100% on all the parts yet. Right now I'm thinking AMD processor because of what Werne wrote earlier in this thread, it will be more future proof, something to do with multi-threaded games. While my intention is Skyrim first I would like to think about what's next as well. I do like the connectors of the Intel cpu better than the pins on the AMD.

 

- I was going to go with fan/heatsink that comes packed with the cpu rather than get an aftermarket. I don't plan on overclocking anything.

 

- I think the mobo is okay, not really sure what to look for other than PCI slots and that at least one is a PCI Express 3.0.

 

- Couldn't find enough info about what is the optimal output for the power supply. I chose 600W as a best guess.

 

- Quite a few R9 Radeon gpu's are backordered. I don't know how long that will be the case but I think I would prefer it over the GeForce. Maybe, I have zero practical experience with any of this stuff.

 

So that's it for now. I plan on buying the keyboard, mouse and monitor at a local shop, I'd like to see and feel those before buying. Plus, I'm not too confident shipping a monitor.

[wismas]

Whoops. Sorry, I thought the wish list would work on the link. Here is a quick break down.

 

Fractal Design Midi Arc2 case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352031

 

AMD FX-6350 Vishera cpu - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113327

 

Gigabyte GA 970A mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128651

 

MSI N760 Hawk GeForce GTX 760 2BG gpu - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127750

 

Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147248

 

Corsair CX600X 600 watt power supply - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139048

 

I've got 8GB RAM an optical drive and Windows 7 on the list as well. The price comes in at $1100. I'm open to suggestions for improvement. I'm not 100% certain about anything but the cpu, gpu and mobo really give me the most concern.

[wismas]

It's been sometime since I followed up on my project. Wanted to let everyone know that I took a bit of a break, did a whole lot of research and finally decided to raise my budget and go the pc gaming route. I ordered the system today, below are the components. I wanted to thank all of you once again, I would have acted rashly if it wasn't for the very helpful advice you all provided. Looking forward to getting the system and putting it together.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352021

Fractal Design Define R4.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116898

Intel Core i5-4670 Haswell 3.4GHz.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128617

Gigabyte GA-ZA7X-UD4H LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI 6GB/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125462

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 4GB Card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147248

Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231568

G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB RAM.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151121

Seasonic ATX 12V/EPS 12V, 660W, 80 Plus Platinum Full Modular PSU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Asus 24x DVD Burner.

Thanks again!

Edited March 20, 2014 by wismas

[wismas]

A follow up to my follow up. I've been using my gaming PC for about two weeks now, I'm thrilled. So glad I was encouraged by all of you to build my own PC. There were some intimidating parts but the whole project was so much fun. The learning about components, the build process and finally having everything work for the first time.

 

I went with a different motherboard than I listed, an Asus Z887-Pro and a different brand of RAM with a lower profile.

 

Getting to learn Windows 8.1 was a bit maddening at first, being so used to MAC OS but it's coming along. Don't like it as much as OS X but I'm understanding it better and better.

 

Been having so much fun modding Skyrim which was the primary mission of this build. My components have handled everything I have thrown at it so far.

 

Again, thanks to everyone for all their help!