My computer has been showing its age more and more recently. I was hoping to upgrade after I finish my PhD and move to China but I might not have the choice. The computer has started feeling slow, making odd noises and having issues with USB ports. My computer wouldn't boot the other day and I had to do a reset and fresh install. Now the computer doesn't detect my TV, speakers and monitor as 3 separate audio outputs. I complained about it to my wife and she asked how much it would cost to build a new one. My current build is: i5 2500k @ 4.3GHz w/ hyper 212+ GA-Z68-UD3H-B3 MSI 280x 3GB Corsair Vengance LP 2x8GB 1866 Samsung 830 256GB + 2x Toshiba 3TB Corsair RM650 CM Storm Enforcer I want to go small and reuse my 280x due to prices. I was also hoping to wait for DDR4 2x16GB to become affordable but I don't know when or if that will happen. Proposed build: CPU: i5-8600K or i7-8700K Cooler: Corsair H60 MB: ASRock - Z370M-ITX/ac Mini ITX Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) SSD: 512GB Samsung PM981 or 500GB Samsung 960 Evo Case: Thermaltake - Core V1 Mini ITX Desktop Case PSU: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650W 80+ Gold A few questions: How long would I need to wait for Intel 9th gen, I don't want to buy something that is going to need a patch and take a performance hit. i5 or i7? I work mostly as a researcher and copy editor. I don't do a lot of encoding but I like to game and run emulators. As I'm still running my i5-2500k I likely won't upgrade for 5 years. AIO vs air? I want to build SFF and I want to take it as a carry on flights and trains. I also want it to be quite. I will OC but at stock voltage. Case: I want something that is small, budget and will fit a few 3.5" drives (I currently have 3). Eventually I will build a small NAS but I won't have the budget to do that for a while. I may buy an 8-10TB drive and sell a few of my 3TB drives. So i need room for at least 1-2 3.5" drives. I will be buying parts in China or the UK (depending on prices).
I personally would wait till next year. DDR4 is over priced with no performance benefits. DDR5 is due out next year. CPU's shouldn't be vulnerable to Meltdown, Spectre or both by then either. GPU's are over priced too, so it's really the wrong time to upgrade. I'm sitting back and waiting, and I have money burning a hole in my pocket, so I just kept with the same Z87 platform and upgraded the CPU to a 4790K for a bargain. Also, wouldn't a Laptop be best suited to your needs? I had an MSI Apache 17.3" with a GTX 1060 3GB, and that ran every game maxed out at 1080p. At least then you ain't paying OTT prices for a GPU.
If it clacks it buy a cheap stand in board. Just one of those Intel ones that are reasonably cheap that you can't OC and as said, struggle on until next year. Just hope and pray that nae coont finds a way to mine on CPUs with high profits because if that happens we'll all be screwed. I had to (I had absolutely no choice) buy some DDR4 recently and seriously I felt like throwing a party because I got 8gb for £50 inc. No choice though. I had a completely free X99 board sitting doing nothing, and a rig with a venerable Phenom 2 X6 in it running on DDR2. Hopefully next year the new Chinese fabs will be open and prices should start to drop. It's a shame, because AMD are now making some killer little APUs for cheap, but the RAM price just makes it LOLable.
9th Gen won't be before Q4 earliest, likely next year. DDR5 won't be before 2020, and HEDT-first. PCIE 4 will be before that, but it won't matter too much DDR4 prices won't come down much this year 8700K and PM981 will certainly keep you going I'd look at a laptop if you're travelling - decent performance 7700HQ/1060 with 15.6" can be had for around 1k Don't buy in China.
I've thought about a laptop when I was living in Asia but I really don't like them. I want a big monitor, lots of storage and the ability to upgrade. Next year I will get a 27" 1440p monitor. I like my mechanical keyboard and gaming mouse, and I don't need to game when I travel. ITX is my compromise.
I will be moving to Beijing next year, not travelling. What's wrong with buying in China? I build my current rig with some parts from China and built many computers for friends when living there. PCIe will be fun for M.2 storage but not much more. I don't think DDR5 will be cheaper than DDR4 until it has been out for a while. Mostly I'm hoping 9th Gen will come early because of specter and meltdown.
If you can understand simplified Chinese and know the local landscape then totally fine. But if you're a foreigner you'll get ripped off. Life experience on that front.
In that regard I will be fine. Check prices on Taobao and Tmall first and know what you want. Don't be afraid to barter, walk away and compare prices from different sellers, or just buy online.
Regarding size, I have an aluminium microATX case from Jonsbo that has the same interior volume as the Core V1 - not the smallest case you could go for. There are a number of clones of the excellent DanCase or NCase on Taobao that pop up on /r/sffpc, so you might want to pick one up when in China unless you want to splurge on the real deal.
