Microcenter bundle and build recommendations

[Lifted]

I'm looking for a motherboard to use in a new computer for pops. Rock solid, good build, and won't give me any trouble. I don't need overclocking, SLI/Crossfire, fancy bios, 10 SATA ports, RAID, etc., just something that will work with an i5 and whatever basic RAM (probably just the cheapest 4GBx2 crucial).

I'll be purchasing at Microcenter and am thinking of grabbing the i5-4590 for $160. Would this CPU and any MB qualify for the MB+CPU bundle discount or is that limited to the bundles they have listed on their site? It's been a couple of years now since I purchased my combo and I don't remember the details.

Do either of these fit the bill for build quality and stability (i.e. everything just works)?

ASUS z87-Plus $80
ASUS B85M-E/CSM $90
GIGABYTE GA-B85M-D3H $75

Anything else that would be a better option? Link to Microcenter <$100 1150 boards.

Edit: Here's a complete system. Anything you would change? I already have an SSD for it.

One of the above motherboards or another that's recommended
Intel Core i5-4590 $160
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) CL9 Dual Channel 4GBx2 $72
Samsung SH-224DB24x SATA Internal DVD Burner $15
Corsair Carbide Series 200R Mid Tower ATX Computer $60
Corsair CX Series CX500M 500 Watt ATX Modular Power Supply $70
Acer H276HL 27" LCD IPS Monitor $205

$682 after tax using the Gigabyte MB

Edit 2: OK, I answered my own question. With the i5-4590 in the cart there was no discount applied, but when I added the i5-4690k, the motherboard was discounted $40. So it's basically a slightly upgraded CPU for free as the 4690k is $40 more than the 4590.

 

[mistersprinkles]

http://www.microcenter.com/product/428797/B85_Killer_1150_ATX_Intel_Motherboard

ASRock B85 Killer gets my vote.

You get a Qualcomm Killer NIC, which is much better than most NICs you will see on boards in this price range. It doesn't match a top tier Intel NIC, but that's not in your price range. It also has a quite decent audio DSP for the price, and has 4+2 phase power with a heatsink for cool running and good power to the CPU.

That's the one I would go with. I like the H97 version of this board even better (and you can get it for the same price as this one on Newegg). It has high end audio capacitors for better sound. I believe it also has a better DSP.

 

[krose]

I recently picked up an Asrock H97M Pro4 and a Pentium G3258 for my wife. No discount but only $150 for the combo. Seems like a nice board and no problems so far. Has Intel NIC too.

 

[mfenn]

Edit: Here's a complete system. Anything you would change? I already have an SSD for it.

One of the above motherboards or another that's recommended
Intel Core i5-4590 $160
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) CL9 Dual Channel 4GBx2 $72
Samsung SH-224DB24x SATA Internal DVD Burner $15
Corsair Carbide Series 200R Mid Tower ATX Computer $60
Corsair CX Series CX500M 500 Watt ATX Modular Power Supply $70
Acer H276HL 27" LCD IPS Monitor $205

$682 after tax using the Gigabyte MB


Edit 2: OK, I answered my own question. With the i5-4590 in the cart there was no discount applied, but when I added the i5-4690k, the motherboard was discounted $40. So it's basically a slightly upgraded CPU for free as the 4690k is $40 more than the 4590.

The discount works with any compatible motherboard, but the processors are limited to those listed in their flyer (i3 4370, i5 4690K, i7 4790k, i7 5820k)

Unless your dad is heavily into video editing or similarly compute intensive tasks, I would seriously consider the i3 4370.

For example:

i3 4370 + ASRock H97M Pro $180 @ MC

Also, I noticed that MC is blowing our Z87 and H87 boards for really low prices (~$40). If you have an original Haswell CPU that you can use to flash the BIOS, one of those would work fine with the Haswell Refresh CPUs.

The rest of your picks look good to me except the PSU. A 500W unit is about 5x over-provisioned for this machine and $70 isn't a great price for a CX500M anyway. You can get a totally reasonable Antec VP450 for $45.

 

[VirtualLarry]

You get a Qualcomm Killer NIC, which is much better than most NICs you will see on boards in this price range.

Killer NIC is to be avoided. Especially if you want to run Linux.

 

[Lifted]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I had totally forgotten about needing an older CPU with the H/Z87 chipsets in order to flash the BIOS, and I only have an i7-2700k in my PC, so the 87's were out of the picture.

I ended up with a Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 for $110 (it was $20 or $30 off). It was only $5 more than the almost identical ASUS H97 board.

As mfenn noted above, only those CPU's in the ad are included in the bundle, so I spent $40 more on the 4690k and saved $40 from the bundle. I'd rather get a quad core now as he's been using an HP C2D laptop for the past 6 years... so he'll probably have this one for a while too. And what's the point in upgrading from dual core to dual core 6 years later?

I also realized 500W was overkill, but I wanted a quality PSU. They had the CX430 (non-modular) on the shelf for $49 w/ $20 rebate, so $29 bucks for another overkill of a PSU. Also ended up with another $20 rebate from who knows what.

He told me he absolutely doesn't want a large monitor, so I ended up getting him a Dell P2314h. It cost more than the 27" Acer I was originally looking at on newegg, but they're good monitors. Have a ton of the P2311's and 12's at the office and never a dead pixel or any issues with any of them over the last 3 years. The 2314 is actually IPS which I think is new in the P series. Wish my 2311's were IPS.

Everything came to ~ $770, and with $40 in rebates it's a $730 system including a $240 monitor. Not bad if he gets 6 or 7 years of it.

 

[mistersprinkles]

You wanted a quality PSU? Well, you didn't get one. CX series is the absolute rock bottom of what I would recommend. My friend's bent over and took one after 1.5 yrs and had to be replaced. I know of 4 others that have rolled over and died within a year or 2 as well. Definitely not a quality PSU.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I had totally forgotten about needing an older CPU with the H/Z87 chipsets in order to flash the BIOS, and I only have an i7-2700k in my PC, so the 87's were out of the picture.

It's good you already found what you were looking for. Wanted to let anyone else who reads this know that some Asus Z87 boards will flash without an older chip. I grabbed an open box Sabertooth for $8.50 and a 4690k, flashed it with some fancy usb utility on the Asus website, and popped the new chip in. Worked like a charm.

 

[Charlie98]

I also realized 500W was overkill, but I wanted a quality PSU. They had the CX430 (non-modular) on the shelf for $49 w/ $20 rebate, so $29 bucks for another overkill of a PSU. Also ended up with another $20 rebate from who knows what.

He told me he absolutely doesn't want a large monitor...

Contrary to some opinions, the CX430 is a pretty decent PSU... I have 2 running plus a CX430M (Modular)... I prefer the non-modular. At the price they are hard to beat and are perfectly adequate in a budget or moderate build.

I concur with your dad and the big monitor. I bought a 24" for the desktop and it made my eyes bug out... it was horrible. I spent the money to send it back and paid $5 more for the same 19" monitor... much better!