Patience pays off, man. Everything's going to shift over the next few months, so if you aren't in a massive rush, I’d say just hold off on buying for now. Honestly? Just grab a more standard case instead—that way you can put your money toward the stuff that actually matters and avoid the headache > was talking about. Right now, prices are just climbing and companies are throwing out these sneaky "deals" that aren't even deals—Cyber Monday is a perfect example of that kind of nonsense.
Honestly, that TT case is more mATX than ITX if you ask me. If you're actually looking for something compact—and maybe even looks decent—you should just go with the node 202. Those i3 chips don't run too hot, so even a stock cooler will do the job just fine. Obviously, things are going to run a bit warmer than they would in a roomy ATX or mATX case, but we're talking totally normal levels here. As for cable management... well, that really depends on you or whoever ends up building it. With builds like this, you definitely need a game plan if you want everything to look clean and not have stuff blocking the airflow.
Totaling about $4950/ $1623 including shipping and assembly.
If you've already got an old SATA HDD lying around from a previous rig, just grab a cheap external enclosure and keep it as extra storage—an SSD is always a faster and better way to go. But if you don't have anything, an SSHD is a pretty solid middle ground (just keep in mind the Node only fits 2.5" drives).
Dell OptiPlex + HDD + Dell 22 Monitor = $1100 including shipping. You can mount it right on the back of the screen—super clean setup—and honestly, the performance is going to be totally fine for just basic home use, especially with a decent enough CPU, 4GB of RAM, and an SSD.
Honestly, the Pentium isn't even that much stronger when you look at the price gap—it’s practically unnoticeable, especially if you're just doing basic stuff with an SSD and 8GB of RAM.
I'm also wondering how anyone actually plans on gaming on Ubuntu 😁 Here’s another suggestion if you're already committed to Linux—an Intel setup is probably more reliable when it comes to drivers. Plus, if you find you actually need some gaming power later, it's way easier to just slap in a dedicated GPU than to struggle with a mediocre one right now.
edit: was literally building this while you were posting (added a second option).
Whatever you do, don't go with Corsair for the power supply—that CX series is pretty low quality, and honestly, you can almost count on having to RMA it during the warranty period. For your budget, the Hexa+ I mentioned is definitely your best bet.
It shouldn't be an issue, but for storage, try using an external HDD or maybe grab an old internal SATA drive from an old PC if you have one lying around—just watch out for how much you cram onto the SSD, because once it gets too full, performance starts tanking and everything slows down.
It’s a pretty solid build for what he needs, but honestly—if I were him—I’d ditch Windows and grab an I5 4460/6400 instead. It’s just better for future-proofing, you know? That way he can swap in a beefier graphics card down the road without worrying about the CPU being a total bottleneck. Everything else looks well-researched, though I’d definitely steer clear of that Corsair CX 430. It’s a bit of a dud power supply that’s been rebranded a few times and tends to die on people left and right—definitely skip it. He should go with something more reliable like a Fortron Hexa + 400 w or maybe an XFX TS 450W. Shipping is free if you spend over $667, and if they order Windows with it, the shop will handle the OS and driver installs so they can make sure everything is running perfectly before it ships. Plus, the warranty works just like any other retailer—parts are covered individually, and the whole rig comes with a 12-month warranty that includes free diagnostics if anything goes sideways.
Edit: What kind of budget are we looking at for a monitor?
LOL, honestly everything after that first run of CX units (EVGA) is total junk—including that CX 430-M you're looking at right now. It’s basically pointless to call it "modular" when you end up using every single cable anyway... for that kind of cash, you can grab a much better EVGA SuperNOVA.
Honestly, just skip those pre-built setups—they’re usually overpriced and poorly put together. You're way better off picking out individual parts to build something higher quality and more powerful, especially since you can get it assembled for free anyway, so the total cost stays basically the same.
Here's an example:
Intel Core i5 6400 MSI H110 Motherboard Kingston HyperX 8GB DDR4 2133 MHz SanDisk Z400S 128GB SSD SATA3 Toshiba P300 1 TB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti Fortron Hexa+ 400W 80+ Active LG GH24NSD1 Zalman T1+ USB 3.0 MATX
If you're running the Cooler Master Liquid CPU Cooler, honestly, just forget about trying to overclock that Core i7-4770K—even if you crank up the top case fans, it’s not going to save you. For an Overclocked Core i7-4770K, you really need the beefier Cooler Master Liquid CPU Cooler. The CC 95 is basically just a decent upgrade over a stock cooler, nothing more.
If you’re looking for a case with decent lighting, I’d go with the Newegg option—it has a larger acrylic panel, so that internal LED glow from the fans actually shows up properly. Plus, the tinting on the glass is subtle, so you don't get that annoying glare. The Hyper 212+ has room for an extra fan, but honestly, that might be overkill. Right now, those Corsair fans are a solid bet since they're pretty quiet and move enough air. Anything more expensive than that feels like throwing money away to me—unless you're planning to drop serious cash on high-end RGB fans, at which point you might as well just save up for a better case instead of swapping out stock fans. Btw, just a heads-up for the newbie here—a "cooler" refers to the CPU heatsink, it doesn't have anything to do with the case fans.
It’s definitely worth considering since you're running that Core i7-4770K—plus, the cooler is pretty slim, so it shouldn't give you any trouble fitting inside the case.
Honestly, just three fans is plenty—you don't really need more since the airflow is already solid. You've got LEDs in the front and on the side, plus a blue one in the back without lights. If you end up grabbing this case for a build, definitely make sure to flip that side fan so it exhausts out; for some weird reason, they ship it mounted backwards, blowing air in instead of pulling the hot air off your GPU. Just a heads-up: it fits coolers up to 160mm, but watch out for those vertical mounts where the radiator sits at a 90° angle. If you go that route, you'll just be blowing hot air straight into the closed top—kind of like how those Raijintek units work, which is why they had to release a different mounting kit.
The Hyper 212 has 3 fans—one in the back, two on top, and one in the front. Now, the Hyper 212+ comes with 4 fans—one in the back, two on top, plus the front one. If you ask me, I’d personally go with the Corsair Deathclaw—it’s got a much cleaner finish and looks way better, even though it's basically just an identical twin to the Cooler Master Hyper 212+ on the inside.
If you're looking at cases, maybe check out something like a Bitfenix, Zalman Z1 neo, Z3 +, Z9 neo, Z11 neo, Koolink DeathClaw, Coolermaster K350 / 380, or even an Antec GX 505.
Intel XEON E1231 V3 — basically a repackaged i7 without the integrated graphics. LC CC 95 — honestly, you don't strictly need this if you've got a decent case and the stock cooler, but hey, having lower temps and a quiet rig isn't a bad idea at all. KINGSTON 2X8 GB 1600 MHZ (16GB) — RAM is super cheap right now, and even an SSD—if you ask me—is worth the extra cash. Prices are dropping anyway, and if you haggle, you might even snag a better deal. GIGABYTE B85M DS3H-A — a solid board with USB 3.0, SATA 3 support, and it can handle up to 32GB of RAM. It fits the budget and the goal perfectly. TOSHIBA P300 1TB SATA 3 GIGABYTE GTX 950 2GB GDDR5 — there's really no point in jumping to a GTX 960; the tiny performance boost isn't worth it. $117 For someone just playing games here and there, paying more for maybe 10% extra power doesn't make sense. LG DVD-RW SATA FORTRON HYPER 500W 80+ — a classic choice here. It's reliable, quiet, comes with a 5-year warranty, and has plenty of connectors, so adding an SSD or another drive later is easy. Plus, this build won't pull much power—you'll likely stay under 200W even at full load. COOLERMASTER 452 SILENCIO USB 3.0 — a beefier case with a more classic look. It’s pretty well-sealed against dust, has decent cable management, a toolless design, and enough room for longer graphics cards. AOC LED IPS I2476Vwm 1080p — features anti-flicker, an AH-IPS panel, and both VGA & HDMI ports. You can find more info about it online.
Honestly, if you're looking at the budget options, just stick to something reliable like Xilenc Red Wing, Cooler Master, or whatever else is out there.