First build for over 8 years - how's it looking?

[Giraffe]

Antec P100 Mid Tower Case
Gigabyte GA-Z97-D3H
Broadwell Core i5 5675C
Seasonic S12G-450 450W (bigger than needed but a good 'un)
Crucial, DDR3L, 2x2GB
500GB HGST Travelstar (2.5"; should be OK - not much space needed)

Alternatives:
Cooler Master Silencio 550
MSI Z97 Guard-Pro
Core i5 4690S

The monitor will be a Dell 24", 1920x1200
I have the input devices and optical drive
If I want an alternative cooler it'll be a low-profile Noctua.

[Biscuit]

What will you be using the machine for?

[EndlessWaves]

A budget Z97 board wouldn't be my first choice of motherboard, it doesn't even have a DisplayPort output. I'd spend less on the chipset and more on the rest of the board. What features are you after?

[Giraffe]

Durability mainly.
No overclocking, no gaming, bit of video encoding but nothing big, otherwise ordinary stuff - office, browsing etc.

The MSI Z97 Guard-Pro has DP output. I'm torn between the two, as Gigabyte seems to have a good reputation for service.
As for budget, yes they're not the most expensive but all those 'above' them are gaming.
I was more interested in H97 to start with, but those are rare - Scan has only one!
Gigabyte don't seem to do DP; MSI and Asrock do but from £112 up.

[DanceswithUnix]

If you aren't going to use those expansion slots, having a ATX case and motherboard seems, well, huge.

Have you looked at uATX & ITX options like http://www.ebuyer.com/720520-fractal...ca-core-500-bk

You get the ability to add a graphics card which is the only addon most people ever use these days, and it gets you a small enough PC that it can sit on the desk where it won't get quite as much dust in it.

Otherwise your list looks good. I see what you mean about Displayport motherboard prices. For that premium I wouldn't bother if you are currently good on DVI-D, it could be that if/when you get a future DP monitor it could be 5K or 8K and require a new standard of DP port which leaves you forking out for a graphics card anyway.

[outwar6010]

I would really put an ssd in there.

[Giraffe]

Thank you - I'd like to order on Wednesday so need to get finalised.
I prefer a case that has transverse bays and enough width for SATA connectors (I have right-angled ones). My present case is almost the size of those I'm considering (10mm narrower and 30mm lower) and the connectors are just OK. With some sort of foam on the panels, the extra bit of width should just be OK.

The MSI board is the only reasonable one with DP. Still not sure which would be more reliable, but I'm hoping that an o/cing mobo that's not o/c'd will be OK.

I'm having some trouble finding out what connectors are actually on the Dell U2415. The HDMI mentions MHL and, from what I can find out, might not be 'standard' HDMI. I'm getting HDMI to DP and DVI to DP cables just in case - I've plenty of ordinary HDMI ones.

[ik9000]

I'm having some trouble finding out what connectors are actually on the Dell U2415. The HDMI mentions MHL and, from what I can find out, might not be 'standard' HDMI. I'm getting HDMI to DP and DVI to DP cables just in case - I've plenty of ordinary HDMI ones.

see tftcentral for their in depth review of the U2415. It will tell you what you need to know.

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2415.htm

Interfaces:

2 HDMI (MHL) connector
1 Mini DisplayPort
1 DisplayPort (version 1.2)
1 DisplayPort out (MST)

Accessories included:

Power cable, cable cover, Mini DP to DP cable, USB 3.0 cable, factory calibration report

SFAIK HDMI with MHL will still work with standard HDMI, but it also offers you to connect MHL devices into it. See guide to MHL here: http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-...ed-it--1209802

[ik9000]

The MSI board is the only reasonable one with DP. Still not sure which would be more reliable, but I'm hoping that an o/cing mobo that's not o/c'd will be OK.

just because a board is ok for OC'ing doesn't mean you have to OC it. It will be fine! OC boards are (usually) more hardy and offer features to (help) maintain stability when overclocking, allowing finer control of key settings and with better voltage regulation, higher end board components etc. Some of these help, others are more marketing gimmick, but it is quite ok to not OC a CPU in an OC mobo.

+1 to above suggestion for putting in an SSD. With current prices you'd be silly not to IMO.

[Giraffe]

ik9000, thanks for your posts.
I'd seen Dell's manual for the monitor but it wasn't clear exactly what was what and the images are too poor to be certain - I can't even tell the gender of the DP in. If it's HDMI that will also handle MHL that's OK - I' wondered if it was some sort of mini-HDMI. According to tftcentral it's HDMI with MHL support, as you say. I'll get a DVI to DP adaptor.

As for OC'ing, no way! I'll get the SSD eventually but not right away. W7 might be a bit flaky with SSD - also I want to do a comparison, so far as I can with differing OSes, for speed.

[ik9000]

ik9000, thanks for your posts.
I'd seen Dell's manual for the monitor but it wasn't clear exactly what was what and the images are too poor to be certain - I can't even tell the gender of the DP in. If it's HDMI that will also handle MHL that's OK - I' wondered if it was some sort of mini-HDMI. According to tftcentral it's HDMI with MHL support, as you say. I'll get a DVI to DP adaptor.

As for OC'ing, no way! I'll get the SSD eventually but not right away. W7 might be a bit flaky with SSD - also I want to do a comparison, so far as I can with differing OSes, for speed.

win7 is fine with SSD. It was the first MS OS with proper native support for it. Foolish to not get an SSD. So much quicker than HDD.

[DanceswithUnix]

I'll get a DVI to DP adaptor.

You mean DVI-D to HDMI cable. Should be nice and cheap.

[outwar6010]

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/480g...zon-fr-2342512

Here's a 480gb one for £80. It's much better to do a nice clean install of windows 7 first than to transfer all your stuff later.

[Giraffe]

Tempting to get the SSD - I'll have a look.

Yes, first clean installation since 2007! I'm amazed that the system still performs so well.

[DanceswithUnix]

Tempting to get the SSD - I'll have a look.

Yes, first clean installation since 2007! I'm amazed that the system still performs so well.

Given how slowly CPUs are improving these days, you might get 10 years out of the new one

[Giraffe]

Yippee! I'll be nearly 80 then and all of the advances that are due in 5 or 10 years will be...5 or 10 years away.

Peter (lifelong cynic).