Looking for Advice

[Adrian B]

Another question:

The mATX build is spec'd with a 550 watt power supply. Does 550 watts have growing room for adding a DVD , 1 or 2 HDD's, other things that might come up?

Also, is safe to assume that a mATX board will work with an ATX case?

550 watts is actually quite a lot unless you wish to use multiple high powered GPUs - it will be more than adequate for most peoples needs. Use a couple of PSU power calculators online. My i5 Haswell build with GT640 and two HDDs will redly actually get over even 200 watts - most of the time it is well under 60w.

ATX cases will be able to use the smaller mATX boards.

 

[RedRogue]

Question about RAM.

For about the same price, I can get RAM in either 2x8GB or 4x4GB sticks.
Assuming same speed and timing (2400@10), what are the pros and cons of each configuration?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231589

vs

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231588

Will there be any noticeable differences in power usage and heat temperatures. Any difference in performance?

 

[Adrian B]

Question about RAM.

For about the same price, I can get RAM in either 2x8GB or 4x4GB sticks.
Assuming same speed and timing (2400@10), what are the pros and cons of each configuration?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231589

vs

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231588

Will there be any noticeable differences in power usage and heat temperatures. Any difference in performance?

Check what RAM speeds your processor works with:
http://ark.intel.com/products/80811/Intel-Core-i5-4690K-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_90-GHz

1300MHZ & 1600MHz

 

[RedRogue]

Thanks for catching that. I was focused on the motherboard specs.
Is there any difference between 4x4gb vs 2x8gb? I'm leaning towards 4x4 purely for cosmetics.

 

[Adrian B]

Thanks for catching that. I was focused on the motherboard specs.
Is there any difference between 4x4gb vs 2x8gb? I'm leaning towards 4x4 purely for cosmetics.

Here is what Gigabyte have tested this motherboard with successfully:
http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Memory/mb_memory_ga-z97mx-gaming5.pdf

You could ask GSkill directly for advice on the RAM that they would recommend with your motherboard. Newegg may also give advice on what should work well.