Well I did this parts list mostly with Win 7 native support in mind, since I definitely don't want to fool with slipstreaming, workarounds and all that crud to get modern parts to play nice. I wasn't really able to figure out what does or doesn't work with MX Linux 17.1, and I had also wanted to do a AMD-focused parts-list to compare against this one, but I didn't get very far with it either.
Case: CM Storm Trooper (SGC-5000-KKN1)
CPU: i7-4790k
Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
Motherboard*:
MSI Z97 Gaming 5
MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming
MSI Z97-GD65 Gaming
MSI Z97-G45
MSI Z97A Gaming 6
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X-series 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3-1600 CL9
Video card*: Geforce GTX Ti 2GB or GeForce GTX 560 Ti
DVD burner: (Two) Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/AS
Storage:
(Two) WD Caviar Black 1TB 3.5 7200rpm
Crucial MX500 500GB SSD
Mobile rack: (Two) Syba SY-MRA55006
Power Supply: Seasonic Focus 650 W80+ Gold
*The motherboards and graphics cards all look about equal, so I'll probably just buy the first one I find.
So I picked the motherboards based on three requirements. (1.) VGA port, (2.) Maximum number of PCIe slots and SATA connectors, and (3.) Minimum 16GB RAM capacity. I picked the graphics cards solely on being the best I could find having an actual VGA port. I'm not a fan of adapters and connectors to get a VGA 'plug' into a DVI 'socket'.
None of the parts have been bought yet, so nothing is set in stone, and I already bought a used
Dell Optiplex 7010 Mini-Tower, Quad Core i7 3770 (3.4GHz), 16GB DDR3 SDRAM, 1TB Hard Drive: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit....waiting to replace my current Optiplex 960 XP Pro rig, so this custom build can take as long as it takes
If you're an AMD fan, I definitely wouldn't mind assistance compiling a parts-list for an AMD build. Or help checking for possible Linux problems/incompatibilities with the above list....which is maybe the most important. I'm not a big fan of Win 7, but see it as a sort of rest stop or waystation before moving on to MX Linux, so that is really the intent of this build. A smooth and painless transition to MX.