Mini ITX pc

[aridun64]

1. The PC will be used for: MMO Gaming and general pc use

2. My budget is: $1200+

3. I will be buying the parts from: in America, from Newegg, Tiger Direct/ Compusa

4. My brand preference is: Intel, Nvidia

5. Do I intend on using any current parts, and if so, what those parts are: No, All parts will be purchased new and unopened

6. If I have searched and/or read similar threads: I have read multiple threads concerning PC building over the last several months

7. If I plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds: I plan on building it using default speeds and will not be overclocking

8. When do I plan to build it? build is somewhat in process now

9. What resolution and settings do you use? Since it is going to be used for moderate MMO Gaming, I'd like it to be able to play WoW and other games at high to max settings. I will be playing at 1920/1080 resolution

10. Are there any specific technologies you want? SATA3 6.0Gb/s, USB 3.0 support




CPU: Intel Core i5-3550 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo)

Motherboard: Either EVGA Z77 ITX or ASRock Z77e-ITX ( i like both of these mobos but I am waiting on reviews of the EVGA board before I really decide)

Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory

Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti+ 3GB w/Backplate

Optical Drive: Silverstone SOD02 slim Slot-loading DVD combo optical drive

Hard Drive 1: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (more than enough storage space for me)

Hard Drive 2: Crucial M4 mSATA 32GB SATA III MLC SSD (used as intel srt cache drive, will possibly forgo msata drive for normal ssd)

Power Supply: SILVERSTONE ST45SF-G 450W 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply ( i prefer modular PSU's)

CPU Cooler: Stock Intel Heatsink and fan (unless i can find a good heatsink/fan to fit the pc case)

PC Case: Either Silverstone SG05 or SG06 (USB 3.0 Upgrade versions)

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit


any and all suggestions would be appreciated

[ZZLEE]

Case ? Prodigy


Bitfenix Prodigy mITX Mini-ITX Tower Case Arctic White 1X5.25EXT 5X3.5INT No PS Top USB3.0 HD Audio - BitFenix - BFC-PRO-300-WWXKW-RP


There is a white and black .

The Black has a mesh front pannel on the case front fore more air flow.

[MARSTG]

16GB is overkill for desktop use, even 6 are ok, you should stay with 2 x 4GB. (Samsung has a mean kit that is also low profile newegg Item#: N82E16820147096 ) A good SSD for primary HDD, the 120GB versions are under 130$ now, Intel 520 is 125$, Intel 330 is 105$, there is no reason why you shouldn't get one, for OS and most of the apps even 3-4 games. If the storage will be done on another PC on the network (with gigabit network cards and CAT6 cables)you shouldn't need another drive.

[dandelioneater]

Looks like a pretty good part selection there.

Stock cpu cooling?

256GB OCZ vertex 4's are 190 at the egg and 256GB m4's are 210. IMO, there's been no better time to get a large capacity ssd time then now. You will appreciate the responsiveness of a native ssd compared to caching.

For the 660Ti, you won't utilize anywhere near 3GB of vram at your resolution. You could drop down to the 2GB evga 660Ti and save 20-30 bucks.

my 2cents (clutching at straws)

[moocow]

450W PSU probably won't be enough or barely enough to run that kind of graphics card. IMO, the case doesn't provide enough cooling for your setup, I would move up to a Prodigy.

[chubaka]

Originally Posted by moocow

450W PSU probably won't be enough or barely enough to run that kind of graphics card. IMO, the case doesn't provide enough cooling for your setup, I would move up to a Prodigy.

It should be fine actually. With that setup you will never go over 350w on load. Besides, i have an earlier iteration of that psu running a gtx 470 and core i5 750.

[kingnubian]

Very nice hardware list.
I have my "Daily Driver" ITX pc housed in the same Silverstone SG05-450 and it's a great little case. The main difference is I didn't go for stock cooling. I use a Corsair H60 closed loop water cooler, in push pull, instead and am very happy with it.

Unfortunately, since the system has a Gigabyte 550Ti video card, I was forced to mount the radiator in such a manner where it blocks the optical drive slot so a simple solution was using an external optical drive.
The 450W power supply is enough for that setup and is fairly quiet as well and powers my overclocked i5-760 in that box very well.

All in all I like the component choices but would reconsider the stock cooling option only. Of course if you are not going to overclock then you will get by with it.

[bonanza2000]

I have 3 computers with the SG06 300 watt power supply case that I use for the office. I have an i3 chip with the OEM chip fan, 8GB ram, and no graphics card. Temps never go above 36 C. see the first thread

My thoughts are if you can eliminate the 2nd hard drive it goes a long way to creating space. The 3.5" drive cage hangs below the optical drive which will limit you if you decide to go with an after market cpu cooler.

The hard drive light and power light on the front of the case are very bright and i ended up putting a bit of sticky notepad over them. You might just not want to hook them up if you think they will be distracting.

I haven't built anything with the prodigy case but I also think it is interesting and might use that for my next small build. Another one to look at is the SG09 (3rd link) but I don't see anyone selling it yet. I did see this review with more pictures (last link).

Simple Office PC - Small form factor


Micro Sized ITX HTPC Build

SilverStone Technology Co., Ltd.- SG09

http://www.kitguru.net/components/ca...sible-chassis/

[Dzzope]

Grab a 3570k for the couple extra bucks..
It will give you the option at least of overclocking in a couple of years to stretch out the life of the build or if nothing else it will keep the re-sale value much higher than the 3550.

And a second on the prodigy case.. My next build will either be full tower for water or a prodigy for portability..

The prodigy will also allow you to chose a standard ATX PSU and mount a number of different after-market coolers.

[dandelioneater]

Originally Posted by Dzzope

Grab a 3570k for the couple extra bucks..
It will give you the option at least of overclocking in a couple of years to stretch out the life of the build or if nothing else it will keep the re-sale value much higher than the 3550.

+1