Micro ATX Gaming Build

[chair1]

I want to build a small gaming PC that has the following qualities: quiet, snappy, low temps. Also, it must be able to run recent titles at 40+ FPS on medium/medium-high settings. I already have: extra storage, dvd drive, WIN7 64bit, peripherals.

I would like to know whether or not this is a balanced build, or if there are flaws that must be corrected.

The following components are copy/pasted from Newegg.com. Almost all have promo codes and/or rebates.

Case - Rosewill LINE-M Micro-ATX Mini Tower Computer Case, Dual USB 3.0, come with Dual Fans, Support up to 4 Fans, 12.5" card

MOBO - ASRock H77M LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

PSU - COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M2 RS620-SPM2E3-US 620W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply

GPU - MSI N660Ti PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

CPU - Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K

RAM - G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR

SSD - SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD128BW 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Heat sink - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/FM2/AM3+

This heat sink is a monster. It looks hilarious on a Micro ATX board.

[Luay79]

Nice build but I would make sure the RAM heatsink won't interfere with the CPU heatsink. I would go for Samsung 30nm (smaller die, less power consumption & heat) or Corsair vengeance LP.

Top of the line CPU need a Z77 motherboard to overclock . Upgrade mobo ($110 ASRock Z77 Pro4-M or $90 ASRock Z77M) or downgrade CPU to non-k (non-overclockable) model.

The CM PSU was priced too high for what it is. Seasonic G 550W will stay quite for your build, Gold efficiency, cheaper and much better. And it's enough for your build with room to overclock.

HD 7950 is the same price and performance as GTX 660ti. See what games you want to play and review benchmarks to know which is more suitable.

For a few $$ more the Noctua NH-L9i will give you the quiet and subtle with same or better performance.

GL!

[chair1]

Originally Posted by Luay79

Nice build but I would make sure the RAM heatsink won't interfere with the CPU heatsink. I would go for Samsung 30nm (smaller die, less power consumption & heat) or Corsair vengeance LP.

Top of the line CPU need a Z77 motherboard to overclock . Upgrade mobo ($110 ASRock Z77 Pro4-M or $90 ASRock Z77M) or downgrade CPU to non-k (non-overclockable) model.

The CM PSU was priced too high for what it is. Seasonic G 550W will stay quite for your build, Gold efficiency, cheaper and much better. And it's enough for your build with room to overclock.

HD 7950 is the same price and performance as GTX 660ti. See what games you want to play and review benchmarks to know which is more suitable.

For a few $$ more the Noctua NH-L9i will give you the quiet and subtle with same or better performance.

GL!

~$30 cheaper -> Rosewill CAPSTONE Series CAPSTONE-550 550W Continuous @ 50°C, 80 PLUS GOLD Certified, Single +12V Rail, ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92, SLI Ready, CrossFire Ready, Active - PFC Power Supply
(Uses a Silent 140mm Fan)

~$20 more expensive -> ASRock Z77M LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Save $10 and gives me OC capability. Not bad, thanks. Also, the hyper 212 is very quiet and effective. It also sits very high, allowing tall RAM, such as ripjaws, to sit just beneath.

[igot6strings]

Not a bad setup with the additions you made above. It'd be pointless to buy a 3570k without a board to oc it with thats for sure. I wouldn't worry about the ram and heatsink either. If only using 2 slots you shouldn't have any trouble. Its only when 4 sticks are in the machine that things get tight from my experience. It is a good cooler but if you do want to OC quite a bit I suggest something a bit better as the 3570k runs rather hot OC'd. It'll work for moderate overclocking though so if you don't intend to go too high you'll be just fine.