Small and powerful gaming PC

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jtsquash

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Dec 1, 2013
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Hi there,
I want to make a small, quiet, yet powerful gaming computer. I was looking to play some new games such as BF4 ext.
My price range is $1000-$1500.
I was looking at the Silverstone SG09 or the case, but I am open to suggestions.
I would be very grateful if someone can help me out building something powerful that wont cost me to much money.

Thanks.
 
Solution
Rammy
The SG09 is really nice but the gamebreaker for me (much like with the Bitfenix Prodigy M) is the front mounted PSU, thankfully it does offset some of that with lots of fans in other areas. Also if you have a lot of money to spend, want something tiny that looks great (and is probably a nightmare to build in) check out the Silverstone FT03.

What does your budget have to include? OS? Monitor? Peripherals?

What do actually want to achieve? You can build a PC to run modern games like BF4 for a lot less than $1000. For $1500, you can build something pretty insane.

As an example -
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.98...
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Rammy

Rammy

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Sep 3, 2012
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The SG09 is really nice but the gamebreaker for me (much like with the Bitfenix Prodigy M) is the front mounted PSU, thankfully it does offset some of that with lots of fans in other areas. Also if you have a lot of money to spend, want something tiny that looks great (and is probably a nightmare to build in) check out the Silverstone FT03.

What does your budget have to include? OS? Monitor? Peripherals?

What do actually want to achieve? You can build a PC to run modern games like BF4 for a lot less than $1000. For $1500, you can build something pretty insane.

As an example -
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87MX-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($113.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($85.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Video Card ($699.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Silverstone SG09B (Black) MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Other: Slot loading Disc drive
Total: $1457.88
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-01 22:02 EST-0500)
You need to add in the cost of a slot loading slim disc drive (couldn't find one on pcpartpicker) but it'd still be under $1500. The graphics card is massively excessive, but trimming it down to an R9 280X/GTX770 level brings you to a far more sensible $1000-1100 price range. Usually I wouldn't suggest excessive spending on a motherboard, but there is a rebate and a combo deal on the Gigabyte G1.Sniper M5 which knocks $50 off it's price and makes it (relatively) good value, but there is nothing wrong with the D3H.
 
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J

jtsquash

Honorable
Dec 1, 2013
9
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10,510
Hi Rammy, Thanks for the suggestion!
I was planning for the build price to include the main computer minus the peripherals. I realize that I could spend less, but I wanted to get some higher quality parts and I also realized that the graphics card was going to be a huge expense.

for an alternate graphics card I was thinking about some on the R9 cards, I was looking at the 290 because that looks like a beast of a card, but with some some further research, it looks like is is very hot and loud.
would you suggest any particular variant of the 280 if I were to get it or just the standard?

for the case you suggested, I have seen where the people building the computer has put a liquid cooler in the bottom by the fan. Would you recommend sticking with the fan cooled because space and air flow would be limited in this case.

Thanks again.
 
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Rammy

Rammy

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Sep 3, 2012
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Yeah you can spend whatever you like really. You can get a build like that to drop under $1000 without too much drama, mainly by scaling the graphics card back to a more sensible level.

The R9 290/290X don't make a huge amount of sense right now as there aren't any non reference cards on the market and if there is a card that needs it.... I've heard rumours that they are coming in January, but it all seems like a bit of a mess. Some custom PC shops in the UK are selling R9 290s pre-flashed so they effectively become 290Xs, I'd imagine its the same more or less everywhere. They still represent pretty decent value for money, but I'm not sure I'd be encouraging anyone to buy one in the near future.
If I was buying a 280X I'd probably go for the Gigabyte GV-R928XOC-3GD as its among the cheaper and faster cards, and is very well reviewed. There's a lot of models with about $10 of that though.

Small cases are always going to be hugely limited in terms of airflow. The SG09 has it's PSU at the front where you would normally expect an intake, so it draws in air from the sides instead. It works, but I'd imagine a lot of it is blocked by graphics cards. The FT03 is an unusual concept in that all the air comes in the bottom (and bottom/side) and goes out of the top, by way of a couple of angled fans. I'd imagine it's a nightmare to build in due to the unconventional layout, but the footprint is tiny for mATX and I think it looks great.
Either case should support a basic 120mm radiator, but airflow is just as important in a liquid cooling build as it is in an air cooling one. I'd generally just stick to air coolers unless you plan to move it around a lot (then a heavy heatsink starts to become a liability).
 
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