Thoughts on this Mini ITX gaming build?

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DarkDubzs

DarkDubzs

Honorable
Jun 10, 2013
635
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Ive been thinking of building a super small gaming pc that can still be an absolute beast! Mini ITX quickly became my best friend and i realized i can still easily pack an absolute monster in it. So here is what im thinking for my build and i kinda cheaped out on my current mid tower build and i learned the hard way- Get the best you can first or else its a complete bitch to upgrade, especially the MOBO! No way i can upgrade my mobo without having to basically re install WIndows (8) and all my programs- not an option- so basically, go big or go home :lol: Came out to be more than i wanted, but i dont really want to go less on anything, plus i wont have to upgrade for a while... maybe possibly the gpu in a couple years maybe? So without further ado, take a look at my future build-in-progress (in my mind lol).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.95 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-I DELUXE/WD Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard ($202.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($162.84 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($199.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($148.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($44.99 @ Microcenter)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($25.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Other: Thermalright AXP-100 ($69.90 @ Amazon)
Total: $1481.60
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-31 00:26 EST-0500)

So what do you guys think? Any feedback, recommendations? Open to any and all constructive feedback. Thanks!
 
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DarkSable

DarkSable

Judicious
Sep 27, 2012
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I love small form factor builds man, so I'm your guy. Question - why are you going with Ivy Bridge over Haswell?

Normally I wouldn't say it's an issue, but mini-ITX's popularity has grown so rapidly that the mini-ITX motherboards for Haswell are pretty damn incredible compared to Ivy Bridge's.

I wouldn't bother with 16GB of ram - 8GB is enough to simultaneously run battlefield 3, photoshop, AND 30 tabs in chrome.

Get an 840 EVO instead, nearly as good and WAY cheaper. Also consider going with a 120GB drive since most games don't gain a benefit from being on a SSD.

Is that graphics card a blower-style? If not, change it - mini ITX treats airflow WAY differently from a normal rig, and aftermarket coolers are NOT treated right... plus the stock cooler for that thing is beastly.

Not an amazing pick on the PSU - that's longer than you want, and you don't need close to a 750w rig. Go with the Seasonic G-650 or X-650.

Since you have the 120mm fan inlet, I would consider buying an all-in-one cooler like the H80i - that case is designed for it and it'll let you overclock considerably better.
 
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Rammy

Rammy

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Sep 3, 2012
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Already replied to your other topic http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2002223/mini-itx-gaming-build.html
More or less agree with Darksable. Only point I would disagree with is that GTX770 reference cards are really hard to find (at launch you could get Titan cooler versions really easily). PNY does a version with what was probably the GTX680 reference cooler. There are MSI and EVGA reference cards but they aren't amazing.
The only Titan cooler version around now appears to be this one and it's not terribly cheap. Definitely worth considering, but the GTX770 isn't the hottest card in the world and the Elite130 is reasonably well vented around the graphics card.
 
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DarkDubzs

DarkDubzs

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Jun 10, 2013
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I am being helped on another thread and i was helped over there quite a bit. Ill just copy and paste my reply from over there.

Ill admit i guess i did overkill at first, and i legit thought i would need a lot of power for a gtx 770 or above in the future, plus i want some headroom for upgrades. Yeah, 16gb of ram is a lot in retrospect. I need a big hdd and plenty of space because i will also be recording with probably Fraps, and their file sizes are huge before converted (~1gb/minute) and i always hear the WD Black is best for gaming and performance. I still am hesitant towards a Barracuda hdd because i hear they fail a lot and are noisy, and i definitely can not have my hdd fail on me, even if i back up and create system images itll be a huge hassle. That ASRock board seems excelent though and sounds to have plenty of potential for OCing if i ever want to and it has a UEFI bios (I need uefi). I also dont really need a cpu cooler right now either i guess, ill just use the stock cooler, and i dont want a water cooler- leaks are certain to eventually happen, and requires more upkeep.

Basically the same as you gave me, but without aftermarket cpu cooler. Still looking for a cheaper good, quiet fan too- which is why i wanted the Noctua nf-f12, its only an extra like $20 anyways.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87E-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($87.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($44.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1056.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-31 01:37 EST-0500)
_______________________________________________________
EDIT: Ill just give you guys the link to my other thread, just so you guys can be on the same page. Might close this thread if we can all hop over there actually. http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2002223/mini-itx-gaming-build.html
 
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