Help: Gaming/HT Mini ITX PC Build ($900 - $1,100)

fbermea · Feb 14, 2014

Hello Everyone, I need a little help with a gamin/HT Mini ITX build.

Here's what I have so far: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/fbermea/saved/3KO2

And below is other relevant information:

Approximate Purchase Date: April 2014

Budget Range: (e.g.: $900 - $1,100): After Rebates & Shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, streaming movies, working (3 screens at a time)

Are you buying a monitor: No

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon.com, newegg.com, ncix.com, bestbuy.com

Location: Austin, Texas

Overclocking: No

Additional Comments: This is my first build. Will this hardware work together and fit inside a mini itx case?

I'd also like this build to play blue-ray disks. Here's the optical drive I plan to purchase:

Panasonic UJ240 6x Blu-ray Burner BD-RE/8x DVD±RW DL SATA Drive (Black)
Link: http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-UJ240-Blu-ray-Burner-DVD%C2%B1RW/dp/B003AXW2YQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1392397315&sr=1-1&keywords=Panasonic+UJ240+6x+Blu-ray+Burner+BD-RE%2F8x+DVD%C2%B1RW+DL+SATA+Drive+%28Black%29

Any other blu-ray player suggestions for this build?

I'm trying to get the most bang for my buck. Will there be a noticeable difference in performance between i5 and i7 CPUs?

Do I need the cooler for this build?

Here's what I put together, but I'm very open for suggestions: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/fbermea/saved/3KO2

Thanks!

shortstuff_mt · Feb 14, 2014

It's not very well balanced for gaming. You will want to drop down to an i5 and put the money saved into the GPU. I'll put together some suggestions shortly...

fbermea · Feb 14, 2014

shortstuff_mt :

Thanks!

Partier · Feb 14, 2014

Maybe something like this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2T9GW

Included psu which you missed out and took cooler off which you shouldn't need if not overclocking.

Downgraded cpu to 4670k and upgraded gpu to 760. You could even downgrade to 4570/4670 non k version to save 5-25$.

shortstuff_mt · Feb 14, 2014

This is what I came up with. You don't want a slim optical drive since it looks like your case supports a regular 5.25 optical drive. You will also want to make sure the drive you select comes with Blu-Ray playback software if you don't already have it.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($131.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($77.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($114.99 @ Best Buy)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($85.40 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($44.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($73.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: LG BH16NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($85.17 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1184.47
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-14 13:13 EST-0500)

fbermea · Feb 14, 2014

shortstuff_mt :

This is what I came up with. You don't want a slim optical drive since it looks like your case supports a regular 5.25 optical drive. You will also want to make sure the drive you select comes with Blu-Ray playback software if you don't already have it.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($131.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($77.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($114.99 @ Best Buy)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($85.40 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($44.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($73.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: LG BH16NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($85.17 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1184.47
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-14 13:13 EST-0500)

Thanks, this looks great.

shortstuff_mt · Feb 14, 2014

Any time. Good luck with the build! It's a cool little machine.

fbermea · Feb 14, 2014

shortstuff_mt :

Thanks! If I decided to up my budget by about $100, would you recommended I upgrade to i7 or upgrade the video card further?

shortstuff_mt · Feb 14, 2014

For a gaming system bumping the GPU up to a GTX 770 would be the best way to spend a little more money. The i5 is plenty fast enough to feed even high-end GPUs.

mc962 · Feb 14, 2014

I don't know how it works as a secondary hard drive, but I have heard that the green drives are a bit slow. You might consider the blue drives (although this would only potentially be an issue when getting data off the secondary drive)

fbermea · Feb 15, 2014

mc962 :

Thanks for the heads up, I'll look into it.

I originally had Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88) (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st2000dm001), so might go back to that... it's only a few bucks more.

PeerlessWarrior · Feb 19, 2014

How To Build A Liquid-Cooled Mini Gaming PC For Under $1,000

http://www.forbes.com/sites/antonyleather/2014/02/03/how-build-a-liquid-cooled-mini-gaming-pc-for-under-1000/

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Help: Gaming/HT Mini ITX PC Build ($900 - $1,100)

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