$650 Mini-ITX System w/o GPU - Thoughts?

segmund · Mar 3, 2014

Hi, all -

Building my first system in a while and after some prolonged research and going back and forth, leaning towards a mini-itx (some space issues). Right now I'd like something that can play games (no need for 1080p right now) but I'll upgrade to a dedicated GPU at a later date. Till then, it seems like this can play stuff at medium settings at lower than 1080p:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($159.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H87N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($73.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $643.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-03 10:29 EST-0500)

Thoughts? Heard the Haswell benefits from higher freq RAM so went up to 1866. That $650 is my sweet spot, price-point wise, and I like to buy good components and add in similar quality later (another SSD, a dedicated GPU). And I have an old win7 disc laying around so don't need OS. Need wifi, hence the mobo choice.

Thanks,

shortstuff_mt · Mar 3, 2014

The build looks good, but you might as well just go with some nice 1600MHz RAM. Your motherboard only supports 1333/1600MHz RAM. You would be hard-pressed to actually notice the difference between 1600MHz and 1866MHz in real-world use.

MauveCloud · Mar 3, 2014

Have you already got an external optical drive? You'll need one to be able to use your old Win7 disc (presuming it's a retail disc) with that case. Other than that, it looks good.

wortwortwort · Mar 3, 2014

If you do plan on playing lots of games, you're probably going to want a nice big HDD at some point.

You also might want just a bit more of a power supply. For now 520W is just fine, but once you get a dedicated GPU, you'll need more. this looks like a good choice. (and it's cheaper too)

segmund · Mar 3, 2014

Thanks! Yes, I have an old optical drive laying around somewhere that I was planning on just hooking up to install the OS. Likewise, at some point will need another SSD (hopefully the 500gb SSDs will be cheaper soon) but my old computer had 500GB and after 2 years I'm barely breaking 200 GB

But great point about the RAM - didn't even think about that, as I was originally eyeing another motherboard that could take it. Change made!

The PSU bit, however... I guess PCPartpicker puts power usage at 129 watts. So after adding a GPU, even a decent one, it shouldn't go up that much, right? Or should I just play it safe and pay a few extra dollars for the future headroom for GPU, optical drive, additional SSD?

Thanks all!

shortstuff_mt · Mar 3, 2014

I would stick with your original SeaSonic 520W semi-modular PSU. That's plenty of power for your system and will allow you to add a GPU up to around a GTX 760 in the future. A modular PSU will be very helpful in a small mini-ITX case. I'm not sure why it was recommended for you to get a non-modular PSU that's only 30W more than the one you selected.

wortwortwort · Mar 3, 2014

segmund :

Well if you still have the old computer, you could use its hard drive to store media files and games. The case has 6 slots for 3.5" drives and none for 2.5" drives, so you might need a (cheap) adapter for your SSD.

For the PSU, it depends on how much of a GPU you plan on getting. The one I posted above is 650W for 59.99 after the mail in rebate.

For

thdarkshadow · Mar 3, 2014

wortwortwort :

As long as you rotate games, say have 8 games and then beat one and uninstall it before you install another, 250gb is enough. That is speaking from experience.

A 520w Seasonic will run an i5 and most any single GPU though it will cut it close if you go high end like 290 and it may not run a 290x though I don't know for sure on that. The XFX linked above is a good choice that will run ANY single GPU.

Edit: for a compact build like yours you would want modular as stated in some above comments

segmund · Mar 3, 2014

Thanks, wortwortwort - I read a review on NewEgg that said:

"Six drive bays. All support 3.5 & 2.5 with no adapter needed for 2.5." So that allayed my concerns (which were the same as yours).

But yeah, at some point I may need to upgrade PSU for sure but I don't think it'll be going above a 760 anytime soon.

Thanks all - feel more comfortable buying this with your endorsements and thoughts.

Best,

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$650 Mini-ITX System w/o GPU - Thoughts?

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