Help me build the ultimate M-ITX case!

Kevin Spring

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Oct 16, 2013
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Exactly as the title describes, I want to build the best system possible within the extremely small confines of the Cooler Master Elite 110 case http://www.coolermaster.com/case/mini-itx-elite-series/elite110/

I was thinking Maximus VI Impact and the 4770K, but I need help with the GPU and liquid cooler. GPU length is limited to 210mm and any 120 or 140mm all in one rad will fit.

I was thinking this 760 for the GPU and wanted to know what you think about that and the highest performing liquid cooler I could use?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127772
 
Solution
You don't have any specific use, budget, what that budget needs to encompass, what type of display resolution you are trying to run, so it does make it hard to offer advice.

What I would say is that trying to go "high end" in an Elite 110 is probably a fools errand. It's not to say that you can't, but it means pretty large restrictions in certain areas which start to erode the value of something as expensive as a Maximus Impact (or a 4770K for that matter). By the time you are done, you will probably find that you could have produced something with better performance, for cheaper, at a similar (or smaller) size.

I'm going to assume this is a gaming machine, at least to the main part (which does call into question the 4770K again)...

Rammy

Honorable
You don't have any specific use, budget, what that budget needs to encompass, what type of display resolution you are trying to run, so it does make it hard to offer advice.

What I would say is that trying to go "high end" in an Elite 110 is probably a fools errand. It's not to say that you can't, but it means pretty large restrictions in certain areas which start to erode the value of something as expensive as a Maximus Impact (or a 4770K for that matter). By the time you are done, you will probably find that you could have produced something with better performance, for cheaper, at a similar (or smaller) size.

I'm going to assume this is a gaming machine, at least to the main part (which does call into question the 4770K again).
Using your specs, this is about what you'd hope to achieve. On the CPU cooler front you are probably shopping between the Corsair H90/H80i and NZXT Kraken X40. The H80i, unlike the other two, is 120mm rad based, but uses two fans as standard, and I'm not sure how much depth there is to play with here.
I stuck with cheap memory/storage for the purposes of illustration, and I used the Zotac GTX760 as it fits and it's a bit faster.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X40 98.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Impact Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($227.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.23 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($259.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case ($53.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1130.70
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-23 21:19 EDT-0400)

Sticking fairly rigidly to cases of similar volume (there's a lot of options if you are flexible here), you find the EVGA Hadron Air. Now this isn't a fair comparison at all, I want to make that clear, but for the same price, you can have something of similar size which contains a GTX780 (or similar).
This comes out a bit more expensive, as I've kept the overclocking option, and a suitable cooler, but they aren't entirely necessary as a purely gaming platform, it does kinda illustrate my point though.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling ACFZ13 36.4 CFM CPU Cooler ($33.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus Z87I-Deluxe Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($182.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.23 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PNY GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($494.99 @ Amazon)
Case: EVGA Hadron Mini ITX Tower Case w/500W Power Supply ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1206.15
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-23 21:28 EDT-0400)

What I'm getting at, anyway, is that picking a case and trying to find the absolute best things you can fit in it, is probably going to yield far worse results than having a specific purpose and building towards that.
 
Solution

Kevin Spring

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Oct 16, 2013
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and this is why I love the forums. I guess I jumped the gun here and didn't take everything into consideration. This will be my primary PC, so reliability is extremely important. Furthermore it will be used to play modern and upcoming games, but only at 1080p. I also do some photoshop work and a moderate amount of video editing, so I definitely value the i7. I recently sold my previous computer for around $3500 so that is the maximum I have available for this build. I saw the CM 110 and marveled at how small it is, but as you said it's probably not the right choice. As many good things as I have heard about the EVGA Hadron, I do not enjoy it's looks at all, perhaps a 250D would work?