mini ITX gaming first build review help

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floors10

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May 30, 2014
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I have been wanting to build a gaming rig for a while and I wanted it to be compact and easy to transport and I have found a build. I wanted a 700$ gaming build excluding the mouse and keyboard.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/daylin_10/saved/WjZFf7

i would like to know if this is a good build for the price and performance to play the latest games in 1080p. i am planning to play mostly BF4. could you give me any recommandations for a mini ITX for this build if you dont think its superb. i chose a AMD CPU as it runs mantle good for BF4.

could you identify any after market air cooling CPUs for the bitfenix prodigy with high profile RAM according to my build and any cheap brand fans that i can install for the case, I want to max out the fan slots with the largest fans as possible meaning (if 140mm slot then put 140mm rather than 120mm, and if there is a bigger slot put the biggest fan for that slot. Do you think the CPU is good or should i get a APU as there is a limited CPUs available due to the motherboard.should i get any other accessories for the build, I already have a projector to view from. i wanted to get the r9 270x from powercolor devil edition but i wanted nvidia shadow play so i got the 760 instead. the 4gb and the 2gb GPU where the same price so i chose the 4gb over it on pcpartpicker.

Could you explain how mail in rebates work as I live in the middle east and would be shipping my products from US. I am going on vacation to the US and would like to know if I should buy the products there at the retailer and ship myself, only going to be there for a month, but if I do that i might not get the promotions and games that come in with a bundle.please give your suggestions. Is shipping going to be expensive.

I would also like to know if i should stick with the motherboard i have with wifi or get a USB wifi connector as my internet connection isnt that good.

could you please leave your reccomandations if you built a similar rig or any other suggestions about the questions i have asked

thank you (sorry for long text Im a noob first build).
 
Solution
Rammy
It's solid, but there's a few issues.

If you are doing a low budget build, AMD CPUs offer some decent options in both APUs and the 750/760K. Once you creep into high budget ranges, you have to consider that they will be a significant bottleneck to performance in some scenarios. A lot of games are graphics bound, so any modern CPU will work fine really, and while Mantle will offset some of the performance gap, it's a fairly niche technology for the time being, and it requires (officially) an AMD graphics card (it's fundamentally a graphics technology which basically reduces CPU load so shows best results on weaker CPUs).
Long way of saying - seriously consider an i5 build at this price range. It's far more flexible, and you have a much...
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Onus

Onus

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Just on a first pass, there are several things I would change.
Get a 2x4GB RAM kit rather than 1x8GB so you can run in dual-channel mode; I believe the speed difference is 3%-5%.
An i3 on a B85 or even H81 board will outperform a 760K, especially since overclocking headroom in a mini-ITX can be limited due to reduced cooling capacity.
Heat brings up perhaps the most important issue regarding your system's overall health. A 430W PSU may be barely sufficient for your rig in actual use, but will be running at nearly full capacity, which means it will heat up. In the case of the Corsair "CX" line, that's really bad, because they are made with some inferior Samxon capacitors that can't take the heat, and have been cited for early failure. I'd suggest a modular 450W (or higher) Rosewill Capstone or Seasonic "G" series for your build.
Also, be aware that the Prodigy is not a small case; it is actually rather blocky. I believe it is a nice case, but if transportability is your goal, that's probably not the one you want. A common micro-ATX case may actually feel less bulky.
 
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Rammy

Rammy

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It's solid, but there's a few issues.

If you are doing a low budget build, AMD CPUs offer some decent options in both APUs and the 750/760K. Once you creep into high budget ranges, you have to consider that they will be a significant bottleneck to performance in some scenarios. A lot of games are graphics bound, so any modern CPU will work fine really, and while Mantle will offset some of the performance gap, it's a fairly niche technology for the time being, and it requires (officially) an AMD graphics card (it's fundamentally a graphics technology which basically reduces CPU load so shows best results on weaker CPUs).
Long way of saying - seriously consider an i5 build at this price range. It's far more flexible, and you have a much bigger range of CPUs and motherboards to chose from. If you don't need Wifi for example, socket 1150 board start at around $50.

Generally use two memory DIMMs rather than one, it enables dual channel mode which provides some extra performance. If you are leaving a slot free for expansion, than is an option at ITX, but 8Gb is likely to be sufficient for gaming for the foreseeable future.

Don't bother filling a Prodigy with fans, it's pointless. Fit a big front fan (230/200 or if easier - 140mm) and a decent rear fan (140 if possible but a quality 120 is fine) and you are sorted. I've tested this fairly well, and fans in the roof of a Prodigy make near to zero difference, though it will depend on hardware - a super high end build with a lot of heat might see a result.

CX430 isn't very good, and it doesn't have the required connectors for a GTX760. I'd suggest the XFX Core 550 or similar as a good budget-conscious PSU.

If you want to exploit Mantle, you'll need an AMD graphics card. The 270X is solid, but I'd avoid any of the fancier models as they are likely to be poor value for money. Something like the "Devil" is likely to be around 1.5times the price of a more basic model, without anything like the performance to warrant that really.
If you stick with Nvidia, get a 2Gb model. The MSIs might be the same price, but you can grab an Asus model for quite a bit cheaper that's very well reviewed.


Cooling depends on the CPU/motherboard combo. Remember that if you spend a lot here, you end up spending more than on say an i5, as a basic i5 can be run on the stock cooler or on something cheap. A Prodigy will fit nearly any CPU cooler, but a lot of this is motherboard dependant, you are best to do your research here.


Here's a rough suggestion of something similar for under $700, Intel based with an R9 280. - http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jNr44D
 
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Rammy

Rammy

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Also this. It's definite big for ITX, and having "handles" doesn't make it any more portable or easy to transport, in fact, I try not to use them while moving them around as the flex is disconcerting.

Having said that, I recently put a Prodigy in a suitcase to transport on an overnight train, it worked fine. Equally though, so would have any compact mATX tower.
 
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floors10

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