EVGA Mini-ITX Build

WildCard999

Titan
Moderator
So I want to build a mini-itx build using EVGA parts (I've had alot of luck with there PSU/GPU's) and so I made this build on PcPartPicker >>> http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KYLM4D <<<. I was wondering will this setup allow me to play games like BF4/Tomb Raider/Skyrim at decent FPS @1080? Or should I wait and spend more on a better GPU? I didn't go with a "K" version of the CPU because I wasnt planning on O/Cing. Also I do game for at least 6-7 hours on end so I need to keep this build fairly cool.
 
Solution
I'd suggest tweaking it to something more like this - http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Xkx4YJ
If it's a gaming focused build you definitely want to push more funds into graphics as a GTX750Ti doesn't have a great lifespan as a 1080P gaming card.

As TechyinAZ mentioned, going for a cheaper HDD and motherboard can net you some decent funds for use elsewhere. I'd add to that the memory, which only needs to be 1600 really. The EVGA motherboards are nice enough but they are disproportionately expensive, lack some basic features, and have a very limited chipset selection.

In a Hadron Air, you have three characteristics which strongly dictate part selection. None are definitive rules, but they are all high advisable as ignoring all of them is very...

Rammy

Honorable
I'd suggest tweaking it to something more like this - http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Xkx4YJ
If it's a gaming focused build you definitely want to push more funds into graphics as a GTX750Ti doesn't have a great lifespan as a 1080P gaming card.

As TechyinAZ mentioned, going for a cheaper HDD and motherboard can net you some decent funds for use elsewhere. I'd add to that the memory, which only needs to be 1600 really. The EVGA motherboards are nice enough but they are disproportionately expensive, lack some basic features, and have a very limited chipset selection.

In a Hadron Air, you have three characteristics which strongly dictate part selection. None are definitive rules, but they are all high advisable as ignoring all of them is very likely to cause problems.

  • Reference coolers are a good idea. The venting around the graphics card area isn't amazing and while most cards might be able to pull in air through the venting, axial fan coolers are very likely to recirculate the air and cause poor temperatures. Reference coolers avoid this, though at the GTX750Ti level the level of heat generated isn't particularly high anyway.
    You want a motherboard which is clear along what will be your top edge. The Hadron has fans which sit directly above this area, and any connectors which sit on the top edge of the motherboard will block the fans and limit airflow. As a general (but not definitive) rule Asus and ASRock boards are good at this, MSI and Gigabyte boards are less so.
    Investing in a small tower cooler is a good idea. It's by no means essential when you aren't overclocking, but the Hadron doesn't have the best natural airflow and buying a cheaper small tower cooler will help to direct CPU heat from the case and help overall temps. Something like a Hyper TX3, Hyper 101, Xigmatek Loki or EVGA ACX ITX cooler would be solid picks here. Make sure to orientate it correctly, with the fan facing down so it's blowing air up towards the exhaust fans rather than at the rear of the case.
 
Solution

WildCard999

Titan
Moderator
Thank you for your answers, I did a litle more research and learned some of the games I have (Watchdogs/Modded Skyrim) can actually use more then 3 gb of vram (at higher settings) so what I may end up doing is waiting till I have the money and get a GTX 760 or 770 @ 4 gb or even a 780 @ 6gb (MSI or EVGA). I'd rather wait and spend a bit more and have more of a future-proof system.
 

Rammy

Honorable
Vram in and of itself is fairly useless, it's just a buffer who's minimum size is dictated by the resolution and detail of whatever game you are playing.

The "extra" memory cards - the GTX760 4Gb, GTX770 4Gb and GTX780 6Gb are all of very dubious merits for various reasons, some of which are unique to the individual models, others are shared.
Extra Vram is only useful if it can actually be used. Getting a weaker GPU with a higher amount of Vram is pointless because at the types of resolution+settings you'd need to exploit the extra memory, the GPU itself isn't strong enough.
On most of these models, the memory interface itself remains unchanged which often means that to produce a scenario where that memory can really be used is near to impossible.
There is also a kind of myth that "running out" of Vram makes things unplayable, when most benchmarks on games with high memory demands will actually show a more smooth decline in performance over a sudden drop off. There are exceptions to this - any modded game where things can be super unpredictable, and games which add arbitrary restrictions on settings based on your video memory (namely Rockstar games).
Finally, there is the cost. A 4Gb GTX760 could be more expensive than a 2Gb GTX770, and despite the extra memory there is nearly no scenario in which the GTX760 would outperform the GTX770. This is less significant at GTX770 level as there's a bigger gap to the obvious rivals (though the 280X and 290 do invalidate it's existence a little) but comes into play again at GTX780 level (with the GTX780Ti).
Less significant to you, but as a general statement - AMD chips have generally come with higher memory (and bandwidth) in the last couple of generations. If memory is a significant and legitimate concern, the AMD options are going to be incredibly tempting.
 

WildCard999

Titan
Moderator


Ok thanks for the info! My main desktop gamer has a XFX R9 290 (I flashed the bios into a 290x). I do like AMD GPU's but given there history for higher temps/power consumption I thought Nvidia would of worked a bit better in this situation.