New "portable" desktop config

Xonnorel · Jul 12, 2017

Hello guys, i need a new pc, and i would really like to ask for help in order to make a good config.

I'm an university student living away from home right now and for that reason i would like to make a good desktop that is portable enough to take it back home during festivity ecc..

With the pc i'm going to play videogames and make music, plus some project for school.

I was looking for a small case where i could fit an i7-7700, 32/64 gb of ram my gtx 680 that i will upgrade later on this year and 3 ssd.
.
I would really appreciate a configuration that could satisfy those needs,

Thank you very much for your attention,
Patrizio.

Xonnorel · Jul 12, 2017

MERGED QUESTION
Question from Xonnorel : "New "portable" desktop config."

Hello guys, i need a new pc, and i would really like to ask for help in order to make a good config.

I'm an university student living away from home right now and for that reason i would like to make a good desktop that is portable enough to take it back home during festivity ecc..

With the pc i'm going to play videogames and make music, plus some project for school.

I was looking for a small case where i could fit an i7-7700, 32/64 gb of ram my gtx 680 that i will upgrade later on this year and 3 ssd.
.
I would really appreciate a configuration that could satisfy those needs,

Thank you very much for your attention,
Patrizio.

James Mason · Jul 12, 2017

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased For $0.00)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-L9i 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler ($39.15 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI - B250I GAMING PRO AC Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Team - T-Force Vulcan 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 275GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($99.87 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 680 4GB Video Card (Purchased For $0.00)
Case: Silverstone - GD09B HTPC Case ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Rosewill - 550W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $733.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-12 14:07 EDT-0400

James Mason · Jul 12, 2017

Actually, which 680 do you have? Some of them may be too long for most mini-itx cases:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased For $0.00)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-L9i 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler ($39.15 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI - B250I GAMING PRO AC Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Team - T-Force Vulcan 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 275GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($99.87 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card
Case: Cooler Master - Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($39.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Rosewill - 550W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $703.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-12 14:10 EDT-0400

Xonnorel · Jul 12, 2017

Hello and ty for your config!

Right now i have a GTX 680 SC Signature 2, and i think sooner or later i'm going to get a 1070.
And can you suggest me a mother board where i can load up 64 gb of ram? In the future i could need that much if i start to work with some heavy template for music.

p.s. if you can also pick a case where i can put most of the xx70 xx80 ( not the biggest ones ).

Ty again for you time, Patrizio

.

James Mason · Jul 12, 2017

yeah your current GPU should be fine, the random 680 I had originally chosen must have just been excessively long.
The case i have in that 2nd build can hold GPUs up to : 13.50"
It's rare to actually have GPUs be that long.
unfortunately, you can't have 64gbs in a system this small, not with your current CPU anyways.
If you do, you'd have to step up to a more... well kind of unwieldy case like in the first build. They're not really very portable, or more portable than any other desktop of that size.

If you're only in college, you're not gonna need 64gbs for making music anyways.

Xonnorel · Jul 12, 2017

Well, you are right about the ram, now that i think about it.
I'm going with the second build then, but i'm not sure if i can get those ram and power supply, could you give me an alternative?

Thanks for these quick answers

btw do you think the temperature is gonne be alright during gaming and using cubase? I never had or seen a "powerful" config in a small case xd

James Mason · Jul 12, 2017

any DDR4 32gb (16x2) kit would work.
PSU should be 80+gold (or platinum or titanium) and semi or fully modular (so you don't have to deal with too many extra cables)

Xonnorel · Jul 12, 2017

alright perfect;
but i have a few more noob questions,should the ram be low profile? And the psu is 550w right?

James Mason · Jul 12, 2017

Xonnorel :

yeah single gpu single cpu systems will never use more than 400-450Ws, and well it's hard to find good PSUs below 500ws, so a 500-600w PSU is what you're looking for. BUt PSU quality is important, and an 80+ gold (or higher as mentioned) PSU ,that's semi or fully modular. (only difference is the main motherboard power connector being removable or not, but it's always required to be there, but you can get custom made PSU cables so fully modular can be important for that)

The ram doesn't have to be low profile, the cooler I chose won't conflict with the ram, and unless it was absurdly high it won't conflict with the PSU either. (it would have to be purposely huge ram)

Xonnorel · Jul 12, 2017

Ok, i really appreciate your help man, i will surely follow your suggestions

Xonnorel · Jul 13, 2017

Sorry man, one last thing, if i get the second case the noctua is the best cooler i can get?
Where i live the temperature go up to 29-30° in my room during summer and i'm not sure if it can stil manage to do a good job.

In that's the case i don't mind to spend a bit more in order to get a better cooler, what do you think about something like this https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Vwdqqs/corsair-cpu-cooler-h60cw9060007ww ?

James Mason · Jul 13, 2017

Xonnorel :

Yes, that water cooler would work, but water coolers aren't necessarily any cooler than air coolers, even in an enclosed environment like that. They can also be kinda tricky to install, whereas the nh-l9i you basically just have to flip the mobo over and screw in the 4 screws in the back and you're done.

Xonnorel · Jul 13, 2017

thank your for your reply, and that's nice to hear ahah, then i'm going with the nh-l9i, but if you know a "better" cooler that would fit in this config even if it cost a little more i would really like to consider it, this way i could just calm down my anxiety about the temperature and go ahead and order everything XD.

James Mason · Jul 13, 2017

Xonnorel :

Yeah, it's a really tight fit, so there aren't really any better low profile coolers that will fit.
I do have a liquid cooler recommendation, but my concern is liquid coolers are a bit more prone to "travel damage" and if they start leaking liquid it can be a nightmare to clean up, or they could just, start not working after a trip home.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/9FgPxr/corsair-cpu-cooler-cw9060024ww

Xonnorel · Jul 13, 2017

Oh, i really didn't think about that, then i guess the nh-l9i is what i should get, ty a lot for the insight.

btw i'm going to get the corsair rmx 650w that i found at a good deal and the Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 G DDR4 2400 CL16, if you think they are good I'll go straight to order all the other components aswell.

I really appreciate your time man, you gave so many amazing informations

James Mason · Jul 13, 2017

Xonnorel :

Yeah those are both good sets.

Xonnorel · Jul 13, 2017

Perfect, i don't have anything to ask anymore xD, thank you for all your help, and your patience

New "portable" desktop config

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