Shoot holes in my mini-ITX MMORPG only build

ecarus

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Hi all!

I need someone to shoot holes in my plan for my next PC build. Flame Away I have my asbestos suit on.

This PC build is *only* going to be used for MMORPG’s. Mainly for the new Star Wars: Old Republic MMO. But I’m also going to be playing the Champions Online that is going to be out in a few weeks.

The monitor is a Acer H233H ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009162&Tpk=h233h ) that I use for my Xbox 360. This is a 1920 x 1080 monitor.

I’m trying to build the PC to be as small as possible and as cheaply as possible without being foolish.

Onto the specs...

Case: Silverstone SG05 $75 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163149 )

Motherboard: Zotac GF9300-D-E (mini-ITX, pci-e 2.0 x16, wifi) $140 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500022 )

CPU: Intel Pentium Dual-Core E6300 2.8ghz $84 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116091 )

GPU: ASUS EAH4770 Radeon HD 4770 512MB $110 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121326 )

RAM: Patriot Viper 4GB (2x2) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 $40 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220293 )

Hard Drives: two Fujitsu MHY2080BH 2.5” 5,400rpm Raid 0 $free ( http://193.128.183.41/home/v3__product.asp?pid=560&inf=&wg=15 )

My thoughts about the build...

I saw a SG05 case in person at a Micro Center and I knew that this was something different, and I would use this case on my next build. Because of the mini-ITX form factor I needed to use the Zotac motherboard to get pci-e 2.0. This motherboard can overclock but it doesn’t allow for a change in the CPU multiplier; so I didn’t go with the Intel E5200. I picked the ASUS 4770 because of 4850 performance when OC'ed and low power requirement (thanks Dirtmountain). At $40 the ram is cheap and good timings. I have these hard drives lying around so I thought I would try them in a RAID 0 before I pick my usual Seagate Barracuda 7200.12.

So what do you think?

(edited for the change from 4850 to 4770 GPU)

-Ecarus
 

Wolfshadw

Titan
Moderator
Not sure that 300watt PSU is going to push everything you want to put into the box. I would probably look to replace it with something that has a bit more oomph behind it. Also, I'm not sure about the clearance you're going to have with the power supply sitting directly above the CPU/HSF. Maybe look at lower profile heatsink/fans for the CPU.

-Wolf sends
 

ecarus

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Silverstone says that they support 4850 videocards. And everything I have read on the 4850 says that the 300w PSU should be fine (peak power consumption at ~250w at the wall outlet). Also I'm using laptop HD's and no DVD burner.

I'm going to go with the boxed fan and see what it does first then upgrade it if CPU temperature is a limiting factor in OC'ing it.

Thanks for the reply

-Ecarus
 

ecarus

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I was considering mATX but it really isn't that much smaller than ATX. Mini-ITX is in another class of compactness.

This being used for only MMORPG's I don't need blazing fast FPS. So I think the system is very "Zen like" with the 300w 80+ PSU, short 4850 GPU, and small case with a 120mm fan and a lot of ventalation.

Thanks for the reply

-Ecarus
 

ecarus

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Good Idea! I have changed to the ASUS 4770

Thanks for the reply

-Ecarus
 

ecarus

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That is a bea-u-tif-ul case; but not a contender because the lack of any case fan other than the PSU.

Thanks for the reply.

-Ecarus
 
Well, it does have a lot of ventilation openings, and an Earthwatts 380 would run nice and cool in there.
Too bad there's no AM2+ socket board with a PCI-E x16 slot; that case just cries for my old 4850e...
 

ecarus

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I wouldn't mind going to an AMD CPU but I have yet to find an AMD socketed mini-ITX motherboard that has a pci-e 2.0 slot. That is what makes the Zotac board special.

It's not from the lack of trying.

Thanks for the reply

-Ecarus
 

ecarus

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The PSU is made by FSP. Hardware Secrets did a good review of the PSU here ( http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/757/1 ). It's a well made true 300w 80%+ PSU.

Even though I think the PSU can support a 4850. I think I'm going to stick with the 4770 because of the less noise, heat, power of the 4770 even when overclocked.

Thanks for the reply.

-Ecarus