Budget Mini-ITX Gaming Build

[ASC1976]

Hi. I was wondering if someone could comment on the suggested build below that I am thinking of putting together this week. I haven't ordered anything yet so please let me know if you can spot any improvements.

I need to put together a small form factor PC, I won't go into the reason why. So the case I have selected is the Bitfenix Prodigy mini-itx case. I am pretty sure this is the case for me, but the inners are open for discussion.


Approximate Purchase Date: this week (the closer the better)

Budget Range: Around £500 - £600 ($800 - $950 roughly)

System Usage: (gaming, streaming movies from a NAS)

Are you buying a monitor: No - I will be using my TV


Parts to Upgrade: I need everything from scratch!

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Based in the UK so just after ideas really

Location: City, State/Region, Country - London, UK

Parts Preferences: Intel and Nvidia

Overclocking: No that fussed, I am aware of the limitations of the small form factor cases

SLI or Crossfire: Not with mini-ITX

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: A quiet PC would be nice for when streaming movies and I am not bothered about all that LED bling stuff you can do.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Want to get back into PC gaming, but I have no room for a desk, so this will be used with the TV, sitting next to the xbox and playstation.



So far I have come up with the following components:

Bitfenix Prodigy Case (Black)
Coolermaster 600W GX Lite PSU
Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz XMS3 Memory Kit CL9 1.65V
OCZ 120GB Agility SSD - SATA III
ASUS P8H77-I Intel H77 Socket 1155 DDR3 PCI-Express Mini-ITX
MSI GeForce GTX 560-448 Ti 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics
Intel Core i5-3450 3.10GHz (Ivy Bridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
SONY 24x AD-7280S-0B Internal DVD-RAM +/- Writer SATA Black Bare Drive



I was tempted to start with a cheaper processor and upgrade later to bring the price down now. Using the following would save me nearly £100 ($160 roughly)

Intel Pentium G840 2.80GHz (Sandy Bridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor

Would downgrading to this have a massive impact? if it would do for a while I could then upgrade later?

Anyway, any comments greatly appreciated

 

[jmsellars1]

I would aim for a GPU with much lower power consumption to reduce heat and noise. A CPU cooler would be very handy too to further reduce noise. I'd swap the GPU for the HD 7850, same performance with much less power consumption. With the HD 7850 and Ivy Bridge i5, your power consumption will rarely touch 200W so you could get a quieter and better quality (modular) PSU like this:

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Power+Supplies+-+PSUs/Modular+650W+or+less/430W+be+quiet%21+PURE+POWER+CM+L8-CM+80PLUS+Bronze+Modular+Power+Supply+?productId=51921

Other than that, you are going to want 1.5v RAM for the 1155 socket. 1.65v RAM isn't recommended for it.

In my experience, OCZ SSD's have horrendous reliability as well. I'd look at the Crucial M4 or Samsung 830.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Pretty much what he said. I'd suggest this RAM: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-(2x4gb)-corsair-ddr3-vengeance-lp-cerulean-blue-pc3-12800-(1600)-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-15v
I'd suggest using an i3-3220 for the CPU, and see if you can fit a 7870.

EDIT: I suggest this with his PSU (the be-quiet!):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor (£92.52 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard (£68.73 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£29.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£74.99 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£149.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case (£59.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £487.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)