SFF Gaming PC

[rawiepking]

Hi Everyone,

I currently have a large build in a 650D that I love but my wife says needs to be downsized if its going to stay in the living room attached to the TV. I'm ok with that since it gives me the perfect excuse to upgrade! Its attached to a 1080p TV so I think I'm fine with the 760 I already have. Here is the build I am contemplating so any advice you could give would be awesome! I will be using this for multimedia and gaming, right now I will be playing splinter cell, assassins creed 3 and soon 4, Bioshock Infinite etc.

Case: CoolerMaster SG10B or Bitfenix Prodigy M

CPU: i5-4670K

Mobo: Either the Asus Maximus VI Gene or Asus Gryphon

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CRJUGTC/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1WX8LU2F8HYT&coliid=I3USG2SZQJNHCO

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-GRYPHON-Z87-DDR3-Motherboard/dp/B00CRJS6OY/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1383544948&sr=1-1&keywords=asus+gryphon+z87

SSD: Samsung 840 Evo 250 GB

Memory: Corsair Vengence DDR3 1600 8GB

CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro h100. New Egg sells refurbs for $50, do you think it is a good deal or should I not risk it?


I am sourcing the PSU, HDDs and Bluray Drive from my current build so I dont want to replace them if I can avoid it.

PSU: Corsair TX 650 v2

GPU: Asus 760 GTX


I am most concerned about advice for the Case, MOBO and CPU cooler. Id like to start overclocking, but I don't necessarily want to go overboard. My budget is about 800 for the build. Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[C12Friedman]

Here's what I would look at personally... the smaller Prodigy Case with an Asus Maximus Impact board since you're only going to be using one graphics card in it. The H100 will work in it, there are many vids in YouTube featuring that. At 160mm your current PSU will fit that case (barely)

 

[nighthawkvct]

You're looking at literally about the same setup I have right now, I've got an i7-4770K, [I think you meant Silverstone] SG10B, Maximus VI Gene, Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, same Corsair Vengeance ram.

The Maximus Gene motherboard is awesome, don't think twice about it. It'd make for great audio for the living room and has tons of other potential as well.

I don't know where you're thinking of fitting a H100 in there, though. I've got an H80i in mine and it's tiiiight but fits. It adds some benefit to taking it traveling so you don't snap your mobo in two due to the weight of a heavy air cooler, but if you're not going to be moving it that much any of your large standard air coolers would work great. I personally would never buy a refurbished CLC, I don't need it leaking all over or something.

Give a little consideration to a modular PSU that isn't too long. The cables off the 650 can be stuffed a few places, but it's going to look like a rat's nest wherever you decide to dump them. I'm using an AX860 and it's still tight but at least there aren't unused cables everywhere.

If you decide to go with the SG10B, I went with some Noctua fans to fill the side mounts, although on the left I had to use 92/92/92 due to power cord limitations - Google it, it's way too sharp of a turn for the PSU power cord.

It's a challenging case to build in, but the results are worth it. Best of luck!

 

[rawiepking]

Here's what I would look at personally... the smaller Prodigy Case with an Asus Maximus Impact board since you're only going to be using one graphics card in it. The H100 will work in it, there are many vids in YouTube featuring that. At 160mm your current PSU will fit that case (barely)

When you say smaller pridigy prodigy do you mean going with a mitx board instead of Marx?

 

[rawiepking]

You're looking at literally about the same setup I have right now, I've got an i7-4770K, [I think you meant Silverstone] SG10B, Maximus VI Gene, Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, same Corsair Vengeance ram.

The Maximus Gene motherboard is awesome, don't think twice about it. It'd make for great audio for the living room and has tons of other potential as well.

I don't know where you're thinking of fitting a H100 in there, though. I've got an H80i in mine and it's tiiiight but fits. It adds some benefit to taking it traveling so you don't snap your mobo in two due to the weight of a heavy air cooler, but if you're not going to be moving it that much any of your large standard air coolers would work great. I personally would never buy a refurbished CLC, I don't need it leaking all over or something.

Give a little consideration to a modular PSU that isn't too long. The cables off the 650 can be stuffed a few places, but it's going to look like a rat's nest wherever you decide to dump them. I'm using an AX860 and it's still tight but at least there aren't unused cables everywhere.

If you decide to go with the SG10B, I went with some Noctua fans to fill the side mounts, although on the left I had to use 92/92/92 due to power cord limitations - Google it, it's way too sharp of a turn for the PSU power cord.

It's a challenging case to build in, but the results are worth it. Best of luck!

How's the aesthetic quality of the sg10b? I'm asking because it will be in the living room and therefore must pass the wife test. Its hard for me to tell in pictures.

If I did go with the sg10b I would definitely go with the h80i, the h100 would only work in the prodigy. Also I think if I went with that case I would have to get the Silverstone sff PSU which adds about 120 to my cost which I was hoping to avoid. Thanks for your help!

 

[C12Friedman]

...you say smaller pridigy prodigy do you mean going with a mitx board instead of Marx?

Yep, still a quality overclocking board and the Mini-ITX is pretty cool once done

 

[nighthawkvct]

You're looking at literally about the same setup I have right now, I've got an i7-4770K, [I think you meant Silverstone] SG10B, Maximus VI Gene, Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, same Corsair Vengeance ram.

The Maximus Gene motherboard is awesome, don't think twice about it. It'd make for great audio for the living room and has tons of other potential as well.

I don't know where you're thinking of fitting a H100 in there, though. I've got an H80i in mine and it's tiiiight but fits. It adds some benefit to taking it traveling so you don't snap your mobo in two due to the weight of a heavy air cooler, but if you're not going to be moving it that much any of your large standard air coolers would work great. I personally would never buy a refurbished CLC, I don't need it leaking all over or something.

Give a little consideration to a modular PSU that isn't too long. The cables off the 650 can be stuffed a few places, but it's going to look like a rat's nest wherever you decide to dump them. I'm using an AX860 and it's still tight but at least there aren't unused cables everywhere.

If you decide to go with the SG10B, I went with some Noctua fans to fill the side mounts, although on the left I had to use 92/92/92 due to power cord limitations - Google it, it's way too sharp of a turn for the PSU power cord.

It's a challenging case to build in, but the results are worth it. Best of luck!

How's the aesthetic quality of the sg10b? I'm asking because it will be in the living room and therefore must pass the wife test. Its hard for me to tell in pictures.

If I did go with the sg10b I would definitely go with the h80i, the h100 would only work in the prodigy. Also I think if I went with that case I would have to get the Silverstone sff PSU which adds about 120 to my cost which I was hoping to avoid. Thanks for your help!

The SG10B is gorgeous. Built like a champ, nice lines, would fit in with anything from a home theater. The fact that it uses an mATX board allows for more flexibility later on if needed, as opposed to just one PCI-E slot. Additionally, the cooling on it is stellar. With PWM fans, you'll barely be able to hear it most of the time, and if you decide to OC like hell and crank framerates, it'll have the airflow to cool as necessary.

You don't need a Silverstone SFF PSU in it, you just will have a few extra wires hanging around. I didn't want to shell out for it and so I reused my AX860 and it worked fine. Depending on how many drives you throw in it, you may be able to hide them all behind the mobo between that and the case.