$1000 Mini ITX Gaming Build

[jeffvan576]

Hey all,

Was hoping someone wouldn't mind taking a peek at this mini itx gaming PC build. Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated.

I'm a little unsure as to whether or not the CPU cooler will fit in. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Build:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Corsair H105 73.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Impact Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($218.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($74.70 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Superclocked ACX Video Card ($329.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Corsair 250D Mini ITX Tower Case ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: *Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $915.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria

 

[CTurbo]

Do you already have the cpu? If not, you're going to blast past that $1000 budget. You need to get a better more powerful psu for sure. I'll look and see if that cooler will fit in that case.


Yes it holds a 240mm radiator

 

[Rammy]

The obvious issue is that I don't think the cooler will fit. It's not listed as officially compatible, and given how little width you have available I would assume that the thicker radiator means it won't fit. A H100i however, should.

Otherwise it's basically ok. Personally for me it's too expensive for the level of performance as stuff like the Maximus Impact is quite expensive, even if it is good.

I'd also issue a word of caution on the PSU. Most of your build isn't cheap, it makes no sense to go cheap on the PSU. Some EVGA PSUs are good, but that one is very basic (though excellent value if you are on a tiny budget).
If you want to keep the cost down but want a quality unit, then the XFX 550w models are very reasonable, but there's an argument for spending a little more if you fancied a PSU with modular cables etc.

 

[cry0g3n]

Take a look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdzsEXr2Kq8
The H105's radiator is thicker than the H100i in the video used in the video. If you look at the 6:10 mark, there's little clearance between the radiator fans and motherboard part sticking up.

Radiator dimensions: 272.5mm x 120mm x 38mm
http://www.corsair.com/en/hydro-series-h105-240mm-extreme-performance-liquid-cpu-cooler

Radiator dimensions: 120mm x 275mm x 27mm
http://www.corsair.com/en/hydro-series-h100i-extreme-performance-liquid-cpu-cooler

Maybe you can change it to an H100i or use very slim fans.

I agree that you should change your PSU to a higher quality one.

 

[jeffvan576]

Awesome suggestions guys. Any opinion on which PSU would be sufficient for this build?

Also, I don't have the CPU yet. Not sure why that didn't copy over but still not sure exactly what I want to go with anyways.

Rammy, any thoughts on a different motherboard that is a little more budget friendly with the same sort of performance?

Thanks again all!

 

[CTurbo]

This would be way better for a lot less.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4jhqP6
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4jhqP6/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus H97I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($107.24 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($74.70 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card ($379.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 250D Mini ITX Tower Case ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: *Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $993.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria

 

[Rammy]

You can run your build on a 500W, but it generally makes sense to spend proportionally. The XFX unit(s) I mentioned earlier are a good place to start, and they aren't vastly more expensive than the EVGA one you had in the OP.
You can just about make a case for stepping beyond that in wattage if it gets you extra functionality, in for example something like the Antec HCG-620M which is a great quality unit with modular cables. The reason I mention this particular model is that it has popped up really frequently on sale in the ~$60 area, making it a pretty good deal.

Most of the Z97 motherboards are pretty good, but you want to watch that the layout doesn't interfere with the way the case is orientated. Motherboards with connectors along the "top" edge of the board like the MSI Z97I/Z87I (and variants) are going to block your side fan/rad and cause you issues. Given the current pricing I'd suggest the ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac - it might not have the same feature set as the Impact but if you just want to OC a CPU it's likely to give you far better value for money.