Mini ITX Rig

Banonzii

Honorable
Jan 6, 2014
17
0
10,510
Hi Guys,

First off, please read thoroughly, and give thoughtful responses/explanations instead of just posting a build, because that doesn't help.

I'm looking to build a mini-itx rig for my sister. She's a part time wedding planner, so she need something that's fast, efficient, and has the power to multitask, edit, and design, as well as being portable so she can bring it to fairs, co-planners house, and set up in her living room. (Probably get better Specs/$ doing this than getting a laptop)

I'd like to keep the price under $1000, preferably as low as possible.

I've built my own gaming rig before, and actually looking to do another one in the future, besides this mini-itx one. I know enough about computers to pick out good parts and put it together, but seeing as mini-itx is different, and I don't know whole lot about them, I was hoping for some opinions and help.

Like I said before I'd like to make it as powerful, within reason, as possible for her needs, but keep it efficient too. Being a smaller form factor, my main concerns are heat build up and distribution/air flow, general space, and compatibility.

I'll link a build I made, but I'd like thoughts on Air vs CL Liquid Cooling, Motherboard, RAM, and Case (in regards to best airflow), as well as best/min(max) PSU needed. Note for the Motherboard, having good wireless and bluetooth would be a great plus.

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hNwP8d) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hNwP8d/by_merchant/)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($139.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($116.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $906.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-06 22:33 EDT-0400

Cases I found:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112408
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147217
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119299

If something has to be cut to make room for other things price wise, the SSD can probably go, that's just a convenience thing I thought would be nice.

Also I found http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1750777 as a possibility, but unsure as to the quality of it. Seems comparable.

Thanks,

Banonzii
 

Rammy

Honorable
I'm not really sure what you are trying to achieve here to be honest. You don't specifically state the types of software that she needs to be using, but it kinda implies that it's relatively low end stuff which calls into question the budget and a lot of the part choices. Based on the usage, it does suggest that a laptop is a better solution - or even a tablet for some things - and I hate laptops.

As a quick run through-
CPU - Seems very unlikely that an overclocked CPU is a good choice here. Overclocking is only going to yield good results if you have some software which is hammering the CPU, and even then it'll be software dependant on the results. When you factor in the negatives - cost, heat, noise - it seems like this isn't going to be helpful to her.
Depending on the types of things she is doing here, anything from a dual core Pentium to an i7 might be sensible, it's very hard to say.
Motherboard - Similar story here, if you aren't overclocking, you don't need a Z-series board. H97 is likely to cover all the features you need.
Memory - 8Gb is a safe bet for most usages these days.
SSD - Fairly expensive SSD, arguably the 840 EVO is a better pick for value. SSD is probably a good idea if clients are waiting for her to set up, but it's highly likely a 120Gb is enough.
HDD - Anything less than 1Tb has pretty poor $/Gb, it's a sensible pick.
Graphics - Very questionable if you aren't gaming or using any software which takes advantage of GPU compute/acceleration. The 750Ti isn't a terrible choice though, as it's very low power, though the GTX750 is even lower power and might be a better option (no power cables to worry about). Alternatively ditch it altogether, Haswell IGP is still poor for gaming but solid enough for general tasks.
Power Supply - The HX650 is a great power supply. In this instance, it's pretty inappropriate though. Any entry level 300-400W PSU is likely to be more than sufficient, though it can be fairly hard to find good quality units in this bracket at sensible prices. The CX430/430M isn't a great unit, but it's more or less in a class of one when it comes to that price bracket - they regularly drop to $20 with rebates. Better but less competitively priced options include the Seasonic S12II 380/430, G450, XFX Core 450, Rosewill Capstone 450.

Working on the logic that you aren't going to be overclocking then you don't need the best airflow or CPU cooler support. I'd avoid CLCs as they are too expensive to make sense and unnecessarily noisy/complicated. Going for the stock cooler isn't the worst idea, though if you have leftover money in your budget then an upgrade here might give lower noise levels.

The TU100 would be my pick really. It's one of the only ITX cases with a handle that's genuinely useful, it's very small, still has optical disc support and has reinforced corners which should increase durability a bit. The main downside is that it only takes SFX PSUs which aren't cheap.
The other two are compact enough and use ATX PSUs, but they don't have optical drive provision. This might not seem like a big deal, and for me it's really not - but if you are dealing with clients/customers you don't know what they are going to give you and it seems short-sighted to skip this (I know literally nothing about wedding planning but it seems well within the bounds of reason that someone hands you a CD marked "Bob&Kate's Wedding '07" and says "I want stuff like this").
The EVGA Hadron Air is worth a look too as it's very small but has a lot of flexibility and a very solid included PSU.
 

Banonzii

Honorable
Jan 6, 2014
17
0
10,510


Yeah I thought I mentioned that, but she'd be using photoshop, microsoft word and excel (which doesn't mean a whole lot), running a website (again, extra performance won't make a difference), possibly lightroom and illustrator. I know it might be a little overkill, but building something that's more than what you need is always better than buying a laptop that isn't enough, though I totally understand where you coming from. I myself am unsure as to the complete power and performance she needs, seeing as I don't even fully know what she'll be doing, but this is a possible idea. I know she wants something that'll last, being her current computers are complete crap and outdated. I myself do drawing and photo editing in photoshop and sometimes see my computer lag a bit, with a 955 Black Edition Quad Core Phenom II, 8GBs of ram (1333 :( ), and a gtx 550ti, so I want to make sure she can do everything she wants without worrying about the computer slowing down.

I only choose the unlocked CPU because it was the best choice from my local microcenter, the don't have the locked version.
Motherboards are always the biggest thing I'm unsure of, I found a few other options, but settled on a Z series to be safe, but considered http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157526 .
My research has shown that Intel HD 4600 is okay for photoshop even, though I can't find a solid answer to how GPU depending photoshop is. I know it has gpu acceleration capabilities, and a dedicated card is always better, but at this point I hope IGP would be sufficient.
PSU wise I just choose a good one for the time being, something I know would be enough and reliable, but can definitely go down some wattage if needed.

In the end I'm just trying to build a good PC that'll last and not get as outdated as quickly for her needs.

Nonetheless, I appreciate the time and response.


Thanks,

Banonzii