Looking for a small form basic gaming pc

[rjco]

I am looking to build a PC for watch movies, TV shows etc. (using Plex/XBMC) and for gaming (Steam). I do a significant amount of travelling for work and would like a small form PC which I can put in my luggage to plug into hotel room TV so VGA and HDMI outputs are important in addition to small form factor and relative ruggedness. I have only ever replaced parts of a PC so this will be my first build from scratch so ease of building would also be a priority.

At home it will be plugged into my TV and is to replace PS3/aging laptop with SteamOS when available (most of my games are through steam). Optical digital output for audio to my av equipment would be preferential but a USB input is also available if unrealistic.

I live in the UK and my budget is approx £600 (approx USD $1000).

Thank you for your help in advance.

Approximate Purchase Date: this month

Budget Range: £600 (GBP) approx $1000 (USD) after tax and shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Watching films, Basic gaming (Mostly strategy - civilization, total war etc.)

Are you buying a monitor: No, HDMI and VGA output to TV

Parts to Upgrade: New build, no parts bought yet.

Do you need to buy OS: OEM license (WIndows 7), future compatibility with SteamOS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: UK based supplies (amazon, ebuyer)

Location: Scotland, UK

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: HD TV = 1920x1080

 

[sadams04]

PCPartPicker won't let me select the XFX 450w PSU so the 550w is listed in the build below. Dial down the fan on the H80i for very low noise. Overclock as you please...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor (£121.32 @ Scan.co.uk)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£63.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI Mini ITX FM2+ Motherboard (£71.57 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£72.00 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case (£37.82 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.93 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-209DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer (£53.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £502.57

 

[rjco]

Thanks for your suggestion. I got a little carried away researching different cases and ended up looking at the StreaCom cases (FC7) with a low profile graphics card which would need the higher power picoPSU. Having contacted StreaCom I was informed that they would be in stock soon but alas my patience has run out so I have looked into alternatives, this is my current build:

[PCPartPicker part list](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/7NZQwP) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/7NZQwP/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54590) | £143.99 @ Aria PC
**Motherboard** | [ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h97mitxac) | £47.30 @ Amazon UK
**Memory** | [Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-khx1600c9d3p1k28g) | £61.56 @ Ebuyer
**Storage** | [Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te120bw) | £55.14 @ CCL Computers
**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st2000dm001) | £48.68 @ Aria PC
**Video Card** | [MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-n750titf2gd5oc) | £108.99 @ Amazon UK
**Case** | [Silverstone SG05B-USB3.0 (Black) Mini ITX Desktop Case w/300W Power Supply](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/silverstone-case-sstsg05busb30) | £80.46 @ Scan.co.uk
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | £546.12
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-10 19:06 BST+0100 |

I like the Silverstone Case but I was wondering if the KFA2 low profile GTX 750 Ti (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-067-KF&adword=google/pla&gclid=Cj0KEQjw7b-gBRC45uLY_avSrdgBEiQAD3Olxz6RY_CsDJ9TGF4FRxn2eYLunU93AYL4Z-dXdckJie4aAnkR8P8HAQ)
would fit into the small Silverstone Milo ML05/ML06 cases (http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=457&area=en)?
Does anyone have experience of these cases?

Also is the ASRock Motherboard any good? Chosen for its decent onboard sound and wifi which is useful when away from home.

 

[sadams04]

That ASROCK motherboard will be fine. Nothing wrong with that build other than the power supply (included with the case). ...not the best of quality. If you can, look toward the Cooler Master Elite 130 or BitFenix Prodigy cases. Both are ITX form factor and allow for a standard size PSU (not a pico unit). Regardless, it would be in your best interest to pull a PSU from XFX, Seasonic or even EVGA. Some Corsair units are good, but avoid their CX, CS, and Builder lines...

 

[rjco]

Thanks, I thought the PSU was decent in the SIlverstone case as a 80 Plus certified (SFX form factor). I don't really want to go any bigger case wise. Is there a big advantage of ATX over SFX?

As I said in my original post I am not a experienced PC builder and PSUs are certainly away from my area of expertise. Would you recommend something else? The case is available without a bundled PSU.

 

[logainofhades]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor (£81.36 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI H97I AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£79.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£60.40 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£52.25 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£48.68 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 270 2GB TurboDuo Video Card (£116.14 @ More Computers)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case (£34.40 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£61.84 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.96 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £605.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-10 21:58 BST+0100

 

[sadams04]

Thanks, I thought the PSU was decent in the SIlverstone case as a 80 Plus certified (SFX form factor). I don't really want to go any bigger case wise. Is there a big advantage of ATX over SFX?

The advantage is just being a more readily available form factor... For an SFX unit the only one I am really seeing is the SeaSonic SS-300 (or SS-350). The FSP Group FSP300 may be another option. XFX and Seasonic is where you want to look. Being SFX is somewhat limited though...

 

[rjco]

Thanks, is the Silverstone SFX bundled with the case any good? http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=458&area=en

My PSU knowledge is very limited, thanks for your help.

 

[sadams04]

Thanks, is the Silverstone SFX bundled with the case any good?

The capacitors are adequate, but not good. If you would never stress the PSU (consume over 250w), then it is likely that you would never have an issue. Since you are looking at the R9 270 (dedicated GPU) you should look toward a higher quality manufacturer.

 

[rjco]

Thanks,

I was thinking of going for the GTX 750 Ti as I was concerned about heat within a small case. Do you think the single 120mm fan included with the case will be sufficient with the stock CPU fan and the 2 fans on the MSI GTX 750 Ti?(http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-n750titf2gd5oc)

Thanks again for your help, really useful! I have ordered everything now apart from the case/PSU and HDD. Ended up going for the Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI motherboard as the ASRock has sold out.

 

[sadams04]

The GA-H97N-WIFI is a great board! The 750 Ti doesn't pull a lot of power so, in turn, it won't produce much heat. No worries there being in an ITX case...