System Builder Marathon, Q2 2013: The $400 Spirit Of Mini-ITX
Consumption And Temperatures
Power Consumption
As you know, we enable power-saving features on each system to best reflect real-world default power consumption and cooling performance. I also left the fan controls at their stock settings for my baseline run. In effect, I was trading off thermal performance in the interest of a quieter PC.
I don't have efficiency specifications for Antec's 150 W power supply. However, older units with the same model number were notoriously bad in this area. Regardless, under full load, the overclocked configuration pulls less than 120 W from the wall. Assuming between 70% and 80% efficiency, the power supply was only outputting between 83 and 95 W under full load. That should satisfy any concern that a 150 W PSU is insufficient for today's build.
AMD's Pitcairn and Tahiti GPUs serve up much higher performance than Cape Verde, but they're also a lot more power-hungry. December's $500 machine mysteriously suffered high GPU power use just idling on the desktop, inflating the active idle and CPU load data.
Despite Antec's small enclosure, heat is not a problem for us. The components I'm using are efficient, airflow is decent, and the graphics card is fed cool air through a bottom vent. In warm climates, both the graphics and case fans could spin a lot faster if they're needed, though they'd be louder too. As it stands, my notes suggest this is the quietest of the last three systems I built, particularly after overclocking. Only the $650 system was loud enough to have me reaching for my Sennheiser headset during gaming sessions.
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ingtar33 great article. this type of look at how a low end "budget" build handles modern titles was perfect. Loved it. I think you got about the most you could hope for out of a $400 budget. Frankly i can't find a way to make something better at that price point. spot on really. nicely done.Reply
I do like how most of those games were "playable" on high settings at 1080p with that tiny rig... very cool. -
Crashman Nice build, makes me wonder how it would stack up to my old 4.0 GHz overclocked Core 2 Duo office PC. Which gets gamed on occasionally using its HD 6850 graphics card.Reply -
allanitomwesh FINALLY! I agree this whole system builder was almost a fail.Reply
Also, I can't believe you had a SG05 and didn't build with it,it has an awesome power supply. Again,if you weren't getting a disk drive the V3+ was the smaller, higher quality case than CM 120 ( though they're finished on newegg)
The obsession with ginormous cards in tiny places made your cases not tiny.Clearly,a more sensible build,like with a 670,would fit in a much smaller footprint.
The lack of the FT03 Mini is a fail. It's a Mac killing case,and should've been the go to case for the $2500 build, because at that price,my case better look it.
Otherwise I like that you were at least up to the challenge, and I applaud this last build. -
Crashman
The FT03 Mini would have probably caused the $2500 PC's graphics card to overheat, or caused the graphics card to overheat the CPU. And a 670 might have worked, but then it wouldn't have been a $2500 PC. But please don't let the facts get in the way of your opinion.11047601 said:FINALLY! I agree this whole system builder was almost a fail.
Also, I can't believe you had a SG05 and didn't build with it,it has an awesome power supply. Again,if you weren't getting a disk drive the V3+ was the smaller, higher quality case than CM 120 ( though they're finished on newegg)
The obsession with ginormous cards in tiny places made your cases not tiny.Clearly,a more sensible build,like with a 670,would fit in a much smaller footprint.
The lack of the FT03 Mini is a fail. It's a Mac killing case,and should've been the go to case for the $2500 build, because at that price,my case better look it.
Otherwise I like that you were at least up to the challenge, and I applaud this last build.
You could say that nobody should even bother spending $2500 on an ITX-based system, or that a system with ITX limitations should never be expected to provide top performance. At least those opinions would make more sense than the stuff you said above.
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brucek2 My favorite of the builds. Feels congruent to me in that budget, form factor and system capabilities all align to each other and to my personal sensibilities. I could see making a system like this for a bedroom or den.Reply -
Crashman
Or even an office! Really. I might not build one of these for a performance competition, but it looks like a solid alternative to my retired-gaming office PC.11047721 said:My favorite of the builds. Feels congruent to me in that budget, form factor and system capabilities all align to each other and to my personal sensibilities. I could see making a system like this for a bedroom or den.
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CommentariesAnd More PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / BenchmarksReply
CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Foxconn H61S Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint M8 500GB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7750 1GB Video Card ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-N180UB 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($9.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill RS-MI-01 BK Mini ITX Tower Case w/250W Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $371.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-27 03:06 EDT-0400)
Some improvements I would like to suggest , Maybe I am crazy , but felt I should do this. -
silverblue Even this diminutive little machine would significantly outpace my old Phenom II X3 710, XFX HD 4830 and 4x1GB DDR2-800 (4-4-4-12) for a pretty decent price.Reply