Build It Yourself: A Mini-ITX Gaming System For Just Over $500

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Low-cost, low-power, small form factor PCs are popular right now. With Intel’s Ivy Bridge architecture available in the low-end Pentium family, you can now build a living room gaming PC with discrete graphics to beat any modern console for just over $500.

Tight Spaces: The Motherboard Installation

Wanted: Nimble Fingers

Again, installing the motherboard really isn't difficult, so long as you do it before putting the drive cage back in.

As always, remember to snap in the bundled I/O shield before screwing the motherboard down. That’s probably obvious to the average Tom’s Hardware reader, but still important to mention. We've even been caught up in a fancy build and missed this little detail.

The I/O panel snaps right into its designated opening. Sadly, this deserves mention because such a good fit doesn’t happen nearly as often as it should.

Fasten the motherboard to the tray using four pre-installed spacers.

Packing everything that needs to go into the case makes for an extremely tight fit. The optical drive’s slimline-to-SATA adapter does push into the CPU fan, but as we mentioned, the cooler's retention brackets are flexible enough to keep this from being a problem.

Before we move on to the graphics card, we have a couple more pieces of advice regarding the motherboard installation.

First, plugging in the front-panel connectors can be tricky, so we recommend connecting them to the motherboard before placing it inside the case. Otherwise, breaking out tweezers is going to be your only realistic option.

And while cable routing usually comes down to personal preference, we had to compromise a clean-looking build for secure connections when it came to dealing with components like the optical drive's adapter and the HD Audio cable. It probably goes without saying in a mini-ITX PC, but there's really not a lot of empty space left inside the case at this point.

Igor Wallossek
150 Comments Comment from the forums
  • xkm1948
    What about putting in an APU instead?
    Reply
  • JOSHSKORN
    That case almost looks like a Wii.
    Reply
  • zooted
    Would be nice if they included benchmarks, but overall a nice review.
    Reply
  • A Bad Day
    We have Mini-ITX gaming mobos that support OCing and 120mm closed loop water cooling...

    I demand a proper Mini-ITX case from the manufacturers!
    Reply
  • FormatC
    @xkm1948:
    I have a "Zero dB PC" as one of the next projects, complete based on a AMD APU (A10 5700). We should stay a little parity, all last Mini-PCs were AMDs ;)

    @zooted:
    The performance of a HD 7750 is wellknown and this little card is in the most cases the slower part. This is from the other project:
    Reply
  • sempifi99
    If I did not already have more desktops than I am currently using I would definitely consider building something like this...
    Reply
  • Hando567
    Wish you would have done a bitfenix Prodigy build with an i7 and GTX690, mini ITX machine that can play anything? Yes please!

    I would like to know why there is no real SFF love in the AMD camp for non APU's, I really want a new mATX mobo with 3 PCI-e slots, so I can do a tri-fire setup with LC in my mini P180, 2x7970's just are not enough. I also want to replace my aging 890gxm-g65 so I can OC my FX8350, this board has known issues with its power circuitry beyond stock (I would know, I have cooked 3 of them, 2 from trying to OC, and one from a long gaming session)
    Reply
  • itzsnypah
    It always seems like Toms put's out recommendation builds right after new hardware comes out. Also I think you failed to research enough, mITX H77 boards have been cheaper than mITX B75 boards for months while having better features.
    Reply
  • photonboy
    Laptop instead?

    At the $500 price range, I've seen many laptops that perform similarly to builds like this.

    The laptops also have the advantage of:
    - screen (don't have to use)
    - battery (for power outage)
    - size

    One disadvantage with gaming laptops is that under load the little fan tends to be annoying. It would be really cool if you could easily plug in an external cooling unit that bypasses that fan.

    INTERESTING BUILD, though I would strongly disagree with the "good enough for an HDTV" comment about the graphics card. It's a gaming PC. Just because it's hooked up to an HDTV instead of a monitor doesn't make it "good enough"; Far Cry 3 still won't run great.

    I'd like to see a little more CPU and GPU processing power while keeping noise in check. Let's see what can be done with $700?
    Reply
  • bak0n
    That was my basic setup until recently when I upgraded the cpu from a i3 2100 to an i5 3570k. The GPU from the 7750 to a 7870 and the case to a prodigy which supports larger cooling fans and dual slot GPU's. The lower frame rates or settings turned down wasn't cutting it for games like borderlands 2. But if you are into games like LoL the recommend build will be more than enough.
    Reply