My new mini-ITX PC build

+4
guest7
RealGunner
Kaladin
sportsczy
8 posters

Page 1 of 2 1, 2  Next

Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by sportsczy Sun Jun 30, 2013 4:42 pm

I had a budget of €700 Euros from the wife, mainly because i'm a gadget freak and she's trying to keep me under control.  Good luck with that.  Only been this way since i was born Laughing

Anyhow, here's what i could do within those constraints:
- Case: Bitfenix Prodigy White
- Motherboard: MSI Z77IA-E53
- CPU: I5 3470
- Memory: Corsair Vengeance low profile 8go
- CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
- Graphics card: MSI N650Ti-2GD5/OC BE NVIDIA GTX 650Ti Boost 1072 MHz 2048 Mo
- Hard Drive: Using one that i already had at 500 mo... so free Laughing
- Power supply: Corsair CX500M 500w
- Optical drive: Asus DRW-B5ST

It all fit and then some.  The Prodigy is really one fantastic case.  I highly recommend it.  Every graphics card fits in this marvel.  But depending on the length of it, you may need to forego 2 of the 4 HDD slots.  

Thoughts?


Last edited by sportsczy on Mon Jul 01, 2013 12:29 pm; edited 1 time in total
sportsczy
sportsczy
Ballon d'Or Contender
Ballon d'Or Contender

Club Supported : Marseille
Posts : 21455
Join date : 2011-12-07

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by Kaladin Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:47 pm

Looks quite nice, but you could do a lot more with an i5 processor than an i3 one, you'd get more bang for your buck IMO
Kaladin
Kaladin
Stormblessed

Club Supported : Real Madrid
Posts : 24585
Join date : 2012-06-28
Age : 30

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by RealGunner Sun Jun 30, 2013 6:14 pm

Graphics etc are all good but as ES said, i3 is a bit underwhelming. Couldn't you get i5 or i7?
RealGunner
RealGunner
Admin
Admin

Club Supported : Arsenal
Posts : 89513
Join date : 2011-06-05

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by guest7 Sun Jun 30, 2013 7:56 pm

don't get i3 man, I've one and I regret buying it, it's not good enough
guest7
guest7
Fan Favorite
Fan Favorite

Club Supported : Real Madrid
Posts : 8276
Join date : 2011-06-05

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by Kaladin Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:00 pm

An i7 is a bit of a stretch, would be too expensive, i have an i5 and i fine tuned it to run extremely well
Kaladin
Kaladin
Stormblessed

Club Supported : Real Madrid
Posts : 24585
Join date : 2012-06-28
Age : 30

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by sportsczy Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:05 pm

freakin budget. The Asus motherboard really kicks every other boards' arse for the Mini ITX... but it cost 40 euros more too. I could go for the MSI board and then get an I5. I guess you guys would recommend that?
sportsczy
sportsczy
Ballon d'Or Contender
Ballon d'Or Contender

Club Supported : Marseille
Posts : 21455
Join date : 2011-12-07

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by Kaladin Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:09 pm

Do you game a lot or work on the PC?

If you game, then i suggest you go with the i5 option

If not then you can get the i3
Kaladin
Kaladin
Stormblessed

Club Supported : Real Madrid
Posts : 24585
Join date : 2012-06-28
Age : 30

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by sportsczy Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:10 pm

It's for gaming and watching movies. I use my laptop for work...
sportsczy
sportsczy
Ballon d'Or Contender
Ballon d'Or Contender

Club Supported : Marseille
Posts : 21455
Join date : 2011-12-07

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by Kaladin Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:11 pm

Then i5 is the way to go IMO
Kaladin
Kaladin
Stormblessed

Club Supported : Real Madrid
Posts : 24585
Join date : 2012-06-28
Age : 30

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by sportsczy Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:12 pm

so if i sub out the I3 and the Asus board with:

- Intel Processeur Core i5-3470 / 3.20 GHz
- MSI Z77IA-E53 motherboard

It evens out.

You suggest i go with this option?
sportsczy
sportsczy
Ballon d'Or Contender
Ballon d'Or Contender

Club Supported : Marseille
Posts : 21455
Join date : 2011-12-07

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by RealGunner Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:18 pm

I would say yea, but Phritz might know better in this.
RealGunner
RealGunner
Admin
Admin

Club Supported : Arsenal
Posts : 89513
Join date : 2011-06-05

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by Kaladin Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:18 pm

Haven't tried an MSI motherboard, but reading a report here on techreport http://techreport.com/review/24445/msi-z77ia-e53-mini-itx-motherboard-reviewed/8 It seems fine, the report says you have a mini PCIe slot that is unoccupied that you can equip with SSD in the future if you like, which looks great. If it were me, i would go with this build
Kaladin
Kaladin
Stormblessed

Club Supported : Real Madrid
Posts : 24585
Join date : 2012-06-28
Age : 30

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by Kaladin Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:19 pm

Yeah i don't know as much on motherboards as i'd like, hopefully Phritz can shed some light
Kaladin
Kaladin
Stormblessed

Club Supported : Real Madrid
Posts : 24585
Join date : 2012-06-28
Age : 30

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by RealGunner Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:23 pm

On a different/similar note. Built my PC for £450, 1.5 years ago. Got an AS Rock motherboard. Intel i5-2500k @3.30 GHz. 8 GB Ram. Still working fine but i think i need to upgrade it.

Perhaps to 16 GB Ram


Last edited by RealGunner on Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:36 pm; edited 1 time in total
RealGunner
RealGunner
Admin
Admin

Club Supported : Arsenal
Posts : 89513
Join date : 2011-06-05

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by sportsczy Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:26 pm

once i saw that the I3's can't be overclocked, i had the feeling it would suck Suspect 
sportsczy
sportsczy
Ballon d'Or Contender
Ballon d'Or Contender

Club Supported : Marseille
Posts : 21455
Join date : 2011-12-07

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by guest7 Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:54 pm

sportsczy wrote:once i saw that the I3's can't be overclocked, i had the feeling it would suck Suspect 

they can be overclocked, atleast mine is, but they still suck

it's not that terrible tbh, but if I were you I would pay the extra bucks for i5 instead, it's a massive improvement
guest7
guest7
Fan Favorite
Fan Favorite

Club Supported : Real Madrid
Posts : 8276
Join date : 2011-06-05

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by sportsczy Sun Jun 30, 2013 10:41 pm

Frak it... i'm getting both the Asus board and the i5. Just won't buy the CPU cooler until next month. Won't overclock for that period.

You know... being married has its problems. Why the freak do i have to ask permission to spend the money that i earned ffs.
sportsczy
sportsczy
Ballon d'Or Contender
Ballon d'Or Contender

Club Supported : Marseille
Posts : 21455
Join date : 2011-12-07

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by RealGunner Sun Jun 30, 2013 10:50 pm

Lol Get the cooler man, it will overheat otherwise. Just get the i5 and forget Asus
RealGunner
RealGunner
Admin
Admin

Club Supported : Arsenal
Posts : 89513
Join date : 2011-06-05

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by Bellabong Mon Jul 01, 2013 12:06 pm

Important questions:

What will be the the primary use?
Any tangible reasons to be going for a mini-ITX? (PCIe + mini-ITX = expensive premium mobo and you're missing out on AM3+ processors which are best bang/buck in your price range).

As for the i3 vs i5, you wont be playing games on a 650ti where an i3 will be your bottleneck so it depends on what other things you'll be doing, if gaming is the most demanding then an i3 3220 is perfectly fine to couple with a $150 GPU.

Also you don't need to get a CPU cooler, the stock one of the i3 and i5 will be more than enough. The only reasons nowadays you should be getting an after-market cooler is for extreme overclocking and climate conditions. Case fans are a much better investment.

My CPU has been ~25% OC'ed for several years now and uses the Intel stock cooler.
Bellabong
Bellabong
First Team
First Team

Club Supported : TSV 1860 Munich
Posts : 3474
Join date : 2011-06-05
Age : 33

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by sportsczy Mon Jul 01, 2013 12:27 pm

The issue i have is that the towers are either huge or tiny... i don't have space for huge tower and the only small one that wasn't too small = prodigy. I wish it was using the micro as opposed to mini, but what can you do.

I think the best bang for the buck is the I5-3470. It's not a "k"... but you can still get it up to 38-40 just with the partial overclocking that it allows. Good enough.

The problem with the Prodigy case is that it's small and airflow is not as good obviously. I'm worried that if i overclock the CPU, the case will cause overheating... hence getting a CPU cooler.

I also dropped the expensive Asus motherboard for the cheaper MSI. The big thing with the MSI is that the fan control system is not the best on the mini ITX board other than for the CPU. So the box fans just run either at max or not at all. I can deal with that. We're only talking of 2 120mm fans anyhow and i will probably want them going all the time with the small size of the box.

I updated the OP with the build adjustments. Thoughts?
sportsczy
sportsczy
Ballon d'Or Contender
Ballon d'Or Contender

Club Supported : Marseille
Posts : 21455
Join date : 2011-12-07

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by sportsczy Mon Jul 01, 2013 12:28 pm

To answer your question Phritz... i want to use it mostly for gaming and some for watching movies/tv shows.
sportsczy
sportsczy
Ballon d'Or Contender
Ballon d'Or Contender

Club Supported : Marseille
Posts : 21455
Join date : 2011-12-07

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by rwo power Mon Jul 01, 2013 12:58 pm

Hm. Why not wait a little longer and get some extra allowance for the proper ASUS board and the cooler?
rwo power
rwo power
Super Moderator
Super Moderator

Club Supported : Asante Kotoko
Posts : 20978
Join date : 2011-06-05

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by sportsczy Mon Jul 01, 2013 1:06 pm

because i'm bored now Laughing
sportsczy
sportsczy
Ballon d'Or Contender
Ballon d'Or Contender

Club Supported : Marseille
Posts : 21455
Join date : 2011-12-07

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by Bellabong Mon Jul 01, 2013 1:50 pm

Looks like a decent build for a big uITX case.

So there's no possibility of you being able to get a Corsair Obsidian 350D or a Silverstone SG10? The SG10 is smaller than the Prodigy and is uATX oriented so you could go with an AMD FX8350 centered build. The 350D is slightly larger but leaves you with a lot more options.
Bellabong
Bellabong
First Team
First Team

Club Supported : TSV 1860 Munich
Posts : 3474
Join date : 2011-06-05
Age : 33

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by sportsczy Mon Jul 01, 2013 3:13 pm

sounds interesting. I really like the Corsair 350D... especially the windowed version.

How would you set it up with €700 euros? Thanks in advance
sportsczy
sportsczy
Ballon d'Or Contender
Ballon d'Or Contender

Club Supported : Marseille
Posts : 21455
Join date : 2011-12-07

Back to top Go down

My new mini-ITX PC build Empty Re: My new mini-ITX PC build

Post by Sponsored content


Sponsored content


Back to top Go down

Page 1 of 2 1, 2  Next

Back to top


 
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum