Mini itx low energy

Phildebeest · 21 Jan 2013 at 16:34

Hi guys, im moving into my own place soon and no longer have the luxury of free electricity. Saying that ive sold my old gaming rig and have about £500 to spend on a new build. Giving that im going to be energy aware i was considering building a mini itx low energy gaming rig.
I understand its not going to be a powerhouse but generally i'd like it quite stable playing the latest mmos and maybe abit of skyrim would suit me fine if doable.
Again low power comsumption is a must.
thanks in advance folks.
phil

snips86x · 21 Jan 2013 at 16:38

Trinity setup with a passive case?

passey89 · 21 Jan 2013 at 16:46

YOUR BASKET
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £93.98
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD560KWOHJBOX) £79.99
1 x MSI A75IA-E53 AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £71.99
1 x Asus HD 6670 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £59.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £59.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £41.99
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L7 430W '80 Plus' Power Supply £39.95
1 x Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced Mini-ITX Case - Black £36.98
1 x Scythe Shuriken Rev.B Quiet Low Profile CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £27.98
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £542.83 (includes shipping : £10.00).

Phildebeest · 21 Jan 2013 at 16:55

thanks for the fast response guys definatly liking your build passey. anymore takers before i take the plunge? thanks again guys.
phil

Marine-RX179 · 21 Jan 2013 at 16:59

Phildebeest said:
thanks for the fast response guys definatly liking your build passey. anymore takers before i take the plunge? thanks again guys.
phil

If you do go for the above Trinity build, my advise to you is change the PSU to a modular one, as there's VERY limited space inside that CM case. You might want to have a google for reviews and pics of that case to get some idea about the interior first.

This for example:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-115-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084

You might need to look elsewhere as it is out of stock at OcUK atm.

passey89 · 21 Jan 2013 at 17:06

I have the cm case its not too bad with a non modular but wud b better

Phildebeest · 21 Jan 2013 at 17:38

To be honest ive had my eye on the CM case for a while, keep cropping up everywhere i look and for the price its hardly arguable.

snips86x · 21 Jan 2013 at 17:51

Removed the heatsink & added a 1tb WD Caviar Black, dont think the 3rd party cooler would be needed:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £93.98
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD560KWOHJBOX) £79.99
1 x MSI A75IA-E53 AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £71.99
1 x Asus HD 6670 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £59.99
1 x **B Grade** Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD1002FAEX) £46.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £41.99
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L7 430W '80 Plus' Power Supply £39.95
1 x Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced Mini-ITX Case - Black £36.98
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £501.85 (includes shipping : £10.00).

passey89 · 21 Jan 2013 at 18:12

snips86x said:
Removed the heatsink & added a 1tb WD Caviar Black, dont think the 3rd party cooler would be needed:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £93.98
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD560KWOHJBOX) £79.99
1 x MSI A75IA-E53 AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £71.99
1 x Asus HD 6670 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £59.99
1 x **B Grade** Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD1002FAEX) £46.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £41.99
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L7 430W '80 Plus' Power Supply £39.95
1 x Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced Mini-ITX Case - Black £36.98
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £501.85 (includes shipping : £10.00).

I wouldnt go b grade hdd tbh 14day warranty on a hard drive isnt good

snips86x · 21 Jan 2013 at 18:16

passey89 said:
I wouldnt go b grade hdd tbh 14day warranty on a hard drive isnt good

I was looking at the type of drive it is and the price. The Caviar Blacks are expensive new but the performance is superb!

shadow_boxer · 21 Jan 2013 at 18:29

Intel option with an i3-3220 and 7850. This would be considerably faster in gaming that an AMD Trinity build. The difference in electricity prices will negligable between the two assuming you turn the system off and aren't using it as a 24/7 downloading rig or server. Also going down the route of Intel offers significantly better upgrade options as with AMD Trinity your pretty much crippled to one more generation of FM2 APU processors. This will allow you to go i5/i7 and to faster gpu in the future. AMD Trinity is right on the money for a HTPC or server but for gaming it's really only for very casual gaming at <1080p in most cases.
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £98.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £89.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Arctic White £57.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £41.99
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £39.95
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £35.99
Total : £514.87 (includes shipping : FREE).

passey89 · 21 Jan 2013 at 19:43

shadow_boxer said:
Intel option with an i3-3220 and 7850. This would be considerably faster in gaming that an AMD Trinity build. The difference in electricity prices will negligable between the two assuming you turn the system off and aren't using it as a 24/7 downloading rig or server. Also going down the route of Intel offers significantly better upgrade options as with AMD Trinity your pretty much crippled to one more generation of FM2 APU processors. This will allow you to go i5/i7 and to faster gpu in the future. AMD Trinity is right on the money for a HTPC or server but for gaming it's really only for very casual gaming at <1080p in most cases.
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £98.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £89.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Arctic White £57.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £41.99
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £39.95
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £35.99
Total : £514.87 (includes shipping : FREE).

the black mamba memory is better timinigs r loads better

CEUOTC · 21 Jan 2013 at 19:47

shadow_boxer said:
Intel option with an i3-3220 and 7850. This would be considerably faster in gaming that an AMD Trinity build. The difference in electricity prices will negligable between the two assuming you turn the system off and aren't using it as a 24/7 downloading rig or server. Also going down the route of Intel offers significantly better upgrade options as with AMD Trinity your pretty much crippled to one more generation of FM2 APU processors. This will allow you to go i5/i7 and to faster gpu in the future. AMD Trinity is right on the money for a HTPC or server but for gaming it's really only for very casual gaming at <1080p in most cases.
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £98.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £89.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Arctic White £57.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £41.99
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £39.95
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £35.99
Total : £514.87 (includes shipping : FREE).

This is an excellent build, and l would highly recommend this.

I had build a system using the Cooler Master Elite 120 and found it too noisy and hot for my liking, build a mATX system instead.

I have also just got rid of a A10-5800k + 6670 media center build as found it just too limited for my liking lol.

So using the bits from that media center built the following:

I had the following bits already:

MSI B75IA-E33.

2x Verbatim "Black Edition" Series 128GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive. (OS on one, games on other).

YOUR BASKET
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £41.99
1 x BitFenix Hydra Fan/LED Controller £24.98
Total : £127.46 (includes shipping : £8.75).

**B Grade** OcUK GeForce GTX 560Ti 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £89.89 all in.
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £89.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £64.99
1 x BitFenix Spectre 230mm Fan - Black £12.98
Total : £181.46 (includes shipping : £11.25).

You won't regret the build suggested by shadow_boxer.

Regards.

C.

passey89 · 21 Jan 2013 at 20:01

no overclocking but ahud be good for gaming

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £89.99
1 x ASRock H61M-ITX Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 M-ITX Motherboard £59.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £41.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £36.98
1 x Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced Mini-ITX Case - Black £36.98
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £35.99
Total : £554.51 (includes shipping : £10.50).

Phildebeest · 22 Jan 2013 at 09:02

How does the 7850 stack up against the 6670 with its hybrid xfire? Leaning towards the i3 now. I had the i5 2500k in my old rig and it ran like a dream.

passey89 · 22 Jan 2013 at 09:34

Phildebeest said:
How does the 7850 stack up against the 6670 with its hybrid xfire? Leaning towards the i3 now. I had the i5 2500k in my old rig and it ran like a dream.

exactly the same i believe.

CEUOTC · 22 Jan 2013 at 11:41

Save yourself the pain and stick with a single GPU, to give you a comparison of a
A10-5800k + 6670 here is the 3Dmark11 scores for my old system:

A10-5800K + 6670 = P2251

i3 3220 + GTX 560Ti = P4568

i3 3220 + HD 7850 = P5097

This is only a guide of course however as it is a synthetic benchmark, imo best to go i3 + GPU

Regards.

C.

Phildebeest · 29 Jan 2013 at 09:53

Guys hate to be a pain in the arris but my limit just went up to £600...ssd or any other suggestions. Cheers folks
Phil

Phildebeest · 4 Feb 2013 at 13:33

Passey would that psu be ok to power the 7950 ati's site recommends 500w psu. Just wondering because i like the increased graphics on your build which im leabing towards. Cheers phil

Phildebeest · 14 Mar 2013 at 15:56

Shameless bump for £650 budget increase.