~£1k m-ITX build (Lian Li A3 most likely) w/existing 9060XT

[Jake_UK]

Hi folks,

Following on from this thread I am looking at defining a replacement m-ITX machine to purchase during Black Friday sales in a few weeks time. Budget would normally be about £1.2k for just the case and contents but I already have the GPU (9060 XT) so that puts it around £900 or so for the rest. There is flex in the budget to allow for a) getting best bang for buck, and b) some level of discount on today's prices expected in Black Friday sales so it's a guide rather than a hard ceiling.

Build is to work around the 9060 XT and the front-runner in the case decision; the Lian Li A3 wood (with mesh sides). This means decisions are probably factored by:

1. Reuse of the 9060 XT
2. Requirements of mITX form factor in general (e.g. space and cooling) and the Lian Li A3 in particular
3. No requirement to OC
4. Desire for best value for money, but willing to pay a little more for e.g. quieter fans.
5. Desire to avoid RGB
6. Preference for air cooling

My starter for ten at OcUK is:

• 1 x Lian Li A3 mATX Wood Edition - White (SKU: CAS-LIA-03651) = £69.95
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - White (SKU: POW-PHK-02518) = £94.99
• 1 x Samsung 990 Pro 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe 1.3c Solid State Drive (SKU: HD-24R-SA) = £179.99
• 1 x Kingston FURY Renegade 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C38 7600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Silver (SKU: MEM-KNG-03174) = £179.99
• 1 x Sapphire Pulse B850M WiFi (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-SPR-05692) = £129.94
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 9600 Six Core 5.20GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-05398) = £179.99
• 1 x Noctua NH-L12S Low Profile CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: HS-03G-NC) = £59.99

Total: £906.83 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

 

[Tetras]

For just £10 more I'd get the Nitro board over the Pulse. There's no PCI-E 5.0 graphics on the Pulse, for example, no Type-C port on the rear I/O and the VRM is weaker.

Unless you get a great discount, I wouldn't bother spending that much on fast memory. There's an article you might want to read here:

DDR5 Memory Performance Scaling with AMD Zen 5

Our AMD Zen 5 Memory Scaling Review examines six different DDR5 memory speeds, including DDR5-8000, DDR5-6400 1:1, DDR5-6400 CL28 and others. We looked into how these speeds impact performance in gaming at four resolutions and a wide range of application workloads.

www.techpowerup.com

1 x Noctua NH-L12S Low Profile CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: HS-03G-NC) = £59.99

The A3 doesn't need a low profile cooler, e.g. you can fit a Freezer 36.

1 x Samsung 990 Pro 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe 1.3c Solid State Drive (SKU: HD-24R-SA) = £179.99

Decent enough drive, but pricey. I'd want to see it comfortably under £150 in the sales.

 

[Gray2233]

It could be worth going for a 360mm AiO, I'd not normally recommend one but the A3 doesn't come with any fans, slapping a 360 up top doubles as a healthy exhaust for the full system.

You should also be able to set the fans to very low speeds to keep noise down.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Thermalright Aqua Elite 360 White ARGB V3 All In One CPU Cooler (SKU: COO-TLR-03257) = £40.99

Total: £48.98 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

You can just switch the RGB off.

 

[Jake_UK]

Thanks Tetras, some good advice there and I'll update the shopping list r.e. MoBo and RAM.

TBF I haven't quite settled on the cooling approach Gray. My current thinking is to experiment along the lines of the below with 2 x 140mm exhaust fans (one up, one sideways) and try the homemade ducting to the CPU cooler... Easy enough to then reconfigure later (e.g. to a 'more traditional for the A3' line of fans on the top and bottom of the case all facing upwards).



I've only tried water/AIO once and wasn't impressed that it gunked up after a few short years - air has less to go wrong and my air-cooling replacement for the failed AIO actually runs quieter (I now like Noctua fans!).

So this is where I am right now... shopping around for some of the items and the Black Friday sales should bring the total cost down or the spec up. For example, OCUK has the 9600X at 20% discount right now so only £10 more than the 9600 and as I don't want the stock fan that comes with the 9600 I'd probably plump for that should the relative prices stay that way.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Lian Li A3 mATX Wood Edition - White (SKU: CAS-LIA-03651) = £69.95
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - White (SKU: POW-PHK-02518) = £94.99
• 1 x Samsung 990 Pro 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe 1.3c Solid State Drive (SKU: HD-24R-SA) = £179.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 9600 Six Core 5.20GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-05398) = £179.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance 32GB EXPO (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C30 6000MHz Dual Channel (SKU: MEM-CRS-02786) = £149.98
• 1 x Sapphire Nitro+ B850M WiFi (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-SPR-05690) = £140.00
• 2 x Noctua NF-P14s REDUX PWM 1200RPM 140mm Quiet Case Fan (SKU: FG-042-NC) = £15.94
• 1 x Noctua NH-D9L CPU Cooler - 92mm (SKU: HS-028-NC) = £53.99

Total: £912.77 (includes delivery: £11.98)​