A gaming ITX build for £700?

nails666

nails666

nails666

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Hi all,
I'm looking for a bit of help and advice. I need to build a pc for my wife so she can get back into some light WoW gaming and I've got a budget of £700 that must include everything, OS, monitor and peripherals.
Space is at a premium on her desk so an ITX build is the way to go I think. I've come up with the following build and I'd be very interested in hearing your opinions and any possible improvements. In particular I want to be sure it will all actually fit in the case without any cooling problems.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 270X "PowerBank" 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £143.99
1 x Intel Core i3-4330 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £91.99
1 x AOC E2250SWDAK 21.5" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £85.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02733) £73.99
1 x Asus H81I-Plus Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £58.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G1600HC9DC01) £55.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020058-UK) £37.99
1 x Silverstone SST-SG05BB-Lite Sugo USB 3.0 - Black £34.99
1 x Arctic Cooling Freezer 11 Low Profile CPU Cooler £11.99
1 x Gigabyte KM6150 Keyboard and Mouse Set £9.95
Total : £685.86 (includes shipping : ).



Is there anything I'm missing or could do better on?

Many Thanks,

Ross
 
Hi there Ross,

That case requires an SFX size PSU.

Two other things to mention are that you don't need an aftermarket cooler with an i3. The stock cooler is plenty. So that money could be put into something else. And the other thing is that if you went micro-ATX, you could get a motherboard with more features for less money, and once again, put the savings into a better monitor, for example. Not to stop you from going mini-ITX if you really must or want. Just sharing some thoughts.

To answer your question, yes it should all fit in the case okay, except for the PSU which requires changing to an SFX (which may also increase the cost somewhat). The heat/cooling will solely depend on that particular graphics card and how it interacts with the case. My guess is it'll be okay. The vents on the sides and top are large.

One other thing - the GPU requires two 6-pin PCI-E connectors, and the Corsair Builder Series CX 430W only has one 6-pin connector. It also only outputs a measly 336W on the 12v rail. I'll post an alternative basket that would address all the above.
 
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If you want a mitx build look at the Antec Isk 600 case as it supports a normal atx psu. It also has more space for a gpu.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA 500W 80 Plus Power Supply (100-W1-0500-KR) £35.99



This PSU has the necessary PCI-E connectors (2 x 6+2), and outputs 480W on its single 12v rail. More than plenty. Three year warranty. It's a lot better than the Corsair CX430 and everyone I know who's tried the budget range EVGA's (including myself) is very happy so far. There must be a catch and perhaps not much longevity will be it, as the quality of the internals (capacitors and all that) cannot be compared to those of more expensive PSUs. But if you get three years worth out of it for that price, all well and good imo.

Because of its considerably higher power capacity on the 12v rail, it also won't be stressed as much as the Corsair CX430 (even if it had the right number of connectors). This PSU marks my imaginary "line" between "going budget" and "skimping on the PSU", for a build of this sort. Now, you get an overclocking chip and more powerful card, then okay, it would be skimping. But for this, I don't feel it's skimping. Some may disagree.

http://www.evga.com/products/pdf/100-W1-0500-KR.pdf




YOUR BASKET
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 WindForce 3x OC Rev2 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card * (GX-118-GI) £139.99
1 x Samsung LS22C570HS 22" Widescreen LED Monitor - Glossy Black £107.99
1 x Intel Core i3-4330 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £91.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02733) £73.99
1 x Asus H81I-Plus Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £58.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G1600HC9DC01) £55.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Case - Black £45.95
1 x EVGA 500W 80 Plus Power Supply (100-W1-0500-KR) £35.99
1 x Gigabyte KM6150 Keyboard and Mouse Set £9.95
Total : £700.82 (includes shipping : ).



So that's a compatible Mini-ITX i3 build with slightly better monitor suggestion (note it's glass/glossy, some like it some don't). Suggestion for a B-Grade GTX 760 also included (swap out for a new 270X if you prefer).

And here's what could happen with a Micro-ATX build -


YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus H81M-K Intel Core i5 DIY Micro ATX Motherboard Upgrade Kit £209.98
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 WindForce 3x OC Rev2 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card * (GX-118-GI) £139.99
1 x Samsung LS22C570HS 22" Widescreen LED Monitor - Glossy Black £107.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02733) £73.99
1 x Silverstone (SST-SG02W-F USB 3.0) £50.99
1 x EVGA 500W 80 Plus Power Supply (100-W1-0500-KR) £35.99
1 x Gigabyte KM6150 Keyboard and Mouse Set £9.95
Total : £708.86 (includes shipping : ).



So you can have i5 for very close to the budget. Could be gotten down with a cheaper case but I chose that one because it's as small as a Micro-ATX case can be (given your request that it be about Mini-ITX size), and fits normal size PSU and long graphics cards. And well, unfortunately, it's £50. There's a black version too but it's priced higher. Full case details here -

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=182

Because WoW is so CPU intensive, I'd go for something like that i5 build. You'll still get the same GPU anyway (whichever you go for).

Hope some of this is helpful, good luck. :)
 
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After a quick google search WoW doesn't use many cores with most saying 2 is the maximum. In which case i'd go with the following providing you are ok with overclocking it which can be done using the stock cooler too.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 270 TurboDUO 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £119.99
1 x MSI H97I AC Intel H97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £89.99
1 x AOC E2250SWDAK 21.5" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £85.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02733) £73.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 650W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G1600HC9DC01) £55.99
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £52.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced Mini-ITX Case - Black £39.95
1 x Gigabyte KM6150 Keyboard and Mouse Set £9.95
Total : £678.42 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 270X "PowerBank" 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £143.99
1 x IIyama Prolite E2473HS 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £119.99
1 x Intel Core i3-4130 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £82.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan GOLD 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLYD38G2133HC11ADC01) £59.99
1 x Asus H81I-Plus Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £58.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £42.98
1 x Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced Mini-ITX Case - Black £39.95
1 x EVGA 500W 80 Plus Power Supply (100-W1-0500-KR) £35.99
1 x Zalman ZM-K200M Multimedia/Gaming Keyboard £11.99
1 x Gigabyte M6880 1600DPI Gaming Mouse £10.99
Total : £704.34 (includes shipping : £13.75).

 
Thanks for all those ideas, plenty to think about there. Unfortunately I've only got my phone on me at the moment but hopefully I'll get a chance to pop back later with some more questions.

Ross
 
Right, back home so I can properly look at the stuff now, thanks again for the suggestions.

Double checking the space available on the desk I think it will have to be mini ITX but both the Antec ISK 600 and Cooler Master Elite 130 cases will fit and look very nice.

With the cpu coolers, what are the stock Intel ones like in terms of volume? I've normally found in the past that even a fairly basic 3rd party cooler will be quieter and cooler?

I'm fine with doing some overclocking and I really do like the look of the anniversary edition Pentium (I'm tempted by one for my rig as stop gap as I have an MSI Gaming 7 Z97 board and Corsair H75 sitting here with no cpu at the moment) but I'd like to be ordering this pc within the next couple of days and it's still not certain when they will actually become available unfortunately.

PSU wise thanks for the suggestions on the EVGA unit, the main reason I picked the Corsair was that it was a modular one which I thought would be very useful in such a small case. Are there any other good modular ones around that price range or will the extra cables not be too much of a problem?

Good spot on that faster RAM only being a few quid more RJC, I hadn't even thought to look at that and just assumed it would be a lot more.
I don't need an extra HDD to go with the SSD as my wife will only have a few programs and games installed and I have an HP Microserver for all my bulk file serving.

With the B-Grade stock, would you guys trust a B-Grade gfx card or would you go for the extra security of a full warrenty? Is that 760 much faster than the 270x?

So with a couple of tweaks I'm now looking at this: -

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 270X "PowerBank" 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £143.99
1 x Samsung LS22C570HS 22" Widescreen LED Monitor - Glossy Black £107.99
1 x Intel Core i3-4330 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £91.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02733) £73.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2133HC11ADC01) £59.99
1 x Asus H81I-Plus Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £58.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Case - Black £45.95
1 x EVGA 500W 80 Plus Power Supply (100-W1-0500-KR) £35.99
1 x Gigabyte KM6150 Keyboard and Mouse Set £9.95
Total : £708.82 (includes shipping : ).



Thanks in advance for any responses to these questions,

Ross
 
The b-grade card should be very good, if it doesn't work you should be able to tell within 90 days. I'd go for the 760, it's quite a bit better than the 270X but it's your choice mainly
 
I would go for the 760 as well. According to Stulid, the B-Grade items have 90 day warranty with OcUK and then the rest of the regular manufacturer warranty. I've never asked for an official confirmation from OcUK but I imagine Stu knows what he's talking about. :) You can always ask them how it works.

The Antec ISK 600 looks very nice but its ventilation is not well designed for a gaming card, imo. It doesn't have vents all along the sides (just some close to the front), and there are no vents on the top either. So I think the Elite 130 is a better choice, cooling wise. The PSU will block its top vents but it has plenty on the sides.

The modern Intel stock cooler is totally silent to my ears except when on load, and doesn't sound too bad to me then either. Can't hear it above the sounds when gaming etc. I suppose it also depends on the case you use it with and how well it dampens sound. I'd definitely give the stock a go first, you might be pleasantly surprised.

The H81 motherboards will only run RAM at 1600MHz max.

Modular PSU... difficult, without affecting budget. Thing is as well, that the hardest cables to manage by far, are the 24-pin ATX and the PCI-E cables, both of which are going to need plugging into a modular PSU anyway (or already come plugged in the case of a semi-modular). This one below is capable of doing the job if you want to spend more on a modular. Don't really think it worth it personally, if you're smart about it you can always coil up the excess cables and tie them efficiently.


YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £49.99

 
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