Check my Mini-ITX build

gizmo1990 · 30 Jun 2018 at 21:26

I'm putting together a mini-itx build and I'd really appreciate someone giving it the once over to check that I'm good compatability wise and that I'm not missing something better/cheaper. I've not done this for a while so I'm not completely up on the latest tech and terminology.

The build's purpose is to be as budget as possible currently, yet within the confines of providing a platform to upgrade well into the future.

Intel 8th Gen Core i3-8100
Gigabyte Intel Z370N WIFI Mini-itx
ARCTIC Liquid Freezer 120
8GB Corsair DDR4 Value Select, PC4-17000

The componants will be going in an old Silverstone SG05 chassis, with a SFX silverstone 450w PSU. I'm not planning on putting a modern video card in there yet due to cost so probably something like a old GT 710. These SFX PSUs should be quite power efficient, so I'm hoping it will be enough to power everything?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

tamzzy · 30 Jun 2018 at 21:34

if you're not going to overclock, just get this mobo instead: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asro...1151-ddr4-mini-itx-motherboard-mb-15x-ak.html
save some dosh.
z370 is wasted on mini-itx unless you're planning on overclocking.

gizmo1990 · 30 Jun 2018 at 22:02

@tamzzy Nice!

Thank you, I'll check it out. That will be a considerable saving. Shame it's not in stock currently, hopefully it will be back soon.

gizmo1990 · 30 Jun 2018 at 22:23

A quick question regarding modern motherboards and ram. Do you need to put ram in in pairs? Just wondered if that was still a thing or if I could just use 1 stick of 8gb?

tamzzy · 30 Jun 2018 at 22:27

better performance when ram is run in dual channel mode.

but what to buy depends on how likely you are to upgrade.
unfortunately for mini-itx, you only have 2 ram slots...so need to take that into account.
if certain to upgrade - then get 1x8gb module.
if unsure/unlikely - then get 2x4gb modules.

gizmo1990 · 30 Jun 2018 at 23:11

@tamzzy That's very interesting, thanks! If I went down the single route for now, would it be possible to buy a matched module later? Or is that only possible when buying pairs at the same time?

tamzzy · 1 Jul 2018 at 10:32

@gizmo1990 it is possible, but you may be held to ransom as to the pricing if you *desperately* want to match the memory by brand/model.

most, if not all ram nowadays play nice with each other, so you can get any 2 random sticks, pop those in together and they'll work the vast majority of the times.
if you aren't overclocking ram (and only z-boards offer this capability) then i see no reason why getting 2 random sticks wouldn't work.

gizmo1990 · 1 Jul 2018 at 12:11

@tamzzy Great, thanks again. I think I might go the 8gb single module route for now then. I'll likely go to 16gb at some point and this will solve the faff of selling the old 2x4gb modules.

LePhuronn · 18 Jul 2018 at 14:02

There's also the B450 route and Ryzen APU.

koolpc · 4 Oct 2018 at 17:52

LePhuronn said:
There's also the B450 route and Ryzen APU.

Isnt that more expensive?

LePhuronn · 5 Oct 2018 at 10:48

koolpc said:
Isnt that more expensive?

Ryzen 2200G is £105 cheaper than the i3 8100
Ryzen 2400G is £60 cheaper than i3 8100
B450 Mini ITX motherboard is about £50 more than the Asrock H310 linked above.

koolpc · 5 Oct 2018 at 12:27

Ryzen is better though?

LePhuronn · 5 Oct 2018 at 13:11

koolpc said:
Ryzen is better though?

You do know that wars have broken out for asking this question? The only thing 100% certain is the graphics in the Ryzen 2000G series will be much better than the GT 710 the OP is looking to use. And he'll be able to swap the CPU out for something chunky like the current 2700X (just don't overclock it) and the 7nm Ryzen 3000 series next year.