Decent mini-itx for gaming :D

skullkid · 19 Sep 2011 at 12:26

Alright chaps!

I think the time has come. My current rig (Athlon 64 3000+, 1gig RAM and Radeon x800 inside a Lian Li) is definitely up for renewal and I’ve always had a thing about building a SFF PC.

I’m looking at piecing together something along the lines of an Intel i7 3.4ghz CPU, GF GTX 570 GPU and large SSD with a single Blu ray optical… what would be a good SFF barebones system to house it in? Obviously I want i7 1155 socket support. I was looking at the Shuttle SH55J2 – would this house a GTX 570 like the MSI Frozr III does anyone know?

If I don't go for a Shuttle and go with a case + buying motherboard seperately I'm looking at the ASUS P8H67-I DELUXE B3 Revision.

Many thanks in advance.

wakayoda · 24 Sep 2011 at 02:28

This thread may take off in general hardware

gropingmantis · 24 Sep 2011 at 08:27

The issue I have with barebones systems, especially Shuttles, is that because they use bespoke components your upgrade path is pretty much 0. They use custom motherboards and funny PSUs. Its like having a mac

If you are just gaming then an i7 will be wasted so stick with an i5 unless you really need the hyperthreading. Also depending on how many games you have/how you play them (do you use DD services or are they all hard copies?) you may want a bigger drive than just a large SSD. Also a large SSD is a lot of money an you wont see much performance increase in most games so perhaps a smaller SSD and a very large 7200rpm HDD would be better and probably cheaper.

han_solo · 24 Sep 2011 at 21:36

that shuttle is for 1156 socket cpus.. not the newer sandybridge

you might want to look at SH67H3 and SH67H7. Both are exactly the same except for different front panels. Can't overclock the cpu due to the chipset used.

Greedydog · 28 Sep 2011 at 21:53

I think you'd be better off with a Silverstone SG07 or similar, plenty of room for a GTX 570 (I had one in mine) and they come with a good quality 600W PSU so should be capable of providing a decent upgrade route.

Participant · 29 Sep 2011 at 12:13

Greedydog said:
I think you'd be better off with a Silverstone SG07 or similar, plenty of room for a GTX 570 (I had one in mine) and they come with a good quality 600W PSU so should be capable of providing a decent upgrade route.

I agree, Sandybridge + SG07 is a great basis for a powerful ITX gaming rig.