Help with Micro ATX build

Stevolution

Stevolution

Stevolution

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Joined
20 Aug 2012
Posts
150
Hi all

I have been looking for a gaming laptop for a while... and just as I find something I like, I hear its got issues :rolleyes:

So... found this little case (not going to get it during the deal price I doubt)...

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-137-AE

But how to populate it? I have built big tower systems before using OC parts, but never something this dinky.

Like the look of this motherboard -

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-136-AK

Which I assume will fit.

That is about as far as I got! I am struggling to find dimensions of boards that will fit.

All the laptops I looked at had GTX980 graphics, so I found this but no dimensions...

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-354-AS

So, advice from those who know. What the heck fits this little footprint of a PC?

Budget... £1800. But I would like to get a decent size screen out of that if possible.

Basics?

i7 Intel
Best graphics card that can be recommended to me.
16gb mem minimum (will more make much difference?)
Sound.... motherboard sound should be fine.
Water cooling would be excellent, but might make this an expensive build, and I believe take up some of the fan spaces.
Min 128GB boot SSD (even better- 256GB or 2x 128GB) + a 1 or 2 TB 7200rpm storage standard drive.
Wireless (on the motherboard?).... if not, a wireless card.

I will sit tonight and see how I go, but any helping pointers really welcomed.

Thanks
 
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OK... well with pretty much no knowledge of what will fit....

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 980 DirectCU II OC Strix 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £379.99
1 x Asus SonicMaster MX299Q 29" Ultra Widescreen Ultra Slim Bezel LED Monitor - Black with Bang & Olufsen ICEpower Speakers £371.99
1 x Intel 5820K 3.30GHz (Haswell-E) Socket LGA2011-V3 Processor - Retail (BX80648I75820K) £311.99
1 x Asrock X99M Extreme4 Intel X99 (Socket 2011) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard £172.99
1 x Kingston Predator 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C15 3000MHz Quad Channel Kit - Black (HX430C15PB2K4/16) £169.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - OEM (WD3003FZEX) £129.95
1 x Corsair RM Series RM 1000 '80+ Gold' 1000W Power Supply (CP-9020062-UK) £129.95
1 x Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU) £79.99
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Blue £69.98
1 x LG BH16NS40 16x SATA Internal BDRW - Retail £59.99
1 x Aerocool Strike-X Cube Micro-ATX Case - White / Black £59.99
1 x CM Storm Octane Gaming Peripheral Bundle (MS35 & MB7C) £44.99
3 x Aerocool Shark Blue Edition LED Fan - 140mm £7.99 (£23.97)
1 x Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g) £4.99
Total : £2,010.76 (includes shipping : Ex.VAT).

 
It's great RAM according to 8-Pack but better hope the heatsinks come off easy, because they are very tall and that cooler will block all but one or two DIMM slots.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Phanteks/PH-TC14PE/images/PHTC14PE_installed0.jpg

You can also do better than Corsair RM these days. SuperFlower Leadex, EVGA G2.

Also, that Phanteks cooler is 171mm tall and the case specifications state that the max cooler height when top fans are added is 165mm. Without them it's 190mm. I wouldn't bother with top fans anyway, would just interrupt the flow across the board/cooler more than anything, imo.
 
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YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 980Ti "Hall of Fame 8 Pack Approved Edition" 6144MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £569.99
1 x Asus SonicMaster MX299Q 29" Ultra Widescreen Ultra Slim Bezel LED Monitor - Black with Bang & Olufsen ICEpower Speakers £371.99
1 x Intel 5820K 3.30GHz (Haswell-E) Socket LGA2011-V3 Processor - Retail (BX80648I75820K) £311.99
1 x Asrock X99M Extreme4 Intel X99 (Socket 2011) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard £172.99
1 x Samsung SM951 256GB M.2 PCI-e Gen3 8Gbps x 4 Solid State Drive (MZHPV256HDGL-00000) £139.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - OEM (WD3003FZEX) £129.95
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Quad Channel Kit - White (TLWED416G3000HC16AQC01) £129.95
1 x EVGA Supernova G2 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £74.99
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Blue £69.98
1 x LG BH16NS40 16x SATA Internal BDRW - Retail £59.99
1 x Aerocool Strike-X Cube Micro-ATX Case - White / Black £59.99
1 x CM Storm Octane Gaming Peripheral Bundle (MS35 & MB7C) £44.99
1 x Aerocool DS Edition Fan - Blue - 140mm £13.99
Total : £2,150.77 (includes shipping : Ex.VAT).




Tried to mostly keep to the stuff you liked, but added an awesome 980Ti and a much faster SSD, which makes it a bit more expensive.

The cooler comes with good paste already, probably better than Arctic Silver 5.

The PSU is excellent and plenty for that set-up. Also brings an ECO button to turn fans completely off till 50% load. If you were thinking SLI in future I'd recommend a different case or at least blower-style GPUs. For that you would want 850-1000W, yes.

The Aerocool DS Edition fan is better/less noisy than the Shark. Just one for the rear mount, the bottom rear mount brings a fan already and you don't see it through the window.

Cannot guarantee that the BluRay drive will fit with that big Phanteks cooler in there.
 
Thanks all. That's why I asked for advice.... I knew there would be various issues.
I will look over the specs you have recommended and adjust accordingly.

Never though of a wireless USB stick... in fact, I will add a bluetooth one as well.
Fairly sure I won't go SLI, as I am not a mad gamer. I just like having a PSU that is over the odds - just in case.

As for the cooler etc.... I am not fussed which ones I have. My theme for the build was going to be blue and white.
 
Stevolution said:
Thanks all. That's why I asked for advice.... I knew there would be various issues.
I will look over the specs you have recommended and adjust accordingly.

Never though of a wireless USB stick... in fact, I will add a bluetooth one as well.
Fairly sure I won't go SLI, as I am not a mad gamer. I just like having a PSU that is over the odds - just in case.

As for the cooler etc.... I am not fussed which ones I have. My theme for the build was going to be blue and white.
Click to expand...

I hear you re: PSU. 650W is already well-covered but if you like even more wiggle room then go ahead. Suggested some 750W's in spec below. I feel anything above that would truly be a waste of money if there is no SLI. But up to you.

The possible issue with BluRay and cooler could be sorted by using an external BluRay. And that would free up the optical bay on the case for something that would have no trouble fitting (as it's not the full length of a drive) - an NZXT Hue, if you care for some lighting. RGB and several effects to choose from, as well as speed and brightness.


YOUR BASKET
1 x SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 750W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - White £99.95
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 750W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £94.99
1 x XFX XTR 750W '80 Plus Gold' Fully Modular Power Supply £79.99
1 x Samsung SE-506CB/RSBD External BluRay-RW / DVD-RW Drive - Black (Retail) £59.99
1 x NZXT HUE RGB LED Controller - Black £19.99
Total : £354.91 (includes shipping : Ex.VAT).



The XFX is made by Seasonic.
 
OK... still not quite there, and the budget has gone to pot....

YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 980Ti "Hall of Fame 8 Pack Approved Edition" 6144MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £569.99
1 x Asus SonicMaster MX299Q 29" Ultra Widescreen Ultra Slim Bezel LED Monitor - Black with Bang & Olufsen ICEpower Speakers £371.99
1 x Intel 5820K 3.30GHz (Haswell-E) Socket LGA2011-V3 Processor - Retail (BX80648I75820K) £311.99
1 x Asrock X99M Extreme4 Intel X99 (Socket 2011) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard £172.99
1 x Samsung SM951 256GB M.2 PCI-e Gen3 8Gbps x 4 Solid State Drive (MZHPV256HDGL-00000) £139.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C15 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2B3000C15) £129.95
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - OEM (WD3003FZEX) £129.95
1 x SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 750W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - White £99.95
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Blue £69.98
1 x LG BH16NS40 16x SATA Internal BDRW - Retail £59.99
1 x Aerocool Strike-X Cube Micro-ATX Case - White / Black £59.99
1 x CM Storm Octane Gaming Peripheral Bundle (MS35 & MB7C) £44.99
1 x TP-Link N600 Wireless Dual Band USB Adapter (TL-WDN3200) £18.98
1 x Aerocool DS Edition Fan - Blue - 140mm £13.99
1 x Asus USB-BT400 Bluetooth 4.0 USB Adaptor £9.59
Total : £2,204.30 (includes shipping : Ex.VAT).



Still need to find a replacement for that big CPU cooler. Ideally, I would try and squeeze the Blu-ray into the case and not have it external. Trying to keep 'external' stuff to a minimum.

I am almost tempted to buy the case and try and suss out this install before buying all the other parts.

Changed the memory to some that looks like a lower profile. Not sure if that helps.

I will pimp it entirely with blue led lighting. I build electronics for a hobby, so a controller for those is easy. Seems a a shame to kill the only bay with a lighting controller.

Not totally convinced I need to blow such a huge lump of a mega graphics card... not a die hard gamer (yet)
 
Given that you aren't a hard core gamer (yet) and looking at the resolution of the monitor you are considering, that GTX 980Ti is probably overkill. You would likely be fine with a 4GB 960 or something like that. The overall cost would drop by more than £300 without really sacrificing too much in the majority of games.
 
Well... I am in a tizz over which graphics card. I could bang the monitor up a level to justify the graphics card... but then the budget has gone mad and I am pretty sure I don't need that.
A good 970 or 980 would probably be fine. Perhaps back to my original choice (or something similar)

This would be fine.... but what kind of discount it that!!!

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-148-GI
 
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You don't need that 980Ti. But I agree with Bart and would go for a 970 over a 980.

Specced the 980Ti as you were gonna be spending a lot already and it seemed a pity not to include a Ti. But 970 is absolutely fine.

The TeamGroup Vulcan RAM has slightly better timings overall (but not by much) and is also low profile. But that Corsair Vengeance is also fine. Actually no - you want Quad Channel not Dual Channel, really.
 
Well this is what I had listed.... still open to change!

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus SonicMaster MX299Q 29" Ultra Widescreen Ultra Slim Bezel LED Monitor - Black with Bang & Olufsen ICEpower Speakers £371.99
1 x Intel 5820K 3.30GHz (Haswell-E) Socket LGA2011-V3 Processor - Retail (BX80648I75820K) £311.99
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 970 "NVIDIA 970 Cooler Edition" 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £299.99
1 x Asrock X99M Extreme4 Intel X99 (Socket 2011) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard £172.99
1 x Samsung SM951 256GB M.2 PCI-e Gen3 8Gbps x 4 Solid State Drive (MZHPV256HDGL-00000) £139.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - OEM (WD3003FZEX) £129.95
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Quad Channel Kit - White (TLWED416G3000HC16AQC01) £129.95
1 x SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 750W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - White £99.95
1 x LG BH16NS40 16x SATA Internal BDRW - Retail £59.99
1 x Aerocool Strike-X Cube Micro-ATX Case - White / Black £59.99
1 x CM Storm Octane Gaming Peripheral Bundle (MS35 & MB7C) £44.99
1 x Alpenföhn Atlas - 200W TDP Premium Twin Heatsink CPU Cooler £42.95
1 x TP-Link N600 Wireless Dual Band USB Adapter (TL-WDN3200) £18.98
1 x Aerocool DS Edition Fan - Blue - 140mm £13.99
1 x Asus USB-BT400 Bluetooth 4.0 USB Adaptor £9.59
Total : £1,907.27 (includes shipping : Ex.VAT).



Interested to know why the 970 over the 980?

I do seem to have a thing for bigger CPU coolers than everyone else! Although at least this one is lower profile.
 
Stevolution said:
Interested to know why the 970 over the 980?
Click to expand...

The gains and value for money are greater going from 980 to 980Ti than from 970 to 980 (obviously depends on the model as well).

Also, by the time a 970 (or two) wouldn't cut it in terms of Vram (3.5GB fast, 0.5GB slow), the 980 (or two) wouldn't either or would be close to not cutting it. Say for 4K res (and depending on game/settings).

That's an interesting cooler you've picked. 92mm fans though... dunno, may turn out to be decent. Am still not sure it wouldn't interfere with BluRay. What about you?
 
I remembered this one now:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Prolimatech Genesis CPU Cooler £59.99
Total : £59.99 (includes shipping : Ex.VAT).



That should have even more clearance, and cool even better. Just add two 120/140mm fans.

Thing is, appears you'd need to order the 2011 mounting kit/screws separately.
 
Thanks for your time on this Danny (and the other guys).
I like the look of that cooler you have found as well. Are you thinking 92mm fans on the one I found might be a bit feeble?
Perhaps it would pay to order the parts in two hits (some stuff isn't stock available yet anyway). Leave the Blu-ray until the second order and then I can see what fits.
Highly unlikely I am going 4k any time soon. So that isn't an issue.
As for which 970 is best.... I don't really know my GPU tech well enough to make an educated choice.
 
Stevolution said:
Thanks for your time on this Danny (and the other guys).
Click to expand...

I enjoy it. :)


Stevolution said:
I like the look of that cooler you have found as well. Are you thinking 92mm fans on the one I found might be a bit feeble?
Click to expand...

Possibly. They'll either have to go very fast and be noisy, or they go slow and don't cool that well? I noticed it said 200W TDP cooling. That's not bad but I'd go with 250W TDP cooling for a 5820K. And I think the Genesis + 140mm fans is capable of that.



Stevolution said:
Perhaps it would pay to order the parts in two hits (some stuff isn't stock available yet anyway). Leave the Blu-ray until the second order and then I can see what fits.
Click to expand...

Yeah, good idea.


Stevolution said:
Highly unlikely I am going 4k any time soon. So that isn't an issue.
As for which 970 is best.... I don't really know my GPU tech well enough to make an educated choice.
Click to expand...

Blower style, which you picked, is a good choice if you wanted to allow for a second card. Otherwise pick one with a nice aftermarket cooler. If I had to pick one:

YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 970 FTW "Plus Edition" ACX 2.0 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (04G-P4-3978-KR) £299.99
Total : £299.99 (includes shipping : Ex.VAT).

 
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