Help with Micro ATX build

Stevolution

Stevolution

Stevolution

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20 Aug 2012
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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).

 
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.
 
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)
 
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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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.
 
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.
 
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