Help with speccing a Small, 3D rendering/graphic design PC...

Darkst4r

Darkst4r

Darkst4r

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Hi, My sister has asked me to build her a "small as possible" PC that she can carry in hand luggage so she can work away from home easily.

She doesnt want to use a laptop so it will have to be small form factor. The only brief she has given me is that it needs to have at least 16gb RAM, a Quadro 600 graphics card or better, an I7 3770 CPU and the dimensions of the case need to be 40cm x 32cm x 14cm !

Is this even possible considering the amount of hardware that needs to fit into such a small space ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I've built several gaming rigs but have never dabbled in anything this small.
 
This is what I've managed to come up with, do all the parts look compatible and how do mini itx PSU's work ?

Are they external ?
 
Difficult.

The spec below sacrifices a mechanical hard drive for a 250gb SSD. Otherwise the cooler won't fit.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £279.95
1 x PNY Nvidia Quadro 600 Graphics Card - 1GB - GDDR3 SDRAM £163.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £149.99
1 x Asus Z87I PROFESSIONAL Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini-ITX £145.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan GOLD 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLYD316G2133HC11ADC01) £129.95
1 x Streacom Nano 150w HTPC Power Supply/Adapter £77.99
1 x Streacom ST-F7CB EVO HTPC Aluminium Case - Black £74.99
1 x Noctua NH-L9i CPU Cooler Low Profile - 92mm £34.99
1 x TOSHIBA TS-T633 8x Slim SLOT IN DVD±RW DL Drive - OEM £29.99
Total : £1,099.82 (includes shipping : £10.00).

 
Thanks for taking the time to reply.

2 questions :

Are you sure the mobo and CPU in that spec list are compatible ? one is socket 1150, the other 1155.

Also, is there any way we can slim the price down a bit ?

Possibly using an AMD based alternative ?

The budget is between 600 and 700, maybe a touch over but not much more.
 
Good spot on the motherboard, must have left it in from a previous build and I didn't notice. Pick a 1155 based alternative.

The issue with going AMD will be heat. In a case as small as she wants the heat will be an issue. Besides, your opening post stated it needed to be intel.

Your build looks fine..go for that
 
Darkst4r - the case you picked won't work, it can't fit the graphics card and I'd also say the case would struggle to properly cool the i7.

You could switch it out with the one ExRayTed suggested although again I'd be concerned with heat during rendering - I do this type of work for a living and the temps soon build up.

If you had to go for a small case then I'd suggest looking at the evga hadron as an option for the case, it's a little bigger (169 x 305 x 308 mm) and it's not cheap but it does include a 500w psu inside the case while maintaining pretty good cooling.

Also I really don't understand why a laptop isn't ok... it's not like she can do anything with a full pc without a monitor - is this for on site work where they can supply a screen or does she intend to carry a screen around too...
 
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lsg1r said:
Darkst4r - the case you picked won't work, it can't fit the graphics card and I'd also say the case would struggle to properly cool the i7.
Click to expand...

What are you on about?

First the case:

Chassis Material: All aluminum, 4mm thick extruded body
- Available Colors: Silver / Black – sandlast finish
- Motherboard Support: Mini ITX
- Hard Drive Bays: 1 x 2.5" + 1 x 3.5" or 2.5" (shared bay)
- Optical Drive Bays: 1 x Slim slot loading drive, universal eject button
- Front Ports: 2 x USB2.0 (*USB3.0 Ready, cable sold separately)
- Expansion Slot: 1 x Low Profile Expansion Card
- Cooling: 1 x 80 x 80 x 25mm fan (not included)
- Max CPU Cooler Height: 42mm without 3.5? installed (32mm with 3.5? installed)
- Dimension: 240 x 250 x 100mm (W x D x H)
- Power Supply: NanoPSU & AC Adapter (not included)
- Remote Control: MCE compatible IR receiver & remote (not included)
Click to expand...

seondly the stock CPU can cool the 3770k so why would the noctua cooler struggle.
 
Doomedspeed said:
What are you on about?

First the case:



seondly the stock CPU can cool the 3770k so why would the noctua cooler struggle.
Click to expand...
you might want to recheck what you're talking about.... thats the info for the streacom not the impactics that darkst4r listed for a case, not to mention the impactics case is passively cooled so the noctua wouldn't work.... :rolleyes:

Also I never said anything about the cooler being the issue in regards to heat when talking about the streacom, I said the case could be, it doesn't really have a great deal of ventilation hence my comment about heat build up. :o
 
lsg1r said:
you might want to recheck what you're talking about.... thats the info for the streacom not the impactics that darkst4r listed for a case, not to mention the impactics case is passively cooled so the noctua wouldn't work.... :rolleyes:

Also I never said anything about the cooler being the issue in regards to heat when talking about the streacom, I said the case could be, it doesn't really have a great deal of ventilation hence my comment about heat build up. :o
Click to expand...

Sorry, i miss read who you were posting too. :)

Sorry again..

You are right
 
Why does it need to be a 3770? Does she already have the processor or something? Otherwise 4770 would probably be more powerful and slightly cheaper overall in an ITX format.

If 4770 is an option then this is a fair bit over still and not sure if the case is within dimensions but it is easily portable.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £249.95
1 x PNY Nvidia Quadro 600 Graphics Card - 1GB - GDDR3 SDRAM £163.99
1 x Lian Li PC-TU200B Mini-ITX Cube - Black £149.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX16C9K2/16X) £99.95
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £83.99
1 x Asus H81I-Plus Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £68.99
1 x Seasonic S12II 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
Total : £889.44 (includes shipping : £10.50).

 
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you could save some money (£40) oceaness if you went with the hadron, that's £169.99 inc psu versus the £209.98 for your combo option. Hadron is also smaller but it does lack a handle which is quite convenient with the case you picked...
 
it is available at at least one competitor for a couple of quid less actually so it's an option if the op doesn't mind an alternative store
 
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