ITX Gaming Rig build options.

[Valez0r]

Hello everybody.

I am considering a upgrade soon as my system is starting to struggle with the more impressive looking games coming out these days. How ever I am interested in a ITX build as my new study/playroom is smaller than my last and my full atx case is overkill for my needs(in theory). This is soley a gaming pc, I watch films and play games and thats it. I will also need to be able to output dual 1080 monitors. I have a limited budget say 500 quid but I do have some existing hardware that I will be using.

I like the look of the Lian Li PC-Q11B case as I can use my Be Quiet modular powersupply. Other hardware that I can use is my current primary hdd which is a velociraptor 300GB.

What's the best option motherboard wise (inc ones not out yet that I should keep my eye on) and what chipset? The z68 board sounds cool but it comes with a lot of features I am not likely to use making me think the P67 chipset is the better option, nice and simple and has overclocking capability depending on the best cooling options for the Q11B case.
CPU wise I would prefer the i7 2600k if I can afford it but budget depending that may limit me to the i5.
Memory I will be looking at about 4GB.
GPU I am guessing the 560Ti is the best bang for buck at the mo? I could be wrong but one of my worries it actually getting the bugger to fit in the case.

Can anyone offer some advice?

 

[gropingmantis]

Trouble with the Q11 is getting decent gaming GPUs to fit. Especially if you want to run dual monitors.

Look at the Q08 or the Silverstone SG07 or the soon to be released SG08.

There are no P67 ITX boards. H67 your best bet is probably the Gigabyte and Z68 there are an ASRock and Zotac, not had any reviews of the ASRock but initial reviews on the Zotac are not great.

If you are gaming the i7 will be wasted as no games will use the hyperthreading so you may as well go with the i5-2500K. Memory-wise 4GB is sufficient but with RAM prices as they are atm if you can strech to 8GB it is well worth it.

For the GPU I would rather have an HD6950 over the 560Ti IF you can still find a rev1 version. Otherwise the 560Ti is a good shout but bear in mind the 6950 does have 2GB VRAM which will come in hand with a dual monitor setup. If you can stretch your budget a bit more you could get an HD6970 or a 2GB 560Ti.

 

[[Damien]]

Can anyone offer some advice?

While not being much use with any of your main points I can offer this; Get the i5 2500k, not the i7 2600k. It's loads cheaper, just as fast/faster for gaming and you'll never make use of the i7 features (better video encoding performance) anyway.

 

[Valez0r]

Trouble with the Q11 is getting decent gaming GPUs to fit. Especially if you want to run dual monitors.

Look at the Q08 or the Silverstone SG07 or the soon to be released SG08.

There are no P67 ITX boards. H67 your best bet is probably the Gigabyte and Z68 there are an ASRock and Zotac, not had any reviews of the ASRock but initial reviews on the Zotac are not great.

If you are gaming the i7 will be wasted as no games will use the hyperthreading so you may as well go with the i5-2500K. Memory-wise 4GB is sufficient but with RAM prices as they are atm if you can strech to 8GB it is well worth it.

For the GPU I would rather have an HD6950 over the 560Ti IF you can still find a rev1 version. Otherwise the 560Ti is a good shout. If you can stretch your budget a bit more you could get an HD6970 or a 480 but the 480 does run quite warm which is not great in an ITX build.

Cheers for the heads up on the i5 I didn't actually know about the hyperthreading. That should help budget for more RAM or better GPU. The new Silverstone case sounds interesting will check that out.

Looks like H67 is the best bet then I think.
What would you recommend cooling wise?

P.S I am Dave Yognaught and I HAVE THE BALLS!

 

[gropingmantis]

Cheers for the heads up on the i5 I didn't actually know about the hyperthreading. That should help budget for more RAM or better GPU. The new Silverstone case sounds interesting will check that out.

Looks like H67 is the best bet then I think.
What would you recommend cooling wise?

Yeah H67 Gigabyte is my favourite at the moment.
Cooling wise I have a Thermalright AXP-140 which is a fantastic aircooler. The trouble with ITX boards is socket placement makes selecting air coolers difficult. Other options are the Prolimatech Samuel17 or the Scythe Shuriken rev.B (the smaller one). Else you could get a watercooler like the Corsair H60 or Antec Kuehler.

P.S I am Dave Yognaught! and I HAVE THE BALLS! *salutes*

Lol, and Fixed

 

[Valez0r]

Thanks for the advice.