Looking for a Budget(ish) ITX System...

[SuBo]

Hey All,
Looking to build a budget system capable of decent 1080p gaming performance. I've pieced together the following, Could you pop your eyes over it and let me know if its suitable, or if you would make changes.

Please note, I've picked the AMD CPU as nothing seems to get close for the price comparison, and as 1080p is going to stress the GPU more than the CPU I can accept that its not the fastest. But I cant seem to get an i5 in there for similar money.



I already have some brand new Kingston SSD's that didnt get used in a previous system. (120Gb and 240Gb) so I'm good for storage.

Thanks in advance

 

[Legion]

Drop the AIO and get a half decent air cooler.
Do you really need 16gb of ram for a casual gaming box? Most people who game still run 8gb quite happily.
An ITX H81 motherboard would cost you less than £60

£90-110 saving there, will allow you to easliy fit an i5 into the budget.
A cheaper GTX 960 would also allow you some more wiggle room, the MSI at that price is a tough pill to swallow.
I'd rather save up another £50-60 and buy a GTX 970 than pay almost £200 for a 4gb GTX 960, the GTX 970 will leave it in the dirt.

If you are set on a GTX 960 just buy a 2gb one, the price premium and performance gain for a 4gb card @ 1080p really isn't worth it.

 

[Danny75]

Further to what Legion has said - be careful with those 140mm fans you specced, as they are 140mm but with 120mm mounting holes. If the front mounting holes for 120 on the Phanteks ITX are designed to make the fans sit flush with each other, they won't fit. Suggest sticking with the included front 200mm fan for now, till you are able to have a good look.

Black/green:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4690 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 770 "NVIDIA Reference" 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x Avexir Venom Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-17200C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U21331108G-2CIG) - Green Light £109.99
1 x MSI H97I AC Intel H97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £79.99
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX Mini-ITX Chassis with Window £54.95
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £49.99
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - Black £12.98
1 x Phanteks PH F140SP 140mm Fan Green LED - Black / White £12.49
1 x BitFenix Alchemy Molex to 3pin x3 Fan adaptor 12V 20cm - Black £4.99
Total : £663.89 (includes shipping : £17.10 Ex.VAT).




i5 + 16 GB RAM (if you really need it for some reason) + GTX 770

The little cooler is more than enough for a non-overclockable i5. Even the stock cooler would be fine. Price can come down more if you don't mind a H81 board and 8GB RAM. Can spend extra on a better PSU if you like but that one is ok.


Black/red with GTX 960:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4690 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 960 Gaming 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - Red £161.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED316G1600HC9DC01) £89.99
1 x MSI H97I AC Intel H97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £79.99
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX Mini-ITX Chassis with Window £54.95
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £49.99
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - Black £12.98
1 x Phanteks PH F140SP 140mm Fan Red LED - Black / White £12.49
1 x BitFenix Alchemy Molex to 3pin x3 Fan adaptor 12V 20cm - Black £4.99
Total : £662.30 (includes shipping : £22.45 Ex.VAT).




Now for a GTX 970 (with slower i5 and 8GB RAM):

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 970 OC "Reference Fan" 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £257.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4440 3.10GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £152.99
1 x MSI H97I AC Intel H97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £79.99
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX Mini-ITX Chassis with Window £54.95
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £49.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16001104G-2CW) - Blue Light £44.99
1 x Aerocool DS Edition Fan - Blue - 140mm £13.99
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - Black £12.98
1 x BitFenix Alchemy Molex to 3pin x3 Fan adaptor 12V 20cm - Black £4.99
Total : £693.38 (includes shipping : £17.10 Ex.VAT).




So you can come up with a lot nicer specs if you put the expensive water-cooler (pointless if no overclocking) and 960 4GB (pointless) to one side.