mATX or ITX LAN build

skylineboy

skylineboy

skylineboy

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Egypt/ Surrey
I have a maximum of £200 to spend.

I need a small case, motherboard and CPU cooler. Must be able to fit a reference 7970 in the case.

I will be reusing my 7970, 2500k, ax850 and xms3 ram & w7.

Basically I really fancy going to I-series but I ain't taking TJ with me.

Any questions please ask

Happy speccing :D
 
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Interesting.

Firstly, your TJ07 looks epic, quite sad to see it go though i understand why.

Though you would look pretty awesome turning up with that under your arm (and crutches :))

How are you thinking of cooling with 2500k? Im pretty sure you'd want it overclocked, as a 2500k is stock is a waste.

If you went down a Bit Fenix Prodigy Build you could use a h80i or a Big tower cooler. Though it's at the Big end of ITX its still portable..

Other idea is the TJ08-E, Again.. Can house a big cooler and you could actually get 2 x 7970's in, so potential future upgrades (wouldn't have them overclocked though)

A few ideas for now, will throw a few spec together later. :)
 
I'd push for something like an SG07/08, Z77-E ITX, and decent low profile cooler. The only thing the Prodigy really shares with other "small form factor" cases is that it takes a miniITX board. Otherwise it's just huge and I really don't get the appeal of it - there are ATX cases of similar size.

Does mean breaking the budget but I think it's worth it.
 
Doomedspeed said:
Interesting.

Firstly, your TJ07 looks epic, quite sad to see it go though i understand why.

Though you would look pretty awesome turning up with that under your arm (and crutches :))

How are you thinking of cooling with 2500k? Im pretty sure you'd want it overclocked, as a 2500k is stock is a waste.

If you went down a Bit Fenix Prodigy Build you could use a h80i or a Big tower cooler. Though it's at the Big end of ITX its still portable..

Other idea is the TJ08-E, Again.. Can house a big cooler and you could actually get 2 x 7970's in, so potential future upgrades (wouldn't have them overclocked though)

A few ideas for now, will throw a few spec together later. :)
Click to expand...

Thank you :) it is not going though- NO WAY! This will be a transfer rig for travel/ LANs.
 
skylineboy said:
Thank you :) it is not going though- NO WAY! This will be a transfer rig for travel/ LANs.
Click to expand...

So your going to bleed/dismantle your loop, remove all blocks, re apply thermal paste, reinstall stock/aftermarket coolers and rebuild the whole rig in a new case everytime you go to a LAN, that sounds like a lot of effort. Rather you than me mate.

skylineboy said:
I don't mind how I cool the CPU I can water cool with a slim 240. if needed but rather not for short term- effort. I have been looking at the coolermaster Elite case

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-298-CM&groupid=2362&catid=2279

I would like to overclock the CPU but I am happy to give it a shove in the right direction.
Click to expand...

You could fit a 240mm rad in the prodigy, though you would have to mod it to mount the pumo/res ECT..

Best off getting a decent air cooler.

The elite 120 is a good case but seems fiddly if your going to be building and rebuilding, it will also need a low profile cooler which will limit your OCing potential.

I know its a popular choice but the prodigy seems to suit your needs. Its easy to build, small, has handles and can get a big air cooler in so you can overclock, you can even get a D14 in it :)
 
Doomedspeed said:
So your going to bleed/dismantle your loop, remove all blocks, re apply thermal paste, reinstall stock/aftermarket coolers and rebuild the whole rig in a new case everytime you go to a LAN, that sounds like a lot of effort. Rather you than me mate.



You could fit a 240mm rad in the prodigy, though you would have to mod it to mount the pumo/res ECT..

Best off getting a decent air cooler.

The elite 120 is a good case but seems fiddly if your going to be building and rebuilding, it will also need a low profile cooler which will limit your OCing potential.

I know its a popular choice but the prodigy seems to suit your needs. Its easy to build, small, has handles and can get a big air cooler in so you can overclock, you can even get a D14 in it :)
Click to expand...

I don't attend LAN/travel often probably 2 -3times a year. I also dismantle pc about this often anyway so it is not any additional effort.

I would rather not WC the CPU to reduce the effort. I would be happy with a prodigy and D14 to OC the CPU if I can fit it into budget, If not a light OC to 4ghz is fine for me. I only use 4.2 under water anyway.
I am only going to use 1 card in this build for this reason.
 
skylineboy said:
I don't attend LAN/travel often probably 2 -3times a year. I also dismantle pc about this often anyway so it is not any additional effort.

I would rather not WC the CPU to reduce the effort. I would be happy with a prodigy and D14 to OC the CPU if I can fit it into budget, If not a light OC to 4ghz is fine for me. I only use 4.2 under water anyway.
I am only going to use 1 card in this build for this reason.
Click to expand...

Fair enough... Just assumed you'd be doing it a lot more..

That would be the perfect setup but would come in at around £300: (the asus board is the only one with will take big air coolers due to the socket position, though the price is 3/4 of your budget, otherwise CLC's or tiny air coolers are needed)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe (Socket 1155/Intel Z77.DDR3/S-ATA 600/Mini ITX) £159.95
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £69.95
1 x Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £62.98
Total : £292.87 (includes shipping : FREE).



Or you could go down this route (more within budget):

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £98.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £69.95
1 x OcUK Tech Labs - Corsair H60 Performance Intel Liquid Cooling Solution (Socket 1155 / 1156 / 1366) £39.95
1 x No Thermal Paste Required £0
1 x No Fan Required £0
1 x No Fan Required £0
Total : £208.88 (includes shipping : FREE).



I asusme you'll have some Fan's and Paste for the H60. :)
 
Doomedspeed said:
Fair enough... Just assumed you'd be doing it a lot more..

That would be the perfect setup but would come in at around £300: (the asus board is the only one with will take big air coolers due to the socket position, though the price is 3/4 of your budget, otherwise CLC's or tiny air coolers are needed)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe (Socket 1155/Intel Z77.DDR3/S-ATA 600/Mini ITX) £159.95
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £69.95
1 x Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £62.98
Total : £292.87 (includes shipping : FREE).



Or you could go down this route (more within budget):

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £98.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £69.95
1 x OcUK Tech Labs - Corsair H60 Performance Intel Liquid Cooling Solution (Socket 1155 / 1156 / 1366) £39.95
1 x No Thermal Paste Required £0
1 x No Fan Required £0
1 x No Fan Required £0
Total : £208.88 (includes shipping : FREE).



I asusme you'll have some Fan's and Paste for the H60. :)
Click to expand...

Thank you Doomedspeed much appreciated. Something to think about certainly... I have the week off so will have a good think on this :)


Anyone else with something to add to the spec?
 
I'd suggest the msi itx board, it takes 8 pin cpu power so better for your overclocking, it isnt as good as the asus with add on vrm thing(on ipad can't be bothered to look, but you know what I mean) but the gigabyte only has 4 pin connector for it, the msi also has an msata port for a tiny ssd or sutin? I'd suggest a closed loop cooler too, there's no point in getting a dh14 when a cheaper wc unit will get the same results.

Edit: also removing the wc unit it easy as peas just loosen, twist and lift, no need for fiddling with a bulky cooler.
 
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danewesley said:
I'd suggest the msi itx board, it takes 8 pin cpu power so better for your overclocking, it isnt as good as the asus with add on vrm thing(on ipad can't be bothered to look, but you know what I mean) but the gigabyte only has 4 pin connector for it, the msi also has an msata port for a tiny ssd or sutin? I'd suggest a closed loop cooler too, there's no point in getting a dh14 when a cheaper wc unit will get the same results.

Edit: also removing the wc unit it easy as peas just loosen, twist and lift, no need for fiddling with a bulky cooler.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. Do you mean this MSI ITX board?:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-224-MS


Would you also suggest the prodigy?

Prior to my custom loop, when I still had the CM690 II, I bought the original corsair H50. I have always been happy to have a CLC I am just thinking about using minimum amount of space. As moving this case around will most likely be on trains etc. Which is why something like the Elite case I mentioned would suit me.

Are there any decent low profile coolers I could explore as well?
 
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I know it costs a little more but the sg09 (ugly) and the soon to be released sg10 (very similar but less ugly) seem to be decent... You can get full sized cpu tower coolers in there, they support mATX mobos so you can have xfire in the future, supposedly have great air flow and are smaller than a prodigy. They don't look as nice as the prodigy but offer great performance for their size.
 
ivorito said:
I know it costs a little more but the sg09 (ugly) and the soon to be released sg10 (very similar but less ugly) seem to be decent... You can get full sized cpu tower coolers in there, they support mATX mobos so you can have xfire in the future, supposedly have great air flow and are smaller than a prodigy. They don't look as nice as the prodigy but offer great performance for their size.
Click to expand...

You are right about ugly :)

If I was to go mATX what board and coolers would people recommend?
 
skylineboy said:
was looking at the TJ08
Click to expand...

Nice..

So cooler wise you could go for any of these: (i chose these as i know they fit and have very good performance though you do have a lot of other choice)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 920 Series 4 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (LGA1155 / LGA1156 / LGA1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM2+ / AM3+) £84.98
1 x Corsair Hydro H80i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1155 / LGA1156 / LGA1366 / LGA2011/ AM2 / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £76.98
1 x Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £62.98
1 x Phanteks PH-TC12DX CPU Cooler - Black (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £44.98
1 x Prolimatech Megahalems Rev C CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £42.98
Total : £324.90 (includes shipping : £10.00).



I'd personal stick with Air and either get the D14 or TC12DX (the megahalems performs quite close to the D14 but only really works out as good value if you have 2 spare 120mm fans)

Motherboard is a bit trickier.. Really you want an unlvoltage klocked board that can accept Xfire/SLI (preferably at x8 / x8.. These would be my choices:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus Z77 Maximus V Gene Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £164.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-G1-Sniper M3 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £139.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77MX-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £99.95
1 x MSI Z77MA-G45 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard £91.99
Total : £508.92 (includes shipping : £10.00).



The Gigabyte Z77MX (the X is important) would be my budget choice with the Maximus being my preference.
 
Probably a bit late to the party but I have just built a CM Elite 120 Advanced set up.

If you haven't checked the thread (with pic's) See link below

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18501892

I'm really happy with it.

The ASUS AI suite that comes bundled with the BIOS and p8z77 - I deluxe board makes OC's so easy although for people who like to know exactly whats going on with settings I can see its a bit frustrating.

It's a "bling free" case which some might not like, very unlike the prodigy which is all about "looks"

The other downside is the heat sink height limitations mean you have very few air cooling options even in the low profile category however if you are going with intel I can highly recommend the Noctua NH L9i which I am using and finding works perfectly for my build. I have seen 1 or 2 water cooled builds in the case too if your feeling the need for an ambitious mod project.

Ease of access to components for swapping out is actually very good considering the size except for the board /cpu /heatsink which would require the PSU unbolting and sliding out, but really that's no biggy.
 
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Cheers Doc! I have managed to procure a d14 cooler from the mm so that is sorted. Which now unfortunately rules out your case. But I had been researching your cooler too!

Been watching your thread, it looks great !

Doomedspeed I will keep an eye out over the next month or so on those boards, particulary the Gigabyte board and the maximus. Why is the X important for the D3H?
 
skylineboy said:
Cheers Doc! I have managed to procure a d14 cooler from the mm so that is sorted. Which now unfortunately rules out your case. But I had been researching your cooler too!

Been watching your thread, it looks great !

Doomedspeed I will keep an eye out over the next month or so on those boards, particulary the Gigabyte board and the maximus. Why is the X important for the D3H?
Click to expand...

The non-X version is voltage locked. :)

Great idea getting the D14, you wont regret it.. MOOGLEYS (the seller) had his in a prodigy, looked awesome. :)
 
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