Mini ITX budget spec

InQ

InQ

InQ

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Looking to build a budget mini-ITX system for gaming on a 1080p monitor with only a ~250GB SSD required storage wise.

Games could be anything, mainly FPS though with older (CS:Source, CS:GO) stuff and will try some newer stuff (BF4 maybe, Evolve, Far Cry 4 etc).
Basically what do I need to push 1080p at high/ultra settings on the latest games and can it be done on my budget?

Budget is £550-£600 (not including OS)?
If I need to go extra to say £650-700 then I guess it might be do-able but it isn’t my default option especially if I can get the 1080p performance I require.
 
£550 Mini-ITX:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4440 3.10GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £149.99
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 270X Boost OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Card £129.95
1 x Crucial BX100 250GB SSD SATA 6Gbps 7mm Solid State Drive (CT250BX100SSD1) £78.98
1 x Asus H81I-Plus Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £58.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TPKD38G1600HC11DC01) £47.99
1 x EVGA 500W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply (100-B1-0500-KR) £43.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced Mini-ITX Case - Black £39.95
1 x Zalman Multi Connector Pin 4x4zu3 and 2x12V , 2x5V £1.99
Total : £551.83 (includes shipping : ).





£600 Micro-ATX (same size as Phenom Mini-ITX):

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus H81M-K Intel Core i5 DIY Micro ATX Motherboard, CPU & RAM Bundle £225.97
1 x MSI Radeon R9 280X Gaming Edition OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £175.99
1 x Crucial BX100 250GB SSD SATA 6Gbps 7mm Solid State Drive (CT250BX100SSD1) £78.98
1 x BitFenix Phenom MATX Cube Case - Arctic White £64.99
1 x Antec TruePower Classic 550w '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £55.99
1 x Zalman Multi Connector Pin 4x4zu3 and 2x12V , 2x5V £1.99
Total : £603.92 (includes shipping : ).





£650 Micro-ATX:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 290 PCS+ OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £199.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x Crucial BX100 250GB SSD SATA 6Gbps 7mm Solid State Drive (CT250BX100SSD1) £78.98
1 x Antec ISK600M mATX Cube Case - Black £56.99
1 x Antec TruePower Classic 550w '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £55.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TPKD38G1600HC11DC01) £47.99
1 x Asus H81M-PLUS Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £40.99
1 x Zalman Multi Connector Pin 4x4zu3 and 2x12V , 2x5V £1.99
Total : £652.92 (includes shipping : ).





£700 Micro-ATX with 16GB RAM:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 290 PCS+ OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £199.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TPKD316G1600HC11DC01) £89.99
1 x Crucial BX100 250GB SSD SATA 6Gbps 7mm Solid State Drive (CT250BX100SSD1) £78.98
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £59.99
1 x Antec ISK600M mATX Cube Case - Black £56.99
1 x Asus H81M-PLUS Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £40.99
1 x Zalman Multi Connector Pin 4x4zu3 and 2x12V , 2x5V £1.99
Total : £698.92 (includes shipping : ).





I'd start considering from £600 up because the R9 270X in the £550 spec is borderline at 1080p and you want to try new games etc. The 280X covers your needs at present time, hard to say how much longer. The 290 4GB would max everything out and cope better with new releases into the near future. 8GB is fine for gaming just now but some games are/will push it, and those motherboards only have two memory slots, so that's why I specced a 16GB rig as well for you to consider. The "weak point" is definitely the H81 motherboards, but if you don't need a better one, their price allows you to squeeze in more CPU/GPU power.
 
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Cheers for that although looking at it i need a smaller case, like the look of the Silverstone SST-SG08B-Lite mini-ITX.
Picked the PSU as i know from some brief research it fits the case with a long GPU (has to be 140mm deep and not modular) plus added a 180mm case fan. Also added a right angle SSD cable as that seems to be recommended.
Otherwise generally fairly similar....do i need the Zalman multi connector you quoted, not sure what that's for?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 290 PCS+ OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £199.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4590 3.30GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £157.99
1 x Corsair Force LS Series 240GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CSSD-F240GBLS) £99.98
1 x Asus H81I-Plus Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £58.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 600W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020048-UK) £55.99
1 x Silverstone SST-SG08B-Lite USB 3.0 Sugo Mini-ITX - Black £49.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAED38G1600HC9DC01) £49.99
1 x Silverstone SST-AP181 Air Penetrator 180mm FAN 700/1200rpm £14.99
1 x Silverstone SATA III Cable 50cm Angled / Straight - Black £4.99
Total : £692.92 (includes shipping : ).

 
InQ said:
Cheers for that although looking at it i need a smaller case, like the look of the Silverstone SST-SG08B-Lite mini-ITX.
Click to expand...

Nice choice.



InQ said:
Picked the PSU as i know from some brief research it fits the case with a long GPU (has to be 140mm deep and not modular)
Click to expand...

For a 140mm deep PSU I'd recommend the EVGA 600B or the Antec TruePower Classic 550W, which output more on the 12v rail and have a higher operating temperature ceiling.

The CX 600 V2 can output 40 amps (480W) @ 30C.

The EVGA 600B can output 49 amps (588W) @ 40C.

The Antec 550W Gold can output 45 amps combined (540W) @ 40C.

Given that the Antec has a 5-year warranty, that's the one I'd go for personally, even though I like the EVGA B's, having tried them.

Can rule out the SuperFlower 550W as it's 145mm.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Antec TruePower Classic 550w '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £55.99
1 x EVGA 600W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply (100-B1-0600-KR) £53.99





InQ said:
Otherwise generally fairly similar....do i need the Zalman multi connector you quoted, not sure what that's for?
Click to expand...

It was needed for the motherboards and cases I specced, but not for the case you've decided on. The Sugo only has room for one case fan which can be connected to the motherboard's one Chassis_Fan header (or, the separately bought Penetrator fan may also come with molex). The other cases bring two 3-pin case fans each, so one fan would have remained unconnected without an adapter. ;)

Also, what you're paying for the slightly faster SSD I'd put towards a faster processor instead, as it will have the greater impact on gaming.
 
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One more thing I just remembered - when buying a Haswell refresh CPU (like the i5-4590) to use on a H81 board, it might not be compatible without a BIOS update, depending on the manufacturing age of the board. Some ASUS boards do allow BIOS update through USB without a CPU in them, not sure if all of them do. Could do a bit of research on that if you like. If you buy something like the i5-4670 (original Haswell), then no problem.
 
OK well after all that i decided to have another look where i was putting the case and i've managed to relocate the Sky box to under the frame of the TV (its an LG with a kind of U shape stand) so that has freed up the entire level below in the TV stand (about 172mm tall).
So i'm now looking at a Silverstone GD10 and using an ATX....guess its gone off topic now so i'll post another similar spec in the Gen Hardware forum.
 
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