Mini ITX Build

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Gonna build a mini ITX system for my gf for her to use instead of her netbook and also cause i wanna have a go at building one :) I'm thinking of using a bitfenix prodigy, 120gb ssd and 1tb hdd. Now the thing i'm pondering is processor. I tend to use amd ones, in my current rig i have a 965be clocked to 4.2 but not sure what i should go for in the computer. She would mainly use it for media and maybe a bit of light gaming as I'll link it to her 42" tv.

So the question is, what mobo and cpu should i go for AMD bulldozer/piledriver etc or go intel i3/i5 route? Willing to spent £200-250 for both combined.

Also a thought the amd APUs any good or am i better off getting a £100 gfx card instead?

Cheers.
 
 
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ThaReaperGuy said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7850 IceQ 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785Q2G2M) £169.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Gigabyte H77N-WIFI Intel H77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £89.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy 'Yang' Mini-ITX Cube Case - Black/White £69.95
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series THNSNH 7mm 60GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH060GCST) £59.99
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £39.95
1 x Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 90 Day Guarantee £35.99
1 x **B Grade** Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM £30
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £618.43 (includes shipping : £10.50).

Click to expand...

I think you may want to add some ram! ;)
 
Intel.

YOUR BASKET
1 x **B Grade** MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards with Tomb Raider & Biosh (GX-191-MS) £119.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series THNSNH 7mm 128GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH128GCST) £89.99
1 x Silverstone Grandia GD05 Desktop HTPC Case - Black (SST-GD05B USB3.0) £79.99
1 x ASRock Z77 Pro4-M Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £77.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £49.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £49.99
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £642.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).

 
Intel
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AMD
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Had to be 64GB SSD only,
Intel one is missing backup harddive but both about £645 if you qualify for free shipping.
Intel one i think doesn't overclock whereas the AMD i believe does.
Not sure what the comparative performance is like between them maybe someone could shed some light, I think it might be quite close anyhow.
DVD Drive & 3rd Party CPU cooler optional.

Just some ideas.
 
Cheers for the suggestions guys :) i hate the range of choices for cpus now lol i liked it when amd and intel only had a couple of different processors.
 
The higher end APUs are perfect for light gaming, anything £100 or over on a discrete card is moving into a mid range gaming PC instead. The included GPU in the 6800K is roughly equivalent to a 6670, it's not bad at all.

The FX series isn't possible with mini-ITX, unfortunately.

edit:

As things stand I'd go for a 5800K though - it's basically identical to the 6800K aside from being slightly lower clocked (but it will overclock easily). It's about £25-£30 cheaper. You can use the difference to get a decent cooler.
 
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How does hybrid 6800K & 7750 stand up against just 6800K & 7850? Card for card the 7850 trounces on the 7750. Does hybrid make that much of a difference?

Also for running an APU by itself it's best to get the fastest ram that is compatible with your motherboard.
 
6800K and 7750 isn't supported for dual graphics, even if it does work (it won't optimally, however).

I posted earlier on another thread that it's a better idea to save the money and get a Richland core without the included GPU, and get a good discrete card instead if you intend better graphics performance from the outset. A 760K is about £60, compared to the 6800K (basically identical except for the GPU) for £125.
 
Unless she's actually gaming I'd save money and go AMD's Richland APU, but don't use the A75M boards as they're flaky - that AsRock one specifically has been known to explode under stress.

Look around and find an A85X Mini-ITX board instead, MUCH more reliable (a certain competitor has the AsRock one for £76).

Also with no dedicated graphics card there's an awful lot of wasted space in a Prodigy, so I'd suggest getting a Silverstone SG05B-450 as it's nice and small, will fit what you need and have some space for a half-decent cooler. The 450W PSU that comes with it is top-rated stuff. And if you really wanted to overclock a K series then (with a little repositioning of hard drives) you can get a water cooler like a Corsair H60 or H80 in there for good cooling.
 
Well after some pondering i think I'm going to stretch my budget a little bit and get either an i5-3570k (ivy) or i5-4670k (haswell) and a dedicated gfx card that i could wc at after a while to oc it a bit.
 
Well thought I'd give you and update. I did get an increased budget for the computer so i bought all my bits.
What i have in it are.
MSI z87I
8 GB Corsair Vengeance RAM
Intel Core i5 4670K
Corsair Force GT 120gb SSD


And here it is all fitted in the case. I've got a corsair link in there to do fan control. Had loads of issues setting it up, found out it was an issue with the usb 3 drivers.



Then i spotted the Asus Geforce GTX 670 on offer. Quickly checked to see if it took a full water block which is did then proceed to order it in install it



The next set for this build is to fir the 750gb WD BE hard drive then water cool it and maybe overclock a little bit

 
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