Mini ITX Gaming build around £500

PhilleH

PhilleH

PhilleH

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Joined
23 Mar 2011
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80
Hi all,

In trying to downsize ahead of a move to London I recently got rid of my trusty ATX gaming system and have been flirting with a Samsung Gamer laptop since. However, due to the pretty pathetic battery life and sheer size of it I'm not convinced it actually solves my issues and am now looking at selling and building myself a mini ITX system.

I do not need a monitor including and I already have a 240gb SSD. However I would like it to include a copy of windows 8. I am hoping to get it within a budget of £500, however less is good! I am also a fan of the asthetics of the SG05 so would prefer any builds to be based around that (please no prodigy builds!)

The only intensive thing I would use it for is gaming. No video editing or anything.
 
 
 
I would swap the Seagate hdd for WD, better warranty.
Also did you consider Corsair 250 as your case choice?
And i5 4430 would definetely be a better choice than a dual core.
Overall price difference would be around 40£ more, but worth it.
 
Bart_Hunt said:
I would swap the Seagate hdd for WD, better warranty.
Also did you consider Corsair 250 as your case choice?
And i5 4430 would definetely be a better choice than a dual core.
Overall price difference would be around 40£ more, but worth it.
Click to expand...

Not sure how your doing your calculations here? The 250d is £26 more expensive than the Cooler Master case in the first build, and the i5 4430 is £54 more expensive than the i3. Then the extra £6 to change the hard drive. That's not a £40 addition, it's £86 and makes the build almost 20% over budget.
 
Thank you both for the builds.

Do you think I would get a significant improvement for an extra £50 or so? and if so where would it go?

I am thinking I probably don't need an additional hard drive in the initial build. I have a NAS and a usb hard drive so whilst I may add one later, I can probably spend that cash else where for now.
 
Bart_Hunt said:
I would swap the Seagate hdd for WD, better warranty.
Also did you consider Corsair 250 as your case choice?
And i5 4430 would definetely be a better choice than a dual core.
Overall price difference would be around 40£ more, but worth it.
Click to expand...

The 250 is a nice looking case but size is potentially really important and the corsair is a fair bit larger looking at the specs.
 
PhilleH said:
Thank you both for the builds.
Click to expand...

You're welcome.

Just to explain - the reason I went for the CoolerMaster is because it features an extra fan on the side for cooling, as well as being able to fit ATX size PSUs. 450w also gives you more GPU upgrade options than the 300w that comes with the Sugo, and it looks like a better quality PSU than the one that comes with the Sugo. So overall, the CoolerMaster with a 450w is a better deal for the money imo, especially as they are aesthetically similar.

If you go for the Sugo anyway, and want an internal optical drive, make sure it's slimline, not normal size.

As for what you could do with £50 extra, it depends. You could go for a better GPU (a good 270X), or an i5 CPU. Or, if you need WiFi and would like a better mobo as your base, then a Z87 mobo. If I was planning on upgrading in future, the latter is what I would go for. Otherwise, either the GPU or CPU to get maximum possible performance in now.
 
Danny75 said:
You're welcome.

Just to explain - the reason I went for the CoolerMaster is because it features an extra fan on the side for cooling, as well as being able to fit ATX size PSUs. 450w also gives you more GPU upgrade options than the 300w that comes with the Sugo, and it looks like a better quality PSU than the one that comes with the Sugo. So overall, the CoolerMaster with a 450w is a better deal for the money imo, especially as they are aesthetically similar.

If you go for the Sugo anyway, and want an internal optical drive, make sure it's slimline, not normal size.

As for what you could do with £50 extra, it depends. You could go for a better GPU (a good 270X), or an i5 CPU. Or, if you need WiFi and would like a better mobo as your base, then a Z87 mobo. If I was planning on upgrading in future, the latter is what I would go for. Otherwise, either the GPU or CPU to get maximum possible performance in now.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the explanation, I honestly don't have a particular attachment to the sugo but it's size, price point and aesthetics make it very appealing to me. I will have to weigh up what size I can reasonably get away with as the CM does seem like the more practical choice.

I am looking at these bits (not sure how to import basket?)

Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM
MSI Z87I Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ITX Motherboard
TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01)
Windows 8, the 750ti and then a case and psu depending on what I decide. Sound reasnable?
 
Ah yes, I missed the fact Sugo comes with psu.
My apologies :-)
I am reading this on a small screen, at work atm, so made a mistake there.
 
I would work out what CPU cooler you want to use and then consider motherboards.

As I re-used my CPU cooler the MSI socket location was too near PCI Express slot. I was considering a Thermalright AXP-200, as they show pictures of it on specific boards. But it was extra expense when I had a functioning cooler available.
 
Just moved my white SG05 to the window to get a better look at it, as the colour tone on external parts is different.

Brightest white is the optical drive cover, which I expected whole case to match. The plastic front is duller, and the case main cover is an even duller shade again. Not sure if old stock as year of manufacturer isn't included on box, and case wasn't from Overclockers.

Considering price I'm probably being critical, but I'm a bit disappointed by Silverstone steel case quality.
 
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