Mini ITX gaming rig :)

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Hey folks,

Planning on building a wee gaming rig for my better half. I've wanted to build a mini ITX system for ages, figured this is a good a time as any.

Primary use will be for Minecraft and Skyrim (med/high settings), so nothing too demanding. I figured a dual core CPU should be fine?

The Lian Li PC-Q07B (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-180-LL) has caught my eye, unobtrusive, sleek and reasonably small. A little worried about airflow as it has no fans though.

I have a monitor, speakers, keyboard, mouse, SSD and PSU (Corsair HX 520W modular) sorted already.

All I need is:

-motherboard
-CPU (thinking the Pentium G860?)
-GPU (am I restricted to a single slot GPU with my case?)
-ram (looking for 8gb, seeing as it's so cheap these days)

Budged is £250. Looking forward to your suggestions :)
 
Try this for size:


YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 650 Black Knight OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £79.99
1 x Intel Pentium G640 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £49.99
1 x Gigabyte H61N-D2V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £39.98
1 x Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced Mini-ITX Case - Black £39.98
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £23.99
Total : £245.94 (includes shipping : £10.00).



Or with the case you selected:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 650 Black Knight OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £79.99
1 x Intel Pentium G640 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £49.99
1 x Lian Li PC-Q07B Mini-ITX Case - Black £41.99
1 x Gigabyte H61N-D2V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £39.98
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £23.99
Total : £249.44 (includes shipping : £11.25).




AMD build:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £89.99
1 x ASRock FM2A75M-ITX AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £73.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced Mini-ITX Case - Black £39.98
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD38G2133HC11DC01) £35.99
Total : £251.95 (includes shipping : £10.00).



AMD with the case you selected:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £89.99
1 x ASRock FM2A75M-ITX AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £73.99
1 x Lian Li PC-Q07B Mini-ITX Case - Black £41.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD38G2133HC11DC01) £35.99
Total : £254.86 (includes shipping : £10.75).

 
Last edited:
Thanks for the suggestions :) Can't access the forums at work unfortunately, only just got a chance. Have done a bit more research on the Lian Li PC-Q07B, it looks to only take a single slot GPU. However with the GTX 650 Black Knight card you posted, I could just replace the dual slot bracket with a single slot and that would do the trick.

Wish I had the tools to cut a hole in the bottom of the case so the GPU had fresh air to intake! May see if I can get something sorted, it would look fine with a grill/mesh over a 120mm hole.

I don't believe the Gigabyte H61N-D2V you listed would work as it's only got a PCI slot rather than a PCI-E. And I think I shall stick with an Intel build as the rig will be mainly used for gaming.

Picked up the 8GB of TeamGroup Elite ram on today's daily deal, 3 components to go!

Come to think of it, any suggestions for a quiet low profile CPU cooler? I haven't experienced the stock cooler, but I wouldn't imagine it's the quietest..
 
lol l need to get my eye tested ( getting done on Thurday ) sorry about the mobo faff :)

I use the stock cooler on my i3 3220 and use the bios settings to keep aim for 60'c and lower fan speed to 12.5% so only here it on start up really.

The cooler master case IS cheaper and offers dual slot graphic support and imo has better cooling, so is worth looking at.
 
No worries, and good luck with the eye exam tomorrow :) That's a good suggestion for lowering the fan speed in the bios, will try that out on the stock cooler before I spend money on an aftermarket one.

The CoolerMaster case would indeed be a better choice, but alas I am a slave to aesthetics, picked up the Lian Li this morning :D Found a friend with some tools, so if the temperatures are bad, I shall be adding a fan or two. Keeps the build more interesting at least.

Reasonably confident I've settled on a motherboard, think I'm going with the MSI B75IA-E33.
 
FWIW I've bought an Corsair HX 520W a year or so ago and it was making a loud hissing sound under load. Their support wanted me to send it at my expense for repairs to Netherlands.
 
SkyTerran said:
FWIW I've bought an Corsair HX 520W a year or so ago and it was making a loud hissing sound under load. Their support wanted me to send it at my expense for repairs to Netherlands.
Click to expand...
Have a look on the Corsair forum...I recalled people mention seeing that there's a way to have Corsair arrange courier to pick up the PSU.

Also a quick update for you...if you haven't bought CPU yet, you can now get a Intel Pentium G2020, which is a 2.90 IvyBridge dual-core for just £45, making it a better choice and value than pretty much all the SandyBridge based Pentium.
 
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