Mini ITX Gaming system spec?

bannedbrother

bannedbrother

bannedbrother

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Clockers can you help with some ideas please? I want to get the bitfenix prodigy as a case and want to spend around 700 to 800 pound....i will need OS too....no need for m&kb or monitor though....so case and insides with windows 7 only....thanks.....this will be a gift for my daughter at xmas and she plays games like COD, Dota 2 etc. Is there any reason not to go AMD other than I am an Intel fan?
 
First thing to point out is that nearly all the Prodigy cases are on Pre-Order now.

When you say Windows 7 only, do you mean you don't want Windows 8? It's just Windows 8 is cheaper so you could put the money saved towards a better spec?

This is a pretty solid Intel spec assuming you wont be overclocking.
You could bring it down a bit if you wanted by choosing a cheaper 7950 (though this one does get you free shipping, which saves you about £12) or by using a standard mech drive instead of an SSD.

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) **FREE SHIPPING** £197.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £69.95
1 x Asus H81I-Plus Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £68.99
1 x Seasonic S12II 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £47.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler £26.99
Total : £806.86 (includes shipping : FREE).



An AMD build is a perfectly viable option and would probably be slightly cheaper for a similar spec, however I'm not the man for that as I'm not completely up to speed when it comes to AMD motherboards and processors.
 
oceaness said:
First thing to point out is that nearly all the Prodigy cases are on Pre-Order now.

When you say Windows 7 only, do you mean you don't want Windows 8? It's just Windows 8 is cheaper so you could put the money saved towards a better spec?

This is a pretty solid Intel spec assuming you wont be overclocking.
You could bring it down a bit if you wanted by choosing a cheaper 7950 (though this one does get you free shipping, which saves you about £12) or by using a standard mech drive instead of an SSD.

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) **FREE SHIPPING** £197.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £69.95
1 x Asus H81I-Plus Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £68.99
1 x Seasonic S12II 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £47.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler £26.99
Total : £806.86 (includes shipping : FREE).



An AMD build is a perfectly viable option and would probably be slightly cheaper for a similar spec, however I'm not the man for that as I'm not completely up to speed when it comes to AMD motherboards and processors.
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great spec mate thanks....i heard horror stories of W8 and think W7 is great. So that PSU good enough in terms of power requirements? also do you think going for the 4440 i5 could be more sensible instead of the 4670?
 
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Oh I like Windows 8. 8.1 is Available now mate, it was released earlier today, in case you haven't seen.

The only difference I've really found is that the start menu fills the screen now with smarter icons rather than just being a list at the side.

That PSU is more then sufficient, any good brand 450+ would power that spec. But that Seasonic is an excellent quality unit.

Regarding the 4440, it's up to you really. It'd save you £28 and I doubt it'd make that much difference, but I think with a GPU like that you want the CPU power to go with it. I think the 4670 would cope slightly better in the future with new games.
 
oceaness said:
Oh I like Windows 8. 8.1 is Available now mate, it was released earlier today, in case you haven't seen.

The only difference I've really found is that the start menu fills the screen now with smarter icons rather than just being a list at the side.

That PSU is more then sufficient, any good brand 450+ would power that spec. But that Seasonic is an excellent quality unit.

Regarding the 4440, it's up to you really. It'd save you £28 and I doubt it'd make that much difference, but I think with a GPU like that you want the CPU power to go with it. I think the 4670 would cope slightly better in the future with new games.
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ok then thanks again for your effort man...that is a sweat spec i must say....will that psu be good for say a 7970 or a gtx680? (just wondering :))
 
Yep, it shouldn't have any trouble running any single GPU.

It's a good spec, apart from the fact it can't be overclocked, but that of course depends on your needs, and would cost more.
 
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oceaness said:
Yep, it shouldn't have any trouble running any single GPU.

It's a good spec, apart from the fact it can't be overclocked, but that of course depends on your needs, and would cost more.
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one more question if i may...do you think aftermarket cooler is necessary keeping in mind it is not ever going to be an oc system? will the intel cooler do the job for gaming? thanks
 
It will be able to, it'll just be noisy during gaming that's all.

The rest of the time, when they're idling they barely make a sound, but any kind of load and they can get pretty loud.
 
Prolimatech samuel + some silent pwm fan, akasa apache or venom, should do the job and will be quiet and much more effective. Plus its designed for small cases. Cost for both is around 45£.
 
The Samuel is better than the stock cooler but from some of the reviews I've read it's not that great considering it's a fairly expensive cooler once you add a decent fan.

The Noctua NH-L12 is also £44.99 (out of stock though) and is 93 mm with both fans and only 66 mm with just the bottom one, the Samuel for comparison would be 70 mm with a 25 mm fan. From what I've read the NH-L12 with just the bottom fan will be cooler and quieter than the Samuel 17.

Of course you have to watch ram height with both coolers.
 
Well, there are always Silverstone NT coolers, especially NT-01, because you can turn it any direction. That's an interesting one, I was considering it in my mini itx build before I decided to go for water cooling.
 
Yeah. Personally I think the CLC's are generally best for ITX builds for those who don't fancy a custom loop, due to the increased size and flexibility over a standard heatsink. Got an H80 for mine.
 
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