miniITX build

[StuiWooi]

Hello,

I have been toying with building an ITX system for... oh years now but just recently I've found myself desperate to play Stardew Valley and am struggling to wait for a hopeful console release. Most real computer tasks I do at work and for home I have a cheap-o intel based tablet, everything else is on my phone. None of the above options allow me to get my farm on.

I already have:
Bitfenix Colussus M case
Spare SSD
PSU (do ITX take 'normal' ones?)

I'm currently thinking of adding:
AMD APU (because I have intel in the tablet)
MSI A88XI mobo
Avexir Green RAM

And this is where I run into... well, my brain! I can get double the amount of RAM at a faster speed for the same price (Kingston HyperX Beast) but then I'd have to get a different motherboard because the MSI only supports 2133MHz. From here I devolve into worrying about getting best performance for cost and I no one I know in real life would have a clue what I'm talking about so... Thoughts?

 

[StuiWooi]

I was looking at https://www.overclockers.co.uk/avex...l-memory-kit-avd3u21331104g-2c-my-044-ar.html because the green lights would match the case. Avexir seem to do bigger sizes and faster speeds just not in green

I was going to pair with a 7850K and noticed the upper A10s support 2400MHz of which either of these are the same price but 16GB rather than 8GB:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/king...al-channel-kit-hx324c11t3k2-16-my-129-ks.html
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...-channel-memory-kit-cmy16gx3m2-my-384-cs.html

What makes 2133 the sweet spot? 8 vs 16 may make no appreciable difference it's more that I feel like I'm being fleeced I guess...

 

[StuiWooi]

Wow now that's a post, thanks! From what I gather maybe avoid ASRock here, I did see the mobo you mention elsewhere but I don't think OcUK stock it (currently).

I realise I didn't mention it but I am aware the impending Zen upgrades but as I said I really wanted to play Stardew, weekend boredom! Infact I decided to buy it and see if it would run on my table because I think I remember reading that steam introduced a refund policy if it didn't and what do you know it's fine! I mean it hardly has exacting minimum spec but I'm still a little surprised.

Anyways I guess less pressure to build now and I'll go back to keeping my eye on things but to answer your question I do have the ITX Colussus M, made sure of that bit. I'm also aware that you can run these sort of systems on very low power (but didn't know about the 7860's lower TDP, which I do find appealling) however the PSU I have going is a Nox Krypton 800W which if you go and look at might see a theme starting to emerge... I realise it's overkill and would be hot but it's something that could be exchanged later (I note bitfenix have braided cable sets for certain brands which have obvious appeal). As for cooler I was going to run stock and when I felt like it upgrade to the Raijintek Trition AIO because the case has a 240 opening at the top which would be perfect - also, you know, can dye it green.

The real driving force is that I really like the avexir RAM but as I mention I've been thinking about this for a while and have watched their green offerings dwindle in a fashion that usually indicates to me they're being phased out. I guess that would take away my dilemma but at the same time I think I'd be gutted to have missed out. Red/blue/white only in DDR4 for example speaking of RAM though you say the next speed up would be a very small performance increase but what about twice as much of it? As for the diminishing returns it's not like I'd be paying over the top to get it, as mentioned it's the same price. Do you get on alright with 8GB?

My budget is a very nebulous amount depending on how much I like certain things but I think if I spent much more than the equivalent of £100 on each piece I'd feel really guilty as I hardly need any of it. That being said if I got into PC gaming more I may be willing to drop several hundred on a graphics card, I've noted you can get stubbie R9s.