MITX Build! Big things, small package.

[LostPhil]

Hi all,

After my initial post, I decided to leave it as I couldn't afford it unfortunately. However, I'm currently planning a build in case the next gen consoles fail to impress me enough to pick one of them up. Here's a summary of what I want to acheive.

The build must be:
- Small. I have a Denon DM-38 stereo which will sit either under or on top of the build and I'm aiming for a similar width. Dimensions to come.
- Good quality. I'd rather trade a little power to get a good quality build. Currently only looking at Lian Li and Silverstone cases and I don't want it to feel like a DIY job as it would be kicking around for quite a while.
- Quiet. While silent isn't likely, low noise is preferable as it will sit on top of my desk and may be used as a server or HTPC in the future.
- Powerful enough to play current games at good settings at 1080p and hopefully future games smoothly for a couple of years. It will also be used for video encoding, photoshop and general browsing.

Budget at the moment is around £800 and this will likely come down if gaming becomes less of a priority. This is without OS, monitor and peripherals as I've already got these. I also have access to 8gb of 2133Mhz DDR3 for £35 off of a friend.

I'm currently waiting on Kaveri and the new consoles so this is a very pre-emptive spec and the situation is likely to change as time goes by. That and I may choose to spend the money on life changing trips over gaming

Phil

 

[LostPhil]

Please delete!

 

[LostPhil]

I'm revisiting this as my friend wants to buy my laptop from me, so I'm speccing up something to replace it. I'll probably ask for £550 from him so I'd like that to cover the majority of the build without the graphics card, which I may leave out for now if it seems as though the new AMD cards will be better performance for the same money:

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795F3G2M) £179.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4570 3.20GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £161.99
1 x Silverstone Sugo SG05 HTPC Case with 450W Power Supply - All Black ( SST-SG05BB USB 3.0) £114.95
1 x Gigabyte Z87N-WIFI Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £113.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £84.95
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £50.99
Total : £720.35 (includes shipping : £11.25).



How does this look? I'll probably pick up the RAM from my friend if it's compatible and I have an external DVD writer.

Three questions:
CPU - I loved the performance of my 3570k in my last desktop and I assume the processor specc'd has roughly the same performance? I didn't overclock that and I'm not going to be overclocking this.
Cooler - Is an aftermarket cooler going to help noise levels/temperature in this build? The stock cooler was OK in my old TJ-08 but this is a more exposed case.
Graphics card - Is it likely that the price of the rebadged 7950 will go up when the new cards are released? This is pretty much the maximum I'm looking to spend on a card and I'd rather stick to AMD - I'd get an AMD processor, alas nothing comparable in M-ITX without waiting for the new APUs.

Thanks guys

 

[Doomedspeed]

How does this look?

I like it, the SG05 is one of my favourite ITX cases (followed by the rest of silverstones range.

I would make a few changed though, see below:

CPU - I loved the performance of my 3570k in my last desktop and I assume the processor specc'd has roughly the same performance? I didn't overclock that and I'm not going to be overclocking this.

It will have similar performance. You should use the turbo boosts though, free performance without risking anything.

I'd go the i5-4440.. Its only £144, saving £18. . Same performance

Cooler - Is an aftermarket cooler going to help noise levels/temperature in this build? The stock cooler was OK in my old TJ-08 but this is a more exposed case.

It should be fine.. Though id do like aftermarket coolers.

Graphics card - Is it likely that the price of the rebadged 7950 will go up when the new cards are released? This is pretty much the maximum I'm looking to spend on a card and I'd rather stick to AMD - I'd get an AMD processor, alas nothing comparable in M-ITX without waiting for the new APUs.

Not sure, would like to say yes but sub £200 for 7950 is a super cracking deal.

 

[LostPhil]

I like it, the SG05 is one of my favourite ITX cases (followed by the rest of silverstones range.

It seems like a great case for the money with the PSU included and all!

I actually wanted to go for a Lian Li PC-Q25 plus the Silverstone modular SFX PSU but it's just way too much for my budget...

It will have similar performance. You should use the turbo boosts though, free performance without risking anything.

I'd go the i5-4440.. Its only £144, saving £18. . Same performance

Thanks! I'll have a look into the Turbo boosts and money saved makes me happy (I work as an accountant... Yeah..)

Duly noted on the graphics card and cooler; I can always change the cooler if neccessary, I don't mind getting my hands dirty.

 

[joelk2]

as much as i love ocuk and want to buy everything through them you can get the SG05 and SFX modular psu from elsewhere (both from same place) for £113.

thats the route im going to go and then everything else through ocuk.

also if you're not going to overclock and your not getting a K cpu then why not downgrade the Mobo to something not in the z series (would save you a nice wedge)

 

[Doomedspeed]

as much as i love ocuk and want to buy everything through them you can get the SG05 and SFX modular psu from elsewhere (both from same place) for £113.

The SG05 + 450W PSU is only £!15 on OCUK..

also if you're not going to overclock and your not getting a K cpu then why not downgrade the Mobo to something not in the z series (would save you a nice wedge)

I would have suggested that also but the only sub £100 ITX board for Haswell is an Asrock, and im not keen on Asrock motherboards.

 

[joelk2]

The SG05 + 450W PSU is only £!15 on OCUK..
with a bronze non modular.

£113 i was quoting includes the 450w Gold modular one.

 

[LostPhil]

I will have a look at the other sites but as it's free delivery here, there is less incentive. However, if there's the H87 version of the gigabyte board for considerably less then I'll have to weigh up those options - it's out of stock here which is why I haven't specced it.

 

[Bane]

I vaguely remember reading that the Silverstone 450W modular PSU interferes with an optical drive, if you decide to add one at a later date. As the modular connections add extra depth to PSU so requires PSU installed in specific orientation (can't remember if PSU fan facing up or down).

Also if you go for the bare case (no PSU), it lacks a PSU brace. Not a issue unless you decide to post your system somewhere or do lots of travelling via public transport were the added support to keep PSU held in position would be beneficial.

 

[LostPhil]

Thanks Bane, very useful info.

To be honest, I was looking at that PSU mostly for the Lian Li case mentioned earlier; that case can take ATX PSUs but struggles with longer/modular ones so thought the Silverstone part would be the perfect part for a nice clean build. However, I'll probably stick with the included PSU in this build, especially with the issues you highlighted!

EDIT: Looks like I can get my old Sapphire HD 4670 Ultimate card (passive - bonus!) back off of a friend so at least that will keep me tided over for my old games until I decide to splash out on a new graphics card.

Now to negotiate a price for my laptop...

 

[yannis76]

what about the noise with this build?