New mini itx build, help with spec, advice needed

[dompain2001]

hi all,
I've been a long time reader of this forum, doing a new build so thought i'll sign up, get a bit of advice.

the build items im looking at are:-

case: BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case
cpu: i5 3570 or k
cpu heatsink: i want to use my current thermalright ultra-120 extreme
motherboard: open to advice 1155 H77 or Z77, would need to fit my ultra120
ram: ?
psu: ?
hdd: ?
graphics card: up to £250 max

total price about £700 give or take.

i don't really want a all in one water cpu heatsink and i know the ultra120 might be a bit tight.

any help would be very much appreciated.
thanks
dominic

 

[snips86x]

Go for the 3570k as you can overclock it. The following should be fine for what you want, but not sure your heatsink would be up to it.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £224.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £98.99
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 530W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £66.95
1 x Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit £49.99
Total : £552.26 (includes shipping : £9.50).



Graphics card is great and will run most games on max settings. If you feel the need, you could change it for the Gigabyte model which will give you UK RMA, or the MSI one which will vent the heat out the back of the case. This would be handy for a mini-itx build with all that enclosed space.

Plextor is Intel's OEM, rival to Samsung and just as good. Firmware update will increase read/write speeds. If you can stretch to a 256gb, go for it.

Gigabyte mobo give you UK RMA. A solid & well build board

PSU - I would have gone XFX, but the 550 is out of stock. Be Quiet is just as good, but for what it's worth, the XFX & Seasonic are the best on the market.

I choose the sammy RAM as it's really low profile and due to the 30nm chips, it's incredibly power efficient. You can also overclock to 2400+.

Hope this helps!

 

[Gav_881]

Just one thing, if you plan on a decent OC go for the asrock or asus boards as that one is voltage locked