New small gaming rig build...

djkav

djkav

djkav

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28 Aug 2006
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This is what I got so far:

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) **FREE SHIPPING** £209.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £179.99
1 x Asus Z87I PROFESSIONAL Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini-ITX £145.99
1 x Kingston HyperX 3K SSD 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (SH103S3/120G) £74.99
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Blue £69.98
1 x BitFenix Prodigy 'Gamma' Mini-ITX Cube Case - Orange/Blue £61.55
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G1600HC9DC01) £59.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £55.99
Total : £858.47 (includes shipping : FREE).



How does it look?

Or I may swap out the cooler for:

1 x Corsair Hydro H80i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler £78.95

 
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Decided to go with this build.

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) **FREE SHIPPING** £209.99
1 x BenQ GW2760 27" Widescreen LED Flicker-Free Multimedia Slim Bezel Monitor - Black £179.99
1 x Asus Z87I PROFESSIONAL Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini-ITX £145.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4430 3.00GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £139.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H80i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler £78.95
1 x Kingston HyperX 3K SSD 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (SH103S3/120G) £74.99
1 x Seasonic G series 550w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £65.99
1 x Logitech G600 MMO Gaming Mouse - BLACK (910-003624) £64.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy 'Gamma' Mini-ITX Cube Case - Orange/Blue £61.55
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G1600HC9DC01) £59.99
Total : £1,082.41 (includes shipping : FREE).

 
If you don't need an optical drive, replace the H80 with a refurb H100i from OCUK. You'll save some money too. Should be able to fit that into the roof of the Prodigy and the 2 120mm fans that come with, put them in the front panel. Leave the exhaust 120mm open. 2x120mm in + 2x120mm out should be optimal.
 
daveip said:
If you don't need an optical drive, replace the H80 with a refurb H100i from OCUK. You'll save some money too. Should be able to fit that into the roof of the Prodigy and the 2 120mm fans that come with, put them in the front panel. Leave the exhaust 120mm open. 2x120mm in + 2x120mm out should be optimal.
Click to expand...

No i dont need the optical drive. So have the h100i push or pull on the top vent?

So the rest of the spec is ok them?
 
Push or pull doesn't really matter. Personally, I prefer pull because it's easier to get the vacuum in there to clean the dust that builds up.

Rest of the build is pretty solid. I considered getting the Z87I Pro but wanted the sound card in the ROG Impact. I assume you're working on a budget, but if you could push to a 250GB SSD, that would probably make life easier down the line as 128GB can get filled up pretty quickly if you have more than a few games + office installed.
 
Is the H100i not overkill when he has an i5 4430 which cannot be overclocked? Or can it and I am a numpty? I just assumed no 'K' meant no overclocking.
 
A refurb H100i is cheaper than the H80i and there's no harm in trying to keep his CPU as cool as possible with as little fan noise as possible, which is more easily achieved with a larger radiator surface area.

I'd be trying to build the above machine to be as quiet as I could - more easily achieved with a bigger rad.

Edit - it's also more difficult to fit push-pull in the prodigy, as the H80i is setup to be. Because of the depth of the rad + 2 fans, it would make working in the case more difficult than it already is.
 
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daveip said:
I considered getting the Z87I Pro but wanted the sound card in the ROG Impact.
Click to expand...

I missed that board in my search. Is the ROG SupremeFX audio much better than the ALC1150?

I do like a headphone amp on PC audio :)

daveip said:
I assume you're working on a budget, but if you could push to a 250GB SSD, that would probably make life easier down the line as 128GB can get filled up pretty quickly if you have more than a few games + office installed.
Click to expand...

I have a spare WD Green 3tb HDD to go into the build. So I'm not too worried about the 128gb SSD.
 
Apparently its the 2nd best "onboard" sound implementation Asus have in their current line up of motherboards
 
IMO the ROG Impact is the best mini itx board on the market atm. Jam packed full of features and the sound quality is awesome. I have one :) everything is placed so well on the board too.

Overclocks great and has some decent software included like ram disk and game first if you care about that stuff.
 
Divine Pain said:
IMO the ROG Impact is the best mini itx board on the market atm. Jam packed full of features and the sound quality is awesome. I have one :) everything is placed so well on the board too.

Overclocks great and has some decent software included like ram disk and game first if you care about that stuff.
Click to expand...

Yup I missed that board. It also has the new mSata interface too. So I'm returning my delivered board an ordered the impact. At least future updating will probably be just the CPU an GFX card.
 
lee1101 said:
Is the H100i not overkill when he has an i5 4430 which cannot be overclocked? Or can it and I am a numpty? I just assumed no 'K' meant no overclocking.
Click to expand...

Quite right. An ROG board and an h100i is a massive overspend without an overclockable CPU.
 
I'm just adding a few things that will aid future proofing.

I know some of the bits are an overkill, but they should last thru a few CPU/GPU upgrades.
 
The next time you upgrade your CPU you'll have to get a new motherboard anyway, as it will be a different socket. Spending the extra £50 to upgrade to a 4670k and overclocking it will mean you will be able to put off upgrading for a while longer.
 
I got a problem with the ROG impact board.

The headphone amp doesn't work, yes I'm using the front panel jack connected to the HD audio (a well known problem according to google). Also, I think the padding on the IO shield is preventing some connectors from fully inserting properly.

Anyone had similar, I might RMA for something different?
 
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