Hi all,
OK, first off appologies.
Firstly i'm a bit of a noob.
Sorry if theres a proper place for newbie questions or dedicated guides to building basic gaming rigs, but i thought as m-itx is a bit specialised i'd post here first.
I built a gaming rig about 5 years ago. E2180, 2GB ram, ati rad 3850.
But since then i've totaly lost pace with hardware. SSD and sandybridge is all new to me.
Anyway.
I've always been interested in building a m-itx gaming rig. Small, quiet, different. And nows the time to builda new system for BF3, GTA V if and when it arrives.
But im a bit unsure as to what components to go with.
So was wanting some advice if you dont mind.
I have set aside approx £600 - £700
Mostly for gaming, would like high settings. Also possible HTPC, downloading trash and using USB tv decoder to record stuff.
Reasonable futureproof. I know £600 isnt a lot to make a futureproof rig but i would like to get a good 3/4 years out of it before updating anything major.
CPU : i5 2500k
Seems best bang for buck at the moment?
K for overclocking is not greatly needed as from what i gather overlocking is rather limited on m-itx boards, unless the latest chipsets have helped matters?
CPU cooler: ?
If overclocking on itx boards is limited then is a stock cooler sufficient or does the small size of itz cases mean aftermarket cooling is a good idea.
If overclocking is possible on newer boards whats a cheap but good ocking cooler that also fits in a confined space?
Mobo: ?
To much choice?!
Seems to Asus, Gigabyte and Zotac are the main players.
Am i right in saying Z68 chipsets the latest and offer a degree of overclocking?
Onboard Wi-Fi on the Asus and Zotac seems nice.
Otherwise, that do people recommend?
RAM: ?
Again, to much choice?!
It seems most m-itx boards only take upto 1333Mhz and 8GB - 12GB so these are the limiting factors. But so many brands? Whats hot and whats not?
GPU: ATI 3870 or GTX 560
Not put to much thought into this yet. It seems lots of itx gamers rave about the 3850 / 70 being great bang for buck. GTX 560 seems its counterpart?
But then looking through builds on here there are people putting all manner of big cards in itx cases, is the sky the limit?
Storage: ?
I have some old IHDs which i could use, but no doubt slow and noisy by modern standards. It seem the thing to do now is have a 1TB IHD and a smaller SSD with Windows on for super fast load times? Really necessary?
Case: ?
Worlds your oyster i guess. Lots of Lian Li, SilverStone, Sugo etc cases. Its just a matter of whether the GPU fits?
1 other queary. What are the pros and cons of Shuttle barebones systems? They seem to offer more features than standard itx mobos. What are the relative pros of building a system from scratch instead?
So, any advice greatly appreciated. I know its a lot to ask.
Thanks!
Graham
OK, first off appologies.
Firstly i'm a bit of a noob.
Sorry if theres a proper place for newbie questions or dedicated guides to building basic gaming rigs, but i thought as m-itx is a bit specialised i'd post here first.
I built a gaming rig about 5 years ago. E2180, 2GB ram, ati rad 3850.
But since then i've totaly lost pace with hardware. SSD and sandybridge is all new to me.
Anyway.
I've always been interested in building a m-itx gaming rig. Small, quiet, different. And nows the time to builda new system for BF3, GTA V if and when it arrives.
But im a bit unsure as to what components to go with.
So was wanting some advice if you dont mind.
I have set aside approx £600 - £700
Mostly for gaming, would like high settings. Also possible HTPC, downloading trash and using USB tv decoder to record stuff.
Reasonable futureproof. I know £600 isnt a lot to make a futureproof rig but i would like to get a good 3/4 years out of it before updating anything major.
CPU : i5 2500k
Seems best bang for buck at the moment?
K for overclocking is not greatly needed as from what i gather overlocking is rather limited on m-itx boards, unless the latest chipsets have helped matters?
CPU cooler: ?
If overclocking on itx boards is limited then is a stock cooler sufficient or does the small size of itz cases mean aftermarket cooling is a good idea.
If overclocking is possible on newer boards whats a cheap but good ocking cooler that also fits in a confined space?
Mobo: ?
To much choice?!
Seems to Asus, Gigabyte and Zotac are the main players.
Am i right in saying Z68 chipsets the latest and offer a degree of overclocking?
Onboard Wi-Fi on the Asus and Zotac seems nice.
Otherwise, that do people recommend?
RAM: ?
Again, to much choice?!
It seems most m-itx boards only take upto 1333Mhz and 8GB - 12GB so these are the limiting factors. But so many brands? Whats hot and whats not?
GPU: ATI 3870 or GTX 560
Not put to much thought into this yet. It seems lots of itx gamers rave about the 3850 / 70 being great bang for buck. GTX 560 seems its counterpart?
But then looking through builds on here there are people putting all manner of big cards in itx cases, is the sky the limit?
Storage: ?
I have some old IHDs which i could use, but no doubt slow and noisy by modern standards. It seem the thing to do now is have a 1TB IHD and a smaller SSD with Windows on for super fast load times? Really necessary?
Case: ?
Worlds your oyster i guess. Lots of Lian Li, SilverStone, Sugo etc cases. Its just a matter of whether the GPU fits?
1 other queary. What are the pros and cons of Shuttle barebones systems? They seem to offer more features than standard itx mobos. What are the relative pros of building a system from scratch instead?
So, any advice greatly appreciated. I know its a lot to ask.
Thanks!
Graham
