Smallest / quietest possible gaming build

captainl · 7 Apr 2013 at 19:36

I want to build a small PC to go in the front room for gaming. The prodigy seems quite a popular choice, but ideally I would like something which looks like an HTPC to go on my amp and under my Sky box. But I am getting a bit lost figuring out which cases would be big enough to fit the following:

- Fast graphics card (e.g. GTX 670)
- Motherboard (mini ITX?)
- modern CPU (i5 or i7)
- 8GB ram
- SSD (around 200GB)
- Networking (ethernet only is okay - wireless not necessary)
- Sound card
- Cooling for all of the above which is as quiet as possible

Note that no optical media is required. Also note I only built and PC before and that was 5 years ago in a big case.

Are there examples of similar builds around? Can anyone give me some guidance to get me going?

Raikiri · 7 Apr 2013 at 20:57

Most cases like that tend to be fairly large or designed for use with low profile graphics cards or none at all.

One of the cube cases like the Silverstone SG-08 is about as small as you can go whilst still being able to fit a large GPU. That would be my choice as it comes with a good quality 600w PSU, quiet 180mm fan and can fit most if not all dual slot GPUs.

Edit: http://www.overclock.net/t/1306084/max15lv1-air-cooled-sg08-2500k-690gtx

Something like this, although I'm unsure of your budget:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Silverstone Sugo SG08 Case with 600w Power Supply - Black (SST-SG08B) £179.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £173.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe (Socket 1155/Intel Z77.DDR3/S-ATA 600/Mini ITX) £159.95
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD250BW) ** Cash Back Promo ** £131.99
1 x Noctua NH-C12P SE14 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £49.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £40.00
Total : £989.99 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Incrauze · 8 Apr 2013 at 08:36

Changed the motherboard to the MSI as the Gigabyte is voltage locked, changed the HD 7950 to Gigabyte as it has more fans which can push for more overclock also changed the SSD to Samsung Pro as it has better write speed,

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £259.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Samsung 256GB SSD 840 PRO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7PD256BW) ** Cash Back Promo ** £179.99
1 x MSI Z77IA-E53 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £117.95
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Arctic White £69.95
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £40.00
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
Total : £891.95 (includes shipping : £11.75).

captainl · 8 Apr 2013 at 09:58

Thanks for taking the time to do that Raikiri and Incrauze, much appreciated.

Both good suggestions, I did a bit of reviewing and I prefer the Sugo case so I would go with that. And the WF 7950 seems marginally preferable to the TFIII (as discussed here http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=23290216).

Is there anything I should be aware of when choosing beween the motherboards? One is £40 cheaper but they seem to have similar features.

Raikiri · 8 Apr 2013 at 13:05

The Asus has a much better layout for larger, low profile coolers like the Noctua that I specced for you, on the MSI I think it would get in the way of the PCI-e slot.

captainl · 8 Apr 2013 at 15:42

Cool. So I am going with your build except with the Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X.

Anything else I should consider before buying?

Novice questions: do you still need thermal paste these days? How is best to keep all the wires tidy internally?

Alasdairhurst · 8 Apr 2013 at 16:59

captainl said:
Cool. So I am going with your build except with the Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X.

Anything else I should consider before buying?

Novice questions: do you still need thermal paste these days? How is best to keep all the wires tidy internally?

Yup you need thermal paste when fitting the CPU cooler/new gpu coolers etc..
Arctic Cooling MX-4 is generally a good choice for the best cooling performance.

For the prodigy there isn't as much room for cable management as other larger cases, although you could take a look at the parvum cases as they are pretty small and have lots of room for cable management, and they use M-Atx rather than itx boards. Although it is still a good case, you could use a modular PSU to cut down on cables and give better airflow (i see there is no PSU specified in any of the previous posts

)

captainl · 8 Apr 2013 at 17:09

Alasdairhurst said:
Yup you need thermal paste when fitting the CPU cooler/new gpu coolers etc..
Arctic Cooling MX-4 is generally a good choice for the best cooling performance.

For the prodigy there isn't as much room for cable management as other larger cases, although you could take a look at the parvum cases as they are pretty small and have lots of room for cable management, and they use M-Atx rather than itx boards. Although it is still a good case, you could use a modular PSU to cut down on cables and give better airflow (i see there is no PSU specified in any of the previous posts )

I was going with the Silverstone Sugo SG08 Case with 600w Power Supply which comes with a PSU. Not sure how much room there is for cable management, but I guess not very much.

Will get some of that paste though, cheers.

Raikiri · 8 Apr 2013 at 18:42

Sounds good to me, cable management is practically non existent if it's anything like the SG-05 that I use for a HTPC, but because the PSU is designed specifically for the case excess cables will be minimal.

Remember, post pics!

Socaddict · 8 Apr 2013 at 19:19

Just a point - the 660Ti just about fits in an SG-05 if you want something as small as possible. The 450W PSU in there is fine too. Shorter in both height and length, but same width.

Gav_881 · 8 Apr 2013 at 19:29

Socaddict said:
Just a point - the 660Ti just about fits in an SG-05 if you want something as small as possible. The 450W PSU in there is fine too. Shorter in both height and length, but same width.

People have run 670's and 680's in the SG05 (7850 is the fastest card that fits for team red i think) another option for the cooler is the NT-06e that i have fits nicely under the PSU. get thumb screws for the case as the front dust filter needs cleaning at least once a month but fortnightly is better.

captainl · 8 Apr 2013 at 20:41

Gav_881 said:
People have run 670's and 680's in the SG05 (7850 is the fastest card that fits for team red i think) another option for the cooler is the NT-06e that i have fits nicely under the PSU. get thumb screws for the case as the front dust filter needs cleaning at least once a month but fortnightly is better.

Tempting for sure, but seems a bit of a risk. I googled around for people who got the 7850 in a SG05 so I could just use Raikiri's spec from above, but couldn't find much evidence of that. The Sugo site says 10 inches is the max so I figured not possible. But from your sig it looks like you did it? So this means the current 3GB versions such as those in the specs above would fit? Did you chop bits off?

Raikiri · 8 Apr 2013 at 21:52

I think some 7950 cards that don't use the standard design are slightly shorter, if I had one I would test it in my SG05 for you

captainl · 8 Apr 2013 at 23:27

So it's looking like

1 x EVGA GeF GTX 670 2GB (from another shop)
1 x Silverstone Sugo SG05 HTPC Case with 450W Power Supply - All Black ( SST-SG05BB USB 3.0) - £114.95
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £173.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe (Socket 1155/Intel Z77.DDR3/S-ATA 600/Mini ITX) £159.95
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD250BW) ** Cash Back Promo ** £131.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £40.00

Just a bit stuck on the cooler. NT-06e as Gav suggests is an option, but I'm not sure if it needs a fan or not. Someone else on the internet has a Noctua NH-L12 in there with the same motherboard. And others have the Corsair H60 in there. No idea which is the best option. More research tomorrow I guess.

Raikiri · 9 Apr 2013 at 00:45

I would still go for the SG-08, it's the same width, only 1.4cm taller and a little longer (which shouldn't matter if it's in a TV stand).

The layout, especially the top mounted 180mm fan is much better suited as there is loads more space for a larger cooler. If you do go for the SG-05 I'd get the H60 and a cheaper motherboard like the MSI as the layout is less important when using an AIO cooler.

Janesy B · 10 Apr 2013 at 17:28

captainl said:
Tempting for sure, but seems a bit of a risk. I googled around for people who got the 7850 in a SG05 so I could just use Raikiri's spec from above, but couldn't find much evidence of that. The Sugo site says 10 inches is the max so I figured not possible. But from your sig it looks like you did it? So this means the current 3GB versions such as those in the specs above would fit? Did you chop bits off?

I have a 7850 in my SG05, plenty of room.

I have the ASRock Z77E-ITX board with a Thermalright AXP-100, I'd recommend this combination. Cable management is easy, it's not TOO cramped and if you don't have an optical drive you can use that tray to hide some of the cables.

Raikiri said:
The layout, especially the top mounted 180mm fan is much better suited as there is loads more space for a larger cooler. If you do go for the SG-05 I'd get the H60 and a cheaper motherboard like the MSI as the layout is less important when using an AIO cooler.

I tried to get a H60 in my SG05, it's possible if you do away with the 3.5" drive but it's a tight fit.

captainl · 10 Apr 2013 at 18:22

Janesy B said:
I have a 7850 in my SG05, plenty of room.

I have the ASRock Z77E-ITX board with a Thermalright AXP-100, I'd recommend this combination. Cable management is easy, it's not TOO cramped and if you don't have an optical drive you can use that tray to hide some of the cables.

I tried to get a H60 in my SG05, it's possible if you do away with the 3.5" drive but it's a tight fit.

Thanks for the pics Janesy B, really helpful. When I said 7850 I actually thought I was talking about the 7950, sorry about that.

I'm really glad you mention the Asrock and the Thermalright AXP-100. After reading stuff on the internet until my eyes could take no more, I decided to go for the SG05 and also the Asrock and the AXP-100 and I ordered it today. So hearing it works for you in that case is great.

This is how it ended up:

EVGA GeForce GTX 670 FTW Signature 2 2048MB PCI-Express Graphics Card (02G-P4-3677-KR) with FREE Assassin's Creed III & FTP Currency £274.99
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £144.99
Samsung 250GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD250BW) ** Cash Back Promo ** £109.99
ASRock Z77E-ITX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £103.29
Silverstone Sugo SG05 HTPC Case with 450W Power Supply - All Black ( SST-SG05BB USB 3.0) £95.79
Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £33.33
Thermalright AXP-100 ITX & HTPC CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £33.29

Total: £968.30

Works out about the same cost as the the initial builds and is small and hopefully pretty quiet.

fizban1980 · 10 Apr 2013 at 18:45

I had 7870 in sg05, no problem to fit it in

Janesy B · 10 Apr 2013 at 20:18

captainl said:
Thanks for the pics Janesy B, really helpful. When I said 7850 I actually thought I was talking about the 7950, sorry about that.

I'm really glad you mention the Asrock and the Thermalright AXP-100. After reading stuff on the internet until my eyes could take no more, I decided to go for the SG05 and also the Asrock and the AXP-100 and I ordered it today. So hearing it works for you in that case is great.

I know your pain and I wasted many hours researching so I thought I'd save you from the same plight. When I opened the box for the AXP-100 I had a 'bloody hell, how is this going to all fit together' moment but I believe it was designed with the ASRock board in mind and it is very well put together. I have the BIOS controlling the fans to quite a low level and you can barely hear the system on idle, I have it in my bedroom about 5m from where my head is and I can fall asleep without it bothering me.

If you are going for a card longer than a 7850 I would advise getting a card with the power sockets on the long edge of the board rather than the end, makes routing the cable easier and reduces the chance of it not fitting.

As you can see there's plenty of clearance for the PCI-E slot and the heatsink overhangs the northbridge so that will get some airflow from the CPU fan.

Hero9989 · 17 Apr 2013 at 19:45

Hi,
I've just finished my most recent build. SG05 - 3770k - Asrock Z77e-itx - KFA2 670 GC OC - 16GB RAM
The GPU fits, but only just. I had to take my motherboard, ect out, put the GPU in and hold it inside the case whilst I fit the motherboard.

At the moment I'm using all stock cooling. Whilst playing Crysis 3 for a couple of hours, the CPU maxed at 63 C and the GPU at 80 C so it's perfectly fine.

That said, when stress testing the system (With both furmark and prime95 running simultaneously) the CPU actually hit 105 C (TJ MAX for this CPU is 105 C so 1 more degree and it'd shut itself down).
I have now undervolted the CPU a bit but need to look into a new cooler for the CPU (not happy with those temps, even though that was a stress test and games will never push it that hard).

I also left the HDD bay out of my case, I didn't like how much it blocked the intake fan for the case so when I've got a bit more spare cash I'm going to invest in a bigger SSD (around 250GB probably) and keep an external HDD around for when I need the extra storage.