Spec for "tiny" gaming rig

fullmetaltony

fullmetaltony

fullmetaltony

Associate
Joined
20 Oct 2010
Posts
638
Location
Suffolk
Here's a good one for you, my mate's looking at an Alienware X51, primarily because he's hopelessly under the thumb and the missus insists it must be xbox (old style, not the slim) size at the most.
So I need a spec for something tiny, with wireless kb and mouse that'll work across a living room. With the best gaming performance possible.
Needs OS but no monitor (he plans to use TV so 1080p). I'm sure you guys can spec something a lot better than a GTX 555 GPU system. The size is the tricky bit.

edit, forgot budget, lets say £900 and see what we get :)
 
Anything you can re-use from a old PC?


YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 560Ti OC Twin FrozR II 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £194.39
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £104.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT064M4SSD2) £78.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £67.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £52.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £39.98
1 x Microsoft Wireless Desktop 2000 (M7J-00020) £35.99
1 x Fractal Design Core 1000 Midi Tower Case - Black £32.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £903.74 (includes shipping : £13.75).

 
Last edited:
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE MAFIA 2 PC Game £269.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £104.98
1 x Silverstone Temjin TJ08B-E Midi Tower Case - Black £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT064M4SSD2) £78.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £67.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £52.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £39.98
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £1,014.85 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Or:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560Ti OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £104.98
1 x Silverstone Temjin TJ08B-E Midi Tower Case - Black £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT064M4SSD2) £78.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £67.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £52.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £39.98
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £924.85 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
how about something like this?

(after looking into it for another forum user, the graphics card should fit in the case with a few mm to spare, despite the stupid metal plate blocking the way for long graphics cards)


YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 560Ti OC Twin FrozR II 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £194.39
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Antec Fusion Remote HTPC Case - Black £139.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £104.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £67.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £52.99
1 x Microsoft Wireless Desktop 2000 (M7J-00020) £35.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £17.99
Total : £907.27 (includes shipping : £12.50).

as stulid has asked, if your friend has a SATA DVD drive or hard drive he could reuse it would seriously help with the budget (id be able to put 8GB RAM, a custom cooler and a PSU to cope with a second 560Ti in the spec)
obviously this isnt as good a PC as stulids suggestions, but i suspect your friends parents wont be amused when he brings back the fractal, because it is way bigger than the xbox 360. obviously the antec is bigger than the 360 as well, but at least it lies flat and doesnt look like a PC


alternatively, you could go for Cinderz route and get something like this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 560Ti OC Twin FrozR II 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £194.39
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Zotac Z68ITX-A-E Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £129.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £67.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £39.98
1 x Microsoft Wireless Desktop 2000 (M7J-00020) £35.99
1 x Samsung SN-208BB/BEBE Slimline 8x DVD±RW SATA Drive - OEM £18.98
Total : £759.29 (includes shipping : £10.00).

then find the silverstone SG08 (with 600W PSU) from elsewhere. there should be enough room in the budget to get one
 
Last edited:
Reaper 392 said:
how about something like this?

alternatively, you could go for Cinderz route and get something like this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 560Ti OC Twin FrozR II 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £194.39
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Zotac Z68ITX-A-E Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £129.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £67.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £39.98
1 x Microsoft Wireless Desktop 2000 (M7J-00020) £35.99
1 x Samsung SN-208BB/BEBE Slimline 8x DVD±RW SATA Drive - OEM £18.98
Total : £759.29 (includes shipping : £10.00).
Click to expand...

ITX boards ain't that bad and you could use a nice case like this Fractal Design itx case

Small, portable, silent and good looking with plenty of room inside for a long GPU
 
CinderzFTW said:
ITX boards ain't that bad and you could use a nice case like this Fractal Design itx case

Small, portable, silent and good looking with plenty of room inside for a long GPU
Click to expand...

there might be plenty of room for a long GPU, but there isnt room for a power supply to cope with it. like the silverstone SG06 that OcUK sells it can only fit an SFF PSU. thats why im recommending the SG08 because it can fit a full sized power supply (and pretty much every graphics card you care to mention)
 
I forgot to mention, apologies for not remembering this before, it needs to have optical out on the sound so he can run his Turtle Beach headphones.
Pleased to see the Motherboard stulid and some other specs have suggested have optical S/PDIF.
Thanks guys, I'll try and convince him now :)
 
Motherboard should be a gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3 (Has optical S/PDIF)
Case should be a Silverstone SG07/SG08 or SG05/06 as they come with a PSU but are a touch pricey.

I wouldn't go for the fractal as it is more of a NAS case and doesnt really have the space for a decent GPU. You could go to a Silverstone SG05/06 which is much cheaper and smaller but make sure you get the 450 version for the better bundled PSU.

Stay away from the Zotac Z68 ITX. Yes there is a chance that you will get a good one that will go to 5GHz but that is VERY unlikely so better to go with a board that doesn't have a track record of being DOA or BSOD after any OC.

Also if you want to see some alternatives to the X51 go here:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18364919
 
Last edited:
You may want to consider the Lian Li PC-Q08. This is a pretty small case that fits a mini-ITX board - but also can fit a ATX PSU and a large GPU (up to 300mm long). This case also has atop 120mm fan - so connecting up a liquid cooler like the Antec Kuhler 620 is a decent option.

As for the motherboard, something like the http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/pc-components/motherboards/asrock-z68m-itx-ht-1026350/review may be worth a look. Or if you aren't concerned with overclocking then a H67 mini-ITX board and slightly cheaper i5 2500 (non-K) would be a good option.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom