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Thread: Good mini-itx budget build?

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    Default Good mini-itx budget build?

    Hey dudes,

    Giving my PC to a friend when he gets back from Nigeria in November; During that time I've opted to make a mini-itx computer. Budget is probably around £700-800, including monitor. So far I've come up with this:



    Which comes to just under £650. The only thing I've thought about doing it switching out the R9 380 for a used MSI 970. Any other things you think I should do? I'm going to be using linux on the Intel graphics, and passing through the actual GPU to a windows vm
    Yer a wizard, 'oopi

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    Solid build.

    I love the R9 380 and for the price I paid for it, it can't be beat.

    A 600watt PSU is definitely overkill for your build, you could probably get away with 450 watt.

    I'm also building a Mini-ITX (or plan to). I recently(ish) purchased componenets for my current ATX tower that I know will be compatible with the case I want to get. I currently own the PSU and GPU.

    Case

    Silverstone SG13
    http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=536
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/SilverStone.../dp/B00T85E8P6


    GPU
    PowerColor R9 380 (4GB)
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/PowerColor-.../dp/B00ZUWDRY4

    PSU
    Corsair CS550M
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CP-.../dp/B00GN8VTVW

    The SSD will undoubtedly be the 250GB 850 EVO.

    As for the motherboard and CPU, I'm really undecided and haven't done a whole lot of research to be honest.

    RAM is whatever, I'll just get 2 sticks of 8GB.

    Also thinking of getting an Corsair AIO Liquid cooler, I know they're quitely popular for small factor cases.

    ------

    What monitor are you thinking of getting?

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    Quote Originally Posted by honeyhoney View Post
    Solid build.
    Thanks for the tips I've got an 850 evo at the moment but it died when my motherboard fried; going to send it back to Samsung if possible.

    With the i5 stock cooler and an 380 I've read that the GPU temp shouldn't go over ~50c anyway, with a 970 it should average around 35-40c. I think if I can fit the 970 in I'll get that instead, same price used as the 380 but it should have a bit more longevity in it.

    And cheers for listing the case. It sounds harder to build in, but since it's nearly 10cm smaller than the thermallake I think I'm going to buy that instead. Is the corsair cooler expensive?

    Probably something 1440p for the monitor, not sure yet. Definitely the last part that I'm bothered about though. I've had a lowly 720p 22" screen for years!
    Yer a wizard, 'oopi

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    Quote Originally Posted by anth_ View Post
    And cheers for listing the case. It sounds harder to build in, but since it's nearly 10cm smaller than the thermallake I think I'm going to buy that instead. Is the corsair cooler expensive?
    Yes, it's definitely a compact case. Because of this cable management can be an issue which tends to result in AIO/liquid cooling solutions to be preferable as air flow is definitely less than ideal in the majority of these cases.

    A lot of the temperature benchmarks you get will be from towers will significantly better airflow so take them with a pinch of salt.

    Ultimately your PC isn't going to blow up either way, but as I'm sure you know, cooler temperatures are better for the longevity of your componenets.

    Quote Originally Posted by anth_ View Post
    Probably something 1440p for the monitor, not sure yet. Definitely the last part that I'm bothered about though. I've had a lowly 720p 22" screen for years!
    I will admit, I've been fantasing about this monitor for a while... pipe dream though...
    http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/pr...u3415w-monitor


    ------

    Just a note for when you choose a GPU, whether you go red team or green team etc. it is always worth considering a blower design GPU (i.e. the main fans directly exhaust hot air rather than sucking cool air in). It's a marginal gains thing but if I could go back a few months and change which GPU I bought I'd be happy to stick with the R9 380 but I'd probably choose a blower design in view of me eventually getting the SG13 case.
    I haven't really looked into the Thermaltake V1 case but I'm pretty sure it would benefit from a blower design.

    ------

    Another note on the SG13, there's a few minor aesthetic decisions to watch out for if you decide to buy one:
    • SST-SG13B (black, mesh front panel)
    • SST-SG13B-Q (black, plastic front panel with faux aluminum finish)
    • SST-SG13WB (black&white, mesh front panel)
    • SST-SG13WB-Q (black&white, plastic front panel with faux aluminum finish)
    • SST-SG13P (pink, mesh front panel)


    Aside from color (black, white, pink) it's mainly the front panel:


    vs


    I personally can't decide between them!

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    I recently did a build; i had mostly been using laptops and was slightly out of the loop - just another excuse for another build.

    I would suggest an intel core i5 4690k - have you seen the overclock speeds (4.2Ghz). Also you would need a pro series mobo you can use to overclock.

    You may get away with a smaller PSU -(run cooler)

    <------------------>



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    Get the H110i pro from MSI also has an m2 slot (pcie only though).
    Don't get ATX PSU other then the an EVGA G2 (or P2) and the corsair RMx, can't be those in price/performance.

    Other then that I say it's all just fine. I'm no fan of the case myself, way to big imo, but it'll cool good.
    Case is 100% personal preference with current gen hardware. A single 120/140 is sufficient for most mainstream builds (quad core intel with gtx 970)

    And nvidia > amd in performance/watt, so better performance for the heat output basicly. I would suggest a 970 for just about any ITX build, or maybe one of the new 960s without 6pin (75watt cards by asus/msi)

    *edit*
    For a botting build you'll max out that cpu before you max out 8gb of ram.

    *edit #2
    Had some fun making a new partslist http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zwkCpg

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    Thanks dude. I'll definitely get that case over the Thermallake as its' smaller. I think I'd get the plain black without the mesh, but I imagine it'd be cooler with it? Oh, and those temps were with the thermallake, I was reading about it from some guy's build.

    Cheers for the tips about the GPU. I think I'll grab an MSI 970 (used) as I know it has good performance for passing through to a vm, and it's about 5mm short of the case. Wiring might be tricky

    Oh and that monitor....
    Yer a wizard, 'oopi

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    Quote Originally Posted by AFools View Post
    I recently did a build; i had mostly been using laptops and was slightly out of the loop - just another excuse for another build.

    I would suggest an intel core i5 4690k - have you seen the overclock speeds (4.2Ghz). Also you would need a pro series mobo you can use to overclock.

    You may get away with a smaller PSU -(run cooler)
    Cheers, I'll take the i5 into consideration. From what I understand Skylake is just a bit more energy efficient over haswell?
    Yer a wizard, 'oopi

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    Quote Originally Posted by Thomas View Post
    Get the H110i pro from MSI also has an m2 slot (pcie only though).
    Don't get ATX PSU other then the an EVGA G2 (or P2) and the corsair RMx, can't be those in price/performance.

    Other then that I say it's all just fine. I'm no fan of the case myself, way to big imo, but it'll cool good.
    Case is 100% personal preference with current gen hardware. A single 120/140 is sufficient for most mainstream builds (quad core intel with gtx 970)

    And nvidia > amd in performance/watt, so better performance for the heat output basicly. I would suggest a 970 for just about any ITX build, or maybe one of the new 960s without 6pin (75watt cards by asus/msi)

    *edit*
    For a botting build you'll max out that cpu before you max out 8gb of ram.

    *edit #2
    Had some fun making a new partslist http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zwkCpg
    I have seen that fractal designs' case - my brother was talking about it! He wants to get the NCASE M1 though, which with shipping etc would set him back £150-200. I'm probably going to get the silverstone case though, just for portability. From experience, carrying around a full-size tower on the tube from uni is no fun
    Yer a wizard, 'oopi

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    The M1 is great! The sg13 is about the same volume as the m1, but the M1 offers more imo.

    Have you seen the NFC S4 though? Imo that's even better but psu options are limited.

    Btw do you need a gpu? If not, have a look at the inwin Chopin

    I recently build a htpc/botting server with the jonsbo v3+, jonsbo also had nice cases.
    The osmi from Hg computers also has similar layout but is a little smaller.


    And if you want something actually portable get the skull canyon NUC?

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    Quote Originally Posted by anth_ View Post
    He wants to get the NCASE M1 though, which with shipping etc would set him back £150-200.
    Oh dude... the M1 looks great! I'd definitely choose that over the SG13 if cost wasn't an issue. As it stands though, I don't think you can beat the SG13 for value.

    Quote Originally Posted by Thomas View Post
    -snip-
    Whoa, cool suggestions man. Thanks for sharing. Although as you said, with most of these options PSU choice is limited and you have to be careful or get a silly little brick PSU. Shame they all cost such a premium

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    Quote Originally Posted by Thomas View Post
    The M1 is great! The sg13 is about the same volume as the m1, but the M1 offers more imo.

    Have you seen the NFC S4 though? Imo that's even better but psu options are limited.

    Btw do you need a gpu? If not, have a look at the inwin Chopin

    I recently build a htpc/botting server with the jonsbo v3+, jonsbo also had nice cases.
    The osmi from Hg computers also has similar layout but is a little smaller.


    And if you want something actually portable get the skull canyon NUC?
    If anything, I'll get the SG13 as it's the smallest one I've seen that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Also doubles up as heating if I get an AMD card :P Definitely going to have a GPU, as it's going to be my gaming/botting workhorse, so I won't get an NUC as well, a little bit more on the expensive side for what you get.
    Yer a wizard, 'oopi

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    I've been looking at building one of these. However, might just go with microATX due to price differences. Though if it were a mini ITX I think I'd go with the Node 202 case for its form factor.

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    Quote Originally Posted by anth_ View Post
    If anything, I'll get the SG13 as it's the smallest one I've seen that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Also doubles up as heating if I get an AMD card :P Definitely going to have a GPU, as it's going to be my gaming/botting workhorse, so I won't get an NUC as well, a little bit more on the expensive side for what you get.
    The thing I dont like about the SG13 is the wasted space in front of the psu/motherboard. Imo if you use that space for a PSU you can have bigger cpu coolers.
    Or if you do keep the psu over the motherboard you should have the case shorter, like the jonsbo v3+, or the hg computers' osmi.

    But once again it's all personal preference, once you have 1 120/140mm fan for an ITX it's plenty with average components (quad core intel and 960/970).

    Here is a good compilation of SFF cases (sub 20 liter in volume):
    http://www.overclock.net/t/1300645/o...-usff-sff-club

    I would advise against AMD for all ITX builds, due to power consumption. Perhaps even wait for 1070 prices to drop, those use even less power.

    About the NUC, the skull canyon is pretty good value imo. I might even get one if I don't go with an Inwin Chopin for my next botting server.
    The iGPU on the skull canyon should be compareable to an gtx 750, so allows for light gaming and plenty of bots.

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    Quote Originally Posted by anth_ View Post
    Hey dudes,

    Giving my PC to a friend when he gets back from Nigeria in November; During that time I've opted to make a mini-itx computer. Budget is probably around £700-800, including monitor. So far I've come up with this:



    Which comes to just under £650. The only thing I've thought about doing it switching out the R9 380 for a used MSI 970. Any other things you think I should do? I'm going to be using linux on the Intel graphics, and passing through the actual GPU to a windows vm
    Looks good, I'd switch out your ideas for GPUs with a 1070 instead, no?
    That operating system setup sounds good, more reason to use nvidia over amd in that case, unfortunately current amdgpu linux support is pretty garbage compared to nvidia though I'd say both are garbage compared to intel.

    kvm+qemu is where you're going I assume?

    I'm excited for mini stx
    The only true authority stems from knowledge, not from position.

    You can contact me via matrix protocol: @grats:grats.win or you can email me at the same domain, any user/email address.

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    Quote Originally Posted by grats View Post
    Looks good, I'd switch out your ideas for GPUs with a 1070 instead, no?
    That operating system setup sounds good, more reason to use nvidia over amd in that case, unfortunately current amdgpu linux support is pretty garbage compared to nvidia though I'd say both are garbage compared to intel.

    kvm+qemu is where you're going I assume?

    I'm excited for mini stx
    Hmm, I might save up for a 1070 if my poor arse can afford it From what I've looked at it's probably worth getting and yeah, nvidia (proprietary) drivers are tons better on linux. The thing is, it shouldn't actually be affected by that though because I'll be using windows drivers for the passed-through GPU in the VM.

    Anyways, It'll be nice to have a new pc, my one is starting to feel rather dated. And I've been dreaming for ages to not have to dual-boot, but unforunately my motherboard won't let me sort out IOMMU, or the DSDT tables are messed up.

    Yep, it's kvm+qemu!
    Yer a wizard, 'oopi

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    Quote Originally Posted by anth_ View Post
    Hmm, I might save up for a 1070 if my poor arse can afford it From what I've looked at it's probably worth getting and yeah, nvidia (proprietary) drivers are tons better on linux. The thing is, it shouldn't actually be affected by that though because I'll be using windows drivers for the passed-through GPU in the VM.

    Anyways, It'll be nice to have a new pc, my one is starting to feel rather dated. And I've been dreaming for ages to not have to dual-boot, but unforunately my motherboard won't let me sort out IOMMU, or the DSDT tables are messed up.

    Yep, it's kvm+qemu!
    your CPU supports vt-d too?
    I guess it doesn't matter, I just always take into the assumption that maybe, in the future, someone would want to use their GPU on the host machine so I prepare for that capability.
    The only true authority stems from knowledge, not from position.

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    Yeah, it's a bit of a bummer haha. GPU and CPU are fine, the mobo has IOMMU capability but the BIOS is picky.

    I doubt it, unless FROMSOFT decides to port everything to linux. The Intel HD 5300 iGFX should be more than enough to play HD movies etc!
    Yer a wizard, 'oopi

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    Quote Originally Posted by anth_ View Post
    Yeah, it's a bit of a bummer haha. GPU and CPU are fine, the mobo has IOMMU capability but the BIOS is picky.

    I doubt it, unless FROMSOFT decides to port everything to linux. The Intel HD 5300 iGFX should be more than enough to play HD movies etc!
    damn bios.. like the UEFI that got deleted when people did rm -rf /

    oh yea I guess if it's for those specific games you're probably SOL unless vulkan takes off
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    Quote Originally Posted by grats View Post
    damn bios.. like the UEFI that got deleted when people did rm -rf /

    oh yea I guess if it's for those specific games you're probably SOL unless vulkan takes off
    Yeah, the Dark Souls PC ports are pretty bad anyway, but I got 40+ fps on DS1 and DS2 on 720p (Shitty HD6770).

    I can't play DS3 at 800x600 at 15fps lol (and the graphics aren't that much better than DS2). It's not the card or drivers, just waiting for them to fix it.
    Yer a wizard, 'oopi

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    Quote Originally Posted by anth_ View Post
    Yeah, the Dark Souls PC ports are pretty bad anyway, but I got 40+ fps on DS1 and DS2 on 720p (Shitty HD6770).

    I can't play DS3 at 800x600 at 15fps lol (and the graphics aren't that much better than DS2). It's not the card or drivers, just waiting for them to fix it.
    aaaaahahahahahahah so bad
    consoles are more & more just becoming locked down pc's though so if there is a graphics API that is adopted cross platform (for real, not half assed like openGL (I just mean it's implementation not openGL itself)) we will probably see ports etc doing WAYYYY better
    The only true authority stems from knowledge, not from position.

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    Quote Originally Posted by grats View Post
    aaaaahahahahahahah so bad
    consoles are more & more just becoming locked down pc's though so if there is a graphics API that is adopted cross platform (for real, not half assed like openGL (I just mean it's implementation not openGL itself)) we will probably see ports etc doing WAYYYY better
    Yep, which brings us round to vulkan vs DX12. Personally, I see DX12 getting sidelined (and hopefully!)
    Yer a wizard, 'oopi

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    Quote Originally Posted by anth_ View Post
    Yep, which brings us round to vulkan vs DX12. Personally, I see DX12 getting sidelined (and hopefully!)
    They seem less likely to shill it and lie as much as they did in the past, with the purposeful bad implementation of openGL etc as they did pre XP to try and kill it..

    I don't think there's ever been a point in history (until now) where directX has done anything better or even equal to openGL... but they certainly whipped out AMD's zero header insane speed boosts much faster than khronos did.. unsurprisingly considering microshaft probably put millions of dollars toward them to do so.

    first time in history directX is better & first time in history it's dying in the desktop market.. I've never been laughing so hard
    The only true authority stems from knowledge, not from position.

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    seems pretty good, accept for the bronze power supply. would go platinum tho.

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