Tips and recommendations for mini ITX build?

[RyanTH98]

I've built multiple systems before , but not mini itx. Are there any big differences or tips you guys can tell me before I plan to build one for my friend?

 

The main use would be: Gaming, school work, and web browsing.  Budget is $1000 USD.

 

As for the case I'm pretty sure we're going with this one:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119286

 

As for the GPU I'm thinking:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127772

 

As for the other parts I'm not really sure of. Any recommendations would be awesome!

 

[Arty]

I've built multiple systems before , but not mini itx. Are there any big differences or tips you guys can tell me before I plan to build one for my friend?

 

The main use would be: Gaming, school work, and web browsing.  Budget is $1000 USD.

 

As for the case I'm pretty sure we're going with this one:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119286

 

As for the GPU I'm thinking:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127772

 

As for the other parts I'm not really sure of. Any recommendations would be awesome!

use the small 970

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5252#ov

[Krytopsy]

Gigabyte is about to release a GTX 970 mini-ITX from factor.

[Krytopsy]

In that case, a full-fledged is a better solution this CM case have enough room for it and enough air intake to feed 2 fans GPU card.

[hawaiims]

I've built multiple systems before , but not mini itx. Are there any big differences or tips you guys can tell me before I plan to build one for my friend?

 

The main use would be: Gaming, school work, and web browsing.  Budget is $1000 USD.

 

As for the case I'm pretty sure we're going with this one:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119286

 

As for the GPU I'm thinking:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127772

 

As for the other parts I'm not really sure of. Any recommendations would be awesome!

All depends on your budget and what parts you already have (including peripherals, monitor etc..)

 

For itx builds, all you really need to know is to know the case's size limitations as far as GPU length, CPU coolers etc.. When assembling compared to a regular ATX case, it might take a bit more time because there is usually NO cable management in ITX cases. You'll probably want to use zip ties to tidy it up as much as possible.

 

The elite 130 is a great budget itx case, but there is absolutely no reason to go for that short MSI 760 because the case supports the longest of GPUs. You can spend just as much and get a longer card with a much better cooler or even a better GPU.

 

Those mini 760s are only for the smallest of itx cases that can't support longer graphics cards. 

[RyanTH98]

All depends on your budget and what parts you already have (including peripherals, monitor etc..)

 

For itx builds, all you really need to know is to know the case's size limitations as far as GPU length, CPU coolers etc.. When assembling compared to a regular ATX case, it might take a bit more time because there is usually NO cable management in ITX cases. You'll probably want to use zip ties to tidy it up as much as possible.

 

The elite 130 is a great budget itx case, but there is absolutely no reason to go for that short MSI 760 because the case supports the longest of GPUs. You can spend just as much and get a longer card with a much better cooler or even a better GPU.

 

Those mini 760s are only for the smallest of itx cases that can't support longer graphics cards. 

As far as I know the only peripheral that is needed is a mechanical keyboard. Also are there any PSU's you would recommend for this kind of case?

[RyanTH98]

Gigabyte is about to release a GTX 970 mini-ITX from factor.

Do you know when it is going to me released? Also how much is it going to cost?  The budget is $1000. I plan to get this built with the Black Friday deals coming up in NOvember.

[hawaiims]

As far as I know the only peripheral that is needed is a mechanical keyboard. Also are there any PSU's you would recommend for this kind of case?

 PSUs are the one thing you have to be careful of with ITX builds. The elite 130 however does not have issues with regular sized PSUs

[hawaiims]

I've built multiple systems before , but not mini itx. Are there any big differences or tips you guys can tell me before I plan to build one for my friend?

 

The main use would be: Gaming, school work, and web browsing.  Budget is $1000 USD.

 

As for the case I'm pretty sure we're going with this one:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119286

 

As for the GPU I'm thinking:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127772

 

As for the other parts I'm not really sure of. Any recommendations would be awesome!

At a $1000 budget, here is definitely what I would recommend for a <$1000 itx build with the reason behind each part:

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($188) (Cheapest haswell refresh i5. You won't be OC'ing much if at all with itx and the price difference from the unlocked i5s is not worth it at all. 4460 is about as fast as an unlocked stock i5 such as the 4690k)

CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS8900 Quiet CPU Cooler  ($27) (will go over it when I talk about the case)

 

Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($83) (great motherboard and currently selling for very cheap with a rebate. Z97 is pointless if you don't have an unlocked processor. Even has onboard AC wifi!)

 

Memory: Team Elite 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($63) (great cheap RAM. Price is excellent and it's a better idea to go with 1x8GB for itx because you only have 2 slots so going 2x4Gb would limit potential future upgrades)

 

Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($110) (best $/GB for a good SSD at the price point. Other excellent alternative would be the Vector 460 currently selling for a very good price at newegg)

 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($350) (fantastic card. Any brand would do as long as it's not a crappy blower style cooler. EVGA, MSI, Zotac, Gigabyte you name it)

 

Case: Silverstone ML07B HTPC Case  ($69.99 @ Amazon) (great case that is the same as the RVZ01 but looks better and for some reason is selling for very cheap on amazon. If you want ITX this is the holy grail in terms of size. It's the tiniest itx case that will fit

long GPUs and still not cost a ton. With this case you could literally put your desktop in your backpack. The CPU cooler CNPS8900 is strongly recommended because it's the best cheap CPU cooler under the 70mm CPU cooler height limit for this case)

 

Power Supply: Silverstone 450W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply  ($69 ) (SFX PSU is necessary for this build. This is the best one in this price range and 450W will be plenty enough for this build

 

Total: $958.83

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 19:46 EDT-0400

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zYFFYJ

 

Frankly I would recommend this much more than the elite 130 if you plan on transporting your itx build to a friend's house and all that. The elite 130 is too large for that unless you put it in a suitcase. If you won't be carrying it much though I can recommend a build that's a little different using the elite 130

 

Mechanical keyboard isn't worth it if you have a max $1000 budget including everything. I have a CM Storm quickfire rapid with mx blues but frankly I don't think it's worth using 10% of your budget just for a keyboard when it's much better spent on other components. Maybe further down the line when you save some more money you could go for a mechanical keyboard. Right now there are no good deals for mech keyboards anyway so it's not worth buying. 

[RyanTH98]

At a $1000 budget, here is definitely what I would recommend for a <$1000 itx build with the reason behind each part:

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($188) (Cheapest haswell refresh i5. You won't be OC'ing much if at all with itx and the price difference from the unlocked i5s is not worth it at all. 4460 is about as fast as an unlocked stock i5 such as the 4690k)

CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS8900 Quiet CPU Cooler  ($27) (will go over it when I talk about the case)

 

Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($83) (great motherboard and currently selling for very cheap with a rebate. Z97 is pointless if you don't have an unlocked processor. Even has onboard AC wifi!)

 

Memory: Team Elite 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($63) (great cheap RAM. Price is excellent and it's a better idea to go with 1x8GB for itx because you only have 2 slots so going 2x4Gb would limit potential future upgrades)

 

Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($110) (best $/GB for a good SSD at the price point. Other excellent alternative would be the Vector 460 currently selling for a very good price at newegg)

 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($350) (fantastic card. Any brand would do as long as it's not a crappy blower style cooler. EVGA, MSI, Zotac, Gigabyte you name it)

 

Case: Silverstone ML07B HTPC Case  ($69.99 @ Amazon) (great case that is the same as the RVZ01 but looks better and for some reason is selling for very cheap on amazon. If you want ITX this is the holy grail in terms of size. It's the tiniest itx case that will fit

long GPUs and still not cost a ton. With this case you could literally put your desktop in your backpack. The CPU cooler CNPS8900 is strongly recommended because it's the best cheap CPU cooler under the 70mm CPU cooler height limit for this case)

 

Power Supply: Silverstone 450W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply  ($69 ) (SFX PSU is necessary for this build. This is the best one in this price range and 450W will be plenty enough for this build

 

Total: $958.83

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 19:46 EDT-0400

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zYFFYJ

 

Frankly I would recommend this much more than the elite 130 if you plan on transporting your itx build to a friend's house and all that. The elite 130 is too large for that unless you put it in a suitcase. If you won't be carrying it much though I can recommend a build that's a little different using the elite 130

 

Mechanical keyboard isn't worth it if you have a max $1000 budget including everything. I have a CM Storm quickfire rapid with mx blues but frankly I don't think it's worth using 10% of your budget just for a keyboard when it's much better spent on other components. Maybe further down the line when you save some more money you could go for a mechanical keyboard. Right now there are no good deals for mech keyboards anyway so it's not worth buying. 

Thanks for the list!   Would it be possible to just use the stock heatsink? or would that be to tall?

[hawaiims]

Thanks for the list!   Would it be possible to just use the stock heatsink? or would that be to tall?

no stock heatsink would work great. Just that it's noisy on load (when gaming for example)

 

If it's hot inside your room it might also throttle so the investment in an aftermarket cooler might be worth it

 

Personally I have been using the stock intel cooler in my itx build for 2 years now and it works fine. Temps to get a little high for my liking however. 

[RyanTH98]

no stock heatsink would work great. Just that it's noisy on load (when gaming for example)

 

If it's hot inside your room it might also throttle so the investment in an aftermarket cooler might be worth it

 

Personally I have been using the stock intel cooler in my itx build for 2 years now and it works fine. Temps to get a little high for my liking however. 

 

no stock heatsink would work great. Just that it's noisy on load (when gaming for example)

 

If it's hot inside your room it might also throttle so the investment in an aftermarket cooler might be worth it

 

Personally I have been using the stock intel cooler in my itx build for 2 years now and it works fine. Temps to get a little high for my liking however. 

Awesome! Thanks so much for your help.  

[hawaiims]

Awesome! Thanks so much for your help.  

no problem, let me know if you have any trouble!

[TheProfosist]

Please check out my Chibi PC build linked in my Sig for some ideas when you get a chance. I think the most important thing is finding a case that you like that fits your needs.