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mITX build what u think?

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII IMPACT Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($227.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($128.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card  ($349.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 380T Mini ITX Tower Case  ($119.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1326.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-06 09:42 EST-0500

After a LOT of looking around at cases, mb's, psu's, etc, I have finally decided on this build to ask about.

As the title suggests. I'm open for any recommendations.

Please state what and why u think it'd be better.

(found out couldn't use a liquid cooling cpu like a h60 cuz of the tubing being too long  for the RVZ01 and I'd prefer not to use liquid cooled unless it's fully enclosed)

(The gfx card/ram is only there as a placeholder for the amount I'm willing to spend on them.)

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/zerojeremy1/saved/kkMXsY

 

It'd be a gaming rig with low form factor(so mITX only). Bang for the buck budget, $1400USD is cut off.

 

Thanks a ton in advance. Have fun xD.

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After a LOT of looking around at cases, mb's, psu's, etc, I have finally decided on this build to ask about.

As the title suggests. I'm open for any recommendations.

Please state what and why u think it'd be better.

(found out couldn't use a liquid cooling cpu like a h60 cuz of the tubing being too long  for the RVZ01 and I'd prefer not to use liquid cooled unless it's fully enclosed)

(The gfx card/ram is only there as a placeholder for the amount I'm willing to spend on them.)

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/zerojeremy1/saved/kkMXsY

 

It'd be a gaming rig with low form factor(so mITX only). Bang for the buck budget, $1400USD is cut off.

 

Thanks a ton in advance. Have fun xD.

 

 

Get a 4690K, a better cooler, less RAM (8GB is good), a bigger case if you can (I recommend the Fractal Node 304), a cheaper SSD like the 840 EVO or MX100 and a lower-wattage PSU (you're good with 500W). Also make sure to follow your topics.

Edited by Speedbird

LTT's unofficial Windows activation expert.
 

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Looks good, You can probably max out almost anything you can throw at it at 1080p.

But for gaming 16gb is overkill You wont gain much after 8gb unless you are running alot of programs or are hosting a server at the same time.

But it is up to you, If you want 16gb RAM you should have 16gb ram.

My Gaming PC

|| CPU: Intel i5 4690@4.3Ghz || GPU: Dual ASUS gtx 1080 Strix. || RAM: 16gb (4x4gb) Kingston HyperX Genesis 1600Mhz. || Motherboard: MSI Z97S Krait edition. || OS: Win10 Pro
________________________________________________________________

Trust me, Im an Engineer

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a bigger case if you can (I recommend the Fractal Node 304)

Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of mITX? Going as small as you can?

 

OP are you looking for just a generally 'small' case or more of a console-sized case? I'd take a look at the ML07 from silverstone for sure. I'm going to be building a system similar to this in the upcoming months to transport my system more frequently.

 

Other than that though I don't really have any recommendations. Looks good. If you're like me and run a ton of VM's (or want to run Hyper-V VM's at all) then you'll want 16gb of RAM and the 4790k. The only other thing that I'd recommend is getting a different SSD. The 840 evo has a huge firmware issue where read/write speeds go down to 100mb/s. I'd recommend the MX100 or V300 in its place for value oriented-SSDs.

//ccap
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Get a 4690K, a better cooler, less RAM (8GB is good), a bigger case if you can (I recommend the Fractal Node 304), a cheaper SSD like the 840 EVO or MX100 and a lower-wattage PSU (you're good with 500W). Also make sure to follow your topics.

4690K is about $80 cheaper with same socket but it doesn't clock as high and can't handle as many tasks as an i7(feels worth the extra $80 to me)

Better cooler? Such as? The case matters a lot here.

As for the case, the Node 304 was a runner up but decided against it since I didn't need all those drive bays and the psu COULD conflict with the gpu but it does have a ton of extra room for cpu cooler.

Ram was only 16GB cuz it's more than what I have now XP (games such as Landmark eat a TON of ram). But ya, just goin 8GB is half the price so I've been considering it.

Evo Pro was only $30 more(I figured it was worth the speed increase since it's the only drive). The mx100 is $50 cheaper(sizable difference there).

500W is good enough? I was afraid how much power would be used when OC'n.

 

Thanks for all the helpful info so far ;)

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Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of mITX? Going as small as you can?

 

OP are you looking for just a generally 'small' case or more of a console-sized case? I'd take a look at the ML07 from silverstone for sure. I'm going to be building a system similar to this in the upcoming months to transport my system more frequently.

 

Other than that though I don't really have any recommendations. Looks good. If you're like me and run a ton of VM's (or want to run Hyper-V VM's at all) then you'll want 16gb of RAM and the 4790k. The only other thing that I'd recommend is getting a different SSD. The 840 evo has a huge firmware issue where read/write speeds go down to 100mb/s. I'd recommend the MX100 or V300 in its place for value oriented-SSDs.

Just a small one, the smaller the better but it depends on the the clearance and features really. mITX only cuz of it's small form factor and I only need one pci-e x16.

I looked at the ML07, it's just like the RVZ01 but not as much ventilation and it's only $15 cheaper, it also seems to lack dust filters(am I wrong about any of that?)

So that's two ppl who have suggested the MX100, I'll look into that and the V300. I didn't know about the Evo's software issues, very nice to know.

Thank you for the suggestions so far.

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You might get a hard drive for some mass storage, cheaper ram, and really if gaming is all you are doing then the i5 is great and can OC to beat the clock speed difference. 

 

Here is what I would do. Leftover money for monitors or games or anything else.

 

 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.95 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i 57.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($46.99 @ Mwave) 
Motherboard: Asus Z97I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($154.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage: PNY XLR8 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($335.66 @ Newegg) 
Case: Silverstone RVZ01B Mini ITX Desktop Case  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1206.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-06 08:56 EST-0500
 
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4690K is about $80 cheaper with same socket but it doesn't clock as high and can't handle as many tasks as an i7(feels worth the extra $80 to me)

Better cooler? Such as? The case matters a lot here.

As for the case, the Node 304 was a runner up but decided against it since I didn't need all those drive bays and the psu COULD conflict with the gpu but it does have a ton of extra room for cpu cooler.

Ram was only 16GB cuz it's more than what I have now XP (games such as Landmark eat a TON of ram). But ya, just goin 8GB is half the price so I've been considering it.

Evo Pro was only $30 more(I figured it was worth the speed increase since it's the only drive). The mx100 is $50 cheaper(sizable difference there).

500W is good enough? I was afraid how much power would be used when OC'n.

 

Thanks for all the helpful info so far ;)

You won't notice the hyperthreading on the i7 unless you do video rendering. Do you stream gameplay? If yes, then you might want an i7.

8GB is fine for any game right now. Most eat only 6GB, so you have some room to spare.

It's definitely not worth the speed increase. It's still an SSD, so it's still 5x faster than a 7200 rpm hard drive. Go for the MX100, it's a very good value.

And 500W is good enough. PCPartPicker estimates 300, I usually add 50W for OC'ing. But you are not overclocking anything in this case with that cooler...

LTT's unofficial Windows activation expert.
 

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You won't notice the hyperthreading on the i7 unless you do video rendering. Do you stream gameplay? If yes, then you might want an i7.

8GB is fine for any game right now. Most eat only 6GB, so you have some room to spare.

It's definitely not worth the speed increase. It's still an SSD, so it's still 5x faster than a 7200 rpm hard drive. Go for the MX100, it's a very good value.

And 500W is good enough. PCPartPicker estimates 300, I usually add 50W for OC'ing. But you are not overclocking anything in this case with that cooler...

So like this?:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gNh33C

 

I was thinking about streaming but without an extra pci-e for a dedicated stream card, I guess that's not gonna happen.

I know the gpu is too long, I plan to use a shorter one, just dunno which yet. Possibly gigabyte's new gtx970:

http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/gigabyte-mini-itx-gtx-970-graphics-card.html

Thank you very much for the suggestions so far xD.

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So like this?:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gNh33C

 

I know the gpu is too long, I plan to use a shorter one, just dunno which yet. Possibly gigabyte's new gtx970:

http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/gigabyte-mini-itx-gtx-970-graphics-card.html

Thank you very much for the suggestions so far xD.

Yup. Would be awesome with a short GPU.

LTT's unofficial Windows activation expert.
 

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Yup. Would be awesome with a short GPU.

With the node 304 the gpu gets air directly from outside and psu gets it from the bottom. So the front two fans are only intake for the mb and cpu. Would I be able to do a double rad for the cpu cooler instead of that Hyper 212 Evo?(are those 92mm's?) Or would it be better to change out all the fans with better ones(if needed)?

With ur suggestions, I'm already saving at least $400 xD.

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With the node 304 the gpu gets air directly from outside and psu gets it from the bottom. So the front two fans are only intake for the mb and cpu. Would I be able to do a double rad for the cpu cooler instead of that Hyper 212 Evo?(are those 92mm's?) Or would it be better to change out all the fans with better ones(if needed)?

With ur suggestions, I'm already saving at least $400 xD.

Hmm, I haven't really looked into the rad locations on that case. The Hyper 212 EVO is already very good and you should get an overclock to 4.4 GHz with it. And the fans are already pretty good.

LTT's unofficial Windows activation expert.
 

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Hmm, I haven't really looked into the rad locations on that case. The Hyper 212 EVO is already very good and you should get an overclock to 4.4 GHz with it. And the fans are already pretty good.

So really just go for the no hassle route and set up with all the fans that would come with each component.

Do u suggest a different psu? Such as a shorter one? The price could go from $30-$100. I prefer semi-modular or fully modular.

 

I'd prolly still go with that i5 but is it much better than a Phenom II X4 955? I have that and my friend has some older i7(and it runs loops around mine. I also run into fps issues and I know the cpu is the bottleneck). I just don't want another bottleneck lol.

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So really just go for the no hassle route and set up with all the fans that would come with each component.

Do u suggest a different psu? Such as a shorter one? The price could go from $30-$100. I prefer semi-modular or fully modular.

 

I'd prolly still go with that i5 but is it much better than a Phenom II X4 955? I have that and my friend has some older i7(and it runs loops around mine. I also run into fps issues and I know the cpu is the bottleneck). I just don't want another bottleneck lol.

That's a good PSU, I have one in my rig. And that i5 is very good. It should perform about 10-30% better (rough estimate) than your friend's i7 depending on which one he has.

LTT's unofficial Windows activation expert.
 

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That's a good PSU, I have one in my rig. And that i5 is very good. It should perform about 10-30% better (rough estimate) than your friend's i7 depending on which one he has.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2284&cmp[]=2275&cmp[]=368

That # of samples scares me lol. But it can clock a LOT higher than the Phenom that I have now.

 

Oh I changed the psu to a gold(I plan to keep the pc on a fair bit)

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/zerojeremy1/saved/JfWmP6

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII IMPACT Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($227.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($128.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card  ($349.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 380T Mini ITX Tower Case  ($119.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1326.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-06 09:42 EST-0500

4690K // 212 EVO // Z97-PRO // Vengeance 16GB // GTX 770 GTX 970 // MX100 128GB // Toshiba 1TB // Air 540 // HX650

Logitech G502 RGB // Corsair K65 RGB (MX Red)

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.95 @ SuperBiiz)

CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($79.99 @ Amazon)

Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII IMPACT Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($227.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($84.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($128.98 @ OutletPC)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.98 @ OutletPC)

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card  ($349.99 @ Amazon)

Case: Corsair 380T Mini ITX Tower Case  ($119.99 @ Micro Center)

Power Supply: Corsair CSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $1326.85

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-06 09:42 EST-0500

Oh wow I REALLY like that case. It has ample room and it has all the stuff that doesn't really matter(for cooling at least) on the bottom.

This is a great build for sure! Way better than the Node 304 imo(304 has all that space behind the gpu to stuff cables that would look bad) at least the 380T can hide em on the bottom.

Few questions:

Why the Maximus VII instead of the Asus Z97I-Plus?

Why the 840 EVO(does it have the issues like the pro series with it's software?) How does it compare with the MX100?

Why the h80i and not something else? Could a tall rad like the Hyper 212 EVO fit in there?

Why Vengence over Ripjaws?(I have no clue lol)

 

Thanks a lot for the suggestions so far. I think ur build is WAY better than mine lol.

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Oh wow I REALLY like that case. It has ample room and it has all the stuff that doesn't really matter(for cooling at least) on the bottom.

This is a great build for sure! Way better than the Node 304 imo(304 has all that space behind the gpu to stuff cables that would look bad) at least the 380T can hide em on the bottom.

Few questions:

Why the Maximus VII instead of the Asus Z97I-Plus?

Why the 840 EVO(does it have the issues like the pro series with it's software?) How does it compare with the MX100?

Why the h80i and not something else? Could a tall rad like the Hyper 212 EVO fit in there?

Why Vengence over Ripjaws?(I have no clue lol)

 

Thanks a lot for the suggestions so far. I think ur build is WAY better than mine lol.

i chose the rog board cuz why not :P fits in the budget doesnt it?

840 > mx100. there not much different but the evo is just better imho and like i said, if its within the budget, then go for it.

h80i is a 120mm aio vs air cooler :P should help temps im guessing.

vengeance over ripjaws? idk just personal preference, in my mind there are certain things you buy when youre not restricted by price.

4690K // 212 EVO // Z97-PRO // Vengeance 16GB // GTX 770 GTX 970 // MX100 128GB // Toshiba 1TB // Air 540 // HX650

Logitech G502 RGB // Corsair K65 RGB (MX Red)

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This is the revised:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/sjW9yc

 

Is it efficient/reliable to use just the M.2 instead of an ssd? (I'm trying to cut out clutter, and using an M.2 takes out two cords)

The M.2 is there to compare to the 840 EVO.

 

What u think?

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You might get a hard drive for some mass storage, cheaper ram, and really if gaming is all you are doing then the i5 is great and can OC to beat the clock speed difference. 

 

Here is what I would do. Leftover money for monitors or games or anything else.

 

 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.95 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i 57.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($46.99 @ Mwave) 
Motherboard: Asus Z97I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($154.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage: PNY XLR8 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($335.66 @ Newegg) 
Case: Silverstone RVZ01B Mini ITX Desktop Case  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1206.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-06 08:56 EST-0500
 

 

I plan to ditch the silverstone case and use the 380T(I just really like that case)

I had a couple of questions for u:

1) Why Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory over Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory? I like the Ballistix more(low form factor) but hows the cooling and speeds compared to the Vengeance? If the Crucials are just as good, I'll grab those instead.

2) Why PNY XLR8 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive over Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive? Are they the same? Cuz the PNY is about $30 cheaper.

Thank you for helping me xD.

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I plan to ditch the silverstone case and use the 380T(I just really like that case)

I had a couple of questions for u:

1) Why Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory over Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory? I like the Ballistix more(low form factor) but hows the cooling and speeds compared to the Vengeance? If the Crucials are just as good, I'll grab those instead.

2) Why PNY XLR8 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive over Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive? Are they the same? Cuz the PNY is about $30 cheaper.

Thank you for helping me xD.

The vengence ram has the same clock speed and latency as the crucial but costs more so go forr the crucial.

No, they are different. They will preform about the same and you wont ever notice the difference but in theory the 840 is 10% or so faster. I would get the xlr8

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