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ULTIMATE Intel Compact SLI Gaming PC Computer "How To" Build Guide

LinusTech
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This ultimate build guide focuses on size. We wanted to make a truly deadly gaming weapon that was small enough to carry around with one hand. I think given the dual GTX 780 Ti SLI nature of this beast, it's safe to say "mission accomplished"!

 

 

I'm going to list out the components as well as provide a source or two for where you can get them :)

 

I can't tell you where to buy this stuff, but I do lean towards NCIX for the Canadians (and International viewers if their pricing and shipping costs work out for you) because they're my bros, and for Americans, Brits, and a couple other regions, the Amazon links below are affiliate links, so of course every little bit helps :)

 

 

CORE COMPONENTS

 

CPU: Intel Core i7 4770K Unlocked Quad Core Processor with HyperThreading
 
SSD: Intel 530 Series 240GB SSD
 
Storage Hard Drives: WD Black 4TB
 
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.Sniper M5 mATX
Case: Bitfenix Phenom M Compact Gaming Case
Video Card: Dual EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti Reference Cards in SLI

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1esexMR

Amazon: http://georiot.co/1Wd6

 
RAM: 16GB ADATA XPG Dual Channel DDR3 Memory

NCIX: N/A

Power Supply: Be Quiet! Purepower 700W
Amazon: N/A

 

Mouse: Razer Deathadder 2013

Keyboard: Ducky Shine 3
Amazon: N/A

 

Monitor: BenQ XL2420TE 144Hz 3D Ready Gaming LCD
 
Cooling Components
 
CPU Heatsink: Be Quiet Shadow Rock 2

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1nHaf89

Amazon: N/A
 
Extra Fans: Bitfenix Spectre Pro LED Fans

 

Thank you Linus and co. I've been waiting for a while to see how to do a build like this, question tho how would you feel if the hard drives were on the rack and you put a 200mm in the bottom?

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700w might be a little to cutting it close :unsure:

I would agree, 700W ISN'T enough unless you're staying BONE STOCK, which begs why 2 780 TI's and an Unlocked I7?

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I may actually be building a similar machine soon, however I was thinking more along the lines of the SG10 with a Maximus VI GENE. If I put some Gelid FN-FW09 as well as an FN-FW12 in the side would that give good cooling to the GPUs?, or should I just go with the Phemon M and the G.1 Sniper M5 so I can space out the cards?

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I may actually be building a similar machine soon, however I was thinking more along the lines of the SG10 with a Maximus VI GENE. If I put some Gelid FN-FW09 as well as an FN-FW12 in the side would that give good cooling to the GPUs?, or should I just go with the Phemon M and the G.1 Sniper M5 so I can space out the cards?

 

Should be enough if you get referenced cooled GPUs. My top card gets to 84c while playing BF4... which is well below the max temp I set.

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Hmm, no "pre build" testing with the stock cooler?

As well, I did not see the power numbers? You said during the video somewhere you would show later that 700W would be enough.

I really do wonder how well 780 Ti's and an 4770K will do with an SSD and an HDD. I am very interested to see these numbers.. NOW! :D

 

Anyway, overall very great build guide do like it! Cheers for posting these, they are great. 

 

There was a graph on power consumption with the benchmarks. Not sure if it was under load since I skimmed that section

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There was a graph on power consumption with the benchmarks. Not sure if it was under load since I skimmed that section

 

Aha, I rechecked it and correct. 500W for a game load (far cry 3). He did not really talk about it, hence I missed it. 

NZXT Phantom windowed, Asus Z77 Sabertooth, Intel 2600K, Noctua NH-D14, EVGA 780 Classified, Crucial Ballistic Tactical, Crucial M4 128GB + Samsung 850 EVO, Corsair RM850, Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty Peripherals: Sennheiser HD598, FinalMouse Classic, SteelSeries Qck Heavy, Ducky Shine Zero (MX Brown), AOC G2460PF & Qnix QX2710

Build Log: Phantom - Antique Noctua

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how much does it all cost he didn't say or I didn't hear him say the total amount

Linus rarely, if ever, gives prices in videos.  His reason is that the videos are often viewed months or years later and the prices would have changed alot since

 

*oops, I see someone already answered this.  sorry.

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For the SSD mounted ontop of the HDD, be aware not to accidentally cover your HDD vent hole with the velcro strips.

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Very nice build guide - very good choice of components and very flexible. The only thing I'd argue would be the power supply - the pure power line is the cheapest series bequiet has to offer and I think it doesn't suit the system very well. A straight power would have been more suitable because of the SLI configuration. Personally I would have left the original fans since the thing doesn't have a window anyway but other than that it's a very nice build.

CPU: AMD R5 5600x | Mainboard: MSI MAG B550m Mortar Wifi | RAM: 32GB Crucial Ballistix 3200 Rev E | GPU: MSI RTX 2070 Armor | Case: Xigmatek Aquila | PSU: Corsair RM650i | SSDs: Crucial BX300 120GB | Samsung 840 EVO 120GB | Crucial m500 120GB | HDDs: 2x Seagate Barracuda 4TB | CPU Cooler: Scythe Fuma 2 | Casefans: Bitfenix Spectre LED red 200mm (Intake), Bequiet Pure Wings 2 140mm (Exhaust) | OS: Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit

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Should be enough if you get referenced cooled GPUs. My top card gets to 84c while playing BF4... which is well below the max temp I set.

What are the acoustics like?

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Nice video.

 

Btw my friend has a bitfenix prodigy with the side panel reversed just like in this video but the power button is facing up.

Apparently there is an easy way to rotate it upside down by unscrewing it from behind or something like that,

I don't really know the details but I'm sure it's possible.

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Anyone have a full price for this machine? (With no peripherals, monitor, keyboard, mouse ,etc)

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I have that motherboard!!!

"When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity; when many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion." - Robert Pirsig 

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I plan on building a VERY similar machine as my first build and as a Hackintosh(dual boot OS X/Windows 8.)  These are the current parts, which are ideal for a Hackintosh:

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87MX-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  
Storage: Sandisk Extreme 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  
Storage: Sandisk Extreme 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card  
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  
Case: BitFenix Phenom M Arctic White MicroATX Mini Tower Case  
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
 
Down the road I'd like to upgrade the RAM to 16gb 2133mhz.  My only really serious concern right now is the method of cooling.  I want to overclock the 4770k and the GPU but I'm worried about the limited space and what the best way of cooling is.  As my first sentence states, I'm a noob, so I'm a little stuck here.  I wish I could ask Linus but that seems unlikely so what do you guys recommend? Thanks!!

Case: NZXT H500i. Motherboard: Asus Prime Z390-A. CPU: i7 9700k OC @ 5.0GHz. GPU: EVGA 2080 FTW3 CPU Cooler: NZXT X62. Memory: G. Skill Ripjaws 32Gb 3200mhz. Storage: 1TB Samsung 840 EVO SSD /  120GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD  /  WD Caviar Black 3TB / WD Caviar Green 4TB. . PSU: Corsair AX760. Monitor: 2x Acer XB270HU. Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB. Mouse: Corsair Glaive. 

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  • 1 month later...
Posted

 

This ultimate build guide focuses on size. We wanted to make a truly deadly gaming weapon that was small enough to carry around with one hand. I think given the dual GTX 780 Ti SLI nature of this beast, it's safe to say "mission accomplished"!

 

 

I'm going to list out the components as well as provide a source or two for where you can get them :)

 

I can't tell you where to buy this stuff, but I do lean towards NCIX for the Canadians (and International viewers if their pricing and shipping costs work out for you) because they're my bros, and for Americans, Brits, and a couple other regions, the Amazon links below are affiliate links, so of course every little bit helps :)

 

 

CORE COMPONENTS

 

CPU: Intel Core i7 4770K Unlocked Quad Core Processor with HyperThreading
 
SSD: Intel 530 Series 240GB SSD
 
Storage Hard Drives: WD Black 4TB
 
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.Sniper M5 mATX
Case: Bitfenix Phenom M Compact Gaming Case
Video Card: Dual EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti Reference Cards in SLI

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1esexMR

Amazon: http://georiot.co/1Wd6

 
RAM: 16GB ADATA XPG Dual Channel DDR3 Memory

NCIX: N/A

Power Supply: Be Quiet! Purepower 700W
Amazon: N/A

 

Mouse: Razer Deathadder 2013

Keyboard: Ducky Shine 3
Amazon: N/A

 

Monitor: BenQ XL2420TE 144Hz 3D Ready Gaming LCD
 
Cooling Components
 
CPU Heatsink: Be Quiet Shadow Rock 2

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1nHaf89

Amazon: N/A
 
Extra Fans: Bitfenix Spectre Pro LED Fans

 

I want to ask you why did you bother to pack such a machine in such a small case? What's this? WHY WHY WHY? :) I want to commend you for a job because you failed, at least to me, to help me understand how to close my computer. thank you

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I want to ask you why did you bother to pack such a machine in such a small case? What's this? WHY WHY WHY? :) I want to commend you for a job because you failed, at least to me, to help me understand how to close my computer. thank you

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Some people like small form factors.

 

I'm using the same case and planning on running SLI with two Asus gtx780 dcu2 cards. However looking for a short and powerful enough psu is a bit challenging. To allow room for cpu/gpu overclocking I'm looking for a 1000w psu, but all the good ones seem to be at the 180mm mark. 850w ones like the Silverstones are 150mm but would that be powerful enough? Suggestions? Quiet is a big plus!

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  • 4 weeks later...
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If i power a 780Ti after the computer has been shutdown will anything happen to the video card?

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  • 3 months later...
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About 20 minutes in Linus talks about one graphics card being starved for air-flow (with top fans installed.....).

I am curious about the difference in temperatures and performance for sandwich's cards versus spaced cards.

Is there much of a benefit to spacing the cards?

A comparison would be awesome!
(Hey Linus, know anyone that has a computer system that they could test it in??)
 

Linus love your work. Always offer really helpful advise!

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  • 1 month later...
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LOL!

129887.jpg

 

 

Just to say LOL?

 i5 3570k @4.all over the place || CM Hyper TX3 Evo || ASRock Z77 professional-m || 8GB G.SKILL Ripjaws Z 2400mhz CL10 || MSI GTX770 2GB OC'd 1280/3825mhz || ADATA SP900 128GB || Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 || Logitech G502 || Audio Technica ATH-M50

 

A spy is always better than a ninja!See burn notice. EVERYTHING is just a number!

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I want to ask you why did you bother to pack such a machine in such a small case? What's this? WHY WHY WHY?  :) I want to commend you for a job because you failed, at least to me, to help me understand how to close my computer. thank you

It certainly beats using the R4 that's for sure. 

Our Grace. The Feathered One. He shows us the way. His bob is majestic and shows us the path. Follow unto his guidance and His example. He knows the one true path. Our Saviour. Our Grace. Our Father Birb has taught us with His humble heart and gentle wing the way of the bob. Let us show Him our reverence and follow in His example. The True Path of the Feathered One. ~ Dimboble-dubabob III

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  • 1 month later...
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First off I want to thank you for this build guide. 
I'm pretty confident I'll be using this as a base with a few alterations but I have some questions about changes I'd like to make
If you could help with some answers it would be much appreciated.

 

I'd like to use a GTX970 to start then upgrade to 2 later on instead of the 780TI combo in the video ( http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487070 )

However since I'm fairly new with this and this will be my first build I'm concerned about the following

On gigbytes website it lists the following under specs for the suggested motherboard ( http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4482#sp )

"

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16)
* For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot.
1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4)
1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8)
(The PCIEX16 and PCIEX8 slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard.)
* The PCIEX8 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16 slot. When the PCIEX8 slot is populated, the PCIEX16 slot will operate at up to x8 mode.
"
 
The concerning part is the underlined text.
Will this affect performance? It didn't look like it in the video with the 780 but I'm not sure how if it makes a difference with the 970 at all.
 
My last two alterations if you'd like to chime in possibly would be with the heat sink/ram combo.
Since over clocking likely isn't going to be a concern for me I was thinking of using the following heat sink : ZALMAN CNPS9500 ( http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118003 )
Also because of room restraints [due to the heat sync] I've opted to go with Crucial Ballistix Sport Low Profile ( http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148663 )
Any thoughts on the combo/products themselves?
 
Thanks for reading!
Any guidance is appreciated and welcome :)

 

 

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Will actually do any kind of job to get this little gem of excellent small factor gaming box. Ooh the possiblities. mmm

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  • 1 month later...
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I think it kinda makes sense to reccomend a monitor for your build but mouses and keyboards are too much of a personal choise imo. Still a great build guide!

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