$2000 Mini ITX Build

[jtmoseley]

Budget (including currency): $2000 give or take a few hundred

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: gaming, basic content creation, photo/video editing

Other details: ITX for college

 

I'm going to college next year and I'm going to be building a new mini itx setup. I will be purchasing these parts in september or so, so let's act like everything is MSRP. Hopefully...

 

I just sold my old computer, which is in my signature right now. I should get around 2000 from it when all is said and done. I need some advice for a mini itx build in 2021. Obviously this is a high end machine, and I gotta say I'm tempted to do a custom loop. I did a CPU only loop on my last build and quite enjoyed it. With that said, it does seem difficult to plan this for an itx build. I would be using soft tubing and compression fittings so I feel like it would still be fairly portable. As far as the loop goes, I have leftover fittings and tubing so it wouldn't be that expensive.

 

Anyways, any advice would be appreciated. I want to emphasize quietness on this build while still enjoying a small footprint of a mini itx case.

Basic part list potentially:

5800x

b550

3080 or 3070 (do waterblocks for 3070's exist?)

32GB ram

 

 

[Arrogath]

17 minutes ago, jtmoseley said:

3080 or 3070 (do waterblocks for 3070's exist?)

so best of luck with the GPU hunt. 3070 waterblocks do exist, there are also GPU that you can buy with a preinstalled EK block built by Asus

[jtmoseley]

Just now, Arrogath said:

so best of luck with the GPU hunt. 3070 waterblocks do exist, there are also GPU that you can buy with a preinstalled EK block built by Asus

I already got a 3070 back in november I just sold it because I won't be in the country all summer. I think I can source one hopefully by september. 

 

What do you think about itx cases that would be good for watercooling? 

[Arrogath]

1 minute ago, jtmoseley said:

What do you think about itx cases that would be good for watercooling? 

011 dynamic mini is a pretty interesting new entry... unless you want to build in an extra cramped case

[jtmoseley]

Just now, Arrogath said:

011 dynamic mini is a pretty interesting new entry... unless you want to build in an extra cramped case

I think that is currently the #1 case I'm considering although it seems kind of large for an itx case. I wish I could see it in person...

[Arrogath]

1 minute ago, jtmoseley said:

it seems kind of large for an itx case

it is quite large for an itx case, you can just look at the specs and use a tapemeasure to get a good feel for the space it takes up. I guess you could look at the TU 150 as well... it just doesn't lend itself as nicely to watercooling

[machin3gir1]

Are you sure you want to go 3070 or 3080 at this price point?

Even kinda optimising what you've set out there's still not much room for watercooling in term of price from what I could make on pcpartpicker

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor	$248.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock B550M-HDV Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$73.50 @ Amazon
Memory	Silicon Power XPOWER Turbine 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$67.48 @ Newegg
Storage	Team MP33 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$94.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	MSI GeForce RTX 3070 8 GB VENTUS 3X OC Video Card	$1399.99 @ Monoprice
Case	Cougar MG130-G MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$48.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Thermaltake Smart BX1 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$64.98 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$1998.91
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-03-27 22:10 EDT-0400

 

[machin3gir1]

I'd recommend more like a 2070 super or 2080 super for $2k. They've also been out for longer so you're more likely to find waterblocks for those cards.

Maybe even look on the used market, body is going to call you some 'pc peasant' for getting a used card for a great price

[jtmoseley]

8 minutes ago, Mounika said:

I'd recommend more like a 2070 super or 2080 super for $2k. They've also been out for longer so you're more likely to find waterblocks for those cards.

Maybe even look on the used market, body is going to call you some 'pc peasant' for getting a used card for a great price

I just sold a 3070 with the intention of rebuying it when stock normalizes in september ish when college starts. I won't be buying a non 30 series GPU.

 

I got a 3070 originally back in november anyways for msrp on newegg. It just took religious refreshing for a week straight but I'm pretty confident I could do it again.

 

For the sake of a parts list pretend like you can get a 3070 with a waterblock for 700 and a 3080 with a waterblock for 900.

[machin3gir1]

4 minutes ago, jtmoseley said:

I just sold a 3070 with the intention of rebuying it when stock normalizes in september ish when college starts. I won't be buying a non 30 series GPU.

 

I got a 3070 originally back in november anyways for msrp on newegg. It just took religious refreshing for a week straight but I'm pretty confident I could do it again.

 

For the sake of a parts list pretend like you can get a 3070 with a waterblock for 700 and a 3080 with a waterblock for 900.

Ah, that makes more sense now

Maybe go for the 5600x or 3800x instead of a 5800x to save a buck though, they aren't too far off in terms of performance

[jtmoseley]

35 minutes ago, Mounika said:

Ah, that makes more sense now

Maybe go for the 5600x or 3800x instead of a 5800x to save a buck though, they aren't too far off in terms of performance

I also just sold a 3900x so I won't be downgrading in that respect. I know I want 5000 series but 6 cores is meh

[SFFDesigns]

In terms of case, try to snag a FormD T1 I'd say. 9.5L, great for watercooling and 3-slot GPUs fit too

[jtmoseley]

1 hour ago, Hymenopus_Coronatus said:

In terms of case, try to snag a FormD T1 I'd say. 9.5L, great for watercooling and 3-slot GPUs fit too

I very much like that case... I will look into this.

[js5836]

Just wanted to throw out another case recommendation, totally different from the FormD T1 mentioned earlier, the SSUPD Meshilicious, made by a daughter company of lian li. There probably won’t be a way to water cool in this case, the desk footprint is very small, and it comes with mesh just about everywhere, so temps will be decent for an itx case.

[Fraya]

if you have time and want a custom case, look into Parvum cases, they will also make to the size you want. 

for GPU's your going to use a lot of the budget on that because right now so expensive.  

you might be able to go for a full on AMD setup for the CPU & GPU. (value for money + performance) 

 

[jtmoseley]

On 3/28/2021 at 6:14 PM, Fraya said:

if you have time and want a custom case, look into Parvum cases, they will also make to the size you want. 

for GPU's your going to use a lot of the budget on that because right now so expensive.  

you might be able to go for a full on AMD setup for the CPU & GPU. (value for money + performance) 

 

I very much like parvum cases I think I'll consider those in my final list.

[jtmoseley]

On 3/28/2021 at 1:27 AM, _DeXTeR_ said:

B550 cost around 200$

32GB RAM cost also around 200$

Ryzen 7 5800x cost 480$

3080 cost around 1000$

PC case

Power Supply SSD-s Fans and you already broke your bank limit. Prices are from Newegg

itx b550s can be found as low as 130, plus I can go used market to cut it down further.

32gb ram can be found for 160 ish for 2x16gb 3200mhz cas16, can also go used market to cut it down further

5800x can be found for 450, hopefully less in september. who knows.

I already have a couple nvme ssd's I can use

3080 with waterblock will be around 1000 or 3070 with waterblock for 700 

200 for case (maybe less who knows)

75 for fans (maybe less depending on case)

200 for PSU (hopefully these will be cheaper in september)

 

Then for the custom loop I already have plenty of leftover fittings/tubing so I just need a waterblock and pump/res which I should be able to get used for around 150 total.

 

All in all I think $2300 with a 3080 and $2000 with a 3070 is reasonable if the used market is in good condition in september.

 

Good thing I have a full ride for college

[Nena Trinity]

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i5-10400F 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor	$152.00 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master Hyper 212 LED 66.3 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler	$24.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard	ASRock H570M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1200 Motherboard	$124.99 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-4000 CL18 Memory	$239.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Team MS30 256 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$32.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$39.99 @ Western Digital
Video Card	Asus Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB DUAL Video Card	$1146.98 @ Amazon
Case	Corsair SPEC-DELTA RGB ATX Mid Tower Case	$94.99 @ Best Buy
Power Supply	Corsair TXM Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$119.92 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1986.84
	Mail-in rebates	-$10.00
	Total	$1976.84
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-03-30 11:31 EDT-0400

Notes: How is this?

 

[Fraya]

On 3/30/2021 at 8:36 AM, _DeXTeR_ said:

If you want to go used thats fine am glad that you can afford what you asked. My thinking was you are going for new PC parts. and also if you can find 3070 or 3080 they are all out of stock.

Parvum cases aren't all that expensive either, and make sure if you want to go with m-itx that you get it an inch taller to fit a 2.7 slot GPU if so desired. 

a lot of other pre made manufacture cases don't always have room for a 2.7 slot card so be aware of this when choosing case. 

 

I wouldn't get an i5, the more higher spec the better, i even have a spare i7 8700 laying on my shelf and 16gb of 3200mhz DDR4. maybe you would be interested. 

only thing the i7 is 1151 socket. 

 

just go for one M.2 drive even the Gen 3 ones now are cheap enough for a 1TB or 2TB,  i found 256GB too small a drive for windows now,  

look into what your motherboard supports and get the spec to suit it.