Planning to downsize to ITX, this is my plan

[Jinsoku_]

Budget (including currency): Not really set right now. I don't want to go super overboard with the budget, but i'd like a nice gaming rig. (Our Currency is the euro! €)

Country: The Netherlands

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: I'm kind of a game hopper, but i like heavy games as Witcher 3 or Tomb Raider. But i also love Multiplayer games as Satisfactory, Destiny or Age of Empires a bit all over the place

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

 

So this is my planned build:

 

Case: Cooler Master MasterBox NR200P MAX (this model comes with a PSU 850W Gold, a Watercooled AIO, an extra sidepanel, a GPU Riser and some other accesoires)

Motherboard: Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX

CPU: AMD Ryzenn 9 5900X Boxed

RAM: 32 GB (2x16GB) G.Skill Trident Z RGB F4-4000C16D-32GTZRA 

SSD: Samsung PM9A1 2TB NVME

Fans: Coolermaster Masterfan MF120 x2 & Coolermaster Masterfan MF140 x2 (i like some RGB in the case :P)

 

And for now i'll salvage this from my current rig:

SSD: Kingston A1000 960GB

GPU: Asus ROG Strix GTX1080TI

 

What do you guys think of this planned build, do you guys have tips or comments on this? Maybe something i could do better?

Let me know!

 

 

For reference, my current build is:

 

Case: Coolermaster Cosmos C700P (I know it's massive this is the reason i will downsize to ITX xD)

Motherboard: ASSU ROG Strix Z370-E Gaming

CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K Boxed

CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X72

RAM: 16 GB (2x8GB) G.Skill Trident Z RGB F4-3000C16D-16GTZR

SSD's: 250 GB Samsung 970 EVO 

960 GB Kingston A1000

250 GB Samsung 850 EVO 2.5"

500 GB Crucial MX500 2.5"

PSU: Corsair HX850i

Extra's: Cablemod C-Series AXi/HXi/RM (White)

[Alvin853]

The built looks okay, some thoughts:

 

• I don't know how well the PSU that comes with the case performs, but even if it's not top quality, 850W should be plenty fine. Just make sure you do your research so there is no surprise when things don't work out.
• A 5900X is generally considered overpowered for gaming, but strategy and simulation games typically benefit from having more cores, because of the large number of entities that need to be calculated. RPG and FPS games won't see much of a difference using a 5900X over a 5800X or even 5600X. If you have the budget, go for it.
• PCIe Gen 4 NVMe drives are still somewhat expensive and provide close to zero benefit for gaming. Check prices, a Gen 3 drive can save you some money, or maybe grab a 512 GB Gen 4 just for the OS and commonly used software and a 2TB Gen 3 or even SATA SSD for your games library.
• That mainboard seems to be very limited in terms of audio ports. No digital out (I don't think you can use HDMI for audio out without an APU), and only three 3.5mm. If you're using a stereo setup or USB-Audio, that's fine, keep this in mind though.

[AlexHD]

If I upgraded my PC, I would keep the RAM especially if its still DDR4 and 16G, as someone who games and always have something running second screen, I've never exceeded 16G or issues with it, I would stick with the RAM you already have.

Just a suggestion, you can stay with the I7 8700K and just switch to an ITX Motherboard, I Have 2 computers, This one which is my main one with an I7 7700K and a second one with an 8700K, and the I7 7700k Still performs really well even with 2K gaming (I have an Asus Rog Strix 1080 (with noctua fans for the coolz)). The 8700K is certainly outperforming the I7 7700K, so I wouldn't switch it for the 5900X.

But even I am tempted on upgrading just because of the features, which there are amazing ones that the 7th gens doesn't have.

I would suggest you to wait till the 12th Gen from Intel drops, as it will have more features than the 5900X and it will be a much more future-proof buy I think (Because of DDR5 and PCIe 5.0).

(sorry for the bad ingles, but if in need of any clarification please do tell so :))

[brob]

I'm not a fan of mini-ITX for a gaming rig. They are tough to keep welled cooled over long periods.

 

I'm not sure you would see any benefit from the ddr4-4000 over a ddr4-3600 kit.

[Jinsoku_]

10 minutes ago, Alvin853 said:

The built looks okay, some thoughts:

 

• I don't know how well the PSU that comes with the case performs, but even if it's not top quality, 850W should be plenty fine. Just make sure you do your research so there is no surprise when things don't work out.
• A 5900X is generally considered overpowered for gaming, but strategy and simulation games typically benefit from having more cores, because of the large number of entities that need to be calculated. RPG and FPS games won't see much of a difference using a 5900X over a 5800X or even 5600X. If you have the budget, go for it.
• PCIe Gen 4 NVMe drives are still somewhat expensive and provide close to zero benefit for gaming. Check prices, a Gen 3 drive can save you some money, or maybe grab a 512 GB Gen 4 just for the OS and commonly used software and a 2TB Gen 3 or even SATA SSD for your games library.
• That mainboard seems to be very limited in terms of audio ports. No digital out (I don't think you can use HDMI for audio out without an APU), and only three 3.5mm. If you're using a stereo setup or USB-Audio, that's fine, keep this in mind though.

Great stuff Alvin! Thanks!

I got a external audio device, a Audient ID14, so thats why i'm not bothered about sound options on the mainboard, it's all on there!

 

But thanks for all the info's, i'll research that PSU, it should be fine as you said. But it's better to research it somewhat better.

[Jinsoku_]

9 minutes ago, AlexHD said:

If I upgraded my PC, I would keep the RAM especially if its still DDR4 and 16G, as someone who games and always have something running second screen, I've never exceeded 16G or issues with it, I would stick with the RAM you already have.

Just a suggestion, you can stay with the I7 8700K and just switch to an ITX Motherboard, I Have 2 computers, This one which is my main one with an I7 7700K and a second one with an 8700K, and the I7 7700k Still performs really well even with 2K gaming (I have an Asus Rog Strix 1080 (with noctua fans for the coolz)). The 8700K is certainly outperforming the I7 7700K, so I wouldn't switch it for the 5900X.

But even I am tempted on upgrading just because of the features, which there are amazing ones that the 7th gens doesn't have.

I would suggest you to wait till the 12th Gen from Intel drops, as it will have more features than the 5900X and it will be a much more future-proof buy I think (Because of DDR5 and PCIe 5.0).

(sorry for the bad ingles, but if in need of any clarification please do tell so :))

Thanks! It's great to read your what your experience is with the i7's.

I want to switch because the rig is getting somewhat older, and if i sell it now i can still get some good money for it and put that into the new system.

And about the RAM, your right maybe... but i think i just want to futureproof this build so i can keep it for sometime.

 

Thanks for your comment!

 

[Jinsoku_]

5 minutes ago, brob said:

I'm not a fan of mini-ITX for a gaming rig. They are tough to keep welled cooled over long periods.

 

I'm not sure you would see any benefit from the ddr4-4000 over a ddr4-3600 kit.

To be honest me neither, i just took this because i thought it would be the best for the 5900x

 

About ITX rigs, actually they can stay super cool and can be mega powerfull! To me that was so interesting that i'd like to build my own.

[Alvin853]

6 minutes ago, Jinsoku_ said:

About ITX rigs, actually they can stay super cool and can be mega powerfull! To me that was so interesting that i'd like to build my own.

I recently moved my system to a Q58 ITX case, thread over here: 

My idle temps actually went down, because the GPU is drawing fresh air straight through the side panel, and the AiO is performing better than the air cooler I had been using previously. Under load, the temps are similar to the old setup, because all of the heat inside the case gets dumped into the radiator and the airflow is limited. But temps or performance certainly isn't worse than before, so you're totally right. Of course it still depends on your cooling and airflow setup, but you're totally right ITX doesn't have to result in worse temperatures or performance.

[Jinsoku_]

2 minutes ago, Alvin853 said:

I recently moved my system to a Q58 ITX case, thread over here: 

My idle temps actually went down, because the GPU is drawing fresh air straight through the side panel, and the AiO is performing better than the air cooler I had been using previously. Under load, the temps are similar to the old setup, because all of the heat inside the case gets dumped into the radiator and the airflow is limited. But temps or performance certainly isn't worse than before, so you're totally right. Of course it still depends on your cooling and airflow setup, but you're totally right ITX doesn't have to result in worse temperatures or performance.

Thats a pretty sick Rig not gonna lie!

This is the exact reason i want to go small aswell, since i got the C700P right now which is massive and super heavy its really not easy to move it around or take with you if you'd like to do a little lan party with your friends haha xD

 

I totally agree that ITX (Depending on the cooling ofcourse) could have good temps.

[Alvin853]

4 minutes ago, Jinsoku_ said:

Thats a pretty sick Rig not gonna lie!

This is the exact reason i want to go small aswell, since i got the C700P right now which is massive and super heavy its really not easy to move it around or take with you if you'd like to do a little lan party with your friends haha xD

 

I totally agree that ITX (Depending on the cooling ofcourse) could have good temps.

Cable and tube management does get really tricky though, way more complicated than regular sized cases... not sure how that's going to work out in the NR200, the Q58 is even smaller. I spent an entire afternoon just installing the PSU, the fans+AiO, fan controller, preparing all the cables so I could just throw in the mainboard and GPU the next day. It's not perfect, but with these small cases there just is no room to hide any cables. 

[Jinsoku_]

1 minute ago, Alvin853 said:

Cable and tube management does get really tricky though, way more complicated than regular sized cases... not sure how that's going to work out in the NR200, the Q58 is even smaller. I spent an entire afternoon just installing the PSU, the fans+AiO, fan controller, preparing all the cables so I could just throw in the mainboard and GPU the next day. It's not perfect, but with these small cases there just is no room to hide any cables. 

Well to be honest, it's super nice! The best thing is that you build it yourself and you made everything fit into that tiny case. Which is amazing!

 

I've also asked around on some other forums and they said it should be doable, i'm very curious haha 

[Alvin853]

7 minutes ago, Jinsoku_ said:

Well to be honest, it's super nice! The best thing is that you build it yourself and you made everything fit into that tiny case. Which is amazing!

 

I've also asked around on some other forums and they said it should be doable, i'm very curious haha 

Yeah that's indeed part of the challenge, building a SFF pc is on a whole different level than building in a regular case, and it felt like quite the accomplishment when it turned on and I could close the side panels without anything sticking out and not even looking terribly bad. 

If you know what you're doing, it's certainly not impossible, and a lot of fun, so I hope you'll enjoy your new pc

[AlexHD]

8 hours ago, Jinsoku_ said:

Thanks! It's great to read your what your experience is with the i7's.

I want to switch because the rig is getting somewhat older, and if i sell it now i can still get some good money for it and put that into the new system.

And about the RAM, your right maybe... but i think i just want to futureproof this build so i can keep it for sometime.

 

Thanks for your comment!

 

So if you want to future proof I would strongly recommend waiting for the Alder lake CPUs, the motherboards will have some new features that I don't think will be going anywhere for years. (Being upgraded, by that I mean that I don't think PCIe 5.0 will be superseded by PCIe 6.0 anytime soon or ddr5 to ddr6 lol)

And pretty great performance upgrade even from the 5900x (Not sure about it).

[Jinsoku_]

10 hours ago, Alvin853 said:

Yeah that's indeed part of the challenge, building a SFF pc is on a whole different level than building in a regular case, and it felt like quite the accomplishment when it turned on and I could close the side panels without anything sticking out and not even looking terribly bad. 

If you know what you're doing, it's certainly not impossible, and a lot of fun, so I hope you'll enjoy your new pc

Thanks! I think I will! And your info's definitely helped me

[Jinsoku_]

2 hours ago, AlexHD said:

So if you want to future proof I would strongly recommend waiting for the Alder lake CPUs, the motherboards will have some new features that I don't think will be going anywhere for years. (Being upgraded, by that I mean that I don't think PCIe 5.0 will be superseded by PCIe 6.0 anytime soon or ddr5 to ddr6 lol)

And pretty great performance upgrade even from the 5900x (Not sure about it).

Yes I was thinking the same, maybe I should delay it to Q1 2020 and see what the AMD CPU's will do as well... 

Thanks for your info's though, its really helpful