pcbuildhelp Need Help Building Mini-ITX PC for Graphic Design & Casual Gaming (Around $1000 Budget)

[yngjessuss]

Hello guys,
 

I need your help to build a PC that will serve me for the next 5+ years.
 

I know the PC assembly process, the components, their roles and importance, but I know all that to some extent in practice and a little less in theory (especially when it comes to cooling and aesthetics). For this reason, I would appreciate your experiences, opinions, suggestions and the like. I would be very grateful if someone could take the time to help me.

• I mostly use the PC for work. I am a Graphic Designer and the programs I use the most are Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Figma, Webflow, etc. I often have 10+ tabs opened in Chrome with one or two of the Graphic Design programs, so I would like to have 32GB of RAM so that I don't have problems with multitasking.
• I've had a bigger case before, so I'd like a Mini ITX this time around. I like that it doesn't take up too much space and is easily portable when needed.
• It is important for me to have a good Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connection because with the previous build the cables drove me crazy. I also have a laptop, so it is much easier for me to switch from one machine to another if all the devices are wireless (mouse, keyboard, headphones, etc.).
• I have an external hard drive that I often transfer from one device to another, so it is important to me that the motherboard and the case have a front USB-C port.
• Since I am a designer, aesthetics are important to me. I like minimalism, I'm not a big fan of RGB, but I wouldn't want my case to be completely dark either.
• I occasionally play CS:GO, so I'd like it to be fluid (300+ FPS).
   

So, these are some of my choices. I would like you to help me and advise me what I could change. Where to save money, and where to spend a little more. Is there something which is overkill for my needs, do I maybe need to add more fans or coolers, etc.

This is the PC Part Picker List.

• I decided to build the machine around an Intel i5-12400F. After watching YouTube videos and suggestions on various sites, I concluded that this is the best budget option that will do the job properly.
• I chose the ASUS ROG Strix B660-I Gaming WiFi motherboard because it fits the ITX build and has USB-C ports on the front and back. Since I plan to use this computer for more than 5 years, I've decided that I'm in favor of a board that supports DDDR5 memory, but I'm not sure it's necessary.
• For memory, I chose Kingston Fury 32GB DDR5 5600MHz CL36. I'm not sure if that's too much. Maybe I should go with the DDDR4 one or stay on DDDR5 but with lower speed or something.
• SSD Samsung 1TB 980 Pro w/ Heatsink 4.0 NVMe™. For this one I'm pretty sure it's a good choice.
• I noticed that the Fighter AMD Radeon™ RX 6600 8GB GDDR6 is a good recommendation, so I put it in my build.
• For cooling there is Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler as a popular solution, and Thermaltake Toughpower SFX 600W Gold 600 W 80+ Gold as the first one I came across that matches the rest of the components.
• The case is Jonsbo V8 Mini ITX Desktop Case because it is the closest to my taste among the options on PC Part Picker. I like something like HYTE Revolt 3, Sparrow MQ5, Jonsbo Bo 100, IQUNIX ZX-1, Lian Li Q58, etc.
   

Please, feel free to suggest me if some components are a complete failure or if you think there are better options than the ones listed. None of the components on the list are strict, except maybe the process around which I built the machine.
 

Thank you in advance for your time and help.
 

Best regards,

Aleksandar

 

[venomtail]

My first build ever was a mini ITX build here. Was fun to build until the part where the AIO didn't fit, had to rotate it and now I have a cable mess.

 

$1000 is pretty low for a computer that you might base off your livelyhood on when a big portion of your budget's just gonna go towards looks. No idea how difficult it is to run graphic software but for programming/game development, my $1300~ PC didn't cut it, I've had to upgrade it since. Just a suggestion, but $1000 might be too low for you to prioritise looks over function. Is doable but at least know that your PC will be a bit slower if you want it looking nice compared to if you went with bang for buck, at least your build will look pretty.

 

Heard a lot of software runs best on NVIDIA card, especially video and photo editing, like photoshop and so on. Still Nvidia's ace compared to AMD. Check benchmarks and see if there is a huge difference in speecs if you went with an AMD card.

 

If you want portability, small case is one thing but also a handle is a must.

 

My next PC isn't going to be a mini ITX as I'm going for a different theme with this case, but if I was to try another mini ITX (most likely will again, such an itch) I'd go with this case. Definitely something unique that I haven't seen before.

 

1 hour ago, yngjessuss said:

SSD Samsung 1TB 980 Pro w/ Heatsink 4.0 NVMe™. For this one I'm pretty sure it's a good choice.

You won't need a heatsink because your motherboard already has one. Also won't really be able to fit it elsewhere as sizing will be too big, for example back of motherboard. Will press against the case.

 

Samsung is a great brand but do check the competition. Samsung sometimes asks a x2 premium.

[Queen Chrysalis]

This would get you closer to your budget number:

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($166.99 @ B&H) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Assassin X 120 Refined SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  ($19.89 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z690I AORUS ULTRA LITE DDR4 (rev. 1.0) Mini ITX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Silicon Power GAMING 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($65.97 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Mushkin Vortex Redline 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($170.98 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: Zotac GAMING Twin Edge OC GeForce RTX 3060 Ti LHR 8 GB Video Card  ($399.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Jonsbo V8 Mini ITX Desktop Case  ($132.99 @ Newegg Sellers) 
Power Supply: Corsair SF600 600 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply  ($124.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1231.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-12 17:36 EST-0500

 

• The NH D-15 is not a well-priced cooler considering that the competition matches it for half the price, but frankly the 12400f gets nowhere near that hot.  Normal 4 pipe 120 will be very quiet cooling a chip like that for a fifth of the price.
• You want a 2TB NVMe with an ITX build because expanding storage is tough, and there are comparable 2TB gen 4 drives with dram caches for only $20 more with twice the capacity.
• You do not want an AMD card for 3D modeling.  I would say that the 3060ti is the best option for its CUDA and tensor core count while still being somewhat PSU friendly and fitting easily into an ITX case.  The regular 3060 also works if you know your workload is VRAM heavy, but the 3060ti is probably better at only $40 more for way more cores.
• The PSU you picked is fine, but the corsair one is only a little more and corsair's customer service is second to none, while thermaltake's is the worst I've ever used.
• Just get DDR4 memory, the 12400f doesn't really benefit much at all from DDR5, and it's breaking your budget.
• For $90 more you can get a 12600k if you think the e-cores will matter

If you want a D15 level cooler for a third of the price, this is the one:

Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (PA120 SE-D3) - PCPartPicker

 

 

[brob]

Given the budget I'd suggest not using mini-ITX. It is a more expensive format and budget would be better applied to CPU and other parts.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-13400F 2.5 GHz 10-Core Processor  ($209.99 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Deepcool AK400 66.47 CFM CPU Cooler  ($34.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus PRIME B760M-A AX D4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($169.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($74.98 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Solidigm P41 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($124.99 @ B&H) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 2X 12G GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card  ($369.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Asus Prime AP201 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($84.99 @ B&H) 
Power Supply: Phanteks AMP 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1169.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-12 18:11 EST-0500

[yngjessuss]

11 hours ago, venomtail said:

My first build ever was a mini ITX build here. Was fun to build until the part where the AIO didn't fit, had to rotate it and now I have a cable mess.

 

$1000 is pretty low for a computer that you might base off your livelyhood on when a big portion of your budget's just gonna go towards looks. No idea how difficult it is to run graphic software but for programming/game development, my $1300~ PC didn't cut it, I've had to upgrade it since. Just a suggestion, but $1000 might be too low for you to prioritise looks over function. Is doable but at least know that your PC will be a bit slower if you want it looking nice compared to if you went with bang for buck, at least your build will look pretty.

 

Heard a lot of software runs best on NVIDIA card, especially video and photo editing, like photoshop and so on. Still Nvidia's ace compared to AMD. Check benchmarks and see if there is a huge difference in speecs if you went with an AMD card.

 

If you want portability, small case is one thing but also a handle is a must.

 

My next PC isn't going to be a mini ITX as I'm going for a different theme with this case, but if I was to try another mini ITX (most likely will again, such an itch) I'd go with this case. Definitely something unique that I haven't seen before.

 

You won't need a heatsink because your motherboard already has one. Also won't really be able to fit it elsewhere as sizing will be too big, for example back of motherboard. Will press against the case.

 

Samsung is a great brand but do check the competition. Samsung sometimes asks a x2 premium.

My previous build was B450, AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (~3.7GHz), GTX 1660 6GB, 24 GB 2666MHz RAM, 512GB SSD  and it served me quite well. It was a computer from the company I previously worked for, so after I quit my job, I decided to buy myself a new one.With those configurations, I think this budget will meet my needs and I don't need to go much beyond that. I will definitely consider the Nvidia graphics card given your recommendation. I will look into it further. Thank you for your reply. I appreciate that!

[yngjessuss]

11 hours ago, Queen Chrysalis said:

This would get you closer to your budget number:

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($166.99 @ B&H) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Assassin X 120 Refined SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  ($19.89 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z690I AORUS ULTRA LITE DDR4 (rev. 1.0) Mini ITX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Silicon Power GAMING 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($65.97 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Mushkin Vortex Redline 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($170.98 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: Zotac GAMING Twin Edge OC GeForce RTX 3060 Ti LHR 8 GB Video Card  ($399.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Jonsbo V8 Mini ITX Desktop Case  ($132.99 @ Newegg Sellers) 
Power Supply: Corsair SF600 600 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply  ($124.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1231.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-12 17:36 EST-0500

 

• The NH D-15 is not a well-priced cooler considering that the competition matches it for half the price, but frankly the 12400f gets nowhere near that hot.  Normal 4 pipe 120 will be very quiet cooling a chip like that for a fifth of the price.
• You want a 2TB NVMe with an ITX build because expanding storage is tough, and there are comparable 2TB gen 4 drives with dram caches for only $20 more with twice the capacity.
• You do not want an AMD card for 3D modeling.  I would say that the 3060ti is the best option for its CUDA and tensor core count while still being somewhat PSU friendly and fitting easily into an ITX case.  The regular 3060 also works if you know your workload is VRAM heavy, but the 3060ti is probably better at only $40 more for way more cores.
• The PSU you picked is fine, but the corsair one is only a little more and corsair's customer service is second to none, while thermaltake's is the worst I've ever used.
• Just get DDR4 memory, the 12400f doesn't really benefit much at all from DDR5, and it's breaking your budget.
• For $90 more you can get a 12600k if you think the e-cores will matter

If you want a D15 level cooler for a third of the price, this is the one:

Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (PA120 SE-D3) - PCPartPicker

 

 

Coolers are something I don't understand the least, so I assumed that something better and cheaper could be found. I will definitely look into it some more. I don't do 3D modeling, but @venomtail also recommended me to look at some Nvidia graphics cards, so I'll definitely see which options on the market are affordable and suitable. I'll probably go with DDR4 memory though and a cheaper motherboard in that case. Do you have any recommendations? Thanks!

[yngjessuss]

11 hours ago, brob said:

Given the budget I'd suggest not using mini-ITX. It is a more expensive format and budget would be better applied to CPU and other parts.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-13400F 2.5 GHz 10-Core Processor  ($209.99 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Deepcool AK400 66.47 CFM CPU Cooler  ($34.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus PRIME B760M-A AX D4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($169.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($74.98 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Solidigm P41 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($124.99 @ B&H) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 2X 12G GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card  ($369.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Asus Prime AP201 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($84.99 @ B&H) 
Power Supply: Phanteks AMP 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1169.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-12 18:11 EST-0500

Do you think I need a 12GB graphics card? What other specs are important to me when looking at graphics cards? Thank you!

[brob]

1 hour ago, yngjessuss said:

Do you think I need a 12GB graphics card? What other specs are important to me when looking at graphics cards? Thank you!

 

Doubtful, but I wanted a decent Nvidia GPU to optimize acceleration in Photoshop and pcpartpicker didn't show the 8GB of the RTX 3060 as less expensive.

[Queen Chrysalis]

2 hours ago, brob said:

 

Doubtful, but I wanted a decent Nvidia GPU to optimize acceleration in Photoshop and pcpartpicker didn't show the 8GB of the RTX 3060 as less expensive.

Its’s a 3060ti…