Help building a decent mitx pc

t1mbuk2 · September 26, 2014

So I'm building a pc for my dad who uses his computer for internet and word processing so nothing over the top.

He's given me a budget of about 800 USD. The only other constraints I have is that he wants an SSD for the OS along with some files, I need all the peripherals including a monitor and keyboard/mouse, and a cd drive. So this is where I'm having some trouble because the monitor and peripherals come out to about 200 bucks leaving me around 600. I'm going for a 256GB SSD which runs $169 and on top of that the cheapest case that I am willing to work with is about 35 so Im down to 200 bucks for the rest of the build and the form factor doesnt give me too many options. The main options I see at this point is to see if he'd be willing to go with a smaller SSD because thats currently the most expensive part. Right now the price is $886 without rebates and $810 with rebates. So I am technically pretty close to my goal but I'd really like it to be closer to 800 without rebates as knowing my dad he probably wont even consider rebates.

So how can I get this number down without compromising too much in terms of quality?

Thanks.

Here is my current build.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/NpZYf7

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/NpZYf7/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($98.99 @ NCIX US)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($95.99 @ NCIX US)

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($169.99 @ Amazon)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ OutletPC)

Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($15.99 @ Newegg)

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)

Monitor: Dell S2240M 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($135.76 @ Amazon)

Keyboard: Logitech MK320 Wireless Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($23.99 @ Best Buy)

Total: $886.63 ($810.63 with rebates)

vern021 · September 26, 2014

change ssd with mx100. You'll see a big drop in expenses. 256GB MX100 only worth $99.99.

ForsakenLive · September 26, 2014

Get one stick of 8GB, if you want to drop another 8 gigs on the future you won't be able to, and performance is only like %1 less.

The 840 Pros are very expensive, get a MX 100, it's solid and fast enough.

What about trying with a different case, the Elite 130 is not bad, it's just not pretty, and it's meant to be as space efficient as possible with gaming builds. Ditch the DvD drive and get a Rosewill Legacy V3 Plus or V6, they are well priced very good looking mITX cases. Is he really going to use the optical drive? Seriously.

t1mbuk2 · September 26, 2014

change ssd with mx100. You'll see a big drop in expenses. 256GB MX100 only worth $99.99.

That did the trick, Thanks!

t1mbuk2 · September 26, 2014

Get one stick of 8GB, if you want to drop another 8 gigs on the future you won't be able to, and performance is only like %1 less.

The 840 Pros are very expensive, get a MX 100, it's solid and fast enough.

What about trying with a different case, the Elite 130 is not bad, it's just not pretty, and it's meant to be as space efficient as possible with gaming builds. Ditch the DvD drive and get a Rosewill Legacy V3 Plus or V6, they are well priced very good looking mITX cases. Is he really going to use the optical drive? Seriously.

unfortunately yes he uses an optical drive, I've told him to stop using CD's but somehow he thinks that a shit ton of physical 700MB discs is better than a big hard drive. One day I'll convince him. maybe...