Mini-ITX Gaming PC

[nzerk]

This is my first build and I will be making upgrades in the future (more ram, storage, etc.) 

 

- Intel core i3-4370

-ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX

-Kingston HyperX Fury 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3

-Kingston SSDNow V300 240GB SSD

-EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB SuperSC (4GB)

-Silverstone SG13 Mini-ITX Case

-Corsair CX430 80+ Bronze

 

PC Part Picker link:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vwwsQ7

 

I am hoping to play current and upcoming titles at least at high settings at 1080p. Specifically Fallout 4 that I will eventually be modding heavily which is why I chose the 4GB 960, not sure if it is needed or if 2GB is enough?

 

Is a CPU cooler necessary/recommended with such a small case?

 

I have thought about changing the i3-4370 to an i5. I'm not sure if the hyper threading vs physical cores make that much of a difference. Also considered swapping the 960 for an R9 280x. Not sure which config would be the best. Open to all suggestions and comments. 

 

I live in the US and do not need new peripherals or OS. I am hoping to keep this build in the $600 range.

 

Thanks!

[Evolved_Evil]

They make a 4GB 960?

 

Edit: Nevermind, Im dumb ahaha

 

Whats the price differences between 960 4gb and 970?

Edited July 17, 2015 by Evolved_Evil

[nzerk]

Too much, like $100.

[MrSpeed]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4370 3.8GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($142.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($85.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($46.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 380 4GB Nitro Video Card  ($223.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone Sugo SG13B Mini ITX Tower Case  ($66.59 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $696.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-17 14:01 EDT-0400

[BigDay]

it's gonna be tough to build with an i5 4460 without going over budget. i would suggest a quad core cpu, that would be ideal. additionally, i suggest you go with an r9 380; the gigabyte model is cheaper than your 960 and it will perform better.

 

since you're not overclocking the cpu, you can go with the stock cooler. it's not ideal, but it will work just fine. it may get a bit loud and it won't cool the cpu as well as an aftermarket, but it will work.

 

ideally, you want to go with ssd for os operation, but it's out of the budget. if you do want to upgrade to one, go with a 32gb minimum. windows takes up approx. 20gb of space.

 

finally, seasonic psu's are great quality. you don't want to cheap out on the psu; a cheap psu poses a threat to all your components.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($176.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($85.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($47.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda ES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 380 4GB SOC Video Card  ($229.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Silverstone Sugo SG13B Mini ITX Tower Case  ($66.59 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $729.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-17 14:11 EDT-0400

[BigDay]

additionally, here is another build closer to your budget. the evga card i've chosen comes with a very high boost clock out of the box so you don't have to overclock it right away. you should be fine with a 350w psu even for overclocking the gpu. here is the total system power draw with the evga 960 below. again there is no ssd, which would be ideal, but not necessary.

 

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/6950/evga-geforce-gtx-960-supersc-acx-2-video-card-review/index12.html

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($85.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($47.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda ES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card  ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Silverstone Sugo SG13B Mini ITX Tower Case  ($66.59 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($46.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $601.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-17 14:18 EDT-0400

[nzerk]

it's gonna be tough to build with an i5 4460 without going over budget. i would suggest a quad core cpu, that would be ideal. additionally, i suggest you go with an r9 380; the gigabyte model is cheaper than your 960 and it will perform better.

 

since you're not overclocking the cpu, you can go with the stock cooler. it's not ideal, but it will work just fine. it may get a bit loud and it won't cool the cpu as well as an aftermarket, but it will work.

 

ideally, you want to go with ssd for os operation, but it's out of the budget. if you do want to upgrade to one, go with a 32gb minimum. windows takes up approx. 20gb of space.

 

finally, seasonic psu's are great quality. you don't want to cheap out on the psu; a cheap psu poses a threat to all your components.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($176.95 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($85.98 @ Newegg)

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($47.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda ES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.00 @ Amazon)

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 380 4GB SOC Video Card  ($229.99 @ Amazon)

Case: Silverstone Sugo SG13B Mini ITX Tower Case  ($66.59 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $729.49

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-17 14:11 EDT-0400

Would I need to go with a 620W power supply or would a 500W suffice? Also I would be willing to go over budget a little bit (like $20-30). One thing that I really do want to have is a SSD though.

[BigDay]

Would I need to go with a 620W power supply or would a 500W suffice? Also I would be willing to go over budget a little bit (like $20-30). One thing that I really do want to have is a SSD though.

 

according to my calculations using the following formula, you would need a 550w psu. that would be recommended if you were going to overclock the gpu. you may be able to get away with a 500w, but i'm not sure. i always use this formula and it seems to be more than sufficient. it was given to me by a ltt staff member. i trust him.

 

[(cpuTdp + gpuTdp) * 2 ] + [(numberOfGpus -1) * gpuTdp]

 

the first build i suggested = 548w with the i5 4460 and the r9 380

 

you could go with this build:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($85.98 @ Newegg)

Memory: Team Elite Plus 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($42.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP600 32GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($34.99 @ Amazon)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda ES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.00 @ Amazon)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card  ($199.99 @ Amazon)

Case: Silverstone Sugo SG13B Mini ITX Tower Case  ($42.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($46.98 @ Newegg)

Total: $607.91

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-17 14:35 EDT-0400

 

it includes an ssd. the nvidia cards draw less power than the amd ones so you're getting a cheaper psu in terms of it's price. again the build above has a gpu with a high boost clock out of the box @ 1280mhz on the core.

 

the core i3 above also has hyper threading technology which is always nice.