Compact gaming PC (mini-itx) - first time builder needs advice

[RandoPotato]

Hi everyone, 

 

So my laptop broke down yesterday (RIP beloved msi GT780dx). Turns out playing legacy of the void for 3 hours was too much for you (one of the chips on the graphics card burnt out - there was smoke and stuff..). Therefore I decided to build a compact PC. I will be going in my last year of university so i figured it might be time to get an actual PC rather than a gaming laptop (i have a secondary laptop that i use for school).

I used to play a lot of games but nowadays it's mostly dota2, duelyst, and anno. Occasionally I like to play more demanding games like Tomb Raider, Assassin's creed, or MGSV (when i can spare the time). Other things I would use this pc for is photoshop, and matlab.

 

Budget: <$1000 would be nice but I am willing to go to up to $1200 (I am a somewhat broke student...planning on having tap water and fresh air for breakfast for a couple of months to fund this pc)

 

Location: Canada 

 

Requirements & aim:

• As compact as possible. My parents do not live in Canada so I move about 2-3 times per year depending on where I go to work on my internships (UWaterloo coop program life)
• I would like something that will last me 3-4 years if possible. I used my gaming laptop for 3.5 year and was planning to go 1-2 years more
• GTX 970 would be nice

Monitor and other peripherals: I already have a decent monitor and a razer deathadder as mouse. I would only need to get a keyboard. I will also be salvaging the HDD from my laptop

 

I came up with a list of parts that I think would fulfill my requirements and I just wanted for feedback and suggestions for improvements

So here's the build:

 

ASRock H97M-ITX/ac LGA 1150 Intel H97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard (a bit pricy but this mobo has solid features. Also having onboard wifi is a plus for me)

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157526&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-VigLink2-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3821802&SID=ii88pxh9ja0035wt00053

 

Silverstone SFX-SERIES SX500-LG 500W SFX-L Form Factor 12V 80PLUS Gold Modular Power Supply (compatible with case)

http://www.ncix.com/detail/silverstone-sfx-series-sx500-lg-500w-sfx-l-76-105439.htm

 

Silverstone Raven Z RVZ02B mITX Case 1XODD 2X2.5IN 2XUSB3.0 1XPCI-E x16 Support SFX PSU – Black (pretty good compromise between size and versatility in terms of what you can fit in it)

http://www.ncix.com/detail/silverstone-raven-z-rvz02b-mitx-16-117513.htm

 

Kingston HyperX Fury Memory Black 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL10 Dual Channel Memory Kit (cheapest memory i could find)

http://www.ncix.com/detail/kingston-hyperx-fury-memory-black-5e-95956-1241.htm

 

Intel Core i5 I5-4460 Haswell 3.2GHZ Processor LGA1150 6MB Cache Retail (seems like the best value for money quad core cpu but i could be wrong. once again i looked for the cheapest i5)

http://www.ncix.com/detail/intel-core-i5-i5-4460-haswell-48-96203-1241.htm

 

ASUS GeForce GTX 970 Strix OC 1253MHZ 4GB 7.0GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E (i really want a 970 for some reason...)

http://www.ncix.com/detail/asus-geforce-gtx-970-strix-0b-102345-1241.htm

 

PCPARTPICKER: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/RandoPotato/saved/qHTypg

 

Total comes to $1276 (after-tax) or $1221 (after-tax and mail-in rebates) 

 

What do you guys think? Is there anything I could downgrade to make it cheaper? 

 

Thanks

[Savir]

Hi everyone, 

 

So my laptop broke down yesterday (RIP beloved msi GT780dx). Turns out playing legacy of the void for 3 hours was too much for you (one of the chips on the graphics card burnt out - there was smoke and stuff..). Therefore I decided to build a compact PC. I will be going in my last year of university so i figured it might be time to get an actual PC rather than a gaming laptop (i have a secondary laptop that i use for school).

I used to play a lot of games but nowadays it's mostly dota2, duelyst, and anno. Occasionally I like to play more demanding games like Tomb Raider, Assassin's creed, or MGSV (when i can spare the time). Other things I would use this pc for is photoshop, and matlab.

 

Budget: <$1000 would be nice but I am willing to go to up to $1200 (I am a somewhat broke student...planning on having tap water and fresh air for breakfast for a couple of months to fund this pc)

 

Location: Canada 

 

Requirements & aim:

• As compact as possible. My parents do not live in Canada so I move about 2-3 times per year depending on where I go to work on my internships (UWaterloo coop program life)
• I would like something that will last me 3-4 years if possible. I used my gaming laptop for 3.5 year and was planning to go 1-2 years more
• GTX 970 would be nice

Monitor and other peripherals: I already have a decent monitor and a razer deathadder as mouse. I would only need to get a keyboard. I will also be salvaging the HDD from my laptop

 

I came up with a list of parts that I think would fulfill my requirements and I just wanted for feedback and suggestions for improvements

So here's the build:

 

ASRock H97M-ITX/ac LGA 1150 Intel H97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard (a bit pricy but this mobo has solid features. Also having onboard wifi is a plus for me)

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157526&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-VigLink2-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3821802&SID=ii88pxh9ja0035wt00053

 

Silverstone SFX-SERIES SX500-LG 500W SFX-L Form Factor 12V 80PLUS Gold Modular Power Supply (compatible with case)

http://www.ncix.com/detail/silverstone-sfx-series-sx500-lg-500w-sfx-l-76-105439.htm

 

Silverstone Raven Z RVZ02B mITX Case 1XODD 2X2.5IN 2XUSB3.0 1XPCI-E x16 Support SFX PSU – Black (pretty good compromise between size and versatility in terms of what you can fit in it)

http://www.ncix.com/detail/silverstone-raven-z-rvz02b-mitx-16-117513.htm

 

Kingston HyperX Fury Memory Black 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL10 Dual Channel Memory Kit (cheapest memory i could find)

http://www.ncix.com/detail/kingston-hyperx-fury-memory-black-5e-95956-1241.htm

 

Intel Core i5 I5-4460 Haswell 3.2GHZ Processor LGA1150 6MB Cache Retail (seems like the best value for money quad core cpu but i could be wrong. once again i looked for the cheapest i5)

http://www.ncix.com/detail/intel-core-i5-i5-4460-haswell-48-96203-1241.htm

 

ASUS GeForce GTX 970 Strix OC 1253MHZ 4GB 7.0GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E (i really want a 970 for some reason...)

http://www.ncix.com/detail/asus-geforce-gtx-970-strix-0b-102345-1241.htm

 

Total comes to $1276 (after-tax) or $1221 (after-tax and mail-in rebates) 

 

What do you guys think? Is there anything I could downgrade to make it cheaper? 

 

Thanks

Pretty good, but you should add an SSD for OS and key programs or games. Also a R9 390 beats out a GTX 970. 

 

 

[techguru]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($258.98 @ DirectCanada) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($25.17 @ DirectCanada) 

Motherboard: Asus H170I-PLUS D3 Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($141.94 @ shopRBC) 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($54.20 @ DirectCanada) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($105.15 @ Vuugo) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.15 @ Vuugo) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($414.15 @ Vuugo) 

Case: Corsair 380T Mini ITX Tower Case  ($154.88 @ Canada Computers) 

Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($90.99 @ Newegg Canada) 

Total: $1304.61

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-16 00:23 EST-0500

 

you can knock 100$ off that price buy using shopbot and pricebat

[dizmo]

I think you can find a more compact case. What about the SG13?

[dizmo]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.15 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 120M 86.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($63.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($54.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Red 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($54.85 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($105.15 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.15 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB SOC Video Card  ($419.98 @ DirectCanada)
Case: Silverstone Sugo SG13B Mini ITX Tower Case  ($59.99 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Plus 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($91.73 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $1148.97

 

That's what I'd do. You can go reference 970 as well if you want rear exhaust.
 

[Clear17Mud]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.15 @ Vuugo)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.15 @ Vuugo)

Motherboard: MSI H81I Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($84.98 @ NCIX)

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Red 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Canada Computers)

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 4GB Twin Frozr Video Card ($640.75 @ Vuugo)

Case: Fractal Design Core 500 Mini ITX Desktop Case ($79.99 @ Canada Computers)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($69.88 @ Canada Computers)

Total: $1191.89

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-16 01:29 EST-0500

I got a 980, and dang Canadian prices suck... This was like my 50th revision... I would get a be quite dark pro, but it was $20 over...