First mini itx build

[nerdyrcdriver]

Hey everyone, I am planning to do a mini itx build for my birthday this year. I am pretty set on the case, but might consider another one. I am looking to do this for about $500 USD but I can go a little higher. I go to lans at school sometimes, though most of the games are older I would like to upgrade to a better pc that is easier to transport. I will be using my hard drive from my current computer. I usually use 2 19in monitors that both run at 1366 by 768. But for gaming I prefer one monitor.

Case: cooler master elite 120 advance

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119261

Video card: EVGA geforce gtx650ti

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130839

CPU: intel core i3 3220

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116775

MOBO: gigabyte

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128526

PSU: xfx ProSeries

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817207018

RAM: patriot gamer 2 series 8gb (2x4gb)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220557

My main reason for asking is to make sure everything is compatible and wont have any weird issues. I think that the 450w psu should be fine with that cpu and gpu but I am no expert on any of this stuff.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Whaler_99]

Spend a little more money and get a modular PSU. That case really has zippo room for cable management, and you don't want all the extra ones you don't need, jammed in there.

[Milo Pod]

I know on some pre-ivy bridge boards the bios needs to be updated for it to be compatible with Ivy cpus. That would be something to consider before going with an H61 board.

I would go with an H77 board just to be completely sure.

[nerdyrcdriver]

Spend a little more money and get a modular PSU. That case really has zippo room for cable management' date=' and you don't want all the extra ones you don't need, jammed in there.[/quote']

I considered a modular psu but I dont know which brand to get for a budget. I dont want to be putting a $100+ psu in a build that has a goal of around $500. Do you have any suggestions?

EDIT: I know corsair has some decent power supplies. For the price this seems like a pretty good buy, but will the semi modular design still be an issue with cable management?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139049

Thanks!

[nerdyrcdriver]

I know on some pre-ivy bridge boards the bios needs to be updated for it to be compatible with Ivy cpus. That would be something to consider before going with an H61 board. I would go with an H77 board just to be completely sure.

I totally forgot about that. Thanks for the tip, I will look into it for sure. Are there any boards that you prefer?

Edit: I have heard good things about ASRock motherboards and this seems to have all of the features I want and even some I don't need.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157303

[dOug]

Spend a little more money and get a modular PSU. That case really has zippo room for cable management' date=' and you don't want all the extra ones you don't need, jammed in there.[/quote']

I considered a modular psu but I dont know which brand to get for a budget. I dont want to be putting a $100+ psu in a build that has a goal of around $500. Do you have any suggestions?

EDIT: I know corsair has some decent power supplies. For the price this seems like a pretty good buy, but will the semi modular design still be an issue with cable management?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139049

Thanks!

i think the Corsair semi-modular will end up being a good choice for your build.

What type of storage are you planning to use? How many drives?

[NannerBeans]

I know on some pre-ivy bridge boards the bios needs to be updated for it to be compatible with Ivy cpus. That would be something to consider before going with an H61 board. I would go with an H77 board just to be completely sure.

Yeah that actually happened to me on my first build. I spent forever trying to get it working and I couldn't so i eventually just paid someone to fix it for me. It will work after bios update but you won't be able to run USB 3.0. USB 2.0 works fine.

[NannerBeans]

Corsair has 1600MHz RAM for the same price and they look cooler. You should check them out. But make sure to get the low profile versions since it's a mini itx build.

[NannerBeans]

I know on some pre-ivy bridge boards the bios needs to be updated for it to be compatible with Ivy cpus. That would be something to consider before going with an H61 board. I would go with an H77 board just to be completely sure.

I totally forgot about that. Thanks for the tip, I will look into it for sure. Are there any boards that you prefer?

Edit: I have heard good things about ASRock motherboards and this seems to have all of the features I want and even some I don't need.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157303

That mobo won't fit in the case you chose since the mobo is a mini-ATX. You should grab an ASUS P8H77-I

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131841

[NannerBeans]

Spend a little more money and get a modular PSU. That case really has zippo room for cable management' date=' and you don't want all the extra ones you don't need, jammed in there.[/quote']

I considered a modular psu but I dont know which brand to get for a budget. I dont want to be putting a $100+ psu in a build that has a goal of around $500. Do you have any suggestions?

EDIT: I know corsair has some decent power supplies. For the price this seems like a pretty good buy, but will the semi modular design still be an issue with cable management?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139049

Thanks!

The one you linked would be fine but if you would rather have a full modular power supply this SilverStone one is pretty good.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256065

[nerdyrcdriver]

Corsair has 1600MHz RAM for the same price and they look cooler. You should check them out. But make sure to get the low profile versions since it's a mini itx build.

Cool, thanks for the heads up.

Lol, I was wondering why that asrock didnt show up when I was looking the first time. I clicked the wrong button for the mobo size.

[nerdyrcdriver]

Hi dOug I cant find a button to reply to your post. I am going to be using the hard drives from my current pc. I have a 300gb 3.5in drive and an 80gb 2.5in hdd. I dont put a whole lot on my computer. I have 243gb of open space on my 300gb drive and almost everything free on my 80gb hdd. I will probably change to a 120gb ssd down the road. But that isnt going to make the initial budget that I have set even if I bump it up to about $600.

[dOug]

Hi dOug I cant find a button to reply to your post. I am going to be using the hard drives from my current pc. I have a 300gb 3.5in drive and an 80gb 2.5in hdd. I dont put a whole lot on my computer. I have 243gb of open space on my 300gb drive and almost everything free on my 80gb hdd. I will probably change to a 120gb ssd down the road. But that isnt going to make the initial budget that I have set even if I bump it up to about $600.

I was wondering if you could get away with using one of the SATA power cable. I'd probably just leave out the 80gb drive and upgrade to an ssd down the road.

[nerdyrcdriver]

Both drives are SATA, however I think they are probably an early version. But the drives are plenty fast for me. The 80gb would be much easier to fit being a 2.5in drive, but the 300 already has my os and files installed.

[NannerBeans]

Both drives are SATA, however I think they are probably an early version. But the drives are plenty fast for me. The 80gb would be much easier to fit being a 2.5in drive, but the 300 already has my os and files installed.

You might have to reinstall your OS after you switch parts. I usually won't boot up otherwise.

[Simmytu]

The 450Watt psu would powerup your configuration without any problems. Because the pc would consume around 300 Watt. I would recommend you somehow to get an modular or semi modular psu, so that wound cause any problems with the cable mangement for that small factor build. But that's optional. Btw you have pretty descent specs :-)

[thetechjunkie]

i would say you have a good selection of parts

[HalTechTV]

Hey guys,

I would say make sure you buy a modular power supply, itx cases even of this size are much harder to build in with a non-modular PSU. If you want to check for power requirements I would start of with a quick outline test using a calculator like this one: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/p...ulatorlite.jsp[/url=http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp]

Hope this helps somewhat :)