Mini-ITX Components

[EunSoo]

Hello, I have changed my mind again and this time I am thinking of making something custom. So I will be making my own custom compact mini ITX case. I am not finished making it but I have finished the layout so I can start picking out components. Here is what I have come up with:

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/yn9Tf8
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/yn9Tf8/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700T 2.9GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor  ($315.00 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-L9i 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler  ($39.15 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: MSI - H110I PRO AC Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($126.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($219.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Mini ITX OC Video Card  ($454.98 @ Newegg) 
Other: HDPlex 400w HiFi DC ($88.00)
Other: Dell 330w 19.5V AC Adaptor ($160.00)
Total: $1484.10

 

Here is my rational:

CPU -  I need the lowest TDP while having good performance so the 7700t seemed like the obvious choice.

CPU Cooler - The L9i is the best compact cooler afaik and I should be able to run the fan fairly slow to keep noise down, if there is something smaller but just as good then please let me know!

Motherboard: I chose the cheapest compatible motherboard with an m.2 slot so I picked. I do have a skylake chip to flash a newer bios with so don't worry about that.

Memory - Corsair LPX ram just seems to be some of the best so I chose that. However I do have some Adata 2400 ddr4 ram so if I can get that to fit in my case, I will do that.

Storage - I didn't want to waste space with a 2.5" drive so m.2 is the way to go. There are cheaper 500gb m.2 drives but I don't know how reliable they are.

Video Card - The Gigabyte 1070 mini is the only card that will fit in a tight space. If you know of anything that is better and just as small then please let me know.

PSU - ATX and SFX power supplies are too big for my project so in a previous thread I decided on going with that combination of a HDPlex 400w power distributor and a Dell 330w power adaptor to cover power for my system.

 

If you have any suggestions or advice, I would be glad to hear it so tell me all your thoughts on this build. I understand that it is probably hard to recommend me stuff without a clear understanding of my case but I don't have anything I can show you right now. Thanks!

[DocSwag]

NVMe is unnecessary if it's for a boot drive and apps, as it doesn't improve the times for them. If you want an m.2 drive for space reasons you could just check out drives like the 850 evo m.2

[EunSoo]

3 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

NVMe is unnecessary if it's for a boot drive and apps, as it doesn't improve the times for them. If you want an m.2 drive for space reasons you could just check out drives like the 850 evo m.2

Good to know! Is the Intel 600p series good? Or would the 960 evo be the cheapest alternative:

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/internal-hard-drive/overall-list/#f=122080&S=500000,10000000&sort=price&page=1

[TheRandomness]

You might need some active cooling on the power brick as you can exceed that 330W brick rating when the 1070 goes under load. Also, have a look around to a thin-mini ITX board. If you're going custom case, you may as well get a thinner motherboard and then use a riser to get the PCIe slot where ever you need it.

[DocSwag]

3 minutes ago, SCGazelle said:

Good to know! Is the Intel 600p series good? Or would the 960 evo be the cheapest alternative:

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/internal-hard-drive/overall-list/#f=122080&S=500000,10000000&sort=price&page=1

600p is meh, it performs like an 850 evo even though it's NVMe so if you can get it for same or cheaper than an 850 evo then sure but if it's more then not worth it.

[EunSoo]

6 minutes ago, TheRandomness said:

You might need some active cooling on the power brick as you can exceed that 330W brick rating when the 1070 goes under load. Also, have a look around to a thin-mini ITX board. If you're going custom case, you may as well get a thinner motherboard and then use a riser to get the PCIe slot where ever you need it.

The GPU has a TDP of 150w and the system has a total tdp of 249w in pcpartpicker. So I don't think I'll be going over the 330w of the power brick, right?

I have designed the layout around the dimensions of that motherboard so I think I'll be fine but I'm still interested in one with a thinner one especially with the io. I'll look through PcPartPicker and see what I can find.

[TheRandomness]

Just now, SCGazelle said:

The GPU has a TDP of 150w and the system has a total tdp of 249w in pcpartpicker. So I don't think I'll be going over the 330w of the power brick, right?

I have designed the layout around the dimensions of that motherboard so I think I'll be fine but I'm still interested in one with a thinner one especially with the io. I'll look through PcPartPicker and see what I can find.

TDP isn't power draw. It's a measure of the heat produced by the chip under load, though on average it's usually wrong. However, after having a little search on 1070 power draw figures, the system should draw about 260-270W in total, so yeah I guess it's fine

[EunSoo]

17 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

600p is meh, it performs like an 850 evo even though it's NVMe so if you can get it for same or cheaper than an 850 evo then sure but if it's more then not worth it.

the 600p is the cheapest 500+gb m.2 on the list so I'll get that

[EunSoo]

4 minutes ago, TheRandomness said:

TDP isn't power draw. It's a measure of the heat produced by the chip under load, though on average it's usually wrong. However, after having a little search on 1070 power draw figures, the system should draw about 260-270W in total, so yeah I guess it's fine

 

thanks for explaining that. If I notice it starting to fail I can probably position some sort of small fan to keep it cool.

[TVwazhere]

For CPU cooler, Cryorig C7 is the only good alternate. It's 10mm taller though. It's hard to beat 37mm tall

[EunSoo]

3 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

For CPU cooler, Cryorig C7 is the only good alternate. It's 10mm taller though. It's hard to beat 37mm tall

I was looking at the c7 first but then I remembered Noctua also had a good low profile cooler too. 10mm is such a big difference so I completely ditched the c7.