Portable ITX Build (mid/high-end)

[Delando]

Hello everyone! I am planning to build a portable ITX computer, I prefer not to work with a laptop. The computer will be mainly used for web design, photo editing and video rendering. Occasionally for games. The reason why I want a portable pc is because my parents are difforced and I cant afford two computers

My budget is around €1 500 ($ 1 779).

 

This is what I got:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor  (€432.95 @ Bytes At Work) 
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 Quad Lumi 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler 
Motherboard: Asus - ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard 
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  (€254.95 @ Bytes At Work) 
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (€141.95 @ Bytes At Work) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€48.95 @ Bytes At Work) 
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Strix Video Card 
Case: Fractal Design - Define Nano S Mini ITX Desktop Case 
Power Supply: Corsair - CSM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply 

 

I'm from Belgium. The price for this build is € 1 669 ($ 1 979) at a local store here.

Any suggestions and/or comments?

I'm looking for a high-end build, that I can use for like 5-6 years thats compact, portable, ....

 

Within 6 months I will graduate as a graphic designer / web designer, this wil also be my job lateron (Keep this in mind)

 

Thanks already for the answers

 

[Crunchy Dragon]

I would go for a 2Tb HDD if you can, other than that it looks pretty good.

[seon123]

For around that price, you could get something like this.

8700 https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/1051085/intel-core-i7-8700-boxed.html

Asrock Z370M-ITX https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/1079973/asrock-z370m-itx-ac.html

Adata XPG Z1 2x 8GB 2800MHz https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/410901/adata-xpg-z1-ax4u2800w8g17-drz.html

MSI 1070 Ti Gaming https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/1107539/msi-geforce-gtx-1070-ti-gaming-8g.html

850 Evo 250GB https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/422395/samsung-850-evo-250gb.html

Toshiba 3TB 7200RPM HDD https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/316662/toshiba-dt01aca300-3tb.html

Define Nano S https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/481899/fractal-design-define-nano-s-zwart-window.html

Focus Plus Gold 550W https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/829901/seasonic-focus-plus-550-gold.html

For a total of €1462,94

And in PCPP

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($339.99 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($126.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: ADATA - XPG Z1 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2800 Memory 
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($84.99 @ B&H) 
Storage: Toshiba - 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($75.88 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB Video Card  ($484.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Fractal Design - Define Nano S Mini ITX Desktop Case  ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.90 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1217.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-23 19:30 EST-0500

[bowrilla]

Even though the Define Nano S is a nice case it's far from being SFF and portable. How about Silverstone's ML08B? Your GPU choice is not really high end and won't really last for 5 to 6 years if you want to play comfortably.

Since PCPartpicker doesn't list many prices for Belgium, I chose to use German prices. You could probably pretty easy order from here. I suggest a build like this:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor  (€384.90 @ Alza) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-L9i 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler  (€39.71 @ Aquatuning) 
Motherboard: MSI - Z370I GAMING PRO CARBON AC Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€178.59 @ Alza) 
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (€152.74 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Intel - 600p Series 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (€193.59 @ Alza) 
Storage: Seagate - BarraCuda 1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€46.17 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Mini Video Card  (€434.95 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Case: Silverstone - ML08B-H HTPC Case  (€89.90 @ Caseking) 
Power Supply: Corsair - SF 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply  (€82.57) 
Total: €1603.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-24 04:21 CET+0100

 

You could save like 40-50€ by opting for a non-k CPU. In that case with that cooler there isn't that much OC headroom anyways. You could invest another 20-30€ for the Corsaif SF600 PSU – you don't need it but it might run quieter in most cases. The difference between DDR4-3200 and DDR4-3000 isn't that big so it's a good point to save a few bucks. 

[brob]

It would have been nice if you had posted a pcpartpicker list or permalink. Even nicer if you did not force the font.

 

The M.2 NVMe drive is wasted in this system. A larger ssd would do much more to improve general performance. 

 

Something like an i7-8700 with its stock cooler is a much better choice for an SFF build. 

 

Consider getting a single 16GB memory module. This will leave a slot free should you ever need to upgrade memory.

 

A 650W psu is far more capacity than needed. Especially if one moves to an i7-8700. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  (€380.00 @ Bytes At Work) 
Motherboard: Asus - ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€218.00 @ Bytes At Work) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (€223.95 @ Bytes At Work) 
Storage: Crucial - MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€151.95 @ Bytes At Work) 
Storage: Hitachi - Travelstar 1TB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€60.95 @ Bytes At Work) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING Video Card  (€334.00 @ Bytes At Work) 
Case: Silverstone - ML08B-H HTPC Case  (€90.00 @ Mindfactory.de) 
Power Supply: Corsair - SF 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply  (€91.00 @ Bytes At Work) 
Total: €1549.85
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-24 06:26 CET+0100

[PerfectPlasma]

You could (possibly) look into Prebuilts like the Corsair One. But usually It's better to get some opinions first, and the forums are probably good enough since there are a handful of pros that can help out.

Here are my 2 cents.

PCPartPicker part list: https://it.pcpartpicker.com/list/Ds2vzM
Price breakdown by merchant: https://it.pcpartpicker.com/list/Ds2vzM/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor  (€387.49 @ Amazon Italia) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master -     MasterLiquid Lite 240 66.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (€71.03 @ Amazon Italia) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z370N WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€164.99 @ Amazon Italia) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  (€141.80 @ Amazon Italia) 
Storage: Western Digital - Blue 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (€151.60 @ Amazon Italia) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - Radeon RX 580 8GB AORUS 8G Video Card  (€333.00 @ Amazon Italia) 
Case: Phanteks - ENTHOO EVOLV SHIFT X Mini ITX Tower Case  (€183.99 @ Amazon Italia) 
Power Supply: Corsair - Vengeance 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (€75.39 @ Amazon Italia) 
Total: €1509.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-24 06:48 CET+0100

[Delando]

10 hours ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

I would go for a 2Tb HDD if you can, other than that it looks pretty good.

I put all my projects on an a nas when I dont need them anymore.
This is how my SSD and my HDD's look like right now!

 

 

[Delando]

10 hours ago, seon123 said:

For around that price, you could get something like this.

8700 https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/1051085/intel-core-i7-8700-boxed.html

Asrock Z370M-ITX https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/1079973/asrock-z370m-itx-ac.html

Adata XPG Z1 2x 8GB 2800MHz https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/410901/adata-xpg-z1-ax4u2800w8g17-drz.html

MSI 1070 Ti Gaming https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/1107539/msi-geforce-gtx-1070-ti-gaming-8g.html

850 Evo 250GB https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/422395/samsung-850-evo-250gb.html

Toshiba 3TB 7200RPM HDD https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/316662/toshiba-dt01aca300-3tb.html

Define Nano S https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/481899/fractal-design-define-nano-s-zwart-window.html

Focus Plus Gold 550W https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/829901/seasonic-focus-plus-550-gold.html

For a total of €1462,94

And in PCPP

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($339.99 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($126.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: ADATA - XPG Z1 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2800 Memory 
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($84.99 @ B&H) 
Storage: Toshiba - 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($75.88 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB Video Card  ($484.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Fractal Design - Define Nano S Mini ITX Desktop Case  ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.90 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1217.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-23 19:30 EST-0500

SSD: I prefer to use a M.2 SSD
Motherboard: Im using a 7.1 headset  Thats why I would go for the Asus Strix
GPU/CPU: I would go for a better CPU over GPU, I did some research and 1060 is pretty decent....
Memeory: I'm planning todo more research for my ram 2800 3000 or 3200
Powersupply can indeed be lower W.

 

Thanks for your suggestions! 

 

 

[Delando]

9 hours ago, bowrilla said:

Even though the Define Nano S is a nice case it's far from being SFF and portable. How about Silverstone's ML08B? Your GPU choice is not really high end and won't really last for 5 to 6 years if you want to play comfortably.

Since PCPartpicker doesn't list many prices for Belgium, I chose to use German prices. You could probably pretty easy order from here. I suggest a build like this:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor  (€384.90 @ Alza) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-L9i 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler  (€39.71 @ Aquatuning) 
Motherboard: MSI - Z370I GAMING PRO CARBON AC Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€178.59 @ Alza) 
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (€152.74 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Intel - 600p Series 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (€193.59 @ Alza) 
Storage: Seagate - BarraCuda 1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€46.17 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Mini Video Card  (€434.95 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Case: Silverstone - ML08B-H HTPC Case  (€89.90 @ Caseking) 
Power Supply: Corsair - SF 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply  (€82.57) 
Total: €1603.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-24 04:21 CET+0100

 

You could save like 40-50€ by opting for a non-k CPU. In that case with that cooler there isn't that much OC headroom anyways. You could invest another 20-30€ for the Corsaif SF600 PSU – you don't need it but it might run quieter in most cases. The difference between DDR4-3200 and DDR4-3000 isn't that big so it's a good point to save a few bucks. 

I'm going to check out the difference between 3000 and 3200 RAM
The case looks good! But a square box case is better because i will travel alot by car?

The motherboard looks really good, and is cheaper than the Asus Strix one!

CPU I'm going for the K one, because i'm going to overclock anyways. The CPU looks fine.

Thanks for your suggestions

[Delando]

7 hours ago, brob said:

It would have been nice if you had posted a pcpartpicker list or permalink. Even nicer if you did not force the font.

 

The M.2 NVMe drive is wasted in this system. A larger ssd would do much more to improve general performance. 

 

Something like an i7-8700 with its stock cooler is a much better choice for an SFF build. 

 

Consider getting a single 16GB memory module. This will leave a slot free should you ever need to upgrade memory.

 

A 650W psu is far more capacity than needed. Especially if one moves to an i7-8700. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  (€380.00 @ Bytes At Work) 
Motherboard: Asus - ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€218.00 @ Bytes At Work) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (€223.95 @ Bytes At Work) 
Storage: Crucial - MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€151.95 @ Bytes At Work) 
Storage: Hitachi - Travelstar 1TB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€60.95 @ Bytes At Work) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING Video Card  (€334.00 @ Bytes At Work) 
Case: Silverstone - ML08B-H HTPC Case  (€90.00 @ Mindfactory.de) 
Power Supply: Corsair - SF 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply  (€91.00 @ Bytes At Work) 
Total: €1549.85
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-24 06:26 CET+0100

I updated my post, im new to forums... Thanks for the info

 

What do you mean m.2 drive is wasted in this system? A m.2 has better read/write capabilities, hasn't it? Also 250GB is enough for me.
A single 16GB module is a great option.

Im going to calculate my power consumption with my setup.

 

Thanks for your opinion

[Delando]

7 hours ago, PerfectPlasma said:

You could (possibly) look into Prebuilts like the Corsair One. But usually It's better to get some opinions first, and the forums are probably good enough since there are a handful of pros that can help out.

Here are my 2 cents.

PCPartPicker part list: https://it.pcpartpicker.com/list/Ds2vzM
Price breakdown by merchant: https://it.pcpartpicker.com/list/Ds2vzM/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor  (€387.49 @ Amazon Italia) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master -     MasterLiquid Lite 240 66.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (€71.03 @ Amazon Italia) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z370N WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€164.99 @ Amazon Italia) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  (€141.80 @ Amazon Italia) 
Storage: Western Digital - Blue 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (€151.60 @ Amazon Italia) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - Radeon RX 580 8GB AORUS 8G Video Card  (€333.00 @ Amazon Italia) 
Case: Phanteks - ENTHOO EVOLV SHIFT X Mini ITX Tower Case  (€183.99 @ Amazon Italia) 
Power Supply: Corsair - Vengeance 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (€75.39 @ Amazon Italia) 
Total: €1509.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-24 06:48 CET+0100

The Corsair One Pro computers are expansive.

 

Thanks for your part suggestion! 

[bowrilla]

10 hours ago, brob said:

It would have been nice if you had posted a pcpartpicker list or permalink. Even nicer if you did not force the font.

 

The M.2 NVMe drive is wasted in this system. A larger ssd would do much more to improve general performance. 

 

Something like an i7-8700 with its stock cooler is a much better choice for an SFF build. 

 

Consider getting a single 16GB memory module. This will leave a slot free should you ever need to upgrade memory.

 

A 650W psu is far more capacity than needed. Especially if one moves to an i7-8700. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  (€380.00 @ Bytes At Work) 
Motherboard: Asus - ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€218.00 @ Bytes At Work) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (€223.95 @ Bytes At Work) 
Storage: Crucial - MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€151.95 @ Bytes At Work) 
Storage: Hitachi - Travelstar 1TB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€60.95 @ Bytes At Work) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING Video Card  (€334.00 @ Bytes At Work) 
Case: Silverstone - ML08B-H HTPC Case  (€90.00 @ Mindfactory.de) 
Power Supply: Corsair - SF 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply  (€91.00 @ Bytes At Work) 
Total: €1549.85
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-24 06:26 CET+0100

I just chose the k version because it was in budget. I'd still go with a better performing cooler. The NVME drive is just in there to save some space. The bigger psu will run quieter. Sure the 450W version works just well and both Corsair PSUs are the best SFX models you can get. One single 16GB stick might indeed be a good choice if you ever want to upgrade to 32GB in the future.

[brob]

3 hours ago, Delando said:

I updated my post, im new to forums... Thanks for the info

 

What do you mean m.2 drive is wasted in this system? A m.2 has better read/write capabilities, hasn't it? Also 250GB is enough for me.
A single 16GB module is a great option.

Im going to calculate my power consumption with my setup.

 

Thanks for your opinion

 

An M.2 NVMe drive is theoretically capable of 32 Gbs. Six times the theoretical maximum bandwidth of SATA III. So yes, it's true that these drives are faster than SATA III drives. The reason I say an NVMe drive is wasted on a general and gaming system is that almost all of the usage is not storage i/o bound. For most stuff the performance improvement is not noticeable. In addition, the premium price is better used for a SATA III ssd that can provide more fast storage.

 

PCPartPicker provides a running total of manufacturers' spec'd maximum power consumption on the right, above the build list. It estimates the max draw of the OP list at 299W. That means that at stock, running flat out the system will draw at most 300W. If you check around the internet, you should find that in real world situations most systems don't get near their max theoretical draw. GPU and cpu overclocking do increase power draw. For the most part allowing an additional 25W - 50W is sufficient to cover that. The build I suggested has an estimated max draw around 260W. This means it will not push a 450W psu much beyond 50% at maximum load.

 

One should be careful choosing a well over capacity 80+ Bronze or Gold psu. Efficiency below 20% capacity is outside the Bronze/Gold specifications and so many psu become very inefficient.

[bowrilla]

11 hours ago, Delando said:

The case looks good! But a square box case is better because i will travel alot by car?

Why would it be better suited? you should never (!) transport a system with the motherboard oriented vertically. little bumps will create serious forces at the mounting points for the cooler which can result in damages. you should always lay it on it's back. So why would it be better to have a bigger square case? Just lay the significantly smaller case on its back and that's it. 

Concerning the things @brob mentioned. It's true, you have to have an eye on the very specific efficiency curves. Good PSUs wont get horribly inefficient though. 

If I were you I'd definitely go for the 1070. It will last longer. A 1060 is a nice mid range GPU that does the job quite well at 1080p - at the moment. You can expect to be forced to dial down graphics settings within the next year from max to high. Wait another year and you're probably at low to medium. And since a 1070 is only about 100-130 bucks more I'd definitely go with it.