Cool and quiet Mini-ITX spec

Otacon · 23 Jul 2013 at 09:02

Hey folks,

I'm looking into getting a gaming rig instead of a next-gen console (I'll save money on the games!), but am a bit out of touch when it comes to chipsets and what not. Budget is around the next gen console cost, so ~£450, but with a couple of factors I hope will make that easier to hit:

I dont need any disks at all, I have an M4 SSD I could use.
I have no desire to overclock - almost the opposite in fact, noise and stability are most important
I dont need an optical drive at this point, though would like to keep the option open
I dont need a Windows license

I'd prefer Intel if that's feasible, I'm just more familiar with them (Mac user these days), but I'm open to be convinced if AMD is a better fit. No idea in terms of graphics card - its going to be hooked up to a TV so the res will be capped at 1080p, I'd like games to run smoothly and forget about it for a couple of years.

There's some good choice on OcUK for boards and CPUs, but I dont want to pay for overclocking features I wont use but have no idea how to spot them

The Prodigy seems to be the popular choice case wise, so can anyone help me find some suitable innards?

joelk2 · 23 Jul 2013 at 12:39

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £69.95
1 x Gigabyte H61N-USB3 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £67.99
1 x Adata XPG Gaming v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AX3U1600GC4G9-2G) £49.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £39.95
Total : £484.96 (includes shipping : £11.75).

remember the prodigy isnt that small but it does allow for a big gpu.

you could go for something like

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £161.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Gigabyte H61N-USB3 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £67.99
1 x Adata XPG Gaming v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AX3U1600GC4G9-2G) £49.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced Mini-ITX Case - Black £39.95
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £39.95
Total : £465.46 (includes shipping : £10.50).

and maybe up the mobo a bit to have a 6gb sata port.

i have a very similar spec (matx though) at it plays games easily.

plus you will get free shipping to take down the price. (might be able to add an aftermarket cooler of some sort too)

Otacon · 23 Jul 2013 at 13:14

Thanks for that, appreciate the effort. I dont mind the size of the Prodigy fwiw, it doesnt have to be the smallest for me, and it is very flexible. I figure it gives me some more cooling options as well, and I do care about noise levels

Otacon · 23 Jul 2013 at 13:23

How much do I need to care about ATI vs nVidia these days? My experience as a Linux desktop user pushes me towards nVidia.

I came up with this last night, bit of a baby graphics card though I guess, but it does start me on Socket 1150:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4430 3.00GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £149.99
1 x ASRock B85M-ITX Intel B85 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ITX Motherboard £71.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy 'Storm' Mini-ITX Cube Case - Black/Blue £69.95
1 x KFA2 GeForce GT640 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £67.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £65.99
1 x XFX Pro 650W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £64.99
Total : £503.50 (includes shipping : £10.50).

joelk2 · 23 Jul 2013 at 13:44

Otacon said:
How much do I need to care about ATI vs nVidia these days? My experience as a Linux desktop user pushes me towards nVidia.

I came up with this last night, bit of a baby graphics card though I guess, but it does start me on Socket 1150:

im not too sure really but comparing benchmarks between the one you picked and the one i did.

Name Passmark G3D Mark Rank Videocard Value
(higher is better) (lower is better) (higher is better)

GeForce GT 640 1298 103 16.38
Radeon HD 7850 3702 24 24.94

Otacon · 23 Jul 2013 at 13:52

Heh, point taken. I'd be better off with IGP and putting in something more appropriate at a later date, I guess.

teppic · 23 Jul 2013 at 14:06

If you want an AMD option I'd look at the Richland Athlon X4 760K (ocuk only has the 750K for some reason). This is a quad core processor, and with all the new game engines able to use up to 8 cores well, it'll perform fine. The low cost of it would let you get a 7870 for your budget too.