Upgrade help

bbK · 26 Aug 2014 at 20:00

OK so just having got back from i52 LAN and having to carry this case from the car park to the arena it is clear i need to move this PC into a new mini itx build. So i am wondering if anyone would give me help in doing so.

Current spec:
Cooler Master HAF-X
Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3
i5 2500k
h100 cooler
16GB Corsair Vengeance
250gb SSD
Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7970
Corsair 850w PSU

I know i need to upgrade the motherboard, not sure if the card/psu will fit in a small case etc and that's where im hoping someone could spec me something up. I've had a quick look at the cases and the Corsair Carbide looks quite good... any thoughts on that?

Upgrade wise I would like to keep the cost around 300-400 but if i have to pay more i will.

RJC · 26 Aug 2014 at 20:54

Everything else should fit in:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Z97I Gaming AC - Devil's Canyon i5 4690K CPU & Mini ITX Motherboard Bundle **£18 Saving** £265.98
1 x Corsair Carbide Series Air 240 High Airflow PC Case - Black (CC-9011070-WW) £69.95
Total : £345.53 (includes shipping : £8.00).

bbK · 26 Aug 2014 at 21:23

Ignore me

RJC · 26 Aug 2014 at 21:29

The motherboard is ITX so will fit ok

You will pay a little more but I always go Gigabyte:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4690K 3.50GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £173.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97N-Gaming 5 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £115.99
Total : £299.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).

bbK · 26 Aug 2014 at 21:33

Cheers for the suggestions. I've just realised that the case is on pre-order until late September tho.... hmmmz

Quartz · 26 Aug 2014 at 23:33

RJC said:
1 x Corsair Carbide Series Air 240 High Airflow PC Case - Black (CC-9011070-WW) £69.95

That's a mATX case not an ITX case. My go-to recommendation for ITX and transportability is the Shuttle XPC range. They work best if your GPU has a blower fan.

You won't be able to fit the H100 cooler inside the Shuttle, but Asetek do a 92mm liquid cooler.

lee32uk · 26 Aug 2014 at 23:55

Quartz said:
That's a mATX case not an ITX case. My go-to recommendation for ITX and transportability is the Shuttle XPC range. They work best if your GPU has a blower fan.

You won't be able to fit the H100 cooler inside the Shuttle, but Asetek do a 92mm liquid cooler.

The air240 takes mini-itx boards as well.

lee32uk · 26 Aug 2014 at 23:59

I would suggest looking for a 2nd hand mini-itx/matx Z77 board. The i5 2500K is still a very good cpu.

bbK · 27 Aug 2014 at 00:12

It did cross my mind to get a 2nd hand mobo 'cos i only play CSGO and it is a perfectly fine setup for that. I'll have a look around.

RJC · 27 Aug 2014 at 07:07

Quartz said:
That's a mATX case not an ITX case. My go-to recommendation for ITX and transportability is the Shuttle XPC range. They work best if your GPU has a blower fan.

You won't be able to fit the H100 cooler inside the Shuttle, but Asetek do a 92mm liquid cooler.

As Lee32uk mentioned it can take a ITX board along with the op's AIO, this will be smaller than his current setup.