Mini itx build

dai1983

I'm looking at building a micro ITX PC at the lower end of the budget. It will be used for light gaming (eg steam os, HL2 and its episodes), browsing etc and maybe getting me back into programming. If it played newish games such as GTA5/fall out 4 would be a bonus but not the end of the world.

So far I've decided to use a Pentium g3258 and overclock it in a cooler master elite 110 case. Research brings up the 850evo being the SSD of choice but torn over mSata v sata.

So this is where I need advice and suggestions:

Mother board: thinking a h81 micro ITX but not sure if it's worth getting onboard wifi or an adapter. Also see above for mSata options. There's a gigabyte b85 board which offers these features

ram: 8gb but not sure if 1x8gb or 2x4gb is best. More likely to buy 1x8 in the future over 2x8.

GPU: thinking an Nvida 750ti due to lower heat and power compared to amd. Limiting factor is the 60fps 720p monitor I'll be using and not upgrading for another year.

PSU: need a good but budget PSU that will fit

cooling: I guess if I OC the Pentium I'll need to sort cooling. Decent slimline cpu cooler anyone? I know the case is water cooling ready but would this be overkill?

With all these components I have no idea which brand/ model offers best features or bang/£. I guess I need someone with experience to show me the way!

I have no idea on budget but 350-500 at the very most. That's minus OS and mouse etc

Cisco001

Just a though, instead of going for g3258 and spend on cooler for OC, why not getting i3.

For £500 component, here is my though.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor (£95.29 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard (£105.50 @ Amazon UK) [choosing this just in case you want to upgrade in future]
Memory: Kingston FURY 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (£36.93 @ Ebuyer) [2 x 4GB should be better, but you may want to have a spare slot for upgrade]
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£62.27 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 950 2GB OC Edition Video Card (£123.51 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case (£34.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: SeaSonic ECO 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£39.34 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £497.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-04 11:01 GMT+0000

Edit: get corsair CX600M if you intend to upgrade to higher end video card in future

gonzo127

i agree with Cisco, as its something i have been looking at to replace my aging system, basically what i have found is to get the best overclock out of the g3258 you NEED water cooling, even more so if you are going for a micro atx case where airflow will be reduced even more, so you need something like the corsair h50, which costs about £40-50, but the i3 is 'only' £40-50 more than the G3258 but can use basic cooling and get the same performance, not only that but the i3 6100 is a skylake processor (ie new architecture) so will be easier to upgrade

whvkza

Are you completely set on going the itx route?

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/hGYFVn
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/hGYFVn/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£144.98 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock B150M-HDV Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£58.78 @ More Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (£39.36 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£62.25 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 950 2GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card (£129.54 @ Aria PC)
Case: Zalman ZM-T4 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£20.02 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: Super Flower Golden Green HX 450W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£47.71 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £502.64

I feel like for £500 this micro atx build provides better value with a quad core processor, DDR4 ram and a better psu for potential future gpu upgrades.

dai1983

Thanks for the replies so far. Here's my current thoughts on it.

- I agree that an i3 would be a decent upgrade so that's added to the list. An i5 is also something to consider but maybe further on down the line? I'd need the faster ram to make the most out of it though.

- how does the gtx 950 GPU compare to the 750ti? Is it a worth while upgrade?

- m2 v sata v msata ssd?

- if like it to be a mini itx as Its not so noticeable next to the TV. I'm also in Norway at the moment with the MOD so I'd need to fly it back on a military aircraft hence the small size.

whvkza

dai1983 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies so far. Here's my current thoughts on it.

- I agree that an i3 would be a decent upgrade so that's added to the list. An i5 is also something to consider but maybe further on down the line? I'd need the faster ram to make the most out of it though.

- how does the gtx 950 GPU compare to the 750ti? Is it a worth while upgrade?

- m2 v sata v msata ssd?

- if like it to be a mini itx as Its not so noticeable next to the TV. I'm also in Norway at the moment with the MOD so I'd need to fly it back on a military aircraft hence the small size.

Why would you need faster ram for an i5?

The 950 will be a minimum 30% faster with some games showing more than 40%, not to mention you can overclock it for more performance. So the price : performance ratio should be pretty similar plus it's a newer generation card.

I would personally go with a 2.5" sata drive, for m.2 which'll be more expensive than the sata counterpart you're going to need a motherboard which costs close to £100 and msata is a similar story. There aren't any speed differences between the three. Is there are specific reason that you're interested in m.2 and msata?

How about this build:

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/MwcDLk
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/MwcDLk/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£140.47 @ More Computers)
Motherboard: MSI H81I Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£49.00 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£31.36 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£62.25 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 950 2GB Dual WindForce Video Card (£127.67 @ More Computers)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case (£34.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: Super Flower Golden Green HX 450W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£47.71 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £493.44

dai1983

My thinking behind msata was that it would save room and be easier to assemble in an Mitx case. When I last looked there was about £2 difference between msata and normal sata. The 850 Evo has come down in price the last few days I think.

The memory speed comment was with regards to the new i3. I've seen some reviews that say there is a noticeable performance increase with that cpu and faster memory.

whvkza

dai1983 wrote: »

My thinking behind msata was that it would save room and be easier to assemble in an Mitx case. When I last looked there was about £2 difference between msata and normal sata. The 850 Evo has come down in price the last few days I think.

The memory speed comment was with regards to the new i3. I've seen some reviews that say there is a noticeable performance increase with that cpu and faster memory.

£2 difference is great, where I was checking prices the msata version was £14 more and the m.2 version was £20 more.

Here is a Haswell msata build:

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/F6ZYxr
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/F6ZYxr/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£140.47 @ More Computers)
Motherboard: Biostar Hi-Fi B85N 3D Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£65.06 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury White 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£31.36 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB mSATA Solid State Drive (£76.47 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 950 2GB Dual WindForce Video Card (£127.67 @ More Computers)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case (£34.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: Super Flower Golden Green HX 450W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£47.71 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £523.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-05 07:15 GMT+0000

An equivalent Skylake build:

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3X7LZL
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3X7LZL/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£144.98 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H170M-ITX/DL Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard (£78.05 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston Savage 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£43.40 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB mSATA Solid State Drive (£76.47 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 950 2GB Dual WindForce Video Card (£127.67 @ More Computers)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case (£34.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: Super Flower Golden Green HX 450W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£47.71 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £553.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-05 07:48 GMT+0000

In those reviews do they give numbers on cpu and gpu usage or maybe even comparisons to i5 and i7 cpus with different ram speeds? To me it seems like the games which are showing a big improvement with faster ram on an i3 might be cpu bound.

Cisco001

dai1983 wrote: »

- I agree that an i3 would be a decent upgrade so that's added to the list. An i5 is also something to consider but maybe further on down the line? I'd need the faster ram to make the most out of it though.

- if like it to be a mini itx as Its not so noticeable next to the TV. I'm also in Norway at the moment with the MOD so I'd need to fly it back on a military aircraft hence the small size.

Regarding the RAM, Personally would go for DDR4 2400 or 2666 if you go for LGA1151.

Also I recommend you get modular PSU for small case.

And you you want something not noticeable in next to TV I probably get something like HTPC case.

Cycrow

whvkza wrote: »

There aren't any speed differences between the three. Is there are specific reason that you're interested in m.2 and msata?

Thats not actually true, PCI-E based SSD's are quicker than standard SATA.

But not all motherboards or m2/msata ssd's support the pci-e version.

M.2 ssd's have the advantage of being smaller, so good if space is at a premium. But if you are going for M.2 you should really be looking at the PCI-E based ones, but that comes at an additional cost

whvkza

Cisco001 wrote: »

Regarding the RAM, Personally would go for DDR4 2400 or 2666 if you go for LGA1151.

Also I recommend you get modular PSU for small case.

If you're going for ram higher than 2133MHz you have to get a board with the Z170 chipset right? On a budget build I'm not sure about paying over £100 for a motherboard. Until cheaper B150 itx boards come I would prefer to go with Haswell & 1600MHz CL9 ram on low cost itx builds.

That's true, the Seasonic you mentioned in your build is probably the best fit. I didn't choose it because it only comes with a single pcie connector.

Cycrow wrote: »

Thats not actually true, PCI-E based SSD's are quicker than standard SATA.

But not all motherboards or m2/msata ssd's support the pci-e version.

M.2 ssd's have the advantage of being smaller, so good if space is at a premium. But if you are going for M.2 you should really be looking at the PCI-E based ones, but that comes at an additional cost

OP was asking about the 850 evo versions which is why I said that it was the same. Installing a 2.5" drive in the 110 is not that difficult, you have mounting spots above the psu and two additional cables are really not a big deal even in a small case. If he did that he could save £40.

I wouldn't even consider pci-e m.2 drives for this build, the 256gb sm951 costs about the same as a 500gb 850 evo and you also notice in a lot of reviews that the real world everyday tasks aren't effected my having the much faster drives. Even the m.2 version of the evo is £20 more than the 2.5" version.