Help Me With My SFF Build

[Giliara]

1. What will you be doing with this PC? Light gaming, web browsing, and multitaskng
2. Will you be overclocking? Only if it is an AMD CPU.
3. What's your budget? Around $650.
4. Where do you live? The United States, I have a Microcenter near me.
5. What exact parts do you need for that budget? Everything except a monitor, mouse, and keyboard.
6. If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? None.
7. What specific features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Thunderbolt? Crossfire or SLI support? How many USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s?USB 3 would be nice and SATA 6 as well.
8. What resolution output do you need? High on 720p or low-medium on 1080p.
9. Does this system need to fit into a particular space and do you need an optical drive? It needs to fit inside a backpack and I want an optical drive.
10. How comfortable are you with custom case design/modification and electrical wiring? I can probably to light modding, but no electric wiring.
11. How important is the noise/silence of this system? I would want it to be fairly quiet.
12. How mobile does this system need to be? Need a carrying handle or carrying straps? Is weight important (carry-on bag, etc)? Water cooling quick disconnects, etc? I don't mind a handle and it should be fairly light.
13. Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? No.
14. When do you plan on building/buying the PC? A week or two.
I made a PCPartpicker list and I would like some opinions on it PCPartpicker.

 

[Juan Carlo]

hi Giliara.. have you considered a Silverstone SG05? its a bit larger than a Thermaltake SD101 but i think its still very portable.. You wont have much upgrade options on an SD101 as it only accommodates Low Profile Graphics Cards and only has a 180W Power Supply (You might consider upgrading in the future).. And as for you choice of CPU Cooler, as far as reviews show, Noctua NH-L9i performs just like a stock Intel Cooler.. Why not just use the stock cooler from the i3-3220 and invest a bit more on an SG05 and a Slimline Optical Drive for it..

 

[Zap]

Since you have a Micro Center near you, go for whatever their combo deal is. I think right now it is a Core i3-3245. Get $30 or $40 off when purchased with a motherboard. Go for a B75 chipset ITX board if they have it (ASRock makes one) otherwise cheapest H77. Their deals and availability changes from time to time, so find out what is the current deal from your local store.

Note that they will pricematch online pricing such as Newegg. You will have to pay tax, but not shipping. The good thing is that you will be able to exchange/return parts that you have problems with, should any arise.

 

[tiraides]

What is "light gaming" for you? I don't believe that the Thermaltake SD101 is a cost-effective solution, yet alone suitable for a gaming PC. You may be better off with the Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced or the aforementioned Silverstone SG05.

Since you have a Micro Center near you, go for whatever their combo deal is. I think right now it is a Core i3-3245. Get $30 or $40 off when purchased with a motherboard. Go for a B75 chipset ITX board if they have it (ASRock makes one) otherwise cheapest H77. Their deals and availability changes from time to time, so find out what is the current deal from your local store.

Micro Center currently has $30 off any Socket 1155 motherboard when you purchase the Core i3-3245.

 

[Giliara]

I will most likely get this build. Will probably mod for better cooling. Light gaming is like Minecraft and flash games. But my cousin might play more graphically intense games in the future.
PCpartpicker

 

[tiraides]

Get this instead:

$130 - Intel Core i3-3245 (MC in-store special)
$65 - Gigabyte GA-H61N-USB3 ($30 instant discount when purchased alongside i3-3245)
$60 - Kingston HyperX blu 2x4GB DDR3 1333
$67 - WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB HDD
$16 - LG GH24NS95 SATA DVD burner
$40 - Corsair CX430 430W PSU
$46 - Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced
$90 - Microsoft Windows 8 64-bit OEM
=====
$514 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

I didn't include a video card as, from what I've read, the onboard Intel GPU works just fine for Minecraft. If your cousin really plays more demanding games at a 1920x1080 resolution, then you need either a GTX 650 Ti Boost or an HD 7850 as a "bare minimum" card.

If you insist on going with AMD instead of Intel, replace the processor, motherboard, and RAM with the following:

$110 - AMD A8 6600K Black Edition (MC in-store special)
$60 - ASRock FM2A75M-ITX Rev. 2.0 ($30 instant discount when purchased alongside A8 6600K)
$57 - Kingston HyperX Black 2x4GB DDR3 1600

The total drops down to $486, which should free up some funds for a better video card.

 

[kjeldoran]

I will most likely get this build. Will probably mod for better cooling. Light gaming is like Minecraft and flash games. But my cousin might play more graphically intense games in the future.
PCpartpicker

Well, if you do decide to use that, I have a couple suggestions...

1. Microcenter has an FX-6300 combo, would probably be cheaper than your build since you said you have a microcenter nearby. Even then, I'd opt for the ivy i3 combo at microcenter for power consumption, noise and performance. Given the requirements, you probably don't need the extra threads.
2. Why the SFX PSU? The case looks to handle a normal ATX PSU. I'd aim for something that has a 120mm fan.
3. I'd get a different cooler. While the case you selected can't house large tower coolers, it is 5.5" wide. The noctua cooler you selected is only 37mm (~1.5") high with a fan. I'd get something that is a bit more beefy for silence/cooling purposes.

 

[Giliara]

Is there a smaller case then the cooler master one that I can get? Also the Inwin cases says it carries a SFX PSU. My cousin doesn't like the look of the SG05, but he does like the SG06

 

[Zap]

My cousin doesn't like the look of the SG05, but he does like the SG06

Then get the SG06. Expert tip: SG05 and SG06 are the same case. They just look different in the front.

 

[Giliara]

Probably the final build here PCPartpicker

 

[kjeldoran]

Is there a smaller case then the cooler master one that I can get? Also the Inwin case says it carries an SFX PSU. My cousin doesn't like the look of the SG05, but he does like the SG06

Ah, my bad, just weird seeing a matx with an sfx psu.

Probably the final build here PCPartpicker

Fyi, your cooler is gonna be too tall. Case is 5.5" wide and your cooler is 160mm tall (6.3"). not sure about a cooler recommendation.

 

[Giliara]

Ah, my bad, just weird seeing a matx with an sfx psu.



Fyi, your cooler is gonna be too tall. Case is 5.5" wide and your cooler is 160mm tall (6.3"). not sure about a cooler recommendation.

It is only 25 mm high

 

[vipz]

You should double-check.

 

[tiraides]

Is there a smaller case then the cooler master one that I can get? Also the Inwin cases says it carries a SFX PSU. My cousin doesn't like the look of the SG05, but he does like the SG06

There are plenty of smaller mini-ITX cases, but you'd essentially have to give up on any serious gaming. Some of those cases can only handle a low profile or a single-slot video card -- others can't handle any PCI-E card -- which eliminates virtually all "good" mid-range and high-end cards.

How small do you want to go? One such option is the Apex MI-008, which is much smaller than the Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced. (The MI-008 comes with a 250W SFX power supply that you could replace.) But you have much less internal space to work with and virtually no room for cooling other than from the CPU cooler and the PSU fan. You can also forget about the HD 7770; the MI-008 only supports a true single-slot video card like the HD 7750 or the GT 640.

Do you want to go even smaller? You can with the Antec ISK 310-150 (or the slightly cheaper ISK 300-150), which comes with its own 150W power supply. But you'd have to spend extra on a slim/notebook optical drive (compared to a "normal" 5.25 inch optical drive) and you can only fit in a low profile video card.

There are even smaller cases available, like the M350 Universal and the Morex 557 Universal. But with one of those cases, you can forget about an internal optical drive, a 3.5 inch hard drive, or any video card.

With any of the above cases, you should strongly consider going with one of the Intel dual-cores as they run much cooler than most of the AMD processors you could find. Virtually all of these cases can only handle the stock CPU cooler that come with the processor; most of the good third-party CPU coolers are simply too tall to use.

Again, how small do you want to go with the case?

Then get the SG06. Expert tip: SG05 and SG06 are the same case. They just look different in the front.

The SG06, regardless of whether it comes with or without a PSU, costs more than the SG05. If the OP wants to stay under his $650, he should look elsewhere.

 

[kjeldoran]

It is only 25 mm high

Your last part list has the NZXT Respire T20 which is a tower cooler.

There are plenty of smaller mini-ITX cases, but you'd essentially have to give up on any serious gaming. Some of those cases can only handle a low profile or a single-slot video card -- others can't handle any PCI-E card -- which eliminates virtually all "good" mid-range and high-end cards.

How small do you want to go? One such option is the Apex MI-008, which is much smaller than the Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced. (The MI-008 comes with a 250W SFX power supply that you could replace.) But you have much less internal space to work with and virtually no room for cooling other than from the CPU cooler and the PSU fan. You can also forget about the HD 7770; the MI-008 only supports a true single-slot video card like the HD 7750 or the GT 640.

Do you want to go even smaller? You can with the Antec ISK 310-150 (or the slightly cheaper ISK 300-150), which comes with its own 150W power supply. But you'd have to spend extra on a slim/notebook optical drive (compared to a "normal" 5.25 inch optical drive) and you can only fit in a low profile video card.

There are even smaller cases available, like the M350 Universal and the Morex 557 Universal. But with one of those cases, you can forget about an internal optical drive, a 3.5 inch hard drive, or any video card.

With any of the above cases, you should strongly consider going with one of the Intel dual-cores as they run much cooler than most of the AMD processors you could find. Virtually all of these cases can only handle the stock CPU cooler that come with the processor; most of the good third-party CPU coolers are simply too tall to use.

Again, how small do you want to go with the case?



The SG06, regardless of whether it comes with or without a PSU, costs more than the SG05. If the OP wants to stay under his $650, he should look elsewhere.

The SG06 is only $5 more than the SG05. Shouldn't really break the bank since it is easy to move $5 around in a budget.

Aside from that,he chose an matx case for his final pick, I suppose another alternative could be the lian li PCQ07. Fairly small, can use short single-slot video cards, and house most top-down coolers when using the silverstone SFX PSU. Should be a lot smaller than the inwin case he selected if he doesn't want to go the SG05/06 route.

 

[Giliara]

Guys how about this PCPartPicker and I upgrade the CPU in a year or so to an FX.

 

[tiraides]

Guys how about this PCPartPicker and I upgrade the CPU in a year or so to an FX.

No, no, no....

- Upgrade the CPU later? Why not get an FX processor now? It's also newer technology, so it's considerably better (and runs a bit cooler) than the X4 965 you were considering.

- The CPU cooler is too tall for the case you're considering. Besides, do you really need to overclock the processor, considering the fact that whatever case you choose may not be suited to handle the increased heat coming from an overclocked processor?

- Speaking of the which, why did you choose the Inwin case? The only cooling you'll have for the case will come from the CPU cooler, the video card cooler, and the PSU fan. The actual product page "recommends" a 65W processor -- the majority of which are made by Intel.

- You don't need the Arctic Silver thermal compound. And I don't believe that the Inwin case can support any case fans.

- I have no problem with the Silverstone PSU per se, but the fact that you're buying it diminishes the value of the Inwin case in my eyes even further. You could find several decent micro ATX and mini ITX cases for less than the price of the Inwin case; why is that your (new) favorite?

Please answer the following questions:

- Does your cousin plan on playing anything other than Minecraft? If so, what -- and at what resolution (720p or 1080p)?

- How big is your backpack?

- Why AMD instead of Intel? Do you really need a quad-core for your multitasking needs?

 

[Giliara]

Meh I just gave up and am getting a laptop gonna upgrade it to 8gb of ram linky. (plus my cousin prefers a laptop)

 

[Poi25]

lol, I just found this thread really funny.