super small gaming rig, need some advice..

[fixitman]

1. What will you be doing with this PC?
1080p gaming, possible htpc use. portable.

2. Will you be overclocking?
probably not.

3. What's your budget?
Budget is flexible, but really want to keep cost as low as possible.

4. Where do you live? Do you have any big B&M (brick and mortar) computer chains nearby (e.g. Microcenter, Fry's, etc)?
Portland, OR area. there is a fry's 45 minute drive away. would prefer to just order online

5. What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc.
motherboard, GPU, possibly a power supply, possibly a mSATA SSD if what I have doesnt work out
I was looking at the Zotac short GPUs
650 ti
660
or
660 ti
I would like to match the cpu and gpu, so neither is bottlenecking the other, while keeping cost down as much as possible.

6. If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing?
I have available:
CPU: i3-2120 (if this is not enough for 1080p gaming, I might be able to get a 3570k)
Slim optical drive
Hard drive Seagate Momentus XT 500GB
memory Gskill 1600 high profile or Gskill low profile
power supplies 600w atx, 250w SFX12v
Will be custom building as case.

7. What specific features do you need in a motherboard?
Need: Reliability, video card slot, mITX
Would be nice: Fast booting, low price

8. What resolution output do you need?
Gaming at 1080p. Will be playing a Cryengine 3 based game mostly (mechwarrior online), would like to maintain 40fps or better with max settings. Will also play Guildwars 2

9. Does this system need to fit into a particular space?
Would like to be as small as possible. The hard part here is balancing gaming power vs size and cost

10. How comfortable are you with custom case design/modification and electrical wiring? What tools do you have (Screwdrivers/Leatherman, Drill, Dremel, Metal snips, Soldering Iron, Bending Brake, CNC/Welding machines/Plasma cutter, etc...)?
I am totally capable of custom building a case, and modifying most electrical. I don't have any fancy machining though.

11. How important is the noise/silence of this sytem?
No jet engines or wind tunnels, but total silence is not mandatory, but is a bonus.

12. How mobile does this system need to be?
Very mobile. Will be used for some travel, and as a loaner pc.

13. Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
I have a copy of Windows 7 64 bit.

14. When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
No major hurry, but would like to have the components soon so I can start building, I have the new build itch!!!!!

My goal is to build the smallest, least expensive 1080p gaming rig I can. Budget is flexible, but would like to keep costs down as much as I can.
The rig would be a backup for my main system (3570k and 670), and a loaner to friends and clients (I build/repair/upgrade systems for friends and family). Might even sell it if someone offers me enough
optical drive is not mandatory, but I have a slim one and it would be nice.
I have no need for huge amounts of storage, so a single hdd or ssd is enough.

Questions:
Is a i3 2120 enough cpu for cryengine 3 based games?
Is a 650ti enough GPU for cryengine 3 based games?
Is 190watts enough to power a 2120 and 650ti combo? 190 watts is the biggest pico psu I have found. This would allow for a pretty tiny system.

At what level of GPU would a i3 2120 be the bottleneck? I would like to balance the gpu to the cpu.

I was leaning towards going with:
i3 2120
650ti
Seagate Momentus XT 500GB
pico psu (or go a bit bigger, and just use my 250w SFX12v power supply)
Slim optical drive
This would allow me to build a really small system. though skipping the optical drive and using an mSATA drive would be smaller, my cost would go up (as I would need a more expensive mobo for the mSATA, and have to buy a mSATA SSD)

A little bigger, but more powerful and more expensive
i3 2120
660 or 660ti
silverstone 450w SFX12v power supply (or go bigger and save $ and reuse my 600w coolermaster atx modular)

I need Motherboard recomendations!
I have used the famous ASRock Z77E-ITX before, and its great, but I would like to go less expensive if possible. Also, the ability to undervolt would be nice, but not mandatory.
I know its kind of a ramble, but I am having trouble making decisions

 

[Zap]

No overclocking and quick POST? Go for the ASRock H77 ITX board, which runs around $40-50 less than the Z77 version.

190W would probably not be enough. For small, you may be able to get away with gutting a small Flex ATX PSU such as this one. It is roughly 1/4 the volume of a normal ATX PSU.

The "easy" thing to do would be to buy the Silverstone SG05-450 (often around $120-125 shipped at Amazon, but they always sell out quick) since it would have enough power, be able to hold everything you specified and still be reasonably compact.

 

[Quartz-1]

Look at the Shuttle SFF systems.

 

[triclops41]

agreed, the sg05-450 would be a good choice.
where will this system be sitting, for the majority of its time?

 

[Skott]

The smallest case that will fit this is the SG05/06. The next size up would be the Shuttle SZ77R5 and the next size up from that would be the SG07/08 and they get bigger beyond that in different shapes and sizes. The SG05/06 would be my first recomendation. Its the smallest and it will pretty much allow you any choice of motherboard and cpu you want. They can fit the new 600 series just fine.