Upcoming mini ITX build: need advice please

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SuperSteve462

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Jun 12, 2004
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Hi folks! I am planning on building a budget machine for one single purpose (maybe two ;)) and I was hoping your collective knowledge could help me out.

The only requirement is that I be able to run Counter Strike: Source @ 120hz vertical sync'ed, and maintain over 120 FPS @ near maximum settings. If I could also run Counter Strike: Global Offensive in the same manner that would be icing on the cake, but not required.

Here is the hardware I've chosen (I've left the insignificant hardware out, like case):

Gigabyte LGA 1155 Mini ITX Motherboard: http://www.microcenter.com/product/392369/GA-H61N-USB3_LGA_1155_H61_Mini_ITX_Intel_Motherboard

Celeron G550 Processor: http://www.microcenter.com/product/398335/Celeron_G550_26GHz_LGA_1155_Boxed_Processor

MicroCenter DDR3 1333 Dual Channel Two-2GB modules: http://www.microcenter.com/product/...l_Desktop_Memory_Kit_(Two_2GB_Memory_Modules)

EVGA Geforce GTX 650 (not the TI): http://www.microcenter.com/product/..._GeForce_GTX_650_1024MB_GDDR5_PCIe_Video_Card

Athena Power 300W FLexATX Mini ITX PSU: http://www.microcenter.com/product/327220/300W_FlexATX_Mini-ITX_Power_Supply

OCZ Agility 2 60GB SSD: http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Technology-Agility-Series-OCZSSD2-1AGT60G/dp/B002C1B9IC


My concerns:

The Celeron proc will bottleneck performance below what I require as far as CS:S framerates

The power supply is only 300W and the graphics card recommends 400W (I am hoping this will be negated by the fact that all the other hardware is so lower power consumption that it will leave plenty of watts for the GPU[is this how PSUs work?])

The PSU only has a 4-pin connector and not the 6-pin connector the GPU says it requires in the specs. Although I read somewhere that the GPU comes with a 6-pin-to-4-pin adapter. Is this possible/likely? Will it hurt performance?


Any help you all can offer would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

Steve
 
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Case is not insignificant at all. So please tell us what case you are planning to use. Also, are you actually within driving range of a Microcenter? Though off the bat: The CPU, PSU, and SSD are really bad choices.
 
Danny Bui said:
Case is not insignificant at all. So please tell us what case you are planning to use. Also, are you actually within driving range of a Microcenter? Though off the bat: The CPU, PSU, and SSD are really bad choices.
Click to expand...

Agreed. The H61 chipset won't allow for decent overclocking and the G550 is a pretty weak CPU.
 
The case is a CoolerMaster Elite Advanced Mini ITX: http://www.microcenter.com/product/399001/Elite_120_Advanced_Mini_ITX_Case_(RC-120A-KKN1)

I have a MicroCenter right next to me. The PSU was the ONLY choice if I wanted to be impulsive and buy all the parts tomorrow :( Its the only one they have in stock for mini ITX.

I chose the CPU because its a fraction of the price of an i3. Also I'm pretty sure CS:S doesn't rely so much on processor. I just don't know how true that statement is.

The SSD I already own.

I realize the capabilities of the hardware are lackluster, but CS:S is also a 10 year old game. This hardware is far newer than the game itself.

I'm cutting costs anywhere possible while still getting the results I'm looking for :(
 
SuperSteve462 said:
Here is the case: http://www.microcenter.com/product/399001/Elite_120_Advanced_Mini_ITX_Case_(RC-120A-KKN1)
Click to expand...
See, this is why case is not insignificant at all: Your case can easily fit in a standard ATX PSU. You do not need to get a mITX PSU at all. So this ATX PSU would do the trick:
http://www.microcenter.com/product/406086/CX_Series_CX430M_430_Watt_ATX_Modular_Power_Supply

In fact the above Corsair is far better in terms of quality let alone power output than the Athena. You're not gonna save that much space with the Athena to justify its low quality.

SuperSteve462 said:
I chose the CPU because its a fraction of the price of an i3. Also I'm pretty sure CS:S doesn't rely so much on processor. I just don't know how true that statement is.
Click to expand...
With the money saved from the PSU, you can now afford a faster CPU. Right now this CPU is a fantastic deal for a CPU:
68 - Intel Pentium G860 CPU

That should easily provide a noticeable performance improvement over your celeron. Yes you still won't be able to overclock it but still far better than the G550. Yes you will have to wait for it from Amazon.com but like I said, it's seriously a good deal. If you have to buy from Microcenter, pick up the Pentium G2120:
http://www.microcenter.com/product/398008/Pentium_G2120_31GHz_LGA_1155_Boxed_Processor
 
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Danny Bui said:
See, this is why case is not insignificant at all: Your case can easily fit in a standard ATX PSU. You do not need to get a mITX PSU at all.
Click to expand...

Yup! Soon as I saw the PSU in the OP... made me wonder.
1) IDK why they call those PSUs mini ITX when they are Flex ATX, and there aren't even many cases, ITX or Flex ATX, that use them.
2) Athena Power is not the greatest choice.
 
If you are intent on buying that H61 motherboard at MC, you may as well bundle it with a i3 3225 and take advantage of the $40 bundle discount. That would make the effective price of the i3 only $80 which is comparable to the better G series pricing. The 3225 also includes HD4000 graphics which may be enough for your needs.
 
At least go with an Ivy Bridge based CPU. I believe there is a Pentium G2120 or so that should be cheap and good. Also, if the budget allows, the i3 3225 is a great option as it has the HD4000 in it. You could probably play CS on that, without any dedicated video card. I would also say go with an AMD video card, but that's mostly based on preference. I am not sure if Microcenter has the AsRock z77 mini ITX board but I would go with that over that Gigabyte board. Even the ASRock H77 board would be better, IHMO.
 
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I completely over looked the fact that the case can take a standard ATX PSU!

Prav, thats absolutely right. I was thinking the exact same thing when I saw that bundle discount in the Deal section of this site.

I definitely needed a graphics card because it was imperative that I run at 120hz.. I don't think integrated procs can manage that. It was also imperative that I got an Nvidia card because my monitor supports 3d and it was super expensive when I got it. I didn't want to waste that feature even tho I knew Radeons were better value.

I went with the i3 3225 and got a great full size ATX PSU (thanks for the save DANNY!)... all the other hardware I kept the same.

I went to microcenter this afternoon and put this baby together and its absolutely PERFECT for what I needed it to do. CSGO runs amazing @ 120hz as well!

Thanks for the help folks!
 
Yuppers it was the perfect choice seeing as its modular (heard cable routing in ITX could be a nightmare) and Corsair ;)
 
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