Hardware & Technical Mini ITX build
- Thread starter avow555
- Start date
Is there a budget as that would steer choices? Also what is the use case?
Why AMD CPU? About the only possible reason for a current one is price, but Ryzen is literally weeks away and would make up a lot of ground against Intel. I don't think anyone has announced, demonstrated, or leaked mini-ITX mobos yet, but they will surely come in time. Only thing is... Ryzen initially wont come in APU versions so you'd need that external GPU right away.
Why 750W PSU? Especially in a SFF case you're not going to fit enough in it to need that much power. Decent 450W or slightly more is plenty.
For example, the initial build of my VR gaming box was a Silverstone SG13 case. Really tiny shoebox size. 6700k slightly overclocked, Silverstone AIO watercooler, 980Ti, 450W PSU.
Why AMD CPU? About the only possible reason for a current one is price, but Ryzen is literally weeks away and would make up a lot of ground against Intel. I don't think anyone has announced, demonstrated, or leaked mini-ITX mobos yet, but they will surely come in time. Only thing is... Ryzen initially wont come in APU versions so you'd need that external GPU right away.
Why 750W PSU? Especially in a SFF case you're not going to fit enough in it to need that much power. Decent 450W or slightly more is plenty.
For example, the initial build of my VR gaming box was a Silverstone SG13 case. Really tiny shoebox size. 6700k slightly overclocked, Silverstone AIO watercooler, 980Ti, 450W PSU.
I agree, if you're going AMD you may as well wait for Ryzen. I've got the FX 9590 in mine, I built it a few years ago. And let me tell you, on the box it has a TDP of 220w, but I could swear it's even higher sometimes. I've currently got one of the highest performing cpu watercoolers on the market with nano diamond thermal paste, and I still have cooling problems.
So basically, a good AMD cpu in a small rig? That might not go down well.
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I don't skimp on power requirements especially not knowing the ultimate gfx card or cpu so 750w is gonna cover the bases..
Ryzen isn't out, has not much Motherboard support either.
Use, well I guess Elite Dangerous, lol amongst other things.
I reckon motherboard support will be just fine at launch
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/amd-ryzen-chipset-motherboard-system,news-54528.html
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3154...n-army-of-ryzen-pcs-and-am4-motherboards.html
Or were you specifically referring to mini-itx boards ... In which case I agree
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cmdr_Sisko
Banned
I built a mini-itx for my daughter. I'd highly recommend skipping the bluray... you just don't need it (unless you have a particular purpose for it)... deleting the blu ray gives you more case options. . nzxt makes a beautiful mini-itx case, but it's a bit larger than others-- but does support more options on.
I do recommend going with intel, but I've found based on experience that if you're in the amd camp, you're in. the I series are just so cheap and powerful now... and the mobo options, especially at that size, are far more open -- I used the asrock fata1ty, it's a fantastic board.
definitely go with an m.2 nvme boot drive-- you won't regret it, and the prices now make it worth while, over a non-nvme drive. And with a mini-itx, and space you can save will be helpful.
I do recommend going with intel, but I've found based on experience that if you're in the amd camp, you're in. the I series are just so cheap and powerful now... and the mobo options, especially at that size, are far more open -- I used the asrock fata1ty, it's a fantastic board.
definitely go with an m.2 nvme boot drive-- you won't regret it, and the prices now make it worth while, over a non-nvme drive. And with a mini-itx, and space you can save will be helpful.
I'm running a mini-ITX build under the telly at the office:
Intel i7-6700
8GB DDR4-2133
256 GB Intel 600 NVMe SSD
1TB WD Black 3.5in HDD
Gigabyte GA-H170-WIFI mini-ITX motherboard
Gigabyte GV-N1060IXOC-6GD short 6GB GTX1060 PCIe video card
Corsair Obsidian 250D case
Corsair 500W PSU.
Currently, I have an old DVD-RW drive in it as I'm ripping a number of our DVDs and putting them through Handbrake. Otherwise I couldn't care less what optical drive it has in it. I've got Eliteangerous running on it and it is noticeably smoother than the home computer (i3-3240, 8GB, Radeon HD7770, 1TB WD Black regular hard drive).
Only thing with it is that under heavy CPU load, the CPU fan winds up and is quite noisy. Also, I've only got a 500W power supply in it. I could have gone for less, as all the parts in it are relatively low power (i7 = 65W, GTX1060 6GB = 120W are the major power users) and the board only has a single PCIe slot. Perhaps I could have gone for the GTX1070 version of the card but it was almost twice the price with only a 40% performance improvement, and I'm not that much of a dedicated gamer.
I'll probably put together a Ryzen build at some point so I can evaluate the AMD stuff but they're still not here yet...
Intel i7-6700
8GB DDR4-2133
256 GB Intel 600 NVMe SSD
1TB WD Black 3.5in HDD
Gigabyte GA-H170-WIFI mini-ITX motherboard
Gigabyte GV-N1060IXOC-6GD short 6GB GTX1060 PCIe video card
Corsair Obsidian 250D case
Corsair 500W PSU.
Currently, I have an old DVD-RW drive in it as I'm ripping a number of our DVDs and putting them through Handbrake. Otherwise I couldn't care less what optical drive it has in it. I've got Elite
angerous running on it and it is noticeably smoother than the home computer (i3-3240, 8GB, Radeon HD7770, 1TB WD Black regular hard drive).Only thing with it is that under heavy CPU load, the CPU fan winds up and is quite noisy. Also, I've only got a 500W power supply in it. I could have gone for less, as all the parts in it are relatively low power (i7 = 65W, GTX1060 6GB = 120W are the major power users) and the board only has a single PCIe slot. Perhaps I could have gone for the GTX1070 version of the card but it was almost twice the price with only a 40% performance improvement, and I'm not that much of a dedicated gamer.
I'll probably put together a Ryzen build at some point so I can evaluate the AMD stuff but they're still not here yet...