The Gaming PC Building/Upgrade Thread

[Garcian Smith]

ils411 said:
great thread! very informative!

could somebody advise me regarding mini-itx? i'm thinking of upgrading to a new pc and need to save space so i'm considering a mini-itx rig. is that any good? or will it be too weak to play current games?

Thanks!

And no, I wouldn't recommend Mini-ITX for a gaming machine. You'll be hard-pressed to even find a mini-ITX mobo with an AM3 or LGA1156 socket (most use AM2+ or some older Intel socket), even a single PCI-E x16 port, or support for DDR3 RAM. In other words, the standard is poorly suited for gaming.

If you're looking to save space and you want to go with the Athlon II X3 435-based "standard gamer" build, then I'd start with a Lian Li PC-V351B and a Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H Micro-ATX mobo and go to town from there. That'll give you a case that's smaller than your standard mid tower, but with all of the features of a standard ATX build (minus one or two PCI ports and expansion slots). The video card will take up one of the PCI ports as well as the PCI-E, but that still leaves you with a PCI-E x1 port for a wireless card or TV tuner and a PCI port for whatever you might need a PCI port for.

A few caveats, though: First, a Micro-ATX case won't be able to fit most larger video cards, but you should be able to squeeze a Radeon 4770 or 4850 in there with little effort. Second, Micro-ATX cases may be difficult to build in for a first-time builder. Make sure that you get a modular power supply in order to minimize stray cables.

For comparison's sake, by the by: The Lian Li is 14.69" x 10.98" x 10.31", while the Cooler Master Centurion 5 (my standard recommended ATX mid tower) is 18.90" x 7.95" x 17.13"