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Forums - PC - Building mini itx machine for uni/steam big picture!!

Yunero on 23 July 2013

Oh man bought pc yesterday now come here and see so many great suggestions. I hope not having a modular psu doesn't screw me over. I also ended up going for a gtx770



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Xenostar on 23 July 2013

I have this machine but with a gigabyte motherboard, you should think if you really need a DVD drive, because in this case its a VERY tight fit, being able to store the extra PSU cabling in the dvd bay really helps with airflow and cooling ,as its only like 2 inch from the PSU to the motherboard you have a lot of cable length to find somewhere to live.

Apart from that i couldnt be happier with this setup, loving skyrim legendary edition right now.



Soleron on 23 July 2013
Pemalite said:
Soleron said:

Broadwell is not being released for desktops.


It's micro-architecture will.

No.



Munkeh111 on 23 July 2013
Yunero said:
Soleron said:
I would recommend getting an SSD with that. Huge improvement in responsiveness.


You mean just like a boot drive or something? is there a way to put steam itself onto that drive, but the games onto another?

What you do is to install Steam to the SSD, then when you install the games you will be able to choose where to install them in most cases. If you can't, there is a programme called Steam mover that can move the from your steam folder. It should be noted that games using the source engine are all installed in the Steam folder.

As for your build, I don't know about the case and cooling, but I have a very similar specced computer. I built it myself last year with an i5-3570k, Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB RAM and the ASUS GTX 670

It can play almost every game at 1080p on Ultra and should last you for the new few years, though maybe not on Ultra.

One thing I might reccomend is to get a modular power supply, especially in a smaller case, it makes putting everything together much easier

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15_354&products_id=22420



Yunero on 23 July 2013

getting more frightened that i wont be able to fit it all in by the second :(, changes to the build i made when purchasing was switching the graphics to the gtx 770 and i have a 600watt psu, with people saying disk drive wont fit, i might have to try put it together and just leave the disk drive out if it doesn't fit, only 20 bucks lost if it doesn't work. Wont be getting a solid state drive, from my experience with my laptop they are really nice, but i only need this pc for gaming so i can just be patient and wait for it to load up i think.



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Yunero on 23 July 2013

Also anyone have tips on the OS, 7 or 8?



LemonSlice on 23 July 2013
Pemalite said:
LemonSlice said:
Yunero said:
Soleron said:
I would recommend getting an SSD with that. Huge improvement in responsiveness.


You mean just like a boot drive or something? is there a way to put steam itself onto that drive, but the games onto another?

Yes, but the games which use Source assets will need to be installed on the "source" drive.


Nah.
Just install Steam onto the Mechanical and everything will place itself within the Steam folder.
The only benefit an SSD brings to gaming is mostly reduced load times.

Also, I would look at Haswell 4670K+Socket 1150, it would be about $50 more expensive all told, but you do get a CPU that can overclock/Underclock+Undervolt and chances are you can upgrade to Broadwell if Intel's past releases are anything to go by, where-as Ivy Bridge/Socket 1155 is End-Of-Life.
Converesly, you could just downgrade the Ivy-Bridge CPU down to a Core i5 3330 and pocket the extra $30, you won't notice that much difference in gaming either way.

Also,  a bit of advice... GET a modular PSU, working in an ITX case with a non-modular PSU is like walking on fire, you will also improve airflow and thus thermals too!

For the Ram, ditch the Corsair, Grab some G.Skill Sniper (Lower profile heatsink too!) and save the $20.

In regards to the case, the PSU will be mounted above the CPU cooler, so check the height of the CPU heatsink, converesly you could get a Scythe Shuriken Low Profile cooler and whack that in, which is what I use on my Phenom 2 x6 HTPC. (If it can cool a hot Phenom 2, it will cool a Core i5.)



By "source drive" I meant the partition Steam and thus all 'Source' assets, not the OS, was installed. :)



JEMC on 23 July 2013

Get Win 7 and save yourself from more problems.

And regarding the cabling, don't worry so much. You will just need patience, lots of patience. And zip ties.



Please excuse my bad English.

Former gaming PC: i5-4670k@stock (for now), 16Gb RAM 1600 MHz and a GTX 1070

Current gaming PC: R5-7600, 32GB RAM 6000MT/s (CL30) and a RX 9060XT 16GB

Steam / Live / NNID : jonxiquet    Add me if you want, but I'm a single player gamer.

darkknightkryta on 23 July 2013

ASRock is actually making a new, very slim case. The m8. I have no idea how big of a production it will be though. It should be able to hold an i7 and a Titan.



Yunero on 02 August 2013

Just finished the build, overall pretty frustrating managing the cables, I had to use the disk drive just to install windows then took it out of the case. Installed an aftermarket fan to help with the heat, but cant test that out uch atm as my power points in my dorm room have gone out. Just my luck :(. Hopefully the portability ends up being worth it because overall It was way too much work