Toss up between Corsair obsidian 250d and Bitfenix prodigy.
I think i prefer the Corsair because the only advantage of the prodigy is the handles buuuuut apparently their really flimsy so its weak benefit. I don't know what to do. This is the build i have planned, opinions?
Case: Prodigy or 250d
CPU: AMD FX6300
Mobo: Asus M5A78L-M/USB3
CPU cooler: Corsair Hydro H75
GPU: Gigabyte r9 270x
PSU: Corsair Builder Series CXM 500W Modular (Modular because of small space, I want it to look nice atleast)
Ram: Kingston HYPERX Fury 8gb 2 x 4gb dimms 1886mhz
All totaling: £501.58
Opinions accepted and I haven't got any storage listed because i have 820gb already and no SSD because i want the bare essentials first.
I recently finished a build with a Corsair 240 Air, similar to the obsidian 240d. I found Corsair has done a great job of creating a case that looks great and enabling the builder to maximize the space. I seriously considered the Bitfenix, however for me the material quality and case layout was not on the same level.
If gaming is a priority id push for a stronger gpu. ~ like a 280x
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/deejeta/saved/#view=GhhdnQ - i3, 280x, good psu - you could comfortably grab an i7 later on if you ever needed extra cpu grunt but you'd be surprised as to how well an i3 does perform in most instances.
Yeah the matx prodigy's are very nice cases. Good choice. They make for a great build.
Thanks man, really love the prodigy and think that's the best case for me.
Should i go for an intel because i'm really stumped. All my friends have AMD and are pushing me to do that but i dont know. Maybe like you said, throw money into a gpu, get an i3 and then get an i5/7
The FX-6300 is AM3+ platform, correct? I don't believe they make a mini-ITX motherboard form factor for AM3+ do they? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you're going to have to change platforms if you want to go the mITX route.
If you are dead set on going with mITX form factor, then you need to look at Intel because AMD does not offer very good products in the mITX range. Their best platform is the FM2+ and the best CPU you can get is the 860k, which isn't all that bad. However it will not come close to touching the i5 or i7 that you can put into the system on the LGA 1150 socket that the Intel platforms provide. This is a pretty good build if you are set on the Corsair 250D, but if you choose to change cases (Cooler Master Elite 110/120/130), then there are other GPUs that will probably fit for a lesser price. I really like the 250D, I've built one system in it and it was really great as far as space efficiency was concerned, one of the best ITX cases I've built in. Best of luck to you.
If you want amd you are limited to a turd of an matx AM3 board (for the matx prodigy) or matx/itx FM2 platform (for either chassis you've listed). Both of these amd options imho are pointless when the intel option provides stronger performance as even the matx am3 boards cant handle a strong cpu (8350 etc). Even the most budget of 1150 boards handle whatever i3/5/7/xeon you can throw at it.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8774/intel-haswell-low-power-cpu-review-core-i3-4130t-i5-4570s-and-i7-4790s-tested/5 - i3 review - you'll see it still has enough grunt when alongside a decent gpu in gaming.