Inquiries about a mini-ITX Haswell build

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1

Sup,

 

I'm here to ask some questions/get advice for a build I'm planning the coming month.

As my story goes;

I need a laptop for college, but I've chosen to get myself a mini-ITX system. At first I planned buying an Alienware x51 as it was very suitable for my needs and it could've be dragged around in a PS3-style bag. Then I found things like EVGA Hadron Air and Lian Li PC-TU200. My final choice now is the EVGA case just because it's smaller and cheaper than the Lian Li case. I want to use it as a "laptop" by taking it to college every CAD-lesson (which will probably be just one day in a week), and use a USB 3.0 monitor (Asus, AOC, etc.)

 

Why a mini-ITX system? 

-it's upgradable

-the price/performance ratio is much better (the laptops which are suggested by the college are about €1800,-)

-it can be used for more purposes (the laptop has a high-end i7 processor, but and entry-tier mobile workstation card, so playing minesweeper would almost be possible)

-it's just, hardcore man!

 

This is the computer I'd like to build;

-i7 4770 or 3770 (does it mather that much?)

-GTX 760 or an AMD card with the same performance (AMD's are better at OpenGL, I need it for CAD)

-generic mechanic 1TB/2TB hard drive 

-8GB/12GB/16GB RAM (I'll probably start of with 8GB, and increase it later on, speed doesn't mather at all as it has almost no real performance change)

 

So here are some of my question;

-what mini-ITX motherboard do I need for the Haswell CPU, and that could handle maximum 16GB RAM? It does not has to be one of those "uber-mensch-hardkoare-oavercloacking"-things for 300 million thousand euros. Just one within the range of ~€100.

-will the 5Gbit USB3.0 bandwidth have any influence FPS-wise, while using a CAD-program (Siemens NX 8.5 to be precise).

-will a latest "gaming"-card perform good enough for generic CAD-drawing? Potentionally I can just buy another entry-level €100 Quadro/FirePro-card if needed, and then swap it every time I need it for some super-cool engineering work.

 

For the owners of a Hadron Air case (or the guys from teksyndicate);

-is the top panel of the Hadron Air case sturdy enough to mount a handle on it? I'm planning to mount a guitar-amp handle into the holes.

or

-do you have any suggestion for a suitable carying bag for the case?

 

Please, accept this frog as a sign of respect and friendship.

Thank you.

Sincerely, Amir IV of Wales

2

i except your frog of friendship. so first what is your exact budget and needs for this, i get your going to use it for cad and gaming but what else and are you going to water cool?

3

No, no overclocking, so no watercooling (I don't think the case allows it).

I'll use it for CAD and ''generic'' gaming (RTW, BF2: Project Reality, ARMA 2, etc)

No other uses like server-things.

 

4

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1X2rf . theres that. dont go with amd gpus if you are going to starve them of air flow its just not good for them. i didnt put in a CPU cooler as well if you dont mind it being a little loud then the stock one it fine. dont bother with a titan the cost isnt worth the 1-2% performance increase you will see and if it is in your budget there is a much bigger ssd, ocz 480gb for just under 200 euro. if you think you want a better sound card then you can go with the rog impact as it has a "dedicated" sound card on it that is fairly nice from what logan said on one of their videos. And i put in a 3tb drive as it had the best price to gb. any thing i miss?

5

Some people, are just limited in rational understanding :P

No way I'm going with that ''mini'' Prodigy case. That shit is massive. I coumd aswell use my current case.

My point is; I'm going for a EVGA Hadron Air (it's like 30x16x30 cm).

I just need a motherboard, a suggestion GPU's that would work fine with CAD and some info on those USB monitors.

My budget is about €1200,-

6

And who in this world buys genuine Windows?

7

to the case, i just couldnt find it on there to be honest i looked and didnt see it and to the windows comment, every piece of software i use is paid for unless its given out freely by the maker or the rights owner. I was raised an honest person and thats what i would do is pay for it. You will find alot of people on here do the same, they feel that the company has risked their money on a product and that product is theirs and we are buying the rights to use it for ourselves. 

8

It's just a mather of perception I guess? The value can not be put on it as it has no ''real value''. It's business, and they're the ones who're not ''honest''. I'm not going to pay 200 to 400 euros more in order to be able to write papers for school, just because Microsoft has a monopoly in this business.

Again, business is never honest, it's like worshipping the people that steal'from you. 

Eitherway, that z87 motherbpard looks fine I suppose, but is it a mini-ITX format? Other ones I've seen came close to a price-tag of €200 

 

9

Oh yeah, the case is being shipped to the stores right now, they'll be available soon in Europe. That's why you couldn't find it.

10

indeed

11

i feel that its something that is tangible as it is something someone put their time into to make, its like making taking a picture and saving it to a flash drive. but i guess i get what your saying but any way, yes the motherboard is mini.

12

Baseline build :P

http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/1X73t

13

putting an amd card like the hd 7970 in a mini itx case without proper cooling is just asking for problems

14

Get one with a cooler that has a blower design, and then talk again.

15

So high-end AMD-cards are a no-go in a mini-ITX?

16

i don't know what this guy will study, but i'm with you, the time ass--> keyboard that they spend doing a OS is more that what you pay for the OS ;D

17

well i wont said a no-go, but take a chance to see the case before buying the card, because if the card is too big won't fit, and if they need too much air will be dead, bcause the card will have just 1 finger of distance between the PSU and the card, for the Hadron air you'll need a blower design to have a little more of air.

The hadron air allow watercooling but if you put it inside the case you won't hace too much space, and the top part of it, can support handles, just consider that you have 2 fans on top that are the only intake of air.

 

 

 

 

18

If I were In your position I'd get:

  • MSI H87I
  • Silverstone SG05 with 450w sfx PSU
  • Core i5 4670, get the K if you're crazy ;)
  • If you don't fancy using the stock cooler have a look at the Noctua LH-L9i
  • GTX 760 Direct cu II mini
  • 16Gb Corsair XMS3 1333Mhz RAM
  • 64Gb Sandisk ultra plus for boot and a Seagate Barracuda 1Tb 
  • OR just skip those two drives and get a 960Gb Crucial M500!

I would certainly go with haswell because smaller systems seem to be more stable than earlier chipsets. I don't know exactly why you feel you need an i7. i5 almost always suffice for things over than editing (you could of course even do editing with an i5!).

I also didn't know your budget, but I looked at your preferred parts and gauged it from that.

19

Yo,

Amir IV of Wales I see this peasant koopagamelouda got some opinions on your new build and I would like to add some opinions of my own. Me myself many moons ago went with something similar as this peasant except for the case I got the silverstone sugo 07 not the 05 (they are very similar). And well, I wouldnt recommend that case if you will carry it around since you wont be able to mount a handle and that thing will feel like your precious robotic baby. You should go with that lian-li case with a handle or why not the lian-li train case for the sake of it.

now please accept this watermelon as a symbol of our newly established friendship.

watermelon.jpg800x603

It has been an honor serving you my lord

Sincerely

GetzTheGoldfish

20

Will it get that hot (GPU's in general)?

Even without hardcore gaming or overclocking? The games I play are almost 10 years old :P

And, well yeah, CAD, it's not that I'll be working on it 24/7