Very small gaming pc thoughts

Hardware Hub Build a PC
1

So, I tend to travel quite a bit and I'm getting tired of being confined to desktop replacement laptops. This all came about from my attempts to upgrade my ASUS G73jw to a better graphics card. Alas, its a bit dodgy about the chances of upgrading and not fucking something up, and I only have 1 card to choose from.

 

So, I started looking into slim form factor cases. I started drooling over the "Digital Storm Bolt : Titan Edition", but I really don't want to pay over $2400 for the damn thing. So needless to say, it comes down to building my own. Unfortunetly, seems like most companies aren't really focusing on small cases that can handle regular sized components. But here is my inital stab at a build on PC Part Picker, I'll aslo paste the text at the bottom of this post.

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($149.99 @ Microcenter)

CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling ACFZ11-LP Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: ASRock H77M-ITX Mini ITX  LGA1155 Motherboard  ($94.99 @ Microcenter)

Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($63.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($67.99 @ Microcenter)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 4GB Video Card  ($549.99 @ Newegg)

Case: Lian-Li PC-Q08B Mini ITX Tower Case  ($88.00 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: CoolMax 500W ATX Power Supply  ($23.99 @ Amazon)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)

Total: $1158.91

 

I was also looking at the Lian Li PC-TU200 as the case for the computer since its only 13.35" x 8.7" x 11.42" but costs around $160.

 

Thoughts?

 

EDIT: Now that I think about it, I should check and make sure that these cases are long enough for the card.

2

NEVER CHEAP OUT ON THE POWER SUPPLY NOOOO PLEASE DONT PL0X

IT WILL FRY YOUR PARTS

Get a Rosewill RD600 power supply. 

3

Righto, no problem. I wasn't sure what to do with that anyway. Thanks.

 

4

Haha, do you write this in every thread? Just realised lol, pretty funny.

If it isn't a rosewill psu, it will fry your parts.

5

No. Just the Corsair CX series, Cool Max, Raidmax, and logisys. All other Corsair PSU's are good. Just not the CX builder series.

 

 

6

I was thinking of making this an AMD/Radeon system...

7

I like your first choice of case better.

Get a Coolermaster power supply. Like a HX 750w. Cheap power supply = dead PC or house fire. Plus a decent one will last through the upgrades. :)

8

Oh and a HD 7970 is way better value for money then a GTX 680.

With newest drivers it runs games better and is cheaper. Plus you are not giving your money to that wanker who runs nVidia.

9

The one with or without the handle?

10

Can you explain why CX series is bad? I have one in my house now and I am loving it.

11

The original Corsair CX400 was one of the best sub-$50 power supplies available, a SeaSonic S12II unit with 30A on the +12V rail. Group regulated so not the best performer on the block, but middling and very well priced.The CX400 has been discontinued. This is probably because SeaSonic is discontinuing S12II in favor of S12II bronze; basically the same thing, but more efficient. And more expensive. Corsair didn't want to pay the extra for the Bronze version of the platform, so when their contract for S12II units ran out they jumped ship.

 

Now we've been given the CX430, CX500, and CX600. These power supplies are all based on the CWT DSA platform. Now, DSA is a solid platform, that performs similarly to or just behind the SeaSonic S12II platform. But there's some shenanigans going on.First off, a close look at the CX430 will tell you something interesting. The Corsair CX400 has a +12V rail rated for 30A. However, the 430W, presumably 30W more, has a +12V rail rated for 28A. Those 2A less means 24W less on the +12V rail, which is what really matters when it comes to "real" wattage.Long story short the CX430 is more of a 380W in comparison to the old CX400. It should have been rated 50W lower than it actually is.

 

Then we have the CX500 and CX600. Corsair reps have been interestingly tight lipped on these units, especially in regards to what platform they are based on. However, they appear to still be CWT DSA. A little research will show us that CWT DSA only goes up to 500W. So how do you get a 600W DSA unit?Corsair pulled one of the oldest tricks in the shoddy PSU book, and rated it at room temperature. Ok, a smidgen above room temperature. 30 degrees Celsius, vs. 40-50C for all their other power supplies. So by rating the CX600 at thirty degrees instead of forty or fifty they can squeeze out an extra hundred watts. For an estimate, I'd say that the CX500 is a DSA 450W, and the CX600 is a DSA 500W.

12

Why not get a Cooler Master Elite 120 case instead of Lian Li?

13

You picked your parts quite poorly...

But yeah, gaming build, lets see...

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/

You can choose your own case, I just tend to like that case.

14

He said he wanted a mini ITX Motherboard so he can travel with his computer

 

15

In all honesty, this would be my first from scratch build, so I'm just throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks at the moment. Hence why I'm asking for informed advice from you all.

 

Its more about the size of the case that is defining most of this build. Either Mini ITX or Micro ATX, but I want the case to be small enough to be put in a piece of luggage if I need it too. Something near the 13.35" x 8.7" x 11.42" sizes give or take 2 inches on any length.

 

Do you all think I should stick with mini ITX or try to find a micro ATX case that meets my wants? Are there specific brands I should look at? I've heard good things about ASUS and ASRock.

16

A bit long, but it might be doable. I would like to have something that is all USB 3.0 though. I'll take another look at the Coolermasters.

17

Could you be a bit more specific on what I picked poorly? Just so I know in the future.

 

Also, whenever I click on that link, it just takes me to the last build I worked on.

18

It occurs to me that I may also need to explain that I haven't used a desk as my regular gaming and work station since about 2008. I tend to have my computer, currently an ASUS G73jw laptop, hooked up to my 46" Samsung and when I did have a desktop, it stayed in the living room with my tv with a wireless keyobard and mouse. Since I'm not in the Air Force anymore, and deployments aren't really a travel isssue anymore, I can look at some more permenant solutions. I still want to be able to move the computer between my house in Brunswick, GA and my buddies place in Atlanta, GA since I tend to make that trip a lot. I'll also be heading down to Antacrctica in November, so it would need to be able to travel in luggage.