Is this compact ITX build good?

[FenTo]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($242.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($72.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($80.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($102.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($319.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: EVGA Hadron Mini ITX Tower Case w/500W Power Supply ($125.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $997.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-03 22:24 EDT-0400

I will use this for editing and gaming.

 

[CTurbo]

Yes very good. 500w is on the low end for a 1231v3 + 970 but it will work.

 

[Blueberries]

You can get a 4690k instead for lower wattage and better overclocking. A higher clock-rate and low power states are likely more useful than hyper-threading for you (given your GPU choice).

 

[MarkW]

Never ever buy a case that comes with a power supply. 99.99% of those have crap power supplies in them.

And I do not see Windows on that list...

 

[CTurbo]

You can get a 4690k instead for lower wattage and better overclocking.

The Xeon uses less power even compared to the 4690k at stock speeds. Overclocking the i5 would be a terrible idea.

 

[FenTo]

I have a spare cooy of windows

 

[Blueberries]

Never ever buy a case that comes with a power supply. 99.99% of those have crap power supplies in them.

Actually the one included in this isn't that bad. I couldn't find any pictures of it opened up but it is gold rated and offers a 40A single 12V rail. If it's anything like similarly specced EVGA PSUs then it probably has Nippon-Chemicon caps which are very good.

 

[FenTo]

And BTW EVGA is known for god power supplies and even this has a gold rating

 

[CTurbo]

Never ever buy a case that comes with a power supply. 99.99% of those have crap power supplies in them.

Not true in this case. That is a pretty decent psu.

And BTW EVGA is known for god power supplies and even this has a gold rating

This is not necessarily true. EVGA does not make their own psus and not all of their units are good. Some of them are great, but some of them are crap.

 

[theunliked]

The PSU is ok. I recommend an i5-4460. It's cheaper and faster.

 

[Blueberries]

You can get a 4690k instead for lower wattage and better overclocking.

The Xeon uses less power even compared to the 4690k at stock speeds. Overclocking the i5 would be a terrible idea.

Prove it. 😉

Either way, the 4690k will have lower core-temperatures. For most people a stronger single or dual thread is better than more threads, overclocking an i5 is a great idea.

 

[MarkW]

I found a review on the EVGA case and power supply. They did not test out the power supply, but it is an 80+ gold unit. So I go so far as to say that this case and power supply might be good enough. I wish I could find a review of the power supply though. But I did not see one.

 

[Blueberries]

I couldn't even find pictures of the inside of the unit which is pretty lame and suspicious. If you want the best quality you will need a standard ATX power supply but the PSU included in this seems sturdy enough and is probably worth investing in if your heart is set on this particular case.

 

[MarkW]

I know. I could do a better job of marketing than many of these companies, and I have never done it for a living.

The review I found was at Tweaktown, and they really liked the thing. Gave it a 96% rating...

 

[CTurbo]

I have used the Hadron mini and while it's not the easiest case to work in, it is very solid, and looks really good. Here is the model # of the psu - FSP500-501UN

 

[FenTo]

Blueberries you know you can find reviews in Youtube and one of them talked about the PSU

 

[FenTo]

I fon't really overclock and a xeon is as good as a slower i7, which is good for multi tasking and productive work.

 

[CTurbo]

Stick with the Xeon. It is a great choice.

 

[Blueberries]

Your options are already limited on the ITX platform and you can't argue with $125 for this case and power supply. If it works as advertised it will be more than enough power and amperage for your part selection and if it's built the way I think it is it should last a long time without issues.

I would buy it, in other words. You shouldn't need to worry in that regard. It's no SeaSonic SS-520FL2 / NightHawk or Enermax DigiFanless 550W, but it should do.

 

[Blueberries]

If you don't want to overclock your CPU then there's really no advantage, the Xeon may be a better option then when doing aggressive (photo?) editing.

 

[MarkW]

Sparkle... oh no...

MTBF: 100,000 hours on maximum load at +25°C

If any of you have read good power supply reviews, what temperature do they want power supplies to be capable of running at maximum load?

Hint: it is NOT 25c.

 

[CTurbo]

Sparkle... oh no...

lol come on FSP has some decent stuff

 

[Blueberries]

Sparkle... oh no...

MTBF: 100,000 hours on maximum load at +25°C

If any of you have read good power supply reviews, what temperature do they want power supplies to be capable of running at maximum load?

Hint: it is NOT 25c.

+25C is 25C greater than Ambient. So 55C or so.

 

[MarkW]

OK, how many Sparkle power supplies are listed on the Power Supply List?

 

[CTurbo]

FSP has one in tier 1 and two in tier 2. That shows they are at least capable of making a decent product. Don't get me wrong, FSP is not my go-to psu oem by any means, but I do not view them as a fire hazard that should be avoided at all costs.