Mini ITX Gaming Rig (Help)

[dullardandy]

Hi,

So I'm making my mini ITX gaming PC. This will be my first build in 8 years. I need help with the configurations.

This is what I'm building.

CPU i5 6402P
MOBO Z170i or H170i or H110
GPU GTX 1060 or GTX 970
RAM 8 GB DDR4
HDD 1 TB + 120 SSD
PSU 650V


CABINET CM Elite 130
Or any other suggestions for full sized GPU? I like this one (https://goo.gl/j5crvR) but the seller says that the maximum GPU it can fit is 7.5in long x 3.15in high. Also in India it's difficult to find mini ITX cases, so I'm having a hard time trying to find the cases except the Cooler Master

MOBO
Which one should I choose? Though I'm having a hard time trying to find H110 in mini ITX form online on Indian websites. But I guess it's really cheap compared to the other two. I'm going to use a single GPU. Which one should I go for?

GPU
Because Cooler Master takes in a full sized GPU I don't have to worry about the size. Only if I opt for some other case will I need to search for Mini ITX GPUs of which GTX 1060 is easily available. Prices are almost similar. Which one would be better for my build? or can I use a cheaper one if there is any which can play most of the demanding games.

Cooling
Do I require additional cooling or liquid cooling? If so, which one would suffice?

Any other suggestions? Mentioning the budget will be a bit difficult as the US and Indian prices are different for the product but this is the rough working.

In INR my budget is around Rs.65000 - Rs.70000 which is $975 - $1012 but effectively it will be around $750 - $800 if you build it in USA.

 

[bignastyid]

Having built my HTPC in an Elite 130 case I would recommend against it. It can fit a a good sized GPU as I have a Gigabyte Windforce GTX 770 in it. In order to connect the HDD and SSD cables I had to make stand offs as the stock mounting positions left no room for the cables without putting alot of strain on the drives ports. The cable for the front panel connections is about 3x longer that it needs to be making cable management that much more difficult making me very glad I was using a modular PSU, and fully wired PSU would have it it next to impossible. Here's a build using PCpartpicker it's a bit over your budget but it should give you an idea.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6402P 2.8GHz Quad-Core Processor (₹14500.00 @ Amazon India)
Motherboard: ASRock H170M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard (₹10999.00 @ Amazon India)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (₹3750.00 @ Amazon India)
Storage: Intel 540s 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (₹4400.00 @ Amazon India)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (₹3629.00 @ Amazon India)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB AMP! Edition Video Card (₹25700.00 @ Amazon India)
Case: Zalman M1 Mini ITX Tower Case (₹5249.30 @ Amazon India)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (₹6950.00 @ Amazon India)
Total: ₹75177.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-03 18:08 IST+0530

Everything is from Amazon so you might be able to get the parts cheaper from another source to bring down the cost. The cpu comes with a stock cooler. The PSU is a decent semi modular unit so it will make cable management a little easier, it's also a bit overkill sizewise but was cheaper than the smaller units of equal or better quality.

 

[dullardandy]

Having built my HTPC in an Elite 130 case I would recommend against it. It can fit a a good sized GPU as I have a Gigabyte Windforce GTX 770 in it. In order to connect the HDD and SSD cables I had to make stand offs as the stock mounting positions left no room for the cables without putting alot of strain on the drives ports. The cable for the front panel connections is about 3x longer that it needs to be making cable management that much more difficult making me very glad I was using a modular PSU, and fully wired PSU would have it it next to impossible. Here's a build using PCpartpicker it's a bit over your budget but it should give you an idea.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6402P 2.8GHz Quad-Core Processor (₹14500.00 @ Amazon India)
Motherboard: ASRock H170M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard (₹10999.00 @ Amazon India)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (₹3750.00 @ Amazon India)
Storage: Intel 540s 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (₹4400.00 @ Amazon India)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (₹3629.00 @ Amazon India)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB AMP! Edition Video Card (₹25700.00 @ Amazon India)
Case: Zalman M1 Mini ITX Tower Case (₹5249.30 @ Amazon India)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (₹6950.00 @ Amazon India)
Total: ₹75177.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-03 18:08 IST+0530

Everything is from Amazon so you might be able to get the parts cheaper from another source to bring down the cost. The cpu comes with a stock cooler. The PSU is a decent semi modular unit so it will make cable management a little easier, it's also a bit overkill sizewise but was cheaper than the smaller units of equal or better quality.

Hey, thanks for the detailed reply. I'm going through the pc parts, the thing is that the price of the case displayed is wrong and actually coming to Rs.14000 which is more expensive than the CPU itself. :/

Amazon Link

Any other suggestions for the case? What about Corsair Graphite 380T?

Update: I went through the list and I'm really liking it. I'll check out the prices at local store tomorrow and see where it leads me or how well it fits in my budget. The biggest challenge for me, instead of all the components, has become the case.

Thanks for the help again.

 

[geofelt]

Your web site has lots of ITX cases, but none that seem to have the ventilation you want for a gaming rig.
CM elite 130 seems ok.
If you can find them, lian li PC-Q08 and Silverstone Sugo are good.

I would not pick the one you linked because of airflow. Cute, though.

I would pick a different cpu.
The i5 6402P is a quad, but the clock rates are low at 3.4.
For a lesser price, you can buy a i3-6100@3.7 which still has 4 threads but can generally game better.
Here is a review:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10543/the-skylake-core-i3-51w-cpu-review-i3-6320-6300-6100-tested

Pick a GTX1060, particularly if the prices are similar. GTX1060 is stronger and generates less heat.
A GTX1060 needs only 430w, but I might go a bit stronger like 500-550w if you might ever upgrade the graphics card.
Buy only a quality psu. Look for a tier 1 or 2 unit from a list like this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html
Seasonic is always good.

Skylake is dual channel. Make that a 2 x 4gb ram kit. 2400 speed is good.

Non overclocked 14nm skylake processors run cool and need no more than the included stock cooler.


I think today, 120gb is a bit too small for a windows ssd.
If you can go 240gb, or 500gb you may never need a hard drive.

I would defer on the hard drive unless you need to store large files such as video's.
It is easy to add a hard drive later.
Samsung EVO is a good choice for performance and reliability.

 

[dullardandy]

Your web site has lots of ITX cases, but none that seem to have the ventilation you want for a gaming rig.
CM elite 130 seems ok.
If you can find them, lian li PC-Q08 and Silverstone Sugo are good.

I would not pick the one you linked because of airflow. Cute, though.

I would pick a different cpu.
The i5 6402P is a quad, but the clock rates are low at 3.4.
For a lesser price, you can buy a i3-6100@3.7 which still has 4 threads but can generally game better.
Here is a review:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10543/the-skylake-core-i3-51w-cpu-review-i3-6320-6300-6100-tested

Pick a GTX1060, particularly if the prices are similar. GTX1060 is stronger and generates less heat.
A GTX1060 needs only 430w, but I might go a bit stronger like 500-550w if you might ever upgrade the graphics card.
Buy only a quality psu. Look for a tier 1 or 2 unit from a list like this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html
Seasonic is always good.

Skylake is dual channel. Make that a 2 x 4gb ram kit. 2400 speed is good.

Non overclocked 14nm skylake processors run cool and need no more than the included stock cooler.


I think today, 120gb is a bit too small for a windows ssd.
If you can go 240gb, or 500gb you may never need a hard drive.

I would defer on the hard drive unless you need to store large files such as video's.
It is easy to add a hard drive later.
Samsung EVO is a good choice for performance and reliability.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I'm loving this forum for the help you all are providing before I spend all my hard earned money.

Lian Li PC-Q08 would be difficult to find, but I'll search for both of them tomorrow at the local market famous for everything computer. Is Corsair Graphite 380T any good? Also I liked Thermaltake Core V1 Case. What do you think about them?

If I don't find any, then I might just enlist my technical engineer friend to custom make one something like this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcKPEl-dufA
The ola one.

Will the i3-6100 be future proof? or should I spend some more and get i5 6500 or i5 6600?

Thanks for the list. I'll definitely go for a quality PSU. I was getting sold at just the name of Corsair at the shop today. My bad.

I didn't understand the dual channel. Does that mean I've to fill in both the channels for it to work? So I can go with 8 x 2 or 4 x 2 as you suggested but can't keep one channel empty?

About HD I was thinking that, the normal one will store my videos, films, games, etc. While I use the SSD for booting as it is quite expensive but will look at the 250 GB option and see how it fits in my budget.

GTX 1060 3GB should be good enough or should I get the 6GB option?

Cheers again.

 

[geofelt]

I like the 380T. It is compact and has good ventilation. The TTv1 is good also.
The cylinder cases are for looks, not performance.

Nothing is future proof. Buy what you need when you need it. Perhaps look out a year at most.
YOUR needs may change, and that is unpredictable.
I3-6100 is a very good mid range gamer. The same lga1151 motherboard can accommodate a I5 or even a I7-6700K.
If you anticipate the need for a I5-6600K processor, make that motherboard an overclockable one with a Z170 chipset.

A single stick of ram operates in single channel mode.
If you have two sticks, the two can operate in parallel, doubling the ram speed. That is as far as you can go with skylake, even if you have 4 sticks of ram.
Best to go with a 2 x 8gb kit and leave the other possible two slots empty.
It will perform as well as a 4 x 4gb kit and cost less too.

Storing large sequential files such as videos is best done on a conventional hard drive. For all else, try to use a ssd. You will not regret it. A ssd makes everything you do quicker.

For gaming, you get fair value at every price point. I would see GTX1060 as good for most games at 1080P.
You will get a bit more performance out of the 6gb version, but you also pay a bit more.
My take is to buy the strongest card you feel comfortable paying for. If you do not, you may forever be wondering if you should have.