mini itx ultimate gaming rig

[lost66]

hi all
I am now in the process of planning my first mini itx build and I am already suffering from information overflow

.GIGABYTE GA-Z170N-Gaming 5
.ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac
.MSI Z170I GAMING PRO AC
.ASUS Z170I PRO GAMING
.MAXIMUS VIII IMPACT

did I miss something.

first things first, I need a motherboard. but which one?

I will appreciate all the help you can give me and everyone else interested in following the build as is evolves.

once we have come to an agreement on what board to get, then we could move on to the next part of this project

thanx again (in advance) for your help

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Yes. Things appear cheap in the US. Some things are, but, in spite of what PCPartPicker says, the prices do not include the state and county and city sales taxes. I have to pay 7% more, in total for my local taxes. Some states are lucky, they have no sales tax. I win elsewhere because my state has no income tax.

Are you still interested in a wide monitor? What about 1440p, 2K, 4k????? The Hadron is a great case, but I'm not sure you can afford that much for Case and PSU.

The Cooler Master N200 is a decent, inexpensive, compact case (which comes with two fans), and there is still the Thermaltake V1 if you like the cube.

I think the best approach is ti start with a budget build and then UPGRADE what needs to be upgraded. That usually produces a better balanced system that trying to cut down a 'luxury' system.

 

[lost66]

well the original idea was to go small.
I have no problem with the n200 but it is a micro-atx case.
should we decide to use it, then there is not much stopping us from using a matx board.
this changes a lot I think, not just the size.
http://www.wootware.co.za/asus-z170-maximus-gene-viii-intel-z170-chipset-lga1151-skylake-micro-atx-desktop-motherboard.html R3,863.00 (just as a example

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The case will take an mITX board. You are right about the change, but your budget suggests that we should re-think.

What is the cheapest price you can get the Silverstone Sugo SG07 or 08 with the 600W PSU in your market? Here's what it is in the USA http://www.ncixus.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=74440&vpn=SG07B%2DUSB3%2E0&manufacture=Silverstone%20Technology&promoid=1374

 

[lost66]

The case will take an mITX board. You are right about the change, but your budget suggests that we should re-think.

What is the cheapest price you can get the Silverstone Sugo SG07 or 08 with the 600W PSU in your market? Here's what it is in the USA http://www.ncixus.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=74440&vpn=SG07B%2DUSB3%2E0&manufacture=Silverstone%20Technology&promoid=1374

no Silverstone Sugo SG07 or 08 here ;/

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Shame, that would make a great budget start.

Can you get the AZZA Z case? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811517029&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker,%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID= It's a good compact, thin mITX case.

 

[lost66]

this is sad ;( no

 

[lost66]

I know this is moving away from the mitx but since there is the option to use a matx case, there is reasonable logic to build a matx.
the boards are more available and cheaper which makes it easier to build a better rig for the same money or to build a no compromise system for more (due to availability)

http://compushoponline.co.za/asus-rog-series-z170-maximus-8-viii-gene-all-in-one-lga1151-skylake-mb-with-dual-intelligent-processors5-for-tpu-epu-digi-fanexpert2-with-5-way-optimization-q-code-debug-display-rog-ramdisk-10x-faster-than-ssd-sonic-radar-ii-gamefirst-iii-i.html R3,712.00 (this costs R200 more than the msi i had listed. but so much better?)
http://compushoponline.co.za/asus-z170m-plus-all-in-one-lga1151-skylake-mb-micro-atx.html R2,284.00 (cheapest, but any good?)
http://www.teslatech.co.za/GIGABYTE-Z170M-D3H-LGA1151-Socket-Chipset-Z170 R2,333.00 (?)
http://www.wootware.co.za/thermaltake-ca-1d5-00s1wn-00-core-v21-micro-atx-black-desktop-chassis.html (just a random matx case)

I know you are not to keen on sli but it is a good future upgrade (if the price has dropped by that time and if the new tech is expensive)
a further upgrade could be the ram, (just add 2 more)
espesialy if we start with maximus8

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Well I like that case it is the mATX case I use for my 'Beastium' overclocking and research system. Here's the [Build log] for it, with photos. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2626627/build-log-middle-school-science-fair-project-system.html

It's an excellent case, very spacious, will handle serious liquid cooling and with a horizontal motherboard, you do not have to worry about things when you move it with a 'big air' cooler.

SLI in the future means a good PSU now, or you are throwing your money away.

If you want to SLI GTX970s, an EVGA-B2-750-VR is about the smallest and cheapest PSU I'd start with.
If you want to SLI anything better, then an EVGA-GS-850 is about the smallest and cheapest PSU I'd start with.

 

[lost66]

could you clear up one thing for me
when you chose a gpu this is not important, if you are over clocking

Out of the box core clock speeds (Click to hide)

Reference GTX 980 Ti 1000 MHz+
Zotac GTX 980 Ti Amp! Edition 1051 MHz+
EVGA GTX 980 Ti SC+ 1102 MHz+
Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti G1 Gaming 1152 MHz+
Palit GTX 980 Ti Super JetStream 1152 MHz+
MSI GTX 980 Ti Gaming 1178 MHz+
ASUS GTX 980 Ti STRIX Gaming 1190 MHz+


Out of the box memory clock speeds (Click to hide)

Reference GTX 980 Ti 1750 MHz
Zotac GTX 980 Ti Amp! Edition 1750 MHz
EVGA GTX 980 Ti SC+ 1750 MHz
Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti G1 Gaming 1750 MHz
Palit GTX 980 Ti Super JetStream 1750 MHz
MSI GTX 980 Ti Gaming 1774 MHz
ASUS GTX 980 Ti STRIX Gaming 1800 MHz



this is what counts


Temps under load (Click to hide)

Zotac GTX 980 Ti Amp! Edition 67c
Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti G1 Gaming 70c
Palit GTX 980 Ti Super JetStream 71c
MSI GTX 980 Ti Gaming 74c
ASUS GTX 980 Ti STRIX Gaming 76c
EVGA GTX 980 Ti SC 76c
Reference GTX 980 Ti 84c

and to buy a factory oc is also a waist of time if you plan to oc
(the way to chose is looks and price)

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Not entirely. The GPU parts are binned. The factory overclocked ones are guaranteed to get what they say they will and may be overclockable further. The slower ones are also guaranteed to do what they say they will and may be able to be overclocked further. Many people, especially those on a budget, get a 'slower' card and hope to overclock it up to the more expensive card's speed.

If you plan to overclock, then make sure you get a card with a 'premium' cooler on it to handle the extra and read the reviews carefully to see how much more overhead the card is likely to have.

The upper end cards also have backplates, coolers, and other parts suited to their higher performance.

I buy the best price/performance which is usually a medium factory overclocktat an entry level price, and that usually gets me a decent enough cooler to go further.

 

[lost66]

so that evga that was suggested would still be the best to get as it is well priced.

i don't have the time right now, but i would like to compare price vs specs/performance
of the best mitx,
budget mitx,
best matx,
budget matx
and a matx to the same value of the best mitx.
using only locally available parts
(budget builds being the equivalent of $2000)
this should give me a clear indication of what i should build

 

[DonkeyOatie]

There are issues with local availability and relative cost in RSA, which makes it hard for us to give you the best advice. Use PCPartPicker yourself and post options and we can help you better.

 

[lost66]

I would rather that we started again from scratch. The availability and prices in RSA mean that we need to re-calibrate our thinking.

HI AGAIN. I AM NOW OVER THE PRICE SHOCK AND READY TO GO AHEAD 😉


[THIS IS ONE OPTION. IT SHOULD BE AVAILABLE 2 DECEMBER]
http://www.wootware.co.za/asus-maximus-viii-impact-intel-z170-chipset-lga1151-skylake-mini-itx-motherboard.html
(R4365.00)

[THIS IS COMING SOON BUT NO ETA.]
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/msi-z170i-gaming-pro-ac-1347.aspx
(R3499.00)

[I CAN GET THIS NOW]
http://www.wootware.co.za/gigabyte-ga-z170n-gaming-5-lga1151-skylake-mini-itx-motherboard.html
(R3599.00)

[JUST CONFIRMED]
ASUS Z170I PRO GAMING WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE NEXT YEAR

[CANT SEEM TO FIND IN SA]
Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac

 

[lost66]

Are you comfortable downgrading to an i7 6700? We can save some money there, the only trade-off being that it is unrecoverable. Also, seeing as you want to stick within $2000, can we safely assume that that is your budget for the build?

to tell the truth $2000 is a comfortable amount but if we go over it, that's ok.
the way I see it, is not to downgrade, but rather to minimalize.
eg. start with 8gb ram, or just 1 normal ssd but with the option to add m.2 or u.2 later
mother board, gpu, cpu, memory type and so on should be with no compromise

 

[noobgamer40]

Sorry this might be out of place or maybe mentioned before, but what about getting the r9 fury x or nano since it's a mini itx?

 

[lost66]

one more thing about the case:
http://pcpartpicker.com/b/HHQV3C I would be interested in building something like this.

if not, I would like to stick to the m-itx Raven 2.0
as soon as we move to the bigger cases, I would rather consider one of the m-atx motherboards
(as they are more available and cheaper)

 

[lost66]

Sorry this might be out of place or maybe mentioned before, but what about getting the r9 fury x or nano since it's a mini itx?

to be total honest, I don't know.
it does seem like they don't perform as well, but I do like it for the fact that they are compact.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

I would not consider the Nano. It is small, but a good mITX build can handle a good sized card. More importantly, it will blow the budget, the Nano is hugely expensive.

The Maximus is a great board and will handle extreme overclocking, but it also uses a lot of budget. To overclock requires robust power phases. Many of the boards appear to have four phases, doubled, but without taking the heatsinks off or looking at the back of the boards it's hard to tell. The Gigabyte board seems to have the 'lightest' power phases.

I'd start with an M.2 first, the one with the OS on it, and build from there. It is much easier that way. Even 240Gb should hold you for a while, and a 1Tb HSS is an easy add for more storage. I'd prefer a 500Gb M.2 for the main 'operating drive', and almost anything for storage.

 

[lost66]

The Maximus is a great board and will handle extreme overclocking, but it also uses a lot of budget. To overclock requires robust power phases. Many of the boards appear to have four phases, doubled ...
The Gigabyte ...

...I'd start with an M.2 first,

the maximus only seems to have a u.2 and not m.2 (looks like there is one but used for wifi I think)
I was never a fan of the gigabyte (less now that you point out the phase problem)
so the choice looks to be between the maximus and the msi gaming pro (the msi has no usb 3.1c)

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Yes. That's the problem with building at the moment. Very restricted choice in parts.

 

[lost66]

http://www.rebeltech.co.za/geforce-gtx-900-series/10364-asus-geforce-gtx-980ti-6gb-gddr5-pci-express-30-strix-edition-inc-bullets-or-blades-coupon-asus-geforce-gtx-980-ti-strix-gtx980t.html?utm_source=shopmania&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=direct_link

http://www.rebeltech.co.za/lga1151/10644-asus-asus-maximus-viii-gene-lga1151-intel-z170-chipset-micro-atx-asus-maximus-viii-gene-rog-series-intel-z170-lga1151-4x-dual-ch.html?utm_source=shopmania&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=direct_link

this is the best prices I have seen. the strix is a "no compromise" buy
but I would be compromising with size but the maximus viii is R1000.00 cheaper than the itx
it is available right away, m.2 socket 3 type m, usb 3.1 type a & c

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Rebeltech is down at the moment.

The Gene is a decent motherboard wit good power phases and quite a bit more space, but not too huge. The motherboard is still quite small and you could build or mod. a case to be nearly as small as mITX, if you use a GPU riser from the first slot, folded over the extra part of the motherboard. If I used only one PCI-e slot I think I could fit a mATX board in my Milo Ml07 mITX case.

 

[lost66]

looks like they are back up
but any way

ASUS MAXIMUS VIII GENE, LGA1151, Intel Z170 Chipset, Micro-ATX
(R 3,804.00) just went up by R400 lol
ASUS GeForce GTX 980Ti, 6GB, GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0, STRIX Edition, inc Bullets or Blades Coupon
(R 11,769.00)

 

[DonkeyOatie]

ForEx is a black art.

 

[lost66]

I am exploring other options that I think is not relevant to this one, so I started a new thread (the not so ultimate gaming mini-itx :/ )

ok, so I wanted to build the 'ultimate' itx
(big thanx to Chayan4400 and DonkeyOatie for the time and effort on another thread)
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2850525/mini-itx...

it would have looked something like this:

Motherboard: Asus Z170I PRO GAMING Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard
CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Scythe BIG Shuriken 2 Rev. B 45.5 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB STRIX Video Card
Memory: Mushkin Redline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory
Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Optical Drive: Samsung SN-208FB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer
Power Supply: Silverstone 600W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply
Case: Silverstone RVZ02B-W HTPC
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)

in south Africa, this would cost a small fortune and not all the parts are available yet.
with the possible release of a new gpu in a year or so (that would probably not fit current motherboards) I thought that I would be better of with something smaller for now.

I was thinking something like this:
http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/210910009/MSI_INTEL_Z97I...
http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/210907504/Intel_Core_I5_...
http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/211874896/GIGABYTE_NVIDI...
http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/212658884/Corsair_H5_SF_... (a second one for the gpu might be fun)
(just for starters)
these items would probably cost the same price as the above mentioned gpu 😉

so what does tom think? 😉