Small sized Power Efficient Gaming Rig

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
D

dead2k1

Honorable
Dec 5, 2012
31
0
10,530
Hey all, I want to make a small sized desktop that minimizes idle power draw and reduces power usage as much as possible and was hoping to get suggestions on GPU's, CPUs, Mobos, and PSU's you'd recommend for such a purpose.

Presently I'm running off my notebook with an i7-2630QM + Radeon HD 6570M 8GB ram + SSD boot drive. It's a pretty fast laptop, but the GPU is really not up to par.

My budget is about 800$. for the full system.

I've heard that the GTX 680 is great with power efficiency, but it might be more than I need for my purposes. (One monitor only, FPS games like Blackops2 + Crysis 3, would like to run at full settings).

Any input would be great. Thanks a lot! :hello:
 
Solution
jay2tall
You can stuff a GTX680 on an ITX board in a smaller case. However, going that small route can be more expensive. I'd get a micro-ATX board and a smaller case to accommodate.

Yeah Crysis 3 will chew up an $800 machine and spit it out. At least compared to their recommended specs. Kinda like the first Crysis did. You can still run it on medium and it looked good though. So honestly a decent machine will run it, but just not on higher settings. Any COD game will run fine since they don't know how to make a game that isn't anything but DX9.
Sort by date Sort by votes
With an $800 budget, you won't be touching a GTX680. However, most new components are very power efficient at idle. It is when you are running heavy apps or games that they suck the power. Power supplies are also rated for efficiency, but getting a Gold or Platinum 80Plus power supply is pretty costly as well. Overclocking also tends to kill your idle power efficiency. You can get a nice system for $800, do you need an OS as well? Your best bet is to follow this sticky thread and fill out the "form" that asks all the usual questions. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgrade-advice
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You can stuff a GTX680 on an ITX board in a smaller case. However, going that small route can be more expensive. I'd get a micro-ATX board and a smaller case to accommodate.

Yeah Crysis 3 will chew up an $800 machine and spit it out. At least compared to their recommended specs. Kinda like the first Crysis did. You can still run it on medium and it looked good though. So honestly a decent machine will run it, but just not on higher settings. Any COD game will run fine since they don't know how to make a game that isn't anything but DX9.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
I forgot to mention, the 800$ budget is only for the tower. I have a Monitor, Keyboard, mouse etc already. Also I could. . take the MSSD out of my laptop and substitute that in for a hard drive. El Cheapo people call me.

Micro ATX mobo + GTX 680 not too ambitious? I don't plan on overclocking so I'm planning on either an i7 or i5 Ivy.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote

Soo you are looking at intel that you do not intend to OC? Where are you located, US, Canada, etc? is Newegg an option?

An i5 with gtx680 will probably run you well over $1000.

You will need a copy of windows which is $100 alone.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Located in Hong Kong. So I can get Newegg prices on the street + have someone build it for me, I just want to make sure I make good parts decisions.

Yup, don't intend on OC-ing.

I have a spare copy of 32-bit Win7. But would that limit me too much in terms of RAM?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
If you are in Hong Kong grabbing stuff on the street, we don't really have a good grasp on prices and what not. We can, however, help you out if you start us off with a list of what you were thinking of and go from there.

I wish I could just walk up the street and buy electronic stuff. I live in Amish Country, PA. (US) I can go across the street from work and grab some fresh product, a quilt, or a hand made basket. They also have some mean home-made pies.
Shoofly pie is the best. :sol:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Haha well, HK has 3 or 4 big 'computer centers' each one about twice the size of your average Microcenter or Fry's (Lived/visited in Missouri and California). We also have an online 'listing' that various retailers will post to, so they can advertise their prices.

I've managed to buy a desktop 2nd hand off a guy on a forum here (minus CPU and GPU) for 1500HKD (about 200US) which includes:
CX600 PSU
Asus P8P67 Pro Mobo LGA 1155
4GB 1333Mhz DDR3 ram
Windows 7 64 bit

I'm going to be using a GTX 670 (GIGABYTE GV-N670WF2-2GD) I believe. My options are limited to (Asus, Inno3D, Leadtek, Gigabyte) and while it's the least OC-ed, it's about 70-80$ cheaper some reason. (375USD)

As for the CPU I'm going to be grabbing an i5 3570k for 240USD.

I'm scavenging the SSD from my laptop (Msata/Mssd, so will need to buy a 10$ adapter).

Total cost to me will be just about 800$ :) but I'll probably be throwing in another 70$ for a Bluray combo drive at some point.

Never had a Shoofly pie. Are you allowed to have computers in Amish country? <-quasi-serious question.

Jon

[EDIT]
Going to try bargaining down the i5 processor to Newegg price (good thing about not only having Microcenter and Fry's is you can actually bargain). GPU is already just a tad cheaper than Newegg price. Plus no shipping and no Sales tax in Hong Kong.

Sorry for the late post, have been hunting down parts.

[Second edit]
Since you mentioned shoofly pie... I'ma let you finish, but Gooey Butter Cake is the best cake ever.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom