Smaller form PC build for general use & some gaming

[Fat Tony]

I am looking to build a general family PC with ability to play some games like minecraft, Steam games. Gaming will probably increase as my son grows! The PC will be kept for many years.

I would like to get i5 Haswell CPU (not overclocked), 8gb RAM, 240/250 gb SSD, 1tb HDD, GPU like GTX 750ti or 760 (not overclocked) and would like a 23-24" 1080p IPS monitor. All running Windows 8.1.

I am really confused on the case side of things. I would like a smaller, more portable case than a full ATX one (I am not really restricted by size, it's just my preference.)

I don't want to be sacrificing performance, but I also don't foresee too many upgrades/additions over time. I will not be overclocking as quiteness and reliability are important. Should I be looking for case and mobo options that allow full sized ATX power supplies? I'm not too familiar with the size options (mini-ITX, micro ATX, etc). I have no idea about motherboards and PSUs.

Where is the sweet spot between form factor, component choice, performance and component price for anything smaller the ATX - what should I be looking at? How much GPU card length head-room is advisable should I go with a GTX 750ti or 760 now, but possibly want to upgrade in the future?

Total budget is £800 (including Windows 8.1 & monitor). I live in the UK.

Thanks
Tony

 

[lxgoldsmith]

that can work. give me 10 minutes

 

[lxgoldsmith]

this should work -

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3dfEY
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3dfEY/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3dfEY/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i3-3240 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor (£79.37 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H77N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard (£79.23 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£81.46 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£51.98 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (£186.98 @ Dabs)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case (£35.98 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£35.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHDS118-04 DVD/CD Drive (£10.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£81.56 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: ViewSonic VA2349S 60Hz 23.0" Monitor (£115.49 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £818.76
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-20 17:37 GMT+0000)

 

[lxgoldsmith]

i5 microatx build

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3dgPQ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3dgPQ/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3dgPQ/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£125.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H87M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£58.13 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£59.99 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£81.46 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£51.98 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (£186.98 @ Dabs)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£32.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£35.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHDS118-04 DVD/CD Drive (£10.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£81.56 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: ViewSonic VA2349S 60Hz 23.0" Monitor (£115.49 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £841.29
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-20 18:15 GMT+0000)

 

[sora]

What steam games are you planning to play? Both of lxgoldsmith's builds will run most games including Battlefield 4 on Ultra on a 1080p monitor.

 

[Fat Tony]

Hi and thanks for two builds lxgoldsmith - how do you guys come up with this so quickly?!!

Sora - at the moment he plays Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2 , Half Life 2 and Portal on Steam. I think this will grow quite a bit over the next years as he is 11 years old now. From what you say, I think I have enough headroom ...

 

[lxgoldsmith]

Hi and thanks for two builds lxgoldsmith - how do you guys come up with this so quickly?!!

Sora - at the moment he plays Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2 , Half Life 2 and Portal on Steam. I think this will grow quite a bit over the next years as he is 11 years old now. From what you say, I think I have enough headroom ...

No prob, I just use pcpartpicker.com and happen to know what works based on experience in this site.

Remember that with these build, you won't be able to OC and neither will your son, which is for the best since children often tend to make rash decisions involving expensive toys.