System Builder Marathon Q2 2015: $1600 Mini Gaming PC

[Guest]

Because you asked for it, we put an Intel Core i5 and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 into a mini-ITX case. But how does it perform compared to its larger twin?

System Builder Marathon Q2 2015: $1600 Mini Gaming PC : Read more

 

[Onus]

A Rosewill RD? Really? In 2015?
Having just bought this case, I'll be going over this build for details about the case, but it looks good. The other parts...well, a 980 beats my 970.
I'd have used a lesser SSD (any SSD is sufficient, vs. a mechanical drive) and likely some cheaper RAM (e.g. DDR3-1866 or -2133) for the sake of a more solid PSU.

 

[vertexx]

It would help in all of these articles to put the component list with prices at the time of purchase. That might help fray some of the criticisms of parts choice within the budget.

That said, I'm sure there will be some of the same feedback as yesterday's build. I would have stretched it to a 980ti. Sure, there would have been some compromises, but it's definitely doable for $1,600.

Within that case, it would have been good to take advantage of the available height for a full height CPU cooler.

Welcome to the shark tank!

 

[jtd871]

That's a _lot_ of wasted space in the Mini Build case. I'd have gone with a SG13 or SG05 case with those components. The lower case volume would have allowed for the fans to keep fresh air coming into the major components with ease. This case is gonna need more fans to keep it cool and move all that air out (and avoid dead spots).

 

[atheus]

That's a _lot_ of wasted space in the Mini Build case. I'd have gone with a SG13 or SG05 case with those components. The lower case volume would have allowed for the fans to keep fresh air coming into the major components with ease. This case is gonna need more fans to keep it cool and move all that air out (and avoid dead spots).

The irony being that he mentioned mechanical issues with the limited space (repeatedly unplugging wires by accident during assembly). My thoughts aren't dissimilar, though. That mini ITX case is basically the same volume as the ATX case for the "big" build. The use of 5 case fans (only because the absolutely necessary optical drive prevented adding a 6th) is just madness to me.

I guess I just a have a different philosophy about mini ITX, but to me the whole point of it is to make a computer that is less obtrusive both in size, weight, and noise. A mini ITX build that is both large and loud with 5 case fans feels like a system that should have just been built in a micro ATX case. At the end of the day that's just the design of the Roseweill Neutron — a mini ITX case that I personally would never buy. Plus, if your case is so loud that you wouldn't reasonably want it anywhere within earshot, it barely matters if it's modestly smaller in size.

 

[dwatterworth]

This build has so many contradictions it seems. The case and motherboard can easily accommodate a larger and more importantly cheaper/more effective CPU cooler. The 256GB 850 pro seems like a total waste of funds when the 850 evo can be had for under $100 USD or step up to the 500GB 850 evo for still less than the 256gb 850 pro. For the same price as the Rosewill case you could have a bitfenix prodigy, Fractal node 304 or any of the other proven boxes. The rosewill PSU seems like a strange choice as well, a gold rated Seasonic unit is about the same price/capacity if the quoted pricing is correct.

The choice of CPU cooler, case and fan configuration seems to be the most confusing part.

Maybe something like this:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/BBb823

 

[DonkeyOatie]

My Middle School students have built a few mITX systems this last year, and 'designed' a lot more.

We would have looked at something like this:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mF29dC
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mF29dC/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($241.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Silverstone NT06-PRO 74.0 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($53.00 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($121.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($110.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($659.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake Core V1 Mini ITX Tower Case ($40.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1553.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-01 10:12 EDT-0400

All from Newegg and enough money for an external DVD and an additional case fan if needed. There's also enough room for a much taller CPU cooler, and with the horizontal motherboard layout, weight does not matter much.

We have built in this case, and the 200mm fan that come stock is both quiet and effective. In spite of what the note says, the GPU will not block use of the mountings for the SSD or HDD.

 

[Onus]

The Rosewill Neutron looks to be a decent case, although large. It is not as big as the Prodigy though, which is a huge case. I'd thought about getting one, until I saw it at Microcenter. I'd like smaller than the Neutron, although I will probably put 3-4 drives in one. I'm not worried about noise from low-speed fans.

 

[vertexx]

This is what I would build for a $1,600 mini-ITX gamer. I'm cheating a bit because the Silverstone SG13 is not carried by Newegg - but shame on them for that.

I would actually go over budget a bit. At $1,670, you can have the 1TB Mushkin Reactor SSD.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($241.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 120V 86.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($121.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Mushkin Reactor 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: PNY GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($669.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone Sugo SG13B Mini ITX Tower Case ($42.38 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($81.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1531.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-01 10:31 EDT-0400

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The Z97E-ITX/AC costs about the same and has much better power phases for overclocking.

 

[Onus]

Although I frequently delete alternate builds that don't follow SBM rules as being off-topic, that one acknowledges where it strays and the explanation is reasonable.
I have heard that the pump in the Seidon has been implicated in a few zombie sightings as it is potentially loud enough to wake the dead.
I'd prefer a 256GB SSD in order to add a mechanical drive for bulk storage. It looks like there's enough in your budget to add one though.

 

[vertexx]

Although I frequently delete alternate builds that don't follow SBM rules as being off-topic, that one acknowledges where it strays and the explanation is reasonable.
I have heard that the pump in the Seidon has been implicated in a few zombie sightings as it is potentially loud enough to wake the dead.
I'd prefer a 256GB SSD in order to add a mechanical drive for bulk storage. It looks like there's enough in your budget to add one though.

There's no room for a 3.5" drive. With a 160mm PSU, there is no room for the drive cage, so that leaves only a single 2.5" mount on the floor, which is why I would actually use the 1TB Reactor or the 960GB M500 for about $30 less than the Reactor.

 

[Onus]

It looks like it will be some time before multiple 4K monitors won't require a couple of high-end graphics cards. For everyone else, there's a mITX gaming build, for whom a single graphics card is sufficient for "good" (high or better) settings with at least 40FPS. ATX is now a huge, lumbering dinosaur, since you can run multiple cards on mATX.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

ATX, usually, has better power phases and VRM and cooling for overclocking, but otherwise, I completely agree. Our system here http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2626627/build-log-middle-school-science-fair-project-system.html will handle 2 x GTX 980ti and the cooling to prevent melt-down.

Read on in the link to see the new motherboard that was used because of CPU cooler clearance issues.

 

[Onus]

Wrong link? That went to a mITX build. With one PCIe slot, you're not fitting a pair of GTX980ti cards on it...

 

[DonkeyOatie]

If you look later, you will see that we replaced the motherboard with the mATX ASRock Z97M OC Formula. The project is not completed, so the 'final' build has not been established.

 

[cknobman]

There is nothing "mini" about this build.

Bad case choice.

 

[Onus]

I think it's still mini-ITX. The case might be a little bigger than it needs to be, but if you want more than a drive or two in your system, and a full length double-slot graphics card, there aren't too many choices, especially without paying a lot more. We'd likely be howling if he used one of those cheap RaidMax cases, Coolermaster isn't much better, and criticizing the expense if he used Lian Li. It is a larger case that makes a mITX board appropriate for more builders, including gamers or those who want the safety of using RAID1 volumes.
If HBM allows much stronger half-height gaming cards, that will open up some much smaller choices, so let's hope that happens soon.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The Silverstone ML07 is a decent compromise case. It will handle big cards and has clearance for half-decent cooling.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2328703/build-log-mini-itx-middle-school.html

The AZZA Z is also worthy of consideration. Although it is chunky, I do like the Thermaltake Core V1.

 

[Frozen Fractal]

First of all, the case doesn't actually fit with "mini-ITX". It's about the size of "Big build"'s DIYPC Adventurer 9601G. If it this Rosewill case had vertical motherboard mount, we'd see that it'd be nothing noticeably less than 9601G.

The choice of components are better than the previous "Big build" though, that I'll give

One thing is confusing me, the charts are showing "Full ATX $1600 Gaming build". Is it referring to Big build? If so, that had i5 4690K too, so how come there be "couple of i7s" and the chart be so far from i5? Or was it a mistake in the Big build?

If it's not referring to Big build, what's it referring to?

 

[Onus]

I'm quite sure the Neutron is not as large as the out-of-scale pic on the intro page makes it appear; I just got one, and in its shipping box it looks to be about that size, so inside it has to be smaller. I'll most likely have it out this weekend and will post something more about it.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The Neutron case is only a little smaller than my Thermaltake Core V21, and that seems a bit big for a case that takes only mITX. The Thermaltake handles mATX too and the roof can take two 240mm radiators, one for CPU, and one for GPU.

 

[rayden54]

Anyway, this is what I came up with. I don't know if rebates are allowed or not, but I excluded them just to be on the safe side. I also tried to leave enough wiggle room for price changes since this article was written. In particular, I think the CPU cooler's dropped some(?).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($241.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($64.05 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($131.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($110.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($659.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($12.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1589.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-02 19:34 EDT-0400

No matter what I do, I can't get the 980 Ti and a 4790K to come in under $1600. My best effort comes in just $46 short.

 

[atheus]

The Neutron case is only a little smaller than my Thermaltake Core V21, and that seems a bit big for a case that takes only mITX. The Thermaltake handles mATX too and the roof can take two 240mm radiators, one for CPU, and one for GPU.

I just compared the Neutron to my Fractal Design Define Mini (micro ATX) and it turns out the total case volume of the Neutron is 96% of the Define Mini — so basically they're about the same size, except the Define Mini has 100% more 5.25" bays, 50% more 3.5" bays, and holds a larger motherboard. Something went terribly wrong with the Neutron design. Aren't neutrons supposed to be pretty small?

 

[Flying-Q]

Having built a few machines in EVGA's Hadron Air, I feel any case larger than that just doesn't feel "mini" to me.