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I've been thinking of putting together something like that eventually to replace my MacMini. However, I would go for a Z77 mobo and an i5/i7 Ivy Bridge.
Looks like a cool little box!
The latest addition to my geek family is this. I wanted a computer that was super powerful, but also fairly portable. I liked some of the fragboxes that I've seen, but the cases are still too large (I first looked at building this with the Bitfenix Prodigy, which looks amazing but weighs 17 pounds for the case alone!).
Then I found the Coolermaster Elite 120. Everything else fell into place, and on Black Friday, prices bottomed the out, and I pulled the trigger.
Case: Coolermaster Elite 120. $50 from a local computer store.
Just over 7 pounds. Very small form factor, yet with enough room to handle the largest GPU on the market, AND accommodate a large, modular ATX power supply. Kind of a less attractive case, especially compared to this, but with the weight consideration, this was the only case that had high ratings and was cheap enough to make it worthwhile to pursue the build I wanted.
Processor: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core. $99 from Tigerdirect.
Cheap, fast as , and most importantly, the dual core doesn't generate much heat, really important for a compact case such as this.
Motherboard: ASRock H77M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1155 $94 from Newegg.
Reliable, cheap, reputable company and the needed Mini ITX form factor.
RAM: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $25 Newegg BF special.
SSD: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk $75 Newegg BF special
One of the fastest, highest rated SSDs.
GPU: VisionTek Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card $150 Newegg BF special (free Far Cry 3)
I admittedly took a risk here. VisionTek is a new company so they really haven't been evaluated, but the price was right, and so far they have great reviews. Far Cry 3 for free was huge as well since I wanted the game anyway.
PSU: SeaSonic G 550W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply $55 Newegg BF special.
Gold certified is amazing at this price. I got a of a deal here, and it's got solid reliability ratings.
Blu Ray: LG UH12NS29 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer $50 from local computer store.
I wanted the flexibility to watch Blu-Ray movies. Admittedly I could have gone without this.
Total cost: $600 before tax. Shipping was free on everything except 1 or 2 of the items, so that was a nominal cost.
Pics:
Upside down PSU, lawl.
Evo LTE for size comparison
vs. Mid ATX tower. (If you're wondering I use the fruit by the foot box to store rogue socks until I can find their partner)
Review: When I first got it I was wondering if the performance would be up to standard. After testing and using it for a while, I've had to talk myself out of selling my desktop a couple of times. It's that good. It won't max BF3 or Metro 2033, but almost every other game I can set to 1920x1080 and crank everything up to the highest level possible and I get 50+ fps. The case is so small it actually fits in my Chromebag and the pockets can store all the cables, etc. Temperatures are great across the board, although I mounted the power supply upside down so that it blows out of the case instead of down onto the processor. GPU runs fine temp wise, and the processor goes from ~40 idle to ~60C under load.
If you can tolerate the cable management portion, I highly recommend building something like this. All together the system weighs ~16 pounds. Easily carried, although obviously I have to bring a monitor with me as well. Small price to pay for the power and flexibility compared to a laptop.
I've been thinking of putting together something like that eventually to replace my MacMini. However, I would go for a Z77 mobo and an i5/i7 Ivy Bridge.
Looks like a cool little box!
What's the advantage of z77? AFAIK it's just integrated USB 3.0, which this mobo has as well.
H77 is just a scaled back Z77. The two differences are that the Z77 can split the main x16 PCI Express bus into two x8 lanes, and the Z77 also supports changing multipliers for unlocked CPUs. Other than that, they're pretty much identical (both support PCI Express 3.0 with future cpus). While I don't necessarily do overclocking, after seeing how easily you can do it with the K cpus and the lower temps, I might just want to keep the option there. The x8 lanes are an option to have looking forward to thunderbolt PCIe cards. Right now the few available use 4x, but to really shine thunderbolt needs 8x PCI Express 2.0 (or 4x PCI Express 3.0).
The price difference I think was negligible too.
i just upgraded my rig also
i5 3470
8gb ram
b75 mobo
gonna go grab a 7870 today...
why didnt u go for the 3220T model? its same speed as 3220 but lower power output
Meh, the rig as is probably doesn't hit 350w. Not too concerned with the PSU I have.
I'd rather overshoot on the PSU than undershoot.
I just built a new desktop around an AMD A10-5800K (not for gaming purposes, though). You definitely got some good deals.
You shouldn't be. That Ivy Bridge is only 55W TDP, and the Radeon is rated 110W TDP. The SSD is another power saver. Would be surprised if you're hitting 200W at all.
Trust me I'm overshooting as is. pcpartpicker.com estimates wattage at 227w. Even with peripherals I'm well under 300w total.
cool! thinking about building a similar machine here soon enough. a friend gave me some older machine that's running win7 but it's clunky and isn't powerful at all, i only need it for netflix and other vids though but sort of want to jump into the pc game realm as well. something as small but as powerful as that machine would work wonders.
If you don't need to game, you could knock $150 off the price of this rig, although prices have gone up since BF sales.
i5/8gb ram/gt 640 1gb gddr5 = $800
Not bad, but a 640 is a pretty big weak link there for gaming.
i5/8gb ram/gt 640 1gb gddr5 = $800
Is that the old model? The current one is $1299 and up:
i5/8gb ram/gt 640 1gb gddr5 = $800
http://www.dell.com/au/p/alienware-x51/fs
It also looks kinda bulky, no SSD and has the Windows tax
damn just bought a powercolor 7870 mystic version...fkn dont see any improvements...
What did you upgrade from?
was u using onboard intel hd2500...
just upgraded desktop after a year collecting dust q6600 4870x2,
was using a laptop gaming for a year...decided to upgrade rig
The 7870 should be far superior...
Im poor and jealous running HotS beta on welfare settings
http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-x51/pdIs that the old model? The current one is $1299 and up:
http://www.dell.com/au/p/alienware-x51/fs
It also looks kinda bulky, no SSD and has the Windows tax
so I think I've settled on the I7 3930K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116492
Everything I've read indicates that with some overclocking you can get very close to the performance available from the Extreme...for $500 less
Just have to decide on Mobo/cooling to pair it with... Doubt I'll get crazy and try to push it toward 4.8/4.9 like some others I've read, so, question is, should I go liquid?? I've seen some say it's fine fan cooled in the low 4's
Thoughts?
overclocking, maintenance is a ...only buy it if ur plannin to overclock man...
I am, but probably only to around 4 - 4.2 or so
Pretty much set on the processor, just have to figure out where to go on the GPU... I'm envisioning 3 displays so I can game, reference the internet, and watch a soccer/football game all at the same time --- Or just use all 3 panels to game.
Leaning toward an EVGA GTX 680 Classified with an eye toward SLI in the future... And yes, I'm getting a massive case
However, I won't be buying a G card for another month or two so a lot could change in that time frame.
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