Mini - ITX gaming rig
Hi Guys
A few months back I posted up a mini ITX gaming rig to find out what you guys thought, Now has come the time to build it but since then a lot of things have changed. My main problem is this, I want a Mini ITX motherboard with built in Wifi and Intel socket 1155 Case: Silverstone SG08B Ram: Corsair 16GB (2x8GB) 1333mhz or 1600mhz depending on motherboard (i know people will ask why 16gig lets just say...i want it for the future? ) Motherboard: ?? CPU: i7-2600K GPU: Gigabyte GF GTX 570 As for motherboards the only ones that iv seen that are remotely close to what i want is the Zotac Z68-ITX-A-E but i know Asus makes a very good AMD mini itx mobo but i cant seem to find the intel version. Any help would be great on finding a motherboard |
02:32pm 27/03/12 Permalink
My preference for mini-itx boards (and I've got about three or four of them) are the Zotac boards. As you suggested, the Z68ITX-A-E may meet your criteria. Just be careful when looking at models, at the very least, look at the specs closely. For example the Zotac Z68ITX-A-E has a x16 PCI-e slot, the Z68ITX-B-E has a x4 PCI-e slot.
Edit: should mention auspcmarket stock the Z68ITX-A-E for $228. last edited by tspec at 14:49:47 27/Mar/12 |
02:43pm 27/03/12 Permalink
Mitcho, 16GB of RAM is really not required for that task. I know you say you want it for the future, but it's hard to see at the moment when 16GB will be required.
I'm interested in this topic as well, to upgrade my media PC to a level that will play Skyrim. |
02:52pm 27/03/12 Permalink
I have a mini-itx HTPC and a mini-pcie wifi card in it, and the wifi sucks balls. Had to switch to a USB wifi antenna.
At least that zotac one has two huge antennas coming out the back, seems good. last edited by thermite at 14:59:18 27/Mar/12 |
02:57pm 27/03/12 Permalink
What tuner are you using, thermite?
I was looking at one of the ethernet tuners as an option. E.g., http://www.hdhomerun.com.au/page6.htm Either that or a USB tuner. Ideally I'd go for http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=15342 but obviously that's not USB. |
03:06pm 27/03/12 Permalink
I don't have a tuner at all, because the place I'm renting does not possess an antenna for watching television. Classy huh. $340 a week. You should see the "oven".
last edited by thermite at 15:11:55 27/Mar/12 |
03:10pm 27/03/12 Permalink
wifi antenna doesn't necessarily mean tv tuner :) I've typically had good experiences with Leadtek gear.
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03:13pm 27/03/12 Permalink
I have had s*** experiences with Hauppauge, but all the reviews I have read of their new stuff have been excellent, so I'll just bite the bullet if I have to.
wifi antenna doesn't necessarily mean tv tuner :) Unless I'm missing something I don't think anyone in here is making that mistake. |
03:15pm 27/03/12 Permalink
I rigged up some old bunny ears I ripped off an old tv so I could watch the election the other night. Had to wedge the bunny ears between two chairs to get it in a spot where you could slightly see the picture through the snow. No reception for digital channels at all. The bunny ears kept falling over and hitting the window anyway.
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03:16pm 27/03/12 Permalink
CPU: i7-2600K The 2600K is only about 2-5% faster at stock and overclocks only marginally faster than a 2500K on average. Both should be able to hit 4.2GHz easily and 4.5GHz with slight effort. So I suggest you drop the CPU down to the 2500K and save yourself $105. |
03:45pm 27/03/12 Permalink
Mitcho, 16GB of RAM is really not required for that task... Pinky I'd suggest you check the price of RAM... 16Gb IS overkill.... but it's so damn cheap at the moment... why not? |
05:25pm 27/03/12 Permalink
Yeah, it's a good idea, but I'd be pretty skeptical about performance. I'd like to see some hard-hitting reviews on the product.
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06:17pm 27/03/12 Permalink
After what some of you guys said, I think i will take it down to a 2500k to save me some cash.
Also IVY_Mike, you are correct, ram is dirt cheap at the moment and getting 2 8gig sticks is only like $30-40 more then just 8gig at the moment from my wholesaler |
06:24pm 27/03/12 Permalink
Case: Silverstone SG08B $220 (with a 600w silverstone psu)
Ram: Corsair 16GB (2x8GB) 1600mhz $141 Motherboard: Z68ITX-A-E $195 CPU: i7-2500k $225 GPU: Gigabyte GF GTX 570 $361 I've already got the GPU so Total without the GPU : $781 + postage (about $20-$30) With GPU: $1142 What do you guys think? this is flat wholesaler price so RRP on this would be a bit higher |
06:38pm 27/03/12 Permalink
My usual haunt (and I dare say a lot of others on here who order interstate gear) is PCCasegear, and your prices are a shave better than theirs.
SG08B $229 ($9 more exxy) Corsair 16GB (2x8GB) 1600mhz $145 ($4 more exxy) Z68ITX-A-E (PCCG don't stock the Zotac stuff) EDIT: i5*-2500k $215 ($10 cheaper) Gigabyte GF GTX 570 (Some similarly priced Gigabyte 570's there, nothing dramatic as far as price difference) Where are you sourcing the parts from? If I had a need to upgrade my gaming rig, once I'd confirmed the noise of the SG08, this is where I'd be buying. (I borrowed a mate's SG07 for a little while... that combined with some of the LGA-1155 mITX mobo's is an amazingly powerful little unit, but the SG07 was quite loud compared to the Silverstone RV01 Raven I'm using atm.) EDIT: The one thing you've not mentioned (to go INSIDE that case) is your choice of SSD/HDD... I'm running an older OCZ Vertex 2 120Gb, and I can't recommend it enough. Using that as the OS disk and my previous OS disk (a 300Gb Raptor) s*** just LOADS on my primary rig... no more waiting for progress bars! |
07:02pm 27/03/12 Permalink
If I was building a gaming box right now I would go for most of what you got. I'm trying to ebay off about 16 hard drives though to fund my upgrade so I'm probably still a few months off but I'm shooting for an IvyBridge build anyway so that should work out ok timing wise.
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07:14pm 27/03/12 Permalink
My usual haunt (and I dare say a lot of others on here who order interstate gear) is PCCasegear, and your prices are a shave better than theirs. I believe you mean i5 - 2500K? Perhaps not, either way I think that the saved $100 should go into a more powerful graphics card? would that work with the mini-ITX rig? I'm am not familiar with that 'name'. I use scorptec.com.au. theyre based predominately around Melbourne but ship interstate all across Aus. Also, so far they have been really helpful and attentive regarding questions and are willing to chat about parts. I am also happy with their order status updates. Samuelk |
08:24pm 27/03/12 Permalink
I believe you mean i5 - 2500K?... My bad, I copy/pasta'd from the OP. In what way would a 'more powerful graphics card' not work? I'm not sure if you're familiar with the Silverstone SG07-08 cases, but they'll take some of the largest video cards on the market* *n.b. not that stupid 3 expansion slow wide f***** nVidia disaster in another thread atm... but 11.5" - 12.2" cards, no problem |
09:03pm 27/03/12 Permalink
My bad, I copy/pasta'd from the OP. Ahk, yeah I have no idea, was probably one of the stupider questions I'll ask on this forum haha! Just thought the 'smaller then most mobo's' statement might have something to do with it.. Yeah thought you might have :D, no not familiar with that case actually |
10:16pm 27/03/12 Permalink
... no not familiar with that case actually if you want small form factor without taking performance shortcuts, become familiar with them... they're awesome! |
11:19pm 27/03/12 Permalink
