Mini-ITX for 900$?

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orella
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Mini-ITX for 900$?

Post by orella » Sat May 07, 2016 9:59 am

Hi guys!
I'm planning to build a mini-itx pc soon and i'm thinking in 2 options:
1. The smallest, quietest and lowest consumption possible.
2. Cool looking and quiet. (don't care if it's the smallest or the power consuption, just if it's looks good and if it's quiet, but needs to be a mini-itx form!).
Both of them with a max price of 900$.
And if you find a 3rd option build with cool looking, small, quiet and low consumption for 900$ and mini-itx, then it will be awesome!

My use for the pc is: 3d max, z brush, unity, unreal engine, photshop, flash, illustrator... And some gaming like LoL and some MMORPG's.

I don't need OS and storage.

Thanks!!
Last edited by orella on Sat May 07, 2016 12:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

CA_Steve
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Re: Mini-ITX for 900$?

Post by CA_Steve » Sat May 07, 2016 12:13 pm

Welcome to SPCR.

Here's a potential build. Add the Lian-Li PC-Q10 case reviewed here and swap out the stock case fan with a Scythe Slipstream.

You don't mention your monitor resolution. If you game at 1080p, then the GTX 960 is a good fit. Note that the GTX 10x0 series is coming out...with the $380 1070 releasing in June...and expecting the 1060/1050 in the early fall.

orella
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Re: Mini-ITX for 900$?

Post by orella » Sat May 07, 2016 3:36 pm

CA_Steve wrote:Welcome to SPCR.

Here's a potential build. Add the Lian-Li PC-Q10 case reviewed here and swap out the stock case fan with a Scythe Slipstream.

You don't mention your monitor resolution. If you game at 1080p, then the GTX 960 is a good fit. Note that the GTX 10x0 series is coming out...with the $380 1070 releasing in June...and expecting the 1060/1050 in the early fall.
Thanks for the build!

If i change the gtx 960 for a 970 i need to upgrade the PSU?

And monitor is 22" (1920 x 1080 píxeles)

CA_Steve
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Re: Mini-ITX for 900$?

Post by CA_Steve » Sun May 08, 2016 7:20 am

Your stress load power with a GTX 970 is 260W, call it 220W with heavy gaming...just 25W more than with a GTX 960. So, the 450W supply is fine. Oh, you'll need to get the SFX to ATX adapter bracket.

What's more difficult is finding a decent GTX 970 that will fit. Lian Li states a max length of 270mm (10.63"). You might be able to go slightly longer, but it causes a bend in the case's front connector cable (pg 4 of the case review). Lawrence measured this gfx card as 273mm (and the Asus site shows it as 264 to 265mm). The MSI Gaming card is 277mm, Asus Strix is 279mm.. The EVGA GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ is 257mm. Have only seen one review. Maybe others will step in and provide alternatives.

Given your 1080p screen...I'd still go for the GTX 960 if you had to buy today.

Abula
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Re: Mini-ITX for 900$?

Post by Abula » Sun May 08, 2016 8:33 pm

If you can wait for june 10, the GTX1070 will be released, and seems its going to be very energy efficient, only one PCIe power connector, similar to the GTX970, so i would think you should be fine with a low psu.

CA_Steve
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Re: Mini-ITX for 900$?

Post by CA_Steve » Sun May 08, 2016 8:44 pm

1070 or 970 or 1060 or 960...

1070: Upside is going to be awesome fps/watt. Downside is $380...and probably overkill for all except a few 1080p games.

970: Upside is price drops. Running around $300. upside and downside: Also can be a little over the top in performance except for the most demanding games at 1080p.

1060: Upside is going to be awesome fps/watt...and probably great for top end 1080p. Will probably benchmark at much better than 970 at same or lower power. My guess will be $250-$280 price. Downside is expected fall release date.

960: Upside is $200 price and great 1080p performance except for a few demanding games.

quest_for_silence
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Re: Mini-ITX for 900$?

Post by quest_for_silence » Sun May 08, 2016 10:13 pm

CA_Steve wrote:960: Upside is $200 price and great 1080p performance except for a few demanding games.
A 960 with LoL and the likes looks like already way overkill (the more modest GTX 950 should already max out even 144Hz monitors @ FullHD).

edh
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Re: Mini-ITX for 900$?

Post by edh » Mon May 09, 2016 12:32 am

If you want an example of a tiny MiniITX build here is mine:
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=68832

boost
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Re: Mini-ITX for 900$?

Post by boost » Mon May 09, 2016 5:32 am

I think the Lian Li Q21 is the smallest case with room for a dual slot full profile graphics card.
You'd need a CPU cooler under 60 mm tall, like the Scythe Big Shuriken 2 and a SFX PSU like the SilverStone Strider Series 300W SFX12V, which is semi-passive.
With these components and especially if you don't install a HDD a system could be very quiet.

quest_for_silence
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Re: Mini-ITX for 900$?

Post by quest_for_silence » Mon May 09, 2016 7:21 am

boost wrote:a dual slot full profile graphics card.
But a 170mm one: I'm not so sure it will be quiet.

edh
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Re: Mini-ITX for 900$?

Post by edh » Mon May 09, 2016 1:19 pm

quest_for_silence wrote:
boost wrote:a dual slot full profile graphics card.
But a 170mm one: I'm not so sure it will be quiet.
True and it will also not have a great deal of ventilation in that area of the Q21 either.

The Q21 at around 8.6 litres is almost the smallest case possible for this config but the Dan Cases A4-SFX beats it at 7.25 litres. This is all getting a bit extreme though and will impact how quiet a system can be as your cooler choice is so limited. I like wedging big coolers in small systems so would see this as a nice challenge.

orella
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Re: Mini-ITX for 900$?

Post by orella » Mon May 09, 2016 2:35 pm

edh wrote:If you want an example of a tiny MiniITX build here is mine:
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=68832
This case was one of my options. How is it? I saw some people saying that gpu gets hot in that position and they had to make holes in the top of the case.

edh
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Re: Mini-ITX for 900$?

Post by edh » Tue May 10, 2016 12:01 am

orella wrote:This case was one of my options. How is it?
Wonderful if set up properly. Using a fan cooled PSU fighting against the rear fan is a mistake most reviewers make.
orella wrote:I saw some people saying that gpu gets hot in that position and they had to make holes in the top of the case.
This is true if you are going for a GTX 960/970. Would certainly suggest modding the top panel. I am going to do mine soon I hope but have been waiting until I can make a good job of it with the right equipment.

Animandy
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Re: Mini-ITX for 900$?

Post by Animandy » Tue Jun 21, 2016 6:18 am

CA_Steve wrote:Welcome to SPCR.

Here's a potential build. Add the Lian-Li PC-Q10 case reviewed here and swap out the stock case fan with a Scythe Slipstream.

You don't mention your monitor resolution. If you game at 1080p, then the GTX 960 is a good fit. Note that the GTX 10x0 series is coming out...with the $380 1070 releasing in June...and expecting the 1060/1050 in the early fall.
Hey thanks for this post and link. Looking for the same setup and this will be very helpful for me.

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