Gaming in Tight Spaces…..mini-ITX (featuring Gigabyte, Silverstone, and Prolimatech)

[miahallen]

I recently built a mini-ITX gaming rig...check out my story:
http://www.techreaction.net/2010/08...aturing-gigabyte-silverstone-and-prolimatech/

 

[mdsx1950]

I read the whole thing. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

 

[aCid888*]

Very nice.

 

[Chicken Patty]

Brilliantly done, I've been wanting to do a mini ITX build for a while now, just because it's more challenging I would say. This not only looks great, but it's very convenient I am sure Good job!

 

[Mussels]

i've been pondering something like this for a while now, but i lack the funds to have two gaming systems.

 

[miahallen]

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed it

 

[jcgeny]

for the fan case i would have tried a 120 mm with half size of what you use : 12 mm
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=36_408

great computer and cool page of blog where you give all , may be more links for the hardwares could be useful 8]

 

[ERazer]

about to build one and ur review really helpfull, im definitely gonna grab samuel 17, ty bud

 

[GENTLEMEN]

Impressive. Though, the 5850 looks like a tight fit and you're CLOSE to maxing out that PSU. Maybe I should do the same for an HTPC/backups server build I've been wanting to do.

 

[wolf]

I too have dreamed of a mini-itx build, almost exactly identical to this one even, well done! the build came up top-shelf.

 

[miahallen]

Thanks guys

 

[miahallen]

I'm planning to rebuild this with some proper modding in the next few months to turn it into the ultimate mini-ITX rig....what do you guys think of the following upgrades?

Intel i5 750 CPU - Which I'd hope to run at 4.2GHz or more, plus it has a good IMC and 4 real cores. I'm not going to pursue an i7 because I'd turn off HT anyhow.

Corsair H70 CPU cooler - all internal. I'll have to replace the 3.5" HDD with a 2.5" and then relocate both it and the SSD.

Corsair Dominator GTX3 memory - rated at DDR3-2400 9-11-9-27, but I'll probably try to run DDR3-2000 CAS6 or DDR3-2200 CAS7.

Gigabyte Radeon HD 5870 SOC - stock clocks of 950 core and 1250 memory should give a noticable boost in GPU limited games. I'll have to mod the case a little for this to fit.

500GB Momentus XT - to replace the 1TB Green drive I'm running now.

And last but not least, I think I'd be pushing this 300W PSU a bit too hard, so I'll plan on upgrading to the new 450W SFX unit by Silverstone.

 

[3volvedcombat]

I'm planning to rebuild this with some proper modding in the next few months to turn it into the ultimate mini-ITX rig....what do you guys think of the following upgrades?

Intel i5 750 CPU - Which I'd hope to run at 4.2GHz or more, plus it has a good IMC and 4 real cores. I'm not going to pursue an i7 because I'd turn off HT anyhow.

Corsair H70 CPU cooler - all internal. I'll have to replace the 3.5" HDD with a 2.5" and then relocate both it and the SSD.

Corsair Dominator GTX3 memory - rated at DDR3-2400 9-11-9-27, but I'll probably try to run DDR3-2000 CAS6 or DDR3-2200 CAS7.

Gigabyte Radeon HD 5870 SOC - stock clocks of 950 core and 1250 memory should give a noticable boost in GPU limited games. I'll have to mod the case a little for this to fit.

Momentus XT or the 600GB Velociraptor (without the aluminum heatsink) - to replace the 1TB Green drive I'm running now. Need some help deciding on this

And last but not least, I think I'd be pushing this 300W PSU a bit too hard, so I'll plan on upgrading to the new 450W SFX unit by Silverstone.

IF that 450watt from silverstone can do it.

Thats my only concern

Sounds good

Would grab a i7 860
undervolt it
while overclocking it
but i7 750 is enough for sure

 

[DonInKansas]

Momentus would give you better performance (after a couple rounds of course) with less heat.

 

[miahallen]

IF that 450watt from silverstone can do it.

Thats my only concern

Based on my experience with the 300W that it came with (see the article for more details) the 450W unit will be more than enough

Momentus would give you better performance (after a couple rounds of course) with less heat.

Hey, I could even put two in a RAID0 for about the same price as the VR, maintaining my 1TB size....hummmmmmm

 

[miahallen]

Getting ready for the next upgrade. Playing around with some modling to verify my measurements. Looks like everything is going to fit perfect

My mini-ITX v2.0 parts list:
case - Silverstone SUGO SG05 (interior will be painted)
PSU - Silverstone 450W SFX (cables will be recut for fit and sleeved)
mobo - Gigabyte H55N-USB3
CPU - Intel i5 750 (aiming for 4.2GHz or more)
CPU cooling - Corsair H70 (with one 120x38mm 118CFM San-Ace)
memory - 2x2GB Corsair Dominator GTX3
graphics card - Gigabyte 5870 SOC (undervolted to 1.1V)
OS storage - 80GB Intel X25M SSD
games/media storage - 500GB Seagate Momentus XT hybrid drive

Just waiting for the last few parts to arrive

 

[overclocking101]

now thats badass

 

[copenhagen69]

heh this thread is everywhere ... still a fun read ... cant wait for the upgrades and updates...

 

[miahallen]

Yeah....hahaha, I've got 9 threads going around the net
Probably a bit overkill, but it seems to be these smaller systems are gaining popularity, and I wanted to show as many people as possible how simple a basic setup is to build

 

[GENTLEMEN]

Although it is possible to squeeze a relatively powerful setup into a very small build, a few things which I see might be a problem in mini-itx gaming builds (or any mini-itx for that matter) are PSU choice (unless you choose low voltage parts) and cable management (I wanna see a 500+ watt psu that will fit, be fully/semi-modular). And it would be nice to see other brands go into mini-itx boards.

 

[jcgeny]

the article about latest mini-itx mainboard from intel having latest chipset :
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/intel-dh57jg.html
have a lot of tests using your choice of mainboard , may be you should wait next release from giga-byte which will use it

 

[TheMailMan78]

Ok......Thats it. I'm building one!

 

[miahallen]

the article about latest mini-itx mainboard from intel having latest chipset :
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/intel-dh57jg.html
have a lot of tests using your choice of mainboard , may be you should wait next release from giga-byte which will use it

The difference between the H55 and H57 is minimal

 

[MilkyWay]

looks really nifty seeing it all condensed into a small package i am really impressed, true that the mini itx has come along far

 

[miahallen]

Getting ready for the next upgrade. Playing around with some modling to verify my measurements. Looks like everything is going to fit perfect

My mini-ITX v2.0 parts list:
case - Silverstone SUGO SG05 (interior will be painted)
PSU - Silverstone 450W SFX (cables will be recut for fit and sleeved)
mobo - Gigabyte H55N-USB3
CPU - Intel i5 750 (aiming for 4.2GHz or more)
CPU cooling - Corsair H70 (with one 120x38mm 118CFM San-Ace)
memory - 2x2GB Corsair Dominator GTX3
graphics card - Gigabyte 5870 SOC (undervolted to 1.1V)
OS storage - 80GB Intel X25M SSD
games/media storage - 500GB Seagate Momentus XT hybrid drive

OK, Almost all the parts have arrived, and I've done the cutting mods on the case today for a test fitting.......EVERYTHING FIT

teaser

I ordered the wrong molex connectors and I'm waiting on the correct ones to arrive....then I'll strip down again and paint, and sleeve, and post my article....so it'll still be a couple more weeks. H70 testing under-way