Thinking of building a mini ITX PC

Kilrane

I travel a lot for work but I usually stay put in one place for a few weeks to a few months. Because of that I often used gaming laptops but I'm in serious need of an upgrade, and I've been considering a mini ITX pc instead of a laptop. I know I can get a better bang for my buck so I'm here with a build in mind and looking for critique and any suggestions.

 

Case/Power supply

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163187

 

199.99

 

 

Mobo

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131932

 

199.99

 

 

CPU

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

 

214.99

 

 

RAM

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104373

 

49.99

 

 

SSD

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820239046

 

199.99

 

 

Storage

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697

 

69.99

 

 

Vid Card - I'm not sure if this will fit in the case =

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150609

 

209.99

 

 

Monitor - It will be a PITA to drag with me, at least it’s not all that often.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236100

 

144.99

 

 

OS - I'm sticking with Windows 7. I have zero interest in Windows 8 at this time.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

 

99.99

 

 

That brings my total to 1,389.91 before shipping and what not.

 

 

I don't know if maybe some of you could find a few ways I could spend that money in a better place, or if you could even save me a few bucks. I'm not really interested in spending a whole lot more and I believe I have all of the major bases covered (just uncertain on vid card fitting in the case, being that I've never built a PC this small before).

 

Thanks in advance!

Quizzical

2400 MHz memory is a waste of money.  The performance difference between that and 1600 MHz amounts to a rounding error for a quad core processor in which you don't use the integrated graphics.

That's too much to pay for that SSD, when you can get basically the same thing elsewhere for cheaper:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226237

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227727

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167128

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233220

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231614

Given how many awful SSDs Kingston has released, even after the reputable SSD vendors figured out what was wrong and fixed it, I wouldn't pay a premium for a Kingston sticker on the label.  Or even the same price as some of the alternatives.

For a video card, fitting in the case really isn't a problem.  The Silverstone SG08 is designed to fit any PCI Express-compliant video card, which really only rules out the three slot coolers.  Given the way that the case cooling is set up, it would be nice to get an external exhaust card, though:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130825

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103208

You don't list an optical drive, processor heatsink (other than the stock heatsink that comes with the processor), surge protector, keyboard, mouse, or speakers.  If you already have or don't need them, that's fine.  But just don't forget.

Kilrane

I completely forgot about an optical drive >_<

 

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Internal-Drive-SN-S083C-BEBE/dp/B002TG3AB4

 

As for the heatsink for the CPU, would you suggest one outside of the factory heatsink for this build? I do not intend to overclock given the form factor I’m building around. That would be something I would intend to do on a full size desktop at home. That said, what heatsink/fan would you suggest for this CPU/case combo?

 

Other peripherals I should be good on. I have a nice surge protector, keyboard, mouse, the monitor I selected has speakers but honestly I have a pretty nice set of headphones I use when gaming away from home.

 

As suggested I will go ahead and swap out my SSD and ram to the following:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226237

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231544

 

Vid card I’ll swap out for the GeForce GTX 660 you listed.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130825

 

I guess that sets me straight except for the possibility of a CPU fan/heatsink besides of the stock one.

Quizzical

The stock heatsink that comes with the processor is basically designed to be the cheapest that will work at stock speeds.  An aftermarket heatsink can be both cooler and quieter, but if you don't want to buy one, that's fine.  You're fairly limited on aftermarket heatsinks by the need for it to fit in your case, without running into the memory or something sticking up off of the motherboard, though.

miguksaram

I say this in just about EVERY thread which is discussing the idea of building a SFF system and I'll say again here.  If you are curious as to what you can build in the various SFF cases I HIGHLY recommend you check out the following forums which are devoted to the subject.

http://hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=102

If you explore the above link you will find what CPU fans you can place in the various SFF style cases, among a wealth of other knowledge on the subject.

That said given the amount of money you are spending on some of the parts in that build I would suggest you consider getting a better GPU.  Oh and what Quiz said about the brand you have chosen for both your ram and ssd (I would personally never choose those for any build I put together).