Mini ITX Build - Any Good?

[MeBrains]

hey guys. I was wondering if anyone could give me feedback on the following build I'm planning. Is it any good for about $700 - OS excluded.

Primary goal is office work, including virtual machines. Main OS would probably be Debian, although I might give Ubuntu another try.

• AMD A10-6700 HG1A05, € 139,90
• Aerocool Strike-X CM EN53884 TN5RX2, € 69,90 - 500W.
• Antec ISK 600 TDIA06 € 69,90
• LG GTA0N CEBLS9 € 29,99
• Samsung 840 EVO MZ-7TE250KW, 250 GB € 159,90
• ASRock FM2A78M-ITX+ GGIR16 € 79,90
• Corsair 16 GB DDR3-2133 Kit IEIF5HAV € 199,90

Questions:

• Would an A10-7850K Kaveri be the better choice?
• Is 500W enough, even when adding some GPU in the future?
• Is the Aerocool quiet, or are there quieter / better PSUs?
• There seems to be some variations in Samsung SSDs for the same price. Which one do I pick?
• There's an ASRock 88M motherboard. It looks largely the same to me. What are the differences?
• 16Gb - 2133. Corsair seems to have a good deal on these, or are there better ones?
• Which GPU do I add in a few months for around €225?
• How difficult would the build be in the Antec case? Does everything fit? Any hints / tips?

I would like to stick around these prices and not go above €750 in total without OS.


thanks for replying.

BTW: if there are other forums / sites, where you'd find this more appropriate, please advice, as well as accept my apology for posting here.

 

[lehtv]

Questions:

1. Would an A10-7850K Kaveri be the better choice?
2. Is 500W enough, even when adding some GPU in the future?
3. Is the Aerocool quiet, or are there quieter / better PSUs?
4. There seems to be some variations in Samsung SSDs for the same price. Which one do I pick?
5. There's an ASRock 88M motherboard. It looks largely the same to me. What are the differences?
6. 16Gb - 2133. Corsair seems to have a good deal on these, or are there better ones?
7. Which GPU do I add in a few months for around €225?
8. How difficult would the build be in the Antec case? Does everything fit? Any hints / tips?

1. Yes, both CPU and GPU would be faster. The Kaveri GPU would support higher than 1920x1200 resolutions via HDMI. But it's probably also more expensive.
2. Yes.
3. I'm a bit skeptical of Aerocool's power supplies. Stick to known high quality brands like Antec, Corsair, Seasonic.
4. Pick the cheapest one for the capacity. Usually the more expensive ones are kits that include adapters for external use and whatnot, which you won't need.
5. No idea, you need to post the exact model. Or even better, look up the specifications from the manufacturer's website yourself, all the info you need is there.
6. You need to post a link to the shop you're buying from, it's impossible to to compare anything if I don't even know what's available to you and at what prices. That said, RAM is RAM, any modules with the same specs and lifetime warranty are generally going to be just as good, regardless of brand.
7. Why do you feel you need to add a GPU?
8. It shouldn't be difficult. Any ITX board should fit there. The case advertises compatibility with standard ATX power supplies, but I would make sure to get as compact a unit as possible. Preferably 140mm-150mm deep, not more. Semi-modularity helps.

 

[MeBrains]

Thanks for your answer. Much appreciated.

• The ASRock mb is the FM2A88M against the FM2A78M. There doesn't seem to be so much difference between them.
• I'm still hunting around for the best price. Up to now, it seems like getgoods.de (german) offer the best prices. here
• RAM - wasn't there a difference in latency / cas... these things - the 9-9-11-* numbers?
• GPU would be to play the occasional game from time to time. I have a 1920x1200 monitor now and would eventually want to have two of these. I have the impression that, even with one, the Kaveri APU would not be able to render in any higher quality...
• thanks for the PSU tip. I'll make sure not to get a full-sized one then.

 

[lehtv]

Are you located in Germany, then? Usually I check prices from www.geizhals.de. I've ordered from Mindfactory before (as they ship to Finland for 30€ per order).

Okay, if your goal is to be able to play games, presumable modern games, at decent settings and framerates, then yeah a 200 eur graphics card upgrade is absolutely reasonable. If you're going to make that upgrade in a couple of months, the card to buy is probably R9 270X or GTX 760, going by current prices in Germany.

 

[MeBrains]

from Belgium actually.

thanks for the link. I might be able to shave off a few €€ here and there, and I'll check tweakers.net's price comparison tool as well before ordering anywhere...

 

[lehtv]

How about the Cooler Master Elite 130 for the case? Similar design as Antec, but cheaper. See this photo from eTeknix review of the case:

Thanks to the way the PSU area is designed, a standard length PSU will fit fine as it is pushed a bit outside of the case to save space inside. The unit used here is a 140mm deep Silverstone, but larger, even 160mm deep units, should fit just fine.

In Europe, I would pick a Super Flower Golden Green unit. They offer superb efficiency, voltage regulation, 5 year warranty, but at relatively affordable price tag.

Try not to overpay for the memory. What really matters for VM's is the amount of memory. In ITX you're limited to 16GB anyway... Personally, I would be a bit hesitant to build in ITX for this reason, I'd want to have the ability to go 32GB if needed. But it really depends on what you're doing exactly and how important that small form factor is.

Another thing I'm a bit hesitant about is AMD instead of Intel. Your budget seems generous enough that if you just saved a bit on the case, RAM etc., you'd be able to get an Intel i5 setup. Since you'll be adding a gaming-grade graphics card later on, the IGP speed hardly matters.

Build (prices approximate... based on hardwareversand.de store):

i5-4570 165e
Asrock B85M-ITX 65e
Crucial Ballistix 2x8GB 1600 110e
Crucial M500 240GB 92e
SF Golden Green HX 450W 60e
Cooler Master Elite 130 45e

= only about 530-540 euros.

You could even fit in a very respectable graphics card and still stay within your 750 euro budget.

If you truly need a DVD drive in this day and age, I'd recommend grabbing an external one instead of cramping up the small ITX case.

 

[sm625]

If you are going to add a gpu then there is no reason to use an AMD A10.

 

[MeBrains]

So, you guys say: forget the AMD build and get an Intel based one?

The build I created can be as fast for a lot less then? good I asked...


the reason I went AMD also has to do with both the new consoles being based on that technology. I suppose codebases will get tweaked more towards AMD builds than eventually... Also, I always like supporting the underdog. Both Intel and nVidia seem to be overcharging similar technology.

 

[lehtv]

Nope, there's no difference to the operating system or games whether your CPU is made by Intel or AMD. AMD CPUs being used in consoles is simply irrelevant, what matters is the performance of the CPU. Intel wins in that regard.