Mini ITX Quiet Gaming build suggestions?

[Connoisseur]

I'm selling my 2014 Razer Blade since I'm not really using it effectively (it just sits on my desk connected to my monitor). I've been searching around for this and a lot of builds get close but not exactly what I'm looking for. My build requirements are:
1) Mini-ITX Build - Aesthetics are important; No Chintzy plastic, no LED lights, no "stealth fighter" design. Preferrably a minimalist case. Ncase M1 is my gold standard here but willing to consider others given the budget below.
2) Silent or Near Silent during normal operation
3) NO overclocking on CPU or GPU. Emphasis is on quiet case. Also, the simplest setup is the best (i haven't done water cooling before).
4) Gaming at 2560x1440 at or near 60fps if possible. I'm assuming I'd need a GTX 1070 for this. Would an RX480 do the trick too? Thinking games like the new Doom, Witcher, Overwatch, No Man's Sky etc.
5) Price: ~$1,000-$1,250 not including monitor or Windows 10 license.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Connoisseur]

Err adding slightly more detail.
6) Storage will be SSD only. I'll have a separate NAS to do the heavy data storage.

 

[NatePo717]

Here's my suggestion for that budget. I think it hits most of your wants.

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/ZRR6r7

 

[Connoisseur]

Thanks for the suggestion. This definitely ticks most of my boxes. Even if I switch it to an ncase m1 would still keep it around my $1,250 budget. Of course, I'll have to check compatibility on the cooler but that's not a significant cost. I've heard about the Gigabyte card and it's definitely cheaper than the others. Are there any issues with it thermal throttling due to the reduced heatsink?

 

[cbn]

I've heard about the Gigabyte card and it's definitely cheaper than the others. Are there any issues with it thermal throttling due to the reduced heatsink?

Not sure, but any potential throttling could also be affected by ventilation with the case as well.

(re: the case air temperature is what will feed the intake fan. Although with that mentioned it does look like the Thermaltake V1 case has good ventilation)

 

[cbn]

A picture of the Vents and fan placement for the Thermaltake V1 used in the build from post #3:

That should be pretty quiet while flowing some good air.

 

[you2]

That part list looks pretty good; a couple of alternative cases (esp if you want internal dvd drive) include the 250d and elite 130. The elite 130 is decent but the cooling is weak unless you use water cooling. The 250d has fantastic reviews but I don't have a build with it. One thing about the elite 130 is it is designed for a full length grapic card so it is longer than the cases suggested but also not as wide or tall; this form factor might work better (or not as well) depending on desk layout. Conversely it gives you the option for a full length gpu. Having said this the v1 looks pretty nifty esp for air cooling. I would also consider a better ssd (such as 850 pro) and if you have a micro center near you pick up a mb/cpu combo there. It might be worth waiting till Jan for kaby lake if 4k video is your thing as intel has added hardware support for decoding. This is not a huge deal as desktop processors can handle the load and are not battery dependent but it still might be a nice +.

 

[Connoisseur]

I do have a microcenter near me. Was probably going to buy at least half my components from there since prices are comparable to newegg. I'm a big fan of minimalism so I don't really care for an ODD. I haven't touched my DVDs in years. Thanks for the case recommendations. Still debating getting an m1. The cases mentioned here are probably all easier to set up and probably keep quiet. But there's something about the smallest possible minimalist case that makes me want one.


Sent from my iPhone

 

[nerp]

Fractal Design has a good few mini-itx silent cases. Phantex has some nice ones. You could consider a Lian-Li mini-itx as well. But the Lian-Li would require some more work to ensure silence.

 

[NatePo717]

Definitely go for a combo deal if you can at Microcenter. I've gotten some great deals. CPU + a clearance motherboard for free with the combo discount. Hard to beat.

And if you can act at all sometimes getting their sales guys hooked into trying to make a sale on a large number of parts can get you further discounts as they try to convince you to buy. I got a laptop there and the sales guy got his manager to take almost $200 off the cost of the laptop as I stood there and tried to justify also buying a mouse and travel bag on top of it which I was planning on getting anyway.

 

[Connoisseur]

Got my rig built:
NCase M1 v5
I7-6700
Gigabyte Z170N gaming
16gb ddr4
EVGA GTX 1070 acx 3.0
500gb m.2 Samsung 850 evo
Corsair SF600
Noctua NH-U9S for CPU
2 Noctua NF-P12 PWM system fans

The build was a lot easier than expected considering I hadn't built a pc in about 6 or 7 years. Also, my god is it quiet. Couldn't be happier with the build. I'm only running a 1080p monitor but the GPU tops out at 65c and the CPU at 55c and I still can't hear the fans during heavy gaming.

I got a bunch of the components through Micro Center and PMed where I could. Overall extremely happy with the build. Best one I've made so far.

Sent from my iPhone

 

[you2]

The only reason I woudln't copy that build is I don't like the sf600 psu. Hum. Problem is that sf psu offerings are not so great to begin with which makes the case an issue. Oh well. The relevance for myself is I need to move my gaming system out of an atx case into a mini-itx. I have a spare 250D so I'll probably use that; though the therm v1 is tempting. The M1 you used looks nice but the SF restriction on psu is an issue (for myself).

 

[Connoisseur]

Actually I think you can use a full sized ATX psu in the case if you bought that Gigabyte MiniITX card. Any reason you don't like the SF600? It's dead quiet since the fan doesn't spin up most of the time even at gaming loads. It's a bit overkill for my needs since i'm not overclocking but still a great little unit. The only downside is the fairly stiff cabling but that wasn't a serious issue.

If you're saying that you're trying to just move components between an ATX to a MiniITX case, then I totally understand. You have to have considerations for GPU, CPU Heatsink/Cooler, and PSU. Since I was building from scratch, none of these were a major concern. If I had to do it all over again, I might have gone with slightly cheaper components but that would only have saved me 70 or 80 dollars in total.

 

[daxzy]

I picked up an Inwin 901. These are super hard to find, but man they're gorgeous and have decent cooling capability.

 

[Connoisseur]

Nice looking case! I'm personally a fan of minimalist, rectangular cases without the display window but that's just me. I want my build to be as out of the way as possible and focus on the gaming... Now I just need a good deal on a 27" 1440p IPS G-Sync monitor and i'll be all set... That's going to take a while.