Client mITX Gamer

What up, building a little mITX gamer for a client
Should be fun
He has requested the following

1. mITX platform
2. Red and Black theme with tasteful lighting , cool looking ?
3. Powerful , able to run AAA tiles at decent frame rates based upon using his 2560x1440 Korean monitor
4. As cheap as possible ....... LOL wrong builder

Here is what i have came up with so far , let me know your thoughts or if you see something that can be tweaked or a better alternative

what are your guys thoughts on sneaking by with a 2c4t i3 ?

Intel Core i5-6600K 6M Skylake - $256.99

MSI Gaming Z170I Gaming Pro AC - $164.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB 3200 CAS 15 - $109.99

EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB CLASSIFIED - $639.99

EVGA 120-G1-0650-XR 80 PLUS GOLD 650 - $69.99

Phanteks PH-ES215P_SRD EnthooE Red/Black - $59.99

Samsung 500GB Evo - $157.99

Corsair Hydro Series™ H100i GTX Extreme - $109.99

Windows 10 64 bit OEM - $99.99

Total $ 1,669.91

Thanks

I wouldn't go i3 if the budget allows more. Its fine now, but I worry about the near future with such a chip.

I don't see the value in a 6600K if the client will not be overclocking (are they?). i5 6600 would be fine and save $20.

I dont see the value of 3200MHz memory for a simple gaming build. Go 2800-3000 CL15 and save a few dollars there.

I don't remotely see the point in the Classified for this customer either. They are not benching! MSI Gaming (which has a better than reference PCB) is $620. We all know that when overclocking they will end up in the same 50 Mhz range regardless.

For the PSU, grab EVGA G2 Supernova 550W/650W. YOu have the G1 (good, but not as good).

If you are not overclocking, ditch the H100 for something smaller.


Hope that helps... miss ya man!!!!!!!

I second ED's sentiment on the i3. It's great for a budget chip, but that's what it is, a budget chip.

I also second the GPU selection. I personally would go with EVGA for the ACX2 cooler, but that's personal preference. The MSI card is just as cool and quiet, I'm sure.

If you plan on extending any warranty, I would either go with a locked CPU as ED suggested, or lock the BIOS with an admin password so that they can't overclock and kill the system and then blame it on you. With the later, you can overclock for them, should they need or want it down the road.

Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate it ........

Got lucky, scored the MSI off Codeman05

Looking at the Seasonic 620 bronze, used it before and has been solid , they want $ 99.00 for the G2

Have a 1600P2 sitting here ........

Have to see if Oklahoma has anything on the block as well

Still working on nailing down final specs

Thinking I will stay with the 240 AIO in case the client decides to over clock.
it will also serve to be cleaner looking than a ridiculously big air cooler

here is where I am now

Intel Core i5-6600K 6M Skylake - $256.99

MSI Gaming Z170I Gaming Pro AC - $164.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB 2800 CAS 15 - $87.99

MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Gamer - $585.00

EVGA 220-G2-0650-Y1 80 PLUS GOLD - $69.99

Phanteks PH-ES215P_SRD EnthooE Red/Black - $59.99

Samsung 500GB Evo - $157.99

Corsair Hydro Series™ H100i GTX Extreme - $109.99

Windows 10 64 bit OEM - $99.99

Total $ 1,592.92

Savings of $ 76.99 over the original configuration

Is the Nepton/Seidon/Kraken 2x120mm there for the same price? Im sure the Corsair will be fine but it would be my last pick out of those kits...otherwise, looks good to me!

In my ITX gaming PC I have:
6600K ( now 6700K as benching board is in RMA ) @4.2GHz
MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
2x4GB Geil 3333 but it was working fine with 2x8GB TridentZ @4000
550W Corsair RM Gold 90+ ( best I could use in Bitfenix Prodigy )
240GB HyperX Savage SATA
GTX960 but will probably switch to GTX780 soon

CPU+GPU run on 240mm rad with 2x120mm ~800 rpm fans , [email protected] 1.25V ( under load 1.20V ), no other fans in the case.
240 AIO will be more than enough for CPU only.

Motherboard is great but there is one issue - high vdroop. Vcore has to be about 0.05-0.07V higher than CPU requires so if you want to set ~1.2V then in BIOS has to be 1.25-1.27V. Except that this board is better than most full ATX designed for OC.
It's also the only MSI motherboard with memory above 4000 on the compatible memory list ( it's 4266 actually ).
This MSI also supports only short M.2 SSD so can't use these fast PCIE SSD or you figure out how to mount it as connector is the same.

Good morning Joe,

yea kicking around 240 AOI brands, need to do some further research to see where they all land.
Mounting is so important everyone's results are all over the place

I appreciate the insight Bart, Interesting, that is some serious droop,
Glad to hear it is a strong board, it will be going to a novice OCer at best
hope you have been well

I think the H220x is still one of the better ones Witchy. Also the Glacer 220L gets good reviews

yea they both review well, Keeping an open mind, this one has caught my attention

http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/water-cooling/s24

Expandable like the swiffy

Keep your client in mind... is he really going to want to expand a loop? Worth the premium (if - never heard of that thing before) vs other kits?

I mean you are getting a K CPU 'in case' he wants to overclock (which he can do with BCLK on locked chips). And you are going to buy, what I assume to be, a more costly cooler for potential future expansion...

something to think about... IMO, there isn't a need for an expandable loop, if it fetches a premium.

No doubt bro, it is an expensive cooler. Probably not going to end up in this build,
However I have a good re pore and am working close with him on this project.
trying to stay in the $ 100 to $ 120 range for a cooler , going to take a close look at the Water3.0X as well
My Water 2.0X is still a beast. All of them seem to be in a degree or two from each other.
Probably going to hit the buy button for the one that is on sale when I finalize everything

Well seems like this build is evolving.
The guy I am building this for liked the AOI cooler so much he did some research and now wants a custom loop.
he had already approved most of the build so much of it is on the way. That included the case so it will be a challenge to try to fit all in there. He finally signed off on the build specs so from hear on out I think I can safely say their will be no major changes anyway. Here are the final specs and budget, I will snap some pics along the way if anyone in interested.

(1) Phanteks PH-ES215P_SRD Enthoo E - $ 59.99
(1) Asus z170 Gaming mITX board - $ 164.99
(1) Intel Core i5-6600K - $ 246.99
(1) G.SKILL Trident Series 16GB 3200 C14 - $ 117.00
(1) MSI GTX 980 ti Gaming 6 - $ 585.00
(1) Samsung Evo 500GB - $ 139.99
(1) EK L240 EK-KIT L240 (R2.0) - $ 224.99
(1) EK-FC980 GTX Ti TF5 - Acetal+Nickel - $ 142.99
(1) EK-FC980 GTX Ti TF5 (R.2.0) backplate - $ 34.99
(1) EK-CoolStream SE 240 (Slim Dual) - $ 54.99
(2) EK-Vardar F3-120 (1850rpm) Fan - $ 35.98
(3) EK-AF Angled 2 x 45 G1/4 Fitting - Nickel - $ 29.97
(5) EK-ACF Compression 10/16mm - Nickel - $ 34.95
(1) Bitspower Mesh Radguard 240 Honeycomb - $ 34.95
(1) 4 pin PMW three way splitter - $3.99
(1) 4 pin PMW 300mm extension - $ 3.49
(1) M$ Windows 10 64bit OEM - $ 92.98

Sub Total - $ 2,008.23
Shipping Total - $ 41.09
Performance PC Valentines day discount - $ (55.88)
eVGA MIR - $ (20.00)

Total = $ 1,973.44

Looks like a nice little build.. can't wait to see it done!

Looks good to me Witchy!

Got a few of the parts in so thought I would mount up the rads this morning.
Shame this case has a great mounting system for a radiator, however it did not work out so had to mod the case a bit
Looks like things are going to get a little tight as this goes together. should be fun

Gorgeous so far and very nice work on that top rad dude!

Thanks Stefan
hooked up the GPU cooler after supper

Wonder how some A1 would transfer heat ..........

Had a few minutes to get the pump / res mounted tonight
You figure with all the holes in this plate they would have drilled out for as pump mount, he11 no
Funny thing is you can buy a pump mount off of them for this mounting plate, only it would have raised it up by a good 3/8" to 1/2"
That would have been enough to make it that I could not get the top off the res.
No biggy though, just shot a few holes through the plate and used neoprene washers on both sides to lighten any vibration action

Hoping to have the balance of the parts in by Friday, although the egg ain't what it used to be

here are a few more pics of the action

Coming along nicely Witchy!