Low Power Gaming Rig (Small Chassis)

Hi everyone!
I'm looking for building a Gaming rig which is small on size and low on power consumption ( below 400-430W )
My budget is $2099

Must have features:
SSD drive (for OS)
Silent + Cool System
NVIDIA/INTEL
Small Chassis + Small Motherboard as well (Micro ATX/Mini ITX)

The CPU has to be Intel Core i7 3770 and as for the GPU, I expect something which can run games at Ultra (or at least High) settings smoothly (DX11 + 1920x1080 res). Thus, I don't think something like 660 Ti would suffice.

Thanks in advance

Brand bias isn't appreciated here. Intel/NVIDIA would be the correct way to go here because they make parts with lower power consumption compared to AMD, but purchasing them just for their name would be illogical and stupid.

Any reason why you need the 3770 and not a P or S CPU with a slightly lower power consumption? The i7 is also a waste for gaming, i5's perform pretty much the same as the main difference (Hyperthreading) isn't used in most games.

You have a pretty good budget, so maybe go for a GTX 780 and underclock it (if necessary) to meet your power limit?

I'd go something like this, but with Haswell equivalents when they come out.

I think the 670 FTW as Knufire suggests will be perfect for your purposes. You are worried about limitations in gaming and power and it seems like it fits well. The only game my 670 SC can't play (without some lag) on all ultra settings is Crysis 3. Plays it fine on high.

Knufire said:

Brand bias isn't appreciated here. Intel/NVIDIA would be the correct way to go here because they make parts with lower power consumption compared to AMD, but purchasing them just for their name would be illogical and stupid.

Any reason why you need the 3770 and not a P or S CPU with a slightly lower power consumption? The i7 is also a waste for gaming, i5's perform pretty much the same as the main difference (Hyperthreading) isn't used in most games.

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Well my current rig has a core i5 2500k. i oc'ed it to 4.5GHz when i bought it and it was great for gaming.

But I do some crazy multi tasking and I believe i5 falls short on handling that compared to i7. I really don't want to sacrifice the HT for gaming anymore.

Anyway if you think it makes a huge difference in term of power consumption, then i will go with the i5 again.

Btw in the attach pic you posted, I can see a 450W PSU. Is it possible to go with 430W or lower ? I really want to avoid using any PSU over 430W. Some prebuilt rigs like Alienware x51 comes with a 330W PSU and it powers an i7 3770 and GTX 660. So I should be able to build the same with a ~400W PSU, right?

NiHaoMike said:

You have a pretty good budget, so maybe go for a GTX 780 and underclock it (if necessary) to meet your power limit?

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Are you sure about this? I've read somewhere GTX 780 needs at least 550-600W.
And why should I buy 780 in the first place if I'm going to underclock it

Nah, the power difference isn't huge, if you'll use the i7 to its potential than its worth it.

I think you're mistaken on how PSUs work...a 450W PSU doesn't mean it's always drawing 450W from the wall, it just means that the maximum output capacity of the PSU is 450W. Whatever the parts inside the computer need divided by the efficiency of the PSU is how much power it's drawing from the wall, regardless of the size.

I think you may be worrying a bit too much here. That i5 isn't going to bottleneck your gaming unless you are doing something ridiculous. The 450w will idle much lower than 430w. You AWLAYS get PSUs above what you will max at. The build Knufire gave you accommodates all of your restrictions.

May I ask why you are so concerned about it being under 430w?

Knufire said:

Nah, the power difference isn't huge, if you'll use the i7 to its potential than its worth it.

I think you're mistaken on how PSUs work...a 450W PSU doesn't mean it's always drawing 450W from the wall, it just means that the maximum output capacity of the PSU is 450W. Whatever the parts inside the computer need divided by the efficiency of the PSU is how much power it's drawing from the wall, regardless of the size.

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I kinda was aware of that, but I wasn't sure how much will the GPU and other parts draw. If a PSU around 450W can suffice such a good config, why most geeks recommend ppl to get 500-600PSU for being in safe zone?

noname2020x said:

I think you may be worrying a bit too much here. That i5 isn't going to bottleneck your gaming unless you are doing something ridiculous. The 450w will idle much lower than 430w. You AWLAYS get PSUs above what you will max at. The build Knufire gave you accommodates all of your restrictions.

May I ask why you are so concerned about it being under 430w?

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I was saying i5 is going to bottleneck my heavy multi tasking, not the gaming.
what i mean by heavy multi tasking, is having multiple browsers open with +50tabs, adobe collection (ps,etc..), visual studio, ftp, remote control, etc..

Regarding the PSU limitation, It's because my system is up & running almost 24/7. So the electricity bill has gone crazy. and the family isn't happy with that.

Also, I would like to have a small pc with tons of power. something which is quiet and takes small space. My current rig is producing lots of heat and noise, and it's very heavy and big. core i5 2500K (oc'ed to 4.5ghz, 560SLI, 750PSU,full size tower...)

Again, the size of the PSU doesn't really change the electricity bill, only the parts in the computer. And between Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge, the difference in power consumption.

For example, your current rig has an OCed 2500K (120W) and two GTX560s (150W each). Total power consumption is about 120+150+150+40 (for everything else), so you're only about 460W with your current rig...max. A new "low-powered" right might see a 150W or so reduction, which isn't all that much, to be honest. If you were running both rigs at max load 24/7 (CPU and GPU), I'd save a little less than 29c a day on electricity. It'd take you over 12.5 years of running your computer max load to make up the costs of the new machine.

Of course I'm not sure where you live, and electricity rates are typically much higher around the world than the United States.

I doubt your high electricity costs stem solely from your PC.

Knufire said:

Again, the size of the PSU doesn't really change the electricity bill, only the parts in the computer. And between Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge, the difference in power consumption.

For example, your current rig has an OCed 2500K (120W) and two GTX560s (150W each). Total power consumption is about 120+150+150+40 (for everything else), so you're only about 460W with your current rig...max. A new "low-powered" right might see a 150W or so reduction, which isn't all that much, to be honest. If you were running both rigs at max load 24/7 (CPU and GPU), I'd save a little less than 29c a day on electricity. It'd take you over 12.5 years of running your computer max load to make up the costs of the new machine.

Of course I'm not sure where you live, and electricity rates are typically much higher around the world than the United States.

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Well the e-rate is pretty much high in my area. But talking about the PSU. If the max usage of my current rig is about 450-500W, why the hell does the shopper and internet articles tell me to get a minimum of 700W PSU ..?!

I think I need to use one of these devices which measures the PSU wattage.

Anyways I will wait for haswell. Even though I'm not sure how long does it take for the market to bring the new compatible parts. I presume a few months maybe.

The difference is having a good PSU. What a lot of PSUs advertise as their "maximum wattage" isn't actually their maximum wattage of the PSU in a realistic setting. A PSU is simply a giant AC-DC converter, it convers AC to DC at 12V, 5V, and 3.3V. The maximum wattage is a mixture of the power available at these three different levels. However, almost everything in the PC draws power from the 12V line, so how much power the PSU can output at 12V is probably more important to know than the advertised maximum wattage of the PSU.

Look at an example of the Corsair CX500 (a budget PSU from a very trusted brand):



You can see there that the max 12V load is 456W. So while the PSU is advertised at 500W...450W is probably a more realistic number for it. You'll see that very high quality PSUs can usually output nearly all their power on the 12V rail.