Renzatic on 10/4/2015 at 00:14
It's coming to be that time. Time to take 'ole Bessie into the back yard and put her down. She's been a good computer. Lasted me 8 years. But I think the rickets are finally starting to get to her. She's also peeing all over herself. It's disgusting.
The best way to honor her, I think, is to build a swanky new computer. One I shall dub 'lil Turbo. The "'lil" in appropriate in this case because I'm building a Mini-ITX machine. I'm sure someone will call me stupid, but I want a smaller machine. I'm tired of these hulking ass full ATX towers taking up space.
So here are my parts..
(
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116987) Haswell Core i7 (cuz turbo)
(
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157504&cm_re=Z97E-ITX-_-13-157-504-_-Product) Asrock Z97E-ITX Motherboard
(
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186) 8GB DDR3 Corsair VEEENNNNGGAAANNNNNCEEE RAM
(
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121916&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Desktop+Graphics+Cards-_-N82E16814121916&gclid=CIHGiv21y8QCFYs2gQodrp4AMg&gclsrc=aw.ds) Asus GTX960 Itty Bitty GPU
(
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Power+Supplies-_-N82E16817139026&gclid=CLLhpZu4y8QCFS1o7Aod6H4AkQ&gclsrc=aw.ds) Corsair 430w PSU (This one's a big maybe. I'm tempted to go with a modular 500w.)
(
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147360) Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD
(
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163197&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-HTPC+%2f+Media+Center+Cases-_-N82E16811163197&gclid=CJfS74PA2cQCFS1o7Aodc2MAHA&gclsrc=aw.ds) Silverstone Fortress FT03 Case
...and some sort of small 120mm radiator, cuz I'm water cooling this mug. This is probably the one thing I'm gonna need a little help on, because I'm not up to speed concerning the best water cooling brands. I watched a video of someone putting together a computer in the case I intend to buy, and they showed it has a space reserved for one. I know I can use one, and they work great, but I want to fact check before I commit to one.
It's been awhile since I've built my own computer. It seems pretty solid to me, but I'm open to critiques and suggestions.
Alternately, I could say screw it all, and buy one of those new Alienware Alphas. They pack a lot of punch for their size.
Renzatic on 10/4/2015 at 16:46
Thanks, Biker!
My only concern with a getting a full sized GPU is that, as the video I'm about to post demonstrates, it's a pretty tight fit for the case I'm wanting. I have to limit myself to 10" cards, and the guy states its preferable to get one with a single fan with a rear exhaust since the GPU sits almost flush with the edge of the outer shell of the case.
(
https://youtu.be/dWAeZYB9DGg?t=911) Video!
I'll have to do a little more research on this. I've seen people pop Titans into the case, so it's not too restrictive, but it seems I do have to be specific. I'm thinking maybe (
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127842) this card, or possibly (and more temptingly) (
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487093) this one. Both the same price, and it seems CD Projekt is giving away copies of Witcher III with every GPU out there.
As for my radiator, I'm thinking about getting (
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/4082/ex-rad-82/Black_Ice_GT_Stealth_120_X-Flow_Radiator_-_Black.html?tl=g30c95s159&id=mikhd7tt) This. Still need to do some more digging to make sure I'm getting the right one, though.
Also, I'm thinking about maybe dropping down to an i5 to save on cash. The biggest difference between an i5 and i7 is only hyperthreading, and a slight difference in size on the L3 cache, right? I can think of the occasional instance where having 8 threads running instead of 4 would come in handy, but I could save nearly $100, and get about the same performance in everything but those rare exceptions.
bikerdude on 10/4/2015 at 22:04
* the first card is longer and as per that video its gonna a very right fit, so maybe second card even though its not a fuller blower it has more clearance
* I would have said get a single enclosed rad & block cooler for ease of fitment like the one in the video. Also you wanted the hoses clear of hitting anything and that rad you liked looks like one or both the hose port's would snag on something.
* Yes defienitly, the best bang for buck LGA1150 haswell is the 4590 - (
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116991)
Why such a small case btw..?
Renzatic on 11/4/2015 at 00:43
Because I'm tired of having these massive, hulking cases always sitting around my desk, and I like the idea of a small computer that's just as good anything you can slap into a full on ATX case (minus a bit of expandability).
Before I decided to build my own, I was greatly tempted by the Alienware Alpha. It's not the fastest gaming machine in the world due to the GPU, but it's solid. Plus the fact it uses desktop Haswells means it'd be great for just about everything else. An i5/i7 with an SSD installed would make for a killer computer in a package only a little larger than a Wii.
The only thing that made me go the DIY route was the fact you can't use reference Geforce drivers. You have to wait for Dell to roll them out. I don't know if I trust Dell well enough to continue to support the thing.
To get back on topic, I think I'm gonna go with the i5. As for the rad, I'd like to get the one shown in that video, but I'm not sure what it is. The one I picked look similar enough. 120mm, low profile. Seemed like a pretty close analog to me. If you something more specific in mind though, I'm all ears.
Gryzemuis on 11/4/2015 at 15:39
For a gamer, the extra investment in a i7 over a i5 is never worth it.
Hyper-threading (i7) is only useful if 1) you do specific work that requires all the cpu-power you can get, like video-editing or scientific calculations, and 2) you know for sure that the software you are going to use will make use of all 4 cores and the 4 virtual cores. i7's Are easily $50-$100 more expensive than similar i5's. Use the money that you save to buy a faster videocard. The videocard is the part that is going to dictate your PC's performance in games.
Most gtx960s have only 2GB vram. I would go for a gtx970. They have 4GB vram, and are quite a bit faster. The extra vram will ensure that your videocard is more "future-proof". Newer games are likely to use more vram. And if you ever want to upgrade your monitor, the extra vram will come in handy too. (1440p is getting popular). The price difference between i7 and i5 might be enough to compensate.
I can't tell you if a gtx970 would fit in your case. I would expect it would, but better check twice.
AMD is rumoured to release new videocards soon. (This month, next month ?). You might wanna watch for that. nVidia is rumoured to release a gtx980ti in the Fall. But that is probably too far away for you (and out of budget probably).
Intel will release a new i5 (from the Broadwell family) very soon. They will fit in Z97 motherboards. Can't tell you the exact release date, and I can't even tell you if it would be worth waiting. Probably not. The next generation CPU's (Skylake) will release in October. Skylake is supposed to bring some real advantages, but nobody has benchmarked the chips yet. If I were you, I wouldn't wait buying a new PC for the new CPUs. But I would always keep my eyes open for the new GPUs.
If you decide to water-cool your CPU, you might consider water-cooling your GPU too ! I have a custom water-loop, cooling CPU and GPU. My machine is very quiet. :) (BTW, don't forget about the pump. The pump is a noisy device, and you need to be creative to make it silent). Watercooling is an extra hassle compared to air-cooling. But if you water-cool your CPU, you might as well cool the GPU too. Waterblocks for GPUs are around $100. Let me know if you want some pointers.
Renzatic on 11/4/2015 at 16:44
Quote Posted by Gryzemuis
For a gamer, the extra investment in a i7 over a i5 is never worth it.
Hyper-threading (i7) is only useful if 1) you do specific work that requires all the cpu-power you can get, like video-editing or scientific calculations, and 2) you know for sure that the software you are going to use will make use of all 4 cores and the 4 virtual cores. i7's Are easily $50-$100 more expensive than similar i5's. Use the money that you save to buy a faster videocard. The videocard is the part that is going to dictate your PC's performance in games.
I believe that's what I'm going to do. The only thing I'll do that'll see an advantage from an i7 would be rendering, which I wouldn't say I'm good enough at yet to really require. An i5 would probably do me just fine, and the savings I make there, along with Biker's suggestions, could be put towards a GPU without costing me much more.
(
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487069) I'm thinking this one looks nice. EVGA is a solid brand, and it's 9.5", so it'll fit in my case. On top of that, it'd be a better choice if I decide to go with a 4k monitor at some point in the near future, which I'm very tempted to do.
I've got another week or two before I pull the trigger on this. Plenty of time to decide if I wanna cheap out a little bit, or go for broke.
Quote:
Intel will release a new i5 (from the Broadwell family) very soon. They will fit in Z97 motherboards. Can't tell you the exact release date, and I can't even tell you if it would be worth waiting. Probably not. The next generation CPU's (Skylake) will release in October. Skylake is supposed to bring some real advantages, but nobody has benchmarked the chips yet. If I were you, I wouldn't wait buying a new PC for the new CPUs. But I would always keep my eyes open for the new GPUs.
I'm not too worried about getting the latest and greatest CPUs. Broadwell and Skylake seem to be geared more geared towards pure efficiency and improving the integrated GPU than they are raw processing power. If I were getting a Surface Pro (which I will be, sooner or later), I'd take them both into much deeper consideration. But they won't offer many advantages over a Haswell for a desktop machine with a discrete GPU.
Quote:
If you decide to water-cool your CPU, you might consider water-cooling your GPU too ! I have a custom water-loop, cooling CPU and GPU. My machine is very quiet. :) (BTW, don't forget about the pump. The pump is a noisy device, and you need to be creative to make it silent). Watercooling is an extra hassle compared to air-cooling. But if you water-cool your CPU, you might as well cool the GPU too. Waterblocks for GPUs are around $100. Let me know if you want some pointers.
Oh, I do. For everything else, I pretty much know what I'm doing, but still want to hear some suggestions. Watercooling though, that's an entirely new thing for me, and I only have a vague idea of what needs to be done.
I'm not against the idea of watercooling the GPU. For one thing, I'd save a tiny bit of space by removing the housing and heatsink from it, and I'd get much more efficient cooling in return. The only thing keeping me from going for it is that I don't know if can get a radiator small enough to slap into my little case that can cool both the CPU and GPU.
I watched an old friend of mine watercool his entire system. He used a rad that was roughly as long as my forearm, and took up an entire bottom section of a full ATX case that was dedicated to it. Course this was about 3-4 years ago, and he was cooling two SLI'ed GPUs alongside his CPU. He's generally more hardcore about this stuff than I am, and things look like they've gotten a bit more efficient since then.
With my case in mind, I'll listen to any suggestion you've got with rapt attention.
edit: (
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-099-TL) Found this 4GB Geforce GTX970 Mini-ITX watercooled GPU for $350 if my euro to dollar math is right. Too bad it's all the way over in the damn UK, cuz this would be perfect for me. Anyone want to buy this for me? :P
bikerdude on 12/4/2015 at 00:51
Er thats £320 which is $468 - so pointless.
And regarding that EVGA card this is is becaise a full length 9/10" card its gonna be a very tight fit and the pci-e power cables are gonna be a right pain to get in, better getting the shorted large fan model - more space, more airflow and larger quieter fan.
Renzatic on 12/4/2015 at 01:22
Derp. Just realized that's in pounds, not euros. Pretend I didn't say anything.
I'm probably going to get (
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121912) this card (which almost takes me almost back full circle), and poke around with watercooling it. The CPU is a definite, but I might end up on holding off on doing the GPU as well. We'll see what I can find.
For anyone reading this that might be interesting in a similar build, here's the current (near final) cost of the machine, rounded up to the nearest dollar.
Core i5-4590 CPU -$199
Asus Geforce GTX970 GPU -$360
Asrock Z97E Mini-ITX Mobo -$135
Corsair DDR3 RAM -$65
Corsair 600w PSU -$65
Samsung 250GB SSD -$120
Silverstone Mini-ITX Case -$140
Radiator -Still Undecided
Current Total: -$1084
My goal was to keep it around $1200, so I've done pretty well for myself. The rad will probably cost me around ~$75, give or take $25 depending on what I get, so I'll still be below my goal.
