Hi all, I'm just about ready to pull the trigger on my mITX build. I've already got a few of the core items but need to decide how to put the rest of the build together. Any chance of a quick sense check to make sure that I'm not missing anything silly or making any poor choices? Bits that I already have: Case: NCase M1 PSU: Silverstone SFX 600W modular Ram: 16GB DDR4 (2400) Storage: A couple of 2.5" SSDs (carry-over from current build) GPU: 660Ti (carry-over from current build) Bits still to be bought: Motherboard: AsRock Z270M-ITX/ac CPU: Intel 7600K Cooler: Toss up between the Noctua NH-L9i or one of the Noctua NH-U9S or NH-D9L Fan Controller: NZXT Grid+ v2 (needs USB2.0 header, which impacts on the motherboard choice) Storage: 250GB M.2 NVMe of some description. Total budget is probably in the region of £500 for the bits that I need to buy (excluding the SSD) which gives me a little wiggle room (Mobo, CPU, cooler and Grid comes to about £450 last time I checked). The GPU will be upgraded in due course, but will do just fine for now Does the above look reasonably sensible? I will mainly be gaming and doing some reasonably complex spreadsheetery (when I need to work from home), and I may look to apply a moderate overclock depending on case temperatures. I'm not desperately fussed about USB C or dual M.2 slots, or RGB LEDs. I can't decide which cooler would be best, either - part of me thinks that a top-down blower would be helpful (especially to get air to the NVMe) but the other part thinks that a upright cooler would be better for directing air out of the case (probably pointing up/down to exhaust heat out of the top of the case). Oh, and please don't suggest waiting for Ryzen, ta - although it sounds tremendous, it's my understanding that mITX boards won't be available until Q3 and I really need to get this build together in the next couple of weeks. Thanks in advance Bawjaws
I'm not saying wait for Ryzen. However, why not buy the cheapest dirtiest ITX board you can and pair it with a Pentium for now? they are very good, because they are now HT. That way you can buy Ryzen at a later date and all you need to switch out is the board and CPU. You could possibly get away with spending around £100, and would easily get back a large chunk of that later on. Just an idea man
Interesting idea, VT, but I'd prefer to "fit it and forget it" rather than end up doing a mobo/CPU transplant further down the line. If Ryzen is as good as it sounds and the mITX kit ends up being really decent then I might be tempted to switch teams next year... but for now I'd prefer a "proper" solution rather than a stop-gap
Well I guess if you gots the money you gots the money really. Found out today that AMD are going to be making Ryzen Athlons as well.
Cheers for the input, VT Anyone have any thoughts on the cooler situation? I can't decide whether it's better to have a tower cooler or a top-down blower. Airflow options are a bit limited in the M1 so I want to make sure that I'm not setting things up to create a miniature furnace One reason I want to use a GRID+ is that a lot of mITX boards only have one or two additional fan headers (the AsRock has a CPU header and one case fan header, for example). I was thinking of either a side panel fan (for a top-down blower) or a rear exhaust, plus maybe an intake on the bottom to feed the GPU some air. Anyone had much experience of cooling within an M1?
Honestly (and im no AMD fanboi), I would suggest waiting for Ryzen to drop just to see if intel drop any prices. even 20-30 of the cpu is worth it. As to your build, what are you aiming for? I currently have a M1 case and a Z97 and 4590T and the L9i, and I was finding that temps wernt great. I ended up having to put in a side fan which i only had a loud corsair fan to get things closer to my liking with temps.
Yeah, you're right that it might be worth hanging fire on the CPU in the unlikely event that Intel drop their prices. In terms of the build, I'd like it to be as quiet and cool as possible, but appreciate that you can't have cool, fast and small all at the same time One reason for thinking of the two Noctua tower coolers was the possibility of adding a second fan, plus they seem to be more effective than the L9i even with a single fan. My trusty old GPU is a blower so hopefully that'll help avoid pumping too much heat into the case, so I'm more concerned with the CPU cooling. I've no real experience with mITX cooling so any advice would be gratefully received!
Parge might swing by in a bit. The current video card in the M1 isnt a blower but its nothing fancy (1050Ti). I would say it is probably the main culprit. On a side note i have a blower style 980GTX in my Evolv ITX which with the side panel off is quieter than the M1.
