Build Advice Small Desktop Gaming Build...

Hi folks,

I've been looking to replace a laptop and was looking at gaming laptops but truth be told I think my needs are better met with (and probably cheaper) to build a small gaming desktop (already have a good screen, kb/mouse) and pickup a tablet for when I'm out and about.

The thing is I'd prefer not to have some hulking tower taking up space but I wondered what is the smallest case I can get away with that will still give me space & cooling for a decently specced gaming rig?

 

Mini Itx is the way to go, there are some nice cases out there that aren't to expensive.

I have 2 mini itx pc's one built in a thermal take core v1 and one built in a cm 110 elite, both have moderate gaming hardware in them and run games at 1080p.

Much more powerful pc's can be built though especially if u can add an aio cooler.

 

How much cash are you looking at spending? That'll largely determine what you can get away with.

I'm actually selling an entire gaming rig which is mITX, and custom water cooled too. (Check the market place!)

If you're interested in my rig, I'm sure we can work something out. I have a Windows 10 Home license I can put on the machine too as it is just floating around as a spare anyway.

 

I don't think he has access yet, its 150 posts now isn't it?

 

I'm not too sure. All I can find is:

I do remember it changing (I think) but I can't find it.

The OP has been a member for over six years though. I can't see how it would be a problem if he was buying an item from another member.

Someone on another forum wanted my rig but then they decided to back out, buy new, and spend hundreds more on (get this...) inferior parts.

 

I think they changed it but I wasn't too sure where to look to verify it so I could well be wrong.

 

I only managed to find that, but let's not clog the OPs thread with possibly useless posts.

 

Yup found it unfortunately for the OP

 

Maybe the mods can change that as he has been a member for 6 years, and he poses no risk (if he wanted to trade with me) to any members as he is buying.

I would rather the rig went to someone who would actually appreciate it rather than splitting it down and stripping it for parts.

 

All depends on your budget.

I also currently have a cooler master 110 from when they were on offer I have the following crammed in there for now and it's serving the purpose of a main gaming rig. Though there is a rebuilt pending. I have a single monitor running at 2048x1152 and play the following games regularly :eve online, wow and cs:go.

B75 chipset board.
Xeon e31220v2
8gb ram
2 ssd
GTX 750 ti
H80i AIO cooler.

As I mentioned it works fine for my purposes though it's not silent hence the rebuild. Obviously depending on you budget and other requirements mITX might fulfill your requirements.

Another possibility is if you have the space and a wired network is to take a look at steam in home streaming. I have a nuc in the living room which is capable of playing the games I play however the fan is a little loud and high pitched. I messed around with home streaming and found it worked great for me and said machine was silent.

Hope that helps.

Nims

 

The prime choice for the size of your rig will be how much you are willing to spend on a case and PSU (if you want small, you want an SFX PSU), and how much you are willing to compromise on spinning-rust storage (i.e. 3.5" HDDs).
- The Node 202 is pretty dang compact, will take a full-length GPU, but no 3.5" drives (2.5" only)
- The Ncase M1 is not a cheap case, but will take a full length GPU and can cram 2-3 3.5" drives along with it if you're clever (plus a slimline ODD and 3/4 2.5" drives stashed about too)
- The upcoming Dondan A4 is effectively the smallest you can make a case using non-custom components and keeping the PSU inside the case. Only one 2.5" SSD though, and the case isn't going to be available until the end of this year
- If you're after POWEEEEEER, then Kimera Industries the-case-formerly-known-as-the-Nova will take an mATX board and a pair of GPUs, along with a few 3.5" drives, in a smaller volume most 'ITX' cases (LOL Bitfenix)
- There are a few more custom 'steambox'-like cases being designed, but I don't think any are that close to production yet.

 

Thanks folks I'll take a look at those cases, I'm willing to spend a fair bit to get something half decent, probably close to £1000 if needed, particularly as the tablet/laptop I want isn't out yet anyway (Surface Pro 4!)

 

Shall I have a word with the mods? I have something that may be right up your street, but you'd need a CPU and GPU to go into it (I just sold the CPU on the market place).

I have an ASUS Maximus VII Impact, Corsair 250D with custom water cooling (CPU loop), Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD and the likes. If that tickles your fancy, I hope we can work something out with the mods.

I can't state a price as it is outside of the members market, but I just wanted to give you an idea. Let's just say that I'd be after something in the region of somewhere in the middle of your budget...

Also, the SP4 should be out in October from what I've been reading.

 

The mods probably won't make an exception as they'll open the flood gates of dealing with more weird edge cases like this.

Just pm him your email. Do business outside the forum if he is interested.

 

We shall see what happens.

 

Thanks for the offer mate, I'm not saying I'm not interested but I'd be interested in exploring my self-build options too, I'm not sure where to start with specs (GPU/CPU...)

 

You're more than welcome.

Well, if you decided on the rig from my end, you'd need an LGA 1150 (Haswell/Devil's Canyon) CPU and any GPU you wish could go into it.

Chuck a GTX 970 and an i5 4690K in there, and it'll absolutely fly. I'd be willing to build it up for you as well, and overclock it (it's somewhat a specialty of mine, I'd like to say...! Just check my HWBOT profile in my signature. ) for you too.

 

Here is a quick idea of what £1k could get you. Hope it helps.

http://www.scan.co.uk/savedbasket/2651fea4-cccc-4cd3-af15-f53d9bbb6130

 

The 250D is a pretty damn huge case by ITX standards at a bounding-box volume of 28 litres. that's bigger than some full-up ATX cases!

 

I agree it is big by MITX standards but I disagree it is the size of an average ATX case, maybe I would say it is like a small MATX case. I choose it as it is flexible for cooling and upgrading but it is still small enough to put on your desk.

Maybe swapping it out for the EVGA Hadron would be a good idea.