# Mini ITX gaming htpc/desktop build



## waiphyohain1988 (Aug 23, 2012)

1. What is the purpose of the computer? (Note: If you are planning to say multimedia, you will have to be more specific as all types of systems are capable of doing that)
A:Smallest size fulfilling followings.Watching videos and playing games : Fifa manager, need for speed, strategy war games, PS2 emulations,
Going to use vm ware, visual studio 

2. Are you open to alternate ideas/products giving similar better performance but offering more VFM/ sellers? If not- why?
A: Please suggest other options. I am considering all alternatives. All advices are appreciated.

3. What is your MAX budget?
A:80k

4. Planning to overclock?
A:Not at the moment, might go for overclock next few years.

5. Which OS are you planning to use?
A: window 7 home basic & window 8 pro upgrade (plus install CD) i think it is possible to buy at more reasonable price at the moment.

6. How much hard drive space is needed?
A: 2TB and above. but want to spend only 1 3.5in bay. With at least 2 years warranty. 

7. What resolution will the screen run at & whats the size of the screen you want? If you already want have one and want to use it, mention its resolution and size.
A:17in above High definition of course.

8. How would you rate your hardware knowledge from the count of 1-10? (1 being the lowest, 5 being you are somewhat in sync with the current performers and 10 being the highest)
A: 7 but I can get hardware technical support from my work colleges (I work in outsourcing firm)

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
A:Yes. But not the small size. This will be the very first time building ITX machine. 

10. When are you planning to buy the system?
A: I have budget ready. Willing to wait for more reasonable deals. SWEET DISCOUNTS 

11. Are you one of the types looking out for "future proof" configurations?
A: Yes. Would like to use good case with proper cooling and good psu. No plan for more major upgrades within coming 5 years

12. Are there going to be any components that you don't want to include in this new rig? If yes, do mention.
A: No Ram cooler

13. Which city do you live in and are you open to buying from shops from other city/states?
A: Mumbai, I could travel to ahmedabad too. 

14. Mention any other points if deemed necessary
A: 
Current Planned build 
mini-ITX intel/asus h77 chipset motherboard 9000Rs?
core i7 3770k /i5 3570k processor 21500/15000Rs?
Seagate Barracuda 2/3/4TB (2 or more) year  warranty. will go for most cost effective one. 6500/9000/....?
RAM DDR3-1600 8GB*2 kit price . If prices are unreasonably high, will go for 4GB *2.  6500Rs?
GPU  HD7850 . If better card with good price offer is available, will go for higher.  17000Rs?
PSU  650W  5000Rs?
totalling above will be 60k plus Rs without case,coolers and monitors.

I haven`t decided which case I would use. I have little knowledge on ITX cases. I personally preferred silverstone tek cases but their prices are ridiculously sky high. 

My price information above are collected after one visit to lamington road. They might not be the best offers since I can`t negotiate price (I do not speak hindi/marathi and I am originally bad at negotiating). I am trying to trim the cost in all means. If prices in nearby states are more reasonable, I might very well be vistiing there. 

Your kind recommendations and advices will be well appreciated.


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## d3p (Aug 23, 2012)

Few Suggestions here.

1). A Z77 uATX Board from Asus will cost lesser than the Mini ITX board. So why don't you get a uATX Board. Mini ITX Board is priced at 200$ in US, so it might be more than 12k here in india.
2). Most of the Silverstone Cabinets meant for HTPC, are tad costly here in india. Either you can settle with a cheap cabinet from Cooler master or other desi brands like iBall.
3). None of the High End Cards like HD7850/GTX670 Cards can fit into a HTPC Cabinet. 

Few Modifications from the requirements & here is my suggestion.


*Component**Product**Price**Processor*Intel i5 2500k12000*Motherboard*Asus P8Z77 M-Pro10000*CPU Cooler*Noctua NH-C145000*RAM*Gskill RipjawsX 8GB (4GBx2) 1600MHz CL93000*GPU*Sapphire HD7850 Dual Fan Active16000*HDD*WD Cavair Black 2TB - 5yrs Warranty9000*PSU*Corsair HX 6507500*Cabinet*NZXT Vulcan4000*Monitor*Dell IN2030M LED 20Inch6000*UPS*APC 700va2400

*Total : 72k*

A 2nd Gen i5 2500k is sufficient for the requirements, which you have mentioned. The motherboard suggested above is a Micro -ATX Board & easily sustain a good level of Overclock. No need to go with 16GB of memory atm, 8GB will do most of the job. For Gaming Hd7850 will take care of most of the games, without any hickups.

WD Cavair black is one of the solid HDD available atm. 1TB cost close to 6.2k, whereas the 2TB model cost little over Seagate barracuda[standard 2yrs warranty]. But performance & warranty wise, its unbeatable. 

The Power Supply i have suggested is a Modular Power supply, which means you can have a neater cable management inside & unused cables can be removed allowing maximum air flow inside.

As i understood from your requirements, you need a Cabinet, which is small form factor & can be easily transported. NZXT Vulcan is a cheap, light weight cabinet, which can house uATX Board Gaming PC's. Ideally meant for LAN Gaming & space saving without compromising air circulation. Dell 20inch LED monitor is a Full HD LED monitor. Slim & good enough.

i haven't included the Keyboard, Mice, Speakers & OS here. You can decide on your own for the same.


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## waiphyohain1988 (Aug 23, 2012)

Thanks for the advice. I will go with microATX z77 series board with second generation i5/i7 processor. 

Now I am left with where I can get the components. Please advise me whether I should buy in Mumbai or Almedabad and shop infos.


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## waiphyohain1988 (Aug 26, 2012)

*techshop.in*

PowerColor HD6950 2GB GDDD5 Graphic Card - AX6950 2GBD5-M2DH by:

I am interested to buy PowerColor HD6950 2GB GDDD5 Graphic Card Model No: AX6950 2GBD5-M2DH (above link). Price is 15906Rs

Price at theitwares.com is 17510Rs.
PowerColor HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 AX6950 2GBD5-M2DH Radeon 256-bit PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Graphic Card with Eyefinity

However, I know little of that online store. I wonder whether it is reliable?

Also, here is the price I got from theitwares. 

case            LIAN LI PC-V351B                                                          5400Rs
Processor     i5 2500k                                                                      13300Rs
MoBo           Asus z77 M pro                                                             12600Rs
HDD  	          Western Digital Caviar Green WD30EZRX 3TB                      10025Rs
RAM            GSKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR31600 (PC3 12800)              3550Rs
PSU             SeaSonic SS-850AT 850W 80+ BRONZE Certified                   6375Rs
GPU             PowerColor HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 AX6950 2GBD5-M2DH          17,510Rs
Optical         Sony 24X Internal Sata High Speed DVD RW - DRU-880S-ZR   1150Rs
KeyB&Mouse    Logitech MK250 Wireless KeyBoard & Mouse                       1200Rs

Total                                                                                              71110Rs.

CPU cooler and Monitor are not yet decided. The cpu cooler is yet to be decided since there is 115mm max height limitation. Currently looking for high end low profile air cooler. Monitor is not really needed for me since I will use old one. 

The prices are mentioned at the sit of theitwares store. I would like to know to what extent I could negotiate and lower the price. 

My plan date for buying the set is on 8th/9th of Coming September. Therefore, it would be great help if you help me clarify the possible best deals for me.


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## panwala95 (Aug 26, 2012)

for 17k the hd 7850 is  better than the hd 6950 while consuming less power 
all you dont need a 850w psu 
a corsair gs 600 or cx 600 should suffice
as such in that cabinet you dont have space for cfx or sli anyway
for such a expensive rig i would personally go for a 1tb drive for storage and a 120gb boot ssd


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## waiphyohain1988 (Aug 27, 2012)

I will drop PSU to 650W. Might drop gpu completely and buy it later. 

Pls give me some facts that hd 7850 is better than 6950.


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## rajan1311 (Aug 27, 2012)

wait a few days...Asus will release a Z77 based mini ITX board...you can use that along with a 3570k or 3770k..
The cabinet, get the Bitfenix Prodigy for Rs5500. Easily the best mini ITX cabinet in the market right now.
Get a 650W Modular PSU, I would recommend the Seasonic X660..
Graphics, the GTX 660ti from Asus should be out in the market in a week or two. Should cost 20k. 

Happy gaming! 

and the i5 2500k costs around 13k dude...not 12k.. 



d3p said:


> Few Suggestions here.
> 
> 1). A Z77 uATX Board from Asus will cost lesser than the Mini ITX board. So why don't you get a uATX Board. Mini ITX Board is priced at 200$ in US, so it might be more than 12k here in india.
> 2). Most of the Silverstone Cabinets meant for HTPC, are tad costly here in india. Either you can settle with a cheap cabinet from Cooler master or other desi brands like iBall.
> ...



common bro....72k PC with a 20" screen?


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## Skud (Aug 27, 2012)

660Ti are 25k and higher. 7850 is the card to get within that budget.


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## panwala95 (Aug 27, 2012)

yup agree with skud
if you were in the us the gtx 660ti was the top choice for 17k
but alas in india it costs 25k.....
edit- if available you could try fnding a gtx 560 ti 448 core @ 20k


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## waiphyohain1988 (Aug 27, 2012)

Probably I will drop gpu for later date and import from US. 

Btw, I could go for bigger cabinet, I just want weight to be under 6kg. 
However Aluminum cases costs 2 times steel. I am somehow confused.

*www.theitwares.com/lian-pc8fir-spider-edition-aluminum-tower-computer-case-p-2210.html

How about that one above? Release price is over  250US$, price is fallen to 10500Rs. 1.5mm thickness Aluminium, how is it compared to 0.8mm SECC of similar size steel cases (price is only 1/2)? I think that it should be tough enough physically considering the thickness. Anyone here use that model before? I would love your review.


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## Skud (Aug 27, 2012)

What are you looking for? A mini ITX based HTPC or a tower desktop?


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## waiphyohain1988 (Aug 27, 2012)

I just want to lower the total weight. I don`t mind the size but not full tower, of course. If I am to go with mini ITX, I will prefer biggest miniItx case. I want room for 1 GPU (I doubt I would use 2) and cooling system. I was seriously considering silverstone htpc cases but they are expensive.

Sorry about the title (miniITX). I thought only ITX case will be moveable enough without considering full aluminum option.


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## rajan1311 (Aug 27, 2012)

Skud said:


> 660Ti are 25k and higher. 7850 is the card to get within that budget.



i got some pretty reliable info suggesting it will drop to 20k very soon bro.. 

also, the HD 7850 had a $40 price cut in the US, might as well wait for that to take effect in india..


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## waiphyohain1988 (Aug 28, 2012)

Yeah, I shall wait for that asus release. I have heard of it too.


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## Skud (Aug 28, 2012)

waiphyohain1988 said:


> I just want to lower the total weight. I don`t mind the size but not full tower, of course. If I am to go with mini ITX, I will prefer biggest miniItx case. I want room for 1 GPU (I doubt I would use 2) and cooling system. I was seriously considering silverstone htpc cases but they are expensive.
> 
> Sorry about the title (miniITX). I thought only ITX case will be moveable enough without considering full aluminum option.




Better to get a ATX Cabinet then. Get the Lancool K62 from ITWares, if availble.




rajan1311 said:


> i got some pretty reliable info suggesting it will drop to 20k very soon bro..
> 
> also, the HD 7850 had a $40 price cut in the US, might as well wait for that to take effect in india..




Very soon = 3-4 months at least.


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## d3p (Aug 28, 2012)

rajan1311 said:


> Get a 650W Modular PSU, I would recommend the Seasonic X660..
> Graphics, the GTX 660ti from Asus should be out in the market in a week or two. Should cost 20k.
> Happy gaming!
> and the *i5 2500k costs around 13k dude...not 12k*..
> ...



Eat this : Go Gaming! PC | GolchhaIT.com & if possible then read the requirements from OP first.


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## rajan1311 (Aug 28, 2012)

Skud said:


> Better to get a ATX Cabinet then. Get the Lancool K62 from ITWares, if availble.
> Very soon = 3-4 months at least.



nop, 2 weeks odd 



d3p said:


> Eat this : Go Gaming! PC | GolchhaIT.com & if possible then read the requirements from OP first.



mind your tone bro..

FYI, i had been to Golcha and Ashirwad last week. They quoted Rs12500+tax. I dont think he updated the site.

I think you missed out on the OP's requirement, he wanted a small case. Me has mentioned mini ITX form factor. You probably did not care about his requirements and did no research. His budget was 80k, you can easily accommodate the price different between a miniITX mobo and a uATX one.
Agreed, currently there are not many good miniITX boards in the market, but they should come out very soon. You can contact the dealer Phoenix on erodov, he will give you the details. ASrock already has a Z77 mini ITX board for 12k. I spoke to Asus yesterday, they will be releasing a few boards as well. Gigabyte already has a miniITX board (H61 based,not recommended here) and more are on the way. He can take those if he does not want to overclock. So this is not the perfect time for a miniITX build, but very soon he will have items to choose from.


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## vkl (Aug 28, 2012)

@rajan1311
No need to fight over the price of a component.Intel i5 2500k is available for around 12500 in bhubanewar.People in our forum have got it for 12.3k recently.
Help building a Rig under 70K for Gaming


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## rajan1311 (Aug 28, 2012)

I was just discussing..


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## d3p (Aug 28, 2012)

rajan1311 said:


> *FYI, i had been to Golcha and Ashirwad last week. They quoted Rs12500+tax. I dont think he updated the site.*





rajan1311 said:


> *and the i5 2500k costs around 13k dude...not 12k.. *



Now this two statements are little contradicting.


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## rajan1311 (Aug 28, 2012)

d3p said:


> Now this two statements are little contradicting.



Rs12500+5%vat = Rs13125. math fail.


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## waiphyohain1988 (Aug 28, 2012)

As for requirement, I would like light case with enough room for GPU and good coolers. It is fine as long as weight is under 6kg. Any price as long as they are within 120% of international price.

As for the GPU, I will drop and buy at later date if the prices are high. I also have option to ask my cousins from US/Taiwan to get one for me. (They won't be back soon. I need to WAIT in this case )

Please post the recent price of 2500k and 2600/2700k. In case I don't get gpu, I will go for 2600/2700k. 

I will be buying on 8th /9th of September and I am from Mumbai. Would be great if I can get information on the shops.


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## d3p (Aug 28, 2012)

rajan1311 said:


> Rs12500+5%vat = Rs13125. math fail.



So whatever prices you have mentioned earlier does include the 5% vat on it ??


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## rajan1311 (Aug 28, 2012)

yup...


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## waiphyohain1988 (Aug 29, 2012)

decided to drop GPU at the moment , and go with HD 4000 of third generation i5/i7. Please give me update data on prices of 3570k and 3770k. 
(I will import ASUS  GPU from taiwan, )


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## rajan1311 (Aug 30, 2012)

Skud said:


> Very soon = 3-4 months at least.



bro, price cut on the zotac...already 22k..Asus has 3 models starting at 20k, you should see it soon 

Graphic Cards : ZOTAC GeForce GTX 660Ti


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## waiphyohain1988 (Aug 30, 2012)

Thanks for the information. 
That is a great help.


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## waiphyohain1988 (Sep 3, 2012)

Budget increased to 1lac. Case size to ATX mid tower. 

Bought visionTek HD 7970 online at 29115Rs.  
Is the price correct?
Other parts are still inquiring. 
Requesting your advices....


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