Taking the plunge...first build (sort of)

[Peppermint]

I'm no stranger to putting a list together of parts I want in a new PC and placing an order for a shop to build it for me, that's no issue. For the last 2 PCs I've had I've wanted to build up myself, though with a large budget I thought better and let a pro do it.

Now however I'm prepared to build my own. Not as an upgrade or new PC, but more as a backup and something I could potentially take with me if I go on a long trip somewhere. I'm going with a Micro-ATX build, which I've also been eyeing up for a long time and they seem to be getting alot more support and a follow the last few years. I've already got the case, it has no PSU and the downside is trying to find one that is no more than 140mm deep and non-modular (manufacturer specs), however as a trade off it can fit the larger video cards which is great news for a tiny box system.

Does anyone have any tips or things I should be careful of when I start putting things together? All I have so far is the case so no rush, it'll be a few months before I get all the bits anyway (I guess it's a winter project).

Here's the list of what I've got so far, still have to decide what I want out of it though....is a 600W PSU enough to power this?

Case:
Aerocool QX-2000

PSU Options (Must be non-modular and 140mm or less deep):
OCZ StealthXStream 700W - http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?e=350227 - $216
Corsair CX600 V3 600W - http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?e=1415997 - $111

Motherboard Options (Must be Micro-ATX):
ASRock Z77M - http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?e=1300379 - $136
ASUS P8H77-M LE - http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?e=1187796 - $115

Memory (8GB DDR3 1600MHZ minimum):
Corsair Vengeance Low Profile DDR3 PC12800/1600MHZ CL9 2x4GB - http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=916997 - $92
G.Skill Ares DDR3 PC12800/1600MHZ CL8 2x4GB - http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=1335147 - $100

Video Card ($400 or less):
Asus Geforce GTX660 - http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=1408209 - $326
Gigabyte Geforce GTX660 OC - http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?e=1408211 - $309
Sapphire Radeon HD7870 XT - http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=1589938 - $381
Sapphire Radeon HD7870 GHZ OC Edition - http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?e=1535058 - $357

CPU :
Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHZ Socket 1155 - http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?e=1189950 - $307

Harddrive:
Samsung 830 Series 128GB SSD - http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=974936 - $159
WD Caviar Black 1TB - http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?e=555314 - $119

The goal price is to keep this as close to $1000 as I can.

[rocky289]

Sounds like a nice setup.

A power supply calculator may be helpful to tell you what you need.

http://support.asus.com/powersupply.aspx

Just a couple of comments.

If you use 1x8GB memory, you can then add another later.

If you are working to a budget, leave the SSD out for now.
They will get bigger & come down in price.

Then you can get the GTX 660 Ti card.

[Ian Warren]

I leave the SSD out full stop and use the Raptor 10200 , its be proven for flight simulation there is little or no difference , maybe ideal to have it for the OS and maybe a 1TB Raptor for the FS .

[rocky289]

That's going to be a busy little box.
I am assuming you will overclock it to at least 4GHz.
Won't be much breathing room in there so the fans will be humming away.

[Peppermint]

No overclocking at this point, I'm waiting to see how much room there will be available for a cooler. SSD is out, no mounting points for one (unless I make my own) in the case from what I've found. I'm considering taking a dremel to the case and making it so I could put in a better PSU and go modular. I'll have to remember to pickup a couple of 80mm fans to stick on the back and get all the hot air out.

The other alternative I have would be picking up the ram, motherboard, HDD/s and the PSU and using the 2700K and GTX570 out of my current PC while upgrading those 2 for my current one.

[Peppermint]

So picked up the case today and immedietly I can see it could be easy to fit a more standard size PSU in and going modular. The thing that's taking up the room where the PSU sits is the HDD rack, right next to that are the 5.25 inch bays for a CD/DVD drive which if I can install windows without them, I'd probably not need so potentially could move the HDD rack there? I actually think there's quite alot of room inside it and plenty of places I could tidy up cables with zip ties, graned it's bare bones right now.

I'll try and get some pics up and see if anyone has any other ideas.

[mjrhealth]

Stick to the 2 X 4 gig, board is designed to run better with two modules, improves memory efficiency, also no need to get more than 6 with FSX since it cant use more than 4, just gives a little overheads.

[Peppermint]

That's the top rack where I'll likely be changing up. Bottom rack looks good, trying to imagine where bits are but it being a micro ATX board it's hard to. The video card should get plenty of air though, it'll be right infront of the 120mm fan with air blowing along it. Right now for CPU coolers I'm looking at getting a low profile Arctic Freezer 11LP, unless I can get creative with the case and fit in a large heatsink without making the case flimsy.

Also may not need a HDD rack at all if I decide to go with a single or 2 SSDs. I was trying to find adaptors and found a couple of posts saying there's no moving parts in them (compared to the 'old' HDDs), so unless the PC is being moved alot don't really need to be 'mounted'....a bit of velcro or blu-tack works to hold them in-place. If I go this route I could free up even more room in the top. I have over 4TB of storage on my current PC, and don't intend to get rid of it. Arma 2/3 and maybe FSX (or a newer sim) would go on the new build, unlikely to use much more than 100gb of space anyway.

[deeknow]

QUOTE (Peppermint @ Apr 21 2013,7:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So picked up the case today and immedietly I can see it could be easy to fit a more standard size PSU in and going modular.

Looks like a nice compact case. I've never built a micro platform machine so be interested to hear how you get on, keep us up to date with piccies
Re the PSU, one thing I wonder is if you go for a full size PSU you MIGHT end up restricting air-flow through the case? Something to think about, and might be a reason to keep the standard PSU

[Peppermint]

There's always that, then again it being a small case I'm expecting the airflow to be pretty bad. I'm pretty sure I'm going to take out the stock 120mm fan and put in a higher CFM and more silent one, from my experience stock fans do the job but generally aren't that good. Also have to pickup 2x80mm fans for the exhaust ports at the back of the bottom level, and there's room for 1 more up top. Also the option of using the space where the 5.25 bays are as another fan cluster (seen a few cases that have done this with otherwise unused bays) and the front doors here are pretty flimsy anyway so I want to do something with it. Or I could put in a fan controller here (ony needs the front part of the 5.25 bays to mount to so I can still get some extra room there for the PSU).

I think I'm more worried about a bigger PSU (and we're only looking at another 20mm extra here) potentially sucking air up from the bottom rack that would otherwise go into the video card.

Good airflow is better than loads of fans or so I'm told. I'll be picking up the PSU first I think so I can sort of see how much room I'll need and what needs to get cut out. Also had an after thought, if I get a CPU cooler where the fans are facing the sky (would I be right in calling this a horizontal one), and I cut out the deck of the second level to fit or make it less restricted, I could also cut out a space on the top of the case and fit a fan that would feed air directly to the cooler.

[rocky289]

I wouldn't have thought you need a aftermarket cooler if you are not going to overclock.
I currently run a 3.3GHz CPU overclocked to 4.0GHz on a standard cooler.
Only have 2x120mm fans, 1 front & 1 rear.
Fans usually run on low speed unless the air temp gets above 20.

[Peppermint]

After some thought I've decided to be safer and make a wiser choice, I don't think I'll be stuffing in such high-end things in a case that I'm already unsure about with how effective it will be getting air around. I already have a full tower case (HAF X) with still pretty decent parts. I think instead what I'll do in the meantime is pickup a good CPU cooler (looking at a high end air cooler or possible going for a closed loop Corsair H70 type) and trying to overclock it up to 4.2ghz at least. Just a matter of finding a 'How to overclock for dummies' guide

Hopefully in 4 or so months time (just a guess at how long it'll take to save enough to build up the cube) prices will have dropped and I can think more on it.


Update - So I'm going to do that, rather than stuff in high end bits into the small case I'll upgrade the parts in my Haf X case. Its already known as a great case for airflow and room to expand in etc, and alot of information out there on what fits and what doesn't, places to route cables etc. It would be a stupid idea to try this in the small aerocool case that is very hard to find much about. The idea of making into a gaming machine hasn't changed, although I think instead I might take it down a notch and make it into a replacement for my PS3. If I can run it through the TV, then I can make some lan games when people are over.

First order of business though, I've just ordered a Noctua NH-D14 cooler, which will do 2 things for me. I'll be able to overclock the 2700k (depending on where I get stuck in the process) up a whole lot on air, and I'll get some experience in building a system since because of it's size, I'll have to gut the computer to install it. How hard can it be (knock wood)?