I'm glad to see you have added a mini ITX recommendation. But a section on HTPC's would be nice as I finding the choices a little bewildering and could do with some guidance on what to buy.
Hah, I could have garunteed the usual 'HTPC' comment but coming as it did, in the first comment, made me grin.
Nice to see the gaming workhouse, which more or less is what I purchased 2 months ago, recommending the same parts. Vindication of hours of slaving over spec and being paranoid over this or that choice!
I'm building a new system from scratch on a reasonably tight budget, but I'm willing to stretch the budget and wait another month to build if need be. I was going to build an AMD A8 system and dual-graphics mode it at a later date, but would I be better off spending a little more and going the route of an LGA 1155 system with discrete graphics?
Originally Posted by RealWeaponX I'm building a new system from scratch on a reasonably tight budget, but I'm willing to stretch the budget and wait another month to build if need be. I was going to build an AMD A8 system and dual-graphics mode it at a later date, but would I be better off spending a little more and going the route of an LGA 1155 system with discrete graphics?
The AMD A-8 3870K is quite overclockable - certainly enough for it to give the Core i3-2100 a run for its money. However, getting the Intel CPU and a discrete graphics card will always be the better option - the 2100 is far more power efficient and an LGA1155 system has far more upgrade potential. Socket FM1 is really only for those on a very tight budget, or for HTPC systems that need a bit of gaming grunt over the usual poor on-board graphics. If you can afford it, go for the LGA1155 option.
Nice ITX rig, but the prodigy is still too fat for me considering it as "ITX" case. A Lian Li PC-Q08 can house ATX PSU, Corsair H60, 300mm GPU, 4x 3.5" + 1x 5.25" + 1x 2.5". Even if you get rid of the 2 HDD bays, the optical bay can still hold a full fat optical + 1x 2.5" HDD / SSD ... but that's only my personnal preferences regarding the "ITX" rig label :D
Originally Posted by Pookie Surprised that the i30 fits on the Asus mini itx board
I've actually just swapped this to a Corsair H80, which I know fits both the board and the case without sacrificing drive bays - something I hadn't considered. A Noctua NH-D14 does fit on the P8Z77-I Deluxe though!
Originally Posted by RealWeaponX I'm building a new system from scratch on a reasonably tight budget, but I'm willing to stretch the budget and wait another month to build if need be. I was going to build an AMD A8 system and dual-graphics mode it at a later date, but would I be better off spending a little more and going the route of an LGA 1155 system with discrete graphics?
The AMD A-8 3870K is quite overclockable - certainly enough for it to give the Core i3-2100 a run for its money. However, getting the Intel CPU and a discrete graphics card will always be the better option - the 2100 is far more power efficient and an LGA1155 system has far more upgrade potential. Socket FM1 is really only for those on a very tight budget, or for HTPC systems that need a bit of gaming grunt over the usual poor on-board graphics. If you can afford it, go for the LGA1155 option.
Thanks, I think I'll hang on the extra month or so and go Intel then. :)
Originally Posted by docodine I know that card, I saw the Bit review of it recently, I meant a pic of the card in a Prodigy if possible, sorry if I wasn't clear :(
I found a pic of this card on an ITX mobo (maybe the shroud will block the lower HDD caddy (nothing a dremel can't fix)
Originally Posted by MrJay Loving the mini-ITX addition : )
However the Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe is overkill, much cheaper variants for the Z77 about.
Also i have herd allot of bad things about the build quality of that case.
But hey I'm fussy.
We've looked at the Zotac and ASRock Z77 ITX boards - the Asus got our vote, even though it costs more.
The Prodigy does have issues as we mentioned in the article, but they're either easy to live with or fixable. Aside from that the case offers superb cooling (for a mini-ITX case) and oodles of room water cooling or large air coolers.
Glad this segment is back, missed dreaming about building a new system off the monthly recommendations.
You guys ever think about adding in a media centre system? Now that you're doing mini-ITX systems something that size could be perfect for a living room setup.
Originally Posted by Apexgun Glad this segment is back, missed dreaming about building a new system off the monthly recommendations.
You guys ever think about adding in a media centre system? Now that you're doing mini-ITX systems something that size could be perfect for a living room setup.
I also love this feature. I'd go as far as to say its my favorite part of the (non forum) website, I link it to my friends all the time.
The mini ITX addition is brilliant as everyone said. I intend to be building one of my own as soon as I can.
I'm not sure about the Prodigy because of its size, is it only price that you didn't put the silverstone FT03 mini in? Idealy I'd like my system to be easily put into a bag and taken to LAN's in future aswell as living on my desk behind my screen.
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ReplyNice to see the gaming workhouse, which more or less is what I purchased 2 months ago, recommending the same parts. Vindication of hours of slaving over spec and being paranoid over this or that choice!
Thanks. I always aim to please. ;)
Sent from my BlackBerry 9300 using Tapatalk
Don't forget the Zotac 660 Ti 2GB we've recommended is the super-short PCB version...
The AMD A-8 3870K is quite overclockable - certainly enough for it to give the Core i3-2100 a run for its money. However, getting the Intel CPU and a discrete graphics card will always be the better option - the 2100 is far more power efficient and an LGA1155 system has far more upgrade potential. Socket FM1 is really only for those on a very tight budget, or for HTPC systems that need a bit of gaming grunt over the usual poor on-board graphics. If you can afford it, go for the LGA1155 option.
I've actually just swapped this to a Corsair H80, which I know fits both the board and the case without sacrificing drive bays - something I hadn't considered. A Noctua NH-D14 does fit on the P8Z77-I Deluxe though!
Could you post a photo sometime?
Thanks, I think I'll hang on the extra month or so and go Intel then. :)
http://www.01net.com/images/produit/full/zotac-gtx-660-ti-amp-edition-4.jpg
OM nom nom, it would fit a PC-Q11 perfectly :D
EDIT : It would also fit a PC-Q08 with the 2 HDD bays installed :D
I found a pic of this card on an ITX mobo (maybe the shroud will block the lower HDD caddy (nothing a dremel can't fix)
http://forums.vr-zone.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Zotac_GTX_660_Ti_Amp.jpg
However the Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe is overkill, much cheaper variants for the Z77 about.
Also i have herd allot of bad things about the build quality of that case.
But hey I'm fussy.
We've looked at the Zotac and ASRock Z77 ITX boards - the Asus got our vote, even though it costs more.
The Prodigy does have issues as we mentioned in the article, but they're either easy to live with or fixable. Aside from that the case offers superb cooling (for a mini-ITX case) and oodles of room water cooling or large air coolers.
You guys ever think about adding in a media centre system? Now that you're doing mini-ITX systems something that size could be perfect for a living room setup.
Cheers Jeff - just updated it. We'll hopefully have an air-cooled option next month once we've had time to chuck a few large air coolers into it.
We're planning on adding this next time!
The mini ITX addition is brilliant as everyone said. I intend to be building one of my own as soon as I can.
I'm not sure about the Prodigy because of its size, is it only price that you didn't put the silverstone FT03 mini in? Idealy I'd like my system to be easily put into a bag and taken to LAN's in future aswell as living on my desk behind my screen.
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