Building a mini PC for high end gaming

[Obzoleet]

Oh and I found an offer for Nvidia GTX 690 for 499£

Can I fit it in my setup and would it be a good idea?

 

[Obzoleet]

Now im going off here what I heard, but for now, it does not look like theres going to be aftermarket coolers yet. I don't think putting it in a case like mine (Obsidian 800D) or your prodigy is going to make a difference at least by much. If you want an aftermarket cooler, my suggestion would be to buy the reference and then buy an aftermarket air cooler (I can guarantee there will be some of those) and do that instead. Or you can wait and see if there will be any aftermarket solutions coming soon.

I will probably try to wait until they get released with better cooling solutions

 

[GhostRyder]

Oh and I found an offer for Nvidia GTX 690 for 499£

Can I fit it in my setup and would it be a good idea?

That's pretty low, is that on ebay? On newegg, they are still listed for 1000, you can do that if you like, it would be about like the HD 7990. Though its been seen the 7990 is the most powerful single card at the moment, I doubt you would be disappointed with a 690, you would get ultra with ease!

I will probably try to wait until they get released with better cooling solutions

Well as for me, im probably grabbing reference so I can Liquid block them, but there should be some aftermarket coolers soon if they are getting released. The only problem ive heard is they are pulling a titan and making only the reference cooler available, but I don't think that's true and ill bet if we wait a week or 2 we will see some Asus or MSI's with new coolers. Though ill also bet those coolers you can by separately will fit it or they will make one that does fit it like this one here. This one does not asy R290X support, but they will probably either add it to the list, or come out with one that will.

 

[Obzoleet]

That's pretty low, is that on ebay? On newegg, they are still listed for 1000, you can do that if you like, it would be about like the HD 7990. Though its been seen the 7990 is the most powerful single card at the moment, I doubt you would be disappointed with a 690, you would get ultra with ease!

Well as for me, im probably grabbing reference so I can Liquid block them, but there should be some aftermarket coolers soon if they are getting released. The only problem ive heard is they are pulling a titan and making only the reference cooler available, but I don't think that's true and ill bet if we wait a week or 2 we will see some Asus or MSI's with new coolers. Though ill also bet those coolers you can by separately will fit it or they will make one that does fit it like this one here. This one does not asy R290X support, but they will probably either add it to the list, or come out with one that will.

found it on overclockers UK, Tried to find it now again but its nowhere to be found :O I smell conspiration!

Nvm about the 690, I recently ordered a 600w PSU so I wont be going dual GPU

How much better do you think the R290X will perform with a liquid block?

I found this card with a water block cooling

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-054-TL

Would it be worth investing in it? I have tried to get info from their support in regards how much the water cooling block helps but no reply so far ,

Would it be worth it? its about 70 pounds more expensive then reference card.

 

[GhostRyder]

found it on overclockers UK, Tried to find it now again but its nowhere to be found :O I smell conspiration!

Nvm about the 690, I recently ordered a 600w PSU so I wont be going dual GPU

How much better do you think the R290X will perform with a liquid block?

I found this card with a water block cooling

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-054-TL

Would it be worth investing in it? I have tried to get info from their support in regards how much the water cooling block helps but no reply so far ,

Would it be worth it? its about 70 pounds more expensive then reference card.

You have to build the custom loop to go with it, that's just a block on a card, trying to run that by itself would cause it to overheat. Unless you really want to build a Custom loop, I would suggest just buying an aftermarket cooling solution version of one separate. You can buy this if you want (But I Would wait till they confirm support or release one that will fit on the 290x). Using this would just be like the CPU cooler your getting except for a gpu, it would be pretty easy to install and you would just mount it to the top of the case.

 

[Obzoleet]

You have to build the custom loop to go with it, that's just a block on a card, trying to run that by itself would cause it to overheat. Unless you really want to build a Custom loop, I would suggest just buying an aftermarket cooling solution version of one separate. You can buy this if you want (But I Would wait till they confirm support or release one that will fit on the 290x). Using this would just be like the CPU cooler your getting except for a gpu, it would be pretty easy to install and you would just mount it to the top of the case.

Building a loop feels far to advance so I think I will wait for some better air cooling

 

[Obzoleet]

Oh and I found the GTX 690 for 499£ again...I heard that the 690 has less issues then the 7990 , with stutter and stuff, or are they equal?

 

[GhostRyder]

Oh and I found the GTX 690 for 499£ again...I heard that the 690 has less issues then the 7990 , with stutter and stuff, or are they equal?

The GTX 690 built in the Frame Metering onto the hardware, but they are for the most part equal at this point because of software improvements across the board. It really also depends on the games, heres the techspot review (R90X) that shows frame times for lots of popular games.

It really at this point is up to games honestly, the 7990 is getting the most frames in alot of titles with the 690 doing pretty good as well. The frame time results shift around honestly, but no matter what game it is, the differences are not huge or totally noticeable to most.

I would say honestly, you have alot of good options available, its going to jsut be up to you and what games you want to play more. Many real popular/hyped up games are on AMD's side in the coming times which is giving them an edge over NVidia. Batman Arkham Origins is one particular game on Nvidias side and Battlefield 4 for instance is on the side of AMD, that does not mean the games are going to run horribly on their counterparts, however you may see some FPS differences.

My personal opinion, is look at the games you are wanting to play, check the results, and then look at your budget and see which card does the best with your budget in those different games. Im personally getting some R90X GPU's because they are the best performance per power Single GPU out there and Im not holding my breath on an Dual GPU variants coming out.

 

[slh28]

Oh and I found the GTX 690 for 499£ again...I heard that the 690 has less issues then the 7990 , with stutter and stuff, or are they equal?

If you can really get a GTX 690 for £499 then get it. And send me the link

 

[Obzoleet]

If you can really get a GTX 690 for £499 then get it. And send me the link

Here is a 690 for 490£ http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-076-EA

HOWEVER,

Here is a 7990 for 399£ http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-327-AS (Offer last only this week)

AAUURRGHHH.....all these good prices and many choices....but I have decided to go single GPU....will wait....for a more expensive 290x...that isn't as good as these 2 cards

 

[GhostRyder]

Here is a 690 for 490£ http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-076-EA

HOWEVER,

Here is a 7990 for 399£ http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-327-AS (Offer last only this week)

AAUURRGHHH.....all these good prices and many choices....but I have decided to go single GPU....will wait....for a more expensive 290x...that isn't as good as these 2 cards

Interesting, though I notice it says pre-order on the site.

Cool, there should be some soon enough, its now sounding like the production has more than started so its only a matter of time before we see some new GPU coolers for the card.

 

[Obzoleet]

Hey guys,

So some time have passed and the market has changed significantly,

I have kinda decided to go for a GTX 780 instead, Which one would perform best?

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 WindForce 3x "GHz Edition

EVGA GeForce GTX 780 ACX FTW 3072MB

I looked on this webpage with 780s

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?catid=1914&groupid=701&sortby=priceAsc&subid=1341

and I can stretch to 450£

I wont really be overclocking so I just want one that is great performance out of the box ,

If u have any other suggestions I am interested in hearing those

 

[GhostRyder]

If your wanting performance out of the box and don't plan on overclocking, get the windforce GHZ edition because its the highest stock clocked version of the card. If you plan on overclocking it yourself, you should get the ACX Classified version from EVGA.

So if I were picking personally because I overclock, I would get the EVGA, but for straight up stock performance, the best bet if the gigabyte GHz edition.

My last idea is this, the AMD R9 290 came out and is 100 bucks cheaper than the 780 and outperforms it in most games, so its some good food for thought as aftermarket cooler editions for the card are coming. But you can buy the HD 7970 arctic 3 fan cooler and it does work on it apparently because the PCB is pretty much the same as a 7970.

 

[Obzoleet]

If your wanting performance out of the box and don't plan on overclocking, get the windforce GHZ edition because its the highest stock clocked version of the card. If you plan on overclocking it yourself, you should get the ACX Classified version from EVGA.

So if I were picking personally because I overclock, I would get the EVGA, but for straight up stock performance, the best bet if the gigabyte GHz edition.

My last idea is this, the AMD R9 290 came out and is 100 bucks cheaper than the 780 and outperforms it in most games, so its some good food for thought as aftermarket cooler editions for the card are coming. But you can buy the HD 7970 arctic 3 fan cooler and it does work on it apparently because the PCB is pretty much the same as a 7970.

Yeah , an r9 290 with a non reference cooler is still in the plan, it all depends on when it arrives....also I imagine the price will be quite a lot higher then the original since its already so low, but that is just my personal speculations, I dont know much

Ive just been thinking that its going to run at 95 degrees in my case essentially heating everything up...I read somewhere a non reference cooler will take it down to 72 degrees, which would be great....

I just reckon that the 780 windforce would play BF4 with no problem on ultra and it would be cool and silent...

For awhile I was thinking of the 780 ti too be honest, its not very expensive and originally I was putting down 500£ on the GPU...if I add 50£ I got an 780TI...

But I tried to be honest to myself and realized I probably dont need that much power...

All this waiting has taking far to long...I think I am up in 3 months now .... I deserve the best GPU

 

[GhostRyder]

Obzoleet You can buy the accelero 3 fan cooler for the HD 7970 and fit it on an 290 or 290X card, it has been proven to work.

As for heating up your computer, meh, its a blower, 75-90% of the air is leaving your case from the card, that's what blowers do.

The GTX 780 ghz edition should handle the game fine, but remember this is an AMD game now and with mantle around the corner, you could get better bang for buck from either of the twins.

Im considering a 780ti right now as well, they are beautiful cards and lots of power, my only complaint is the price and I want a little more VRAM, so I may wait for the 4-6gb versions of the card if I go NVidia this round. But the 290X is still so appealing to me right now that its making my decision hard, im still sitting with 2 in my newegg shopping cart right now deciding.

 

[Obzoleet]

Obzoleet You can buy the accelero 3 fan cooler for the HD 7970 and fit it on an 290 or 290X card, it has been proven to work.

As for heating up your computer, meh, its a blower, 75-90% of the air is leaving your case from the card, that's what blowers do.

The GTX 780 ghz edition should handle the game fine, but remember this is an AMD game now and with mantle around the corner, you could get better bang for buck from either of the twins.

Im considering a 780ti right now as well, they are beautiful cards and lots of power, my only complaint is the price and I want a little more VRAM, so I may wait for the 4-6gb versions of the card if I go NVidia this round. But the 290X is still so appealing to me right now that its making my decision hard, im still sitting with 2 in my newegg shopping cart right now deciding.

I saw that they tried the accelero 3 fan and that's great, however id rather go for something officially released from aib s later instead,

Don't I void my warranty if I remove the reference cooler n stuff?

Yeaah...I will probably wait for the non reference cooler versions...if they are around 500 then heeell no, ill get the 780ti...

I think u should go for 2x 290x, sounds like it would be awesome!

I have also been thinking abit more regarding the case..

At the moment I have the Bitfenix Prodigy in my mind however I have lately been trying to find alternatives since the prodigy case is heavy and still quite big for a mini case. It looks great and would probably cool my components very good though

Do you know of any ITX cases that offers good cooling solutions and is really small on top of that?

I will only be using 1 HDD and 1 SSD so I don't really have need for extra space

I looked at Silverstone Sugo SG08 , it would be smaller I think, and not as heavy, it doesn't look as pretty but...

Anyone knows if its cool enuff for high end gaming?

 

[GhostRyder]

I saw that they tried the accelero 3 fan and that's great, however id rather go for something officially released from aib s later instead,

Don't I void my warranty if I remove the reference cooler n stuff?

Yeaah...I will probably wait for the non reference cooler versions...if they are around 500 then heeell no, ill get the 780ti...

I think u should go for 2x 290x, sounds like it would be awesome!

I have also been thinking abit more regarding the case..

At the moment I have the Bitfenix Prodigy in my mind however I have lately been trying to find alternatives since the prodigy case is heavy and still quite big for a mini case. It looks great and would probably cool my components very good though

Do you know of any ITX cases that offers good cooling solutions and is really small on top of that?

I will only be using 1 HDD and 1 SSD so I don't really have need for extra space

I looked at Silverstone Sugo SG08 , it would be smaller I think, and not as heavy, it doesn't look as pretty but...

Anyone knows if its cool enuff for high end gaming?

Most of the companies do not care about you taking the stock cooler off of the card and replacing it with your own. In fact im trying to think of one that actually has a problem with it off the top of my head I cant find any. XFX and Powercolor both put stickers on the card screws saying "Warranty Void if Removed", however (I own PowerColor 6990's) when I called XFX to ask this while considering some XFX 290X GPU's, they told me that taking it off and putting waterblocks on them would not void my warranty on the cards (Came directly from the tech support phone and according to others and responses on newegg from XFX, this is true) and powercolor did not have a problem with it either when I called them (At least on my 6990's they were fine with it). Sapphire, Asus, XFX, HIS (Though I have not confirmed with HIS itself because I have not actually owned one yet, ive just heard from others), EVGA, and PowerColor do not have a problem with putting your own cooler on so long as your Dont Physically modify the Card meaning damage the PCB or something which is pretty hard to do anyway. They wont for instance cover damage if your waterblock explodes on the card unless its their own company branded block that leaked. Putting an accelero 3 fan would not void your warranty at all, just remember to keep the stock cooler if for instance your card ever did stop working so you can re-attach it to send it in.

As for cases and the Prodigy, I personally did not think it was heavy fully weighted down even with a LC Custom loop inside my friends case, but maybe thats just me because im used to lifting my computer around. If your wanting a possible alternative MITX case, heres a few I have seen in person/heard good things about:

CoolerMaster Elite: Advatages; Fits a GTX 690, plenty of room for most air cooled setups, light, inexpensive.
Cons; Feels Cheap honestly and the metal around it feels cheap, really does not support any water cooling that I could see at least easily.
EVGA Hadron:Advantages: Sleek, well built case that comes with a 500Watt PSU (Gold 80+), USB 3.0, side view panel.
Cons: Expensive, No CD Drive support that I saw (My friend who actually owns this case does not have one and in the pics I cant find a spot for one), Very Odd PSU size.
Ive seen on of those silverstone SG series cases but cant remember which one it was, I dont think it was the SG08 that you said you liked. My thoughts by looking at that case is that you could not support a 120mm rad on it and the price is a bit high even considering that it comes with a 600watt bronze+ PSU. HOnestly considering the choices, I would personally pick the Prodigy still because its just to me the best case for this type of build. I would actually get this version of the case listed here if it was me.

Like I said, I dont know the SG08 personally, but just by reading the specs on newegg, its a very long case which will handle a high end GPU easily, but its limited in fan options and overall I think it would be a little crammed in there. My 2 cents.

 

[Obzoleet]

I see,

I like the prodigy case you linked but was a wee bit expensive, I have actually pre ordered the bitfenix prodigy with a mesh front , was thinking of putting a 230mm spectre pro fan in the front and 2 arctic 120 mm in top, would that be good?

Have waited for the case for 3 weeks so getting abit impatient, hence im looking around for somr alternatives

 

[GhostRyder]

I see,

I like the prodigy case you linked but was a wee bit expensive, I have actually pre ordered the bitfenix prodigy with a mesh front , was thinking of putting a 230mm spectre pro fan in the front and 2 arctic 120 mm in top, would that be good?

Have waited for the case for 3 weeks so getting abit impatient, hence im looking around for somr alternatives

Yea, I dont expect any person with some sense to purchase one of those, but then again im a little crazy

Yea should be fine, as lone as you have some good intake and exhaust, you have 0 problems headed your way and setting up like that. In a small build, you just have to make sure theres some sort of air movement throughout the case because of the small stature.

I would also get the mesh one, its just overall better for airflow on the GPU and throught the case.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

The spectre pro fans are unimpressive if they come with the case, you might as well keep them but if you're buying them separately you'll want to look elsewhere.

 

[Obzoleet]

The spectre pro fans are unimpressive if they come with the case, you might as well keep them but if you're buying them separately you'll want to look elsewhere.

The case only comes with 2x 120 mm fans which according to other reviews are rather noisy and overall aren't that great, I read around and the 230mm spectre pro fan had good reviews that's why I chose it,

Is there any other 230mm that you can recommend instead?

 

[GhostRyder]

The case only comes with 2x 120 mm fans which according to other reviews are rather noisy and overall aren't that great, I read around and the 230mm spectre pro fan had good reviews that's why I chose it,

Is there any other 230mm that you can recommend instead?

I forgot the front mesh fits a 230mm fan actually lol, my friend with the system built a liquid system using the 120m rads.

The Spectre pro fans seem ok from what im reading on newegg, they all have good rated air pressure and get decent reviews, but I don't have any systems using a 230mm, I have one or 2 friends that I know have at least a 200mm, but cant think if either have a 230mm, ill ask and see what they say.

However, I don't think those fans are bad based on the reviews, so you should be good, but that's just based off an opinion and online reviews.

 

[Obzoleet]

I forgot the front mesh fits a 230mm fan actually lol, my friend with the system built a liquid system using the 120m rads.

The Spectre pro fans seem ok from what im reading on newegg, they all have good rated air pressure and get decent reviews, but I don't have any systems using a 230mm, I have one or 2 friends that I know have at least a 200mm, but cant think if either have a 230mm, ill ask and see what they say.

However, I don't think those fans are bad based on the reviews, so you should be good, but that's just based off an opinion and online reviews.

So, I put together my system yesterday , I hit a few walls ( Stupid 230mm fan almost ruined my case, or well, I almost ruined my case because of the fan )

but in the end I managed to get it all in there, its pretty spacious after all and there was plenty of option for cable management, Also the case looks great in my opinion

Can I check if it can find all the hardware without installing an OS?

I don't got an OS yet, waiting for the disc from my friend but would like to check if it can find the hardware or if I have done something wrong


Also, on the MOBO there was only an outlet for CPU fan and SYS fan, but since I have more fans, where do I connect them?

Im guessing I need to get a molex adapter to 3 pin for the case fans?

 

[GhostRyder]

Obzoleet
You got the gigabyte z87 wifi right? Well then yea you will need either some splitters or some of those molex adapters to run extra fans.

 

[Row1]

If everything is connected correctly, and works, then you can fire it up.
You should get one 'beep' from the motherboard, as a POST (power-on self-test) code. Fans should spin. Various lights should be on.

if you get anything other than the one-beep, you will have to see what POST beep codes your BIOS is using , and figure it out from there.
You can google "Post beep codes" to find these. Since I started building my own comps in abt 1997, I have heard a few, and also had the disappointment of hearing no beep at all. It is handy to at least have that clue, before loading OS.