SFF Gaming rig

[stlouis1]

A Friend of mind just sold his Asus G53SW and asked me to price out a system. I've been wanting to build a small form factor box lately since, well, the components are there to do it now days and get something good out of it.

Wondering if anyone has any thoughts

SilverStone Sugo SG08
Asus P8Z77-I DELUXE/WD
Intel Core i7-3770
Noctua NH-L12 - should fit, and should be able to use the case fan to keep cool
Corsair Vengeance LP 16gb PC3-12800 - cheapest ram to match the components
MSI N660 TF 2GD5/OC - checked a couple roundups on these and this one seems to have ideal cooling performance to match the case
Plextor M5S Series PX-128M5S 128Gb - seem to have decent reviews and not to expensive
WD 1TB Black Edition
Samsung Slim SN-208DB/BEBE DVD-RW
Slimline SATA Cable adapter for the optical drive
2x 6" locking sata cables just to keep things clean

 

[YoungMan]

Got a budget?
My experience with SFF builds is that you want to have as few components as possible. Also, if you're relying on the top-side fan for the main cooling, you're going to have a dust problem later on, with that specific case anyway.
I would recommend the Silverstone Fortress itx case if you have the budget for it. Very clever design with a giant fan + filter on the bottom. Easy to maintain positive airflow and clean the filter.

Some thoughts:
-Consider scrapping the DVD drive completely and get an external one, unless he uses the DVD drive a lot.
-Coming from a laptop, I'm assuming he doesn't need too much data, or already has an external drive for his data? Wouldn't really recommend a WD black for storage in such a cramped space. And if he doesn't need too much data, considering grabbing a larger SSD. The $/gb ratio is more favourable as you get larger.
-Since he can't SLI or anything, considering a better video card, like a 660ti or higher.

Good luck with the build!

 

[Dzzope]

Does your Friend WANT a SFF build? your limiting him a bit with it if he'd be happy with a full sized build.

I would change to a 3570k, double the SSD size, drop to a blue or even green HDD and bump to a 660ti or even 670.
Also you have no PSU listed. A good quality 450W + would be needed.

Even if you want to keep it small it may be worth bumping the case to something like a prodigy so you can use full size cards / PSU and cooler.
Still be mobile enough without gimping the hardware options.

 

[stlouis1]

The budget is around 1500, sorry, should have mentioned, I came in a few $ over with that. he did want to go for something lower profile that he can shove in his entertainment stand beside the consoles though

I'll take a look at the silverstone fortress for sure, but are we talking silverstone case here, the one i listed has a dust filter, though, inside, your probably right about it being a pain to clean, here's a link to anandtechs review on the one i have, just to make sure we're on the same page, comes with a 600w psu, AnandTech | SilverStone Sugo SG08 Mini-ITX Case Review

part of the choice in case was he liked the esthetics, and it does have the ability to cram in decent hardware, and a decent sized videocard

I don't know how much he uses the dvd drive, but for the price of putting in an internal, compared to an external, might as well put it in since the difference is negligeable

for the videocard, I went through a few reviews, and depending on the game, the 660 vs 660ti were kinda back and forth. I went for the vanilla 660 because he was happy with the 460m in the laptop he had, he only sold it because he got a good offer, and considering how much better a vanilla 660 is over the 460's, he'll be fine, I chose that card also for the cooling solution, figuring it should work well enough with the side venting on the case

Now the laptop, also was running an SSD + Hard drive since there's two drive bays in it. The SSD will be used more for the OS and some games, but most games will be stored on the hard drive. I do agree about there being a concern for it in a tight space like that, but we've opted to take a gamble on that one since he wants speed over potentially lower reliability since the steam games which will take the bulk of the space over time can be redownloaded at any time.

 

[WhippWhapp]

Alienware X51, throw in a GTX 670.

 

[NI3]

If he is willing to go up to a micro-atx build then he can get a LOT more for his money. Heck, even a decent case is cheaper. Better cooling, still small size, more hard drives, better heatsink.

 

[stlouis1]

well, I liked the idea of an SFF build, I like this case for a Mini-ITX, offers great airflow for its size, and with the Noctua heatsink the cpu should stay cool, the side of the case has a nice vent by the videocard, overall, the main components should stay within decent temperature ranges, the only thing I might worry about would be the hard drive

I did spec out an mATX Tower as well which came out 175$ cheaper for similar specs, then I took that balance and bumped things up to meet the same price as the mITX box, then I made cheaper variations

It's looking like a no go, he came back and didn't like the price, he wants less than 1000 after tax, I told him to go use his HP employee discount and get out of my hair

 

[av3n]

Have you taken a look at the Bitfenix Prodigy? I've seen a lot of builds with it and for the price it looks quite nice. It's also on sale at right now for $64.99 at NCIX (or price match at Memory Express to get it even cheaper).

 

[YoungMan]

You can build something really decent for $1000 after tax, it just won't be SFF.