Window shopping build, will order once PS2 Beta is released

[PeteHMB]

1. What is your budget and does that include shipping/taxes?
~$1,000 for just the rig. I have a mouse/keyboard/monitor that will work fine (Just bought an Asus 23" LED LCD for $170).

2. Where do you live?
Arizona/California, will likely be buying everything off of Newegg or Amazon.

3. What do you need this computer to do (like gaming, Photoshop, and so on)?
Planetside 2 only, maybe one or two other games but that's it. Movies, music, web browsing, etc will all be done on my MacBook.

4. What parts will you need for the computer? Please list what parts specifically.
-CPU / heatsink
-Motherboard
-RAM
-Graphics card(s?) (HDMI-out would be nice to hook it up to my 46" TV. I have an LG LED LCD w/ 120 refresh. IIRC it DOES have DVI in as well, but I could be wrong I'm not home right now.)
-Hard drive (talk to me about SSD vs traditional?)
-Power Supply (prefer modular for case organization)
-Sound card (I have a set of Turtle Beach headphones, but would like to be able to hook this up to my 46" TV and Bose system to play Planetside if possible.)
-CD/DVD drive (Have a PS3, not interested in burning Blu-Rays but if future games will require a blu-ray drive then I'll consider it. If Planetside 2 is simply going to be on DVDs or download then I'm not really worried about a CD/DVD drive at all, as you can boot windows from a USB drive anyway.)
-Fans
-Case

5. Are you reusing any parts for this computer? If so please say what parts.
No

6. What kind of monitor/resolution do you have or want to get to use for the computer?
46" LG LED LCD w/ 120hz refresh rate, 1080p
23" Asus LED LCD, model VH238H (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236117&Tpk=asus%20vh238h)

7. Do you have a legit OS? If so what OS and is it 32-bit or 64-bit?
Windows 7 Ultimate from a friend. 64 bit I believe. Have it on a thumb drive, haven't yet installed it on anything (trying to partition my MacBook, MacBook's boot camp doesn't like me. Repair disk permissions error. Any help would be great)

8. What are you looking for the motherboard to have feature wise? Like SLI, Crossfire, Firewire, USB 3.0, Sata 6.0 Gb/s, and so on.
I'm about 6-8 years behind on PC tech. No idea what Crossfire/Sata 6.0 gb/s, or USB 3.0 do. I know what USB / SATA are, but not their latest iterations or whatever. Just want a solid mobo that isn't going to be obselete in 2 years.

9. Any plans to overclock the CPU or GPU?
Not unless it's easy, safe, and necessary.

10. What time kind of time frame are you planning on ordering these parts?
Before PS2 is released, preferably the same day I get a Beta invite.

Additional info:
I'm interested in Micro PCs for minimizing the footprint of this build, but I doubt I could get decent enough performance out of one. I do NOT want a massive server case or anything extremely bulky. A build as compact as possible is preferable, while still meeting my performance requirements. That is to say, I want the smallest case I can cram everything into but the case will likely be the last item to worry about buying. I want this build to run COLD and QUIET, so no 50 noisy fans. I've had good luck with CoolerMaster cases in the past, but don't really have any idea what's out there now. I couldn't care less about how the case looks as long as it meets my size and performance requirements. Also, I expect this thread will be constantly updated/revised as new products are released in the following months before the game is actually released. So upcoming products are fine to recommend / post about here as far as I'm concerned.

[Goku]

Well looks like this could be a week away or even 6 months. Lets get this case footprint issue settled first. You can look into mATX or mITX cases. mITX is wicked small, but you are really limited with what you can put into it. I would recommend sticking with mATX to hold on to expansion slots and such.

Here are some cases.

mATX:
LIAN LI PC-A04B (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112316)
SilverStone Temjin Series TJ08B-E (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163182)
SilverStone Fortress Series FT03B (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163176)
LIAN LI PC-V600FX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112334)

mITX:
LIAN LI PC-Q08A (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112266)
LIAN LI PC-Q11B (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112297)

Let me know what you think.

[PeteHMB]

Well looks like this could be a week away or even 6 months. Lets get this case footprint issue settled first. You can look into mATX or mITX cases. mITX is wicked small, but you are really limited with what you can put into it. I would recommend sticking with mATX to hold on to expansion slots and such.

Here are some cases.

mATX:
LIAN LI PC-A04B (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112316) - Possibly - Price a little higher than the others, not sure if both fans will even be used or if I'll have to remove one to make room for hard drive(s) / video card
SilverStone Temjin Series TJ08B-E (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163182) - Yes - not sure on video card space though
LIAN LI PC-V600FX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112334) - Yes

mITX:

LIAN LI PC-Q11B (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112297) - Yes, concerned with compactness though. Video card lengths?

Let me know what you think.


I like how the mATX cases for Lian Li both support 370mm video cards (that appears to be the largest size of high end cards...?). Not sure if the Silverstone case will support that, though the dimensions look about right. The mITX case looks nice, but again I'm not sure how much I'll be limiting myself with performance.

edit - poked around on newegg for a few minutes looking at their most popular "customer choice award" cards ranging from $150-$450 and it looks like about 270mm is the largest video card on there. I guess that shouldn't be an issue then.

[Goku]

You want the mATX form factor then? I'll whip you up a build so you have a idea of what to expect.

LIAN LI PC-A04B - $99.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112316)
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB - $110 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185)
EVGA 012-P3-2066-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 448 Cores FTW - $274.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130738)
LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive - $18.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106276)
ASUS Xonar DSX 7.1 Sound Card - $59.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132053)
PC Power and Cooling Silencer MK III 500W Modular PSU - $79.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703035)
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB DDR3 - $37.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231422)
BIOSTAR H77MU3 LGA 1155 Intel H77 - $79.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138358)
Intel Core i5-3450 - $199.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116506)

Total = $961.91 before Tax/Shipping

Now this build doesn't let you overclock the CPU. For overclocking IB you are looking at an additional $50-$75 or going with a SB version you can do so for $25-$50. All depends if you think its worthwhile to spend the extra money on it.

Are you looking for an aftermarket cooler even if you decide to stick to no overclocking? If so you will want this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065).

[PeteHMB]

You want the mATX form factor then? I'll whip you up a build so you have a idea of what to expect.

LIAN LI PC-A04B - $99.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112316)
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB - $110 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185)
EVGA 012-P3-2066-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 448 Cores FTW - $274.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130738)
LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive - $18.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106276)
ASUS Xonar DSX 7.1 Sound Card - $59.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132053)
PC Power and Cooling Silencer MK III 500W Modular PSU - $79.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703035)
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB DDR3 - $37.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231422)
BIOSTAR H77MU3 LGA 1155 Intel H77 - $79.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138358)
Intel Core i5-3450 - $199.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116506)

Total = $961.91 before Tax/Shipping

Now this build doesn't let you overclock the CPU. For overclocking IB you are looking at an additional $50-$75 or going with a SB version you can do so for $25-$50. All depends if you think its worthwhile to spend the extra money on it.

Are you looking for an aftermarket cooler even if you decide to stick to no overclocking? If so you will want this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065).

Looks decent, but I'm wondering about the video card / power supply combo. Video card states it needs a minimum 550w power supply, and the one you listed is only a 500. Seems to me a 650w would be better, or at least a 600w.

[Goku]

The 500W is plenty if you are not overclocking actually. The vendors just recommend that to people often having shitty PSUs. That one I linked you is great. You can get this 600W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703036) version for $10 more. I just wasn't sure what the build was going to come to, so I only did the 500W. Adding a few components that cost an extra $10 that maybe not worthwhile will cause you to be held back on other components potentially.

What are your thoughts on overclocking? Take a look at this guide (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/01/07/how-to-overclock-the-intel-core-i5-2500k/1) here to have an idea as to how to do it. Predator (just built his computer) doing a few options in his bios got his 2500K to 4.2GHz without any issues, he can go a lot higher too.

[PeteHMB]

The 500W is plenty if you are not overclocking actually. The vendors just recommend that to people often having shitty PSUs. That one I linked you is great. You can get this 600W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703036) version for $10 more. I just wasn't sure what the build was going to come to, so I only did the 500W. Adding a few components that cost an extra $10 that maybe not worthwhile will cause you to be held back on other components potentially.

What are your thoughts on overclocking? Take a look at this guide (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/01/07/how-to-overclock-the-intel-core-i5-2500k/1) here to have an idea as to how to do it. Predator (just built his computer) doing a few options in his bios got his 2500K to 4.2GHz without any issues, he can go a lot higher too.

It's a possibility, but I'm wondering how much of the performance gains I'll actually notice in game. Additionally, what about the audio card? Have on-board audio cards improved enough in recent years where it's $60 better spent on a better video card / power supply?

[Goku]

For overclocking, generally the improvement depends on whether the game is CPU (SC2) or GPU (Metro 2033) bound. 2500K is cheap on newegg at the moment. If you do not feel the 3570k is worth the premium get that instead. Overclocking can also allow a processor to last a lot longer. Take for example the Q6600 that was released over 5 years ago. Stock clocks were 2.4GHz on that quad core. At those settings it was great for its time, however the past few years it started to show its age. Back then and now people overclocked to 3.6GHz, thats a 50% boost in free performance. These people went to a far better gaming experience at a flick of a switch basically. Thats why I think overclocking is great, free performance especially for down the road.

Audio cards well that all comes down to what you think. I have been using a sound card for almost 5 years now. I notice the difference between onboard and a dedicated sound card all the time. You could always put off the sound card and wait for a sale. I see deals a couple times a month anyway.

[PeteHMB]

For overclocking, generally the improvement depends on whether the game is CPU (SC2) or GPU (Metro 2033) bound. 2500K is cheap on newegg at the moment. If you do not feel the 3570k is worth the premium get that instead. Overclocking can also allow a processor to last a lot longer. Take for example the Q6600 that was released over 5 years ago. Stock clocks were 2.4GHz on that quad core. At those settings it was great for its time, however the past few years it started to show its age. Back then and now people overclocked to 3.6GHz, thats a 50% boost in free performance. These people went to a far better gaming experience at a flick of a switch basically. Thats why I think overclocking is great, free performance especially for down the road.

Audio cards well that all comes down to what you think. I have been using a sound card for almost 5 years now. I notice the difference between onboard and a dedicated sound card all the time. You could always put off the sound card and wait for a sale. I see deals a couple times a month anyway.

Gotcha. What I'm looking at though is more like measured performance ala Tomshardware.com style tests. Throw a load on the system and see how it does. OC'ing for 150% CPU power makes sense...but if my performance gain is from 100 FPS to 102 FPS was it really worth it? That's kind of my inner skepticism talking, not bashing or anything I'm just honestly curious. The numbers look great, and I'm liking the build...just tweaking it now. Can you tell me more about Nvidia vs AMD for video cards? Am I limited to Nvidia cards with an Intel build?

[Goku]

Nearly every review out there has a overclocking portion covered if its a K part Intel CPU. I suggest looking those up and see how the games you currently play react. Overclocking performance gains depend entirely on the game. Its not linear scaling. The 2500K is cheap on Newegg right now. Costs the same as a non K IB part at the moment. Far better buy.

Well don't order anything off that build just yet. What exactly are you tweaking? Please post it here to avoid getting something unnecessary. There is new deals out there so I would probably change a few parts in that right now. Just let me know when you actually want to order this.

You can put either Nvidia or AMD cards with Intel. What you want entirely depends on how much money you can spend. If you are still curious check out some reviews to see how the current gen performs.

[PeteHMB]

Nearly every review out there has a overclocking portion covered if its a K part Intel CPU. I suggest looking those up and see how the games you currently play react. Overclocking performance gains depend entirely on the game. Its not linear scaling. The 2500K is cheap on Newegg right now. Costs the same as a non K IB part at the moment. Far better buy.

Well don't order anything off that build just yet. What exactly are you tweaking? Please post it here to avoid getting something unnecessary. There is new deals out there so I would probably change a few parts in that right now. Just let me know when you actually want to order this.

You can put either Nvidia or AMD cards with Intel. What you want entirely depends on how much money you can spend. If you are still curious check out some reviews to see how the current gen performs.

Heh well at the moment I don't play ANY PC games. I have a 5 year old MacBook Pro that's lasted me far better than the Alienware it replaced, and pretty much just stick with my PS3. Last time I played any PC games was Planetside 1 followed by World of Warcraft...back in 2003-2005. :lol: I'm a little behind the times on hardware. I did compare the CPUs and I think if anything, I'll drop the sound card and spend the extra $60 on this:

Intel i5 3570k Ivy Bridge 3.4ghz - $249 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504)

I'm also looking at this mobo instead of the one you listed, I figure all total I'm really only spending $10 more by dropping the sound card and swapping the CPU and mobo to this:

MSI H77MA-G43 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS + THX audio - $99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007627%20600093976%20600315499%20600009017&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&CompareItemList=280%7C13-138-358%5E13-138-358-TS%2C13-130-648%5E13-130-648-TS)

[Goku]

Sounds like a good idea. You need a Z77 mobo to overclock BTW.

Just FYI the midrange 660 Ti and 670 will be coming out in the middle of this month. I recommend getting one of those two to run this game. Just depends on pricing.

Updated buid w/ 3570K:

LIAN LI PC-A04B - $99.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112316) (Feel free to put in another case you like)
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB - $109.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185)
Galaxy 57NKH3HS4GXK GeForce GTX 570 - $284.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162075) (Place holder for GTX 660/670)
SONY Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive - $19.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118031)
SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W - $69.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095)
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 - $38.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231424)
Intel Core i5-3570K & GIGABYTE GA-Z77M-D3H Combo - $349.98 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.908188)

Total = $973.92

If you want to overclock right away get the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099).

[PeteHMB]

Sounds like a good idea. You need a Z77 mobo to overclock BTW.

Just FYI the midrange 660 Ti and 670 will be coming out in the middle of this month. I recommend getting one of those two to run this game. Just depends on pricing.

Updated buid w/ 3570K:

LIAN LI PC-A04B - $99.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112316) (Feel free to put in another case you like)
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB - $109.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185)
Galaxy 57NKH3HS4GXK GeForce GTX 570 - $284.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162075) (Place holder for GTX 660/670)
SONY Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive - $19.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118031)
SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W - $69.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095)
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 - $38.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231424)
Intel Core i5-3570K & GIGABYTE GA-Z77M-D3H Combo - $349.98 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.908188)

Total = $973.92

If you want to overclock right away get the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099).

New mobo/cpu combo looks good. Case-wise...still undecided. It's a toss-up between the one you posted, and this one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163182).

[Goku]

I have the TJ-08-E and I love it personally. I think its a toss up. Flip a coin?

[PeteHMB]

I have the TJ-08-E and I love it personally. I think its a toss up. Flip a coin?

What do you think of these power supplies?

Comparison (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007657%20600014021%20600014078&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=58%7C17-256-071%5E17-256-071-TS%2C17-153-140%5E17-153-140-TS%2C17-341-017%5E17-341-017-TS%2C17-171-036%5E17-171-036-TS%2C17-153-114%5E17-153-114-TS)

edit - current build:

SilverStone Temjin Series TJ08B-E - $97.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163182)
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB - $109.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185)
EVGA 012-P3-2066-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti - $289.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130738)
LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive - $18.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106276)
[POWER SUPPLY BLOCK]
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB DDR3 - $37.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231422)
GIGABYTE GA-Z77M-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 - $114.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128541)
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz - $249.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504)

Total = $920.93 before Tax/Shipping

[Goku]

None to be honest. For the TJ-08E you need a modular PSU. Either that SeaSonic I linked earlier or this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703036).

That 570 I linked is a better card than that 560 Ti as well.

[Goku]

Ok I lied about the 660 coming out with the 670. We won't see the 660 anytime soon. However the 670 is going to be released at $400. Now your video card options are clear now. Really what you will be looking at now is either the GTX 570, 7850, or if you want to stretch the budget a 7870. Lets see if there is further price cuts with the introduction of the 670 from AMD.

[PeteHMB]

Ok I lied about the 660 coming out with the 670. We won't see the 660 anytime soon. However the 670 is going to be released at $400. Now your video card options are clear now. Really what you will be looking at now is either the GTX 570, 7850, or if you want to stretch the budget a 7870. Lets see if there is further price cuts with the introduction of the 670 from AMD.

Yeah I was looking at the 7850s after reading up on mid range cards some more. They're right around the same price but TH put them to the test and preferred them far and above the 570s.

Comparison (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%204018%20600029796%20600031490&IsNodeId=1&page=2&bop=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&CompareItemList=48%7C14-150-609%5E14-150-609-TS%2C14-125-419%5E14-125-419-TS%2C14-162-075%5E14-162-075-TS)

Current build:
SilverStone Temjin Series TJ08B-E - $97.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163182)
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB - $109.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185)
LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive - $18.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106276)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB DDR3 1333 - $41.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231426)
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz - $249.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504)
GIGABYTE GA-Z77M-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 - $114.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128541)
GIGABYTE GV-R785OC-2GD Radeon HD 7850 2GB - $259.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125419)
[POWER SUPPLY BLOCK]

Total: $893.93 before power supply, taxes, and shipping.

[Goku]

Switch back to that other ram I had in the build. That stuff isn't worth $25 more. if you want something that looks better get these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231426). Either of those PSUs I showed you before are good. If you want to stick AMD I highly recommend stretching for the 7870 as it performs above the 570 and similar to the 580 in games. Like this one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121624).

670 reviews just came out. The 7900 series is going to be due for another price cut. Poor AMD. 7950 will drop to sub $350 and the 7870 probably sub $300.

[Rbstr]

Looking at benchmarks, It seems to me that the 670GTX beats the the 7970 especially factoring in price.

I don't normal think a $400 card is a particularly sweet spot (I'm kind of angry the x70 card, I've mostly found the cut-down high end card to be the best buy, has come up in price to this point)...but when it's beating the competitor's $500 card...
AMD is screwed if they can't compete on price or performance.

[Goku]

Yup gonna crash and burn now. About time there is competition going again.

[termhn]

True that.

[PeteHMB]

So is there an ETA on the Nvidia mid-range cards? :( I did some reading up on PCIe 2.0 vs 3.0 and 3.0 seems magnitudes better...but all the Nvidia cards start at $400 and go up. Even most of the AMD/ATI cards are around there. Shouldn't prices be dropping/drop soon with the release of the new 670s and whatnot?

[termhn]

No ETA, but if you can wait I would because so far Kepler has been blowing the water off AMD's 7000 series. Try to wait for the 660 if I were you.

[Goku]

660 is 6 months out. If you want to build soon either up your budget or go AMD.

[termhn]

PS2 full game probably wont be out until 2013 so that wouldn't be a problem but the beta will probably be done and gone by then...

[PeteHMB]

Bumping this for an updated build, I'm enjoying playing around with parts in my spare time (of which I have little). Took your recommendation on the 7870, swapped the processor for one that has HT support, changed the hard drive (decided I really don't need a 1TB, as I already have 2 external 500gb drives that store all my movies.) Music has been relegated to Pandora, so that freed up another 100+ gb (roughly 35,000 songs, I don't recall the exact size but I think it was around 130gb or so). I'm looking more at mini-ITX now though, as I still see a lot of empty space in the Micro-ATX build. I don't need 7 slots for a hard drive or 4 expansion slots for dual video cards. 1 mid-range/mid-high video card, 2 memory slots, mobo's gonna have everything else built in. That being said, here's what I'm looking at currently for both ATX and ITX builds:

Micro-ATX build:
SilverStone Temjin Series TJ08B-E - $97.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163182)
Western Digital Caviar 500gb 64mb cache - $84.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236155)
LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive - $18.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106276)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB DDR3 1333 - $41.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231426)
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz - $239.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504)
GIGABYTE GA-Z77M-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 - $114.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128541)
GIGABYTE GV-R785OC-2GD Radeon HD 7870 2GB - $359.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125418)
SeaSonic M12II 620W or the PCPCS - $89.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006519%2050001697%2040000058&IsNodeId=1&Manufactory=1697&bop=And&SpeTabStoreType=1&CompareItemList=58%7C17-703-036%5E17-703-036-TS%2C17-151-095%5E17-151-095-TS)

Total: $1104.92 before taxes and shipping. Of course, once the prices drop on the 7870 it'll be back within my target budget.


Mini-ITX build:
ASRock Z77E-ITX LGA 1155 Intel Z77 - $149.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157312)
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz - $239.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB DDR3 1333 - $41.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231426)

Subtotal for Mobo, CPU, Memory - $511.97

- Case:
Either Lian-Li - PC-Q08B ($109.99) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112265) or PC-Q18B ($159.99) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112365) - or this Silverstone SG07-B (184.99, but comes with a 600w PSU) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163169)
- Graphics:
Either Gigabyte - 7850 ($259.99) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125419) or 7870 ($359.99) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125418) depending on fit. Lengthwise they should both be fine in either case, but I'm not sure about width-wise, apparently stuff gets pretty tight in there and I don't know about any potential heat issues as well (hence my reasoning for choosing those two Lian-Li cases - large intake fans in the front, and the Silverstone has a 180mm).
- PSU:
SeaSonic M12II 620W or the PCPCS - $89.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006519%2050001697%2040000058&IsNodeId=1&Manufactory=1697&bop=And&SpeTabStoreType=1&CompareItemList=58%7C17-703-036%5E17-703-036-TS%2C17-151-095%5E17-151-095-TS) (Could probably go down to 550w or even 500w thanks to the switch to the 78XX cards, they use less power than the Nvidias, and the Silverstone case comes with a 600w)

Subtotals:
PC-Q08B + 7870 + PSU - $599.97
PC-Q18B + 7870 + PSU - $609.97
SG-07B + 7870 + no PSU - $544.98

Haven't decided on a hard drive or optical drive yet. The Silverstone case requires a slim, the others can accommodate a full size but I'm thinking about just buying a slim drive in any case as it'll likely rarely if ever be used other than to install Windows...which can be done through USB anyway.

[Goku]

What you are doing has no benefit from hyper threading. Drop the 3770K back down to the 3570K. Put that extra $100 towards a better video card, which will be the GTX 670. $360 is far too much money for a 7870. Given the fact this game is for PS2 it is being developed with PhysX and Nvidia hardware. Its a no brainer to go for a GTX 670 now due to upping the budget.

Concerning the HDD. I suggest spending the extra on this one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=samsung%20f3%201tb). Twice as much storage space, plus its a faster drive.

As for those cases its totally up to you. I don't know much of anything when it comes to ITX TBH.

There is a SG 08 too that came out recently. Newegg doesn't seem to stock it. Both the SG 07 and 08 will support cards up to 12.2 inches in length, so you are covered for a 670.

[PeteHMB]

What you are doing has no benefit from hyper threading. Drop the 3770K back down to the 3570K. Put that extra $100 towards a better video card, which will be the GTX 670. $360 is far too much money for a 7870. Given the fact this game is for PS2 it is being developed with PhysX and Nvidia hardware. Its a no brainer to go for a GTX 670 now due to upping the budget.


I haven't really decided to up the budget yet...I'm hoping the 7870s drop in price soon. Explain the no benefit from hyperthreading please? I've been posting these builds on a few other forums for feedback and one pointed out it's a very nice feature to have. I may be only planning on Planetside 2 for right now, but who's to say I won't be playing something else a year or three from now where it would be good to have? I don't see any particular downside to having it rather than not....


Concerning the HDD. I suggest spending the extra on this one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=samsung%20f3%201tb). Twice as much storage space, plus its a faster drive.


How is that drive faster? The one I linked has twice the cache (64 vs 32) and is SATA 6gb/s vs 3gb/s. Also, I don't need the extra storage. Like, at all. I have one 500gb external that's allllllmost full of movies (maybe another 80gb to go) and one that's only got maybe 100gb of data on it. That's nearly 500gb of empty space I already have...I don't see the need for a 1TB when $30 is half the offset of the other CPU.


As for those cases its totally up to you. I don't know much of anything when it comes to ITX TBH.

There is a SG 08 (http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Aluminum-Mini-ITX-Certified-SG08B/dp/B006L6ZHEG/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1338086760&sr=1-1) too that came out recently. Newegg doesn't seem to stock it. Both the SG 07 and 08 will support cards up to 12.2 inches in length, so you are covered for a 670.


Interesting. Looking at their website and doing a comparison, it appears the only difference between the 08 and 07 is the front panel, and the one on the 08 is purely for decorative purposes. Emailed them just to be sure there's no other design changes though. Also, I posted up the ITX build on ITXgamer.com, so hopefully I'll get some good feedback from there.

[Goku]

No games take advantage of the HT is why the 3570K is always neck to neck with the 3770K. You don't even notice a performance increase going to the 6 core HT 3930K from the additional cores/cache.

GTX 670 is still a better investment in my opinion over the 7870. Still no word on price drops for that card either. Like I said the $100 from the 3770K is better spent on the video card.

Cache isn't everything on a drive and SATA III does nothing for HDDs due to not even coming close to the limits of Sata II. The drive has better read and write verse that western digital. The F3 was the fatest drive last year up until the Hitachi released one that beat it. You say you don't need the extra storage now, but you never know. Considering how much you are spending now on this computer I see no reason to cheap out on the HDD.

[PeteHMB]

No games take advantage of the HT is why the 3570K is always neck to neck with the 3770K. You don't even notice a performance increase going to the 6 core HT 3930K from the additional cores/cache.

GTX 670 is still a better investment in my opinion over the 7870. Still no word on price drops for that card either. Like I said the $100 from the 3770K is better spent on the video card.

Cache isn't everything on a drive and SATA III does nothing for HDDs due to not even coming close to the limits of Sata II. The drive has better read and write verse that western digital. The F3 was the fatest drive last year up until the Hitachi released one that beat it. You say you don't need the extra storage now, but you never know. Considering how much you are spending now on this computer I see no reason to cheap out on the HDD.

Couldn't find any numbers/data on the hard drive read/write speeds to compare them...but I did swap for the 670 and back to the i5 core.

Micro-ATX build:
SilverStone Temjin Series TJ08B-E - $97.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163182)
Western Digital WD5002AALX 500GB - $99.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136795)
LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive - $18.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106276)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB DDR3 1600 - $46.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428)
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz - $239.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504)
GIGABYTE GA-Z77M-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 - $114.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128541)
Gigabyte GV-N670OC-2GD GeForce GTX 670 2 gb - $399.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423)
SeaSonic M12II 620W or the PCPCS - $89.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006519%2050001697%2040000058&IsNodeId=1&Manufactory=1697&bop=And&SpeTabStoreType=1&CompareItemList=58%7C17-703-036%5E17-703-036-TS%2C17-151-095%5E17-151-095-TS)

Total : $1108.92

[Roidster]

New mobo/cpu combo looks good. Case-wise...still undecided. It's a toss-up between the one you posted, and this one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163182).

this is the case i have,comes with lots and lots of air flow
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811235027

[Roidster]

Couldn't find any numbers/data on the hard drive read/write speeds to compare them...but I did swap for the 670 and back to the i5 core.

Micro-ATX build:
SilverStone Temjin Series TJ08B-E - $97.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163182)
Western Digital WD5002AALX 500GB - $99.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136795)
LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive - $18.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106276)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB DDR3 1333 - $41.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231426)
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz - $239.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504)
GIGABYTE GA-Z77M-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 - $114.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128541)
Gigabyte GV-N670OC-2GD GeForce GTX 670 2 gb - $399.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423)
SeaSonic M12II 620W or the PCPCS - $89.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006519%2050001697%2040000058&IsNodeId=1&Manufactory=1697&bop=And&SpeTabStoreType=1&CompareItemList=58%7C17-703-036%5E17-703-036-TS%2C17-151-095%5E17-151-095-TS)

Total : $1103.92

your bottlenecking the ram,at least get 1600

[Goku]

There is no bottlenecking of ram within games. Unless you can get the higher speeds for the same price as the 1333MHz no reason to go higher.

[Roidster]

i beg to differ,especially with a game this size,that will deal with a lot of page filing,with iRacing,that i play you need fast ram,or you deal with a lot of page faults,that cause a lot of micro stuttering,and when start adding players,vechs,tracers and explosions,your going to be taxing the ram

[PeteHMB]

this is the case i have,comes with lots and lots of air flow
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811235027

Thanks, but wrong form factor. I want to keep this build as small as possible, either Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX.

There is no bottlenecking of ram within games. Unless you can get the higher speeds for the same price as the 1333MHz no reason to go higher.

Keeping an eye out, but haven't seen any smoking deals yet. Closest pricing was this G.Skill for $5 more, which isn't bad really. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

[Goku]

Take a look here (http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3/6). There is no benefit to buying high speed ram for gaming.

What you are saying maybe true to some extent, but having DDR3 3000Mhz isn't going to double your FPS verse 1333MHz for example. Games are either GPU or CPU bound. I never heard of a RAM bound game.

@ Pete. $4 isn't bad. When DDR3 came out there used to be a major difference in how much it cost to even go from 1333MHz -> 1600MHz. The gap isn't nearly as much now due to higher speed ram coming out. I still have to correct people wanting to get 2133Mhz or something along those lines that costs nearly twice as much verse a 1333Mhz kit. I just hate people wasting money on computer hardware that won't add much to their experience.

[PeteHMB]

Take a look here (http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3/6). There is no benefit to buying high speed ram for gaming.

What you are saying maybe true to some extent, but having DDR3 3000Mhz isn't going to double your FPS verse 1333MHz for example. Games are either GPU or CPU bound. I never heard of a RAM bound game.

@ Pete. $4 isn't bad. When DDR3 came out there used to be a major difference in how much it cost to even go from 1333MHz -> 1600MHz. The gap isn't nearly as much now due to higher speed ram coming out. I still have to correct people wanting to get 2133Mhz or something along those lines that costs nearly twice as much verse a 1333Mhz kit. I just hate people wasting money on computer hardware that won't add much to their experience.

Nice link, thanks. I went ahead and swapped the ram to the 1600 for shits and giggles...I mean, on the whole of things, when you're spending $1100...what's another $5? I looked at 16gb kits of 8gb x2, but I think that's more than I need right now. Maybe as a future upgrade in a year or so. My brother actually just built a rig too, but since he hadn't put anything together yet I convinced him to swap cases down to the Temjin J08 :lol: he's gonna be my guinea pig for that case. Should get to his place on Wednesday. As it turns out, he'd ordered a micro-atx board without realizing it (it just happened to have all the shit he wanted and was recommended as a good board from a friend of his) so it wasn't a big deal for me to convince him. He lives in a tiny house with 2 roommates so space is at a premium. He went with a smaller video card though, the 6850. It's like, 8" long and he was worried about it fitting in the case. I'm more worried about the width interfering with the memory/CPU cooler and heating issues than length. We'll see though.

[Goku]

You can easily fit a 6850 or longer video cards in there. Just make sure he has a modular PSU. Otherwise it will make a mess of his case if he has a bunch of extra cables he cannot get out of the way.

I don't think he will have any issues with the ram/HS. I have a Venomous X in the TJ-08 up until last week when I swapped my parts into my bigger case. The TJ-08 can easily accommodate huge tower HS. Although if you can I recommend getting a H60/H80 or even an Antec 620/920 due to how much extra space it gives in that case.

[Roidster]

Thanks, but wrong form factor. I want to keep this build as small as possible, either Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX.

its no taller then a HP/old school case,just a bit wider,and i have a mATX board in the same case,and i still have troubles getting my fingers into area's to connect fans

[Vancha]

its no taller then a HP/old school case,just a bit wider,and i have a mATX board in the same case,and i still have troubles getting my fingers into area's to connect fans

Zalman: 19.84" x 8.15" x 18.27"
Temjin: 15.16" x 8.27" x 14.72"

[PeteHMB]

Zalman: 19.84" x 8.15" x 18.27"
Temjin: 15.16" x 8.27" x 14.72"

Sugo SG08: 8.74" x 7.48" x 13.82" :D

[Roidster]

i understand wanting to have a small form factor,taking less space on the desk,but if you have big hands or chubby fingers,its hard to work inside the case when building it

[PeteHMB]

i understand wanting to have a small form factor,taking less space on the desk,but if you have big hands or chubby fingers,its hard to work inside the case when building it

Nice, you have one? Let's see some pics!

Dexterity my friend...that and being used to contorting my hands to work on things. Try taking the starter off of the engine from a piece of field artillery when it's -15 degrees out and you can't wear gloves because the bolts are in tight spots that are difficult to reach.

Also, way ahead of you on that. There's a couple youtube videos specifically for builds utilizing this case, along with the case itself coming with a manual helping you out on build order. In short - assemble the motherboard before you put it in the case so that the only thing you have to screw down is the mobo and video card.

[PeteHMB]

Welp. Parts are on the way.

Silverstone SG08 for the case
EVGA GTX670 for the vid card
Crucial 128gb SSD hard drive
Samsung memory (don't remember model, but on overclock.net lots of people recommended it and said the G.Skill didn't OC for shit.)

i5 3570k and ASRock Z77E-ITX have yet to be ordered. Found a smokin' deal on the 3570k but it's in store pickup only so my friend's going to look at it and ship it to me. $189.99 vs $239.99 on Amazon/Newegg.

[Goku]

Be sure to post up pictures!

Overclocking ram doesn't have even benefits. Really only reason to do it either you want to tweak the system to the fullest or use one of those benchmarks that actually shows the difference in bandwidth of ram.

This must be it (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147096). Seems people are in love with it from the reviews anyway.

[PeteHMB]

Be sure to post up pictures!

Overclocking ram doesn't have even benefits. Really only reason to do it either you want to tweak the system to the fullest or use one of those benchmarks that actually shows the difference in bandwidth of ram.

This must be it (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147096). Seems people are in love with it from the reviews anyway.

Yup, that's it. Not much difference in price so I figured I'd check it out. Plenty of pictures and maybe some videos of the build will be posted. I also found out that Microcenter knocks another $50 off of that motherboard when purchased together with the CPU, so total cost is only $313.90. Normal price of $149.99+$239.99 = $389+tax, which would have been over $400 + shipping. My friend's picking it up for me and shipping it though so that definitely saved me some cash.

[Goku]

Thats a good friend you have there.

[PeteHMB]

Thats a good friend you have there.

Heh well I paid for it all over the phone and it's like 5 minutes from his work so he's just driving over, picking it up, and throwing it in the mailbox. Might cost him $15 in shipping and that's it.

[PeteHMB]

Picked up and en route to me via air mail. Should have them Tuesday. $313.90 for both @ Microcenter + ~$15 for shipping.

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/6875/img0859eg.jpg

[PeteHMB]

This is my first attempt at building an ITX form factor PC, and also my first attempt at writing up a build log. I've worked as a mechanic and played with a lot of Legos so I tend to focus in and get things done instead of stopping to take pictures, and I am in no way shape or form a professional photographer :D. That being said...hope you guys enjoy, and hopefully this should give people a much sexier alternative to the chubby Bitfenix Prodigy that's getting so popular for ITX cases. I really love this form factor and case though, it finally feels like PC gaming done right. I'm really over the bulky, space wasting full tower cases that have far more capability than I'll ever use or need.

Parts list:
--Case: Silverstone SG08 (comes with 600w 80+ bronze PSU)
--Motherboard: ASRock Z77E-ITX
--CPU: Intel i5 3570k
--CPU heatsink/fan: OEM (for now...)
--Memory: Samsung Low Voltage 30nm UDIMM 4gb DDR3 1600 (x2 for a total of 8gb)
--Graphics: EVGA Nvidia GTX 670 FTW
--Hard drive: Crucial M4 128gb SSD

Preliminary pic just to make you guys jelly....(FIND A MICROCENTER NEAR YOU! Or do what I did and pay for it over the phone and have a friend pick it up in store.)
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3613/536cw.jpg

First, the parts. I had a box pic somewhere, but since they were coming in sporadically I decided not to include it. So...

From top left to bottom right:
Case w/ SSD already installed
ASRock wireless module (came with motherboard)
Extra zip ties - reusable locking type, $2/10pc at Home Depot
Extra case screws courtesy of Silverstone due to me stripping a couple out trying to get the VGA filter installed
Motherboard w/ CPU already installed (Microcenter did it for me pre-shipping so that if it got messed up they could swap the board/CPU right away and send me a working one - no extra charge, great customer service)
Motherboard backplate
CPU fan/heatsink
Video card
Memory
Optical drive tray (currently empty, but you could squeeze 2 more SSD or 2.5" drives there if you really wanted to. Given that you can stick a SSD pretty much anywhere, and that this motherboard has enough connections for 3 more drives, you could stack 4 SSDs on the optical drive tray and remove the hard drive cage completely for more cable management space and be fine.)
180mm AP 181 fan
Case cover
http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/1970/537z.jpg

Case size comparison - I wear size 10.5 shoes.
http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/168/img0823cb.jpg

Preliminary attempts at cable management while waiting on the motherboard
http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/4717/img0834wa.jpg
http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/3742/img0835x.jpg

CPU heatsink/fan mounted on motherboard...
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/6991/541y.jpg

Closer pic of the way I ran the wire to keep it out of the way.
http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/5623/542n.jpg

annnnnnd squeezed in...you have to angle the motherboard a bit to get it into the case, it fits pretty snugly. FYI - the screws for the case cover and the screws used to mount the motherboard are identical. Or at least, that's what I used...:p
http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/4208/543ne.jpg

Overhead shot of the motherboard in the case. I wrapped the reset switch wire around the power cable and front panel audio cable to keep it from dragging on the CPU fan. Probably going to end up rerunning those cables in the future, but I was eager to complete this build.
http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/7558/544rb.jpg

Another overhead shot showing more stuff plugged in. As you can see I used the empty 3.5" hard drive space to run a few of the cables, primarily the extra slack from the hard drive power cable. Made things a little tidier and less crimped overall.
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/7889/547u.jpg

Side views with the power cable tucked back out of sight inside the 3.5" hard drive cage. Still lots of room!
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/116/550oe.jpg
http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/8906/551j.jpg

[PeteHMB]

Video card in...plenty of room for a 690 or even longer depending on future cards.
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/751/554m.jpg

Tight squeeze horizontally though. Touches the PSU cage, which I'd imagine is the reason for the plastic or whatever material panel they put there. BE CAREFUL WHEN MOUNTING VIDEO CARD. It's a tight enough squeeze that the little pointy nubs of the components soldered onto the card DO rub when you put the card in. Attempting to push down from the wrong angle could easily snap something off. Plenty of room on the other side though between the case cover and video card cover. The way I initially ran the VGA power cables put a little horizontal pressure on the video card, pushing it out, but once the cover was back on the case I think it evened out a bit due to the stiff foam filter.
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/8640/555gf.jpg


Rear view of the video card - it completely blocks all airflow to that side of the case, meaning the AP 181's airflow is only left with 1 direction to exhaust: Out the right side vents of the case. So, I recommend placing the case somewhere the right side and top have plenty of airflow. The left side is the intake for the video card fan in my case, so I don't need much there given that I have a "blower" style cooling system on it. Rear, top, and right side are most important clearance for me.
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/5369/556dt.jpg

Optical drive tray putting pressure on cables, pushing them into the video card. I don't like pressure/stresses on thin components...
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/3246/558ho.jpg

Side view...hmmmmm.....what can I do with this?
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/8558/561k.jpg

Much better...
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/6787/564ck.jpg

Sitting nice and loose now, and still bundled relatively neatly without putting any pressure on the optical drive tray or video card.
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/7696/566zy.jpg

AP181 mounted
http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/5341/567bv.jpg

Top view
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/6924/568xy.jpg

Last but not least, the 90 degree SATA cable for the hard drive. My motherboard came with 2 SATA cables - 1 90 degree, 1 straight. Yours may vary but you DO need a 90 degree cable for the 2.5" / SSD positions. Not sure about the 3.5" drive but I've seen a couple other threads on here where people said it helped with those too. From the looks of the positions, I would recommend 90 degree cables for all the "official" mounting positions, but straight cables will work fine if you choose to utilize the optical drive tray as I mentioned before.
http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/9177/571u.jpg

Ugh...I need to clean that up. No time during the week though...
http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/3816/573jp.jpg

Ran into some minor issues creating a boot USB from my Macbook. Had to pull out the work laptop too...but IT'S ALLLIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!!
(except the video card drivers and whatnot weren't installed yet so I had some issues with adjusting the boarder around the screen....it's all perfect now though.)
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/7655/574an.jpg

Monitor is an ASUS VH238H at the moment. Using Turtle Beach PX5 headphones. HP Wireless Elite V2 keyboard with a Logitech VX Nano laptop mouse. Haven't decided yet on whether or not I want to keep the mouse or relegate it back to laptop duty. Thanks for reading, hope you guys enjoyed! If you have any questions about the build or want more pictures I'll do the best I can to help out. Currently trying to figure out why 3dMark11 keeps crashing.

[Goku]

Looks wicked nice! Wow. That is a tight squeeze.

Is 3DMark11 only crashing? What about games or anything else stressful?

[PeteHMB]

Looks wicked nice! Wow. That is a tight squeeze.

Is 3DMark11 only crashing? What about games or anything else stressful?

Starcraft 2, Half Life 2, Counterstrike Source, Goldeneye Source all work fine. The only other thing that crashes is the original Planetside (just downloaded). All drivers are installed and up to date, downloaded direct from each manufacturer's website. Didn't buy an optical drive so there's 0 possibility of out of date stuff due to CDs or anything.

[Goku]

Of course PS crashes lol. You run admin on it?

Try something like unigine heaven 3d benchmark and see if that crashes too.

[PeteHMB]

Of course PS crashes lol. You run admin on it?

Try something like unigine heaven 3d benchmark and see if that crashes too.

Downloading Unigine. What do you mean do I run admin on it? I'm logged onto my computer as an Admin, yes. PS gives me a runtime error, doesn't even make it past the boot screen after clicking play from the launcher.

edit - Unigine crashes same as 3dMark. Just says stopped working as soon as I click "run".

[Goku]

Thats not good then. Likely an issue with the card most likely as those are high end benchmarking programs. Try a few previous driver releases to see if that does anything.

PS you need to run as administrator under its properties to run properly.

I have seen some issues with the FTW edition from EVGA.

[PeteHMB]

I think I had their latest beta drivers installed...rolling back 1 to non-beta drivers.

Benchmarking now....everything maxed in Unigine. 1 step back on the drivers worked.

[Roidster]

nice build,sure hope you dont have any heat issues with that small case

[Goku]

Glad you resolved the issues Pete. Really impressed by this build you did. I don't often see mini-itx ones.

[PeteHMB]

nice build,sure hope you dont have any heat issues with that small case

None so far! It's running dead silent and cold. Even blows cool air out the sides, the only heat is coming from the video card...and even that's luke-warm.

Glad you resolved the issues Pete. Really impressed by this build you did. I don't often see mini-itx ones.

Thanks man! I'm pretty impressed with myself :p last time I built a rig was 2008-ish. I love the SSD for booting up too. Usually I have a tendency to just leave my computer on 24/7 because it's faster to recover from sleep mode than waiting on boot times, but this SSD boots from full off in <15 seconds. The windows logo doesn't even finish loading and my desktop is logged on and ready as soon as it displays. With everything maxed out at 1920x1080p Unigine and 3dMark11 both gave me around 20-25 FPS, and just dropping anti-aliasing down to 4x instead of 8x shot my FPS up to 70+. I'm confident I'll be able to max out Planetside's settings and maintain a smooth framerate.

The mini-ITX form factor did present some challenges with cable management, but nothing major since there's overall less to deal with. I think I could still do a much cleaner job on it, but I may save that for next weekend in case I get bored. I'll be sure to update this thread once I do redo the wiring, and I'm still debating between the Noctua NH C14 or AXP-140 heatsinks. Both severely impact wiring and room inside the case, but also provide stable temperatures for overclocking up to 5ghz. The GPU I'm not sure I'll OC until I make the swap to a watercooling block (which frees up far more space). My hesitation to watercool stems from the strong possibility I'll be moving around a lot over the next year though. We'll see. I DID think about getting a laser-etched NC logo into the brushed aluminum on the front though....

[Bags]

The 670 OC's itself. mine goes up to 1200mhz Core clock while gaming.

[Ganymede]

If your working with a 1000.00 budget that says your limited or want to be limited for this toy, not implying that you're poor or anything. I would NEVER recommend overclocking to somebody who is not willing to be able to replace a broke GPU/CPU at any time. Some cards come stock overclocked but stay safe.