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Thread: Thinking of going itx

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    Thinking of going itx

    I am thinking of building an itx system but don't know much about them.

    I want it to run efficiently but also powerfully. I do quite a bit of photoshop but very little in the way of gaming.

    I would want approx 8gig or ram and i have been told that a Pico PSU would be good to use as it would be silent as well as efficient?

    Onboard graphics would be used too.

    What components would you experts recommend? CPU needs to be not so power hungry but also powerful too. Budget would be a max of £500, but around £400 would be ideal.

    As for a case, i would need as small a case as is possible, thus why i am thinking of a Pico PSU.

    Can some kind person/s spec me up the components? I really am a noob when it comes to its systems.
    Last edited by cam1986; 18-10-2011 at 08:55 PM.

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    Re: Thinking of going itx

    I would check the build I suggested in the guide:

    http://forums.hexus.net/pc-hardware/...ml#post2150597

    I would also go for the cheaper version of the SG05 without the 450W PSU and drop the graphics card.

    You can then get a 95W Core i5 2500 or 65W Core i5 2500S.

    Edit!!

    An alternate case is the Lian Li Q07:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/search.aspx?q=Q07

    This PSU is quite efficient AFAIK:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/400w-...et-fan-atx-v23

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    Re: Thinking of going itx

    A PicoPSU may work, but they're more designed for running integrated boards with very low power requirements. To get one to run desktop components you'll need to look at at least 120W or 150W, which gets quite expensive when you factor in the DC power brick as well. Sadly there aren't many decent, low cost, low power PSUs available...

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    Re: Thinking of going itx

    http://www.wesena.co.uk/product.php/5/2/itx2

    That is the case i want.

    I have seen a Pico 160w

    I would be using onboard graphics.

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    Re: Thinking of going itx

    Quote Originally Posted by cam1986 View Post
    http://www.wesena.co.uk/product.php/5/2/itx2

    That is the case i want.

    I have seen a Pico 160w

    I would be using onboard graphics.
    Ideally you would need to get something like a 65W Core i5 2500S or a 45W Core i5 2500T:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...che-65w-retail

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...-cache-45w-oem

    I suspect the lower wattage Core i5 CPUs will come with a similar cooler to my Core i3 2100 meaning the fan has a "grainy" sound.

    These coolers should be quieter but you need to check if there is enough clearance:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/scyth...-amd-intel-cpu

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/scyth...am3-1366-1156-

    There is quite a decent choice of H67 based mini-ITX motherboards:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-...-intel-h61-h67

    Some of the motherboards are review in this article:

    http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mai...5-roundup.html

    The review website does not use the best methods for determining power consumption IMHO,but relative to other motherboards the Intel DH67CF is worth considering as it uses less VRM phases meaning lower power consumption. OTH,it also means the motherboard is less suitable for higher wattage Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs IMHO.

    However,the Wesena/Viako case you are looking at only takes a 2.5" drive you are limiting the performance of the hard drive too. TBH,for an image editing computer this is going to a being limitation than pure CPU speed. I would look at some reviews of 7200RPM 2.5" drives.

    AFAIK,the Momentus XT drives do have some issues.

    There is this 150W FSP DC-DC PSU for around £60:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/150w-...-88-efficiency
    Last edited by CAT-THE-FIFTH; 18-10-2011 at 09:28 PM.

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    Re: Thinking of going itx

    Waw, thanks for all that info.

    Scythe Shuriken BIG CPU Cooler looks just right.

    Need to choose a CPU and mobo now. Would an i3 be ok? Which mobo?

    Eventually i will go SSD.

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    Re: Thinking of going itx

    The Wesena case only has room for one 2.5" drive and a slimline optical drive.

    Scan do also sell the case:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/wesen...e-black-no-psu

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/wesen...-silver-no-psu

    If you are willing to not have an optical drive,there are adaptors which mean you can have another 2.5" hard drive instead of an optical drive.

    However,it does seem even the stock Intel heatsink will not work:

    http://www.missingremote.com/review/...tx-sff-chassis

    On top of this the reviewer could not use one of the RAM slots on an Intel DH57JG motherboard as it interfered with the front panel cables. This means you will need to use low profile RAM as all the socket 1155 mini-ITX motherboards have the slots at the front.

    DH57JG



    DH67CF



    However,the placement of the power connector on the DH67CF and its relatively low power consumption make it look a good contender ATM.

    The Core i3 2100 heatsink is around 45MM high. The reviewer used the following cooler:

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dynatron-R...item5d303cc6bf

    It is around 25MM in height but the reviewer does not mention the height including the fan they used.

    This cooler might fit as it is 40MM high:

    http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/pro...cooling/kozuti

    It might be worth looking a 35W Core i3 2100T too.

    It has a very low profile heatsink as standard:

    http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...postcount=5674

    The total height is measure as 4CM,but when inserted into the motherboard it looks like the cooler is closer to around 3CM to 3.5CM in height.

    There is also the 35W Core i5 2390T dual core and the 45W Core i5 2400T and 45W Core i5 2500T CPUs. I suspect these also share a similar height cooler.
    Last edited by CAT-THE-FIFTH; 18-10-2011 at 11:37 PM.

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    Re: Thinking of going itx

    This is the sort of RAM you need to look for:

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kingston-K...item3f0f0932ba

    It has a very low profile.

    This cooler is 30MM high but I cannot see it for sale in the UK ATM:

    http://www.titan-cd.com/product/show....asp?ProID=888

    This cooler is 37MM and is socket 1155 compatible:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/silve...6-height-365mm

    It is meant to be slightly higher than the stock Core i3 2100T cooler but should be fine with a Core i3 2100.

    Both these coolers are just under 30MM high and will be fine with a Core i3 2100:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/akasa...s775-1155-1156

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/akasa...s-flow-pwm-fan

    TBH,it might be worth contacting Wesena.
    Last edited by CAT-THE-FIFTH; 18-10-2011 at 11:38 PM.

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    Re: Thinking of going itx

    Lots of great info there. Many thanks

    How do Apple manage with the Mac Mini's? They are tiny so what PSU's do they use etc?
    Last edited by cam1986; 19-10-2011 at 11:24 AM.

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    Re: Thinking of going itx

    Quote Originally Posted by cam1986 View Post
    Lots of great info there. Many thanks

    How do Apple manage with the Mac Mini's? They are tiny so what PSU's do they use etc?
    They tend to use laptop parts which are very low TDP. They also use DC-DC PSUs.

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    Re: Thinking of going itx

    Quote Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH View Post
    They tend to use laptop parts which are very low TDP.
    Also very expensive. e.g. Zotac Turion / 880G ITX motherboard

    The issue is that your photoshop work is going to prefer a powerful CPU, which doesn't really lend itself to low power / SFF systems. If you're willing to stump up the readies, however, I'd consider the Xeon L3426 - yes, it does cost £240 from Scan, but it's a 4 core Hyperthreaded processor which can turbo from 1.86GHz stock to 3.2GHz on a single thread. Multithreaded performance is equivalent to a Phenom II Quad at around 2.6GHz, single threaded performance is going to be way beyond that, and the 45W TDP makes it a decent fit for an mITX system. Whether it'll drop into any s1156 motherboards is another matter, of course, but it's got to be worth a look?

    *edit* of course, being a Xeon it doesn't have integrated graphics so you'd need a low end graphics card to go with it...


    Second edit: how about sandy bridge Xeons? insight currently have the E3-1260L listed at £246 which is a sandy bridge 4 core 8 thread, 2.4GHz stock / 3.3GHz turbo with a 45W TDP. They also have an Intel mITX server board which is compatible. The 1260L even has an IGP and the server board has the appropriate outputs to use it.
    Last edited by scaryjim; 19-10-2011 at 12:44 PM.

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    Re: Thinking of going itx

    The main issue is going to the CPU cooler height restrictions in the ITX2 case. As mentioned in the case review I linked to,even the stock Core i3 540 cooler will not fit.

    However,I just found this link:

    http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1336081

    It seems the maximum cooler height is 45MM and this is why the standard Core i3 cooler will not fit.

    However,it means the aftermarket coolers I mentioned in post 8 will fit. The Scythe Kozuti looks ideal although does use a sleeve bearing fan. It also means this cooler will fit:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/silve...6-height-365mm

    Edit!!

    It looks like the Xeon E3 scaryjim mentioned will also work with the Intel DH67CF:

    http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums...p?t=62664&f=28

    A cheaper alternative is to the a Core i5 2500T but the Xeon has a higher base clockspeed and Hyper-Threading too:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...-cache-45w-oem
    Last edited by CAT-THE-FIFTH; 19-10-2011 at 01:00 PM.

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    Re: Thinking of going itx

    Personally I'd get the Antec ISK 100 if you'll be getting a low power CPU. I've got a Pentium G620 running on stock and it idles at around 30 degrees with the stock fan on low and I'm just using the heatsink of the Arctic Cooling Freezer 11 LP cooler. The fan is on about 900-1000RPM as opposed to the stock ~1900RPM.

    Good thing about the ISK-100 is that it's only around £60 and has a 80W PSU! The Wesena case, picopsu and adapter will set you back probably 2-3 times that. The Antec is only a bit bigger at 212mm x 70mm x 212mm (with no stand or case feet) as opposed to Wesena's 197mmx75mmx197mm. The Antec also has a side mounted 100mm fan along with 2x 2.5" HDD mounts. It doesn't have an optical bay drive though.

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    Re: Thinking of going itx

    The other one to look at is the wesena itx6 http://www.wesena.co.uk/product.php/21/2/itx6 which is slighty more and slightly bigger but does allow a 3.5" drive

    The other option I'd consider, although it's no where near as small, is the lian-li pc-q07 http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product...25&ss_index=64
    It's still a small case, esp in terms of footprint 208x193mm means it takes up roughly the same deskspace, the difference is in the 280mm height.
    The advantages of it is that it uses standard drives and psu, so not only cheaper but easier to replace if they fail.

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    Re: Thinking of going itx

    I would prefer the smaller ones. Just need to find good, quiet components to build it with.

    I really do like the case and want to get a Pico PSU. 2.5 drive is a must as is a slim dvdrw slot loader.

    Its the CPU, Mobo and heatsink that are holding me back. Still unsure what to go for. Dont thing i need quad core. It does need to have onboard graphics and take 8gig ram.

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    Re: Thinking of going itx

    Quote Originally Posted by cam1986 View Post
    I would prefer the smaller ones. Just need to find good, quiet components to build it with.

    I really do like the case and want to get a Pico PSU. 2.5 drive is a must as is a slim dvdrw slot loader.

    Its the CPU, Mobo and heatsink that are holding me back. Still unsure what to go for. Dont thing i need quad core. It does need to have onboard graphics and take 8gig ram.
    This motherboard:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...-board-mini-it

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...board-mini-itx

    I would get a Core i3 2100T:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...25x-35w-retail

    The stock cooler will be low enough for the case.

    The Scythe Kozuti should also fit the case too but I would first see how you fare with the stock cooler.

    This thread is useful to read:

    http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-...c-cases-8.html

    Some of the chaps seem to have experience with the Wesena cases so you could confirm your final choices with them.

    Regarding the RAM I would try to get hold of the low profile Kingston RAM I linked to earlier.

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