Latest upgrade! (mini-itx edition)

[Nick R]

Just upgraded my brothers computer, only really bought 4 new parts though, CPU, mobo, case and cooler, and gave him my displaced 7850. I wanted to give him something a bit more powerful, at the same time smaller, and with a better built case than the Antec 300.

Bitfenix Prodigy w/120mm front fan, 140mm Rosewill Hyperborea exhaust fan
ASRock FM2A85X-ITX Mini-ITX Motherboard
AMD A8-6600K APU w/CoolerMaster Hyper TX3 cooler
8GB Corsair DDR3-1333 RAM
XFX DD Radeon HD 7850/2GB
128GB Sandisk Extreme SSD
WD Blue 500GB HDD
ASUS DVD+RW
Antec Neo Eco 400C PSU.


Pretty happy with how it came out. It's much smaller, much quieter, and more power efficient compared to the Phenom II X4 965.
Also yes, cable management doesn't really exist in a case like this lol.

 

[Brent_G]

How do you like the APU? I have wanted to do a HTPC/Mini Gaming build with one for awhile.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: Brent_G
How do you like the APU? I have wanted to do a HTPC/Mini Gaming build with one for awhile.


Honestly, the graphics on the APU isn't even being used. I would have gone with an AMD FX chip, but they don't make any mini-itx boards for those, so a Richland APU it was.

I would imagine that it would be more than sufficient for most usage without the dedicated graphics card, as the A8-4500M in my laptop is great for most games at medium settings. For an HTPC I'd imagine it would be quite excellent too.

 

[Nick R]

Also I went with the Bitfenix prodigy because I've been really happy with the one I'm using for my file server, with the AMD E-350 and 4 harddrives. I figured with a bigger exhaust fan, it would be excellent for a smaller gaming/video editing pc for my brother. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, too.

 

[123Saab]

Nice, compact kit.

What would something like this run for $?

I could use one for our basement as a media/gaming machine.

 

[Brent_G]

I really wish they made a m-ITX AM3+ board. My 8350 is collecting dust as a simple file server and would love to make a build out of it. Imagine market is so small on it though and with the power draw and heat of the 6/8c chips, plus the quality VRMs needed. But I can dream...

 

[SLCraig]

Looks good..
I have been wanting to build a mini-ITX box for an HTPC. Someday.

 

[dparm]

How's the airflow and Vcore/GPU temps in a case like that? The 7850 is a big card.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: dparm
How's the airflow and Vcore/GPU temps in a case like that? The 7850 is a big card.


Surprisingly good. The GPU temps are great because the fans pull in air directly through the side panel. And with the top vent, and the 140mm fan at the back, not to mention that the 6600K is a fairly low power chip, means that temps are actually really good. CPU temps at load don't seem to get above 55 (and that's keeping the fan at quiet levels) and GPU temps are in the 60s/70s under load, which is more than fine considering the GPU is also overclocked to 1050Mhz. The prodigy actually is a very well ventilated case, and with a nice 140mm exhaust fan, it keeps temps nice and low, while still being pretty quiet.

 

[UG_Passat]

I tried an A10 Black (Richland), in a Cooler Master Elite 120 case, but it runs too hot.


So, went back to Intel, with a Core i3-3245 based system.



though... haven't installed a dedicated graphics card yet.