Maximum PC

I would avoid miniATX if possible .. and I would definitely avoid Foxconn.

There are plenty of cube cases available that are not mini-ATX

Jipstyle,

Thanks again for the reply and advice

yea that sandybridge foxconn mini-itx seems so cute and high-tech, but its still so fresh and new (no reviews yet). So I'll hold off on that thought and go with Asus mAtx

speaking of mAtx computer cases... a couple of week ago on maximum pc review.. there was 1 thing I really like...
SILVERSTONE Fortress Series FT03B Black Aluminum / Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case

Helllo,
I was wondering why you would like to build in a mini-ITX case?
The case in question is a Silverstone SG07 so you are not tied to Cyberpower in anyway.

I'm not one to tell someone not to build in a SFF case but there are drawbacks to mini-ITX designs.
If you are trying to build a LAN party rig that is fine but I would still find a different route to take.
IMO mini-ITX should be for HTPCs not a gamer build but to each his own.
What I would like to see is what you are going for with this build(e.g. gaming/LAN party, HTPC etc.)
Also a budget helps so that we know what you are aiming for.

If you want a builder like cyberpower to build you computer that is your decision, but I would personally build it myself because then I get to choose exactly what I want and not what they want to stick me with. To me ibuypower and Cyberpower , among a few others, are only one step above a HP or dell that you got from Wal-mart. They aren't bad but on a scale of 1-10 I'd give them a 4, again that is my opinion.

Hi Wiki_smart,

Thank you for the reply, concerns and comment
What attracted me to the mini ITX was of course.. the size and the adorable SILVERSTONE Sugo SG07B.
But I'll have to forget about the mini ITX like you said because my goal is just for pure gaming and nothing else ( I use Linux for everything else other than video gaming).

Yea I have almost made up my mind for my build which I'll buy the parts separately from amazon, microcenter, etc.

So far.. here are my lists:
($150) Asus P8P67-M PRO LGA 1155 mATX Intel Motherboard
($280) Intel Core i7 2600K LGA 1155 Boxed Processor Intel Core i7 2600K LGA 1155 Boxed Processor
($50) Corsair DDR3 4GB (2 x 2GB PC3-12800 1600MHz 240-pin DDR3 Timing: 9-9-9-24 1.65v)
($90) Corsair CMPSU-650TX 650-Watt TX Series 80 Plus Certified Power Supply
($170) SILVERSTONE Fortress Series FT03B Black Aluminum / Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case

for video card.. I have 3 options
($0) temporarily stick to my existing GTX260
($350 = $175x2) 2x Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 1 GB GDDR5 "crossfire setup"
($350) EVGA GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5

for harddrive.. I have 2 options
($0) my current Hitachi 500GB (duno the model number)
($ ??) another Hitachi 1TB that can handle 6GB/Sec (sata-3) as supported by the Asus P8P67-M PRO motherboard.

Sounds good ?

That is a great case! I was just looking at that on the Digital Storm website they really pack a lot into that case too. You could probably stay with the i5 if you are only going to game on this machine but it its your call. The HT that the i7 adds won't help much on the gaming end. So there is some money saved. Either way you go I would go for the K version so that you can squeeze more juice out of it. The overclocks that people are getting out of the sandy bridge chips are amazing with liquid cooling you have the possibility of hitting 5.2GHz that is wicked fast!

The GTX570 would be worth the expense if you can afford it but the 260 will work for you in the interim. I would do the 570 because the upgrade path is better. If down the road you need more horse power because you have a three monitor HD setup then you have the ability and to add another card to get what you want.

HDDs: Again if what you can afford means that you need to use your 500GB HDD then so be it. When you can add another HDD into the mix go for a WD caviar black or a Samsung spinpoint F3 or F4 1TB. Then after that you can add a SSD which will boost your performance even more.

Hi Wiked_smart

Thanks again 4 the comment and suggestions. Yeap switching i7-2600k to i5-2500k will save me $100 ! I guess switching to i5-2500k will be just the exclusion of the HyperThreading which is not applicable for gaming. I also just read that some ppl with i7-2600k have disabled the HT for better gaming !

so yea I think i'll continue to use my GTX-260 when I buy the new build. I can always wait for GTX570 price to go down around summer !

Microcenter : web ordered confirmed and ready for pickup TODAY :


Amazon.com : web ordered today :


Might or might not order these two (might use my spare Hitatchi 500GB and an old case for now):


---- update ------

1) just got home from Microcenter for the i5-2500k + Asus P8P670M + Patriot Extreme 4GB
I might have forgotten 1 thing -- cpu cooler. I'm not sure if the i5-2500k package comes with stock cooler and thermal paste , I'll check later.
2) also bought from Microcenter a diablotek evo computer case on sale for $49.99 ...
http://images.highspeedbackbone.net/Sku ... 022-02.jpg
http://images.highspeedbackbone.net/SKU ... 04-jrb.jpg

I fell in love with this case because of 4 things:
* PSU on the bottom
* 2 fans on the top
* front panel got 3 USB ports
* very sexy look !

Now I'm just gonna have to wait for Amazon to ship out my PSU and I'll be all set !

My other things to do:
1) use Acronis 2011 to do disk image of my existing gamer pc win7-64 bit partition
2) restore the disk image to a spare Hitachi 500GB using "restore using dissimilar hardware"
3) move my GTX260 into this new one



Thank you all for ur comments, tips and suggestions !

Sweet case, seems to be good build overall!
Let us know how the build goes and if you need any other help/advice we are here.
the CPU should come with a thermal pad or paste so you should be good there. The stock cooler should work for small overclocks but keep an eye on the temps. If you feel like you need something beefier then you can add a hyper 212, H50 or other cooling product. Good Luck!

Wiked_smart,

Thank you so much for your kindness and helps Yea i'll let you know how it goes when the PSU arrived the 2nd week of February

I'll post some benchmarks on FPS-hungry games like FC2 / Crysis using GTX260. Then I'll do the same benchmarks using GTX 570 when I get it around summer

Hey guys !

I promised that I'll give you update on my build. My PSU arrived in 3 days instead of 12 days ! So here again are my parts..

Quote:

Asus P8P67-M PRO LGA 1155 mATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i5 2500K LGA 1155 Boxed Processor
Patriot Extreme Performance Sector 5 G Series 4GB DDR3-1333
Diablotek Evo ATX mid-tower
Corsair CMPSU-650TX
GTX260 (my old)
HDS725050KLA360 (my spare, sadly its rated 1.5 Gb/s, not 3, not 6)

the total cost is $505

now for some screenshots of cpu-z and such..
-- mobo and cpu --
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm445/dikospunso/computer_2011/intelrapidstorage.jpg?t=1296711966
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm445/dikospunso/computer_2011/cpu-zcpu.jpg?t=1296711945
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm445/dikospunso/computer_2011/cpu-zmainboard.jpg?t=1296711952
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm445/dikospunso/computer_2011/cpu-zcache.jpg?t=1296711957
-- RAM --
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm445/dikospunso/computer_2011/cpu-zmemspeed.jpg?t=1296711940
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm445/dikospunso/computer_2011/cpu-zmemspeedslot2.jpg?t=1296711942
-- HDD -- (as you can see, AHCI mode is better than IDE mode as set on BIOS)
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm445/dikospunso/computer_2011/pcwizard-mem-ide-mode.jpg?t=1296711961
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm445/dikospunso/computer_2011/pcwizard-mem-achi-mode.jpg?t=1296711964
-- GPU (to be upgraded soon) --
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm445/dikospunso/computer_2011/gpu-zgraphiccard.jpg?t=1296711947

now for the gaming test..
1) no improvements using the same exact graphic settings in comparision to my 3-year old Phenom II X4 ... FC2 @44 FPS, Crysis @25FPS.

So I guess I didn't really need to upgrade my CPU, Mobo, Ram from my previous built..

Quote:

Asus M3A78-CM
AMD athlon Phenom II x4 940
2GB x 2, DDR2 (4GB)
GTX 260 - 896MB

All I needed really, is simply to upgrade my video card, but I have no regret because I have just setup my Phenom build + cheapo AMD HD3450 as my linux box to replace my super slow linux box (Asus P5KPL-CM, Pentium D945).

In few months if I buy a video card such as GTX570, I'll make a benchmark comparision of Sandybridge system and Phenom X4 940 system and let you guys know What are your guesses ? will they both have the same FPS ? or will the sandybridge yield a higher FPS on say FC2 ?

Also, my spare Hitach 500GB rated 1.5Gb/s.. is this good enough ? or should i consider looking for a sata 3G or 6G ? will these result in FPS improvement ?