Budget Mini-ITX build, need some ideas

[JunJun9000]

Hi people, my current rig is pushing 5 years old and although it still does pretty much everything I ask of it, its starting to show its age. So upgrade time!

The case has already been chosen and bought; its the Fractal Design Node 304 but I'm having a little trouble deciding what to put in it. The main things it'll be used for is 1080p video viewing, internet browsing, general office work, some VMware (currently taking part in CS50x ) and maybe some light gaming.

Budget is £300-400, don't need storage drives or OS but an SSD would be helpful. Here's what I've come up with:

Opinions and suggestions? Thanks.

 

[drdeathx]

If the budget permits, up the SSD to 120 or 128Gb.... You OS and other programs will fill 60Gb pretty quick.

 

[[Ion]]

My suggestion: Drop the H60 and get the A10-5800k (it's faster, particularly the GPU), and, if you can, get a 128GB SSD. I'm using a 128GB SSD in my laptop and IMO it's the smallest you'd really want to use.

 

[drdeathx]

5600K will suit him fine. Processing speed is the same core for core, both have 4Mb L3 cache...... Graphics wise, the 5800K is a tad better

 

[Fourstaff]

Drop H60, get at least 120GB unless you enjoy deleting things.

 

[JunJun9000]

Hmmm, I can easily drop the H60 in place of a larger SSD; the reason I chose a water cooler is I want it as quiet as possible.

The main thing putting me off taking the plunge at the moment is the lack of FM2 motherboard choice. The Asrock boards apparently like to set on fire and the MSI one above is currently out of stock at most shops.

Thanks btw.

 

[drdeathx]

Hmmm, I can easily drop the H60 in place of a larger SSD; the reason I chose a water cooler is I want it as quiet as possible.

The main thing putting me off taking the plunge at the moment is the lack of FM2 motherboard choice. The Asrock boards apparently like to set on fire and the MSI one above is currently out of stock at most shops.

Thanks btw.

Asrock boards do not start on fire. Where did you hear this? I tested(reviewed) a handful of ASrock boards and they were fine. I run one in my HTPC and it's awesome.

 

[JunJun9000]

Asrock boards do not start on fire. Where did you hear this? I tested(reviewed) a handful of ASrock boards and they were fine. I run one in my HTPC and it's awesome.

Their ITX board has terrible customer reviews, just take a look at Newegg.

 

[drdeathx]

Their ITX board has terrible customer reviews, just take a look at Newegg.

If you trust tards from New Egg your crazy. I handled litterally 20 ASRock's boards over the past 2 years(reviews) and none of them were bad period including A85 motherboards. I would suggest you take New Egg morons advice over this forums(being a smartass...LOL). I am sure many more will chime in that ASRock boards are very good.

The idiot compainers on New Egg F@ck up their shizza cause they are noobs and complain on New Eggs site. Why don't you google review for your board and look at overclocking sites for the truth about the board.

Here is one....

http://www.futurelooks.com/asrock-a75m-itx-fm1-mini-itx-motherboard-review/4/

Let me start off by saying I think the ASRock A75M-ITX is a great choice for HTPC builds. The only real draw back to using this board for such would be the lack of on-board WiFi, but this is easily remedied with a simple USB low profile WiFi Adapter. More adventurous users may even choose to adapt the internal headers for both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi if they wish. The board even has a CIR header for HTPC cases with built-in IR sensors.

The only time I found myself disappointed was with the THX TruStudio Software and overclocking. The THX software can simply never be installed as the Realtek audio control panel provides more than enough audio features. Speaking of software, I really wish that ASRock would discontinue including trial ware. If we wanted trial ware, we would buy our systems, not build them ourselves.

My issues with overclocking would only affect those looking to use the A75M-ITX for a desktop PC, and you shouldn’t really be using an ITX board for a PC build unless you have limitations on system size. To be blunt, overclocking seems to be too hazardous on this motherboard to the point that we think ASRock should put a warning label on it when going past the 110MHz mark on the bus.

The MSRP of $89.99 puts the ASRock A75M-ITX in the company of some great motherboards. To its advantage, ASRock provides one of the most useful software bundles on the market covering all aspects of using your computer. This board is clearly designed to be in an small form HTPC attached to an LCD TV and that environment is where it exceeds expectations. But overall, it loses points by not being as well rounded as the other boards and its inability to handle overclocking may point to some potential durability issues in harsher environments where a board like this may potential be used, where space is a premium and so is ventilation.

Here is another

Yes, it's looking good so far.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1353566/asrock-fm2a85x-itx-the-ultimate-fm2-itx-mobo-to-lust-for