First mini-ITX build

[El_Mayo]

Hi guys, I'm looking to shrink my next PC's footprint (going from a 2014 Enthoo Pro)

This is the part list I have picked out at the moment for 1440p gaming

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3300X 3.8 GHz Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard: ASRock A520M-ITX/ac Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard (£98.57 @ Technextday)
Memory: Team T-FORCE DARK Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory (£52.61 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£92.98 @ Laptops Direct)
Storage: Toshiba X300 4 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£101.47 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus GeForce RTX 3070 8 GB STRIX GAMING Video Card
Power Supply: Corsair SF 600 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply (£109.99 @ Corsair UK)
Custom: CoolerMaster NR200P (£89.99)
Total: £545.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-11-11 15:34 GMT+0000

I'd like some honest feedback on this planned build.

The 3070 is obviously stock pending, but I have a 970 in my current system so I would be able to wait for stock. It doesn't have to be nVidia, but I have a g-sync monitor

The memory is a stand-in for whatever happens to be the cheapest 3600Mhz memory is available at the time of purchase

I have gone for an NVME drive as I've heard they're faster, and 1TB because I made the mistake of opting for a 256 drive in 2014 that got filled up SO fast. It wouldn't even hold Call of Duty today

The motherboard is the cheapest compatible ITX board, I would have liked B550 but this was about £30 cheaper than the cheapest B550. I won't be overclocking as I can't fit a huge cooler in NR200P while having a vertical GPU mounted

Please let me know if you think I've got the wrong idea with any of this, I haven't bought anything yet. My plans could totally change if the right black friday deal comes along of course

 

[TheLostSwede]

You are aware the motherboard is limited to PCIe 3.0, right? This applies to the x16 and NVMe slots.
RAM seems to be outrageously expensive in the UK at the moment.
The P1 is a pretty poor NVMe drive, have a look at the WD SN550 instead if you're looking for something affordable, but that performs well. It would even save you a couple of quid.

WD Blue SN550 1TB High-Performance M.2 PCIe NVME SSD - Western Digital

Buy WD Blue SN550 1TB High-Performance M.2 PCIe NVME SSD at Amazon.

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[tabascosauz]

If you're going to put a 3.5" HDD in the NR200P, you might have to watch out for GPU length. The NR200P has two PSU positions and both of them may potentially be a tight fit with a triple fan Strix. iirc the 3.5" bay is mounted on the PSU.

Aside from that, not too much else aside from the fact you might be waiting a long time for a 3300X, and the board being absolute bargain basement on AM4 miniITX makes a number of sacrifices like USB 10Gbps and PCIe 4.0.

I don't think youre going to want to run a vertical GPU with a tempered glass panel unless you've got *very* strong airflow coming in from the bottom of the case.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Does the PCIe riser support PCIe 4.0? I doubt it, as they are not the same as the ones for PCIe 3.0.
Your graphics card will be PCIe 4.0, as will your CPU, but obviously not that motherboard.

 

[kapone32]

I seriously doubt you will be able to find a 3300x if not the 3600 is an excellent (if not more expensive) replacement. You are very limited but the AC board makes sense if need WIFI or Bluetooth. Everything else looks on point though.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I seriously doubt you will be able to find a 3300x if not the 3600 is an excellent (if not more expensive) replacement. You are very limited but the AC board makes sense if need WIFI or Bluetooth. Everything else looks on point though.

AMD Ryzen 3 3300X, 4C/8T, 3.80-4.30GHz, boxed | Preisvergleich Geizhals EU

✔ Preisvergleich für AMD Ryzen 3 3300X, 4C/8T, 3.80-4.30GHz, boxed ✔ Bewertungen ✔ Produktinfo ⇒ Kerne: 4 (4C) • Threads: 8 • Turbotakt: 4.30GHz • Basistakt: 3.80GHz… ✔ AMD ✔ Testberichte ✔ Günstig kaufen

geizhals.eu

No stock and the 3500X is cheaper.

AMD Ryzen 5 3500X, 6C/6T, 3.60-4.10GHz, tray ab € 88,90 (2024) | Preisvergleich Geizhals EU

✔ Preisvergleich für AMD Ryzen 5 3500X, 6C/6T, 3.60-4.10GHz, tray ✔ Bewertungen ✔ Produktinfo ⇒ Kerne: 6 (6C) • Threads: 6 • Turbotakt: 4.10GHz • Basistakt: 3.60GHz… ✔ AMD ✔ Testberichte ✔ Günstig kaufen

geizhals.eu

 

[ebivan]

If you want, there are b550 ITX Mainvoatds starting at 125€, may be an option to think about. This way you would have PCIe 4.0, just to be future proof.
You can basically use every Ryzen 3000 cpu, theyr're all solid.

As the others said, the P1 is not a good choice.

What do you need the internal hard disk for?

 

[tabascosauz]

If you want, there are b550 ITX Mainvoatds starting at 125€, may be an option to think about. This way you would have PCIe 4.0, just to be future proof.
You can basically use every Ryzen 3000 cpu, theyr're all solid.

As the others said, the P1 is not a good choice.

What do you need the internal hard disk for?

To be fair to OP, the B550M-ITX/ac at 125quid is £45 more for the same board plus PCIe 4.0. Aside from the different chipset and therefore official PCIe 4.0 support, it's quite literally the exact same board. ASRock's selling you PCIe 4.0 and PCIe 4.0 alone for 50% more price. Yeah, I was pretty amused too when the A520M-ITX/ac first released.

A520 has out-of-the-box Ryzen 3000 support, just like X570 and B550. The board is cheap and pretty eh on quality and features compared to other ITX boards, but there's just not that many others around that price with guaranteed Ryzen 3000 boot support. As an aside, the A520 board also has Ryzen 5000 boot support even on its earliest BIOS release.

The bigger potential issue I see here is still how OP plans to fit a vertical GPU and 3.5" drive in that case at the same time, given a card as long as the Strix and the drive are going to be occupying the same space.

 

[John Naylor]

1. Is this a strictly gaming box ? It's bit unbalanced ... significant investment in the GPU, but MoBo / CPU you literally said 'cheapest" available. At this point in time, I really can't make a case for a gaming only build that doesn't have a 10400F.

https://tpucdn.com/review/intel-core-i5-10400f/images/relative-performance-games-2560-1440.png

2. The differences in Windows and Game Level loading tomes is far less then significant ,... compare the Samsung 970 EVO (NVME) w/ the Samsing 850 EVO (SATA)

Windows Start up = 0.8 seconds
https://tpucdn.com/review/samsung-870-qvo-1-tb/images/windows-10-startup.png

BF level Loading = 0.4 seconds

https://tpucdn.com/review/samsung-870-qvo-1-tb/images/battlefield-v.png

FC5 Level Loading = 0.0 seconds

https://tpucdn.com/review/samsung-870-qvo-1-tb/images/far-cry-5.png

SotTR = 0.1 Seconds

https://tpucdn.com/review/samsung-870-qvo-1-tb/images/shadow-of-the-tomb-raider.png

If the differences in level loading above won't keep ya awake at night, then it really doesn't matter.

Finding a benchmark that where one SSD crushes another in its market niche is easy ... Finding one that significantly tops another in stuff you actually do.... not some much.

3. Id consider using an SSHD instead of a HD .... Hellva lot faster for games that don't fit on the SSD and 2.5 times the warranty. be aware if you the type of persom who goes from sat FC4 to FC5 and plays thru, you will see a lot more benefit from the SSHD than the person who plays 4-5 different games every day.

4. Yes, witha G-Sync monitor, you will certainly benefit more from he 3070, especially if it has ULMB .... but Id wait till the TPU reviews break ... regardless of who tops the performance summary with both cards overclocked, the competiton may have a significant impact on 3070 procing if that's the direction you still want to take.

 

[SL2]

There's no reason to buy SATA where I live, prices are about the same as NVMe.

I sold my >4 year old 1 TB SATA for more than the cost of my new 1 TB NVMe..

 

[El_Mayo]

Does the PCIe riser support PCIe 4.0? I doubt it, as they are not the same as the ones for PCIe 3.0.
Your graphics card will be PCIe 4.0, as will your CPU, but obviously not that motherboard.

Yeah I thought PCI 3 vs 4 was negligible in terms of performance, I didn't think I would that much more performance, but if the board is actually shit then it might be worth stepping up a bit.

To be fair to OP, the B550M-ITX/ac at 125quid is £45 more for the same board plus PCIe 4.0. Aside from the different chipset and therefore official PCIe 4.0 support, it's quite literally the exact same board. ASRock's selling you PCIe 4.0 and PCIe 4.0 alone for 50% more price. Yeah, I was pretty amused too when the A520M-ITX/ac first released.

A520 has out-of-the-box Ryzen 3000 support, just like X570 and B550. The board is cheap and pretty eh on quality and features compared to other ITX boards, but there's just not that many others around that price with guaranteed Ryzen 3000 boot support. As an aside, the A520 board also has Ryzen 5000 boot support even on its earliest BIOS release.

The bigger potential issue I see here is still how OP plans to fit a vertical GPU and 3.5" drive in that case at the same time, given a card as long as the Strix and the drive are going to be occupying the same space.

I have no idea I will have to look at some other people's builds tbh. I need a HDD to hold all my old games, music and movies though.
Thankfully I'm not set on any particular 3070, but I could maybe build it and see if my current GTX 970 fits before buying anything though

1. Is this a strictly gaming box ? It's bit unbalanced ... significant investment in the GPU, but MoBo / CPU you literally said 'cheapest" available. At this point in time, I really can't make a case for a gaming only build that doesn't have a 10400F.

https://tpucdn.com/review/intel-core-i5-10400f/images/relative-performance-games-2560-1440.png

2. The differences in Windows and Game Level loading tomes is far less then significant ,... compare the Samsung 970 EVO (NVME) w/ the Samsing 850 EVO (SATA)

Windows Start up = 0.8 seconds
https://tpucdn.com/review/samsung-870-qvo-1-tb/images/windows-10-startup.png

BF level Loading = 0.4 seconds

https://tpucdn.com/review/samsung-870-qvo-1-tb/images/battlefield-v.png

FC5 Level Loading = 0.0 seconds

https://tpucdn.com/review/samsung-870-qvo-1-tb/images/far-cry-5.png

SotTR = 0.1 Seconds

https://tpucdn.com/review/samsung-870-qvo-1-tb/images/shadow-of-the-tomb-raider.png

If the differences in level loading above won't keep ya awake at night, then it really doesn't matter.

Finding a benchmark that where one SSD crushes another in its market niche is easy ... Finding one that significantly tops another in stuff you actually do.... not some much.

3. Id consider using an SSHD instead of a HD .... Hellva lot faster for games that don't fit on the SSD and 2.5 times the warranty. be aware if you the type of persom who goes from sat FC4 to FC5 and plays thru, you will see a lot more benefit from the SSHD than the person who plays 4-5 different games every day.

4. Yes, witha G-Sync monitor, you will certainly benefit more from he 3070, especially if it has ULMB .... but Id wait till the TPU reviews break ... regardless of who tops the performance summary with both cards overclocked, the competiton may have a significant impact on 3070 procing if that's the direction you still want to take.

Going for the 3300X seems like the best value in the 3000 series, but the 3500X also looks quite good.
The best value 5000 series chip probably isn't here yet, which I think would be a 5600 or 5300X and I don't know if/when that's coming
I was looking at NVME because i think they slot directly on the board and won't take up any room in case and saves me some cable management

 

[TheLostSwede]

Yeah I thought PCI 3 vs 4 was negligible in terms of performance, I didn't think I would that much more performance, but if the board is actually shit then it might be worth stepping up a bit.

Shit might be going a bit far, but it is very basic. The chipset and design is the limiting factor, but it's on purpose. Any B550 board will be vastly superior.
It seems like PCIe 4.0 will make a difference, if you got for a Radeon 6000-series card. Edit: And now also on Nvidia cards.

The lower end Ryzen 5000-series CPUs aren't expected until sometime in Q1 2021.

 

[ebivan]

I need a HDD to hold all my old games, music and movies though

I would not use a HDD for anything else than movies and music. Get an SSD big enough to fit your games or just install the games youre actually playing on there. Why dont you get an external USB HDD? They are much cheaper (than SATA SSDs) and take no room in your tiny case.

 

[Jetster]

I love SXF builds. Just use an SSD just get a big one. Love the case

 

[TheLostSwede]

I would not use a HDD for anything else than movies and music. Get an SSD big enough to fit your games or just install the games youre actually playing on there. Why dont you get an external USB HDD? They are much cheaper (than SATA SSDs) and take no room in your tiny case.

He seems to have a limited budget and HDD are a lot more cost effective per GB.
But I do agree, after having gone all SSD in my system, a hard drive feels very counterproductive in so many ways.
I keep those in my NAS for media and backups.
External hard drives only seem to be cheaper in the US though, which is also weird, since they cost a lot more to manufacture.

 

[ebivan]

No, they're cheaper in Europe too. For 100€ you will get 6 TB external and only 4 TB internal. So using an external hdd to store media is actually the budget option. While NAS is the premium option. And internal HDD is the no-go option

 

[bencrutz]

The lower end Ryzen 5000-series CPUs aren't expected until sometime in Q1 2021.

that fast? i might wait for it to get a taste of 5000

PS: sorry for hijacking the thread, OP

 

[TheLostSwede]

that fast? i might wait for it to get a taste of 5000

PS: sorry for hijacking the thread, OP

It's a rumour.

AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Rumored to Launch Early 2021 for 220 USD

AMD recently announced their first Ryzen 5000 series chips catering to the high-end market. AMD announced the Ryzen 5 5600X, Ryzen 7 5800X, and Ryzen 9 5900X with the bold claim of gaming supremacy. These chips came with price increases across the board over their predecessors being priced at...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[El_Mayo]

No, they're cheaper in Europe too. For 100€ you will get 6 TB external and only 4 TB internal. So using an external hdd to store media is actually the budget option. While NAS is the premium option. And internal HDD is the no-go option

This is something I completely hadn't considered, thanks for the idea. I'm coming from USB 3.0 I've never seriously considered it, but presumably I'll be on 3.2 gen speed by moving to 500 series motherboards

 

[TheLostSwede]

This is something I completely hadn't considered, thanks for the idea. I'm coming from USB 3.0 I've never seriously considered it, but presumably I'll be on 3.2 gen speed by moving to 500 series motherboards

Doesn't mean the external enclosures have gotten any faster...
They all claim USB 3.2 support, but Gen 1 which is the same as USB 3.0.
Got to love marketing...

 

[ebivan]

Actually it doesn't matter if you got 3.0, 3.1 or 3.2.
Even the lowest, 5Gb/s, which translates roughly to real world 450 MB/s, is enough for a magnetic harddrive. Most 3.5" USB hard drives will give you ~ 130-180 MB/s. But thats the physical limitation of the drive, not from the USB converter. Even the fastest internal SATA drive hardly go faster than 200MB/s.

Anyways, for cheap media storage ~150 MB/s is absolutly fine and can even compete with QLC SSDs which go down to about the same speed after their cache runs out.

 

[El_Mayo]

Everything being out of stock is really starting to get annoying, I might have to go for a 3600 as that's all that's in stock that's viable (no 3300X or 5600X)

and I can forget about getting any new graphics cards for a while