Mini ITX (Shuttle?) PC Build

On May 19 2013 21:32 Rannasha wrote:


The Silverstone case you linked further on in your post has space for a 9 inch graphics card (22.7 cm). Measure your card and see if it fits.

Any mITX motherboard with a PCI-E slot will be able to handle your 6970. The motherboards are not functionally different from their larger brothers, just the size that's different (which means less space for various slots and features typically).

As for cooling: Most high-end GPUs have fans that draw in air from the case and blow out the hot air through a rear exhaust. This cooling setup also works reasonably well with smaller cases, since the hot air isn't dumped back into the case. You do need to make sure that there is sufficient inflow of cool air, so a front-bottom intake fan is important.


For gaming a 3770k is overkill, there's no need to go beyond a 3570k. I'm not sure what your 'personal use' entails, but it's unlikely to benefit much from a 3770k, as few tasks do.

Note that the k-series processors are for overclocking. In a mITX case, I'd probably skip on the OCing for heat reasons. So you can save on the processor by going for a non-k model (of course it'll lower your performance compared to an overclocked CPU, but that's obvious).

If you're not overclocking, any motherboard from the main brands will do really, just pick one with the features that you need, but there's no need to overspend,


Like I wrote earlier, it fits up to 9 inch of graphics card. Measure your card to see if that's enough. If you're looking for alternatives, I can recommend the Lian-li PC-Q08, which I use myself for my home-server/NAS. It can fit a graphics card up to 30 cm if you remove the lower HDD-rack (still has space for several disks then). It also comes with a relatively large front intake-fan and a (smaller) outtake on the top. Especially the front fan will help keep the system cool when using a high-end GPU. It is, however, a bit larger than the case you picked (but still rather small).


Case-fans, as mentioned before, are definitely good to have if they're not included with the case. Also get a 3rd party cooler for your processor. The stock cooler does a decent enough job at keeping the CPU reasonably cool, but if you're short on space and have another heat-producer like your graphics card, you may like the additional cooling performance (and reduced noise) from a better cooler. Do make sure that it fits in your case as some 3rd party coolers are huge.


Never traveled with a pc on a plane before, but it shouldn't be a problem as carry-on luggage. For added peace of mind, I'd remove the harddisk and pack it separately as it is the only component with mechanical parts and it's also the most annoying to lose (since it contains your data). Note that this doesn't apply if you use an SSD (no moving parts).


Check the specs of your case, but it should be fine. The Lian-Li case I recommended takes a regular ATX-sized PSU without issues.


Consider the i5 3570 (non-k). Should be obtainable for significantly less.


Sub-$100 motherboards should suffice if you're not overclocking and have no special requirements.