I'm thinking of getting a mini PC to replace my now dead gaming laptop (they still don't really cut it I reckon- run too hot, not enough battery life even with optimus etc...) and with the new nvidia gtx 750 cards, a small and efficient mini- pc seems like a better deal (I still want something thats reasonably portable)
I dont do any intensive rendering/ video editing etc, this machine will principally for work/ internet and gaming (nothing hugely graphics intensive- mainly Dota, total war, (modded) skyrim, i dont really play the latest high-frame rate shooters)
Basically I want something relatively quiet and energy efficient with enough oomph to run mid- range games on high settings, so here is a provisional build that I'd appreciate any advice for:
Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 130 CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4460 (3.2GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® MAXIMUS VII IMPACT: Mini-ITX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, WIFI
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 750 Ti - DVI, mHDMI, VGA - 3D Vision Ready
1st Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SEAGATE SSHD, SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM (64MB + 8GB SSD CACHE)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
INTEL STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD (£16)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
AOC 21.5" WIDESCREEN LED TFT - 1920 x 1080, 5MS, D-Sub, DVI-D (£86)
Keyboard & Mouse
Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 3000 for Business (£15)
Gaming Mouse Pad
CM Storm Speed RX Gaming Mouse Pad - Small (£9)
Speakers
Creative A250 2.1 Speakers with Subwoofer (£32)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
I'm not too sure about the hard-drive- I was toying with the idea of having an SSD for OS (and games?) and conventional storage drive for files, but I've never had a system set up like this before and aren't sure how easy it is, then saw there were these seagate hybrid drives which might be simpler?
Then I've picked an lower-end i5 processor but again I'm not quite sure what sort of processing speed I really need- this i5 4460 looks a lot faster than my deceased laptop's 2.5ghz dual core (gt555m card) and to be honest it never really struggled with any of the games I played on it...
I know nothing about picking motherboards, other than I'd like to have inbuilt wifi, but I have no idea what makes a good mobo.... also if you want wireless internet connectivity, as I do, then do you need to select both a wireless motherboard and a wireless card? or is one or the other?
And also the screen- again complete noobie here, I've never bought one before, are any brands/ models particularly favoured?- I'm not bothered about a huge screen size as I'm used to my 17.3" laptop.
So yeah quite a few unknowns! any advice from the more informed would be much appreciated
I dont do any intensive rendering/ video editing etc, this machine will principally for work/ internet and gaming (nothing hugely graphics intensive- mainly Dota, total war, (modded) skyrim, i dont really play the latest high-frame rate shooters)
Basically I want something relatively quiet and energy efficient with enough oomph to run mid- range games on high settings, so here is a provisional build that I'd appreciate any advice for:
Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 130 CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4460 (3.2GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® MAXIMUS VII IMPACT: Mini-ITX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, WIFI
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 750 Ti - DVI, mHDMI, VGA - 3D Vision Ready
1st Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SEAGATE SSHD, SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM (64MB + 8GB SSD CACHE)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
INTEL STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD (£16)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
AOC 21.5" WIDESCREEN LED TFT - 1920 x 1080, 5MS, D-Sub, DVI-D (£86)
Keyboard & Mouse
Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 3000 for Business (£15)
Gaming Mouse Pad
CM Storm Speed RX Gaming Mouse Pad - Small (£9)
Speakers
Creative A250 2.1 Speakers with Subwoofer (£32)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
I'm not too sure about the hard-drive- I was toying with the idea of having an SSD for OS (and games?) and conventional storage drive for files, but I've never had a system set up like this before and aren't sure how easy it is, then saw there were these seagate hybrid drives which might be simpler?
Then I've picked an lower-end i5 processor but again I'm not quite sure what sort of processing speed I really need- this i5 4460 looks a lot faster than my deceased laptop's 2.5ghz dual core (gt555m card) and to be honest it never really struggled with any of the games I played on it...
I know nothing about picking motherboards, other than I'd like to have inbuilt wifi, but I have no idea what makes a good mobo.... also if you want wireless internet connectivity, as I do, then do you need to select both a wireless motherboard and a wireless card? or is one or the other?
And also the screen- again complete noobie here, I've never bought one before, are any brands/ models particularly favoured?- I'm not bothered about a huge screen size as I'm used to my 17.3" laptop.
So yeah quite a few unknowns! any advice from the more informed would be much appreciated
