Lian Li PC-Q08 Build... suggestions?

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Johnson184

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Lian Li PC-Q08 $145
Gigabyte GA-H55N-USB3 $110
i7 870 $245
(I was originally looking to get an i5 760, but it seems like TigerDirect sold out)
XFX 5870 $340
4GB G Skill Ripjaws $100
160GB Intel X25-M SSD $360
(I have external 1TB hard drives for the big stuff... but I wouldn't mind tossing in a WD Caviar Black 1TB HD or two in there and going with a smaller SSD... just not sure if I have the room with this case and PSU)
Cooler Master Silent Pro M600 $85
Plextor BluRay drive $100
Corsair H50 $70
Scythe Fan $20
(For the H50 to squeeze in there)

Total without software, monitor, etc. around $1580

Seeing as this is pretty much my first build... I'm a bit worried about everything fitting/working well. I'm just hoping this doesn't turn into a noisy beast! And feeling a little nervous about having to chop the H50's backplate to fit onto the mobo.
 
Assuming this is primarily for gaming (which it looks to be) I would lean towards an AMD build since AMD is finally Viable for mITX.. Here is a quick priceout I Did..

130 LIAN LI PC-Q08B Black Aluminum Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case
125 ASUS M4A88T-I Deluxe AM3 AMD 880G HDMI USB 3.0 Mini ITX AMD Motherboard
140 AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W
380 XFX HD-587X-ZNFV Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB
100 SILVERSTONE ST60F-P 600W ATX
20 Silverstone Short Cable Set For Silverstone Strider Series Modular PSU (this is a huge help for the mITX build)
215 G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333
290 G.SKILL Phoenix Pro Series FM-25S2S-120GBP2 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
60 ASUS Black 4X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive
75 CORSAIR Cooling Hydro Series CWCH50-1 120mm High Performance CPU Cooler
20 Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E 120mm Case Fan

Shipped total from Newegg is 1583 So it could probably be pieced together a little cheaper shopping around. In your original build there are a few things that I think are just WAY overpriced for a gaming build. Namely the CPU, SSD & BR drive. The 945 should yield you nearly the same results in gaming as the i7 above (it will be a little slower, but probably not enough to notice if your not running a benchmark) This area you can also completely cheap out in & get the cheapest dual core athalon 2 for now as AMD will be releasing 2 hexa core CPU's @ 95w before the end of the year. The x18m while an awesome SSD will not get you any better performance then the G.Skill I linked (it uses the new sandforce controller also). & while I love plextor, I haven't bought one in years because the lesser brands last just as long & work just as well. Also Unless your going to be ripping BR movies to watch on your computer you probably don't actually need a BR drive (most people still don't pay the premium for them). With the savings from these components I shifted funds around & got a MUCH better PSU & the short cable kit for it to make your build much easier. Also if you want a little mroe room inside you can also use the LIAN LI PE-01B Power Supply Bracket that buys you a little more room inside the case at the cost of it sticking out the back (normally you will have other cables that still stick out farther like DVI especially if you have to use any type of video adapter).

Also I don't know how you got your price of 1580 for your build as when I added all the items to cart I Came up with a total shipped of 1883. I assume you are using BCB or MIR to get to that, But I didn't include either in my total.
 
Thanks for the help. I think Bing Cashback literally just ended for Tiger Direct. :*( Guess Newegg will be getting all my money again.

Is it better to have 8GB of slower ram than 4GB of faster ram for gaming/ripping/encoding/etc.?
 
If your referring to 1333 vs 1600 then its a Mute point unless your going to over-clock allot & in mITX thats almost always a bad ideal. In reality gaming (and most other shit) currently really requires only 4gb & the other 4gb will rarely be utilized (though it may get some higher then average use when encoding). But since in mITX you normally only have two memory slots if your going to fill them both (which for dual channel you need to) then do it with the largest that you can fit in budget since upgrading means replacing them all together later.
 
Thanks for all the recommendations thus far.

Silverstone a reputable brand? I've honestly never heard of them before.
I'm leaning towards going with the intel i5. Nothing against AMD, my last computer was one... just want to try out an Intel this time.

And I'm definitely going to be watching movies a lot. I honestly like watching them while playing games like WoW on a 2nd screen hahaha. Reason I don't want an OEM bluray drive is because the bluray software is like $100!!!
 
uhmmm Read the reviews about that drive.. Multiple people complain about the software not being the full version. & the full version is only 50 bucks on cyberlink's website. You can get retail & chance it or buy the oem with the knowledge that you will have to buy the software & get the full thing.

Edit: comes with a version of Power DVD 8 that ALOT of people apparently still pay to upgrade from, & For Blueray playback you do need to pay for the 100 dollar version not the 50 as I posted above.. I Would say its a tossup.. Its like spend 100 & then maybe another 100.. Or spend 60 & then spend 100 for sure. So its a gamble that could cost 60 more or save you 40
 
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I see your point about the bluray. Why are there some drives that are Bluray 8x and others 4x? They should all be reading at the same speed/quality, right?


And uhhh about Silverstone again... just how quality are they? I've never heard of them before.
 
Yes, SilverStone is a good brand. They make lots of high quality cases and their power supplies are pretty good too.
 
Johnson184 said:
I see your point about the bluray. Why are there some drives that are Bluray 8x and others 4x? They should all be reading at the same speed/quality, right?


And uhhh about Silverstone again... just how quality are they? I've never heard of them before.
Click to expand...

When playing Movies 1x would be sufficient as thats 1x real time.. 8x is only really good over 4x if you are ripping movies as it will read faster.. watching though there is no real gain..

As for the silverstone it is an excellent PSU that is actually made by SeaSonic which is one of the best brands around.
 
If you do decide to take a chance on the software & see what has to happen afterwards try this instead.. It being an actual Blue Ray burner & it comes with 3d stuff so I believe that will be the top of the line cyberlink.. But not positive on that.
 
Why not put in a Noctua NH-C12P SE14 for under $70 for much quieter and better cooling performance instead of the H50 + low profile fan which costs $90.
 
CHANG3D said:
height 90mm without fan and 114mm with fan.

And the heatsink clearance is 116mm. Maybe cutting a bit close... I wonder if it performs well without the fan.
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it may get by without the fan.. But it wont cool worth a damn..
 
Alright... think I'm going to make two more changes.

G.Skill Ripjaws 2GBx2 $100

They seem like great RAM for the price. I'm not going with the 4gb sticks as I think there may be problems getting them to fit as they seem like they stick out twice as much.

Corsair 650HX 650Watt $110

Seems like it's got some great reviews, and it's still modular. This PSU is about 10mm shorter in length than the standard ATX PSUs and apparently still very quiet. The extra 10mm should help me keep the top hard drive bay if I need it in the future.
 
Johnson184 said:
Alright... think I'm going to make two more changes.

G.Skill Ripjaws 2GBx2 $100

They seem like great RAM for the price. I'm not going with the 4gb sticks as I think there may be problems getting them to fit as they seem like they stick out twice as much.

Corsair 650HX 650Watt $110

Seems like it's got some great reviews, and it's still modular. This PSU is about 10mm shorter in length than the standard ATX PSUs and apparently still very quiet. The extra 10mm should help me keep the top hard drive bay if I need it in the future.
Click to expand...

The hx650 & the Silverstone I linked above are both actually made by SeaSonic (who is TOP notch in the PSU world) so they are both great PSU's.. The difference is that the Silverstone I linked is FULLY modular where the corsair is not. & Corsair is VERY VERY generous with Cable Length which in a SFF is a bad thing. Where that Silverstone can get the Short Cable Kit (pp05 as I linked) to make cable routing much much easier. So yes the Corsair is about 10mm shorter, you will also end up with about 2 feet of extra cable length you have to try to work with.

This is coming from someone who used a Corsair Modular PSU in a mIYX & now in a mATX.. I Can tell you that until I can get a fully modular one with a short cable kit I will NEVER buy another one for a SFF case.. Now if you were building a Full Tower it would be another store because then the extra length is a good thing. Infact I have a corsair 400wx in my Server now that is in a full Tower Lian Li with the PSU at the bottom & its got no problem reaching the Motherboard Power connector at the top of the motherboard.

The pictures here will tell the story better then I can.
 
Noctua might not be compatible with the Gigabyte board due to the electronic elements placed near the cooler mounting holes. There have been some issues with these small boards (Gigabyte and Intel). They prevent mounting the backplate on the DG45FC (I got this). Bolt thru might be the best opt. There are now IPC 1U PSUs that are marketed as mini-ITX PSU. While they have length about 170 - 230 mm they are thinner leaving much more space above the socket. Space for tower cooler oriented sideways? The PSU could be pc63 from shuttle. Short cables, 500W and 80plus. It would require manufacture of the PSU backplate.
 
huguberhart said:
Noctua might not be compatible with the Gigabyte board due to the electronic elements placed near the cooler mounting holes. There have been some issues with these small boards (Gigabyte and Intel). They prevent mounting the backplate on the DG45FC (I got this). Bolt thru might be the best opt. There are now IPC 1U PSUs that are marketed as mini-ITX PSU. While they have length about 170 - 230 mm they are thinner leaving much more space above the socket. Space for tower cooler oriented sideways? The PSU could be pc63 from shuttle. Short cables, 500W and 80plus. It would require manufacture of the PSU backplate.
Click to expand...

How about it wont fit because the PSU is above the CPU leaving little clearance.
 
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