Description

Built a new rig for my fiance! We really liked the Bitfenix case, and I had never tried mini ITX before so it was a nice experience. Much tougher to work with the smaller space (and Bitfenix is giant for an itx!). I had to remove the video card several times for harnesses I missed on the motherboard! All in all a nice working setup. My first time with an SSD, the storage capacity is low, but I plan to add a second drive in the future. All movies/music/media goes on a different house PC. Focus was on fast loading and decent graphics performance (sims 3 boots fast!). I couldn't be happier with the performance. All components purchased at the local Microcenter. I was never one to really care about cable management, so I hope I don't offend anyone here! H87 and i5-4570 selected because I don't plan on doing any overclocking.

Thanks for checking out the build!

Comments

  • 76 months ago
  • 5 points

The Bitfenix Prodigy M is almost out.... Wish you would have waited :P

  • 76 months ago
  • 5 points

Haha! Honestly I should have, but part of the whole reason I bought everything at Microcenter was that I got bored on my day off and just forced the issue. It's great though, I have no complaints. No SLI plans for this rig, so I think ITX is just fine :)

  • 76 months ago
  • 4 points

What ever works for you! Its a good build reguardless!

  • 76 months ago
  • 2 points

The build looks great, I love the case the more I see people use it on here. I'm actually planning a build almost identical to this for my sister, just waiting until Cyber Monday to see what deals I can find.

Do I spot a Corgi on your couch?

  • 76 months ago
  • 1 point

Haha thank you!! And yes, that is a Pembroke welsh corgi :D

  • 76 months ago
  • 2 points

Is your floor made out of carpet or marble? i cant see it very well. Great build mate! happy gaming and stuff!

  • 76 months ago
  • 1 point

Good job my man, only thing i wou.d of done was a z87 and an unlocked cpu so you can squeeze mor performance but it is great nonetheless.

  • 76 months ago
  • 1 point

damn, your dog needs to lay off the twinkies, is that a corgi?

  • 76 months ago
  • 1 point

I want this build :( although i'd but a gtx 770 :P

Love this build. getting payed from college gonna buid basically this :D orange though lol

  • 76 months ago
  • 1 point

Orange is awesome!! My fiance liked the white and the whole case is about to be covered in stickers XD

  • 76 months ago
  • 1 point

Nice build! I'm kinda new to the PC world so sorry if this might seem as a stupid question: Did you have to buy other cables for your PSU or were all there since it's a semi modular?

  • 76 months ago
  • 1 point

Thanks! And everything that was needed came with the PSU!

  • 76 months ago
  • 1 point

Ah ok. :)

  • 76 months ago
  • 1 point

This is a great build. :) I don't have the finesse to use a mini tower to build. XD Props to you good sir. :D Enjoy it.

  • 76 months ago
  • -2 points

you should have gotten a 600w. and yes i know nvidia says 500w min but you should take into consideration that's not a constant, it peak. besides that nice build i too got most of my stuff at micro too. they are awesome.

  • 76 months ago
  • 3 points

You obviously do not know how power supplies work.

  • 76 months ago
  • -1 points

then tell me. how am i wrong. i have a 760 and it draw nearly 500w

  • 76 months ago
  • 2 points

You also have a hella overclocked 4670k and 760, more RAM, more fans, as well as a water cooler.

  • 76 months ago
  • -1 points

Still that's not the main reason I sudgested a 600w. Thr cx500 technicly by nvidias standard is not a compatable psu check nvidia's minimum reqs and the cx500 amps

  • 76 months ago
  • 1 point

Love Micro, I hope they stay in business forever!

Thanks for the Power supply advice. All seems to be well with this Corsair. It's got some great ratings for the price and semi modular was a bonus.

I used http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp and it actually recommended a Corsair 430w :O

  • 76 months ago
  • 3 points

You can't really go by consumer ratings for power supplies because I'd say that consumers know the least about power supplies in their builds. If the power supply turns on and looks nice, it will probably get great reviews. But the power supply is more complicated and you should know whether it has good voltage regulation and ripple suppression and whether it can with-hold certain temperatures. That's why for power supplies, it's always a good idea to skip reviews from consumers and go to review sites like hardware secrets, johnnyguru, techpowerup where they actually put power supplies through their paces and the reviewers actually know what they are talking about.

The corsair CX power supplies are good power supplies. Some would even say they are great given the price. But they are based on an older design and use cheaper quality capacitors that might be less adept at handling the higher temperatures that are typical in cramped cases like the prodigy. It's generally a rule of thumb that if you are spending more than $500-600 for your core components, you should get a premium quality power supply. If a power supply fails and gives the wrong voltage to your parts, it could fry them. So it really doesn't make sense to spend over $100 on each of the main components of the system and then cheap out on the most important part of the system that could destroy everything else if it fails. It probably will never happen with the corsair CX power supplies, but it is more likely to happen with this than one of the better quality ones. You should get a better PSU like a seasonic, xfx, pcpc, or corsair TX/HX/AX. Those are much better power supplies and would make a lot more sense in your system.

  • 76 months ago
  • 1 point

Thank you! That is a well drawn out explanation and makes a lot of sense. I should have done a bit more research :O

  • 76 months ago
  • 1 point

This, don't get more wattage, get higher quality.

  • 76 months ago
  • 0 points

they might but look at nvidias site and what they recomend. and i say 600w because as you might have seen the diffrence between the two at micro might only have been like $10. and if you were to upgrade to a 770 or something like that nvidia recomends 600w or higher. as well as having 42A on the 12v rail which the cx500 doesn't have.

  • 76 months ago
  • 1 point

also please don't take this is me bashing your build im just giving some incite for future builds. the cx500 is a great psu and good choice but for a little better future proofing and performance a better option may have helped.

  • 76 months ago
  • 1 point

I appreciate it! It's true for a few dollars more I could have gotten a beefier PSU. If I ever upgrade the video card by a large margin I'll definitely address it then!

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  • 76 months ago
  • 2 points

Please keep it civil.

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