Holiday 2012 Small Form Factor Buyer's Guide
by Zach Throckmorton on December 5, 2012 1:55 AM ESTIntel SFF gaming system
The de facto king of the gaming CPUs remains the Intel Core i5-3570K, a quad-core SKU with a base frequency of 3.4GHz that can turbo to 3.8GHz, and features an unlocked multiplier for easy overclocking. Though the K-series chip is easy to overclock and doesn't produce much additional heat (vs. stock) when modestly overclocked, you'll want to exercise caution overclocking in a mini-ITX box.
To facilitate conservative overclocks of the i5-3570K, ASRock's Z77E-ITX motherboard gets our recommendation for a relatively inexpensive Z77 ITX board that nevertheless performs well. It's also laid out in a manner that facilitates easier cable management than many other Z77 boards when placed in our recommended case, the BitFenix Prodigy. The Prodigy is an interesting case, from its appearance to its internal layout. AnandTech reviewed this unique case recently, and it earned our Editor's Choice. Bluntly, ITX systems are not always a joy to assemble because of the cramped spaces entailed, but I've enjoyed every Prodigy system I've put together.
The AMD Radeon HD 7850 1GB yields arguably the best performance for a GPU under $200. Priced roughly the same as the NVIDIA GTX 650 Ti (both can be found around $150 on sale and/or after rebate), the 7850 outperforms the 650 Ti in nearly every metric. You can read more about what to expect from a Radeon HD 7850 1GB card in Ryan's review. Note that in order to accommodate this GPU, you will need to remove the modular drive cage from the Prodigy.
Rounding out the build, we're recommending an 8GB kit of DDR3-1600Mhz (the extremely overclockable Samsung 8GB kit with modest official specs), a standard 1TB hard drive, and like the small form factor file server, a small, modular power supply—the Silverstone ST50F-P.
| Component | Product | Price | Rebate |
| Case | BitFenix Prodigy | $70 | |
| Power supply | Silverstone ST50F-P | $77 | |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-3570K | $215 | |
| Motherboard | ASRock Z77E-ITX | $150 | |
| RAM | Samsung 8GB DDR3-1600MHz | $35 | |
| Graphics card | XFX Core Edition Radeon HD 7850 1GB | $175 | -$20 |
| Hard drive | Seagate ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM | $70 | |
| Optical drive | Samsung SH-224BB | $16 | |
| Operating system | Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium OEM | $92 | |
| Total: | $900 | $880 |
Though this small form factor gaming rig will produce spectacular frame rates in most games, it does so at a price. If you primarily play less demanding games, or play at resolutions lower than 1080p, you can save a lot of money by going with the AMD APU small form factor gaming build we'll detail next.
AMD SFF gaming system
I recently posted an AMD Trinity APU buyer's guide, in which I highlighted the A10-5800K's gaming abilities. Briefly, Crysis: Warhead, Metro 2033, DiRT 3, Total War: Shogun 2, Portal 2, Battlefield 3, Starcraft 2, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Civilization V, World of Warcraft, Left 4 Dead, Diablo 3, Aliens vs. Predator, and Minecraft are all very playable (at least 50-60fps) at 720p resolution and moderate details. Gaming at higher resolutions like 1680x1050 changes consideration of the A10-5800K as a "good enough" gaming processor. Metro 2033 and Aliens vs. Predator in particular start to struggle, and maintaining average frame rates higher than 40fps requires lowering quality settings in most of the remaining titles listed above. You can read more about the top of the line AMD APU's gaming performance in Anand's review.
Unfortunately there are very few Socket FM2 motherboards available in American retail channels that use the ITX form factor. Of the two I've tried, I prefer the MSI FM2-A75IA-E53 because its SATA ports, USB 3.0 front panel header, and 24 pin power connector are all adjacent to each other, which makes stringing cables throughout a small ITX case that much easier.
Housing the A10 APU and its MSI FM2 motherboard is the Cooler Master Elite 120. Dustin reviewed this case and I agree with his main conclusions: its thermals are somewhat limited and it's better suited to more modest systems. As we've outlined below, there's no discrete GPU in this build, so that concern is simply irrelevant. If you decide to run Hybrid Crossfire aka Dual Graphics at some point in the future, the GPUs recommended for pairing with the A10-5800K are physically small and have relatively low TDPs, so the Elite 120's limited thermals should remain a non-issue. Best of all, this is a lot of case for not much money given its $50 MSRP.
AMD APUs benefit from faster DDR3, so we're recommending a kit of DDR3-1866MHz here. Take care to not buy a kit that has unnecessarily heatspreaders, as space is at a premium in this ITX build. As stated earlier, hard drive prices are highly variable right now, so keep your eyes on prices. We're recommending a standard 1TB 7200 RPM drive here, which should accommodate even larger gaming libraries. Finally, powering everything we have a standard budget PSU, Antec's Neo Eco 400C. If the Neo Eco 400C isn't priced well in your area of the world, you can always consider the Corsair Builder Series 430W, Antec Earthwatts 380W, or even the Seasonic 300W.
| Component | Product | Price |
| Case | Cooler Master Elite 120 | $40 |
| Power supply | Antec Neo Eco 400C | $40 |
| CPU | AMD A10-5800K APU | $130 |
| Motherboard | MSI FM2-A75IA-E53 | $90 |
| RAM | GEIL Evo Leggara 8GB DDR3-1866MHz | $43 |
| Hard drive | Seagate ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM | $70 |
| Optical drive | Samsung SH-224BB | $16 |
| Operating system | Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium OEM | $92 |
| Total: | $521 |
We have a few concluding remarks on the final page.
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shurik_1 - Wednesday, December 5, 2012 - link
As I wrote in comments to ASRock Vision HT 321B review there is at least one ASRock product that has issue with silent data corruption that it refuses to fix and does not inform users that their data is in jeopardy. How can you recommend the MB from the company with such track record?just4U - Wednesday, December 5, 2012 - link
"Though the K-series chip is easy to overclock and doesn't produce much additional heat (vs. stock)"-------------------
THIS is somewhat misleading.. and readers need to be very aware of the fluxuations in temperatures on the new Intel cpu's regardless of what casing and cooling solutions they use..
Personally I am quite upset with intel. I'd thought they'd finally moved away from the heatscore solution which in my opinion hurts the longevity of a computer. If I can get them I still default to a sandybridge cpu over these newer proccessors.
Piano Man - Wednesday, December 5, 2012 - link
I don't get all of the adulation Prodigy gets, especially for gaming. Look at it's dimensions and weight. Over 17lbs and 9.84" x 15.91" x 14.13" . And its mini-ITX.Temjin TJ08-e is around 12 lbs and 15.16" x 8.27" x 14.72". And its Micro ATX and can hold 2 GPUs and a Heatsink like the Noctua D14. Not to mention it has a massive 180mm intake.
The Prodigy would be better if it got rid of those stupid handles that waste space. Hard to recommend a mini-ITX that is bigger than a uATX case.
just4U - Wednesday, December 5, 2012 - link
I quite like the case your refering to.. (my 2700K build here..) http://imageshack.us/a/img607/4497/dscf0512k.jpgYour right to you can fit a whole helluva lot into it and it still seems quite roomy. It's not the easiest case to work with though..
abrogan - Friday, December 7, 2012 - link
I just finished two high-end builds, with the first computer using the Temjin and the second the Prodigy.The Prodigy is surprisingly large but easy to build (especially with a stubby screw driver). Lots of room to put extra cables along the sides. Be careful to buy a 140mm psu, as the first PSU I purchased didn't fit. I liked all the colour options (-:
The Temjin fit all standard supplies 160mm or shorter so it gets the nod from me for wide compatibility. Perfect for the professionals. My friends all liked the look of the Temjin better but the Prodigy is for the oddballs out there who like high quality soft touch plastic looking Mac Pros.
The Prodigy was just fun because of its unique nature however I would ask Bitfenix to make the plastic fins an optional feature as well. There are no rubber feet to provide access to the PSU on the bottom without the fins installed and there are gaps on top without the top fin. If you could remove the plastic fins I'd say it would be pretty awesome and 30 dollars cheaper than the Temjin!
Both are pretty nice!
Wrathgar11 - Saturday, December 8, 2012 - link
You are so right.I thought seriously about the Prodigy case before I bought my Node 304. No regrets, IMHO the Node beats it hands down and fits under my TV too.
An under-rated case is the Core 1000, which Fractal sell as a mini ITX/micro ATX case. In reality the internal dimension are too small for an mATX board, but as an enclosure for a mini ITX desktop system (my current setup) it is brilliant.
Core 1000 is no good as a gaming case, but for this application it rocks.
Great price too, I got it from Enta around £25.
pvdw - Monday, December 10, 2012 - link
Love the TJ08-E! It's almost completely inaudible with a Seasonic S12II-430 and the front fan slowed ever so slightly.Plus, how are gamers supposed to do a dual-GPU config in mini-ITX? Easy in the TJ08-E.
pvdw - Monday, December 10, 2012 - link
BTW, forgot to mention that it also gets an Editor's Choice from SPCR.xismo - Wednesday, December 5, 2012 - link
I've been interested in a small form factor build for a while but for a different reason. I travel around and live in different places usually for extended periods of time (1+ year). So the possibility of putting my pc in a carry on and only having to buy a $200 display after I get where I need to go while still getting double the power of a laptop was always very intriguing. But I never pulled the trigger mostly because I should eventually settle down and so want to build a full build.Can you guys recommend the smallest possible case that can accommodate either mini-ITX or preferrably micro-ATX (would like to have 4x ram slots) while also having enough room for a GPU (nothing too powerful something like 630 or 640). Do you think it's even possible to cool the specs mentioned above appropriately with a quad core i5 in a small case that can fit in a carry on?
KAlmquist - Wednesday, December 5, 2012 - link
I'm guessing that the power supply in the budget build is an Apex AL-8250SFX from Allied Leader International, manufactured by Deer Electronics/Solytech. Deer/Solytech is a name you probably recognize only if you read <a href="http://www.hardocp.com/article/2007/10/03/50_power... of cheap power supplies</a> for their <a href="http://www.hardocp.com/article/2007/05/23/450w500w... value</a>.As far as I can determine, a decent power supply cannot be built for less than about $40. Back in July, Anandtech published <a href="http://www.anandtech.com/show/6013/350450w-roundup... Roundup: 11 Cheap PSUs</a>." Martin Kaffei's conclusion about the $28 unit: <a href="http://www.anandtech.com/show/6013/350450w-roundup... PSUs have no right to exist."</a>
Based on price and pedigree, I'd wager that the power supply in the budget build is crap. If I'm wrong, that's a "man bites dog" story and Anandtech should do a full review of this PSU.