What would be your choice of a mini ITX system ?

What would you reckon is the best spec small factor (MINI ITX) pc ?

Give me a good idea what you think please as I am on the lookout to probably buy one thats all built up for me by pcspecialist.

I think a good starting point is probably a Skylake 6700 or 6700K CPU... Dont think about the price at this stage as certain items
can obviously be a bit different for certain peoples own choice and therefore that will reflect on different prices etc.

I want something small but with the grunt and muscle of a lot of much larger full sized towers etc, I know nothing will ever be as
good as a giant overclocked mean machine desktop like I have just now and no doubt other people in here too, but I want to
down size big style as I am just tired of the upkeep of looking after my big towers, gets rather boring after a couple of decades :yawn:
well for me it has anyway, lol, then I sit a lot of the time thinking to myself "what really is the point in having all this setup when I can
get something similar but just in a small case ?" , anyway, thats what I want to do and how I feel :taz:

bump, anyone wish to give their 2p's worth ?

different people will have different requirements and also depends on your budget. If it is mainly for gaming overclocking is not needed, you can get a very nice set up with a gtx 980 ti in a small case

keynes said:

different people will have different requirements and also depends on your budget. If it is mainly for gaming overclocking is not needed, you can get a very nice set up with a gtx 980 ti in a small case

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Graphics on the Skylake CPU and the chipset will be fine for me though, not really interested in gaming these days, but I still want something with a little punch which the Skylake does provide compared to others, I also just love the looks the sizes of the mini ITX systems, its just the harware and/or components I was trying to see what people would choose, hope that helps a bit thanks

Ok, lets see, if any people have time, can you give me your entire choice of specifications you would include in this system If you were going to buy it please ?

This system and various configurations here that i wish to choose from (click the link) >>>> http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-skylake-sff-gaming/

I can start off with a helping hand from me and say start by using the CPU skylake i7 6700 (not the K) and a small very fast SSD for booting windows and a 2nd backup mechanical drive, 1TB would be more than enough, I think I should future proof it with either 16GB or 32GB of ram but not sure what ram is the best of the options (will any of the type of ram chosen kick up to 3000mhz simply by enabling the XMP profile in bios or what ?, I was thinking surely pcspecialist would do that for people anyway as its normally very simple that I know of in bios, will they do it though ?), I also will need a case to be as small as possible and as nice looking as possible too because it will sit on display in the living room, and as the skylake i7 has pretty ok graphics I doubt I would need any more than that as I dont game etc, but if push came to shove I guess I could throw a card in.

Anyway, I would be extremely interested in what combinations some of you would use please ? p.s, dont worry about the cost, but when I say that I dont mean simply go mad with the money lol, spend wisely is what I mean, thanks again

If you are looking for advice it would be helpful to post your budget and intended use.

keynes said:

If you are looking for advice it would be helpful to post your budget and intended use.

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@keynes, thanks mate but I did kind of say those things mate, maybe not exactly but just a rough guide, I feel now I should maybe have posted this entire thread in the busiest section of the forum as it doesnt seem to be getting much attention in this part of the forum at all , can one of the staff please move my thread here to the busiest part of the forum please as I need to get some advice asap etc, thanks

I also mentioned earlier in the thread that I want a ready made setup with loads of grunt, punch and muscle, that way it will be able to cope with most demanding things if and when needed (not really gaming), I did also state that I dont game hardly ever at all nowdays and I feel the great onboard graphics of the Intel i7 skylake cpu would be fine but I guess I could be swayed into sticking a very cheap graphics card in there if needs be, I guess it would probably be the best option, I would never say it would be a waste of money as we all know that basically any graphics card is better than onboard GPU normally.

Anyway, I will post my last post here again (post 5) and see if this thread gets moved and then hopefully some people will give me what items they would choose going by what I have posted, thanks again guys

JaggyThistle said:

Ok, lets see, if any people have time, can you give me your entire choice of specifications you would include in this system If you were going to buy it please ?

This system and various configurations here that I wish to choose from (click the link) >>>> http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-skylake-sff-gaming/

I can start off with a helping hand from me and say start by using the CPU skylake i7 6700 (not the K) and a small very fast SSD for booting windows and a 2nd backup mechanical drive, 1TB would be more than enough, I think I should future proof it with either 16GB or 32GB of ram but not sure what ram is the best of the options (will any of the type of ram chosen kick up to 3000mhz simply by enabling the XMP profile in bios or what ?, I was thinking surely pcspecialist would do that for people anyway as its normally very simple that I know of in bios, will they do it though ?), I also will need a case to be as small as possible and as nice looking as possible too because it will sit on display in the living room, and as the skylake i7 has pretty ok graphics I doubt I would need any more than that as I dont game etc, but if push came to shove I guess I could throw a card in.

Anyway, I would be extremely interested in what combinations some of you would use please ? p.s, dont worry about the cost, but when I say that I dont mean simply go mad with the money lol, spend wisely is what I mean, thanks again

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I read your post again and I can't see what you are planning to use it for, general use? Editing? Streaming? It looks to me a bit vague unless I am mistaken. It won't matter whether it is move to a different section, as far as I know posts are visible to everyone. When you mention not to worry about the cost and what combinations people will get I get the idea you want people just to post random set ups that they may wish to buy? Or at you looking at someone to provide feedback on what set up you should get? If that's the case again a budget and specific use for the machine would be helpful

yes, editing, burning disks, converting movies, watching HD live streams (wireless isnt important though but some itx motherboards have it as far as I can see), watching HD saved movies, general use I would say as I have built pc's so long now that this to me all comes under pretty general use, I have stated a few times now that I dont game or at least hardly ever at all, and yes I asked for people to please add what choice of components they would choose in the setup that I showed a link to, with great respect, I dont think its rocket science, is it ?, I dont need to ask but as I am buying from here I wished to, no harm in that, I will say again "This system and various configurations here that I wish to choose from (click the link) >>>> https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-skylake-sff-gaming/

I can start off with a helping hand from me and say start by using the CPU skylake i7 6700 (not the K) and a small very fast SSD for booting windows and a 2nd backup mechanical drive, 1TB would be more than enough, I think I should future proof it with either 16GB or 32GB of ram but not sure what ram is the best of the options (will any of the type of ram chosen kick up to 3000mhz simply by enabling the XMP profile in bios or what ?, I was thinking surely pcspecialist would do that for people anyway as its normally very simple that I know of in bios, will they do it though ?), I also will need a case to be as small as possible and as nice looking as possible too because it will sit on display in the living room, and as the skylake i7 has pretty ok graphics I doubt I would need any more than that as I dont game etc, but if push came to shove I guess I could throw a card in.

Anyway, I would be extremely interested in what combinations some of you would use please ? p.s, dont worry about the cost, but when I say that I dont mean simply go mad with the money lol, spend wisely is what I mean, thanks again "

Hope this makes things perfectly clear for people now.
P.S, I can say this would be the very first time with an ITX mini for me, I am more used to building my own full sized and personally overclocked top spec systems, but I want to give up on all that now, tired of it, getting too old now and just cant be bothered anymore.

I have stated a few times now that I dont game or at least hardly ever at all, and yes I asked for people to please add what choice of components they would choose in the setup that I showed a link to, with great respect, I dont think its rocket science, is it ?

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With great respect I don't think you were specific enough, you did mention you don't game but I was not looking at you confirming it but to indicate what your intended use is and budget. I am planning to get a mini pc but posting my spec won't help you because I game and I don't do the same things as you do. Hopefully someone else will post a system meeting your specifications.

JaggyThistle said:

@keynes, thanks mate but I did kind of say those things mate, maybe not exactly but just a rough guide, I feel now I should maybe have posted this entire thread in the busiest section of the forum as it doesnt seem to be getting much attention in this part of the forum at all , can one of the staff please move my thread here to the busiest part of the forum please as I need to get some advice asap etc, thanks

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JaggyThistle,

I've moved this thread to the check this spec forum, its not necessarily the most viewed part of the forum but its an appropriate place for this kind of thread. I don't have access to what parts of the forum get viewed the most (I'm guessing most people use the 'new posts' tab anyway...).

JaggyThistle said:

***snip*** yes I asked for people to please add what choice of components they would choose in the setup that I showed a link to, with great respect, I dont think its rocket science, is it ?, I dont need to ask but as I am buying from here I wished to, no harm in that, ***snip***

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As to your request for spec advice, maybe, rather than discussing with Keynes about how much information you've given and whether that is or isn't enough. You could consider that since you know what you want and are looking for, just post a spec rather than a link (there is an easy way to do that)? That way other forum members who may not have all that much time can take a look and offer critique as opposed to having to;
1. Work out what the best spec for you would be
2. Decide on the most appropriate components, determine whether you need peripherals or not
3. Actually go through the whole process of making a new spec each time

When you could do all of that as a kind of starter for 10 for the other forum members.

I hope this comes across correctly, I'm not trying to be condescending or anything so wholehearted apologies if it does read that way, just want to make this easier for everyone, including you .

Remember the other forum members (and the mods) don't work for PCS so we're all giving up our free time to offer advice and help.

ok cool man

JaggyThistle said:

p.s, dont worry about the cost, but when I say that I dont mean simply go mad with the money lol, spend wisely is what I mean, thanks again "[/B]

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If you could give us a rough idea of budget it would however be very useful, as 'dont mean simply go mad' for some people means £700+, whereas for others it means £2000+

Rakk said:

If you could give us a rough idea of budget it would however be very useful, as 'dont mean simply go mad' for some people means £700+, whereas for others it means £2000+

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cheers mate, a £grand-ish mate for what I am after which is roughly this >>>

can you give me your entire choice of specifications you would include in this system If you were going to buy it please ?

This system and various configurations here that i wish to choose from (click the link) >>>> http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-skylake-sff-gaming/

I can start off with a helping hand from me and say start by using the CPU skylake i7 6700 (not the K) and a small very fast SSD for booting windows and a 2nd backup mechanical drive, 1TB would be more than enough, I think I should future proof it with either 16GB or 32GB of ram but not sure what ram is the best of the options (will any of the type of ram chosen kick up to 3000mhz simply by enabling the XMP profile in bios or what ?, I was thinking surely pcspecialist would do that for people anyway as its normally very simple that I know of in bios, will they do it though ?), I also will need a case to be as small as possible and as nice looking as possible too because it will sit on display in the living room, and as the skylake i7 has pretty ok graphics I doubt I would need any more than that as I dont game etc, but if push came to shove I guess I could throw a card in.

Anyway, I would be extremely interested in what combinations some of you would use please ? p.s, dont worry about the cost too much though.

Oh well, I can see all that chit chat earlier got me totally nowhere at all, LOL, maybe everyone is still out at work or something, I have no idea, we shall see hopefully

JaggyThistle said:

Oh well, I can see all that chit chat earlier got me totally nowhere at all, LOL, maybe everyone is still out at work or something, I have no idea, we shall see hopefully

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I'll paraphrase my previous post, basically if you post a spec first you'll typically get more of a response. You are actually asking for quite a lot and not really answering anyone's questions fully (every combination of components from the mini-itx link is quite a lot of configurations).