Quiet multi-monitor mini-build wanted. £1,500 budget. Will this do? (Specs in thread)

helpmenow

Member
What do you guys think of the below build? I'm going to be gaming and watching/editing videos on multiple monitors most of the time. I would also like it to be as quiet and as small as possible. What do you think? Trying to keep it around £1500.

Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 130 CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-8600K (3.6 GHz) 9 MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z370-I GAMING: Mini-ITX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE 7mm SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 128MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3400MB/R, 2300MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-L9i Low Profile, Super Quiet CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
GIGABIT LAN PORT + Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi excluded on H310I-PLUS)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI, PRE-NOON
Build Time
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH
Quantity
1

Price £1,485.00 including VAT and delivery
 

polycrac

Rising Star
I think that, if you are willing to let the build be a little larger, you would get more for your money and find it runs cooler, quieter and might be easier to upgrade in the future too.

I've seen a few threads where people compare the sizes of cases and there doesn't seem much difference between the two. Did you have a certain size in mind?
 

helpmenow

Member
Thanks for the reply.

I mainly want this size because I need to be able to transport it easily. I'm moving to a different country soon, and I don't know when I'll have to move again after that, so I basically need something I can fit in hand luggage. I was seconds away from buying the Hades Canyon (https://www.techradar.com/uk/reviews/intel-hades-canyon-nuc) before releasing that it didn't add VAT, so it was going to come to £1,500 for something that isn't super powerful. But it was super small at 221 x 142 x 39cm. For £1200 I was going to pull the trigger, but £1,500 seemed steep.

So with that I was thinking something a little bigger for a little better value, but I don't think I can go any further than a mini. What do you think of the build otherwise?
 

polycrac

Rising Star
Size aside, I like it! For just gaming I'd suggest maybe less, but faster RAM. Not sure what works best for video editing, though. You'll also need to pay lots of attention to cooling, with a small case, but I am not very up on the small form factor options, so you should wait for more knowledgable replies.
 

bobbarley

Active member
Something like this would be quite good. You could drop the CPU down to an i5-8400 if you don't plan to overclock and want to save £78. GTX 1070 will future proof your games for a good while too. This case is nice as it's still small, but the 140mm fan helps keep things quiet and cool.

Case
FRACTAL DESIGN NODE 304 Mini ITX Case
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-8600K (3.6 GHz) 9 MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z370-I GAMING: Mini-ITX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1070 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3400MB/R, 2300MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W VS SERIES™ VS-650 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-L9i Low Profile, Super Quiet CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
GIGABIT LAN PORT + Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi excluded on H310I-PLUS)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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 12 to 14 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,504.00 including VAT and delivery

Or would you consider a laptop?

Chassis & Display
Proteus Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 60Hz 45% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 8750H (2.2GHz, 4.1GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 - 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE 7mm SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 128MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3400MB/R, 2300MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x Proteus Series 200W AC Adaptor
Battery
Proteus V Series Lithium Ion Battery (7180mAh)
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 3.1 Type C PORT AS STANDARD
Keyboard Language
PROTEUS SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 720P 30 FPS HD WEBCAM
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 4 to 6 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,447.00 including VAT and delivery
 

helpmenow

Member
Really appreciate the feedback, thanks. I wouldn't know how to start overclocking anything, so maybe I should change the CPU . Defo fractal over coolermaster for the case? It would be great to get one last opinion before I buy tomorrow morning/tonight Oussebon (sp) seems to really know his stuff so if you see this dude I would be really grateful for your insights! Thanks
 

polycrac

Rising Star
I wouldn't know how to start overclocking anything

If you pick from the overclock menu, selecting a'K' cpu (for Intel, other suffixes for AMd etc.) PCS apply the overclock for you, I think it costs a tenner and it arrives already done and covered under warranty.
 

helpmenow

Member
I'm struggling to pick from the overclock menu for a mini pc. Is it possible?

EDIT: So I don't really think I'm going to be overclocking, because I don't really understand it, and I'd rather my PC be cool and quiet than be pushed hard for an extra 20 percent.

Here is my 'final form' build. Thoughts?



Case
FRACTAL DESIGN NODE 304 Mini ITX Case
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor i7-8700 (3.2GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z370-I GAMING: Mini-ITX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE 7mm SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 128MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3400MB/R, 2300MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-L9i Low Profile, Super Quiet CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
GIGABIT LAN PORT + Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi excluded on H310I-PLUS)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI, PRE-NOON
Build Time
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH
Quantity
1

Price £1,597.00 including VAT and delivery
 
Last edited:

polycrac

Rising Star
I'm not great on the small form factor builds, so all I'd say is that the Silver warranty is a great use of £5!
 

Stephen M

Author Level
Not sure the fiver is worth it this time as all it does is change one month collect and return to one year but in an earlier post Helpenow mentioned moving abroad and think PCS only pick up/return to UK on warranty. It would need to be checked.
 

polycrac

Rising Star
Not sure the fiver is worth it this time as all it does is change one month collect and return to one year but in an earlier post Helpenow mentioned moving abroad and think PCS only pick up/return to UK on warranty. It would need to be checked.

True, pointless having it if it doesn't apply!
 

Rob574188

PC Specialist
Hi OP,

Just thought I would chime in on this quickly. Looking at your specification you have balanced your specification very well for your budget. I think I likely would have suggested something similar had you come to me here at PCS. The 1060 should pretty much have all the grunt you need to play modern titles at 1920x1080. My personal preference is to go for slightly higher end processors as these are more difficult to upgrade between chipsets whereas graphics cards are a super simple upgrade in the future.

If you have any questions at all I would be happy to advise further and you can always feel free to reach us at PCS for advice.
 

helpmenow

Member
Thanks Rob, I really appreciate your insight on this - I have reached my last set of specs by reading these forums carefully and taking advice.

I have been so close to buying like 3 or 4 times and then always something new comes up that I am unsure about!

For example: Maybe I should wait till new GPUs come out so the price drops on existing ones or perhaps I can get one of the new ones for a similar price as the 1060?

Or: I'm not going to overclock, so I don't need the i7 8700k right? I just need the i7 8700?

And finally, which mini case will be the most quiet? I'm torn between the FRACTAL DESIGN NODE 202 MINI ITX CASE and the FRACTAL DESIGN NODE 304 MINI ITX CASE. The former is like half as much square litres, so it must look/feel smaller? Which is good right?

So many decisions!
 

polycrac

Rising Star
1) Yes, waiting is a good idea - new cards are expected in less than a week!

2) Even if you don't overclock, the I7-8700k is faster than the I7-8700, but the difference is tiny at turbo (just 100MHz), so hardly worth it unless you want to overclock (or expect to in the future)

3) Again - I know nothing about this - back to rob ;)
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
And finally, which mini case will be the most quiet? I'm torn between the FRACTAL DESIGN NODE 202 MINI ITX CASE and the FRACTAL DESIGN NODE 304 MINI ITX CASE. The former is like half as much square litres, so it must look/feel smaller? Which is good right?
The Node 304 without question. The 202 does not cool particularly well, and depending on the exact configuration could cause serious thermal issues with high end hardware.

You are paying a very high premium for a small build versus a regular ATX build. First, the Z370 motherboard for mini ITX builds is a very expensive one, so mini ITX builds can be more expensive than the larger builds. The other premium you pay is in severely limiting future upgrade options (no spare PCIe slots, limited scope for more storage, etc). And the build may not be as quiet as an ATX build, because of things like how the graphics card has to be positioned to try to feed it fresh air.

The 8700k will provide higher performance out of the box, i.e. even without an overclock. But not by a huge amount and it does cost rather a lot more.

If the purchase isn't urgent I would be inclined to suggest waiting to see what the new GPUs do to the market.

Also be aware that PCS's RX 580 prices are now, at last, not much higher than a 1060, and they come with 3 free games.
 
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