Help choosing parts for my mini-ITX build!

I can't see the list so I don't really know how to help you.

Wish list is showing up as empty. How about putting the parts list in your post so we can all see it easily?

Looks solid. I have the same CPU and motherboard, and it's been working great so far. If I were to make one suggestion, it would be ditch the slim optical drive and use a full-size drive via a SATA-to-USB adapter. That way you aren't limited by the very slow speeds of slimline drives.

I'm thinking of converting my sig rig into something similar. I'll tell you what I've discovered and would suggest from my findings.


Case
The case is arguably the the most important part of the whole build. Picking the wrong ITX case could mean running into heat problems real fast. That Silverstone case looks impressive with a 180mm fan at the top but that's all it has, one fan. When building a super compact gaming system like this, there are two key things I'm looking for. First, is a 120mm top exhaust to allow for a AIO water cooling system like the Corsair H60 which would cool the CPU the best possible given the space limitations, since tall tower air coolers are not possible. Second, is a front intake that can hold at least a 120mm fan, which would allow for decent airflow for optimal cooling. This combination of front intake and top exhaust to dump the CPU heat right out of the case should lessen the heat build up.

The only ITX case I've found so far that meets all my criteria is the Lian Li PC-Q08 (it comes in black, silver, and red). It's a cost savings over the Silverstone in out right price and can fit full size optical drives so you can reuse your old drive (saving the money of the slimline drive and adapter). It doesn't include a power supply so that's were some of the savings comes from but I'd personally rather be able to choose the PSU. Someone on YouTube even fit a Corsair AX750 in the thing, along with a Corsair H50 cooler: link (he shows the PSU at 3:27). The best thing for airflow would be to remove both the top 4x3.5" hard drive cage and bottom 2x3.5" hard drive cage (as both are removable). Apparently there is a single spot specifically for a 2.5" SSD but I'm not sure where. If you must have a 3.5" drive in it then you'd have to keep the top cage and remove the bottom one to allow room for the video card.

CPU
The i5 3450 is the cheapest Ivy Bridge CPU right now but it's not that much cheaper than the overclockable and higher stock clocked i5 3570K. I think it's well worth the extra, even if you don't think you'll overclock right now. Truthfully with that system it would be a shame to not at least try overclocking it a little. I love my i5 3570K, it's just an all around excellent chip. The cheapest I can find it is for $224.99 shipped after code CONGRATS from SuperBiiz.

RAM
With the limited space, getting tall RAM might not be the best idea. It could interfere with CPU coolers or other things depending on your component choices. The very popular Samsung 30nm RAM fits the bill with insane overclockability, low power, extremely low profile, and priced very competitively. I have an 8GB kit and am running it at 2GHz with timings of 10-10-10-24 1T 1.4v. You can get two 4GB sticks for $47.98 shipped total (the 8GB kit is almost always out of stock but this nets you essentially the same thing).


The rest of your build looks solid. You can probably find the OS cheaper used another place like eBay, but that's just the cheapskate in me talking, the fact that I've gotten it cheap as a student, and Windows 8 is coming out later this year. The last thing to figure out is the PSU. With a 22nm Ivy Bridge CPU and 28nm Pitcairn GPU the power requirements should be pretty low. My sig rig overclocked to 4.4GHz 1.18v with HD6850 at stock pulls around 160-180W during gaming. I'd try to get a quality budget priced modular unit so there are not unneeded cables wasting space. I don't know of any low priced ones off hand that are high quality. You could give Tator Tot a PM and see what he'd recommend: link. With the updates with the case, CPU cooler (H60), CPU, RAM, and removals (slimline optical drive and adapter) the total is around $933 before shipping, tax, and PSU (if my math is correct).
Edited by Ben the OCer - 5/18/12 at 11:11pm

It was my pleasure and I wish you all the best with this new build. It will be a very sweet upgrade, your going to love it.

i seriously doubt that a H60 will out perform a AXP-140 in a SG08 / SG07. you severely underestimate the amount of air the AP181 push especially in a case that small... as far as PC-Q08, you'll have to do some modding if you want to put a AIO cooler in there.... there is also a matter of finding creative locations for the SSD/HDD if you do decide to put that AIO cooler in there. there is alot of give and take that you really didn't outline when you put up your suggestion...