Help spec'ing out a quiet mITX gaming rig

Hey everyone,

Not really sure how I ended up here, since I started the summer off thinking I would drop my internship money on a tricked-out full tower water cooling build. Then after spec'ing out the W/C loop I realized that money could just be spent on a 2nd GPU... then I realized I could just spend it on nothing and have an extra $500 in the bank. I guess sensibility just kicked in from there as I considered a high-end air cooled build in an FT02, and then an equally performing, yet cheaper mATX build, and then finally an even cheaper mITX powerhouse!

I'll be using this rig mostly for gaming (2560x1440 hopefully) and some work (essays, coding, etc...) and would like it to be nice and quiet.

Anyway, after a bit of research and checking out what other folks have done around here, I'm thinking my final setup will look something like this...

CPU: Intel 3570k
MOBO: Asus P8Z77-I or ASRock Z77-E
RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair Vengeance LP
HDD: 256GB Crucial M4
GPU: EVGA GTX680 SC Signature
CASE: Silverstone FT03-mini
PSU: Silverstone ST45SF
CPU COOLER: Corsair H60

I absolutely love the FT03-mini and it's part of the reason I'm so willing to jump on the mITX bandwagon, but I still have a few reservations about the setup...

• The 10" limit for the GPU and 450w limit on the SFX PSU feel like somewhat of a mental barrier. Mostly I'm afraid of video cards becoming bigger and more power hungry in the future, limiting upgrade options. Maybe I'm just being paranoid here?
• The video card doesn't appear to get any direct airflow in the FT03-mini and I'm wondering if it'll be starved for air or have heat problems. Wondering if anyone could speak from experience on this?
• Is there any significant reason to wait for Silverstone's modular 450w SFX PSU if the regular one will do the same job?
• As far as the motherboard goes, the only real difference between the ASRock and the Asus seems to be some extra I/O ports on the Asus, any other real difference between the two?
• Following up on the motherboard, not having the option for a dedicated sound card has me slightly worried. I'm definitely not an audiophile by any stretch, but will the onboard audio be noticeably bad on either of these boards?
• Finally, I've heard conflicting reports about the noise level of air penetrator fan used in the case. I'm not looking for dead silence, but quiet is nice, will the FT03-mini fit the bill?

Any input on the build and my concerns would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Awesome feedback so far, thanks everyone! + Rep all around!

Th definitely helps ease my mind, I just hope this trend of low power GPU's and CPU's keeps up (otherwise I'll just cross my fingers for higher wattage SFX PSU's)!

As for the RAM, I've heard of those samsung sticks before but they've mostly flown under my radar, thanks for pointing them out! Will def go with those over the Corsair based off what I'm reading about them!

Thanks for helping clear some stuff up. If performance is more or less the same, I don't really see a need for waiting around to spend 2x as much on the modular SFX PSU.

For the motherboard it looks like the ASRock is the way to go then, I'll do some research on the H60 compatibility and maybe look into the Kuhler 620 as an alternative just in case.

And that Fiio E10 looks awesome, for some reason I never even thought about going USB for my audio before. Will definitely check it out.

While I gotta admit the Prodigy definitely takes the cake in flexibility, it just doesn't quite do it for me. I'm not crazy about its design and its footprint is a bit too big for what I had in mind I think.

I'll definitely be throwing up some build pics as soon as I get everything together! I think I'll be sticking with the Ivy Bridge for its efficiency but as I mentioned above, I'll be going with the cheaper ASRock for sure!

Thanks for the input, that's three for the ASRock so far, and I definitely don't mind saving the $50! As for the Prodigy, like I mentioned above, it looks like a great case, just not what I'm looking for exactly. Will definitely be going with that Samsung RAM as well and thanks for the Microcenter tip! There's one not to far from here that I've yet to check out, so I guess it's finally time.

Thanks again for the help so far, everybody!