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How to Build a Small Gaming PC | Maximum PC

This small gaming PC isn't as wee as our Wee Ass-Kicking Machine, but it kicks more ass

Way back in December 2010, we built an awesome Mini-ITX gaming PC dubbed the Wee Ass-Kicking Machine. It featured a Core i7-870 CPU, a GeForce GTX 460 GPU, 4GB of DDR3, a 1TB hard drive, and a 120GB SSD?all crammed into a Silverstone SG07 chassis not much larger than a shoebox. The total cost? Around $1,600 (at the time).

It?s, uh, been a while since then, though, and I thought it was high time we built another Mini-ITX gaming PC. This one?s not quite as small, but it?s got a lot more oomph. We?re using the BitFenix Prodigy, which has room for a full-size ATX PSU, scads of hard drives, and even a 240mm radiator (if you swing that way), while still being small enough to be lugged around by its convenient carrying handles.

Bitfenix

Let?s See What Fits

Just because this is a Mini-ITX build doesn?t mean we?re messing around with integrated graphics. Pah. Pshaw. And other expressions of contempt. Nope, when we build a gaming rig, we use a real discrete graphics card. This time we?re going with an MSI GTX 670 Power Edition, which is factory overclocked but still sips power like the rest of the Kepler lineup. We?ll use our sweet-spot Ivy Bridge CPU, the 3.4GHz Core i7-3570K, on a Zotac Z77 WiFi Mini-ITX board. The board has one full-size x16 PCIe 3.0 slot, two DIMM slots, USB 3.0, and 6Gb/s SATA. We?ll fill those DIMM slots with two 4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3/1600 DIMMs, and use a 240GB Corsair Force GS SSD and a 3TB HGST Deskstar for mass storage. The most important part of the build is the case. The BitFenix Prodigy is large for a Mini-ITX chassis, but that just means there?s room for more stuff. It can accommodate a full-size PSU (although 140mm is really the maximum depth), up to six hard drives and six SSDs, a long videocard, and, thanks to its big main compartment, a full-size air cooler or even a liquid cooler.

Because most of our favorite air coolers would interfere with the PCIe slot, and we didn?t want to give up the lone 5.25-inch bay just so we could install a 240mm radiator, we opted for an all-in-one liquid?cooling loop: Thermaltake?s Water 2.0 Performer. This will give us plenty of headroom for overclocking the 3570K to a steady 4.4GHz.?

Building It

The Prodigy is roomy for a Mini-ITX case, but that still means it?s a bit of a complicated build. Here?s what I had to do.

1. Prep the Case

Remove the four thumbscrews holding the side panels in place and remove the panels. Pop the four clips holding the front panel in place, and remove that too. Grip the top hard drive cage by its top and bottom clips and slide it out of the case. Turn the case on its side and remove the six screws holding the lower cage to the chassis and remove that cage (image A).

Image A

2. Add the SSD

Attach the SSD to one of the case?s six mounting points?either at the bottom of the case, the inside of the left side panel, or the side of the PSU compartment (image B). It doesn?t really matter which of the many SSD mount points you use. You could just mount the SSD into one of the hard drive trays, but it?d be nice to leave those free for additional hard drives later on. Replace the hard drive cage. Stand the case upright.

Image B

Source: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/how-tos/how_build_small_gaming_pc

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