Mini PC to sit under the TV

cm0123

1. What is your budget? €800
2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Kodi, Emulators and medium/high 1080p gaming
3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No
4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? Yes, I already have a 520gb SSD
5. Do you need a monitor? No
5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? My TV is a Panasonic Plasma 1080p, I've no current plans to upgrade to a 4k set
6. Do you need any of these peripherals? No
7. Are you willing to try overclocking? No
8. How can you pay? Credit Card
9. When are you purchasing? January
10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Dublin but going to try and solo it hopefully

So quick background - I bought an Alienware Alpha i5 from Amazon just before Christmas for €435. It's the 2014 model and comes with an i5-4590T and essentially a 750ti graphics card. I put in an SSD and setup the machine to launch straight into Kodi. From there, I also added add-ons to run Steam Big Picture mode and LaunchBox for all my retro needs. And it all ran from an Xbox 360 controller. I have a big STEAM library and it's great to just be able to turn on the machine and play them without going through windows (or plugging my laptop in the TV like I used to). I also have a number of fairly demanding games and the machine coped admirably with most of these. Anyway, the damn thing has just broke (refuses to boot and apparently a common problem with this PC) and Amazon have none left so it's going back for a refund

The new alienwarei5 alpha is €900 on the Dell website (!) - you get a i5-6400T this time and a GTX960m GPU. So not really worth €900. Which has led to me the build below, which should do all of the above but also allow me to run demanding STEAM games at 1080p for a good few years. I've never built a PC from scratch though so any advice on the build would be great.

Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini-ITX
Memory: Corsair Venegeance LPX 8GB (will buy another 8gb when needed)
Motherboard: MSI Intel Lga1151 B150I Gaming Pro DDR4
GPU: Zotac GTX 1060 6gb Mini GDDR5
CPU: i5-6400
PSU: SilverStone SST-SX500-LG 500W
4g Artic Thermal Compound
H/D: 520gb SSD and 750GB 3.5 inch drive (both recycled parts)

I've just sourced everything from Amazon and the whole thing will come to about €830, including delivery.

My main worries are: Am I missing any parts; is it much too expensive for what it is; will the case be big enough; will I melt the case; or any other basic builder error.

Thanks in advance.

savemejebus

Why don't you just get it fixed under warranty with dell?

cm0123

savemejebus wrote: »

Why don't you just get it fixed under warranty with dell?

I've googled the problem and the Dell Forums, Alienware Forums and other sites are awash with the problem - the little alienware head flashes yellow on bootup which indicates a motherboard or BIOS problem. Loads of people have sent in their units 3 or 4 times and the problem keeps occurring.

So I decided to cut my losses and return it whilst I'm under Amazon's 30 day return policy.

Digital Solitude

Don't bother with the thermal paste.

From what I can see that's a mini GPU, but the case takes a full size one, shorter than 210mm. Can have a look later for one if you want.

Rest of the build is fine imo

cm0123

Digital Solitude wrote: »

Don't bother with the thermal paste.

From what I can see that's a mini GPU, but the case takes a full size one, shorter than 210mm. Can have a look later for one if you want.

Rest of the build is fine imo

Hi, thanks for the feedback and yes, it's a mini GPU - they seemed to be used in most other builds I've seen using this case. I'm not sure if that's because of space or airflow/cooling but yeah, if you could take a look, that would be great.

I take it I wouldn't be generating enough heat to need themal paste?

the_syco

cm0123 wrote: »

I take it I wouldn't be generating enough heat to need themal paste?

The Intel stock fan will have a thermal pad on it already.