Mini-ITX (Fixed)

[SnowLion]

Well I had another thread about this but it bugged out and deleted the OP completely... let's try again.

I'm looking to sell my old Hack Pro and build a Hack Mini (though an ultra powerful one ).

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EDIT: See next post, let me know if the build will work (end edit)

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I'd like to base it on a Mini-ITX board, using an Intel Core i7-4790K and an nVidia GeForce GTX 960. However, I'm not sure which motherboard to get. Here's what comes up on NewEgg when looking for a mini-ITX board that has a Z97 chipset for under $200:

ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac
ASRock Z97M-ITX/AC
Asus Z971-PLUS
MSi Z971 AC
GIGABYTE GA-Z97N-Gaming 5
GIGABYTE GA-Z97N-WIFI
Search Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007627%20600009028%20600491547%204017

Which is best? I'd rather not spend too much money, but I want something that is reliable.

Quote from old/broken thread:

If you're going with a 4790K you'll want a Z97 mini-itx motherboard. Don't have to go
with B85 or Z87. Pick one of the Z97 mini-itx boards from the Buyer's Guide. Haswell
refresh CPU should be paired with a Haswell Z or H97 motherboard.

This one sells for around 120 AR right now
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128720&cm_re=z97_Mini-itx-_-13-128-720-_-Product

The Asrock Z97 is slightly cheaper but just be aware that you'll have to use clover as your
bootloader for it to work.

 

[SnowLion]

After doing a little more research I decided on the GIGABYTE GA-Z97N-WIFI. I heard the ASRock boards were flakey at best with Chimera (so I would have to use clover), the MSi had very mixed reviews, and the GIGABYTE GA-Z97N Gaming 5 board had very bad reviews, so that just left the GA-Z97N-WIFI, which, incidentally, is the one recommended in the buyer's guide.

That done, here's what I'm thinking for this build:
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z97N-WIFI
Processor: Intel Core i7-4790K
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 2x8GB
Hard Drive: 2x WD Black 1TB
GPU: nVidia GeForce GTX 960 FTW (4GB)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130
SSD: None for now; too spendy.

Would this all play nicely if I'd like to dual boot Windows 7 and OSX?

 

[SnowLion]

Here's what I'm thinking for this build:
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z97N-WIFI
Processor: Intel Core i7-4790K
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 2x8GB
Hard Drive: 2x WD Black 1TB
GPU: nVidia GeForce GTX 960 FTW (4GB)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130
SSD: None for now; too spendy--maybe later.

Would this all play nicely if I'd like to dual boot Windows 7 and OSX?

Still waiting for an answer

However, new question: is RAID 0 appropriate for a dual-boot machine? I'd put it into four partitions--boot Windows, boot OSX, storage, FCPX storage.

 

[Going Bald]

Still waiting for an answer

However, new question: is RAID 0 appropriate for a dual-boot machine? I'd put it into four partitions--boot Windows, boot OSX, storage, FCPX storage.

If you value your data and OS RAID0 is never appropriate for a boot drive IMHO. It is too subject to corruption and if you lose 1 drive you lose everything. Get an SSD for your boot drive and it will be faster than a platter RAID0 setup.

That said, if you just have to have insanely fast boot, buy a dual PCIe card for an M.2 SSD like the XP941 and 2 M.2 SSDs and raid them. See post #34 @ http://www.tonymacx86.com/mountain-...-os-x-10-8-5-using-tonymacx86-tool-set-4.html for Black Magic disk speed test of a pair of XP941s in RAID0. I did this just to test it and do not recommend you use RAID0 for a boot drive unless you move your Home and apps and anything else important to you to another non-RAID drive and never have anything but the OS on the RAID0 array.

 

[SnowLion]

Okay, thank you. I figured it would be just as reliable as a single drive (which is what I'm used to), but since it's more corruptible, I'll skip the RAID.

Do you happen to see any thing egregiously wrong in the components I've chosen (see post #2)?

 

[Going Bald]

Okay, thank you. I figured it would be just as reliable as a single drive (which is what I'm used to), but since it's more corruptible, I'll skip the RAID.

Do you happen to see any thing egregiously wrong in the components I've chosen (see post #2)?

A few comments on the parts:

Did you check the mainboard QVL to see if that RAM model is on the list and did you check the RAM OEM sight to see if they listed the mainboard on their QVL?

Did you double check the dimensions of the GPU and will it actually fit in the case? What are you losing if it fits only with the removal of a hard drive cage? If you remove the cage do you still have room to mount all your hard drives you want to install?

Have you looked at heat load of platter drives + GPU + CPU and is your case ventilation going to be sufficient to keep everything cool?

 

[SnowLion]

A few comments on the parts:

Did you check the mainboard QVL to see if that RAM model is on the list and did you check the RAM OEM sight to see if they listed the mainboard on their QVL?

Motherboard QVL: http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Memory/mb_memory_ga-z97n-wifi.pdf

GIGABYTE lists CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10 on the QVL for the motherboard, but I've chosen the CML16GX3M2A1600C10. The only difference is the third character: Z on the QVL and L on mine. I've chosen the low-profile version, is it reasonable to assume that the difference in model numbers is due only to that, so the low-profile will work fine?

Did you double check the dimensions of the GPU and will it actually fit in the case? What are you losing if it fits only with the removal of a hard drive cage? If you remove the cage do you still have room to mount all your hard drives you want to install?

GPU Specs: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-960/specifications

Well according to nVidia, the card is 4.376" tall and 9.5" long, and the case is 8.2" wide and 15.7" long, so I figured there should be ample room, even if I have one or two HDDs stacked next to the GPU as well.

Have you looked at heat load of platter drives + GPU + CPU and is your case ventilation going to be sufficient to keep everything cool?

Is there a way to go about calculating that quantitatively? The case has plenty of options for ventilation (it's practically all mesh, tbh ) so I figured I can just get some strong airflow in the front and out the side with the two included fans.

 

[Going Bald]

Then you should be good to go. No difference between the RAM, same model with heat spreader on top and low profile without the heat spreader.