Mini ITX Build- a few questions

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PhoenixActual

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So I am about to start building my first Mini ITX desktop and I want to make sure everything I have will be compatible.

New Parts:
Case: Fractal Design Node 202
Power Supply: FSP Group Mini ITX / Micro ATX 80 Plus Bronze Certification 400W Power Supply
Motherboard: MSI Intel H81 LGA 1150 DDR3 USB 3.1 Mini ITX Motherboard (H81I)
Probably some thermal paste...

Parts I'm recycling from my current machine
CPU: Intel Core i5-2400
CPU Fan: Some fan that I forgot the name of but works well ^^U
RAM: Patriot 8GB DDR3 1333
Storage: Intel 500 series (I think) 180GB SSD, Crucial 240GB SSD
GPU: AMD Sapphire 7900 series (even dxdiag isn't specific enough...)

...and then all of my external storage solutions, optical drives, and peripherals

Parts I'm not planning on recycling:
Old motherboard
SATA-linked multi-card reader

The only thing I'm worried about is my old processor and the new power supply, the former because the Amazon product description for the new motherboard says that the board takes 4th generation intel processors whereas I think the 2400 is a 3rd gen...hopefully that's not an issue. I'm a little worried about the power supply because it's not the best brand...and it's only 400 watts....Hopefully that's enough to power the whole system- as I'm making some power cuts by using SSDs instead of HDDs.

What do you all think? Will this work?
 
I've built several PCs before, but I'm not up-to-date on specs or anything. But I've had a quick search around to try to help...

If you look at the CPU compatibility list of that motherboard, only Haswell and Haswell Refresh chips are listed. These are all 4th gen chips, with Ivy Bridge being 3rd gen. So I'd imagine that the CPU won't work in that board. :-(

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/H81I.html#support-cpu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core

Otherwise, I would double-check is that there is room for the video card. One PC I had, with a mini-ATX motherboard in an ATX case didn't have room for a long video card like that. It might be even tighter with an ITX board... or maybe, by now, everyone's using big, long video cards and it won't be an issue(?). Worth checking, though.

I'd guess 400W would be enough power, but again I'd double-check. Just add up the maximum power consumption of each component. There are calculators online to give you a rough idea. Also, check what the maximum 12v power output is -- some of the power will be conserved for the little-used 3v/5v rails.

Also, I generally prefer to get a good brand PSU that has good reviews. However at least 90% of PSU reviews are meaningless. Testing stability with a voltmeter or (worse) by using motherboard sensors in normal conditions doesn't tell you much about the reliability and stability of the power supply. They needed to be tested until the cheap ones explode in a fireball!

The main reason I get decent PSUs is because a dodgy one is so damned hard to troubleshoot. They can cause all sorts of weird intermittent problems that are difficult to trace. I've wasted too much time trying to fix PCs with dodgy PSUs, so I buy good one myself. And if they fail, they can take out other components too. But, of course, it depends on your budget, how much the PC cost overall, and so on.

- - - Updated - - -

LilBouncyDerpy said:
CPU: Intel Core i5-2400

...the Amazon product description for the new motherboard says that the board takes 4th generation intel processors whereas I think the 2400 is a 3rd gen...

Ah, I just checked and it looks like that CPU is actually a 2nd generation Sandy Bridge chip:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core#Core_i5_2

So yeah... I'd be surprised if it worked. :-(
 
tiny said:
I've built several PCs before, but I'm not up-to-date on specs or anything. But I've had a quick search around to try to help...

If you look at the CPU compatibility list of that motherboard, only Haswell and Haswell Refresh chips are listed. These are all 4th gen chips, with Ivy Bridge being 3rd gen. So I'd imagine that the CPU won't work in that board. :-(

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/H81I.html#support-cpu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core

Otherwise, I would double-check is that there is room for the video card. One PC I had, with a mini-ATX motherboard in an ATX case didn't have room for a long video card like that. It might be even tighter with an ITX board... or maybe, by now, everyone's using big, long video cards and it won't be an issue(?). Worth checking, though.

I'd guess 400W would be enough power, but again I'd double-check. Just add up the maximum power consumption of each component. There are calculators online to give you a rough idea. Also, check what the maximum 12v power output is -- some of the power will be conserved for the little-used 3v/5v rails.

Also, I generally prefer to get a good brand PSU that has good reviews. However at least 90% of PSU reviews are meaningless. Testing stability with a voltmeter or (worse) by using motherboard sensors in normal conditions doesn't tell you much about the reliability and stability of the power supply. They needed to be tested until the cheap ones explode in a fireball!

The main reason I get decent PSUs is because a dodgy one is so damned hard to troubleshoot. They can cause all sorts of weird intermittent problems that are difficult to trace. I've wasted too much time trying to fix PCs with dodgy PSUs, so I buy good one myself. And if they fail, they can take out other components too. But, of course, it depends on your budget, how much the PC cost overall, and so on.

- - - Updated - - -



Ah, I just checked and it looks like that CPU is actually a 2nd generation Sandy Bridge chip:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core#Core_i5_2

So yeah... I'd be surprised if it worked. :-(

Thanks for the quick reply!

Crap! Looks like I really am going to have to buy a new CPU! Dangit! I was trying to save money...
Oh well...guess it's time for an upgrade. I found a pretty good

The PSU and motherboard came in today. The motherboard works fine but the PSU was the wrong type! Gonna have to send it back...I'm not going to take any risks...just gonna go with a 600w (same as what's in my current machine) SFX PSU by Corsair.

I started putting components into the Node 202 and...I derped big time- twice...the first time, I forgot to install the motherboard IO port so I had to unscrew the motherboard and snap in the metal frame...and then I derped by attempting to install the GPU...without adjusting a GPU clip that's can only be adjusted by a screw located beneath the middle frame of the case. Should have followed the directions in the owner's manual!
Oops! My bad~! >~<

Ugh...this ended up being a lot more expensive than I had planned...gonna have to pick up some more hours at work. >~>

I'll post some pics of my machine once I've finished building it!
 
LilBouncyDerpy said:
I'm not going to take any risks...just gonna go with a 600w (same as what's in my current machine) SFX PSU by Corsair.

Wow! 600W is probably overkill, especially with a decent PSU, but yeah -- it's better to be on the safe side!

LilBouncyDerpy said:
I started putting components into the Node 202 and...I derped big time- twice...the first time, I forgot to install the motherboard IO port so I had to unscrew the motherboard and snap in the metal frame...and then I derped by attempting to install the GPU...without adjusting a GPU clip that's can only be adjusted by a screw located beneath the middle frame of the case. Should have followed the directions in the owner's manual!
Oops! My bad~! >~<

Argh! I did the same thing with the IO port panel once! Another time, I inserted it, but didn't quite line it up properly. I had the PC fully built, and then noticed that the IO panel was very slightly obstructing some of the ports. D'oh! I had to remove all the drives, the PSU, and half a dozen other little bits just to get the motherboard back out and line up the panel properly. :-/

LilBouncyDerpy said:
I'll post some pics of my machine once I've finished building it!

Cool! :-D
 
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