
March 3, 2014
I have wanted to build a mini-ITX system for quite some time. The original plan was to keep the budget of this build around $700, but after looking closer at the case I couldn't resist bumping up to a more powerful system. The 240mm radiator mount along with full length video card and power supply support make it ideal for a small form factor powerhouse.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
Type | Item | Price |
---|---|---|
CPU | Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor | $229.96 @ OutletPC |
CPU Cooler | Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $97.16 @ Amazon |
Motherboard | ASRock Z87E-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard | $124.99 @ Newegg |
Memory | Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $86.99 @ Newegg |
Storage | Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk | $89.89 @ Amazon |
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $59.98 @ OutletPC |
Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Video Card | $679.99 @ NCIX US |
Case | Corsair 250D Mini ITX Tower Case | $89.99 @ Microcenter |
Power Supply | Corsair CSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $69.99 @ Newegg |
Total | ||
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $1528.94 | |
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-03 15:07 EST-0500 |
Personally I think the 250D is a great looking case. The side mesh windows not only provide ventilation, but do a good job of showing off the radiator and video card.
The power button is nicely disguised but easily pushed.
The brushed metal face is a nice touch, but we managed to scratch ours just placing it on our desk surface. You'll want to be extremely careful with it - it scratches easily.
The H100i mounted without too much difficulty. It was depth constrained, however. We wanted to fit an H105, but after measuring it was clear it wouldn't fit. Here's the amount of clearance we had with the H100i:
As you can see, we had just a fraction of an inch of clearance remaining. It was fortunately enough that we could route cables from the CPU block through.
The 780Ti fits easily in the 250D, and will provide ample performance for gaming. I absolutely love the NVidia stock cooler design. It looks great, and it feels great (for that too brief moment you have it in your hands during installation).
Cable management was surprisingly easy for an ITX build. The space behind the front panel provides plenty of room to work with the cables. Clearly we could do better with the cable management, but for now this should suffice. It does seem to cry out for custom length sleeved cables though.
The grey-tinted top window provides a view of the case internals.
I've had the opportunity to build with quite a few ITX cases, and the 250D has been the best experience to date. There's plenty of room to work with (when there isn't a radiator mounted). It supports full length power supplies and video cards. And last but not least it looks great. What more could you ask for?
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