New Mini PC For Audio Visual Slide shows & 'Net surfing. (No Gaming)

[stearman65]

I have re-configured my proposed spec' a number of times as I acquire funds to go ahead & order. I have a couple of queries that users with the same case may answer. 1. Can the side USB3 sockets be placed on the L/h side & not the right as shown on the manufacturers pictures. 2. In the case manufacturers spec' there is a warning about plugging USB2 devises into a USB3 port, I always thought they were backwards compatable.
Any comments on the proposed spec' welcomed, when giving advise please take into account I will not be using it for gaming.
Stearman65.
Case
BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Case (Black)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4570 (3.2GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® MAXIMUS VI IMPACT: Mini-ITX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, WIFI
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 760 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE BATMAN: ARKHAM ORIGINS GAME with GTX 660 & 7 Series GPUs!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ MODULAR TXM-650 V2-80 PLUS® (£79)
Processor Cooling
INTEL STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE GOLD PLATED V1.4 HDMI CABLE (£8)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® K120 USB KEYBOARD (£10)
Mouse
LOGITECH® OPTICAL USB MOUSE (£5)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,129.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[keynes]

If gaming is not involved you could dowgrade the gpu.

 

[kruppsy]

Looking at your intended usage, I'd consider something a bit cheaper. Your motherboard, RAM and graphics card choices seem to be a bit over-specced, especially if you're not gaming at all. I've knocked this together and is £300 cheaper but should perform just fine. Ive kept in Windows Professional but are you sure you need it? I also thought, did you pick that motherboard as it had WIFI? I did notice the other motherboards in this section won't accept Wireless PCI cards in the configurator but getting homeplugs is probably a better solution anyway (I used to use WIFI on my laptop/desktop, homeplugs have improved my setup considerably). PCS charge quite highly for these so I'd shop around for a pair, I picked x2 up for £16 and they work great.

Case
BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Case (Black)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4570 (3.2GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® H87I-PLUS: Mini-ITX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 650 - DVI, mHDMI, VGA - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE £50 IN-GAME VOUCHER with GTX 650 & GTX 650Ti GPUs!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
INTEL STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE GOLD PLATED V1.4 HDMI CABLE (£8)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® K120 USB KEYBOARD (£10)
Mouse
LOGITECH® OPTICAL USB MOUSE (£5)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £820.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-1150-gaming-mini-pc/gcoNEA87WT/

 

[stearman65]

Looking at your intended usage, I'd consider something a bit cheaper. Your motherboard, RAM and graphics card choices seem to be a bit over-specced, especially if you're not gaming at all. I've knocked this together and is £300 cheaper but should perform just fine. Ive kept in Windows Professional but are you sure you need it?
Stearman65 I currently use W7P as it is compatable with XP as I have a number of items that can't be up-graded to W7
I also thought, did you pick that motherboard as it had WIFI? I did notice the other motherboards in this section won't accept Wireless PCI cards in the configurator but getting homeplugs is probably a better solution anyway (I used to use WIFI on my laptop/desktop, homeplugs have improved my setup considerably).
Stearman65 Not sure what "homeplugs are", my current PC has on-board wifi, no problems.
PCS charge quite highly for these so I'd shop around for a pair, I picked x2 up for £16 and they work great.

Case
BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Case (Black)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4570 (3.2GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard See above
ASUS® H87I-PLUS: Mini-ITX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB), my current PC has 8GB so it is just a future proof increase, hence 16GB.
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 650 - DVI, mHDMI, VGA - 3D Vision Ready My current PC/LT have comparable cards so again the 760 was just a future proof.
Free Item
FREE £50 IN-GAME VOUCHER with GTX 650 & GTX 650Ti GPUs!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY. my current PC has 750w, Nvidia say my suggested card should have 750w, so my original selection is below what I have now & below what NVidia say it should have. PCS have confirmed my selection is oversized despite me mentioning to them what NVidia said.
Processor Cooling,
INTEL STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE GOLD PLATED V1.4 HDMI CABLE (£8)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® K120 USB KEYBOARD (£10)
Mouse
LOGITECH® OPTICAL USB MOUSE (£5)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £820.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-1150-gaming-mini-pc/gcoNEA87WT/

I am not looking to reduce the price of my spec, just confirm it will work & have some form of future proofing. I'm 73 & this may be my last PC, who knows. Thanks for the comments.
Stearman65