Ryzen 7 AM4 Mini-ITX PC Build

AMD’s Ryzen platform matures more every month. With affordable pricing, Ryzen is perfect for mini-itx PC builds. However until recently there weren’t any mini-itx AM4 boards on the market. Luckily Biostar fixed that by releasing an X370 mini-itx motherboard. I decided it was time to dive in and build my first Ryzen PC.

System Components

Build Component Selection

Choosing system components the result in a balanced build is important. I wanted this build to come in at around $1000, while having enough power to tackle modern games and rendering tasks.

AMD Ryzen 7 1700 CPU

The Ryzen 7 1700 represents what is most likely the best value of any consumer CPU on the market. When you factor in that a quality cooler, with LED’s is included it’s even more impressive.

Biostar X370 Mini-itx Motherboard

Biostar was first to market with a mini-itx AM4 motherboard. For that I give them props.

Unfortunately that is where the praise ends. This simply is not a good motherboard. Here is a list of some gripes I have so far:

– Worlds worst BIOS: I haven’t seen a BIOS this bad in years
– Hot VRM’s: The VRM’s get way too hot
– No WiFi: There is no WiFi/Bluetooth module included on this X370 motherboard
– RAM Placement: The RAM is placed unnecessarily close to the CPU

I am waiting patiently for new X370 mini-itx boards to be released. I will be upgrading ASAP.

Geeek H710 Mini-ITX Case

The Geeek H710 is an interesting case. It is made up almost entirely of acrylic, and is a stunner. People are sure to stop and take notice if they walk in a room and see this PC case lit up properly with LED’s.

On the other hand, it doesn’t come assembled, and was a bit of a nightmare in the that department. For $99 there isn’t another mini-itx that is this attractive, but it’s not perfect. Be prepared for several frustrating hours of assembly.

Galax GTX 1060 EXOC White

Galax makes awesome products. Until recently they didn’t have a US store. Now they do and we can pick up their cool GPU’s here in the states. I went with the EXOC White because I thought it would match the White and black storm trooper look of the H710 case. It also has nice, white LED’s under each fan which look great.

Build Process

The actual build process was fairly straight forward. I didn’t go for liquid cooling or anything fancy this time around. Building in the Geeek H710 was a breeze. For an entirely acrylic case it is surprisingly easy to work with. If you want to see the whole build process check out the video below.

Updates and Testing

Check back here on this page as I will be updating this article with more pics and info. I will also be adding system benchmarks in the future.

This was a really fun system to build, let me know what you think in the comments, and what you may want to see in the future.