RAIJINTEK – SFF chassis Opinions – PAEAN MINI

[UK Sentinel]

A friend has asked my view on the RAIJINTEK chassis – PAEAN MINI as part of a gaming rig setup for around £1000 custom build

Looks good as far as chassis go, a little large maybe but for a base for gaming chassis and around £89 when available ?

https://www.raijintek.com/en/products_detail.php?ProductID=156

Share the knowledge

In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

You need to login in order to vote

[UK Sentinel]

Maybe considering the slightly smaller SFX power supply and a couple of 2 x 280mm rads to keep it cool, if they can be squeezed in ?

The Chassis is built for cooling, my theory and limited online reviews read well ?

Share the knowledge

In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

You need to login in order to vote

[UK Sentinel]

So work in progress … (aiming for the ‘good stuff’and then start compromising as I have a price guideline of £1000)

Looking at the Mini-ITX motherboards:

• Asus Prime Z590M-Plus      = £150
• MSI MPG Z590M Gaming Edge Wi-Fi    = £189

CPU:

• Intel 11th Generation (i5. i7. or i9)
  • Intel Core i5-11600K (3.9 GHz)      = £240
  • Intel Core i7-11700KF  (3.8 GHz)     =£340
  • Intel Core i9-11900KF    (3.5 GHz)  =£500

RAM:

• Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2X16GB) DDR4 3200Mhz    = £97

Graphics:

• MSI GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB GAMING X Video Card    = £700
• Asus GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB TUF GAMING OC Video Card £550

Power Supply:

• Cooler Master V SFX Gold 850 W 80+    = £130

Drive:

• WD Black SN850 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD/Solid State Drive   = £140

chassis:

• RAIJINTEK SFF – PAEAN MINI   = £89

 

 

 

Share the knowledge

In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

You need to login in order to vote

[UK Sentinel]

Based on above quotes and allowing extra £100 for 2x fans, Windows 11 licence etc. it is looking like £2000 for a decent (Intel) gaming desktop without the extra cooling rads etc. is needed.

(will have to speak to my friend regarding budget,  I think as £1500+ will be more realistic for a half decent system) compromise on Graphics Card and CPU maybe needed.

Mini-ITX motherboards:

Asus Prime Z590M-Plus      = £150

Intel 11th Generation (i5. i7. or i9)
Intel Core i9-11900KF    (3.5 GHz)  =£500

RAM:

Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2X16GB) DDR4 3200Mhz    = £97

Graphics:

MSI GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB GAMING X Video Card    = £700

Power Supply:

Cooler Master V SFX Gold 850 W 80+    = £130

Drive:

WD Black SN850 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD/Solid State Drive   = £140

Chassis:

RAIJINTEK SFF – PAEAN MINI   = £89

Share the knowledge

In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

You need to login in order to vote

[dodgydrains]

I really like the case.  Extremely good specification.  Currently GPU prices are extortionate with no chance of improvements in the foreseeable future.

Share the knowledge

You need to login in order to vote

[UK Sentinel]

I read the PAEAN MINI case is made in Taiwan and does read well,  yes since the chip shortage and years of data mining (GPU mining) has driven prices skywards.

It was good to see that PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD was what I would call a fair price nowadays and will be a wise investment  in terms of performance 

 

Share the knowledge

In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

You need to login in order to vote

[dodgydrains]

Look forward to photos and videos if and when build is completed .  What cooler are you looking to get?  Also, why not AMD Ryzen?

Share the knowledge

You need to login in order to vote

[UK Sentinel]

dodgydrains wrote:

Look forward to photos and videos if and when build is completed . What cooler are you looking to get? Also, why not AMD Ryzen?

Cooling is the interesting aspect, if my friend cannot justify the high spend, then lower spec CPU – GPU etc. will have to be used instead, my thinking (I maybe incorrect) is that with lower spec kit, we (he)  could use 2 or 3  fans for  cooling rather than the water cooling option which is more expensive ?

Always been an Intel / NVIDIA fan, another friend (small world) works for NVIDIA in UK (or NVIDIA purchased the company he works for – I forget which) and I love the stories he tells

Not a convincing technical reason, but It works for me

 

 

Share the knowledge

In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

You need to login in order to vote

[dodgydrains]

I would buy the 11700KF over the 11900KF, then get a decent cooler.  Bear in mind SFF cases are limited in what cooler size you can fit and air flow.

My current PC is intel CPU + NVidia GPU.  The next upgrade will be AMD CPU +  NVidia GPU.

I always try to use air coolers, currently have Noctua NH-D14, but will be too big for SFF cases.

Have fun speccing and building .

Share the knowledge

You need to login in order to vote

[UK Sentinel]

It is a bit like a large jigsaw puzzle and I take your point regarding using the i7-11700KF as this will save on the budget,  what I did read online, overclocking can be more beneficial with the  11900KF if budget allows . so always a compromise.

Is there a reason why you would switch to AMD CPU next time, apart from better value for money as the new Intel Alder Lake (12th-gen) is the best out there as it stands ?

Part of my reason in choosing the smaller SFX power supply (at a higher cost) was to give a little more room inside the chassis, to help with cooling – but yes it is tight in there and temp and cooling is hard to judge for myself ?

 

 

Share the knowledge

In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

You need to login in order to vote

[dodgydrains]

My understanding is the next AMD CPU should pull it ahead of Intel Alder lake.  Also, AMD as a platform (CPU, Motherboard) should also be value for money.

Share the knowledge

You need to login in order to vote

[UK Sentinel]

dodgydrains wrote:

My understanding is the next AMD CPU should pull it ahead of Intel Alder lake. Also, AMD as a platform (CPU, Motherboard) should also be value for money.

AMD vs Intel, always a good debate. good to hear AMD are chasing Intel (used to be the other way around) after AMD’s Ryzen 5000 chips.

Will speak with my friend at weekend and see if budgets can increase, or I may well have to consider AMD’s and supporting MB’s etc. as a less expensive option

Food for thought

 

 

Share the knowledge

In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

You need to login in order to vote

[UK Sentinel]

So spoke with my colleague over the weekend and the budget is £1000 but can stretch to £1100 if needed, so am going to start looking at an AMD vs Intel option for comparison that fits the budget.

Gaming desktop if for one of his kids, so budgets are tight .

 

Share the knowledge

In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

You need to login in order to vote

[dodgydrains]

With PC parts prices so high, I might go with a pre-built for the first time ever.  Looking at this from John Lewis if it comes back in stock:

https://www.johnlewis.com/asus-rog-strix-ga35-g35dx-gaming-pc-amd-ryzen-7-32gb-ram-2tb-hdd-512gb-ssd-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3070-black/p5920024?&tmcampid=81&s_emcid=JLE1798_EMWBIS_Confirm_20211222_&s_emuid=&s_emlid=BODY

Also available from Amazon for a much higher price:

Never thought I would consider pre-built……

Share the knowledge

You need to login in order to vote

[UK Sentinel]

That is what I am finding, prices are way to high.

Anything ASUS from a gaming perspective is good, shame about the hybrid HDD /SSD but a good purchase considering the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is worth £700 + on its own .

I doubt it will be in stock anytime soon

Share the knowledge

In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

You need to login in order to vote

[Author]

Posts