Below are brief descriptions of the main parts and why we chose them. For a full list of the priced parts for this build please see the PCPartpicker link here.

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor

We chose this CPU for a few reasons.  The first was that it comfortably fit within our price range while still being good performance wise.  As opposed to the top of the line Enthusiast grade Intel CPU (i7 6700k) it only scored an average of 30% less across a number of benchmarks while being less than half the price giving it its excellent price to performance ratio of 1.71pt/$.  The second main reason for choosing this CPU is that is has a relatively low TDP (Thermal Design Power) as opposed to other CPUs in this price range.  This is really important for our system because a lower TDP means less power necessary to operate and a much lower heat output, perfect for a slim case with little room for cooling.  As well as these two main reasons a few other various things played into our deciding on this CPU such as its four cores and high clockspeed, something that is very important for gaming.  Overall, we do not believe that there is a better option for a CPU for this build. 

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i 57.5 CFM CPU Cooler

The choice for cooler was not a very hard one.  Because of our space constraints there were only a dozen options, and out of them all only a handful of them were practical for our build.  When talking about coolers there are two main categories, air coolers and water coolers.  The difference is as one would expect, one cools via air and the other via water.  For the sake of this explanation we will be discussing the single best option from both sides, and why we evidently chose to go with the air cooler in the end.  The water cooler we were considering was the Corsair H50.  This is a single 140mm rad AIO (All in One) water cooler with the pump build directly into the CPU water block.  This seemed like a good fit for our case because the section that mounted over the CPU was slim, and the long tubing would allow the bulk of the cooler to be mounted somewhere else allowing for a slimmer overall build.  Having a water cooler would also make the system quieter because it requires less fans.  The other option was the Noctua NH-L9i, an extremely slim Noctua cooler with a single 120mm fan directly on top of it for cooling.  Although this wouldn’t be as quiet or provide as much cooling potential as the water cooling option, it would allow for extra space to be made in other sections of the case for airflow where the radiator for the water cooler would have to go.  Having a fan directly above the CPU would also have the added benefit of cooling the motherboard as well as the CPU, which would reduce the need for other fans in the case, overall lowering the noise level of the entire system even if the CPU cooler itself was slightly louder.  This combined with the significantly reduced weight of the air cooler verses the water one is why we chose to go with the NH-L9i as opposed to the H50.

Motherboard: Asus Z97I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard

The motherboard choice for this system was extremely easy.  There are very few Mini ITX (the smallest form factor currently on market for a motherboard) motherboards on the market that support our CPU architecture, and even fewer that supported onboard Wi-Fi, a necessity for this build as we would not have any extra PCIE slots to install an add-on card once our GPU was installed.  In the end, we really only had two options with the key difference between them being that one had an onboard M.2 expansion slot while the other one didn’t.  We decided to go with the one that included the M.2 expansion slot so that we could save some space with the storage, something that will be discussed further under the Storage section.

RAM: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

 The choice of RAM for this system was also really easy because we already knew that we needed LP (Low Profile) memory so that our CPU cooler would fit.  This left us with only a choice of color of which we ended up choosing black to fit our Motherboard

Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive

 Yet another easy choice for us was the storage for this system.  We knew going into this build that we should rely completely on Solid State Storage Devices because they do not break as easily with movement, something that would be very common in this portable system.  Once we had chosen our Motherboard and saw that it had an M.2 slot, it was obvious that we should take advantage of this.  M.2 is a relatively new interface type that has only recently begun being built into motherboards and taken advantage of by the common enthusiast.  Because it is built directly into the motherboard, using an M.2 storage system would save a ton of space and reduce the amount of extra cabling required inside the case, improving overall airflow. In addition to M.2’s space saving capabilities it also requires a little less power, making it an even better option.  As stated before, M.2 is a relatively new interface and so not many companies have made devices for them.  We just ended up choosing a good sized one from a reliable brand, which ended up being the Samsung 950 PRO 256GB M.2-2280.

GPU: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card

 The GPU choice for this system was mostly a matter of styling since it is generally agreed upon that the GTX 970 is the best Nvidia Graphics Card in this price range.  We ended up going with a slim model, one that is about half the size of a reference card, because it didn’t cost any extra and would allow for more space to be saved inside the case.  There are two slim model 970 cards currently on the market, one my Asus and the other by MSI, and the Asus one is clocked just slightly higher, so we went with that one.

 PSU: Silverstone Strider Gold 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply 

There was almost no choice with the power supply for this case.  The only SFX Power Supply Series even remotely small enough for our case was the Strider series by Silverstone.  They have models in various different wattages so we choose one that was about the combined TDP’s of all of our parts, plus 100W extra for assurance and upgradability later.  We ended up going with the 450W Silverstone Strider PSU.