new to SFF builds and need help

D

DirtyApe

Gawd
Joined
Nov 6, 2003
Messages
860
My first 2 computers were housed in ATX towers and my recent laptop just broke on me after 2 years. I'm now wanting to checkout the world of SFF but I have no clue which cases are best for what hardware nor do I have any clue as to which hardware to choose from.
I'll be spending about $1.5k on this system and I'll be wanting to keep it for about 2 years.
I know that I want to use an Intel setup and the 8800GT videocard because I want to be able to play COD4, UT3, cs:source and other current and upcoming games with some nice eye candy. I'm sorry if this thread seems to be a rehash of previous topics but I've been reading the forums and I'm still confused on which case, mobo, cpu setup I should be going with.
 
Your post is a bit to generalized. You need to give us more info so we can better help you.

What we know:
You want to play CoD4 & UT3 and pretty much any new game that comes out.

You want a 8800GT.

$1500 budget (which will build you a nice rig, btw, Is the monitor included in this price?)


Some things we need to know:
You gonna build it yourself from scratch or are you buying it prebuilt?

How portable do you want it? Just small to sit on desk or do you also want to transport it to Lan parties and places? This will help choose the case.

Do you want to OC? This is an important question you need to answer right from start. It'll help determine CPU choice. Once we know this part we can easily determine mobo and ram choices.

Answer these basic questions and then we can better help with you some build ideas.
 
lots of good build threads started recently, mine clocked in a bit under your budget not counting the monitor and throwing an xtra 200 at the vid card, plus i shelled out for a raptor X.

not that i know what i'm doing, but i do have a thread or 2 out there with the build i'm working on.

i do recomend you get a case with better airflow than the lanbox i chose, but thats your call.
 
To reply to Skott:
Yes I'm building the computer myself.
No the monitor is not included in that price.
I might OC but not sure right now.
I will be taking it to LAN parties and for taking on my ship when i go on deployments.
Oh and I want 2gigs of RAM minimum for this system.
Also, if I can build a nice system for $1k and pay around 200-300 for a LCD then thatd be great.
 
Ok, for about the last week I've been doing some research and I have no clue which case or mobo would be best for what I want. Cooling is definately a concern of mine with computers and I really dont care about the noise level of the case and fans. Weight really isn't a big concern of mine but I don't want it to feel like a ton of bricks. I will be taking this case to LAN parties and using it on the ship I'm on when we go on deployments. The case has to be able to fit a 8800 gt without modding the case. Most likely I will only use one HD and one DVD drive. As for OC'ing, I doubt that I'll be doing any of that because I don't want to risk having any problems later on down the road except usual wear n tear.
 
If you are going stock CPU without OC then I would suggest either a E6750 or a Q6600. The E6750 is considered the sweet spot right now and the Q6600 is also a popular substitution due to its four cores although its more expensive than a E6750. Depends on how much you are into the whole 'Quad is king' theory. IMO as far as just gaming only goes dualcore is still king but its a hotly debated subject. Anyhow you are looking at one of those two most likely. I believe the Q6600 runs hotter naturally so that may be a deciding factor as well.

Mobos well, lots of choices there. You could go with a DS2R, P5K-VM or the new P5E-VM HDMI. Even in stock form these will work fine and if you ever get the OC bug they will do it nicely. I havent priced them lately but the P5K-VM was cheaper last I looked. probaly still is. Cheapest I seen was like $105 or $106. forget now exactly which it was. It was a sale just before Thanksgiving. Of course there are even cheaper budget mobos that'll do stock settings just fine. They wont OC worth beans though. So decide if you want to go budget or get something that'll have some future OCing potential.

RAM isnt too hard to choose once you get the mobo choice made. Crucial Ballistix modules are very good and seem to work with most any mobo and they are pretty darn cheap to boot so look at them but decide your mobo first. There was a deal for 2Gb kit for $49 recently.

Your toughest choice I think will be the case. Why? Its gotta house the 8800GT, which many will, but also fit the HSF of your choice , and have really good cooling. This is where choices can be tough. Many use those little 80mm fans. But there are some that use 90mm or even 120mm fans. I wouldnt worry about wether the case has a handle or not because there is a work around to this problem. GripGear Micro LT harness should fit most SFF cube cases. Cost you an extra $15 or $20 but solves the problem if the case you want doesnt have a handle for easier carrying.

So I guess you'll be looking at the Tt Lanbox, MicroFly, Qpack, SG01, or possibly a shuttle case. Not sure if Shuttle has a barebone for the 8800Gt out yet or not. The SG03 is probably too tall for your needs but look at it and see what you think. There are better cases but they are bigger and more expensive. The Fragbox and Qmicra models. That new NXZT Rogue might be worth looking at too. Not sure how small you are really wanting. I know small as possible but today's SFF cases seem to be growing to fit the newer cards more easily.
 
Hey, I actually just build a SFF with around the budget you mentioned. Here's what I'm using:

Case - LIAN LI PC-A01B
Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-G33M-DS2R
Video Card - 8800GT EVGA
Power Supply - Corsair 520HX
Hard Drives (I have two of these in a raid 0) - Western Digital 750GB WD7500AAKS
CPU - Q6600
RAM - Crucial Ballistix 2GB Cas 3 DDR2 667
And I got a regular DVD ROM drive

With 3dmark06 (nothing overclocked, except the graphics card, which is factory overclocked) I get 12K. I don't plan on overclocking because its a hassle and since most of my cooling is stock (and the small case) the temps are already high, but this is to be expected with a sff system with all these components. Overall, I'm extremely happy with this build. I built this computer for my dad, but I plan on building a SFF for myself next time I update my comp. I was pretty happy with the case as well. I think it looks pretty nice and everything fit together pretty well. It's also pretty quiet (much more so than my antec 900). Here are some pics:

http://www.octavewebdesign.com/comp1.jpg
http://www.octavewebdesign.com/comp2.jpg
http://www.octavewebdesign.com/comp3.jpg
http://www.octavewebdesign.com/comp4.jpg

Sorry for the shitty pics.
 
@jucestain
which cpu cooler do you use? Is it the stock cooler?


to topic
i can advise the Lian Li v350 with Asus P5E-VM hdmi. Very nice case and a very stable mainboard.
 
yup, stock cooler. I think there's room for a smaller aftermarket cooler, but I'm not overclocking so it wasn't necessary.
 
If I read the spec correctly on the v350 its dimensions are 11.2"w x 10.8"h x 15"d. Just thought I'd throw that info up since the OP is looking at size too as a factor.

Also last night I was looking at the Ultra MicroFly site and I see they have a 600w unit now. I assume they are availble anyway. Not sure how good of a psu it is. The rail specs look good.
 
cool. thanks for the info skott :)
oh btw I think I found the case, mobo, cpu combo I want to go with.
mobo: asus p5e-vm hdmi ( I want the DVI input for lcd's)
cpu: intel E6750
case: Tt lanbox (black)
RAM: 2Gb crucial ballistix DDR2 800
HD: 250Gb seagate 7200 rpm 8MB cache SATA

I'll probably just grab a dvd burner from fry's and any other odds and ends.
I forgot to mention that I'll probably use the stock cooler if I can't a HSF that will fit inside the case without having to mod anything.
 
Okay, now that you got a specific case and mobo in mind things get easier to suggest. As far as the case goes a modular psu or a short cabled unit would be best. Silverstone has a nice 500w unit that'll do the trick nicely. Get the short cable version for less cable management headaches. If you dont like it then I would say a Corsair HX520. Longer cables but its modular. Meaning you only use the cables you need. Those that have the Lanbox can give you better info about what to use in the Lanbox.

For a hsf you can do one of two things. Use the Intel stock one for now since you dont plan to OC right away or go ahead and plan now for OCing. First plan saves money up front. Second plan allows for OCing without extra set up later on and will cool the cpu right off the bat. I think the new 8700 hsf fits the case. I think it'll fit the P5E-VM HDMI as well. Double check that though. If you can fit it into your budget I'd say get a better unit than the stock hsf simply because even if you dont OC the cpu will run cooler and less noise. Noise isnt a big factor but less heat is best in a SFF case.

DvD drive is a personal choice. LiteOn makes good ones and they are typically shorter than other units so thats a plus when it comes to a SFF build. You can choose other brands of course. It doesnt have to be expensive. Just functional and reliable.

For a HDD I'd say get one of the new 7200.11 Seagate has. They are supposedly the best 7200 drives rght now. Whatever you do get get a 16Mb cache drive. They arent that much more expensive. A little better performance IMO.

Look for those Crucial Ballistix modules. There was a $49 deal for a 2Gb kit last week. Not sure how long that'll last though. I paid $59 for mine and it was a good deal back when I bought them.

I hope that helps. looks like you'll have a nice build. :)
 
thermal take lanbox user here, just built my pc and here are some thoughts (if you havent read them already)

smaller power supply, trust me on this one and remember you can remove the power supply cage as well, i went with the silverstone 750w and it is too long for my tastes, makes things tight once you get everything situated.

if you truely and i mean truely do not care about the noise and are worried about the heat i recomend the 92mm tornado fan that i got, but i'm warning you it sounds like a hair dryer, if it didnt work so well i would regret buying it but this sucker moves 100 cubic feet of air every min.

otherwise just replace thermaltakes stock fans, they suck big time(or rather, they dont suck at all if you get my drift), i threw a 60mm 30cfm fan in the back and it pushes at least 3 times as much air as the other stock fans in the back, to give you an idea: my one 100cfm intake fan is causing posative pressure in my case even though its fighting a psu fan, and 3 60mm fans

also unless you are a big fan of modding, i would stay away from most 5.25 bay add ons unless they are optical drives or maby a hard drive holder, i had severe issues with a super flower temp monitor mainly because the case wont allow anything the size of an optical drive to sit flush with it without some modification.
 
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