Prospective (semi)SFF build advice v.taxrefund

Satyrist

Satyrist

Gawd
Joined
Mar 12, 2001
Messages
724
Budget will be somewhere around $1100.

I'll be looking at using the hard drives from my current lan rig (120gb seagate), as well as the memory (2x512 ballistix pc3200) and a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz for audio...I doubt my current power supply (350W FSP Aurora) will make the move, though.

What I'm looking for as far as parts:

Coolermaster Centurion 540/1 (Black model)--OK, maybe not SFF per se, but it offers good cooling potential.

Opteron 144 (already got)

Motherboards I'm prospectively looking at:

EPoX EP-9GF6100-M (Looks good, cooling potential is a bit questionable for NB though)

Biostar TForce 6100-939 (Decent all-around model)

DFI RS482 Infinity (depending when it's released to retail)

EVGA 131-K8-NF44-AX NF4 SLI (depending on feedback here when peeps get it)

For video, I'd be looking at possibly 2x6800GS if I was getting the EVGA board, or possibly a 7800GT (hey, maybe 2 if I'll see an appreciable difference) for a single board...I'm a bit behind the times as far as what's good and current. :confused:

ENERMAX Liberty 500W, though I'm quite partial to units made by FSP in general myself.

I picked the Centurion simply because I wanted a touch more room to work in, and the XQPack and Sugo cases are just not what I'm looking for, cooling-wise if I were to possibly go with the EVGA board. (Depending how well it overclocks, if at all)

Comments? Thanks :)
 
You did the research...go with what you feel comfortable with. All those parts seem fine.
 
so far as 1900xt's go, would it matter which manufacturer I went with?

Looking at Newegg's photo selection, all of them look moreorless like the reference card/cooler.
 
nah. all the same crap. like nvidia, all same, maybe different color pcb or something. warranties may differ tho.
 
vanilla_guerilla said:
nah. all the same crap. like nvidia, all same, maybe different color pcb or something. warranties may differ tho.
Click to expand...

Nah, the pcb's are all radeon red, not really much difference in the fan cooler either :p

I wonder which Powered By ATI vendor I ought to go with as far as overall quality though... :confused:
 
Steeeeve said:
You did the research...go with what you feel comfortable with. All those parts seem fine.
Click to expand...

Would you say that the Biostar and the Epox are fairly equal feature-wise? (aside from perhaps the Epox having potential cooling issues with the NB)
 
Satyrist said:
Would you say that the Biostar and the Epox are fairly equal feature-wise? (aside from perhaps the Epox having potential cooling issues with the NB)
Click to expand...
i have an MSI...the Epox won't have NB cooling issues, did you read that it did?

I think the Epox has a weird location for the 24pin connection..but that is just me. Just go with what you think is best...we know as much as you do :)
 
Steeeeve said:
i have an MSI...the Epox won't have NB cooling issues, did you read that it did?

I think the Epox has a weird location for the 24pin connection..but that is just me. Just go with what you think is best...we know as much as you do :)
Click to expand...

My bad

It's the southbridge, actually-No form of cooling on it period, and it doesn't look as though it's going to be a simple fit either, because of where the video card lever's situated. I had taken a look on another forum and it appeared that someone had come up with something that could work, though it'd mean not covering the entire face of the chipset.

I wonder how the onboard sound (for either the biostar or epox) compares to the Santa Cruz as far as quality goes? I'll realistically only have one pci slot if I went with a x1900xt--I'd likely just throw in an older Intel 10/100 NIC for network, I don't care for Realtek very much.
 
i have the epox, it works great. it needs some issues to be resolved, ie. voltage reading using cpu-z. after epox fixes that issue i don't see why this is a bad mobo to consider. with the new bios, it's a great overclocking mobo.

for cooling on the SB i used a heatsink i had from my vantec chipset heatsink kit. its low profile and has thermal tape to apply it to the SB. it's a perfect fit. i will post pics when i have the time.
 
aiya said:
i have the epox, it works great. it needs some issues to be resolved, ie. voltage reading using cpu-z. after epox fixes that issue i don't see why this is a bad mobo to consider. with the new bios, it's a great overclocking mobo.

for cooling on the SB i used a heatsink i had from my vantec chipset heatsink kit. its low profile and has thermal tape to apply it to the SB. it's a perfect fit. i will post pics when i have the time.
Click to expand...

Ah OK

I think I've got one of those heatsinks in my box o' parts someplace. Probably even thermal tape too.

If that fits, I know exactly what you're talking about....That helps me, with decent airflow this hopefully won't be a weak point so far as stability goes.

Thx
 
This is what I've tentatively got going ATM:

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811119088 (Coolermaster centurion 541)

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814102003 (Sapphire x1900xt)

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817103478 (Sparkle FSP550-60PLG)

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822152025 (Samsung Spinpoint 250gb SATA)

Now I just can't decide between the Biostar or the DFI, or maybe the Epox:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136007 (DFI RS482 Infinity)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138264 (Biostar TForce 6100-939)

Further suggestions?

thx
 
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