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Solve : Small Form Factor? |
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Answer» I have been thinking about as I would have a tight budget, a new Rig would be hard to achieve. Questions are. One, would a SFF system be wanting in terms of gaming. Would plan for a Clarkdale. Small Form Factor PCs are said to be running nhot. It is a false impression in the case of my Shuttle SN78SH7 (3 Ghz AMD Phenom II) and was in the case (no pun intended!) of my Shuttle ST62K (3 GHz P4) that I ran for 5 years. The CASES of these machines was NOT hot to the touch, by the way. Quote The case feels hot to the touch ... I guess physics wasn't your major? As far as small form factor and affordable go, I'd advise an i3 based system with something like an ATI 5750 or 5770. You can go microATX or even mini-ITX with those options quite easily, and that combination should handle most games out there at medium/high settings. The i3 chips run exceedingly cool, the 5750 runs cool too, the 5770 does run fairly cool but there are variations of the cooler around so check before you buy. Those are just some general suggestions, without knowing a budget, what games you WANT to play, and how small you want to go,Realistically speaking, modding the Xbox case would mean major surgery. The budget would depend on how much could be saved until now and Christmas. Probably budget would be I would say, would be around 500 quid (about 790 US) In terms of the Hardware, if could get my old Swiftech X2 rad hooked up externally to the case (thinking Shuttle TYPE here) that would be a good starting point. Anybody think liquid cooling a Shuttle type case feasibleLiquid cooling in a £500 budget, not worth it. Sure, you have your rad, and I'd guess tubing, but you'd still need a decent block and it could be a tight fit, so I'd not bother. i3 doesn't benefit from liquid cooling anyway. With a £500 budget, you could pick up a decent i3 system. I just specc'd one up, sans graphics, for £352 in the Lian-Li A05NB - add a decent graphics card and shipping, you're around £500. The Lian-Li case is basically a mini tower, it will take a full ATX board. I'm not sure how small exactly you want to go - a Lian-Li Q07 would be a good mini-ITX choice if you wanted to go smaller, alterantives are the Silverstone Sugo series. Is there a particular SFF case that you had in mind? Quote from: Calum on August 11, 2010, 11:58:01 AM Liquid cooling in a £500 budget, not worth it. Sure, you have your rad, and I'd guess tubing, but you'd still need a decent block and it could be a tight fit, so I'd not bother. i3 doesn't benefit from liquid cooling anyway. Good suggestion. From what I've heard and seen those Lian-Li cases are pretty good. Bit of a PITA to build in, but they're not bad, especially for the price.Well going on preferences for equipment past (it has been a while since I have built any kind of PC) the following is something I would look at, if only on reputation. The Lian-li cases have always looked a little boring and overpriced imo, but as I say, the tech loop needs a little attention on what is now what. As for the CORE I3 not benefiting on liquid, I could not agree or disagree, but an interesting thought to delve further into. As my T94 is the first Intel CPU I have ever owned, close attention will be paid to what is what. One thing on the Case, I don't actually mind what brand it is and to a lesser degree, what it looks like. However, it must have very very good cable management tech, OTHERWISE I will just end up drilling the tray.The Lanbox, IMO, is overpriced for what it is. Lian-Li cases are mostly aimed towards people who like a more classic look, without LED fans and grilles everywhere, although they do make those kind of cases too. If you don't like that look though, that's cool, what do you think of the Silverstone Sugo cases? I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that i3 chips don't benefit from liquid cooling, not counting extreme bench situations of course.Actually you make a good point there and I concur. The ever decreasing nm process and power efficient=efficiency makes perfect sense. I would imagine that is obvious this situation is still current for an OC'ed chip being speed rated. I will desmiss the idea of liquid as aesthetics only for now. That Case is well nice. The cooling potential is awesome, and being Silverstone, can be replied upon. Nice suggestion :thup:Glad you like the case suggestion. i3 chips can normally reach their maximum "safe" (within the maximum voltage specification) OC potential, or very close, on mid-end air cooling - they're not usually temperature limited. |
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