I'm going to be making a bit more money than expected this holiday so am planning on building an m-itx system to take back to uni, so I can finally have a decent fast computer and not a slow laptop (currently have a samsung r700). I will probably be building it in 2-3 months, and am not really in a rush so would be happy to wait if anything in particular was coming out as would like this build to last for as long as possible. My current ideas are as follows: silverstone sg07 (ideally sg08 if it's out in time) zotac z68 m-itx (seems like it will be along time until competitors such as gigabyte release one so not much choice) 2x4gb corsair arctic white lp ram (the low voltage version) gtx560ti 1gb (atm probably asus TOP) - would be interested in thoughts on 6950 etc. thermalright axp-140 + 140mm fan (again doesn't seem to be that many good 140mm fans, would be interested in any particularly good ones) 1-2tb hdd, is there much speed loss between a 7200rpm 1tb and a "green" 2tb? Doubt I'd ever use that much space but nice not to have to think about upgrading again 120gb ssd - is the vertex 3 worth the premium over the other ocz models, or would others such as the crucial m4 be better? Also does anyone know of future ssd releases? (any slim dvd writer, will probably go for a slot loading one) Using scan this costs £900-1000 depending on exact components, and would like to stick to £1000 as the upper limit. I will also be getting a screen (probably the 23" lg ips panel that is strongly recommended) to go with it, though again any other suggestions welcome. I'll be using the computer for gaming (1920x1080 most likely res) and am interested in getting more into cad/rendering, and will definitely go for m-itx so it doesn't take up too much space at uni, is easier to transport and also just like the idea of a small and powerful system. Overclocking will probably depend on noise/temps, would be nice to have the option though even if just for a modest overclock. Thanks for any help.
I would also be interested to see people's opinions on what difference varying SSDs make as compared to mechanical HDDs
Rather than the SG07/8, I'd take a look at the Lan Gear Da Box 100. It's nearly as small, but can take full size PSUs, GPUs and CPU coolers, plus is MATX. It isn't cheap (about the same price as an SG07, but you need to buy a PSU as well), but it's really well designed.
The zotac board has only just been released, and is only just coming on sale. Had a look at the lan gear cases but there have been some problems with them (going by the thread on hardforum) and is also easier to find an sg07.
Also was thinking that the current graphics cards seem to have been out for quite a while, is there any definite news on the next generation from nvidia/ati? Seen a few news items mentioning southern islands 2011 but nothing definite.
Why not get the scythe gentle typhoon and a 140/120mm adapter as it is better and quieter than the less popular 140mm fans.
Both sides are likely to have a 2012 release date for both now. http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=212842
I was thinking about that, are there any 120mm fans (other than the gentle typhoons) that are particularly good for use on cpu coolers? Will probably go for a 560ti for graphics then, now just to decide whether its worth waiting for the sg08 to come out - it looks a lot nicer but functionally is pretty much the same.
Silverstone air penetrators (hehe) are pretty good on cases but I don't know about on a hsf. Akasa apache fans have been recommended for the proliminatech genesis.
