Just an idea I had looking around on the internet. A really small computer, capable of playing modern games. So let me know if all these parts would work together. http://www.globalamericaninc.com/p2...Quad_/_Core_2_Duo_Processor/product_info.html http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136150 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121253 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151035 SATA DVD Drive Thank you in advance
Well, it is compatibel. But... I don't think the 4850 will fit with those memory banks so close to it. It might be a close call, but you should search around to know sure it fits.
WD Green 750GB isn't really a performance drive, have a look at their new Black series or just grab a 640GB. my god that's a small motherboard. i think 4850 will fit fine, the PCIe slot is at the very far end, just don't get an ultra long PCI card and you should be fine
There are some pretty solid embedded/small boards/parts avail HERE. Be warned though most of the products in the upper echelon of this category are usually for military or aerospace and are generally incredibly expensive.
This hard drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218) instead of this hard drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136150). I want the computer to be quiet. Does anyone know if a Accelero will fit on a 4850? I would assume that it would, but I don't know for sure. @wuyanxu: I will not be getting a PCI card. I will use the onboard audio, and that is the only reason for me to need a PCI card. @Langer: Thank you for the link. If I ever outgrow gaming, that will be great to know about for a small computer. But for the moment, I want the performance.
Using an ITX motherboard with ATX components means there isn't going to be much room to work with. Cooling is going to be an issue with lots of hot components crammed in in a small space. As, mentioned above, I think the motherboard is designed in such a way that the bottom of the card runs against the top edge of the board, so blocking the memory slots shouldn't be a problem . Maybe a separate cooling duct for the graphics card, from the front of the case to the rear vent of the graphics card would help cooling. Like I said, if your really serious about making it small, you really should be looking at some laptop/small-form-factor components. A performance orientated laptop hard drive would be fast enough and save a lot of space/heat. Also, a decent quality 300-400watt shuttle/m-atx PSU probably be ample, esp. with one laptop hard drive. Again, saving loads of space over the ATX Model.
Power supplies are pretty much the biggest issue I have with building small, next to the size of the video card itself. Hard to find a quality mATX unit at or above 300 watts, and while there are quality 1U rackmount PSUs higher in wattage, they're also usually pretty loud. I've got a mobile C2D board with PCI-e for a future project, and it's going to stay in the future until I come up with a decent PSU that won't make my design as big as an mATX case. It's kind of sad to me, the board and CPU use less power than the video cards I'm considering.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151058 Would this psu work? @TTmodder: It wasn't there when I checked a week or so ago. Thank you. @Wolfticket: Thank you. The cooling duct sounds like a good idea. @W-fault: I have been having the same issue with power supplies. Maybe the one I just linked will help you also.
Yes, that PSU would be more than enough for a computer like that. Despite what a lot of people on the internet believe, it's actually very difficult to put together a computer that uses more than about 200 watts. To overwhelm that power supply, you'd need SLI and a RAID array along with a pretty spectacular overclock. If you're curious about power demands, this is the best PSU calculator I've ever found (checked against actual values measured with my Kill-a-Watt) http://web.aanet.com.au/SnooP/psucalc.php
I think your main problem is going to be the graphic card. A high-end one is going to be anything but tiny. Plan your system around that. You may want to consider a Via Nano, which comes on a small motherboard, uses only 25W but in conjunction with a medium to high-end graphic card has surprisingly good games performance. Below see at work a Via Nano 1.8Ghz with a nVidia 8600GT running Crysis in Vista: If you want a small, quiet yet fast HDD, the latest WD Raptor 2's may be of use to you (contrary to what their huge heatsinks suggest, they run quite cool and do not really need the heatsink. That is just so you can mount them in 3.5" bays --and so they look cool). If you can live with 3.5" size drives the latest 1Tb Samsung Spinpoint is fast, cheap and has great storage capacity.
Not much on (mmm... procrastination), so did a vague front-to-back-airflow layout idea using the sketchup components page: Using 1U rackmount PSU Similar Commell ITX motherboad (yours is an LV-677 btw) Scythe Mini Ninja CPU heatsink Thermalright HR03 GT GPU heatsink You might wanna add a hard drive and some fans before switching it on though (also, that motherboard is the best part of £200 )
A performance PC THAT small is going to cause some serious thermal management challenges. I was really thinking of going even smaller, but only for music, video, so i wouldn't need a big GPU for that, and the CPU would be way smaller and cooler (because it's slower) anyway...
To be honest i dont think he will suffer thermal issues with the setup, considering that he is using a E8400 and even tho it is a 3GHz monster it isn't as hot as pervious CPU made by intel. The choice of ATI's 4850 again isn't a bad idea either, it could be cooler granted but its hardly a HD2900XTX is it. i myself have been looking at the ITX form factor based around an intel atom, but mine will be a headless torrent downloader/wireless NAS running kubuntu most likely. dam it if i am going to keep my Quad core running 24/7 on my electricity bill!!!!
@Crazybob: Thank you for the link to the PSU Calc. That was really in depth! Thank you! @Nexxo: I was considering the Raptor v2, but the price to gb was terrible, so i decided that I would find a way to fit a larger, slightly slower drive in. @Wolfticket: Thank you for the quick sketchup. I am working on drawing on grid paper with a pencil...I had no idea that the mobo was that expensive! I may have to do some cutbacks...maybe a 3850...or slower proc... @BentAnat: I will duct the computer, so there shouldn't be bad thermal issues @Burnout21: I am pretty sure that the 4850 is faster than the 2900...I will look for a review... Does anyone have any ideas on how to cut back the price? Currently the parts are sitting at just over $1000 (us dollars)...
It seems that my original idea of not having casing on the psu will not work. So does anyone have any recommendations on a small form factor psu that would work with this computer?
New system spec idea http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115052 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148202 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817157006 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102747 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218 http://www.globalamericaninc.com/p2...Quad_/_Core_2_Duo_Processor/product_info.html
'I am pretty sure that the 4850 is faster than the 2900...I will look for a review...' Definetly, no doubt. A 2900XT doesn't beat an 8800GT. An 4850 beats the hell outta 8800GT. To cut back on the price you say... I'd say: Cheaper memory, Kingston ValueRAM is a great choice, and most of the times cheaper, but just as good as Mushkin (Personally i'd rather have kingston then Mushkin) It'll save you a couple a bucks. The CPU can be downgraded to an E8300, will save you a couple a bucks too. The last thing you can save on is harddiskspace. But that's just a waste of gb/$. 500GB is just cheap, but 250GB is cheaper, and enough for a long time. Last but not least: The case? Make it an home made wooden box or something? Just an idea...
Still sticking with the ITX motherboard then? Core compatible ITX motherboards seem to be pretty rare, by extension expensive. The one you mention seems to be the only one in existence that is compatible with a full range of core processors, and it doesn't seem to be generally available yet. It might be worth considering the m-atx form factor instead. Mini ITX is 17x17cm, where as matx is around 24x24cm (or slightly less). The resulting system size shouldn't be that much larger, esp. since you have to make room for some full sized components anyway. Matx will give you a much wider selection of cheaper core compatible motherboards, and you will probably end up with a faster, better cooled, not much larger system for the same money.
The cheapest kingston ram i could find is only $5 cheaper. I was just messing around with my cart on newegg. I meant to still have the Mushkin memory rather than the Crucial. But the Mushkin is a really good deal. And with the rebate, it can't be beat. Did you mean a E8200? Well that saves $15...What about the E7200? Is it any good? How about the single platter 320gig rather than the double platter 640 gig? I am going for fairly quiet... I am working on designing a custom case. It is hard work, but hopefully it will be worth it. I will look into how much bigger the matx will make the computer. I am trying to make it small, but as you say, it may not get any smaller. Do you have any recommendations on a matx mobo to get me started?
