I'm putting together a mobile desktop to replace my aging and incredibly no-right-to-still-be-working Macbook Pro, as a stopgap until the next generation of MBP comes along with the Retina displays. I need it to be more than powerful enough to play all my games and suchthings and do medium duty 3D animation rendering. I want it to be teeny tiny and I want it to look good. Currently I have this parts list: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=18050485 I absolutely LOVE this case and am totally willing to pay the premium for ruggedness and a handle and the other little features it has. I'm pretty happy with this build, but am always open to suggestions for different hardware to use. Games I will be playing: Half-Life, Half-Life: Opposing Force, Half-Life: Blue Shift, Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2:Episode One, Half-Life 2:Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, the entire Command and Conquer series, Supreme Commanders 1 and 2, Painkiller, basically most any first person shooter that isn't a dull grey-brown plodathon with regenerating health, cover mechanics, and 2 weapon slots. Oh and Crysis 1/Warhead. And my new favorite pastime, Real Time Strategy games. Actual money-making programs I will use: Newtek Lightwave 3D 11 uh.. that's it. Now I know that for a thousand bucks I could easily get an i7 if I went for yet another boring grey monolith, but I love small computers, and I want to make a mini-ITX build again, as they are one of my favorites. Yes I do need an SSD for fastness. I'd like to keep the budget close to $1000 or under, if I can. Thanks in advance for any help! EDIT: I should mention that A: I will probably be using a resolution of 1650x1050 only, and B: I don't mean I'm going to be computing on the move, I just want something to haul to school on mondays and take back fridays.
Well if I look at it that way then I'd have a faster mobile desktop than my desktop. Maybe I'll just sell my desktop and get this to replace it!
Okay I've swapped out the GTX 550 Ti Cyclone with an EVGA GTX 560 Ti that exhausts out the rear, which probably plays better with the tiny case's cooling arrangement.
Another change: I swapped out the i5-2500k for a Xeon E3-1230 because it's only about $20 more expensive and includes hyperthreading. I found out that it can be used on any LGA 1155 motherboard, which as far as I'm concerned makes it the new X3440, so I'm definitely getting one. The Intel Xeon Inside bragging rights aren't bad either
Parts list currently if you don't want to browse Newegg: Lian-Li TU200A mini-ITX case Gorgeous and rugged, good interior layout and support for a full length video card ZOTAC Z68ITX-A-E LGA 1155 motherboard Good features, great connectivity, built in Wifi is a huge plus for a mini-itx board Intel Xeon E3-1230 3.2ghz quad core CPU Cheaper than an i7, lightning fast, hyperthreading, works on desktop motherboards, not just server ones EVGA Superclocked GTX 560 Ti Same price as normal GTX 560, heavy duty cooling, one of my favorite graphics cards Silverstone Strider Plus ST-50F-P 500w PSU Good price and more importantly 100% modular. No one stray Molex cable hanging around because I only need 1. Geil Value PLUS 2x4gb DDR3 1600 RAM It's a brand I've used before and I like the heat sink on it. HITACHI HDS721050CLA362 7200 rpm 500gb HDD Best value after those accursed floods, I don't need more than 500gb definitely. I'll buy a 1tb Samsung Spinpoint F3 after the prices come back down LG 22x Super Multi DVD burner It's a DVD burner, reviews say it's quiet, what more is there. Scythe SCSK-1100 100mm vertical CPU cooler It's short enough to fit in the 8cm clearance the case gives me and has a largeish fan to cool my loins... I mean CPU. As usual, any parts you take issue with, let me know! I'm always open to suggestions(except about the case. I'm sticking to that.)
