15 replies to this topic

[Major Floor]

I'm debating building a small form-factor machine mainly for playing Eve on. I don't have space for a full size box, as I'll probably end up having to hide it away in a cupboard or something until I manage to move house!

I was looking at the following:

• Zotac Z68ITX-A-E Motherboard
• 8Gb Corsair DDR3 1600Mhz RAM
• LG DVD RW
• 650W Power Supply
• Intel Sandybridge i5-2500K Unlocked Core i5 Quad-Core Processor
• Thermaltake Armor A30 SECC Chassis

I already have peripherals and HD's and I have a gfx card. Although I'll probably upgrade to SSD at some point. As I'll pretty much only be playing Eve on it, it doesn't need to be too beefy but I'l like to be at least half decent.

Anyone got any thoughts or recommendations? I'm not tied to building my own PC, in fact I'd probably rather not, but I've done it plenty of times before so it's not something that worries me.

[Othran]

Its a hideous looking box and its Thermaltake (had bad experiences with them).

When I've built SFF systems in the past I've used Shuttle boxes - they come with the PSU and motherboard fitted. The mechanical design (airflow) inside is exceptionally good on models after 2006. Only problems I've ever had with them (and I've built dozens) were :

1) A firmware bug where when you increased the DIMM voltage (overclocking) and then subsequently reduced the voltage. The result was a m/b which had no voltage for DIMMs. Shuttle Europe replaced the box within a week even though I bought from a reseller for business;

2) Dodgy caps in a PSU about 10 years ago. This was same time Dell, HP etc had similar problems - was fake solid caps from China IIRC. PSU replaced no problems.

Take a look at (for example) http://uk.shuttle.co...?productId=1572

The support list has your CPU listed and has a GTX580 listed on the gfx support, so 500W will be fine (they're damn good PSUs).

[Larg Kellein]

While that case doesn't make me as violently ill as it seems to do to Othran, I'd second the recommendation for Shuttle stuff. Which also negates my worry about the motherboard being from a company that I, despite being a bit of a hardware geek, have never heard about, let alone used. If you don't go Shuttle, I'd consider Gigabyte, MSI or Asus for the motherboard. Probably Gigabyte, despite me being an Asus fan personally. Gigabyte seems to have the better selection of Micro ATX boards.

[Major Floor]

Yes I'd never heard of them until I did a little research on Micro-ITX boards for gaming, and this appears to come fairly highly reccomended. Shuttle stuff is interesting though, and yes I agree that case looks fairly naff, however I thought it looked like it had reasonable cooling and space for a reasonable gfx card. The thing that puts me off the shuttles, is the barebones systems seem quite expensive for what is essentially a case, mother board and psu.

[Othran]

Zotac stuff is good Larg. They are mini-ITX specialists - or that's how they started out. I got a nice ION-based Zotac motherboard that gets used as a mediacentre, draws 35W while outputting 1920x1080 video.

Edit - worth looking at http://www.mini-itx.com/store/ if anyone is undertaking mini-ITX projects in the UK.

[Othran]

Yep the shuttle boxes are expensive. They're worth it though IME.

[Larg Kellein]

Just read up a bit on Zotac, they do seem to have their shite together for the market segment. Being heavily specialised in smaller stuff is probably also why I'd never heard of them, I never built a small form factor machine for myself, only for friends and family. And those were Shuttles.

[Othran]

Just read up a bit on Zotac, they do seem to have their shite together for the market segment. Being heavily specialised in smaller stuff is probably also why I'd never heard of them, I never built a small form factor machine for myself, only for friends and family. And those were Shuttles.

Mmm if you want to go very small form factor and still play Eve then http://www.mini-itx....store/zbox-nano (AMD platform rather than VIA) is lovely. Box is a bit indiscreet but its 127mm x 127mm x 45mm which is pretty damn small. Edit - brackets off in fights obviously

[Ba'al Hadad]

I'm asking my friends at http://thatcomputerstore.net/ because they deal in shuttles and other small form factor gear. I personally use a Shuttle with amd chipset. It's been very kind to me for the last 2.5 years, carry bag and all. I am soon due for an upgrade. I know someone who recently put together a lovely shuttle. I will also get those specs for you.

[Ba'al Hadad]

Mmm if you want to go very small form factor and still play Eve then http://www.mini-itx....store/zbox-nano (AMD platform rather than VIA) is lovely. Box is a bit indiscreet but its 127mm x 127mm x 45mm which is pretty damn small. Edit - brackets off in fights obviously

That one is used at the aforementioned super sweet store as a second sale system slash sound streamer. Alliteration is always appealing and apparently appropriate anywhere.

[Ba'al Hadad]

Okay, you have a stamp of approval from my buddy (he has a 15 minute weekly morning show spot and a radio show). He uses the A30 case. He says that it is not exactly small form factor but it has a low height profile. I know it is bigger than my shuttle case and I like being able to put stuff on top of it, so you won't catch me using the thermaltakes, but they are apparently good enough for him to use

[Ba'al Hadad]

Update: one of the techs said they like the case, but it's a little difficult to work on, but great after it's built. If you have build experience, it shouldn't be a problem. Cheers and good luck!

[Othran]

Mmm if you want to go very small form factor and still play Eve then http://www.mini-itx....store/zbox-nano (AMD platform rather than VIA) is lovely. Box is a bit indiscreet but its 127mm x 127mm x 45mm which is pretty damn small. Edit - brackets off in fights obviously

That one is used at the aforementioned super sweet store as a second sale system slash sound streamer. Alliteration is always appealing and apparently appropriate anywhere.

The VIA one is ideal for a mediacentre.

The AMD one can play games as well - albeit you have to pick and choose.

I don't think either are what Major Floor is looking for - I just mentioned it as you can do some lovely things with mini-ITX kit.

[Ba'al Hadad]

For what it's worth, I avoid VIA. I ran into so many problems years ago it left mental scars. That's not to say they are not good now...

[Challenger70]

That PSU will explode. Spend a lot more money on it. I recommend Corsair or Seasonic.

Edit: From the user reviews This PSU advertises 650watts with 36amps down the 12v rail.
In this case there are 2 x 12v rails each one "apparently" delivering 18amps each.

Having installed this PSU in my own machine, i soon found that the computer instantly powered off as soon as any stress was put on it ( ie: by starting a game with the video card pulling power ).

Upon further inspection with a voltmeter i found that not only was this so called 650w PSU not delivering the promised 36 amps, but each rail was delivering a staggering 11 amps each.... for a total of 22amps.
This is incredibly weak for a 650w PSU and is the kind of output i would expect from a good 300w supply

[Aluchem]

ASUS Gene Z is a very good Micro ATX board