Maximum PC

Hi Guys,

So I want to try something. I want to build a super small "Gaming cube/media center".

Basically a super small/portable-ish/relatively inexpensive computer.

Something that sorta looks like this:



any suggestions would be appreciated.

Goals for project:

1. Smallest form possible
2. Quiet as possible
3. Cheap as possible (<700$ in total)
4. Portable as possible
5. Dual boot with Linux and Windows 7
6. Upgradeable (for up to 3 years-ish)
7. Blu-Ray and Wi-fi equipped.

Thanks guys

The funny thing is, that case easily passes a MicroATX because it's actually pretty big for a Mini-ITX case. If you want to get as small as possible, normal sized 5.25" drives and dual-slot graphics cards have to be thrown out the window. And I'm not sure if slim drives can be installed in desktops, that is, the mounting holes match up.

If you're willing, you can put up with an AMD A10 APU, depending on how much gaming you want to do. You could potentially get away with fitting it in a Antec ISK-300.

Say I want to play Bioshock Infinite on High Graphics?

Is there a good place to search for small form cases?

And what about cooling and a PSU? I know those are both fairly big issues when it comes to small form builds.

I usually go on Newegg and look at their Mini-ITX cases. Most Mini-ITX cases however only allow for single slot video cards, which AMD has a card that will play Bioshock Infinite on high fairly well (the HD7750).

As for power supply, if it can't take the normal ATX power supply, you will need to look for an SFX/Mini-ITX power supply. Here's what NewEgg has in that regard. A lot of cases do come with one though, and I wouldn't worry about power requirements. Punching this into a PSU calculator, using a Core i3-3210 as the CPU, you're looking at 100% load w/ 10% cap aging of 270W. So give or take a 300W power supply should be fine (you're not going to be taxing the system 100% ever).

So I went and compiled a list on NewEgg: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Publi ... r=27429607

Some things of note here:

• The case I chose was mostly for size and power. The Antec ISK-300 would've been a better choice for size, but it uses a proprietary power supply so upgrading it from it's meh 150W is out of the question. If you want a case with more options, you're going to have to give up the size part.
• There's no AMD Mini-ITX boards that aren't FM sockets available. Considering Socket FM1 was a dead-end for upgradability, I have every reason to believe socket FM2 is a dead-end
• Considering Intel's track record for upgradability too... building something now would limit you to Socket 1155. The build I provided I would say is about as good as you can get before thermals start rearing its ugly head
• The motherboard I chose simply because it has a bunch of built-in wireless features, including Bluetooth and WiDi.
• The video card is about as good as you'll get for a single slot card. You can find Mini-ITX cases that can support dual-slot, but again, you'll be trading size for that.

What is the smallest case that would work with 2 cards?

Two-slot cards you mean? Silverstone and Cooler Master make some.

The SilverStone ones require a slim drive though, so something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... alParent=1 should get you going.

So I have compiled a wishlist what do you think?

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySa ... D=22086592

Thanks

That's a private wishlist, set it to public, copy the ID of it, and use the public URL with the ID.

Or just snapshot it and upload it to imgur or tinypic

Oh.....I'm an idiot lol.

Does this link work:

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Publi ... r=22086592

Yeah, that all looks good.

LatiosXT made some great points; one thing I wanted to add, having looked at your current wish list, is that if you're going with the Bitfenix Prodigy case anyway, it supports dual slot GPUs, so you are not necessarily limited to a Radeon HD7750 for your GPU, and the i5-3570K CPU can drive much more powerful cards, which would result in a more 'balanced' build from a purely gaming perspective. Then again, you wanted upgrade options for the future, so a faster GPU down the line would fit the bill there, especially since you've already gone a bit over your goal on price.

Only other thing that I think is worth mentioning is that Intel will be releasing Haswell (LGA1150 socket) in a couple months, so LGA1155 is going to be just as 'dead' (from an upgrading standpoint) as AMD's FM1 is and potentially FM2 may be also. Since LGA1155 got Sandy and Ivy bridge, hopefully LGA1150 will at least get two rounds of CPUs before being put out to pasture as well. If you can wait to pull the trigger until then, that could potentially help give you more options for upgrading too. Then again, as we all probably know too well, there's always SOMETHING around the corner we could be waiting for, but eventually you just have to go for it (or else we'd all still be stuck running rigs from decades past)

So what would you recommend in terms of cards?

It depends on how much you're willing to spend. Everything comes down to a budget.

That's not really how you look like, is it? Kinda weird looking like an old man from the mountains talking about graphics cards.

Ha....funny,

But in terms of budget I wanted to keep the total of the COMP under 800.

So what did you have in mind?

If you're willing to go with a Core i5-3350P, then you save about $40. Add the $20 left over from your budget (assuming this is your base budget, not accounting for tax and shipping), you could get GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost.

I wish this was Skype so I could just use the 'thumbs up' smiley

I love the 650 Ti I've got in one of my machines. Wish I had waited until they came out with the Boost version, but that's just how it goes!

So in terms of size, with the case in mind, does that card fit?

I'm so new to building small builds I really don't know all that much about the dimensions on the inside of the case.

And I wish Skype emoticons could be used too......

The BitFenix Prodigy was made to accommodate a beast like the GTX Titan. Like I said, the Prodigy barely counts as a Mini-ITX case.