Powerhouse SFF project

Soldato
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Updated Edit: For people who dont wanna go through the whole things (its mostly ramblings!)

Hopefully going to continue this little project (possibly make a new thread in the project area but, we'll see)

For now I'll post the "key info" in here.


I wanted to build the most powerful ITX system I could (student budget etc) Basically a step down from a power hungry pointlessly big full size rig down to a tiny little system which has more oomph.
My plan is to have a gtx 480 (or better)
a decent OS ssd (120gb+)
Watercooling (cpu, possibly full)


ITX Powerhouse specs as it stands :)
powerhouse.jpg

Managed to find 8gig of ram (2x4gb) for an astonishing price.
cpu is stock, but I may tinker with that when I get water


All crammed into a very smart little Lian li q08
IMG_20100618_215350.jpg


Desk shot:
IMG_20100618_172938.jpg


Read on for future ideas etc, hope you enjoy it :)

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Post 1:

Right, ive been making a few threads recently, so thought I'd make one big one and hopefully people will help me more :D

"Downgrading" my x58 (spec in sig), but keeping the sheer power it provides and have 3 options

Options 1:

DFI mi h55 - cant oc very well. I mean hitting 4ghz
i7 860
Cpu cooler?
2x4gb (not sure, ripjaws 1600's?) I could do with more though, but not at prices atm. I could live with 4.
gtx 280 (or upgrade later)

Lian li pc q08 :)


Not sure on ram, or cpu cooler.
A scythe shuriken maybe? What else is there though? I cant find any pics of the "big" version on the board, if it coveres the pcie slot or not.
Takes atx psu (plus point)

Also, the savings would be well recieved!

Option 2:

the pc q08 is 21l capacity, thats quite big for a mitx... touching the 23l capacity of a dabox 100. Which takes matx (keep my 920, 6gb ram which is a mega plus) room for 2 gfx cards(meh, on big one is enough tbh), mahoosive cpu heatsinks for that size (Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme)
But imo, doesn't look that great compared to the lian li, still looks ok though, and seems to be getting a tonne of support and face lifts... in america.

Sell my rampage 2 extreme and get something like an evga/gene matx, keeping room to oc with the big boys.

Option 3:

Sit tight and wait for the shuttle j3.
mitx x58 (insane)
keep my i7 920
keep my ram (BIG plus here)
Not sure what it is capacity wise.
Will use its own psu, should be powerfull enough though.



Option 1 saves me the most money I predict which is always a plus.
Option 2 would mean spending a small amount
option 3 would probably need a mortgage knowing shuttle! But it does sound nice.

C'mon, give your input, whatever you think, any response is helpfull.
 
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Soldato
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Working it out though option one seems to be cheaper? (and look nicer :p)

Taking if I sell mobo, ram, cpu, cooler, case, xfi
if i sell mine for around 500-600 (no ones giving me a price check, doh.)

option1: 100 mobo, 100 ram, 230 cpu (20 cooler), 80? case (all new prices)


option 2:
matx mobo is like 180quid, case will be like 100.
 
Associate
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Lol, I've been completely looking over the Q08, mixing it up with the Q07... numpty. It was only when I read you trying to put a GTX280 into (what I thought was) a Q08 that I looked it up. I like it!

If you can afford it and are happy with the loss in performance I'd get the Lian Li. Think its a wonderful case!

However, I'm all M-ATX with my Q6600 and 8800GTX so I'm sticking the DaBox 100 for now. Fingers crossed they will stick to their European release date and they will be available at the end of this month.... *fingers crossed*

Back to your post though. Why are you going SFF? Are you looking to put it with TV or just wanting smaller? Are ATX cases just too big for you? Lian Li PC-A05N too big? Or HTPC case?
 
Soldato
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Guardsmon:

reason is i just want small. Sick of big pointless cases. My v600 is adorable at the moment, but It needs modding to fit my psu and I cant be fussed. It also needs to be a desktop machine too for uni next year.

Looking at it from a performance view, I'm running my i7 at stock at the moment (have been for a while since my gfx got rma'ed) and due to the sheer heat output. So moving to an i7 860 technically is a semi upgrade (albeit tiny) but i'll only manage 3.2 with the dfi mitx overclock, which to be honest isnt shabby.

Only downgrade is the ram, loosing 2gig could be a pain if I need it for 3dmodelling.
I could always save up for 2x4gb though...

So far, for me the lian li is stomping over everything else. I'm a MASSIVE v-series fanboy (had a 1000,600,v350) adore the drilled hole design. Everything is screaming go itx.
 
Soldato
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What cooler for the DFI then?

Anyone know any that don't cover the ram/pci slot?
Looking at an h50 but hmm.

Gskill eco 4gb 1600's
i7 860
dfi
scythe BIG shuriken
gtx280



Happy times?


edit:
only prob atm is the cpu cooler. Apparently a BIG runs hot.
 
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Associate
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Just wondering, have you looked at either:
Intel BOXDH57JG or Zotac H55-ITX

I noticed you've been taking about the DFI H55, which is actually a P55, but as you are listing it as a H55 would you not consider one?
 
Soldato
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So errrm, update!

Intel Core i7 860 Lynnfield 45nm, Quad Core, 2.8GHz, DMI 2.5 GT/s, 8MB Cache, 21x Ratio, 95W, Retail

Zalman CNPS8700 LED 110mm Fan Super Flower Heatpipe Cooler

DFi Lanparty LP MI P55-T36 mini-ITX, LGA 1156, 1xPCI-E Slot, 7.1Ch Sound, SATA/eSATA, see full spes

Should have some gskill eco winging its way too me aswell :)
 
Soldato
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Looking forward to pictures, but I was surprised how big the case is comparing it against a micro-ATX Silverstone SG-03.

The ability to use a standard PSU and CPU cooler is worthy trade off though compared to going with proprietary case.
 
Soldato
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hopefully, will know more when they get into europe :)

stuff should be arriving soon, so pics around the weekend (of the bits anyway)

The case is pretty big for an mitx, but as long as it sits on the desktop ok ill be happy.
 
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Wouldn't recommend that cooler. They didn't do well cooling core2quads, I can't imagine they would be good at i7s. Also you've got the problem that it is pulling the air down over the CPU and your PSU is mounted above pulling the air up causing static air (unless you turn your CPU around).

I'd look at something like the Zipang 2 (without a fan if not enough clearence) or Thermalright AXP-140 RT (with 1156 bracket) and having the PSU pull the air up through it.
 
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Soldato
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slight update if anyone cares :p

Arrived:
dinovo edge keyboard
performance mx mouse

Both totally sublime. Why did I ever go into the whole "gamer" side of overpriced perifs, when you actually pay for quality with these items. Will make the workspace a much less cluttered area.
 
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