biostar IDEQ or mATX self build

Gemok

Gemok

Gemok

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Joined
4 Jun 2004
Posts
63
Hi
I'm hopefully going to be building a new rig in the near future (intel quads :D) but rather than throw the 754 based old one away was hoping to recycle it as a familly PC. Now am I being stupid for buying a SFF over a mATX case and a motherboard? The issues I see are small PSU and no real upgrade potential. I mean there is a PCI and a PCI-E 16X expansion slot but am I going to be able to run a halfway decent GFX card on a 220 psu with 2 hard drives, a DVD drive and a PCI Wi-Fi thats if I can find one that'll fit in :confused:.

The specs I can find (the us biostar web site isn't loading) on the N1 are:

Biostar IDEQ N1
Audio Realtek ALC655
Audio output 5.1-Channel Audio
Chipsets NVIDIA GeFroce 6100 + nFORCE 410
Dimensions 215mm (W) x 355mm (D) x 185mm (H)
Graphics Integrated GeForce 6100
Ide Accommodates up to 2 x IDE devices, Ultra DMA
33/66/100/133 Bus Master Mode
Memory 2 x DDR400 slots, Up to 2GB in total system memory
Power supply Internal 220Watt Passive
Sata support 2 x SATA 3Gb/s devices (with RAID)

SO I guess the question is this biostar, a shuttle, or self build? Since this is more a recycling project I want to keep costs to a minimum.
 
I would go with a self-build. It offers you the greatest versatility. The IDEQ suffers from the problems you describe - no ability to change the PSU, and no real upgradability.

If you go with a mATX system, you can add your PSU of choice, motherboard of choice, and (IMO) the mATX cases are the sexiest looking ones of the lot - although I do like the look of some of the Shuttles. ;)
 
hmmm just been looking at mobo's available looks like the Asus K8V-VM and for a case does anyone have experience with the Aerocool m40 case? And please don't recommend the SG03 I know is a great case but is out of my budget at the moment :(
 
I've just gone from an iDeq to a self build MATX, as I was fed up of being stuck with 200W. Aslo you rapidly get to the point where you can't upgrade at all when CPU sockets change and you can't find a new mother board anywhere.

The Lian-Li case is excellent, although a bit pricey too.
 
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