Complete SFF newbie question!

jmp_78

jmp_78

jmp_78

Associate
Joined
2 Mar 2009
Posts
612
Location
Nottingham
I have self-built a couple of full-size gaming machines in the last year and really enjoyed it, and am now really keen to have a go at the small form factor. Please forgive my ignorance, but:

Are there many SFF cases that accept Micro-ATX boards, or will I have to go Mini-ITX? These sizes confuse me! Ideally I don't wanna spend more than about £50-60 on a motherboard, and these Mini-ITX ones seem to be around the £100 mark.

Or... is this me just being simple. Please advise - but not on the simple comment ;)
 
Hi jmp.

There are plenty of cases that support m-atx boards - it all depends what you want to use the computer you are building for:

  • mini-towers support m-atx
  • Cube cases like lian li v351 or SG01
  • Desktop cases for media centre and desktop builds
  • Custom made ones

If you give us a little more information about what you want to use the computer for, budget, idea of specs if you have any and any other requirements we'll see what we can do about helping you.

Yes - mini-itx does generally cost a lot more than micro-atx and looses the expandability and often features. If you are on a tight budget then m-atx is probably the best way to go, but this does depend on what it will be used for. e.g. atom setups can be cheap and perfectly adequite for many jobs.
 
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Hi Guardsmon, thanks for you reply!

I'd like a small machine to sit downstairs beside my HDTV, and be able to stream HD movie clips, audio and photos from my main desktop upstairs. I would also like to be able to play a few (very!) basic games. I was thinking about an AM3 motherboard, Athlon II X2 processor, and 2GB DDR3 for now.

My main concern at this stage is whether a built-in GPU would manage to playback HD video smoothly (taken with 1080i HD camcorder), or if I would need a discrete graphics solution from the start?

My other BIG 'want' is upgrade potential. I want to make sure that once major components from my main desktop machine are replaced, then they can be passed down to the SFF machine - a soon to be replaced Radeon HD4870 for example. This is another reason for not wanting to buy a discrete video card at this stage for the SFF machine.

All thoughts welcome!
 
Something like a Silverstone GD05 might be worth looking at if its sitting under your TV. Otherwise an Antec Minuet is good having the PSU provided, but is low profile so you wouldn't fit your 4870 in there.

There are plenty of HTPC cases around, but many will be well out of your budget range.

Antec Fusions are pretty good for that, but again not £50 - 60 new, though you might be able to get one 2nd hand.

The newer AM3 chips are said to be good for intergrated video. There are plenty of people on here who will point you at the perfect thing to get. I'm using a 4350 in my media centre and it works perfectly inc BFBC2 on med settings at 720.

What's your total budget and how much drive space you looking at?
 
I think I have may have confused matters above with my mention of what I wanted to spend - I tend to be quite strict on myself on what to spend on each component!!

- Case (small if possible but able to accomodate an HD4870, with a budget of upto £100 ideally including PSU)

- Processor (thinking cheap Socket AM3 for now such as an Athlon II X2, so can upgrade in future, budget of around £50)

- Motherboard (obviously Socket AM3 ideally Asus or Gigabyte Micro-ATX, budget of around £60)

As for the other components, I'm fairly happy - it's just the ones above I need thoughts on :D
 
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