Down sizing my system

[Boozebeard]

So after seeing this project shrink ray build it hit me that I should maybe think about doing the same thing, as I will be going to uni in september and transporting an antec 1200 between home and uni does not sound like much fun.

The real question is how little can I get away with spending to do this? I think I would have to replace atleast my case, psu and motherboard, none of which are over 6 months old (well the mobo was second hand). Which is why I'm reluctant.

Heres a list of all my current system components:

Case: Antec 1200
PSU: Antec CP 850watt modular power supply
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45T-EXTREME
CPU: Intel Q9450
Graphics Card: Asus 5850 DirectCU
Memory: 2x2gb RipJaw DDR3
Hard drives: 1
Optical drives: 1x blu ray driver
Cooling: Eco coolit

Please spec me a small form factor setup using as many of the parts listed above as possible. I don't mind having to buy second hand.

 

[Boozebeard]

Well the PSU will have to go as it only fits in certain antec cases. I was thinking even smaller than that tbh. Like the shrink ray build. I know it's a big ask, I'm expecting to have to ditch the mobo if I do it. Are there any micro atx 775 boards with ddr3 support that are decent over clockers for a Q9450?

Well there seem to be quite a lot! Has anyone got any experience with these boards? What chipset will be best for my cpu, most of the decent boards seems to be G41. I got a feeling I'm going to be limited by which ones I can actually find in stock!

I'll go ask in the motherboard section.

 

[Boozebeard]

Hmm, I don't really know what to do.

There aren't any decent lga775 micro atx boards. There are some nice 1156 boards and amd3 boards though. I could change cpu but my Q9450 still runs great.

Of course I could just get a mini tower but I hate doing things by halves! I either want a huge spacious case or a the tiniest one I can possibly cram everything into