Im getting annoyed with running my big, hot, incredibly noisy Dell piece of junk just for media reasons so i'm going to build a tiny HTPC/light gaming rig.
Here are the components that I plan to use:
Fractal Design Array R2: R2 standing for revision 2, the major improvements is that it will be available without the 300W PSU and has 2 expansion slots. This case is due out in the next few weeks, this is what i'll be waiting the longest for
It's a m-ITX case and has space for upto 6HDDs + 1SSD (more on that below...)
The best PSU you can get to fit in the is a 350W Be Quiet! one. So one of those is on the way.
Mobo is to be a Gigabyte GA-H55N-USB3
CPU, is a i5 650. Why dual not the quad 750? The 650 uses less Watts and kicks out less heat for pretty much the exact same performance.
CPU cooling might be a slight issue, due to the size of the case and the PSU being right above the CPU a low height cooler is required. This will be satisfied by a Scythe Shuriken BIG. This might cause problems for the GPU as shown below, the Shuriken is big, it makes up for its lack of height by being 120mmx120mm. There is a chance that this will impede of the PCI-e slot.
RAM will just be some 2x2GB DDR3 Dual Channel. Probably some OCZ Gold.
GPU is going to be a Sapphire 5750 Vapor-X 1GB. I would like to have gone bigger, but the PSU is the limiting factor for everything.
The clever ones amongst you will have noted that the case is only meant to take half height GPUs, due to the HDD drive that crosses the whole width of the case. Some modding will therefore be required.
This is how the HDD cage sits in, with the PSU in place. As you can see the right hand side is blocking where a full length card will go. (this is a R1, note the single expansion slot)
So i'll pop the rivots in the top right, cut along the dotted lines, then move the end piece over, rivot the top again and join the bottom up. (not sure yet whether ill just use tape or weld it)
This will allow for the full height card and still keep 4 HDD bays.
Here are the components that I plan to use:
Fractal Design Array R2: R2 standing for revision 2, the major improvements is that it will be available without the 300W PSU and has 2 expansion slots. This case is due out in the next few weeks, this is what i'll be waiting the longest for
It's a m-ITX case and has space for upto 6HDDs + 1SSD (more on that below...)
The best PSU you can get to fit in the is a 350W Be Quiet! one. So one of those is on the way.
Mobo is to be a Gigabyte GA-H55N-USB3
CPU, is a i5 650. Why dual not the quad 750? The 650 uses less Watts and kicks out less heat for pretty much the exact same performance.
CPU cooling might be a slight issue, due to the size of the case and the PSU being right above the CPU a low height cooler is required. This will be satisfied by a Scythe Shuriken BIG. This might cause problems for the GPU as shown below, the Shuriken is big, it makes up for its lack of height by being 120mmx120mm. There is a chance that this will impede of the PCI-e slot.
RAM will just be some 2x2GB DDR3 Dual Channel. Probably some OCZ Gold.
GPU is going to be a Sapphire 5750 Vapor-X 1GB. I would like to have gone bigger, but the PSU is the limiting factor for everything.
The clever ones amongst you will have noted that the case is only meant to take half height GPUs, due to the HDD drive that crosses the whole width of the case. Some modding will therefore be required.
This is how the HDD cage sits in, with the PSU in place. As you can see the right hand side is blocking where a full length card will go. (this is a R1, note the single expansion slot)
So i'll pop the rivots in the top right, cut along the dotted lines, then move the end piece over, rivot the top again and join the bottom up. (not sure yet whether ill just use tape or weld it)
This will allow for the full height card and still keep 4 HDD bays.