Looking to build a "cheap" SFF gaming PC... advice needed.

Richdog

Richdog

Richdog

Caporegime
Joined
8 Sep 2005
Posts
27,713
Location
Utopia
As the title says i'm looking to build a SFF gaming PC, relatively cheap, for RTS games mainly such as Dark Crusade, or the odd FPS etc etc.

I was looking at getting the following, and basing the system around Core2...

*SFF barebones case (no idea which, but best value poss).
*E2160
*2GB PC6400
*120 or 250GB SATA HDD
*7800GTX/X1900XT or similar (used of course)

So yeah... I have an idea of everything but the best budget SFF barebones combo to get. Any ideas please? :)
 
Last edited:
me I'd pick a new gigabyte g33 iirc matx board, ram, psu, hd and c2d of your choice. Stick it in sugo sg01e (good all round box - fairly quiet, good airflow for size etc) add in an nt06 and a 8800GTS
 
thats not high end, that would have been quad core, minimum :)

Well you can adjust as you see fit, change the motherboard etc, but I would stick with the sugo sg01e (and nt06).
 
mobo for core 2 duo is about the best ya gonna get for the money do away with raid get the standard g33m-s2 version and you will pick up one for about £60 from somewhere lga775 money for core 2 thats bang for buck alright, the asus equivalent is at least £20 more.
problem with small form factor on the cheap is your hard pushed to find something thats gonna perform average by todays standards as parts are limited in choice i think your best bet for the budget your looking at is go amd2 3800+ cheap mobo to match stick with the sg01 some ram and a hard drive

Maxtor Diamondmax 20 160GB STM3160211AS SATA-II 2MB Cache - OEM
(£31.71) £26.99
OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
(£58.74) £49.99
Abit AN-M2 Micro ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
(£51.69) £43.99
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.00GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail
(£42.29) £35.99

thats a totel of including delivery in uk mainland £194.12

then your grfx which is what? £70 just a guess mind don't know what 7800/x1900's are doing second bat plus a case your looking at £330 id say minimum and i have a funny idea thats not what you call cheap but if it is i think that is about the cheapest you can go the 3800+ am2 should have head room for overclocking if you so wish will also be a modest little games machine to.

just a note though my rig in the sig has cost me £500 so far and thats with out a case which i will be buying a week or two from now, wich is also SFF its a sugo but the sg03 which bangs another £85 on the price and that isn't high end more low mid range by some standerds
 
Last edited:
Okay Richdog, you got two choices when it comes to building a SFF PC.

Option one - You buy a Shuttle. They're really nice little enclosures, with good cooling, especially if you opt for one of the newer P-type chassis.

Option two - You build a mATX PC. You get far more choice here (ATX PSU, many different motherboards, cooling options etc.) - only problem is that there are some real lemons in terms of componenents that you need to watch out for.

Personally if I was looking to build something like you described, i'd go for either a Sugo SG03 (the airflow is much better than the SG01e), Lian-Li V300 (the FDD bay will need to be dremeled to fit the kind of video cards you are suggesting), or there's the X-Qpack (if you can still find it).

Any of those cases are really good options.

Motherboard wise, there's the Asus P5K-VM or Gigabyte G33M-DS2R. Both stellar boards with full 45nm support and excellent overclocking options. I wouldn't consider any other board for Core 2 really, especially as you can get both these boards for a good price. And definitly stay away from G965 boards, the chipset is VERY poor.

Beyond that it's just down to dropping in whatever you like. As long as you put decent performance fans wherever possible, you shouldn't have any cooling problems with the cases suggested above. Research the case you choose beforehand though so that you know what fans to add to the order.

Anything else, just shout! :)
 
Last edited:
Just a quick heads up seen as i have been researching the sugo sg03, for the back of the case the only real option you have in terms of extra cooling is the silverstone crossflow fan as thats what the grill has been made for
 
damian666 said:
Just a quick heads up seen as i have been researching the sugo sg03, for the back of the case the only real option you have in terms of extra cooling is the silverstone crossflow fan as thats what the grill has been made for
Click to expand...

just for info - the fx121 is bloody noisy, it also will not fit with the nt06
 
^^ see thats why this forum is so good spent 2 days reearching this case solid and didnt know that nice heads up ;)
 
Guys some great info there especially damian and Tute but thanks to all. Just realised I have a spare 3000+ Skt 939 and a 120GB Spinpoint... so this could lower costs considerably if I find a cheap-ass shuttle/whatever Skt 939 barebones from somewhere. :)
 
For Socket 939, on the Shuttle front there's the SN25P and SN26P as the flagship chassis. The difference is that the 26P supports a pair of single slot nVidia cards in SLi, whereas the 25P opts for a single-width PCIe slot and a PCI slot.

If you're looking to spend less, the SN21G5 is a good chassis. Obviously not as good at cooling as the P-type ones, but an excellent alternative, especially with a cool running chip like the one you have.

For mATX, well apart from any of the cases I suggested above, there are also a couple of good motherboards here too. My personal favourite is the DFI RS482, but others will swear by the Biostar T-Force 6100. Both these boards are feature packed, excellent overclocking monsters. Then, there's the EVGA SLi board if you want to go down that route. Not as good an overclocker, but has a pair of PCIe slots.

Whichever you go for, I expect (bar a mATX case) you're going to need to buy second hand.
 
Yeah i second that, though buying second hand on the mobo and card leaves you only needing a case and you can invest in a really smart one then after all this is what you will have to look at every day for the foreseeable future.
oh one last thing your psu in with the price of the case though looking you'll only need a £100 i should imagine for grfx card and mobo si really has slashed the price by atleast a third then case of your choice and your laughing.
 
Excellent spec, but watch out for those 7800GTs failing, IIRC there's was a high RMA rate on those.
 
If i was you on the gpu id invest a little more of what your saving into a x1900 but apart from that your onto a winner.
 
damian666 said:
If i was you on the gpu id invest a little more of what your saving into a x1900 but apart from that your onto a winner.
Click to expand...

Actually, thinking about it, X1650XT for £45 on this week only would be a good little investment. They're pretty quick cards in their own right, probably not much behind a 7800GT when all's said and done. :)
 
Tute said:
Actually, thinking about it, X1650XT for £45 on this week only would be a good little investment. They're pretty quick cards in their own right, probably not much behind a 7800GT when all's said and done. :)
Click to expand...

No chance! *spits* :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom