mITX gaming on 52"??

Ramshackles

Ramshackles

Ramshackles

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Joined
24 Jan 2006
Posts
33
Hi group,

I've used this forum before with great satisfaction researching htpc's etc :)

Now I've begun wondering if it was possible to build a relatively low-noise (as low or lower as a ps3 slim preferably) mini itx system designed for gaming on a 52" lcd?

Perhaps not crysis or so but call of duty etc would be lovely ;)
 
Well I hope it's easy as I've all the bits sitting waiting to be built this weekend:

i5 760 CPU
Gigabyte H55 motherboard
Corsair H50
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
Patriot 32 GB SSD (yeah it's not great but it's fine with the new firmware and was cheap!)
Asus Volt Tweak 5870
4Gb Corsair DDR3 RAM (only 1333, I think that's the fastest the mobo supports but could be wrong)
Silverstone SG07 case :D
 
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Greedydog said:
Well I hope it's easy as I've all the bits sitting waiting to be built this weekend:

i5 760 CPU
Gigabyte H55 motherboard
Corsair H50
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
Patriot 32 GB SSD (yeah it's not great but it's fine with the new firmware and was cheap!)
Asus Volt Tweak 5870
4Gb Corsair DDR3 RAM (only 1333, I think that's the fastest the mobo supports but could be wrong)
Silverstone SG07 case :D
Click to expand...

Any chance you could let us know how this goes as you have got pretty much what I am going to build next month so if any weird problems crop up it would be great to know!
 
Ramshackles said:
Hi group,

I've used this forum before with great satisfaction researching htpc's etc :)

Now I've begun wondering if it was possible to build a relatively low-noise (as low or lower as a ps3 slim preferably) mini itx system designed for gaming on a 52" lcd?

Perhaps not crysis or so but call of duty etc would be lovely ;)
Click to expand...

Hi there,
yes it's totally possible to build a low noise,high powered m-itx system capable of just about anything you want it for.

I'm presuming the 52" lcd is 1080p?
if so your gaming resolution is going to be 1920x1080 on that screen.

Ideally you want to be building/buying a system based around a graphics card with the power of a 1gb gtx 460 or a Radeon 5850 for that resolution.
Both of these cards offer the performance for a very decent m-itx gaming rig to be built around.

The gfx card is also going to be the noisiest part of the system,it's unavoidable as the fan/fans will spin up to control the heat as the card is placed under load.
Assuming you have some sound while gaming or using headphones you arent going to notice this anyway over the sounds of the games you are playing.
Whilst idling most modern gfx cards are near silent so you can browse etc in near silence.

Exactly how small a case you are wanting ultimately determines how much gfx power you can shoehorn into these dinky boxes.
Do you have a budget in mind?
 
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SFF-61.jpg



Those parts work perfect and it makes a rocking little game system. Check what this dude did with similar parts.

LINK
 
I have had success with a Silverstone GD02 case with an old 775 system, Asus Maximus II Gene with an E8500 and 4gb Dominator GT, using a passive HD5750 and 80mm case fans at 7v with a passive CPU cooler.

This has been fine with my games into a 50" plasma at 1080, and is also silent.
 
Eventually managed to get my SG07 build completed last week... in the interests of santity I had to go with the retail cooler and fan instead of the H50 (it was 4.30 am, I been messing around for about 8 hrs and was getting pee'd off) Anyway the spec so far is

Silverstone SG07
Gigabyte H55 USB3
Intel i5 760
Corsair 4GB RAM
ASUS Voltweak 5870 (running at 900 Mhz)
Patriot 32 GB SSD
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB

and it plays pretty much everything at full detail at 1900 x 1080!

I tried a little OC'ing and found an apparently stable 3.6 Ghz within about 2 mins, had a bit of a play around but didn't push it because the temps were in the 70's with the Intel cooler (and a smaller case fan, I had had to remove the 180mm penetrator which was soldered to a switch and is U/S when removed).... much more to come when I tear it all down and fit the H50!

Speaking of fitting the H50... the supplied rear bracket doesn't fit due to the placement of components on the rear of the Gigabyte mobo, I managed to get it attached by forgetting the bracket and using silicon washers with the supplied screws.... as for getting it all fitted and the case closed.. it's going to be a tight fit (the hoses are very stiff and need to flex quite a bit) but a trial run showed it should be possible.

:D
 
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Well that's it complete!

Silverstone SG07
Intel i5 760
Corsair H50 cooler
Gigabyte H55 USB3 motherboard
Corsair 4GB RAM
ASUS 5870

etc etc

Currently running Prime 95 OC'd at 3.5 GHz (just upped the multiplier to 22 and the BLCK to 159) for 3 hrs rock solid at max 52 degrees C.....
 
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It's not silent by any means, but sitting under the TV 8 ft away it doesn't intrude when watching a film (the new box doubles as an HTPC as well)... then again it's almost idling even when playing a 1080p file so it shouldn't be working too hard..... next move is to think about a better fan (from what I read a fan with a higher static pressure should be better), if it's quieter so much the better! :)
 
Greedydog said:
It's not silent by any means, but sitting under the TV 8 ft away it doesn't intrude when watching a film (the new box doubles as an HTPC as well)... then again it's almost idling even when playing a 1080p file so it shouldn't be working too hard..... next move is to think about a better fan (from what I read a fan with a higher static pressure should be better), if it's quieter so much the better! :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for that was planning the same kind of idea myself nice to know it is more than feasible and effective.
 
At the OP - It's possible to build a small pc for that task but not possible to build it as small as a PS3 slim. That is assumming you want the same sort of gaming experience.

Edit - ignore me, i read the OP all wrong.
 
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