please spec me a sugo htpc gaming rig

[snow patrol]

hi all, been out of the pc arena for a while now and as such i'm a bit lost when it comes to new hardware. I've been using a macbook pro for the last several months, which obviously is lovely and a joy to use, but when it comes to gaming...well, there's no mustard being cut!

So, i decided to splash out and treat myself to a new pc rig. The thing is, i want to avoid going down the route of getting a huge case, which i have had in the past, as i'm now living in a smaller place and want to be more 'minimalist' in my approach.

So I'm thinking a sugo silverstone case (am i right in thinking that the sg01 is the best)? I DON'T need the following: PSU (have a 620w corsair modular lying about which i'm guessing should be ok), Monitor (Dell 2407 collecting dust at the moment), dvd writer, Hard drives (got loads, but plan to use 2x 1.5tb samsungs). I MIGHT splash out on a 2.5 ssd to boot from. No need for keyboard/mouse either.

So some questions

- Is the sugo sg01 the right case for me? Can someone suggest something better

- Can i fit 2x 3.5 sata drives AND a 2.5 sdd in a htpc sugo case

- So what motherboards fit in these cases? Do they take normal full size mobos or do i need to look for certain types?

- What kind of heatsink fan can i fit in there. I've seen a few mentions of the corsair h50 or something watercooler...any good or appropriate for my needs/restrictions? Failing that, what other good options might i have.

- Want to get a GOOD but not £500 good gfx card. I'm thinking of allocating between 2 and 3 hundred for the card. Ideally i'd like it to have hdmi with audio as i want to double this as a media pc and hook it up to my tv initially and then to my ht amp once i set that all up.

- Intel i7 i'm guessing is the way to go? Unless there's something new and exciting around the corner worth holding out for. I'm happy with overclocking so i'd rather get a cheaper cpu and clock it than pay over the odds for a faster out of the box one.

- 4-6 gigs of ram. But don't want to pay an unessessary premium for ram that has slightly lower latency etc. Just some good quality ram that will do the job and allow me to get a good clock out of the cpu. (having said that, i don't know what the divider situation is now on modern mobos so maybe the ram speed isn't such as issue).

That's it for now really. So i'm looking to spend about £800 perhaps for the

CASE (htpc size remember!), Motherboard, graphics card, ram, cpu and maybe an ssd. Would really really appreciate some help with this. Thanking you in advance. Cheers guys

edit: now thinking about going for something like the Silverstone Lascala LC17 which is a htpc case that can fit full size atx boards...

 

[robcat101]

edit: now thinking about going for something like the Silverstone Lascala LC17 which is a htpc case that can fit full size atx boards...

I've got this case as a HTPC and it's certainly well built and looks great. There's plenty of room for multiple HDD's (or SSD's), you can fit "mid-size" CPU coolers e.g. Noctua U9 but the wiring for the HDD's/panel etc gets a bit messy and I wouldn't want to put anything in the second optic drive slot .

I'm more concerned you also want to use this as a gaming rig as well. You will have to be very careful about the length of the graphics card you use - as I said it's pretty cramped when you put a few drives in. More importantly it's the cooling you need to worry about - especially if you want to overclock your CPU. Although it's quite big for a HTPC case, there nothing like the space/airflow of a tower case and you won't be able to fit in a full size CPU cooler.

 

[snow patrol]

thanks for the reply. So is it inadvisable to build a rig catered for gaming and overclocking in a htpc case? Are there any other more suitable htpc cases out there or should i be looking for another kind of case all together?

i do have an akasa eclipse but it's too big really...

 

[Pish]

Have a look at a Lain-Li A05NB case, they are quite small but fit ATX & M-ATX. They should also fit a decent G-card in them. However they are hard to get hold of, and there is a small issue with heat build up in a certain area, but that can be sorted. I have 1 to use as a HTPC/Extra gaming rig but have not used it yet so cant really comment any more

my 2p

 

[robcat101]

thanks for the reply. So is it inadvisable to build a rig catered for gaming and overclocking in a htpc case? Are there any other more suitable htpc cases out there or should i be looking for another kind of case all together?

i do have an akasa eclipse but it's too big really...

Quad core processors and high-end graphics cards seem to chuck out a lot of heat so I just can't see how a HTPC case can cope with that. If I were you I'd go for a stylish mid tower e.g. a Lian Li. It won't be covered in lights and something like this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-160-LL&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=187

is minimal enough to blend in with your decor and should be big enough for a decent graphics card and CPU cooler.