Rackmountable Gaming PC

TheJamsh

TheJamsh

TheJamsh

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17 Feb 2012
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127
So, I'm looking into mounting my PC into a portable 19" Rack (flight-case style), so I can carry it around and game wherever I want (although the main purpose is pro-audio recording). The main reason for doing so is having the ability to take my PC around with me without having to compromise on performance from a laptop or something, and keep all the pros of using my regular PC while adding a little bit of portability (and hopefully weight loss too, Corsair 600T's are bloody heavy cases).

I'm considering selling the set-up shown in my signature, or adapting it onto a Micro-ATX board to make an ultra-small gaming rig, while also swapping out the GPU for something like a 780 Ti and likely switching to a more suitable cooling solution.

My first instinct is to buy a server case but I doubt that'd be suitable, especially not with a 780 Ti running at full tilt. I also have a SSD and a HDD, and I'll likely want a second HDD at a later date stuck in there too.

Does anybody have any suggestions on cases? I want it to keep a nice high spec, I know I'll have to spend a few bob to get it working nicely but it must be possible? I'd also like to stick to a 2U rack size if possible, though I think having a GPU in there will force me to stick to at least 3U.
 
The issue you have is that there are no small form factor X79 boards, they are all ATX, so you cant really "downsize" what you have.

The only way you can go smaller is to swap out the CPU and board for a 4770K/4790K (which are still 4 core with Hyperthreading like your current CPU) with a itx or mATX board.
 
stulid said:
The issue you have is that there are no small form factor X79 boards, they are all ATX, so you cant really "downsize" what you have.

The only way you can go smaller is to swap out the CPU and board for a 4770K/4790K (which are still 4 core with Hyperthreading like your current CPU) with a itx or mATX board.
Click to expand...

Hey Stulid, I wouldn't mind doing that so much. I get an upgrade to a newer CPU that way anyway (God knows why I went with x79, it offers very little benefit).

Do you think I could squeeze it into a 3U case though? That's my main worry at the moment, that and what rack case to actually go for.
 
No know absolutely nothing about rack mounts and those types of cases.

But if you want portable then I remember seeing this Lian Li case in a video on youtube,


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4790K 4.00GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £269.99
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 760 Mini OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £191.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Beast 16GB (2x8GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX24C11T3K2/16X) £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97N-Gaming 5 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £115.99
1 x Lian Li PC-TU100B Mini-ITX Cube - Black £71.99
Total : £779.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).



New RAM so you keep 16GB across two dimm slots (that's all the board has).

Then just need to work out if your PSU fits, H80 fits and drives.
 
I cant give you an exact answer (try Googling quad vs dual channel memory) but I am certain its minimal, you will gain performance by the fact the 4790K is faster in terms of Hz and also faster Hz vs Hz due to improvements in efficiency per clock over Sandybridge which your 3820 is based on.
 
Thanks chap! Maybe Mini-ITX is a better solution. I'm just a bit bored of having such a huge rig now, my main issue is just the cooling.

I had a quick look at the corsair 250D as well, which looks like a nice case, and someone managed to squeeze a 780Ti in there too. Perhaps it's just better to sell my complete system (minus Drives) and move to something new!
 
There's plenty of cases that have built-in handles, the BitFenix Prodigy is one for the small size, the Corsair C70 is another for a more normal ATX size.
 
Those BitFenix's are quite nice looking indeed...

I did Finance on my last machine, very very tempted to do it again at the moment! Damn you Hitachi Capital, free postage mind...
 
With the prodigy you dont need such a limit of the GFX card length, so instead of blowing £190 on a GTX760 you can spend the same on a R9 280X or GTX770 etc.
 
Well, I'm quite keen to go all-out and get a 780 Ti anyway (or a 780 if the Performance Difference is negligible on one 1920*1080 monitor), but actually there's one minor thing I didn't consider, I have an additional PCI Firewire card, which sits in one of the small PCI slots.

If I'm right, keeping that will force me to go with a Micro-ATX instead of a Mini right?
 
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stulid's hit the nail on the head with that case.

the last thing you want to do is go down the rack mount route - with one exception. If you have lots of rack pro audio stuff then you can get "racks on wheels" which really are a flight case with covers,wheels and handles. oh and they weigh **** loads.

we have 2 of these for work and they are 9u. we use them as a mobile office on very large jobs and they weigh-in at about 140kg each. not something you can move about easily!

go with the stulid idea!
 
Yeah I have a lot of Pro-Audio stuff in a flight-case style rack right now. No wheels on it (yet), but it'd be nice to easily cart my PC around with me to record on location without compromising, and also taking up as small-of-a-footprint as possible.

The Corsair 600T is a large case as it is, but perhaps a Micro-ATX build (or Mini, if I want to sacrifice my Firewire Card), would be more useful and provide better cooling too, especially for those days where I'm playing the newest games on Uber settings. I'll have a look around for various configurations, I should still be able to sell my current build for a reasonable price (minus the disk drives)
 
If you went matx then these boards do come with 4 dimms (on the better ones) so you can keep your RAM too.
 
Well, the final choice comes between the Silverstone SG10 and the BitFenix Prodigy M. The BitFenix is a bit cheaper, but also a bit larger. The Silverstone does have a hella lot of fans though... But I'm not sure if my PCI Firewire card will fit in the case due to the board layout, and the BitFenix's five slots gives me a bit more headroom.

Does the SG10 come with a slimline Optical Drive too, or is that a separate buy?

Basket
1x i7 4790K Devil's Canyon + Asus Z97 Gryphon Armor Bundle £380.98
1x Asus GeForce GTX 780 GPU £379.99
1x Corsair Hydro H110 Liquid Cooler £91.99

Any good ways to save money on a bundle like this? Not sure how much better the Corsair cooler performs than the H80i, especially as I won't be overclocking, but then a 4.4Ghz processor is going to get pretty damn hot as it is...

Went for the Asus 780 GPU Instead of the MSI Gaming Edition purely because it runs cooler (according to sources), so for an extra £20 in a small case that may pay off. The extra features of the 780 Ti don't really seem worth it for Single-Screen gaming and rendering. My native reso is 1920*1080, I use 2 monitors regularly but only 1 for games.

May need a fully-modular PSU as well, and lower wattage (750 is overkill for my system)
 
A H100 of any dual fan rad will not fit in a Sugo GG10

I also doubt it comes with a slim drive, you will need to buy+fit that yourself.
 
Hmm, all leaning towards the Prodigy still then. I'll end up having to toss a coin at this rate.

In regards to cooling solutions... are there any recommendations? I won't be overclocking ever, I just want it to be quiet.
 
Keep what you got.

Its more than enough for a stock CPU.

If you are happy with the H80 noise levels that is.
 
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