SFF Build

MORE SPEED

MORE SPEED

MORE SPEED

Soldato
Joined
15 Nov 2008
Posts
2,535
Location
Reading
Looking for a bit of advice regarding a SFF build for when I go off to uni. I have contemplated the laptop/desktop argument, and have come to the conclusion that I would prefer a desktop and possibly a tablet as opposed to a laptop.

It needs to be small so that I can transport it easily, and I'd like it to be relatively powerful so that I can play the odd bit of BF3.

Case wise, I quite like the SG05/06 as it is very compact, yet has space for some decent components.

I will probably be waiting until the new Asus Z77 board is released before I get going on it, but what I would like to know is roughly how far I could get for £850-£900, and is the SG05/06 the best way to go regarding this?

I have an OS, monitor (1200p) and peripherals, so just the tower.

Thanks ;)
 
You may struggle to get a ITX Z77 board soon after release, its normally the last type of motherboard to be released and can be quite pricey.

You thought of Going matx, there are quite a few good cases from the likes of silverstone, Lian li and others. I think matx may be the best way to go as it opens a bit more space for CPU and GPU cooling as well as a bigger GPU.

Im at uni and i have a LIan Li V351, its perfect, not the smallest but i cope.

It is more than possible to have a ITX gaming rig (the SFF section of the forum is full of them).

I think its a good option.
 
How about another case that has lots of room for good parts,


YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 480 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (015-P3-1480-KR) £179.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £175.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 MicroATX Motherboard £104.98
1 x Thermaltake Armor A30 LAN Gaming Case - Black £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £61.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £46.98
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £31.19
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £832.08 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
Cheers for the replies guys.

The problem is I have to convince the parents that this is the way to go (as they are funding part of this), and the only way of doing this is with something of similar dimensions to an SG06. Otherwise its a laptop, which I'm not overly keen on after owning one for the past 3 years and watching it melt when playing BF3.

I've been looking around and saw Tute's thread where he has an SG05 with an HD570 in it: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=19345527&postcount=27 so you can get a fair bit of power in it. Also, Club3D is releasing a short 7870 which might fit the bill, depending on price.

So really, I think ITX is the only way I can do it unfortunately. It just depends on how much I can squish in with the budget.
 
 
stulid said:
Ok one more try,

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £175.99
1 x Zotac Z68ITX-A-E Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £129.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £119.99
1 x Silverstone Sugo SG06B Mini ITX Case - Black (with 300 W PSU) £93.98
1 x OcUK HD 6850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £83.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £61.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £31.19
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £725.10 (includes shipping : £10.00).

Click to expand...

+1

Although if i was in your shoes i would add a USB TV tuner card. Then you dont need to take a telly with you to uni, plus your mini gaming pc will also act like a skyplus box, allowing you to view, record and pause/rewind live TV......how about a cheap bluray ROM drive instead of a dvd writer?

Laptops CPUs are slower than the desktop counter parts, on battery power they are slower still, also the HDDs spin much slower. They have their uses obviously but considering what modern smartphones can do i don't see the point of owning a tablet or laptop over a desktop rig. Each to their own though.....i look forward to seeing what you decide on.
 
Last edited:
 
stulid said:
Ok one more try,

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £175.99
1 x Zotac Z68ITX-A-E Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £129.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £119.99
1 x Silverstone Sugo SG06B Mini ITX Case - Black (with 300 W PSU) £93.98
1 x OcUK HD 6850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £83.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £61.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £31.19
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £725.10 (includes shipping : £10.00).

Click to expand...

Incredible build, should be perfect for you.

Stulid, will 300W be enough?
 
Doomedspeed said:
Incredible build, should be perfect for you.

Stulid, will 300W be enough?
Click to expand...

I did wonder that so looked up a review which was running a GTS250 off the PSU. The OP mentioned that case, so I wanted to see what he liked about it....i'll let stulid answer the question as he was asked.

I do like the look of that mini-itx case but i honestly think the Thermaltake case stulid originally suggested would be better. I like mini-itx for HTPC purposes but when you mention gaming the LAN Party style case begins to make a lot more sense......after all it's designed with the idea of transporting a fairly decent gaming rig to and from an event.

Both of stulids builds are good. If i was off to uni i'd want something like this....

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 6950 IceQ X Turbo 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Deus Ex PC Game £199.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £175.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 MicroATX Motherboard £104.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (ST2000DL003) £99.95
1 x Thermaltake Armor A30 LAN Gaming Case - Black £79.99
1 x Samsung SH-B123L/RSBP 12x BluRay ROM / DVDRW DL & RAM Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £60.98
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £46.98
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £31.19
1 x Compro VideoMate U680F USB2.0 Digital TV & DAB Audio Reciever with Full MCE Remote £24.98
Total : £945.02 (includes shipping : FREE).



Lil more than what you wanted to pay (you can make adjustments) but that keeps the 128GB SSD with a 2TB storage drive (tv recordings and movie storage maybe), a TV card with MCE remote and bluray playback. The 6950 has 2GB of VRAM and is a good gaming card.
 
I did wonder that so looked up a review which was running a GTS250 off the PSU. The OP mentioned that case, so I wanted to see what he liked about it....i'll let stulid answer the question as he was asked.

I do like the look of that mini-itx case but i honestly think the Thermaltake case stulid originally suggested would be better. I like mini-itx for HTPC purposes but when you mention gaming the LAN Party style case begins to make a lot more sense......after all it's designed with the idea of transporting a fairly decent gaming rig to and from an event. It's just made slightly bigger to cater for higher end kit.

Both of stulids builds are good. If i was off to uni i'd want something like this....

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 6950 IceQ X Turbo 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Deus Ex PC Game £199.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £175.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 MicroATX Motherboard £104.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (ST2000DL003) £99.95
1 x Thermaltake Armor A30 LAN Gaming Case - Black £79.99
1 x Samsung SH-B123L/RSBP 12x BluRay ROM / DVDRW DL & RAM Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £60.98
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £46.98
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £31.19
1 x Compro VideoMate U680F USB2.0 Digital TV & DAB Audio Reciever with Full MCE Remote £24.98
Total : £945.02 (includes shipping : FREE).



Lil more than what you wanted to pay (you can make adjustments) but that keeps the 128GB SSD with a 2TB storage drive (tv recordings and movie storage maybe), a TV card with MCE remote and bluray playback. The 6950 has 2GB of VRAM and is a good gaming card.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom