Spec my Dad a Mini-ITX PC

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27 Dec 2011
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15
Greetings all,

So my dad doesn't do any gaming at all, so won't be needing a beefy discrete GPU, and he also uses a HP Microserver for data storage/media sharing. He's currently running a dated Pentium D in a horrendous case. Given these factors, I've suggested getting a mini-ITX system.

He's just bought a SSD today as part of a sale and phoned me to look into speccing up a system for him. I'm guessing an i5 CPU would be sufficient for him, he doesn't do anything particularly intensive, but he would like a CPU with a bit of oomf. He says "plenty of RAM", however I game and edit photos and 8GB is fine for me so I imagine that'll be plenty for him too. These specs I've mentioned so far aren't much of an issue to work out for myself.

What I do need some help with is the case, and motherboard. My main problem is the PSU - I've seen some mini-ITX cases on OCUK that list "ATX-PS2 PSU Compatible". Now, he has my old FSP Blue Storm PSU. I'm sure it's an ATX power supply, but I'm a bit unsure what this "PS2" refers to. I imagine it's nothing to do with the games console! What should I look for to make sure his PSU is compatible? Also is there anything in particular we should look for in a motherboard?

That's about it really. By the sounds of it we'll be building it together at Christmas, which I'm looking forward to :)

Thanks for your help everyone!
 
need a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, operating system?

what's the budget?

Oops, sorry. No, none of those things are needed, just the tower/box. Oddly he hasn't told me the budget, but I'm guessing around about £500. For just a motherboard, CPU, mini-ITX case and RAM I imagine this should be quite straight forward. Note he wants a "nice" case as he put it, which I think is quite understandable given what he's had to put up with thus far!
 
Thanks, but as I said in the first post he wants a nice case, rather than something for £40 >.< Literally all he needs is a CPU, RAM, Motherboard and case. He already has the SSD to stick in it, will be plenty happy with the intergrated GPU, and doesn't need an internal optical drive as he'll probably use the external drive he already has once every six months.

What can people tell me about PSU compatibility? IE ATX PSU in a mini-ITX case. Thanks for your help tamzzy :)
 
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