What's the absolute smallest SFF case you can get

MiL0

MiL0

MiL0

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that will take a micro-atx motherboard? I'm actually looking for something smaller than a Shuttle case - is that even remotely possible? I'm not too fussed about not having any room for a dvd drive or any pci/pci-e cards and the psu can be external if need be. This is because I want to build a Core 2 Quad Q9550 based SFF pc that's small enough to fit in my hand luggage and all the ITX stuff only takes mobile processors.

Any ideas?

Or am I going to have to get my Dremel and welding torch out build this thing myself!
 
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I'm talking about something that is not much bigger than the actual motherboard! All I need is a case that will take the mATX motherboard, a 2.5" hard disk, the quad cpu and the necessary cooling. The psu and dvd can be external and I'm not fussed at ALL about graphics cards - on board will do me fine.

gonna have to be custom isn't it?

edit: and I know this is kinda possible since there are laptops that take quadcore desktop processors...
 
okay, thanks :)

So assuming I don't go the hacking option, what options do I have? I don't really want to get a shuttle case as I want to use a proper mATX motherboard (don't like proprietary). What's the absolute smallest mATX case on the market right now? Preferably something that isn't complete rubbish as well!
 
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AbsenceJam said:
Go for the DG45FC, it's a much better board than the others. I have one on the way myself.
Click to expand...

do you think it's likely/possible that it'll be able to take a quadcore processor at some point? maybe with a bios update?

what's the best c2d processor you can put in it currently?

edit: and what do you think about this motherboard:

Advansus iQ965-CI Intel Q965 Core 2 Quad Mini-ITX Main Board

costs 281 euros but takes quadcore and is made by Asus so can't be too bad...

Advansus_iQ965-CQI_Mini-ITX_MotherBoard.jpg
 
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Methanoid said:
The new Zotac mini ITX will be better... not the 610i one but the 630i one that the nice Zotac people sent me the specs for.. inc Gb lan and 7150 GF VGA
Click to expand...

that looks incredible - if it had just one normal PCI slot it'd be absolutely perfect!

any ideas on price? and when is it due out?
 
MiL0 said:
do you think it's likely/possible that it'll be able to take a quadcore processor at some point? maybe with a bios update?
Click to expand...

been doing some research... looks like the DG45FC won't take a quadcore processor unless intel releases a 65w version.

The advansus board looks pretty good; shame its a bit too expensive and has only a 1066mhz fsb... I'd also like a pci slot hehe

the nice thing about the zotac boards is that they are pretty cheap... I think the 610i was 60 quid?
 
I think the issue here is going to be finding a ITX case that is not only cool enough but also has a big enough psu to power a quadcore processor. Most of the cases that I've got my eye on have 60/80w psu's which probably won't cut it.

How many watts (minimum) do I need to power a Q9550 cpu, one hard disk, a fan (or 2) and the motherboard?

edit: and would using a 2.5" hard disk save me some power? how about an SSD like the new OCZ SSD 64gb hard disks that have just been released? I guess they'd be cooler too?
 
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what about if I modded the case so that where the dvd drive would normally be (somewhere above the motherbard), I replace it with a huge case fan? I could mod the top of the case so that it allows for the fan to expel the heat properly (through some dremel'd holes or whatever).
 
I will be using the pc exclusively with Ableton Live and Steinberg Cubase - both of which are for electronic music production and editing. The one thing both these applications need is an incredibly fast processor with as many cores as possible. The worse the video card, the better (I wouldn't dream of installing any other applications on this pc, let alone a game!)

Thanks for the tips though - I'm kinda coming to the conclusion that I might have to build this thing with a very fast dualcore instead. I'm waiting on the reviews of the Intel G45 DG45FC mini-ITX before I make any decisions but it's looking like it might be a good choice for my needs.

That is, if I can find a suitable case and psu!
 
had a search for threads by "nick" and couldn't find anything useful.. what's his exact username?

or do u have any direct links to the thread in question?
 
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