Looking to build a M-ITX system

I

[Ion]

[H]ard DCOTM February 2024
Joined
Jun 2, 2009
Messages
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Hello All,
I'm new here, drawn to this great forum by the SFF community. I'm planning a new SFF build and seeking advice, and [H] had the only SFF community I could find. My goal for this computer is for it to be fast (I'm coming from a Q6600 and SLI'd 9600GSOs), but also quiet, and hopefully run a lot cooler than my last rig (turned my room into a sauna :D ) The reason I'm selling my computer is I want something smaller, cooler, and quieter.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mainly web browsing, but also some light gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
650ish, and yes
3) Where do you live?
North Carolina
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU, MB, Case, PSU, RAM, HSF
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
One of the 9600GSOs, a 200gb WD disk (more than enough for my uses)
6) Will you be overclocking?
probably some
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
22" Dell 1680x1050
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
About 2 weeks
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Mini-ITX, a full PCI-E X16 slot
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes

Currently I'm looking at the Sugo SG05 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163149) and the Zotac 9300 Mini ITX-WiFi (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500022), and probably an E8400 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037), but I may consider a quad. Everything else is still up in the air, and all suggestions will be researched :)
 
You want a system that runs cooler than a Q66 + 96GSO SLIed but want it to be as fast or faster? Doesn't work like that.
 
lowteckh said:
You want a system that runs cooler than a Q66 + 96GSO SLIed but want it to be as fast or faster? Doesn't work like that.
Click to expand...

It doesn't have to be as fast, what I meant was at least a mid-range dual-core and a decent gfx card. The Q66 + 9600GSO SLI was far more than I need, which is why I am selling it to build something else.
 
Define "light gaming" as well. Since you're wanting a cool as possible rig (same situation here) if onboard can suffice, not adding a video card will do a hunk load for keeping temps livable. But since you have the 96GSO..

E52 CPU runs cooler than the E84, Zotac is fine but has a S3 standby problem is which S3 standby is... not possible.
You can try the Apex cases with an included PSU that has been said to be damn quiet (250w is quite enough for a 96GS + E52):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154091
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154084
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154093
 
Last edited:
lowteckh said:
Define "light gaming" as well. Since you're wanting a cool as possible rig (same situation here) if onboard can suffice, not adding a video card will do a hunk load for keeping temps livable. But since you have the 96GSO..

E52 CPU runs cooler than the E84, Zotac is fine but has a S3 standby problem is which S3 standby is... not possible.
You can try the Apex cases with an included PSU that has been said to be damn quiet (250w is quite enough for a 96GS + E52):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154091
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154084
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154093
Click to expand...

I don't think that integrated would run the games I play. I play various versions of Need 4 Speed, and some of them didn't run too well on my friend's 8500GT, which is, to the best of my knowledge, the same as a 9300. Also, I want to have a dedicated gfx card for running folding@home on as I already have it. I have looked into the Apex case, but there doesn't look like there is enough room for a cooler that I could passive like there is on the SG05.

Danny: Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into them. Do you know where I could actually buy the GeminII any more? I didn't see it on Newegg.
 
TD has the GeminII, and apparently so does Performance-PCs (but its hard to know their stock, so email them). According to that thread Danny linked, the Thermalright AXP-140 is another option. SVC has the GeminII S model.
 
How's this:
CPU: E8400 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037)
Motherboard: Zotac 9300 Mini-ITX WiFi (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500022)
Case/PSU: Silverstone Sugo SG05 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163149)
HSF: Scythe Shuriken (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185097)
RAM: 4GB G.Skill DDR2 6400 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122)
Thermal Paste: AS5 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007) I've heard it's good, is there anything better?

Would it be possible to later purchase the 350W SeaSonic SFF PSU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151063) and a GTX 260 if I ever needed more GPU power? I know that neither of them fit with the case in stock form, but I've seen a mod to get both of them to fit. Would a quality 350W PSU power a GTX 260? (it seems likely to me if a 300w PSU will power a GTS 250)
 
[Ion];1034184884 said:
Would a quality 350W PSU power a GTX 260? (it seems likely to me if a 300w PSU will power a GTS 250)
Click to expand...

A quality 350W PSU would be enough assuming that you don't OC the CPU at all. The Seasonic PSU has 312W on the +12V rail. So some math:
65W - E8400
182W - GTX 260
----
Total: 247W total.

That leaves you roughly 65W for the HDD, fan, mobo, optical drive, etc. So it'll be enough, albeit very close.
 
Danny Bui said:
Unfortunately, the EA380 is an ATX design while the Seasonic is a SFX design.
Click to expand...

Ahh, didn't notice that, mah bad.

Heh, I just realized I was waiting for that Seasonic PSU to come out a couple years ago... but went Enermax instead since I was impatient. :p
 
Danny Bui said:
Unfortunately, the EA380 is an ATX design while the Seasonic is a SFX design.
Click to expand...
How much trouble would it be to mod the case to take a standard ATX PSU (I currently have an Antec 450 I'm not using) if I was to use a very low-profile CPU cooler and didn't need the optical drive bay (I have an external one) and I was willing to be creative with the hard drive mounting?
 
[Ion];1034185758 said:
How much trouble would it be to mod the case to take a standard ATX PSU (I currently have an Antec 450 I'm not using) if I was to use a very low-profile CPU cooler and didn't need the optical drive bay (I have an external one) and I was willing to be creative with the hard drive mounting?
Click to expand...

Some dude managed to fit in the Corsair 520HX into his SG05:
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034107355&postcount=165
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034107934&postcount=167

Might want to PM that guy to see exactly what he did.

Which Antec 450W PSU do you have?

The Truepower I and II series as well as the Smartpower series were well known for their above average death rates due to a poor choice in caps and cooling design. In more specific terms, Antec/CWT specified/used caps that did not respond well to heat. Unfortunately, Antec made the decision to have the PSU fan only ramp at really high temps in an effort to keep the PSU quiet. However, just medium to high temps were enough to screw up the caps so really high temps were murderous. Over time, this degraded the quality and performance of those PSU series.
 
Danny Bui said:
Some dude managed to fit in the Corsair 520HX into his SG05:
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034107355&postcount=165
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034107934&postcount=167

Might want to PM that guy to see exactly what he did.

Which Antec 450W PSU do you have?

The Truepower I and II series as well as the Smartpower series were well known for their above average death rates due to a poor choice in caps and cooling design. In more specific terms, Antec/CWT specified/used caps that did not respond well to heat. Unfortunately, Antec made the decision to have the PSU fan only ramp at really high temps in an effort to keep the PSU quiet. However, just medium to high temps were enough to screw up the caps so really high temps were murderous. Over time, this degraded the quality and performance of those PSU series.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, its a smartpower :mad: Maybe I'll look into a different PSU then ;)
 
I'm really considering whether it would be better to go for a M-ATX system instead. I like how small M-ITX is, but I think that it really just involves too many sacrifices to go M-ITX. I plan on keeping this computer for a while, so I want to be able to upgrade it, and I want the possibility of a RAID array (redundancy,I have had too many drives die in the past) in the future, something that looks hard in Mini ITX. Does anybody have suggestions for a M-ATX system?
 
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