• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Laptop to SFF

J

jebro

n00b
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
33
My laptop is pissing me off and i'm sick of upgrading to an entire new machine all the time, so I want to just set up a small pc where my laptop lives. (I never even move my laptop). Basically I want it to play games, mostly MMOs, and do some Photoshop work as i'm a designer.

Basic setup would be a small box under the coffee table, wires up to the display sitting on the table, and a wireless keyboard with a touchpad.

I don't know much about the small form factors so lead the way.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming, Photoshop
2) What's your budget?1000(flexible) Are tax and shipping included? yes
3) Where do you live? pittsburgh, pa
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? Everything, monitor and keyboard with touchpad
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? none
6) Will you be overclocking? no
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have? 20 inch range
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Next few months
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? Nothing really
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? Yes Windows 7
 
Oi. Ok, let me see what I can do for you.

This setup is a bit over budget, and the keyboard doesn't have a touchpad (afraid i dont know my ass from a hole in the ground with that sort of thing), but it came in at $1244.91 and seems decent enough to me. i left out a optical drive because i am not sure what you will want/need in that department, and they're cheap unless you go with a BD burner.

SILVERSTONE SUGO SG02-BF Black ABS / SECC Steel MicroATX Desktop Computer Case - Retail $69.99
GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 LGA 1156 Intel P55 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $104.99
SAPPHIRE 100283-2L Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail $164.99
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 - Retail $199.99
OCZ Solid Series OCZSSD2-1SLD60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Retail $199.00
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ - Retail $95.99
Western Digital RE3 WD5002ABYS-01B1B0 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $89.99
Logitech Cordless Desktop S520 920-000922 Black Cordless Compact Keyboard and Mouse Combo - Retail $59.99
Acer X213Hbid 21.5" 5ms HDMI Widescreen Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor - Retail $159.99
OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC ... - Retail $99.99

As you can see, I put a SSD in there, so you could take that out and save some money, though I've found they enhance anyone's experience quite a bit...

Beyond that, this build is far from gospel, as I've been asking for help myself on a build, but it should be more than adequate for your needs.

All prices are newegg before shipping as of 12/9/09 1130 Baghdad time. (UTC+0300)
 
Thanks for the start, I will probably swap out a few brands and what not.

Is Intel the way to go with these microATX boards? I've been using AMD since i've started building comps, been out of the Intel world for a while. Not that i'm against it.
 
Intel's Core i5 and i7 series processors and P55/X58 boards beat out anything AMD has to offer at both stock speeds and overclocked. However, there are a few changes that I'd make to jarhead's build list.

First, to keep things under budget, get rid of the SSD and swap out the Western Digital 500GB HDD for a Samsung F3 500GB HDD. The Samsung uses a single 500GB drive platter that makes it one of the fastest non-VelociRaptor HDDs around -- it's faster than the last-gen Raptor X.

I have two problems with the power supply. First, you don't need 700 watts for a build like that. Second, OCZ makes bad PSU (outside of its PC Power & Cooling line, which is a separate company that OCZ acquired). Older versions of the ModXStream were based off the FSP Epsilon PSU, which was known to produce out-of-spec fluctuations, or "ripple," at high loads. The long story short is that better PSUs are available. For the same price as the 700W ModXStream Pro, go with the superior Antec TruePower New TP-650, which is a more efficient power supply.

I believe that NewEgg does have several keyboards with built-in touchpads, but since few people want one, we can't recommend a particular one to have.
 
^^^This^^^

Hence why I said it wasn't gospel. Far as I was concerned, I thought all the new OCZ PSU's reflected their purchase of PCP&C. I do stand by my decision with the SSD though, I think thats one of the most worthwhile upgrades anyone can do to their system, especially in terms of every day use. Though, 30gb is pretty anemic. After further reading, tiraides is obviously right about the samsung, I just go for WD by force of habit, as they're the only drives ive bought that havent eaten dirt in a year or two, and I buy a lot of drives.
 
1. It's true that a i5 750 beats AMD processors, but a 955BE/965BE with 785G mobo is a very decent combo (good Lord: now I am plugging AMD hardware... what has the world come to?). There are even some games where I believe the 965 beats the 750. If you go the AMD route, make sure you get the latest revisions (FBGM) with lower voltages. Still, the thermal enveloppe of a i5 750 is somewhat smaller then that of top AMD processors.
2. PSU brand: Don't really know the quality of OCZ PSUs, but from what I have heard in this forum, they are far from the best. Again, I do not speak from experience.
3. PSU wattage: If we keep the components unchanged in the list above, that PSU is way overkill. And bigger is not always better. For example an Enermax MODU82+ 425W (still overpowered) or a Corsair HX450 would get my vote. And both would handle said system without breaking a sweat.
4. Storage: Spinpoint F3 would get my vote. That saves a bundle compared to a SSD.
 
Stupid question, but do you plan on buying a new/larger monitor around the same time that you plan on buying/building the computer?

The key argument about SSDs come down to price versus performance. You have to determine, based on your own research, whether or not the performance benefit of an SSDs (or two) is worth the comparatively higher price.

A mea culpa about AMD systems: Since most of today's games are largely GPU-dependent, a high-end Phenom II X3 or X4 system would perform about as well as an Intel system based on the Core i5 750. AMD boards and processors are also considerably cheaper, which could leave you with some extra money for, say, a better video card.
 
If you can wait a month you can get a shiny new 32nm i5.

Also, not sure about recommending a quad core for MMO and "some" Photoshop. Dual core will be cheaper and generate less heat/noise. Up to you.
If you can get a cheaper processor and keep the SSD, I would do it.
 
jarhead said:
Oi. Ok, let me see what I can do for you.

This setup is a bit over budget, and the keyboard doesn't have a touchpad (afraid i dont know my ass from a hole in the ground with that sort of thing), but it came in at $1244.91 and seems decent enough to me. i left out a optical drive because i am not sure what you will want/need in that department, and they're cheap unless you go with a BD burner.

SILVERSTONE SUGO SG02-BF Black ABS / SECC Steel MicroATX Desktop Computer Case - Retail $69.99
GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 LGA 1156 Intel P55 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $104.99
SAPPHIRE 100283-2L Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail $164.99
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 - Retail $199.99
OCZ Solid Series OCZSSD2-1SLD60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Retail $199.00
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ - Retail $95.99
Western Digital RE3 WD5002ABYS-01B1B0 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $89.99
Logitech Cordless Desktop S520 920-000922 Black Cordless Compact Keyboard and Mouse Combo - Retail $59.99
Acer X213Hbid 21.5" 5ms HDMI Widescreen Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor - Retail $159.99
OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC ... - Retail $99.99

As you can see, I put a SSD in there, so you could take that out and save some money, though I've found they enhance anyone's experience quite a bit...

Beyond that, this build is far from gospel, as I've been asking for help myself on a build, but it should be more than adequate for your needs.

All prices are newegg before shipping as of 12/9/09 1130 Baghdad time. (UTC+0300)
Click to expand...
nice buildout and effort
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top