Low budget gaming SFF build.

S

SubRlly87

n00b
Joined
Dec 7, 2008
Messages
31
Hello everybody-

New to the forums, not new at all with computers. But I am new to the SFF scene. Last rig I built was a DD Waterbox Plus case, Thermaltake 750w, DD water loop,XFX 780i, Q6600 @3.6GHZ (4 on a suicide run), 2x9800GTX's (bumped up from 2x 9600gt's when they first came out, the thing killed 3dMark06 for it's time), 500GB Seagate 7200.11, 4GB Dominators DDR2@1066 ran at @ DDR2800 @ 4-3-4-12. Unfortunately, I had to sell my masterpiece to pay rent, since I had my hours cut back BIG time at work. Still bummed out about it. If any of you would like to see pictures of the beast I'll be more then happy to post em.

I've had many a full tower and mid tower rigs in my day, I've gotten pretty bored of them. I'd also like to build a computer that I can slap a blu-ray drive in sometime soon and one that will compliment my TV as well as save space and not be an eye sore. I'm looking to build my first SFF rig. Don't want to spend more then $600 to $700 but I'd like it to be a good gamer @ 1280x720 and 1920x1080 on not too graphically demanding games as my TV is 720p/1080i, which is what I game on. Mostly play TF2, Source, Quake Wars, TrackMania, Mass Effect and others. I'll dable in Crysis and other new games now and then, I would also like to be able to play Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 when the are released. The lower the price the better, trying to keep it as lean as possible. I'll be using a 320GB hard drive I have laying around as well as a spare DVD drive. I'm looking for input and suggestions.

Silverstone Sugo $69.99 -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163116

Silverstone 700W Mod. 80% certified Active PFC $99.99-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256045

Gigabyte GA-EG31M-S2 G31 $52.99-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128338

Core 2 Duo E7300 $119.99 -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115132

Patriot Viper 4GB 4-4-4-12 $47.99-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220293

EVGA GTX 260 $219.99-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370

3x Apevia 80mm fans $5.97-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835228001

Total comes to $666.56 shipped

Now I know the power supply looks like overkill but I want a good dependable one that's going to last multiple builds that will handle video card's for a couple years to come. Plus it's TomsHardware's pick for 2008, I've been a reader since the 9800pro days. I don't know much about MicroATX boards but I've had nothing but good experience with Gigabyte in the past and I don't need many features or an overclocking bored since that's not my intention with this build. I have a couple of concerns with the board. First one, will it support 2.2v that's required for the ram? Second thing, does it suppose PCI-E x16 2.0 video cards since the GTX 260 is one?

Also, I could go the AMD route and get the 9850 quad for 40 bucks more, but I haven't followed AMD's boards, let alone their Micro ATX variants.

Any constructive responses and help are very much appreciated, thank you.
 
I can't fault your picks. BUT, as you said, your PSU is ridiculous. Your system can be powered without problem whatsoever by a 400W PSU (provided it's got 2 PCIE connectors). Idle, your system won't draw more than 125-150W from the wall. On load, maybe 250, let's say 300W to be on the safe side. If your PSU reach 80% efficiency, then that's 200-260W DC output. Which would mean less than 40% usage of your PSU. Which also means that idle your PSU won't be very efficient. To give you an idea, I have a G33M-DS2R, E8200 @ 3.2GHz, and Factory-OC'd GIgabyte 8800GT and I run this on a 400W Nexus 8040. I measured the power consumption at the wall and running ORTHOS and FurMark at the same time I rarely reached 240W (worst case scenario) which means around 200W DC output so about 50% PSU usage!!. So with a GTX260 if you buy a 500W-ish 80+ PSU you will be more than twice covered. Example: a 520HX from corsair.
Don't believe the hype. Bigger isn't always better with PSUs.
 
2.2V is a tad extreme IMHO. Unless you target benchmarking scores (which obviously you don't), low latency has very little real world performance impact (from C5 to C4 maybe 1-2%). Your board will detect the standard 5-5-5-18 at 1.8V. Manually you might be able to get the rated 4-4-4-12 at 2.2V but if you don't that's really not the end of the world. You're better off keeping values of 5-5-5-15 around 1.9 or 2.0V and bump up the FSB-RAM coefficient. I'm sure this RAM can reach 900-1000MHz on these values...
Oh and by the way your E7300 should run FSB1333 (3.33GHz) without an issue. You might not even have to raise voltage. It'd be almost criminal not to do it ;)
 
Ok so to reply to both of you in order-

Yes, I understand bigger isn't always better. I would like to keep the power supply I choose lower then that, but for the fact that I want head room and it's suppose to be such a good PSU, thought it might be a good idea to jump into. But if I'll be using a maximum of 50% of what it can put out, then theirs really no need.
Ah yes! I completely forgot about the HX's from Corsair. I was under the impression that the 520HX and 620HX were about the same, with only some small differences. Yes, I'll be choosing the 520HX.

2.2V caught me off guard as well. Seems a tad high for factory settings at only 4-4-4-12 DDR2800. I may just get G.Skills that run at the same latency but requires 1.8-1.9v I believe. Only around $50 on the egg. I wasnt sure if the E7300 was as good of an overclocker as say the E7400, but if I can expect to see around 3.33GHZ with little or no bump in the voltage, I'll be just fine by that. Keeping the heat down in this computer is going to be my goal. Well, as little as possible really.

Thanks to both of you.


EDIT: Here's what I decided on-

G. SKill Pi-Black -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

Corsair 520HX-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001

$669.47 shipped!
 
I'm glad I could help (that's the same old me for both those posts). I'm thinking of getting a E7300 to see what it can do on my G33M-DS2R. Considering that this board does FSB1600 without breaking a sweat, I hope I can make good use of this CPU.
 
FYI the GTX 260's are about 13.75" long and you'll not be able to mount the hard drive cage in the Sugo, but you can put your hard drive in one of the 5.25" bays with an adapter to give enough room to fit the video card. I have an 8800GT in my Sugo and just ordered a GTX 260 and I'll be taking my drive cage out.

Good move with the PSU. Personally, to not have to deal with overclocking and heat I'd suggest just getting an E8400 or E8500. If you have a Fry's near you they have them on special often for $180 with a mobo. I'd get one of the $20 AR RAM deals that are all around for 2x2gb.

E8500 + ECS mobo + cheaper RAM kit = $200, 3.16ghz, low heat, no overclock, 1333mhz bus, possible mild overclock
vs.
E7300 + Gigabyte mobo + RAM = $223, hopefully 3.33ghz overclock, maybe more heat, 1066mhz bus
 
Thanks for the input NIcho,

I read that you have to take out the hard drive cage to fit those big guys in. Looks like I'll be picking up an adapter as well.

I used that same power supply in a build of mine when the 8800GT's first launched. Time flys, I still remember picking it up when they launched.

I really don't have a problem overclocking, I've been doing so since the X2 3800+ days. But since heat seems to be the big issue with SFF it would be choice to not. A small case,the stock heatsink, the video card, the hard drive, and only 3x 80mm fans spells HEAT.

Thanks for the heads up on the 1066FSB, completely overlooked that. I can't say I've used an ECS mobo before. I've stayed loyal to Gigabyte and ASUS, and only recently used XFX. Always though ECS was not a choice for motherboards, but on then again this is my first time in the Micro ATX arena.

OH! Looks like Newegg is fresh out of the factory clocked EVGA GTX 260's, it's now on Auto-Notify.


The MSI GTX 260 is only $199, wow. I'm sure that'll be sold out quite soon.

New revision-

Silverstone Sugo SG01B-F-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163116

Corsair 520HX-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001

ECS G31T-M G31-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135063

E8400-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

G.Skill HK 4GB Cas4 1.8v-1.9v
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231219

MSI GTX 260-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127361

3x 80mm Fans-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835228001

Shipped- $678.99

Cheaper ram that' still at 4-4-4-12 but at 1.8 or 1.9. Cheaper mobo that supports 1333fsb. MSI GTX 260 that's only $199.99 and a E8400 @ 3.0ghz, so no immediate need to overclock. Looks to be a pretty solid rig.
 
It's a good processor too. But costs more than the E7300. Or the 7200 if you want to compare processors with the same multipliers. The fact that it's FSB1066 is not that relevant once you've bumped up the bus to 333Mhz (FSB1333). You are then effectively running FSB1333 for all intents and purposes. And I doubt the heat dissipation will be very different from the E8500 at 3.16ghz. They are essentially the same processor. The E7x00 have half their cache disabled and are not rated for higher frequencies. But considering the headroom provided by the 45nm process, FSB1333 on a E7x00 is a no fuss proposition (like FSB1600 for the E8x00).
And whichever board you choose, it will (should) handle FSB1333 for the E7300 or the 8500.
 
NichoTL said:
It's a good processor too. But costs more than the E7300. Or the 7200 if you want to compare processors with the same multipliers. The fact that it's FSB1066 is not that relevant once you've bumped up the bus to 333Mhz (FSB1333). You are then effectively running FSB1333 for all intents and purposes. And I doubt the heat dissipation will be very different from the E8500 at 3.16ghz. They are essentially the same processor. The E7x00 have half their cache disabled and are not rated for higher frequencies. But considering the headroom provided by the 45nm process, FSB1333 on a E7x00 is a no fuss proposition (like FSB1600 for the E8x00).
And whichever board you choose, it will (should) handle FSB1333 for the E7300 or the 8500.
Click to expand...

Yea, I'm stickin with that ECS. Gotten some pretty good reviews and seems legit for a sub $50 motherboard ha. As long as it'll support an E8400, or possibly a quad core. Might just rock the system without a case on my TV stand until I can afford a case I would really want. Nothing against the first one I chose, but I would like to look around a bit, maybe for a NZXT Rogue, a LANBox lite, or possibly a windowed version of the Sugo. That way I could have about $70 or so more to get a quad core or maybe a different video card.

Thanks for everyone's input and especially Nicho. Really looking forward to seeing my first SFF build come together.
 
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