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My first real SFF build! First issue.

G

Greatone123

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
May 10, 2006
Messages
1,293
So I've decided to build my first real SFF PC, mainly because all of you have made them look so amazing! wow I've spent a lot of time looking at those pictures!


I've got a few specs I've decided on so far:

AMD Athlon II x4 631 (32nm, 2x L2 cache, cheapest Quad Available)

haven't decided on 2x4 or 2x8 ram yet...

going to go with either Sugo SG05 or 08

using my current AMD XFX 6870

I have a Crucial M4 128GB SSD for extra storage I can use a eSATA encloser so I can keep the inside as neat as possible and free up max room.


I'd like to use the ASUS FM1 mITX board but! I noticed that the socket is really really close to the PCIe slot. Some newegg reviews have noted not being able to use some heatsinks because of this. which brings me to my main question.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131789

What's my best option for cooling because of that clearance? and it will help decide if I get the 05 or 08 since the PSU is in a different position. Also note, only 1 2.5 HDD and I also don't use an optical drive... so won't have that either. inside will be pretty empty besides core components. I just don't want to be stuck with stock cooling... I'd rather not switch to mATX just cause of some stupid heat-sink issue... I think I saw a picture of a Thermalright AXP-140 on a board close to the slot... but that's an expensive as hell heatsink... I was looking at the Enzotech Extreme-X depending on how it's mounted kinda looks like the heat-pipe side "might" be close enough to miss it if oriented that direction...

Quiet > Cooling

I don't plan on overclocking, I honestly don't play any games that will really put a demand on my system. (Minecraft, League of Legends, CoD4, Tribes Ascend Beta) the reason I need decent cooling is well I'm in Texas, it has a tendency to get warn on occasion.
 
If you don't have an optical drive then you can buy an SG05/06 and get rid of the whole clumsy drive mounting racks. Use Corsair H60 or Antec 620 to cool the CPU - there's enough room to make it push-pull. Then there's also enough space for both your SSD and HDD standing up in the front-right of the case, although you'll have to mount them either with velcro, or what I did was buy 4 right-angled brackets from local hardware store. I chose ones 30 mm long, which conveniently had holes for bolts spaced 20mm apart. This was ideal for putting SSD+HDD together and I drilled extra 2 holes in the top-right brace to hang it from. I would post pics, but my SG05 case is currently being sleeved, so the drives are in a mATX case for the moment.

Have a look how this guy mounted his 3.5" drive for ideas http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1539848
 
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I would suggest re-thinking your CPU/motherboard strategy.

Comparing AMD Athlon II x4 635 to Intel Pentium G840

The G840 wins most of the benchmarks, including ALL of the gaming benchmarks. It also draws substantially less power, and thus creates less heat. The Llano APUs perform near identical to the Propus core of these older Athlon II x4. In fact, the 631 is only 2.6GHz while the 635 is 2.9GHz, so the 631 would do even worse against the G840. Best thing is the G840 costs exactly the same on Newegg as the 631, and for $3 more you can get the G850 which is 100MHz faster.

With motherboards, the majority of the socket 1155 boards are cheaper than the Asus FM1 board you are looking at. With the Pentium G840/G850 the CPU will run so cool that you can use the stock cooler that comes with it (which fits all 1155 motherboards) and still run nice and cool, and even nice and quiet (enable a fan profile in BIOS). And of course you have the future option to upgrade to any Sandy Bridge or maybe even Ivy Bridge quad core.

With the lower power draw, more power will be available for future graphics card upgrades in case you go with the SG05 case, which maxes out at 450W.
 
hmmm I guess since I selected Quad-Core on the search obviously it didn't show those. I guess I should be looking at total cost of the system rather then comparing parts individually.. If I can save money on the motherboard I could put that into a better processor which will equal an overall better system.

I know little about intel currently, so I'll have to really look around at the motherboards for what will work for me.



Edit:

so if I go with the GIGABYTE GA-H61N-USB3 @ $84

I could get the i3 2100 or the 2100T that's 35W...and actually save some money...
 
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Note that the H61 chipset does not support SATA 6Gb/s.

Also, no need to pay more for the low wattage version. In real world usage it may only save 5W or so on average. The only reason to get it would be if you were severely PSU limited, and you are not.
 
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