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SFF system: Balancing $$ with performance with upgradeability

A

accidentalsuccess

Gawd
Joined
Dec 7, 2001
Messages
596
I've fallen out of keeping up with *every* hardware revolution since the days of the athalonXP's and the 9800XT were kings.

SOOO, I'm now building a SFF system for a HTPC and some gaming.

There's a lot out there and I'd like opinions on what I'm seeing as options.

First, what I have on hand:
9500 pro (AGP) I can use.
Hard Dives

So, I need a case, mb, ram (1 gig of whatever will be what I'll get) and proc. Possibly a vid card.

I'd like to do this for a fairly reasonable cost. I'd also like to have coax audio out, if possible (for connecting to theatre). I need something with a PCI slot for tv capture.

I see the SN95G5 V3 , 3000+ as the affordable route. Should be able to play today's games. No options for upgrading the vid (no PCI-E), but proc upgrades are possible.

It looks like the SB85G5 is the choice for an Intel solution. It would require buying a PCI-E card.

I was wondering if these look reasonable, what choices for processors I should go for (I'm willing to sacrifice performance to save SOME $$). If anyone has a better suggestion, I'd love to hear it. Too much out there these days, I feel. lol

Thanks.
 
if you don't mind a slightly larger case, you could get an aspire x-qpack, mobo, and psu for about the same or a little less than the shuttles, and those have 2 external 5.25" drive bays along w/ one external 3.5" and 2 internals.

the 3000+ is what i'd get for processor on a budget. 512x2 of some value ram, if you get a qpack the current mobo choice would be the biostar tforce 6100/410 mobo, and video card depends on what type of games you play.
 
Look at mATX cases/boards if you have any sort of budget.

I would go with what Soymilk suggested and sell your 9500 and get something like a 6800. An Opteron 144 would be a great choice for a budget overclocker, if you can score one. Cheaper than a 3000+, overclocking better and have 1MB cache!

RAM I would either go value RAM or try this when it gets back in stock: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=83433-2
 
well of course the 144 > the 3000+, but i was saying realistically. unless you can find a source for the opteron 144 s939, like you know a distributor personally who happens to somehow still have one and will sell it to you, OR you're just starting to plan now and you're not going to actually start buying for another month or more, than the 3000+ is more realistic. you'll be waiting a long time for the 144 if its the only thing you're waiting for, and if you're not an oc'er than its completely wasted time. well, its basically the san diego core, which is *slightly* better than the venice (1024 vs 512 l2 cache), but thats not worth the wait.
 
Ebay the 9500pro and get a PCI-E 6600 Vanilla. At most you'll be out $30.


No need to let a small upgrade fee lock you into AGP technology.
 
Soymilk said:
well of course the 144 > the 3000+, but i was saying realistically. unless you can find a source for the opteron 144 s939, like you know a distributor personally who happens to somehow still have one and will sell it to you, OR you're just starting to plan now and you're not going to actually start buying for another month or more, than the 3000+ is more realistic. you'll be waiting a long time for the 144 if its the only thing you're waiting for, and if you're not an oc'er than its completely wasted time. well, its basically the san diego core, which is *slightly* better than the venice (1024 vs 512 l2 cache), but thats not worth the wait.
Click to expand...
Hey, it's not critical, just giving him another option. ;) He probably does not know about it. They really that hard to get a hold of now?

You could do enotification with Axent Micro. They have good ratings:
http://www.axentmicro.com/huzrb/partdetails~af~gle~mp~OSA144BNBOX.htm
 
yeah, the opteron's are getting really hard to find. even the 146's sell out nearly instantly when they come in stock, and the 144's supposedly arent coming back in stock for a while. people are paying a premium for the 148's just to get their hands on this core :eek:
 
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