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Small form factor (budget) gaming PC

B

bigscholar

n00b
Joined
May 21, 2010
Messages
9
Hey guys. Long time reader, first time poster. I'm in the market for a stopgap gaming PC, something that isn't too fancy, but will hold me over for a year or two until I can get something more substantial. It has to be small though--I want to use this as an HTPC once I get my "real" rig, and we'd also like to conserve desk space (we live in a small apartment). Doesn't necessarily need to have an HTPC case; anything compact, like a shuttle case, is cool too.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
I want a small form factor machine, mostly for gaming--WoW, FF14, and TF2, with high settings. Want to be able to stream Hulu and Netflix @720p as well. I want it small mainly because I live in a smaller place, so space is limited. Also, this machine is more of a stopgap; once I can get something better, I'll want to use this one mainly as an HTCP.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$500-700. Preferably closer to the lower end of that.

3) Where do you live?
Los Angeles, California.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Mobo, CPU, GPU, RAM, case, PSU, optical drive.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I have a 27" Dell monitor.

6) Will you be overclocking?
Not required.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
27" Dell.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the month.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
It would be nice if it supported SLI or Crossfire, but I'm assuming it might be tough to find something cheap enough that would fit in a smaller case.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
No. I'm planning to buy one locally unless I can find a crazy deal online.

Thanks guys; any input is appreciated. Am I asking for too much given the price?
 
A rather lower end build, should suffice although you may want a heavier gpu and cpu if you want to max anything on your 27".

Athlon II X2 245 + Asus EVO 785G MicroATX

G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 4GB(2x2GB)

BFG Tech 9800GT 512mb

Antec NSK MicroATX Case w/ Earthwatts 380w PSU

Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB

Samsung DVD-Burner

Total is right at the bottom of your range. You may want to consider buying an actual HTPC case (if thats what you plan on in the future for this machine), a better cpu (Athlon II X4 or even Phenom II X4), and a better gpu (HD5770) with the rest of your budget. But this should set you in the right direction.
 
Appreciate the input tips, Shadowssong. I'll check out the higher end CPU/GPUs you listed and see how much that adds up to.

I'd definitely prefer an HTPC case if the price is right. I think I might also have a micro ATX PSU lying around somewhere. Anyone got any recommendations?
 
bigscholar said:
Appreciate the input tips, Shadowssong. I'll check out the higher end CPU/GPUs you listed and see how much that adds up to.

I'd definitely prefer an HTPC case if the price is right. I think I might also have a micro ATX PSU lying around somewhere. Anyone got any recommendations?
Click to expand...

Yeah, don't bother using that mATX PSU unless it was made by Seasonic or and older Sparkle.

A good HTPC case/PSU combo is this:
$115 - Antec NSK2480 mATX case with Antec Earthwatts 380W PSU
 
Not a good CPU + mobo setup considering that for $20 more, you can get the significantly faster Phenom II 955 CPU:
$200 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU + BIOSTAR A785G3 AM3 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

I'd spend the extra $3 (once you factor in shipping) for better customer support and lifetime warranty:
$160 - XFX HD-577X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 1GB PCI-E Video Card
 
Thanks Danny. That's still easily within my budget. Appreciate the advice.

Any thoughts on whether the graphics card will fit inside the case? I've never built anything this small, so I'm a little bit worried about that.
 
I don't think you will have a problem. The card will fit fine but the cooler doesn't exhaust the heat outside the case. So either grab a pci slot cooler (one that exhausts the air outside the case) or splurge the extra $10 and grab the XFX 5770 with a rear exhausting design.
 
So I was going to pull the trigger just now, but I was bummed to find that the combo that Danny suggested is no longer on offer. Still worth it at the regular price? Any other crazy deals?

Appreciate the input as always.

bigscholar said:
Case: Antec New Solution NSK2480 Black/Silver 0.8mm cold-rolled steel MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 380W Power Supply

Mobo: ASUS M4A785TD-M EVO 785G Micro ATX

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 635 Propus 2.9GHz

GPU: XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 1GB

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)

HD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB

DVD: SAMSUNG DVD Burner
Click to expand...
 
I think its a much better mobo then what danny listed based on being a gigabyte instead of biostar , but you can get the GIGABYTE GA-880GMA-UD2H with a Athalon II x4 630 for 175 or the Phenom II x4 955 for 235

Edit: that being said I dont know where exactly your budget is, but the same mobo can be had with a Phenom II x5 1055t for 275

Edit 2: that xfx video card has a combo offering for 20 bucks off the same Phenom II x4 for 20 bucks off I lsited so essentially ANY am3 mATX mobo for a list price of 95 or lower that you want to change to you would be able to break even there. So that leaves it open to MSI or ASUS as well as the Giga's. If you want the option to Crossfire the MSI 890gxm board is I think at this time king of the kill for AM3 mATX & it would be about 30 bucks more.

Also this ram is just as good if not better & same price up front plus you get a 10 MIR

Edit 3: Either one of these (asus or msi) boards would drop your overall cost back below 700 while maintaining the phenom. Biggest disadvantage is only 2 memory slots.
 
Last edited:
yhpm btw, re: my X4 in my FS thread. ;)

If you buy the cpu/mobo separately, I agree, don't bother with that Biostar board from the dead combo. Go with an Asus or Gigabyte 785G or 880G instead. Sorry, I haven't really had time to look into the new 880G boards, so no really specific rec's right now.
 
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