Want a SFF PC.

[nicholarse]

Hi, I want to get my Dad a SFF PC for the study but as I don't know anything about these small form factor computers I thought I'd ask. I prob won't actually purchase until June so I know tech will have changed by then but I'd like to get an idea of what I can get for my money.

One of the most important things is it to look good (I know it shouldn't be this way around but it's going to be) as it's going in his study. I want it to be as small as possible but also as quiet as possible and I think black would look best but that isn't the be all and end all.

He doesn't play games or do anything that is that intensive. In fact all he does do is use Word, internet, emails and looks at his digital pictures. I am giving him my aluminium coolermaster keyboard and optical mouse as well as my 20" 2005FPW widescreen LCD (as he likes it and it will give him a good res for his pictures) due to this I need a DVI out and something that will support 1680x1050 res.

I will put windows XP SP2 on it so I'm thinking perhaps 2 x 256mb ram, hopefully something that will do tight timings. Not sure what cpu - amd or intel? perhaps one of those amd winnies? As you probably guessed I won't be overclocking anything.

I also want to buy just some stereo speakers (no sub) mainly just for the windows noises and the occasional streamed video/music so they don't have to be very good and I would just use the onboard sound (assuming there is onboard) however I'd like to get some that look nice, take up little room etc

I want it to have a DVD-rw drive and must have a floppy drive. I'm thinking something like 120GB hard drive.

Another thing I'd like is a wireless network card of some sort. The cable for the internet goes into my bedroom into the cable modem then into the computer via ethernet cable. Could I buy a wireless device that connects to the cable modem via ethernet then to other computers wirelessly but also have the option to connect to other pc's via ethernet. I have a linksys wireless router at uni for my desktop and my laptop but to use the internet I have to have my desktop on. I wouldn't want that in this case. I'd want the wireless device to be independent so as long as its switched on any other computer with a wireless card can get the internet. Can you get something like this?

Budget is about £500, although looking back on what I want that looks a bit tight.

Sorry for the long post.

Thanks, Nick.

 

[vage]

Here is the shuttle that I would recommend for you.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=56-101-416&depa=0

After that I would get a fairly mid-range Intel processor and then whatever you have left you can put towards all of the other stuff.

As far as a video card I would recommend probably an ATI 9600. They are cheap good cards that will support that resolution and give him a nice picture. Hope this helps.

 

[Clownboat]

I concur with the above. Pair that Shuttle with a decent P4 and you'll be fine. AMD chips may be good for games and have more raw power, but a decent P4 with HT will perform better for your dad's multitasking and looking at "digital pictures" .

You should be able to get the floppy drive and stereo speakers pretty much for free. A 120 GB HD shouldn't be more than about $60 if you buy it at the right time. DVD burners are pretty cheap now as well.

As far as the RAM goes, I don't personally think it would be worth getting nice 2-2-2-5-1 RAM or whatever. He'd probably be better served by two 512 sticks of value RAM than two speedy 256 sticks, but that's just my opinion.

With the graphics card, you'll do fine with just about anything. I would try to get one with just a heatsink and no fan, since you want it quiet. A normal graphics card will probably be the loudest component in a Shuttle.

So basically, my advice is to get the best CPU you can.

 

[vamp]

Agreed with everything mentioned above, especially the ram. You won't have much need for low latency and performance ram unless you're planning on a lot of overclocking.

 

[shoes]

yeah i would agree.

you have to keep in mind that as they keep releasing new versions of microsoft office, they keep using up more and more resources. so 1GB would be good. I game fairly often and i have 2 sticks of 512 value ram running in dual channel and they serve me just fine, so for him it should be fine and future proof.

other than that, definately get a shuttle because they look A LOT nicer than the other brands of SFF and they build very very easily, but sometimes fitting fingers into places can be tricky.