What's the best chassis?

[Tman115]

Hey, I'm lookin at converting my comp into a SFF. I got a Athlon 64 3700+ socket 939, and id have to buy a new mobo and case.

Now, whats really the best cube-shaped SFF chassis out there? my budget for new mobo and case is 150 $, but that doesnt look like its gonna work...

the x-qpack2 looks kinda good, but i have a hard time shelling out 100 plus ship for a flimsy piece of aluminum that lights up.

So whasya preference?

Thanks,
-T

Oh yeah, and I'd also like it to have two 5.25 external drive bays. Gotta bring those with me

 

[Neist]

At that price range, I'd either say a Thermaltake Lanbox or an X-Gene Mini HTPC.

http://www.sffclub.com/store/index....id=236&zenid=2c88a15733c6c7ce07eb9a0dd70ba71c

http://www.sffclub.com/store/index....id=216&zenid=2c88a15733c6c7ce07eb9a0dd70ba71c

Both are pretty solid cases. I own the X-gene and have seen the Lanbox in person. There may be better choices, but not under 150 bucks. Even so, at that pricerange, your not going to be able to buy the most expensive MB either.

Edit: While the X-Gene has two drives, you may have some trouble actually using both of them depening on what PSU/Drives your using. The clearance is pretty tight.

 

[Tman115]

yeah, 150 budget doesn't look like its happenin. But i guess its flexible, i just gotta scrounge/cut/save, no biggie. just as long as im not pullin 200 for just the case.

the Lanbox doesnt look to bad at all, but the X-Gene looks to wide for what im goin for. Thanks.

But im kinda lookin for something of an overgrown Gamecube, you know? don't really matter whats the color, but just rather cube-like.

 

[burnin8r]

i migrated my socket 939 3800+ into an AOpen EZ482, they were on sale for $150 at newegg...

only one 5.25 bay, what did you need a second one for ?

for the record, the "flimsy piece of aluminum that lights up" is the home of my current gaming rig.

 

[nessus]

Get the no windows version of the QPackII. No windows and no lights. Just built mine last week.

Ah the blessed quiteness of my new machine after several years of listening to the leaf blower that was my Dell XPS Gen 3!

I'm very happy with my new machine

Abit IH-90D
E6600 (Retail using the retail cooler)
2 Gigs RAM
400 Gig HD
20x Lite-on Dual layer, DVD-RAM drive
Adaptec Firewire board (So I can use the wife's old firewire external stuff from her old G4 tower)


I'm just using the on-board video for now, but it does everything I need.

 

[Neist]

Hm... overgrown Gamecube eh?

If you want to go that small, your choices are probably goingto be AOpen, Shuttle, or maybe a Biostar iDEQ.

http://www.biostar.com.tw/products/barebone/minipc.php3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...01465+40000003+1045506429&name=AMD+Socket+939
www.aopen.com

You could always try a NSK1300 too.

http://www.sffclub.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=148

Now, those have an overly small PSU (propriety too), so dont expect to use a very large video card at all, and the inside of the case is pretty cramped, so heat may be a problem. The NSK1300 is about as small as your going to get outside of starting to run into things like a Shuttle that has propriety motherboards and PSU's.

 

[c9h13no3]

Who pays 100$ for an X-QPack? Its 86$ shipped on the egg, and it used to have a 10$ MIR on it, but it ran out yesterday.

 

[dworley]

I recommend a Shuttle SN21G5 - on sale at the egg for $189

If you want to OC and don't need a PCI sound card, then go with a Shuttle SN25P - $229 at the egg

Both are Socket 939 so you can re-use your old hardware. I had both of these models for some time and they were excellent systems!

Here's a pic of how I modded my SN21G5 for a dual slot video card

 

[lillimon04]

the sugo is smaller than a lanbox and looks wayyy better than it. u can get windowed( it comes with the inside painted black!! i think thats sick!) or none windowed. w/o window, 110 bucks, w/ window 140 bucks i think

 

[bman1]

You can also look at the lanbox lite. It's the same size as the lanbox but without the handle, plus I think it looks great. I just got one and it's solid. About $100 shipped with windows and $90 without.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133044

 

[Adidas4275]

yeah I just migrated my opteron 165 to a shuttle sn25p andi bought an 8800gts with my raptor and 2gb of ddr500 and it will do 300fsb which is fairly good. I really like the lothe silverstone sugo is nice bc it uses matx mobo and an atx psu. I think it looks just as nice. as for mobos get the biosgtar tforce 939 matx it ocs well. the sugo really is a nice option and the can be found for less than $100 if you look hard.

 

[Rhialto]

Here's a pic of how I modded my SN21G5 for a dual slot video card

Really nice! Only down side is the dust you'll get in in 6 months... Almost impossible to use positive pressure with such but it looks really cool.