New Small Form Factor: Input Request

[Acert93]

-I am going on a trip shortly and have been debating what to do. My old laptop cannot run PhotoShop CS, Macromedia Suite, and some of my other software. And my current system is far too big to travel with. And neither do I want to lug the best around OR risk damage to it.

-I am not too interested in a laptop. I always feel ripped off with them, especially with limited expandability.

-What I want is something small. I need not bother with a monitor because everywhere I go (businesses and where I will be staying have access).

So I have been looking at SFF.

Of course the most popular--and most reliable and feature rich--are the SFF's from Shuttle. I have not followed the market closely, but I would like some feedback on the below "idea" for a rig:

SFF: Shuttle SN25P. AMD64/FX 939, 2x DDR400 slots, 1x PCIe 16x, 4x SATA, 1x ATA100, Sound, Gbit LAN, 350W PSU ... $375

CPU: AMD Athlon64 3000+ Venice ... $146

MEMORY: 2GB (2 x 512MB) DDR400 3-4-4-8 ... $159

Alt (2GB is prob too much $) option:

MEMORY: 1GB (2x512) Corsair Value Select DDR400 CAS 2.5 ... $80

VIDEO: 6600GT PCIe This one is a Gibabyte ... $162

HDD, Floppy, DVD-RW => All stuff laying around.


1. The CAS on the 2GB is 3-4-4-8. Any feedback on that? pqi brand, never heard of it, but I am not planning to OC.

2. Opinions on Rosewill stuff? Like RAM, GPU, etc...

3. Is the 3200+ (200MHz) worth the extra $40? Reviews have been sketchy on OCing in SFFs, so I am assuming I WONT OC at all, so I am wondering about opinions on this. 11% on the CPU for $40 basically.

4. Is there a better SFF??? Heat, noise, features, performance, cost. Trying to get a good balance on this.

5. I can save $90 by getting the SN95G5V3. Biggest difference: AGP. PCIe is the future, if not present (who knows if the 7x00 or R5x0 series cards will ever come out in AGP... my guess is yes for midrange products), but this system is not intended to be a killer gaming rig--only casual gaming. Mainly a work/travel system. Any strong thoughts for/against this SFF model? Or against getting AGP under these circumstances?

Thanks for your time and feedback.

 

[DaveSimmons]

> 5. I can save $90 by getting the SN95G5V3

So you could spend about the same and get a 6800GT AGP instead of a 66 PCI-E. With the 6800 you should be set for casual gaming until you're ready to replace the whole system.

 

[Acert93]

Thanks for the input.

I have found a XFX 6800GT for $284. That is about $120 more than the 6600GT (meaning ~$30 for the AGP setup with 6800GT< but more performance)

I also found an X800 Pro ViVo for $250. I had heard these can be modded to 16 pipes often. Any feedback on that?

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'm too lazy to torment myself with debugging overclocks and softmods, I run all my hardware at stock. Having it "just work" is worth a lot to me

 

[fishstickz]

Don't worry about the timings on the RAM. Go for the 2GB. A64s are more interested in speed and capacity than timings re: overall performance.

You can get your own SFF case and mobo for MUCH cheaper than a shuttle offering. Definetly worth investiating.

I would save money and get the 6600GT- its the best lower-mid range card out there.

 

[Acert93]

Originally posted by: fishstickzYou can get your own SFF case and mobo for MUCH cheaper than a shuttle offering. Definetly worth investiating.

Like what?

I have looked at Micro-ATX, the main case I have looked at is the ASPIRE X-QPack-AL but read some negative comments on cooling and on worksmanship.

I would definately be interested in reading about some other SFF products though.

 

[fishstickz]

I own that case, but I had to abandon it because its PSU wasn't mighty enough to power a 3d card, A64, and other components. When I needed a bigger PSU, I had to get a whole new case as well, because there was no space for a normal ATX PSU.

Newegg has several cases. I bought an Athenatech A301, put a window and big ol' Enermax in there, and now I am more than set.

So:

Case: $40
Mobo: $85 (my MSI RS480M2-IL)
PSU: $70

is $195, or a lot less than $375 shuttle system! It might not look as pretty, and is a little larger (14"x7"x15") as opposed to (8"x7"x12"). It also has 100Mbit lan, no card reader, and only 5.1 channel audio. But you'll save some money there.

Newegg also has a lot of HTPC cases another MicroATX form factors that are darn small. The most frequent SFF problem that I see is cooling and power- I had to sacrifice some size to get my system up. You need to be concerned with that as well if you game or otherwise add a lot to it.

 

[Acert93]

Thanks!

Looking for something a bit smaller though--something easy to move cross country on airlines.