I want to make a pc but I want it to be small...is it possible?

LegacyUser

Sorry if that is such a stupid question. I have built a pc years ago and it was a full size tower but it's too big and since it is around that time to upgrade computer, i was thinking of either buying a small one from Dell or something or else making it myself.

Can anyone tell me the disadvantages of having a smaller form computer apart from upgrades? I would like to play games on it also even though I don't play games a lot on it and apart from that, I would need it for the usual surfing the net, doing college assignments etc.

Can anyone help me with some specs? What sort of budget would I be looking at? I suppose 1,000 euro would be my budget and also, would my existing 17" viewsonic tft be enough? Has 16ms response time. Also, is Komplett still the place to buy from?

the_syco

For a small PC, look into getting a shuttle: http://komplett.ie/k/kl.asp?bn=10499

Shuttle - http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=308559 - €395
CPU - http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=309863&cks=ACC - €240
RAM - http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=302138&cks=ACC - €222
HDD - http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=309535&cks=ACC - €85.01
Graphics card - http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=313272&cks=ACC - €52

Total - €994 (Excluding shipping).

And yeah, some of the above stuff is very nice, but I just used Komplett's "recommended" options.

TomCo

Its utterly crippled with that graphics card though.

Ruu_Old

Shuttle ftw.

K.O.Kiki

There's a few more options in the micro-ATX form factor.
I remember good reviews of the X-Qpack Cube case (here); almost bought one myself until I decided to get a Mac instead
Remember it would take only mATX mobos, of course! (and there's less PCI slots on mATX mobos, too)

*edit* Could also just buy a Mac mini & a copy of WinXP for games

Triangle

An issue might be that the smaller the computer the less space for 'Extras'.
i.e. X900 GFX card takes up 2 slots

but this would only be for the top notch gaming systems. It all depends on what exactly you wisdh to do with it and how long do you wish to get away with having the minimum spec needed for modern games.

i know this didn't answer your questions but maybe it's helpful to you.

LegacyUser

Awesome ok, thanks for the tips guys. So is it fair to say that a shuttle would be able to accomodate more than any of the other smaller forms going? I would just like to be able to play some good games now and again and have the option of upgrading to a meaty graphics card if necessary...also a lot of these shuttles seem to accept only 2gb ram max? Is that enough in this day and age? Thanks guys...

jozi

Meat Graphics cards (as you put it) also quite often produce a lot of heat, 1 thing i dont think shuttles are great at getting rid of.
It is possible thou, you just have to choose your parts carefull. One of the lads who plays UT with UIE (L.O.V.E.) has a shuttle (i think) with fairly decent spec parts in it.
Good luck with your future build

Sengoku79

Check out below, and then just purchase the Aspire X-Qpack

http://www.xoxide.com/aspire-x-qpack-case-blue.html

http://komplett.ie/k/shoplist.asp?mode=receive&si=361838&su=5035C285-7234-489B-9777-38B4E3C8285B

LegacyUser

Good specs, i like it. Ok so would the aspire be the best form of shuttle case?

Sengoku79

In terms of heat dissapation to size it's one of the better, check the reviews out for yourself, also it comes with a 420w psu, which can be upgraded at a later point by yourself if you need more juice.

uberpixie

The newier models of shuttle will take a dual slot PCI express gfx card just fine.

Heat for gfx card is not an issue, plenty of venting on the case for the card.

Bare in mind other companies such as Aopen, MSI, Asus also do dacent Small Form Factor (SFF) barebones.

Pros of going shuttle route:

Barebones comes fully wired up, all you need to do is add the harddrive, optical drive, CPU and GFX card.

Not need to wire up the fiddly things such as case lights, on board sound jacks etc... plus all that fidly wiring is pre routed and cable tied for you.

Comes with own cooling solution for CPU.

A barebones shuttle is by far the smallest performance PC you can buy.



Cons of going the shuttle route:

Non standard PSU: i.e. you can't replace it unless shuttle sell a repolacement part compatible with your shuttle box.

Bare in mind while the PSUs seem underpowered, i.e. most modern shuttle ship with 350W PSUs, they are good quality ones.

I'm running a A64 3500+, 1 gig ram, 200 gig harddrive, Audigy 1 sound card and a X800XT PE on a 240W shuttle PSU without a hicup.

The new 350W psu will be well up for taking a meaty GFX card.

Another problem is as shuttle boxes are very small it's usually not a good idea to add more than one hard drive and you are more limited for expansion slots than building a M-ATX rig yourself.

Things do run hotter in a shuttle i.e. system temp will always be high and you have to be careful and ensure the shuttle box has dacent ventilation.


Pros of m-atx:

More choice in parts, especially the PSU.

More expansion slots on the motherboard.



Cons of m-atx:

An m-atx case is bigger than a shuttle box.

You have to do all the fidly wiring that you avoid with a shuttle.

No cooling solution provided: you have to research and buy one that will fit in the case.

Again things run hotter in a M-atx rig Vs a standard PC.

Also can take time for dacent m-atx mobos with the latest chipset to arrive to market supporting the latest CPUs.
(Shuttle are a good bit faster usually!)

(Regarding a m-atc case)
Have a look here at the sugo SG01 m-atx case
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Silverstone_Cases.html

Have a think about what you want. They are always comprimises to be made with small PCs like this.

Do you want the smallest possible? Or do you want small with a bit more expansion slots?

Psersonally I went the shuttle route for my current build and it has not let me down. They are top quality.

Def would consider M-atx for my next build.

Bare in mind shuttle have released a Socket AM2 shuttle which will be out here soon.
Also Core 2 Duo may be supported by some of their current range of socket 775 Shuttles, or they will release a new shuttle that supports them soon.

the_syco

jozi wrote:

Meat Graphics cards (as you put it) also quite often produce a lot of heat, 1 thing i dont think shuttles are great at getting rid of.

I second this, and if you check some people's shuttle's out, when they put on a cooling thing on the graphics card, they usually have to cut a hole in the side of the shuttle to accomdate this.

uberpixie

the_syco wrote:

I second this, and if you check some people's shuttle's out, when they put on a cooling thing on the graphics card, they usually have to cut a hole in the side of the shuttle to accomdate this.

Depends on the chassis....

I.e. I have a model SN95G5 shuttle, this uses the old G5 chassis.
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=302364

Yes if i was to put an artic cooler on my gfx card, I would need to cut a hole in the side of the case, as the agp slot on the motherboard is right up beside the side of the case.

However if you look at the newier style chassis shuttles come with.
(P type chassis)
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=308559

They can full take a full 2 slot gfx card as the pci express x16 slot is not the nearest slot to the edge of the case, the standard pci express x1 slot is which you won't be able to use if you fit in a 2 slot gfx card.

Really it all depends on what model shuttle someone buys.