Off-Topic Thread

I'd imagine all the reviews have been done by now and just waiting on the NDAs to be up.

I hope there not to pricey as i'd like to get an i5.

Sounds like you're about to run into exactly the same dilemma that I've had for the past while if you need a sound card. If you don't, I'd go ITX. If you're at all likely to use SLI/CF in the near future, than mATX.

Former: NCase M1, Prodigy, Node 304, FT-03 Mini.
Latter: 350D, Bigger Prodigy (Computex thingie), FT-03.

Those are the best of what I've found. Most with good water cooling support too.

Then I can't really think of anything else you'd need... Most of the Z87 boards are coming with Intel NICs, so you wouldn't need a network card, don't use a sound card, wouldn't be using a RAID card if your stuff is on the network...

FT-03 Mini gets my vote then. Gorgeous case. I actually considered building a second computer around it, just because I wanted to have a silver one. :P

Yeah, I kind of like the the FT-03 Mini but I dunno... I don't think it's for me. It seems more like something I'd have if I had a glass desk in a spacious room with clean, blank, white walls. With wireless cables everything so as not to ruin its figure with cables hanging out everywhere.

I might do a build with it for someone I know, but I think I'd end up with something more shuttle shaped. I had my heart set on a Lian Li PC-Q08B back in the day, but that was about two years ago and it doesn't really grab me as much anymore. Maybe the prodigy, although that's pretty much mATX size!
At least there's actually options now in comparison to what was available a few years ago - motherboards as well as cases.

The Sugo sg05 is about the smallest mitx case that you can fit some decent hardware into. But I would lean more towards the cooler master elite 120. A bit bigger but has far more options and can use an atx psu, dirt cheap aswell. The node 304 looks pretty nice aswell.

Yeah, I looked all the ones you suggested. The M1 is definitely a front runner for me. No waste of space there.

I suppose I'd still like a case that has a proper external DVD drive. I know, I know, who uses DVDs these days,... but every so often, I tend to rummage out an old game or something.
Now, the FT-103 mini and the M1 both have slot drives. I kind of like the light-scribe feature of my current DVD drive, but in fairness I burn DVDs so seldom any more except to give friends a few bits of stuff, that it's not something I really need. Plus I still need that new printer soon, so I could get one of those ones that print directly onto the discs if I wanted it. Maybe a slot drive would do me. I don't need any more external devices anyway.

Yeah, the Coolermaster Elite 120 is pretty damn cheap in comparison to the others. Kind of reminds me of the Sugo SG07 that I was also considering last time around too.
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=261&area=en
I wonder do they make them from cardboard to keep the cost down. Well it's not that cheap when you compare it to cheap ATX cases, but relatively speaking, it's just a fraction of the other itx cases. I look at some reviews to see if there's any disadvantages with it. Some people have said it's fugly - okay, not as glamorous as the high ends, but tbh, it's functional enough at first looks.

Edit: Yikes, cooling results are not so good with the Elite. I'm guessing this is the trade off.

@Burgo, the M1 isn't in production yet, though the campaign is due to start around late June (I think) shipping around August or early September. I'm reasonably sure I won't be building in one due to funds (having to buy pretty much all new parts and all that) but I'll probably still order one, just because it's such an awesome little case.

That Lian-Li case is very nice as well. The only thing that puts me off is the lack of WC support. Looks like it would be a really nice air cooler though.

Serephucus wrote: »

Are you the first Boardsie to run quad SLI then? :P

maybe

I really shouldnt have, its never a good idea to invest in quad SLI, though the benchmarks for 690SLI is pretty decent (~17% fps improvement on BF3 and up to ~50% better fps for AvP/Just Cause2/Batman AC/Dirt3 @5760x1080 :eek: )

but when the phone randomly rings and a guy wants to sell you a new GTX 690 for very little money for a quick sell you dont hang up

Headshot wrote: »

Damn you anyway

im gonna tear down a few of my rigs to build a 3570K/Z77 Extreme6/GTX 690SLI/32gb RAM/SSD/5760*1080p rig for epeen'zez but mostly to see what BF3 looks like on it, and if i want surround

Serephucus wrote: »

Very high, most likely.

In fact, it's as likely as seeing a flurry of Ivy boards on Adverts on Tuesday. :P

im looking for an mATX one myself :P

btw, where is the best place to get a 350D in europe? HWVS doesnt stock it, neither do anywhere ive looked??

Great prices from where I bought my stuff

http://www.computeruniverse.net/list.asp?searchname=Corsair+Obsidian+350D&x=78&y=5&language=deutsch&order=%5BREL%5D&pagetitle=Ergebnisse+Ihrer+Suche&searchgroupoption=on&searchmanuoption=on&searchnameoption=on&searchwordoption=allwords&source=searchdb&action=form&sourceurl=%2Fsearch%2Fnomatch.asp

Nolars wrote: »

So im an amd noob is a AMD FX-8350 better then an i5 in terms of playing games and recording with fraps for example.

It depends on the game but it can do yes. The extra thread power helps. The 8320 is better value imo though. It will leave you with enough money to get a Thermalright macho and overclock to near 5ghz.

I'm really tempted to sell my case and board and go for a 350d now. Anyone interested in a practically new and perfect condition Thermaltake chaser mk1 and an Asrock z77 pro 4?

Cool. Thinking about it at the moment I'm running 4 drives, 1 ssd and 3 hdd's. The 350d only has room for 2 ssd's and 2 hdd's and I'm looking at adding another ssd and hdd so it may not be ideal.

I'll let you know anyway. The chaser is a great case. I'm just being greedy

Aaaaand I'm considering an FT-03 Mini again!

I honestly didn't think a 60mm thick 140 rad would fit in there, but:

http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1039919815&postcount=1047

That's basically exactly what I'd be doing were I to get one. Anyone have any interest in a 600T and Z77 Extreme4? :P

That's a seriously tight fit. Some knuckle bruising build by the look of it.

I think the 600t is better looking though

What sort of travelling do you do, and what sort of power / budget are we talking about here? I'll be picking up a gaming laptop myself over the Summer for college, so I've been having similar thoughts as to where to allocate money, etc.

@Bloodbath: Blasphemy! The 600T is very nice-looking, no question, but c'mon, the FT03 is in a class of its own. :P (And yeah, it is a tight fit. When I first saw that I was thinking "Oh my god that's... I'm going to smash it to bits out of rage if I try build in there")

If you don't need to use it for the actual journey and you're not using public transport then maybe a nice matx or mitx build would make transporting it a bit easier.

A nice bitfenix prodigy build maybe.