anno

I'm going to be building a new PC this summer, and I would really like it to be as small as possible. At the moment I have a micro ATX case, which is fine, but I'm hoping to go smaller still with a small form factor one.

I was just wondering if anyone has had any experience with these, as I imagine cooling would be quite a problem as it will be running at least a dual-core processer and my quite-fast-last-year graphics card.

Basically a Crysis machine.

Thanks in advance!

koala

Shuttle-type cases tend to use onboard graphics to reduce the need for cooling systems and high-powered PSUs, but to play Crysis you will need a high-end PCI-e card with lots of cooling. You could install a motherboard with onboard sound, leaving more space to fit fans, but check your measurements and power requirements before buying any parts.

I built one recently using an Antec case (30x22x22cm) with just enough room inside to fit everything except graphics cooling. They're very tight on space in there and frustrating to build.

ebackhus

If you want truly tiny then I suggest going with nanoITX. www.epiacenter.com has some awesome projects that were based on the nanoITX standard.

pharoah

the aspire x-qpack case is a decent case i used to have one.the ultra microfly is very similar with a bit better cooling.here is a pic of my old sff case.this pic has a large radeon card,but i also had a micro-atx sli board with 2 7600 cards in it.

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Ralck

If your looking to go smaller, look at mini-ATX Flex-ATX, and pico-BTX form factors. They are even smaller, but can be very hard to find.

I don't have much experience with them, so I can't recomend any good brands or places to look, but they are an option.

There are also options to look into like mini-ITX, but that is more designed to have small clock rate processors or embedded solutions (it's designed for things like your cable box and such like that)

Wikipedia has a great bunch of articles about motherboards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motherboard
Look at the form factor section: they even have a visual representation of the different sizes.

anno

Thank you all, your personal experience is very helpful - this gives me lots to go on. Some of the computers in those links are ridiculously tiny!

Ralck

Actually, another idea would be to look at a small laptop system, looking at maybe a Dothan 1.6-2Ghz Pentium-M processor (or a new C2D system, but those will be a lot more expensive). Then, either find a small case or build one yourself to fit that. You would be pretty tied down to what is built on the motherboard, but you would be with most other small boards.
Just another thing to consider to get a small system.

Cheers!

pharoah

hmm i dont get where you say limited here is a pic of 2 8800gts cards in a small form factor silverstone case

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Ralck

Micro-ATX has actually grown a lot with performance and options. I was refering to the form factors that are even smaller. With those, you physically run out of room on the board so it's tough or possibly even physically impossible to put things like SLi/Crossfire on those boards. Even if it is possible, the fact that they more often than not go into tiny cases, would mean case cooling issues.

pharoah

ah thanks for the clarification on that.with smaller than matx i agree 100%.

anno

I think MicroATX is probably the way to go, but with a better designed case than the Asus I have at the moment. I'd probably lose a MiniITX, and anyway as Ralck said, they aren't very expandable. Progress!

Pharoah - I'd been looking at the SilverStone cases, and they seem great. How's yours working out? (I like the look of this one...)

pharoah

that silverstone isnt mine i hear they are great cases though.ive had a sff case before,but currently dont.i did love the sff i had it was like a continual project to do something else to.the person who does have that case had to mod the cooling a bit for an oc'd fx60,and 2 oc'd 8800gts cards.