Building a micro PC, any tips!

[RRAMJET]

I,ve just decided i'm going to build a micro pc so iam very new to this. I want it to play games, watch dvds and TV, surf the net, and for music. now i see there are only a couple of mini itx board which come with cpus attatched , what a they like performance wise? I know i'm not goin to play doom 3 on this, but id like to be able to play maybe some popular FPS online with it. These boards only have one PCI slot so what would i use it for? Is the onboard graphics any good on these things. Any tips or suggestions are welcomed. Do u guys think this is a wank and i should just use a small form factor board and settle with a bigger case that is a bit more noisy? Anyway my main priority is what are these 1 ghz mini bords like?

If he doesn't die, he'll get help!!!

 

[TknD]

Most mini-itx boards aren't good for ANY games. Most are via cpus and there are a few pentium 4 boards if you can find them...

If you want to play any sort of games, my suggestion is either other SFF (shuttle xpc, biostar iDEQ, and others with AGP) or microATX.

If you want more info on SFF, this is the place to go: <A HREF="http://forums.sudhian.com" target="_new">http://forums.sudhian.com</A>

If you want microATX, you just need the special microATX board, case and psu which are available in many different flavors from newegg. You may want to do some research beforehand to see if the PSU will handle the hardware you throw at it by calculating the amount of total watts used and see if the 3.3v, 5v, and 12v specs on the PSU can handle it since most microATX psu's are 200watt.

 

[o1die]

I wouldn't invest in one, as the replacement parts are more expensive. One fellow was trying to buy a mobo only, and found out he had to buy the whole bare bones setup, with case. The mobo wasn't sold separately.

 

[jmecor]

Some Micro-ATX boards are nice:

Like the Asus P4S333-M board which i own.
I don't know if the p4s533 is matx.

<font color=red>If your nose <b>RUNS</b>, and feet <b>SMELL</b>.
Then you must be born <b>UPSIDE DOWN</b>.</font color=red>

 

[jmecor]

Cooling could be a bit of a problem here.

<font color=red>If your nose <b>RUNS</b>, and feet <b>SMELL</b>.
Then you must be born <b>UPSIDE DOWN</b>.</font color=red>

 

[Crashman]

Of course you could use that one PCI slot for a TV tuner. The video of course would be simply the worst in the industry, but accepatble for people who want absolutely no 3D. And the performance: A C3 1000 has less performance than a K6-III 450, according to Sandra.

Consider Micro ATX. There are slim towers that are narrower than a Shuttle cube (uses less desk space). There are thin desktops that are shorter than a Shuttle cube (looks good in a home theater rack). You can find these cases at Newegg. And you'll have a system that can support whatever the future holds.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[sjonnie]

How about buying a MSI Mega PC? That's pretty darn small, has all the functions you want and can use a P4 @ 533FSB

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/myanandtech.html?member=114979" target="_new">My PCs</A> 😎

 

[RRAMJET]

Thanks guys from what you have said i think i'll go for the intermediate size mobos with an AGP slot and a decent CPU. These micro things don't look to flash when consider the proc. speed i suppose their designed to be a DVD and a net surfer with ittle games performance.

If he doesn't die, he'll get help!!!

 

[Crashman]

Hehe, the intermediate size goes under the name "micro" and supports standard hardware and 4 slots. Flex support 2 (or 3 in some OEM systems), ITX supports 1.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[RRAMJET]

I know that...

If he doesn't die, he'll get help!!!