[SOLVED] Form factor, etc. that is good for upgrading parts on computer

[hyunchris]

Hey so I am buying a refurbished computer but I plan on possibly upgrading the PSU and GPU in a year or two...what should Iook for in what I buy? I heard that I should stay away from SFF b/c they are hard to upgrade. But what about desktops? Do I have to go full tower or would a desktop size also work for my purposes? thanks

 

[drea.drechsler]

Hey so I am buying a refurbished computer but I plan on possibly upgrading the PSU and GPU in a year or two...what should Iook for in what I buy? I heard that I should stay away from SFF b/c they are hard to upgrade. But what about desktops? Do I have to go full tower or would a desktop size also work for my purposes? thanks

Look for a case that mounts a motherboard with popular and standard form factor; mini-ITX for instance. Look for a case that doesn't require half height add-in cards although it may require side-ways (or vertical depending on your perspective) mounting of the GPU using a riser. Even then some cases may limit the length of the GPU.

SFF PSU's are readily bought on-line but they do carry a price premium so try to find a case that mounts a standard ATX PSU.

No matter what you'll have thermal problems with high-performance CPU's and GPU's. If that's the direction you'll go then look for a case that can handle an AIO radiator.

 

[digitalgriffin]

Hey so I am buying a refurbished computer but I plan on possibly upgrading the PSU and GPU in a year or two...what should Iook for in what I buy? I heard that I should stay away from SFF b/c they are hard to upgrade. But what about desktops? Do I have to go full tower or would a desktop size also work for my purposes? thanks

That is a tough question as refurbs can vary wildly in quality from mass produced tower dells to custom builds like I make.

If you dont plan to upgrade it with more than a new drive or memory, go with a standard dell tower with full size slots. Most mass produced computers these days are going to the ATX12 PSU standard. This will severely reduce your choices of PSUs and video cards.

If you're buying this as a basis for a gaming rig or something that is high end work, then you'll want to go custom builds. But like I said, that is a minefield if you don't know what you are doing.

Pick systems that look clean inside and out. Make sure they list every component model and put that into pc part picker. My rule of thumb is -25% for the first year on msrp and about 10 to 15% every year there after. So a 3 year old pc would be 25 +15 +15 or 55% off MSRP from pc part picker.

Most people don't install more than 1 card (usually a low powered graphics card or a wireless network card). Any mATX or ATX board will do. ITX limit you to one card and charge a premium for the small size. As mentioned, make sure if its ITX they have full height slots. Some itx cases will limit card length.

 

[SamirD]

Hey so I am buying a refurbished computer but I plan on possibly upgrading the PSU and GPU in a year or two...what should Iook for in what I buy? I heard that I should stay away from SFF b/c they are hard to upgrade. But what about desktops? Do I have to go full tower or would a desktop size also work for my purposes? thanks

Stay away from systems with proprietary power supply connections (or at least make sure there's an adapter available at moddiy.com), or make sure the stock power supply will be able to handle a 200w gpu load, which should be fine as gpus max power hasn't increased beyond that for a decade now. But you will need to make sure the case has enough room, so tower and at the minimum mini tower cases.

I wouldn't mess with a desktop at all as they have a lot of the limitations of an sff.