I can't decide if a SFF barebones is worth ~$300

[Lorn]

Could anyone possibly sway me in either direction? I'm looking to build myself a little Athlon64 gaming box for mainly HL2 and CS:S, and I can't decide how to go. I'm going off to college next year and I've already got a large Powermac G5 and a 2005fpw, so that was my main interest in a SFF - space. While I would like something quite small, I could really open up my options for some nicer parts if I go with a non-SFF case. Right now I'm only wanting to spend about $600 (afterall it's just for HL2), so the SFF barebones takes quite a large chunk out of that and I'm forced to pick some not-so-hot parts.

Anyone have any insight?

 

[Away]

A good compromise would be mATX. It opens up alot more parts options for you. I know some of those towers can be pretty small. Although, I think the Antec Aria is a good idea as well. SFF that lets you control everything you put inside it, only comes with PS. You can get it for around $90 at Zipzoomfly. Hope all this helps.

 

[sunilx]

The Antec Aria is reputed to be as Noisy as all get out. You might want to consider the Biostar 210p - looks way cool and is said to\run very silent. Someone on the General AT forum is offering that with a 3400+ Clawhammer for $400. Hope this helps.

 

[sunilx]

Update. The Biostar & Clawhammer combo for $400 is being offered on AT ForSale/Trade Forum. Do a search for user 'djshelto'. Good Luck

 

[paulip88]

It's really up to you. When I was in school I was in a tiny room and I still managed to have two towers plus a laptop.... all on 24/7 (for Team Anandtech). Now I've graduated and I have a ton more space but I have an SFF.

My opinion:
I like the SFF because it's quieter and because the fact that it sits on my desk means it's a lot easier to use the USB as well as insert any CompactFlash cards. Back in school, I never really had to touch the drives at all and I didn't do much with photography so I didn't care if it was inconvenient to download pics. But since this probably doesn't help you much, I'll try harder....

SFF Pros:
- Looks neat without going too extreme (The "Hey, that's cool" reaction vs. the "Wow, this guy is really carried away with modding his PC)
- Fits easily on a moderately sized desk... You can even stack papers and crap on top of it.
- Easier access to ports.... even the back simply because it's smaller and easier to move around

SFF Cons:
- Expansion is limited
- AGP cards can only be moderate length (if you want exact measurements, let me know...)
- Usually only 1 PCI slot... same length limitation
- Only one 5.25", one 3.25" external, one 3.25" internal. In other words, if you want two HDs or a RAID, look elsewhere
- Limited selection

Tower Pros:
- lots of expansion
- could be quieter (depending on your fans, of course)

Tower Cons:
- big

If you're looking mainly to game, you may want something else if you're planning on getting a huge video card. Might not fit. And if you're looking to spend to save space, another option is a flatscreen. More space saved there than an SFF.

 

[Megamixman]

Do something like this : http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=51&threadid=1593387&enterthread=y

 

[Lazy7689]

what does it mean by one internal and one external 3.5?

 

[paulip88]

One internal 3.5 bay for a hard drive, one accessible 3.5 drive bay for something like a floppy, ZIP drive, card reader, etc. (or another hard drive).

 

[jmattick]

Originally posted by: sunilx
The Antec Aria is reputed to be as Noisy as all get out. You might want to consider the Biostar 210p - looks way cool and is said to\run very silent. Someone on the General AT forum is offering that with a 3400+ Clawhammer for $400. Hope this helps.

An Aria is only as noisy as you make it be. Of course, you can but the Aria and use the fan that comes with it, but that is going to be noisy as it almost always is with stock equipment.

Swap that fan out with a panaflo or SilentX and you'll be in business.

 

[w00t]

i like the shuttle xpc's i am gonna get the xpress 200 one

 

[Pakman117]

What about this bad boy? For motherboard, Foxconn makes a mATX NF4 board for ~$85. As far as what you should do, I lived in the dorms for two years. My first year, I had the largest tower case ever, packed with watercooling. I live about six hours away from campus, and I had to pack that along with my laptop and originally, CRT monitor. Not fun. I have now settled on the smallest ATX case I was willing to work with (Antec Sonata) and a Dell 19" LCD. I like as much desk space as possible, so I figured even if I had an SFF, I wouldnt want it perched on my desk. Thus, why not just get a small ATX case.