Thinking about using a lanbox as my main computer, bad idea?

[Cancer12]

I'm somewhat sick of my large immobile desktop tower and am considering slimming down the form factor of my desktop. Specifically, I'm thinking about switching to this case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112265

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112300

Something along those lines anyway. I'd be moving a 2500k into it, along with probably 3-4 platter hard drives and 1 ssd. My 4870 is too hot I'm assuming, so I'd also look at a new video card (need an upgrade anyway), such as a 560 or 7850. From the case description the video card should be able to fit. Also, if need be I'd get a modular power supply. Assuming everything fits, anyone see any problems using this as a main box? I'm really attracted to having a smaller case that I can carry around that still has the power to play a game or edit a photo.

 

[lehtv]

Not a bad idea at all. Modern CPUs and GPUs are sufficiently low power that a small form factor PC can double as a kickass gaming powerhouse.

Your number of hard drives could be problematic for mini-ITX. What capacity are they?

What's your budget?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

No reason it's a bad idea by itself. The MicroATX case will be an in-between - not nearly as small as the ITX case, but noticeably smaller than the full ATX rig you probably have now.

A MicroATX case shouldn't have any trouble supporting big, fast, hot video cards. The ITX one, I'd probably worry a little bit - best bet is to do a google search for "PC-Q08B gaming build" and see what people are sticking in them, and what the thermals look like.

But that said, the 4870 is only 160w max, (the 560 is ~140 and the 7850 is ~120) so that probably would be fine if you wanted to hold off on the GPU purchase until later.

The only caveat you may experience with an ITX rig is that the motherboards don't tend to have as many onboard goodies. (You mention having 3-4 HDDs and an SSD - if you wanted to add an optical, you'd probably be SOL, since like 99% of MiniITX boards only have 4 SATA ports.)

Just a thought - you didn't specify - but if your existing HDs are of the older, slower, lower-capacity variety (<500GB) you may be better off from a performance standpoint getting a single drive of equal or greater capacity. Even a laptop HDD.*

Extra bonus - you'd free up enough wattage and heat headroom to make that 4870 a for-sure nonissue.

_________

* I was shocked earlier this year when I realized my midrange laptop HDD outpaced my "fast" RAID-0 array of two older 120GB drives. So I bought another one and threw it in my tower. Geez, it's quiet now. A Momentus XT would have absolutely buried them and don't think I'm not still considering it.

 

[Cancer12]

My SSD is 120GB and I've got a 1TB 7200RPM that I use for games, as well as several 2TB hardrives. That's not the biggest deal, however. I think one of my 2TB is 7202RPM, so I could use that as a gaming/program files drive as well as as many 2TB drives as I can cram in there. I really don't need that many. Having 1 or 2 should be totally fine. It looks like these Lian Li boxes can handle that. Also, if I do need to get a micro-ITX mb most of those can only handle at most 4 drives anyway.

Don't really have a budget because I have most of the components. At most, and i think I can get away with less, I'll need the case, micro-ITX board, gfx card and a modular power supply. I'm estimating that would be around $500, though I might be able to get away with just the case and vid card (current MB is micro ATX, might not need the micro-ITX mb)

 

[dave_the_nerd]

My SSD is 120GB and I've got a 1TB 7200RPM that I use for games, as well as several 2TB hardrives. That's not the biggest deal, however. I think one of my 2TB is 7202RPM, so I could use that as a gaming/program files drive as well as as many 2TB drives as I can cram in there. I really don't need that many. Having 1 or 2 should be totally fine. It looks like these Lian Li boxes can handle that. Also, if I do need to get a micro-ITX mb most of those can only handle at most 4 drives anyway.

Don't really have a budget because I have most of the components. At most, and i think I can get away with less, I'll need the case, micro-ITX board, gfx card and a modular power supply. I'm estimating that would be around $500, though I might be able to get away with just the case and vid card (current MB is micro ATX, might not need the micro-ITX mb)

If you're already running a microATX rig, and still want a smaller computer, then the Mini-ITX is really all you can do. I mean, unless you plopped your mATX board in a full ATX case. (What case do you have now?)

Scratch what I said about HDDs. Yours are plenty big, and probably plenty fast.

 

[Cancer12]

My current case, the coolermaster sniper:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119194

Now, I absolutely love that thing. But, I did leave some details out that I didn't think necessary. Right now, I have 2 computers, one for work and one for home. That case is my home computer. This new rig would be a frankenstein of the two, in a sense. My work computer has a micro atx board with the 2500k in a normal mid tower with 16GB.

I was planning on taking the components from both to make a new rig then sell all my extra parts. So the MB that I might use if small enough is in my work computer, a micro ATX. At home, in that case I have a standard MB with an i750.

Part of the reason I want to do this is to consolidate my work and office computer. I work about 2 blocks from my house and if I go to a lan party or host one I can just grab it quickly.

I'm finding that I play games less and less by myself and am partly looking to clear up space in my home while having a more mobile rig.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

maybe an mitx with the prodigy, it has handles and is a great case with good airflow

 

[dmoney1980]

how about the cost of the OS? Unless you have a retail version of windows, you'll need to buy an additional license when switching motherboards

 

[mfenn]

how about the cost of the OS? Unless you have a retail version of windows, you'll need to buy an additional license when switching motherboards

Win 8 upgrade will take care of this requirement too for $40 (new transferable license).

OP, the Q08B looks like a good choice assuming you are happy with the available drive slots. Here's a build:

ASRock H77M-ITX $100 - Z77 ITX boards are just stupid expensive
7850 2GB $190 AR
Silverstone Strider 500W $80 - a little expensive, but it is modular and really short, which makes it perfect for this type of build.
PC-Q08B $110
Total: $480 AR

 

[Cancer12]

Thanks mfenn, that is pretty much exactly what I'm looking for.

I just checked my computer and the MB is indeed micro ATX but the ram is 4x4GB rather than 2x8GB which I thought it was. In that case, I might get this case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112378

Its 2 inches longer and an inch and a half wider, which is unfortunate but still reasonable; considering I would now need to upgrade the ram with the new micro ATX board as well (or run with 8GB) it might work out well. Man though, that Lian Li PC-Q08b is attractive.

 

[Zap]

How about the Lian Li PC-A04B case for $100 + shipping? You can use all of your existing parts, while going smaller and lighter without losing airflow. The tower style case will be easier to carry under one arm versus the cube style case.

 

[Cancer12]

That looks a lot bigger than the cubes, also I think the dimensions are messed up. It looks much wider than 3" But I seriously considered it.

 

[DSF]

I wonder if it would make sense to build the SFF rig with just one hard drive and then use the larger box for a NAS to house the other 3-4 drives. When you're at home you'll be plugged into all your storage, and when you're on the go I wouldn't imagine you would need all the extra data.

I don't know your usage pattern of course, so I could be wrong. Just thinking out loud.

 

[mfenn]

Here's a comparison of volumes:

PC-Q08B: (W) 227mm x (H) 272mm x (D) 345mm = 21L
PC-V355B: (W) 283mm x (H) 263mm x (D) 386mm = 28L
PC-A04B: (W) 188mm x (H) 386mm x (D) 460mm = 28L

The A04 is essentially the same overall volume as the V355. Personally, I would probably take the Q08 because that's a lot more transportable.

 

[Cancer12]

I'm also thinking about this one now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811163222

It has less HD room, but Anand reviewed it and liked it. Seems intriguing.

 

[mfenn]

Zap is our resident Sugo expert, hopefully he will weigh in on the merits of that versus the Q08B.