X-Qpack system

[Scorrn]

I travel a lot overseas (military) and hate the non-upgradability of notebooks. I'm looking to build a gaming system based on a small form factor case. I just ordered an X-Qpack ($65 after MIR from Newegg) and am trying to decide motherboard/processor combo for it. I'm looking to do it somewhat on the cheap with mild overclocking and lots of future upgradability. I toyed with the idea of perhaps building a computer in a large briefcase but saw the X-Qpack for the low price. Anyone built an X-Qpack system?

Also, I'd heard the X-Qpack is only a 20 pin power supply as opposed to a 24 pin power supply needed for NForce4 boards.

 

[CalamitySymphony]

Well gaming notebooks now:

17 inch WUXGA
7800GTX GO
2.4 ghz X2 Dual Core or Pentium M (and soon, Yonah/Merom Dual Core Pentium M)

I don't see why you would need to upgrade that anytime soon?!?!

All in a nice need package taht doesn't require you to bring an extra monitor. Which is obviously the sellign strength of a notebook.

 

[Scorrn]

Very true... modern laptops, especially the new X2s, bring an incredible amount of power to the table. The ability to play in seconds anywhere is kind of nice. Still.. its fun to build one's own computer, and the future upgradeability of a LAN box is kinda neat too.

 

[Scorrn]

I'm leaning towards an 3800+ X2 overclocked. I've heard folks have had good success getting 2.5GHz with them. Recommendations for a MB? I'm toying with the idea of one of the Foxconn 6150s or wait until DFI's 6150 comes out next month. Recommendations on RAM brand/type? I'm thinking possibly of going ahead with 2G of RAM on build and probably some GeForce product at a reasonable performance/price point.

 

[sumyungai]

MB if you can wait get DFI, if not get the Biostar Tforce. If money is tight, get a single core opteron 144 and upgrade to opteron 165 when you have the cash and when prices come down more. And the Qpack comes with a 24 pin PSU. Hope this helps.

 

[Pciber]

I have built a gaming system inside of an Aspire X-Qpack, with the only nforce4 micro-atx motherboard i could find - a Foxconn winfast NF4K8MC.

The 350w Aspire PS is a 24-pin, and it is plenty to support everything i have - a64 4000, 1gb (1 stick) of ram, dvd burner, 1 hdd, x850xtpe... Could potentially support more, but thats all i have to put in it.

And depending on what games you play, an extra gig of ram can make the difference. I play alot of world of warcraft. My old system, an a64 3200 w/ 1.5gb of ram and an x800xl, loaded wow - particularly ironforge - and played noticeably smoother than my new system, with only 1gb of ram and a bit of a better processor and video card. Oh, by the way, that foxconn board does not like Mushkin ram - or else i would have 1.5gb of ram in this system >_<

Feel free to PM me if you have some particular question about it...

*edit* oh, for the record, a Zalman 92mm copper heatsink/fan just barely clears the motherboard tray, but it does fit. I'de reccomend it for your overclocking cooling needs.

and speaking of cooling in the case.. the only reasonably hotspot in the case is in the expansion card area, because the power supply is right above it. The power supply does have a fan that sucks a bit of air from there, but it moves too slowly to do much. If expansion cards don't tend to run hot anyway, this shouldnt be a problem. Otherwise, the case has good cooling - my hard drive sits at around 35C in this case, where in my old shuttle it was at 50C. The processor rarely gets above 40C with the zalman cooler on it, too.

 

[Busithoth]

Originally posted by: Scorrn
I'm leaning towards an 3800+ X2 overclocked. I've heard folks have had good success getting 2.5GHz with them. Recommendations for a MB? I'm toying with the idea of one of the Foxconn 6150s or wait until DFI's 6150 comes out next month. Recommendations on RAM brand/type? I'm thinking possibly of going ahead with 2G of RAM on build and probably some GeForce product at a reasonable performance/price point.

I don't think you'd need to OC that CPU.
what game do you expect to get gains from by doing so?

I love SFFs, and if I build another computer, it'd probably be with this case, but I'm thinking that with airflow being a prime consideration, running at stock speeds should keep it stable enough to game non-stop between shifts.

good luck and have fun with this build, though.

 

[Brainonska511]

Be careful with that built-in PSU, some of them have fans that blow in, some have fans that blow out. Also, the power connector can be 20+4 pin or just be a plain old 20pin connector.

 

[Einy0]

I wonder if my PS fan is blowing in. I'll have to check. I wonder what kinda warranty Aspire gives on these PSs. I'm sure it'll void if I flip the fan myself.

 

[Einy0]

My fan blows out... Can barely tell, it moves so little air. Was wondering how it would affect my cpu temps if I flipped that 120 blowing inward instead. My cpu temps are up 4-5C over my old case with AMD stock cooler.