building a SFF gaming box in next six months

[nedney]

I plan on building a SFF gaming PC within the next six months. I'm already pretty set on a case, the PC Design Lab Qmicra (recently reviewed by Anandtech). But I need help deciding on a socket (I think I'll be going with LGA 775, but perhaps there are others on the horizon I should consider?), picking a CPU (probably want to go dual core, or even quad if it's worth it) and picking a motherboard (I have no idea where to start).

Some other things I have to consider are:
is SLI/Crossfire worth it?
should I get S-ATA?

There are probably other things I can't think of right now, but these are the main issues. Please, any input at all is helpful.

 

[Blain]

SFF cases are "small". You can't stuff tons of cards in, like a desktop or tower.

 

[nedney]

So I take it SLI is a no-go for SFF? No big deal

 

[Blain]

What case & MB?

 

[Maluno]

Originally posted by: Blain
What case & MB?

Umm... He said he was getting the PC Design Lab Qmicra.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Wait 5 months and ask this again.

There will be new motherboards and video cards, possibly new cases and CPUs, and the price of every part will have changed.

 

[nedney]

Originally posted by: Blain
What case & MB?

Originally posted by: nedney But I need help picking a motherboard (I have no idea where to start).

 

[imported_nunya]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Wait 5 months and ask this again.

There will be new motherboards and video cards, possibly new cases and CPUs, and the price of every part will have changed.

I agree completely. 6 months out is way too early to start looking for components. You should start reading up on different features you're interested in but that's about it. The selection and prices of MBs, GPUs, CPUs, HDs, you name it, will be considerably changed.

 

[Ruptga]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Wait 5 months and ask this again.

There will be new motherboards and video cards, possibly new cases and CPUs, and the price of every part will have changed.

:thumbsup:

Way too much will have changed and is unforseeable, specifically how good AMD's 65nm process will be by then, how R600 will shape up, and how the budget G80s will be.

Edit: of course get SATA, all the best drives are SATA and the cables are MUCH smaller which is always sweet in a small case, just to work with as well as for airflow.

 

[Maluno]

Originally posted by: ADDAvenger

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Wait 5 months and ask this again.

There will be new motherboards and video cards, possibly new cases and CPUs, and the price of every part will have changed.

:thumbsup:

Way too much will have changed and is unforseeable, specifically how good AMD's 65nm process will be by then, how R600 will shape up, and how the budget G80s will be.

Edit: of course get SATA, all the best drives are SATA and the cables are MUCH smaller which is always sweet in a small case, just to work with as well as for airflow.

Don't let this stop you from looking, though, by any means. Keep doing research and reading the forums until then, so that when the time comes, you will be well informed. If you haven't been in touch with the market for a while, it will probably take at least a few weeks or months to get a good "feel," for what the current state is like. You will know when you have achieved this understanding. I am in the same position as you, btw.

 

[code255]

Intel Core 2 CPUs will probably still be the best in performance and value in 6 months.

Whether or not you'll benefit from a quad core depends on what games you'll play. The only game I know of which will make a lot of use of quad core CPUs is Alan Wake. Crysis also has multi-core support, but maybe it'll be fine on dual cores too.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: nedney
So I take it SLI is a no-go for SFF? No big deal

Micro ATX SLI socket 939 board

GOOD:
Micro ATX with SLI
Overclockable
Some people have had good luck with it, but takes time and effort
Actual selling price a fraction of $199 MSRP (Newegg $65 but OOS)
One person did successfully use it with dual 8800GTX, system ended up CPU limited

NOT SO GOOD:
Nearly OOS everywhere
Socket 939 (EOL)
eVGA should stick to video cards, pretty much no BIOS support and such
"Picky" so some people have difficulties making a stable or overclocked system
"Retro" with many jumpers on board

Mine has shipped (purchased from an AT member) and should be here Wednesday. Putting it in a MicroFly with dual 7900GTO.

AFAIK there are no other mATX boards that support SLI/Crossfire, nor are there any planned.

If you want to purchase one of these boards, snowus is selling one, NIB.

 

[Ruptga]

Originally posted by: Maluno

Originally posted by: ADDAvenger

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Wait 5 months and ask this again.

There will be new motherboards and video cards, possibly new cases and CPUs, and the price of every part will have changed.

:thumbsup:

Way too much will have changed and is unforseeable, specifically how good AMD's 65nm process will be by then, how R600 will shape up, and how the budget G80s will be.

Edit: of course get SATA, all the best drives are SATA and the cables are MUCH smaller which is always sweet in a small case, just to work with as well as for airflow.

Don't let this stop you from looking, though, by any means. Keep doing research and reading the forums until then, so that when the time comes, you will be well informed. If you haven't been in touch with the market for a while, it will probably take at least a few weeks or months to get a good "feel," for what the current state is like. You will know when you have achieved this understanding. I am in the same position as you, btw.

That's very true as well.

 

[nedney]

Originally posted by: Maluno

Originally posted by: ADDAvenger

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Wait 5 months and ask this again.

There will be new motherboards and video cards, possibly new cases and CPUs, and the price of every part will have changed.

:thumbsup:

Way too much will have changed and is unforseeable, specifically how good AMD's 65nm process will be by then, how R600 will shape up, and how the budget G80s will be.

Edit: of course get SATA, all the best drives are SATA and the cables are MUCH smaller which is always sweet in a small case, just to work with as well as for airflow.

Don't let this stop you from looking, though, by any means. Keep doing research and reading the forums until then, so that when the time comes, you will be well informed. If you haven't been in touch with the market for a while, it will probably take at least a few weeks or months to get a good "feel," for what the current state is like. You will know when you have achieved this understanding. I am in the same position as you, btw.

Yeah, the last time I seriously built a box was almost 4 years ago (had my laptop after that) and I stopped keeping up with new HW probably 1.5 ish years ago. I am definitely out of the know, which is why I'm posting here. I guess I don't seriously need to start looking for what to buy until May/June which is when I'll probably build it.