Good Enough?

[Odysseus145]

My x2 3800 (skt 939) and x1800xt are starting to show their age so I was looking at building a new computer. I have a V2 Premier from ShopNBC sitting around and I just found out that the motherboard fully supports Intel's newest processors. What I'd like to do is buy a q6600 and 4GB of memory for it.

The problem is that the case is fairly small. It only has one 80mm fan in the front and a grill in the back. I know this is not the ideal situation, but would it be a real problem to run it like this? It had been running for about a year with a 3.0ghz p4 at 60c idle.

I don't plan on using this case permanently; just for a couple months until I can afford to buy a new case and video card.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Let me first say that there is avast gap between what will function and what most enthusiasts stride for. From a sheer function standpoint it should work but, expect some thermal throttling if you get on it hard at all, gaming with a single 80mm fan should be limited in duration at best.

 

[Odysseus145]

I don't really game that much anyway; just an hour or so of counter strike or SupCom every once in a while. Since the x1800xt vents outside the case, how much would it affect internal temperatures?

 

[Odysseus145]

BTW, what would be a good cheap micro atx case? Does anyone have experience with this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811119149

 

[DerwenArtos12]

I would honestly say the elite 340 is one of the better inexpensive microatx cases and with the 120mm intake and 120mm exhaust it should serve your purposes quite well. The x1800xt, even with the "external exhaust" will raise internal ambient temperatures atleast 5 or 6C at load. It's going to depend a lot on the cooling abilities of the case. I don't know that I would personally want to run a q6600 and an x1800xt in a case with anything less than two 120mm fans, though it could be done with a single 120mm fan.

 

[Odysseus145]

Thank you for your help. I guess I could try it and just very closely monitor the temperatures. I'd like to get a new video card too; something a little more efficient like a 3850 or 9600gso, but that's for another day.