Need a starting point/Building a small formfactor pc

[HeXploiT]

Going to be building a mini pc for the first time and i'm not sure which formfactor to go with.

System will be running win10 but will not be a gaming pc so i won't need a dedicated graphics card.
I do need solid performance however so i'd like something that can handle a fairly fast i5 or i7 cpu but this will be running in a hot dusty environment as well so needs to do fairly well in 100 degree temps.
Needs to be able to take 2x ssd drives(would like to run a mirrored RAID).

Like I said there are just soooooo many new form factors that i'm not really sure what to go with.

Anyone who bequeaths me with helpful education/tips will be rewarded with great power and riches!

 

[JeffMD]

Well you are probably looking at a mini itx form factor. From there I would just take a look at a couple builds, like on youtube. here is one done recently for an overkill build that you can actually leave the video card out of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DZynJrDffI

You said it would be a warm environment, is it going to be dirty too? You will probably be selecting a case with plenty of ventilation.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Hot dusty environment? Look into Bay Trail / Cherry Trail industrial mini-PCs.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Hot dusty environment? Look into Bay Trail / Cherry Trail industrial mini-PCs.

Umm...

I do need solid performance however so i'd like something that can handle a fairly fast i5 or i7 cpu

OP, if you want a SFF, dust-and-heat-proof i7, you're talking a LOT of money. Probably one of these things:

http://www.logicsupply.com/nuvo-3005lp-30/

They're hideously expensive, and the CPUs are still low-powered ones, but the entire machine is the heat sink.

If you forget the SFF part, you can get any old ATX case and put dust covers/filters on all the vents. I'll cut down the amount of air that moves through the machine, but it'll still be enough.

Where are you putting this? I mean, when you say "dust" and "100 degrees" are you talking about a computer for working in a woodshop? Or are you just a cat owner who's too cheap to use air conditioning?

 

[myocardia]

OP, if you want a SFF, dust-and-heat-proof i7, you're talking a LOT of money. Probably one of these things:

http://www.logicsupply.com/nuvo-3005lp-30/

They're hideously expensive, and the CPUs are still low-powered ones, but the entire machine is the heat sink.

Ouch, $1,200 for a Celeron? You can buy a Haswell i5 in more or less the identical case, starting at half that cost: http://www.mini-box.com/CarPC-VoomPC-2-ASUS-H97I-PLUS-HASWELL-Corei5-QUAD-CORE?sc=8&category=1543

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Ouch, $1,200 for a Celeron? You can buy a Haswell i5 in more or less the identical case, starting at half that cost: http://www.mini-box.com/CarPC-VoomPC-2-ASUS-H97I-PLUS-HASWELL-Corei5-QUAD-CORE?sc=8&category=1543

Oh, not as bad as I thought then. Hooray!