I am building a new dual Xeon rig, so my current AXP rig will be pushed into a secondary role. I have limited space in my apartment though and only need the second rig for networking purposes rather then as an actual second computer. I have a nice area above the file drawer in my desk. Its apporiximate dimension are this:19.5" deep, 14.25" wide and 11.75" height. There is a lip on the front of the desk making the heighth only about 10.25" at the entrance, but I can always put it in from the back if I have to.
I have been looking around myself, bt wanted to check some others opinions. Like I said, this is a secondary rig, so it doesn't have to be anything to special. I have been checking out the Antec aria as well as SFF's from shuttle and biostar and a few others. I like the ability of the Aria to accept mATX boards, but find it a bit ugly(not too big a deal)and I know it can have heat issues. But I will only be putting 1 hard drive, 1 optical drive, the CPU is a AXP2100+ Tbred, 2x256MB Crucial PC2100, radeon 8500DV and maybe a PCI card or 2, not sure if I need to use them or not yet.
I like the shuttles and biostars and others like it because they are a bit smaller, although as long as the thing fits in the space, thats all that matters. Actually if its too small, it may look odd in such a big space. They also tend to be better looking and have better cooling. They lack the ability for the most part of putting in whatever motherboard you want. So thats kind of a con.
With a decent mATX motherboard, the Antec Aria+motherboard can easily be just as expensive or maybe even more so, then the low end AXP shuttles and biostars. SO price isn't that much differance. I don't want to spend too much though, so cheap is good. Thanks
I have been looking around myself, bt wanted to check some others opinions. Like I said, this is a secondary rig, so it doesn't have to be anything to special. I have been checking out the Antec aria as well as SFF's from shuttle and biostar and a few others. I like the ability of the Aria to accept mATX boards, but find it a bit ugly(not too big a deal)and I know it can have heat issues. But I will only be putting 1 hard drive, 1 optical drive, the CPU is a AXP2100+ Tbred, 2x256MB Crucial PC2100, radeon 8500DV and maybe a PCI card or 2, not sure if I need to use them or not yet.
I like the shuttles and biostars and others like it because they are a bit smaller, although as long as the thing fits in the space, thats all that matters. Actually if its too small, it may look odd in such a big space. They also tend to be better looking and have better cooling. They lack the ability for the most part of putting in whatever motherboard you want. So thats kind of a con.
With a decent mATX motherboard, the Antec Aria+motherboard can easily be just as expensive or maybe even more so, then the low end AXP shuttles and biostars. SO price isn't that much differance. I don't want to spend too much though, so cheap is good. Thanks
