Questions about building an entry level gaming SFF

[z4ckattack]

Hey all, after seeing the new Half Life 2 movie, I think it's time to upgrade my computer. I was thinking about just building a completely new system, and passing on my computer to my mom. Those shuttle small form factor computers look good, as my room is pretty small and they are just neat looking.

What shuttle (or other company) should I choose for the best bang for the buck? How much RAM, what hard drive, etc...and I'd like to spend $800 or less. I'm thinking because this is a budget computer that I will be best off with an AMD.

Thanks for looking!

 

[EvanAdams]

what are you going to harvest from your older systems?

 

[Psychosylph]

That's easy:

SN45G
Athlon XP 2500+
512-1024MB PC2700 (or PC3200 if you want to overclock)
80-120GB HDD
CDRW/DVD Combo Drive
9600 Pro (or better) video card

Best budget recommendation right now. Will probably come in under your budget, especially if you are patient and do some bargain shopping. Tweak the amount of memory and how good the video card is to fit your budget.

 

[Gravity]

Careful of the vid card. I have a 9800 pro in an antec aria (sff) and I think that the psu is not up to the challenge. SHuttle psu's are still low wattage.

 

[Psychosylph]

Originally posted by: Gravity
Careful of the vid card. I have a 9800 pro in an antec aria (sff) and I think that the psu is not up to the challenge. SHuttle psu's are still low wattage.

My stats:

SB65G2
2.4C @ 3GHz (default voltage)
1gig Kingston HyperX PC3500
Maxtor 80gig 8meg IDE HDD
Lite-On 48X CDRW/DVD Combo Drive
Radeon 9800NP flashed to Pro

Not a problem on the 200W PSU.

 

[geecee]

Originally posted by: Gravity
Careful of the vid card. I have a 9800 pro in an antec aria (sff) and I think that the psu is not up to the challenge. SHuttle psu's are still low wattage.

I have a 9800 Pro in a SS51G (200W PS) w/2.6 P4 and WD 120GB HD and some other pretty standard stuff. No problems here. BTW, to the OP, the Biostar SFFs seem pretty cost effective and have reviewed well also.

 

[suklee]

Originally posted by: Psychosylph
That's easy:

SN45G $235
Athlon XP 2500+ $88 (mobile)
512MB PC3200 $87 (1x512)
120GB HDD $98.50 (Samsung)
DVD burner $76 (NEC 8x)
9800 Pro $207 (Sapphire OEM)

Best budget recommendation right now. Will probably come in under your budget, especially if you are patient and do some bargain shopping. Tweak the amount of memory and how good the video card is to fit your budget.

grand total: $791.50

I'm lazy as hell at work, so I added prices and links at Newegg (When in gods name did dvd burners become so cheap?! :shocked: )

I got you one stick of 512, as it leaves the other slot free for future upgrades.

Go 9800 Pro and it should last you a good while. No probs with power whatsoever, and the "vdimm bug" that's plauged some SN45Gs seemed to be fixed with the latest BIOS.

 

[DeeKnow]

>> When in gods name did dvd burners become so cheap?

i believe the DVD/RW prices started sliding just about the day after I paid $50 for a CDRW to replace my old one ... DARN!