SFF and heat issues

[Mikendi]

My mobo and psu are @ three years old now so I'm considering building a new system in small form factor/desktop, etc. I shut my mid tower down about once a week - can these SFF systems run that long in between breaks? I'm thinking heat would become an issue. Any particular SFF platforms you'd recommend?

If the cost of a new system with a new LCD goes anywhere near a grand I'll just get a new imac.

Thanks -
Mike

 

[CurseTheSky]

Unless you're stuffing a lot of stuff into the tiny case, or running it in an extremely hot room you should be fine.

For SFF, I'd probably stick to a few simple rules:
-ONLY ONE graphics card
-ONLY ONE hard drive
-Processor that doesn't double as a dutch oven (I.E. avoid Pentium 4s / Pentium Ds if possible)
-Graphics card that doesn't push out massive amounts of heat (single slot is best)
-At least one intake and one exhaust fan

 

[Skott]

Like CTS said, As long as you got a good cooling SFF case you'll be fine. Mine runs 24/7. Its big for a SFF case though.

 

[Mikendi]

Thanks - I'm not building a RAID, or anything and if the onboard graphics are good enough I'll just run 2 gig's of ram. It's really for internet & multi media and I'll probably put Ubuntu Linux on it. I have a couple of cases & all the other components bookmarked

 

[manimal]

I run a htpc sff build in my living room using a SUGO from silverstone. I ocd a 4300 to 3.2 and the 7800gt in there plays everything I want to play in my living room and the noise isnt too bad on the 7800 since I installed the aftermarket cooler on it. If I had to rebuild now I would try to get a slightly cooler running card a 750 gig hd since the two 500s in there tend to get a bit warm.


Its on 24/7 plays games and sometimes Mmos and plays H264 files like a champ even though the card doesnt have acceleration on it.