SFF with mini DisplayPort critique?

[gcbrowni]

Opinions on this SFF gaming rig?

Athena Power CA -1015ISH21 Micro-ATX Case $60
Seagate Barracuda 1TB hard drive $75
XFX HD-755-ZMF3 Video card $170
Silverstone ST45SF 450W SFX power supply $80
G.Skill 2GB (2x1) DDR3 1333 Model F3-10600CL8D-2GBHK $54
Biostar 6P/AMD Sempron LE1250 Newegg combo $65


I'll be using an old copy of XP and no optical drive. I'm thinking hard about using my 23" Apple display on a KVM to share the monitor netween my Macbook Air and this system. That limits my video card to the XFX, I think, since it has a mini Display Port.

Should I switch from the Seagate HD to a SSD for power/cooling/space reasons? I've been living on a tiny Macbook Air SSD forever now. I've got a NAS in the basement for storage, so we're just talking the OS and a couple of games.

I'd like the smallest case possible that can take the video card ... which forces me in to the $80 micro-atx power supply ... which is still underrated if I believe the video cards specs.

Have I underpowered the CPU?

Angband, here I come!


1. This is a 100% gaming PC.
2. I'm looking to spend about $500, and less if possible.
3. US, and I'm looking at Newegg
4. I don't care about brand names.
5. I'll be using an Apple 1900x1200 23" monitor and my Dinovo edge kb/mouse.
6. Yes, of course I searched.
7. There will be NO overclocking of this system.
8. 1900x1200 is the max, obviously, but I plan on a resolution far less, 1280 or so.
9. I'll build in about 4 weeks.

 

[mfenn]

I'm not finding that XFX GPU on Newegg. Is it a 5770? Displayport to mini-displayport is a simple pin adapter, so you shouldn't limit yourself to cards that come with the mini version.

Anyway, that CPU is waaaaay underpowered for gaming and you'll also want more than 2GB of memory, but that may blow the budget.

Here's a nice combo for you: Athlon II X2 245 + ASUS M2N68-AM PLUS + 2GB of RAM for $149 (only $30 more than your ancient model single-core). To make up for the difference, grab this 5770 for $130 AR and that adapter that I linked you. A quality 450W is plenty of a 5770, in fact my usual recommendation is a 400W.

An SSD of any reasonable size (games are big nowadays) would blow the budget, so I would stick with the HDD. I like Samsung and WD better than Seagate though.