Super compact gaming LAN box

[DieHardware]

Starting with a mATX case like the Aopen h340 case, a 1.6A P4, and a mATX board like these; MSI MS-6524, MS-6533, MS-6534, or MS-6507. The 6534 has 6ch sound. Does anyone know of a good half-height gaming card? Other boards or configurations? Think a box like this would be possible?

 

[FenrisUlf]

I'm building a box like this, except I have a cheap MSI board with no AGP slot. I'm thinking about replacing it with a MB with an AGP slot since I can't find a decent half height PCI vid card. The only half-height gaming card I've seen (and I've looked) is the Radeon 7000. You might also want to look at the Asus NForce MicroATX board - it has onboard quality sound and LAN even though it's not P4. It even has decent graphics built on if you can't find a half-height soloution. I've used several MSI micro ATX boards in the past. They work, but they lack features like any kind of CPU adjustment and sometimes temperature monitoring. I would go with a more expensive but higher quality MB if possible, but that's just my experiences. The issues you might run into with this high powered of a system are cooling in such a limited space and the small power supply. Also, don't get too tied down to a MB with onboard LAN since many LAN cards made today are half-height models and fit in a short case just fine. Let me know if you find anything else - I'm interested too.

 

[gaidin123]

I think strawberrymom started a thread a while back about some new Lian-Li cases. This case looks like the expensive Lian-Li version of a micro-atx LAN gaming case. If it could handle a regular ATX power supply it'd be perfect.

Check out the Abit nv7m for a mATX Athlon board...

I believe FenrisUlf is right, only a few of the older Radeons are half height unfortunately. A lot of mATX tower cases can take full sized graphics cards though...

Good luck! If you find a complete solution please post the specs!

Gaidin

 

[DieHardware]

How about the ASUS V7100 GF2 MX400, it looks to be the right height, but it might be a little too long for the Aopen box. Man, I wish manufacturers would post the dimensions of their add-on cards.

 

[Auric]

Check out this l'il Radeon 7500 at Newegg. Never in stock, but at least we know they exist

 

[toshiba3020]

How about getting an nforce matx board?

 

[Daovonnaex]

I would suggest getting a Lian Li PC-35 instead--it can fit a real AGP card (not pro 50, though). An example of a system built of the PC-35 is one of my rigs, which I'll link here. You'll get much better cooling if you cut a blowhole in the top and put a fan there, though.

I used the Asus P4T-EM (which is mATX), because I wanted to use the P4A. It's a fine board, and would yield better performance than an Athlon setup.

EDIT: Fixed link

 

[Plester]

I have the Aopen H300 w/ a V7100Pro which fits (barely, it has about 1/8" of clearance from the top of the case). I wanted to do a P4 1.6A on the MS-6524, but due to budget went with an Aopen MX3S-T and a 1.0A Tualeron. Put a Barracuda IV (SILENT drive!) in it and cut a blow hole above the CPU and it is very quiet, OCs to 1.4ghz (140/140 - fsb/sdram) and the V7100 Pros have 4ns/4.5ns ram - mine happily OC's to 250/250.

Very happy with this little rig. full featured and very fast. Like Auric mentioned, if the oem 'powered by ATI' Radeon 7500 at newegg really exists, then it is the card to get. Paired with a Northwood at 133fsb and ddr you'll be laughing.

 

[DieHardware]

Auric that Radeon would be perfect, didn't know it even existed. Daovonnaex those Lian Li cases are sweet, but out of my budget(nice setup though). Plester I have alot of questions for you...How does the case hold the add-on cards without their silver retension brackets?(don't know their actual name:0) Does the 340 have front USB and audio ports? Also do you think the MS-65series boards would fit in the 340? Thanks everyone for your input.

 

[Plester]

DieHardware - the H300/340s all have a spot for front USB and audio, you just need to get the $11 daughter card. as far as the slot brackets, they are the same as any case, just half as high, i had an old isa vid card, and i just made one from it for the V7100 - i could have just cut and bent the V7100's bracket, but i figured if I ever had to RMA it.... I did just bend and cut the existing bracket on my modem which is simple, 2 pairs of pliers and some tin shears is all you need (remove the bracket from the PCB first tho).

As far as what mobos will fit, any micro-atx will, which is the beauty of these little gems. The only drawback is you will never be able to have bleeding edge video in them, and as far as i can tell from the pics of cards like the GF4 4600, cards are getting even bigger. So right now you are restricted to GF2/Radeon 7xxx level performance, which is more than enough for me . w/ a tweaked config file (dynamic lights, gibs, and a bunch of the other clutter turned off in Q3A, the V7100 at 250/250 does 106fps at 1024x 32bit w/ everything maxed (115fps w/ s3tc on).

Good luck on your project. I enthusiastically recommend an Aopen case, they are very clean designs, well made, affordable - $39 + shipping from Computerbazzar.

LMK if you have any other ?s.

 

[Ziptar]

You might want to check out the Yeong Yang YY-A101 mATX Case, too. I built my LAN box with it. It is small enough to fit on a shelf but still takes full height cards.

 

[DieHardware]

Ziptar, great case, what kind of setup are you running in it?(P3/4, Athlon, motherboard, etc) Thanks

 

[Ziptar]

Right now I am running a PCChips M805LR motherboard with a Duron 950. The only reason I ent with the pcchips board is because I got it for $15.00 and I had lots of PC133.

I got 512MB of DDR Cheap in Dec from Best Buy with plans to put an nforce board in it. However since I snagged one of the Geforce2 GTS-Vs from newegg I don't need an nforce now.

I will be ordering an Epox EP-8KHM (KT266a mATX) in a week or two and I am going to put an Athlon of some sort in it.

The PS that shipped with it was 150watt and I ran the Duron just fine with it. I recently put a 200watt PS in it (That is AMD Recommended for up to XP 1500).

If you go with this case, spring for the front USB and 60MM fan for it too..

It is nice though.

 

[ogn]

Do they make a black one? Or does anyone know of a black case similar to this. I want to build a HTPC.

 

[hwstock]

I'd like a P4-ready, fairly compact system with good access and cooling. The last 3 boxes I built were calculational nodes; modest AGP graphics cards, 1 GB rdram or DDR, one 7200 rpm hard drive, a simple CD-rom and floppy, and 0 to 1 PCI card. I have 4 mid tower cases around my desk, and it seems like overkill, and a waste of space. If the system has onboard ethernet, I need 0 pci slots.

I'd like something with a power supply adequate for a Northwood P4 and modest video card, easy access to the guts, good cooling, and enough bays for the CD, floppy, and 1 hard drive. I'd like a case that could be opened up quickly, with no futzing to get to the drives and internals.

Then again, I'd like to be 20 years younger.

 

[DieHardware]

Plester, I bought the H340 case...really sweet . I have some questions for you about the Aopen MX3S. Does it come with a hardware sound chip or just AC'97 throught the chipset? Does the onboard sound breakup when gaming(or anything else intensive)? And most important...how does it sound? Thanks