Upgrade time. Time to go SFF or stay ATX for gaming rig?

[Jeriko]

Well I'm at loss on this one. I have one Shuttle XPC that I use as a media center and I love the thing - quiet, small, works like a charm.

But I'm a little wary of going the SFF route for a gaming system.

So basically I'm deciding between a Lian-Li /DFI nF4 Ultra combo or an SN25P.

What's going in side will be an Athlon X2 4400+, an EVGA 7800GTX, a couple WD Raptors, and 2 gigs of RAM.

Heat's also an issue. I don't know if I trust the cramped innards of an XPC with that much going on inside. Also, I like the ability to see inside a case with a window so I can easily check dust levels and make sure all the fans working properly.

So, any suggestions would be welcome.

 

[jdkick]

Do you actually mean SFF?

Usually, sff enclosures will limit you to a single HDD, a single optical drive and a floppy drive (if you need it). If we're talking about the same thing, I don't see how you'd have room to fit "a couple" or Raptor's. Also, most SFF enclosures require the use of low-profile/half-height cards... which can be hard to come buy, especially if you want something with an nVidia 7800-series GPU strapped to it. On a final note, I would anticipate issues with heat.

IMO, small form factor PC's are useful in office environments, point of sale or specific media applications such as a HTPC. If you're building a gaming rig and may swapping components in/out or running higher-end hardware that runs a little hot, then look to a decent mid-tower.

 

[m3rcury]

Actually, you can get a Shuttle SN26P that lets you have 3 hard drives, full height pci and pci-e cards, and has decent cooling. The only downside is that the mobo+case+powersupply are proprietary. So if something dies, you can't just replace it on your own. I used to own a Shuttle, but when the mobo died, I had to pretty much junk the whole thing. Now I've got a microATX tower. Its not as small, but I don't have to pay shuttle 70$ to replace a dead powersuppy (if they even have a replacement for your model)

Edit:

This guy, for example.

Edit part deux:
Looks like they changed their naming schemes. Nows its P2500, P2100, etc. P being the chasis type, and the number just some random insanity. Much like their earlier two digit arbitrary numbers.

 

[Jeriko]

Originally posted by: jdkick
Do you actually mean SFF?

Usually, sff enclosures will limit you to a single HDD, a single optical drive and a floppy drive (if you need it). If we're talking about the same thing, I don't see how you'd have room to fit "a couple" or Raptor's. Also, most SFF enclosures require the use of low-profile/half-height cards... which can be hard to come buy, especially if you want something with an nVidia 7800-series GPU strapped to it. On a final note, I would anticipate issues with heat.

IMO, small form factor PC's are useful in office environments, point of sale or specific media applications such as a HTPC. If you're building a gaming rig and may swapping components in/out or running higher-end hardware that runs a little hot, then look to a decent mid-tower.

Well, I consider Shuttle XPCs to be SFF. I understand you're talking more along the lines of Mini-ITX style SFF. And that's definitely not what I mean, nice as they may be.

It would be the Shuttle SN25P if I get one.

 

[pkrush]

It really depends on what your definition of SFF is. If the Aspire X-QPack counts as one, I'd consider it since it won't be much more expensive than a comparable desktop machine.