Micro cube PCs (1 Viewer)

[supercharged]

Has anyone got one of those SFF (small form factor) cube PCs? Kind of like the PC version of the mac mini. I've seen some for sale and they look really good and compact. I'm thinking of buying one and wondering if anyone has one of these mad looking PCs? any problems with them etc?

 

[supercharged]

Just general internet surfing, dling, music playback, word processing and light gaming

 

[SashatheMan]

trust me , smaller case is not good. Bigger case is much better becuase you can actually upgrae your PC in the future

 

[Rafy]

hmmm nice. I get a new custom built computer about every 2 years....(I've Never upgraded) Might think about that when the time comes....

 

[jm1234567890]

be careful. some small cases are really noisy.

 

[SashatheMan]

anyway the size of your computer case is a represantion of a mans size downstairs respectivly.

 

[Templar]

Shuttle does offer a few models with relatively quiet fans, along with AGP/PCIe for video cards. Although from a heat dissipation point of view, I would not get a LGA775 CPU in such a case simply from the fact that a lot of heat will be given off, and I doubt it has the efficiency to cool it down to an optimal temperature. Personally I would never use a stock CPU heatsink/fan, and will stick to heatsinks with 90mm+ fans.

If you're building one you could make a very powerful gaming rig if necessary, although you'll be looking at single slot solutions, and there isn't room for the future HDD or PCI card (only one slot max). Installation is also tricky due to the smaller size.

 

[supercharged]

trust me , smaller case is not good. Bigger case is much better becuase you can actually upgrae your PC in the future

I'm assuming this is because a bigger case would have more free slots? But why would I need alot of extra slots? If I want to upgrade the RAM in future, I only need one slot for another GB. If I want to upgrade the graphics card, I just chuck the old one out and replace with a new one.

 

[sukiyaki]

i have one of those cube thingys is what i attached what your talking about ?
i so far have no problems with them, i play games on it and its fine

oh yeh and it doubles as a stereo XD

 

[SashatheMan]

how about if your upgrading your motherboard , its much harder to fit it in right.

 

[Templar]

how about if your upgrading your motherboard , its much harder to fit it in right.

The motherboard, case and PSU comes in one package. But if you're going to upgrade your motherboard, you should really be looking at a new PC.

If I want to upgrade the RAM in future, I only need one slot for another GB. If I want to upgrade the graphics card, I just chuck the old one out and replace with a new one.

You'll either be throwing away RAM or giving up dual channel. Also, it is not a good idea to install new graphics cards in small cases as the airflow is restricted.

 

[Templar]

Even with a Thermaltake Tsunami, I sometimes feel that there isn't enough space to tidy everything up and should have got an Antec P160. But I suppose I only care about the tidiness since it's windowed.

Antec P180. It's a good looking case. Nothing fancy, just really nice colour scheme and big enough to fit everything you ever want. And good cooling as well.

 

[supercharged]

You'll either be throwing away RAM or giving up dual channel.

I don't get it, if I have a free slot, don't I just plug another 1Gb RAM module in? What's this about throwing away RAM or giving up dual channel?

 

[Templar]

I don't get it, if I have a free slot, don't I just plug another 1Gb RAM module in? What's this about throwing away RAM or giving up dual channel?

Obviously when you first build it you'll have the choice of using one or two slots (this is based on if there are only 2 slots). If you use one, you'll lose the performance of dual channel now, while reducing the cost of next RAM upgrade. If you choose to use 2 equal modules, you'll gain dual channel performance, but need to either throw out one module for an upgrade and lose dual channel then, or throw out 2 modules and replace with 2 identical ones to have dual channel.

Although at current prices, you can just get 2GB and not worry about upgrades. The chipset can only support a bit over 3GB anyway, and any more is just a waste.

 

[supercharged]

thx for clearing that up, lol I'll just get a 2gb one in that case

 

[SashatheMan]

Seriously, would anyone trust this man?

and how have you contributed