ITX Build Advice

[Cornholio]

Considering an ITX build, seeing as ive never done one i was wondering if some experts could point me in the right direction and offer some advice, what im unclear on really is the PSU's that they use/come with etc.

Im not entirely sure what i want to do with it yet...i already have a media pc, i have some spare money so figured i might aswel build an ITX system, its something ive wanted to do for a while now and im sure ide find a use for it lol.

If anybody could start me off ide be greatly appreciative ( is that a word ? ), i had a quick look on scan and most seem to take a 2.5" hdd and slimline dvd-rw, there is a silverstone case that looks quite nice that can take a full size 3.5" hdd.

Just help basically lol, dont want to spend a small fortune but ive been in the IT industry long enough to know you dont get something for nothing.

Cheers in advance guys.

[strike-down]

I would have a look at a board using the gf8200 chipset and an athlon X2 4850e. Built myself one of these a while ago as a media server (with an external drive caddy for extra storage).
http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=12081 Thats the board Ive got, and its actually pretty damn good.

[scaryjim]

I've not built a mini-itx myself, but I've been looking into it recently too. if you want a tiny system with plenty of power, then this motherboard is probably the one to go for: although I've read reviews saying it can run very hot (not surprising when you squeeze a full-fat DX10 gpu onto an itx board!).

I quite like the look of this case but airflow might be an issue with the J&W board! XCase (xcase.com!) also do a few Mini-itx cases, and abuyer seem ot have started stocking a couple too.

I think the premium of getting a slimline DVD drive and 2.5" hard drive is worth it, and it might be an idea to look at SSDs if your pockets are deep enough! That'd make the basis of a lovely little LAN-box that'd run most games at 1024x768 with playable framerates...

I think the main issue is probably heat - with a tiny case your airflow is going to be that much more restricted, so you'll have to plan the cooling and airflow quite carefully, particularly cable management (I should imagine flat IDE cables are a nono!)

If you do go ahead with it good luck: and how about a write up to let us know your experiences?

[Cornholio]

Been doing a bit of reading, i could buy this and this so cable management wouldnt be as bad.

Might try and find a nice case that will support 1 internal 5.25" drive, so i can just whack 1TB samsung sata in, and use a slimline sata notebook dvd rw.

[Cornholio]

This case , would be perfect, they make it in black too just scan dont stock it

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What is the system going to be used for BTW?? You can get a dual core Atom 330 CPU and motherboard for under 60 quid:

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Pr...ource=googleps

BTW the Intel Little Falls 2 is not mATX as in the description but a mini ITX form factor.

[Camrada]

Hi,

I'm also new to the ITX arena, but here's the summation of the research I did.

The board I'm using is the Intel D945GCLF2. It is a great little board, runs silent, produces very little heat and is fast. Have no problems streaming media from/to it over the network/internet. I have a 500GB 3.5" and a 80GB 2.5" drive in the case (though I had to drill some extra holes to support this drive configuration), and it is very happy running Windows7 without any problems.

The rest of the build consists of 2GB Kingston RAM, Ituner M300 Case, ITU 80W PicoPSU (which appears to be the same as the PicoPSU-80-WI-32V from mini-box) though I did have to buy a Molex-P4 cable to attach power to the mainboard for the CPU.

Total build cost was £192. It runs fast and I've currently got it connected to my 42" flat screen and the picture is great, sound connected to my home theater system. It runs as fast as, if not faster than, my laptop (17", 2GB, AMD Turion 64x2 1.8GHz) which I paid £500 for.

I don't know how this compares to other systems and specs but for my purposes it is fantastic.

If you want something with more of a kick, then I'd consider the Intel DG45FC. But bear in mind, the more RAM & bigger CPU you put in, then you'll have to think about a more powerful PSU and some way to deal with the heat (a case to deal with any necessary heatsinks and the noise associated with more fans).

Hope this helps a little. Regards...

[Camrada]

This case , would be perfect, they make it in black too just scan dont stock it

How about this one? Nexus psile10b. It is around the same price mark, but includes a slimline DVD writer and space for any 3.5" HDD...

[strike-down]

What is the system going to be used for BTW?? You can get a dual core Atom 330 CPU and motherboard for under 60 quid:

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Pr...ource=googleps

BTW the Intel Little Falls 2 is not mATX as in the description but a mini ITX form factor.

i think the atom is fairly over rated. For mini ITX, AMD athlon X2 e (energy efficient) editions are the way forwards. Yes it costs more, but you get one hell of alot more for your money.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

i think the atom is fairly over rated. For mini ITX, AMD athlon X2 e (energy efficient) editions are the way forwards. Yes it costs more, but you get one hell of alot more for your money.

It is enough though for general purpose usage like web browsing, word processing,music andwatching some low to medium definition video like youtube. It is relatively cheap and has low power consumption. This is what most people use their PCs for anyway. Not everyone is gaming,encoding video,editing huge images,watching HD video and doing scientific computing.

Why spend twice the money if you do not need the power??

[Camrada]

Not everyone is gaming,encoding video,editing huge images,watching HD video and doing scientific computing.

Why spend twice the money if you do not need the power??

That was exactly my thinking, I have my mini-ITX box plugged into my telly and connected to my router which happens to sit behind it, though there is no problem connecting it to the WLAN. Primarily using it as a HTPC box, allowing me to use it to stream media over my network, skype on the large TV (Logitech Fusion for £19 sitting on top of the box) and browse the internet from my sofa. It is ideal for my purposes at a very reasonable cost and a bonus is it is silent.

i think the atom is fairly over rated. For mini ITX, AMD athlon X2 e (energy efficient) editions are the way forwards. Yes it costs more, but you get one hell of alot more for your money.

Personally I don't think it is over-rated. Yes there are some that say it is no good at High-Def output of the gaming performance is poor, but if I want to play games then I'll use my desktop machine. The box is not designed or meant for that purpose. It is a low-cost machine which can easily handle the basics as Cat mentioned before...

However, just out of curiosity I encoded some of my video files to MKV to test it out. This little box had no problem playing a video encoded as MKV with a video bitrate of 3200kb/s, audio 6channel DTS 384 kb/s, resolution 1280x720. Those number probably mean more to you than me, but the quality is superb and again, absolutely no problems with dvd quality video files (.vob), running Windows 7 Beta.

Another point to bear in mind though, the more powerful the chip, the greater the power consumption and the amount of heat produced, this on top of the cost. The cheapest Athlon x2 I found was for about £50 and then the board on top ~£45 (no HD audio), so you're looking at about £100 without the heatsink/cooling solution. The Intel board was only about £65. The power needs of the Athlon will be greater than the Atom too.

I was unable to find an ITX board for the Athlon though, so you'll be looking at a Micro ATX solution (250mmx220mm-ish) rather than Mini-ITX (175mmx175mm-ish)

So as the saying goes, its horses for courses. Yes the Athlon chip is more powerful, but with that come the problems of heat and power.

In my opinion, the Atom is superb for what it can do and is comparable to upper-mid range laptops...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

A mini-ITX AM2+ motherboard is nearly £100:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/JandW...X-HDMI-DVI-VGA

A mini-ITX socket 775 motherboard is only a few quid cheaper than the previous motherboard:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Intel...Board-Graphics

[strike-down]

The athlon X2 4850e has a tdp of 45w. Mine doesnt even make that. I have a jetway gf8200 board acting as my media server + more with said athlon chip. For the two, i managed to bag it for just over £100.
http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=12081 is the board i use (has gone up in price since I bought it though.)

My main quibble with the atom is its shocking chipset. That completely defeats the object of the atoms low power design, and isnt capable of much.
When ion makes the scene, then the atom would be a more viable option than the athlon admittedly. But it isnt here now (maybe be worth waiting?)

Yes, I said the amd solution does cost a bit more, but at the end of the day, you have gained a huge amount by spending that extra £40 (in my case). Cooler was a fiver off ebay ontop of that.

I use the box for my main file server, media server, htpc and have the odd casual game on it.
This is left on pretty much 24/7 and while I havent got any means of testing power draw from the socket, there hasnt really been much of a change in the energy bill.

[Camrada]

Yep, so both boards are probably comparable to each other... then there is the cost of the CPU, you'll be looking at ~£35 for an AMD dual core that's energy efficient. So already your breaking the £130 mark. Where in my opinion the £65 Intel board is more than sufficient for the needs of the machine.

As Cat mentioned earlier, "Why spend twice the money if you do not need the power??", it boils down to what you'll be using the machine for I guess and do you really need that little bit extra power?

[Camrada]

My main quibble with the atom is its shocking chipset. That completely defeats the object of the atoms low power design, and isnt capable of much.

I think it is capable of more than you give it credit for. I mentioned before that it can handle video/audio with very high bitrates without any stuttering or problems. I'll hook up my blu-ray drive to it tomorrow and see how it handles blu-ray and HD-DVD, neither of which I think it will have a problem with. I've no interest in gaming on it, I've a desktop machine for that. But as a HTPC, running office apps, browsing internet and streaming data over the network, it is ideal...

The Jetway board does look good though for the price. For my needs though, the performance of the Atom (tdp of 8W) is more than sufficient.

modd1uk: what are you likely to be using the box for?

[strike-down]

The problem here is that the OP doesnt know what he wants to do with it, and if I was in his position, I would rather get the extra flexibility than be slapping myself later because it wont do what I decided to do with it.