Micro ITX case advice

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

An interesting review pitting the Atom 230 versus a Core2:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...y,2069-13.html

TBH the VIA Nano looks interesting and if they could combine with a half decent IGP it will be an excellent combo.

[format]

You can get the Asrock ION in white btw.

[pcup]

Lots of points guys.

Still confused! Thing is, my tower PC is quite a good spec but i hate it now. A big box that has great spec but under used as i don't game anymore. I do use word, publisher, internet, browsing pics, downloading videos from my camcorder. I don't do anything that powerful on the PC.

I may want to play the odd game but i have read that the Mac Mini can play some at low settings?

Obviously i would upgrade the ram in whichever i would buy and maybe even buy an SSD sometime in the not too distant future.

I suppose my main goal is to get as small a PC as possible but also powerful enough for me to do the above and have no lag in windows / OSX, internet or general PC work. Also, it has to be quiet. I am used to a nippy system.

Considering all of the above, would you say the Mac Mini would be the better of the 2?

I can's see anyother size system available that is more powerful etc.

Again, thanks for your views / comments guys. Please keep them coming!

[TheAnimus]

I would say that an SSD is the most important thing for removing latency in a PC once your at atom or higher specs.

For instance i use x-25e, lots of them actually, but for my main dev box at work. I am also waiting patientally for a fusion-io consumer module.

The performance benefit for the things i do (software architect/develoepr) is hudge. That said, i wouldn't dream of dropping below a quad core either.

You really should have a figure out just how much performance you want, you could start with a small-ish case like this:
http://www.xcase.co.uk/X-Case-ITX-At...c-cube-red.htm

and put a quad core in it, even a full on pcie-16 gfx card.

[TheAnimus]

I built my notebook for less than £150 yonks ago,it has a magnesium body and a 12.1" screen and it does everything I want it to. Including the screen it barely consumes 60w(the rated power of the external block). The Atom desktop is no point for me as I would rather put the money towards a notebook.

Well thats just an incredible bargin, i don't think its fair to suggest such levels of great value are normal!

it would be great if these things are cheaper, £160 isn't bad at all really when you compare it.

ultimately it comes down to what is needing to be done on the device. for a work machine i can merrily pay £1k for a protable laptop (hence why i'm looking at the sony TT series with their wounderful size, 9.5h battery life... i digress).

If this is a second PC, a small PC, then it needs little power, should save money, electricity and noise as much as possible! Things like that asus for £160 seams quite good, bit of an upgrade on SSD and RAM might well help thou.

[pcup]

Can't say i like that case TheAnimus.

Looks like the Mac Mini 2009 ver is top of the list at the moment.

[TheAnimus]

it was more an example of if you go up a little in size, you can have the world of full on graphics card, also that such cases cost £40. I've seen the black in person, and it goes quite well with those samsung TFTs.

what i was getting at is how much performance do you really need? If you don't need much the asus revo things can mount behind any VESA tft, so they are for all intents and purposes invisible and very cheap.

a mac mini is going to be useless for gaming very quickly, yet costs a fair old bit. It is also very bottlenecked by a slow HDD, a friend of mine bought one for a media PC, and sold it 3 months later, the only good comment I would have for it, was it retained its value fairly well!

[pcup]

Well, depends how much gaming you do! I have seen lots of games run on a Mac Mini, cod4 etc. As for the HArd drive well, everyone knows that the one with the mac is pants. That would be changed instantly! I have a couple spare (2.5).

Obviously it is the cost factor that is making me stop and think at the moment, otherwise i would buy one today! I may very well do anyway!!

All it will be needed for is boring, general daya to day computer stuff. Plus it has to be small to fit in with my current living situation.

[scaryjim]

If this is a second PC...

From what the OP's said it isn't a second PC, it's a main PC. On that basis alone I'd avoid the Atom, because it will be painfully slow on those three occasions each month when you decide to do something processor intensive on your PC (and according to most hexus reviews of Atom based systems they struggle with flash video playback at any reasonable res because it's not GPU accelerated). So if you want to buy pre-built I think the Mac Mini is your best (and maybe only) option.

On the other hand: a Mini-itx build based around an AMD 780G board (http://www.linitx.com have Jetway and J&W models available) coupled with an Athlon II X2 245 (or, if you're feeling flush and fancy the extra core(s) a Phenom II X3 705 or X4 905), or alternatively a GeForce 9300 (i.e. Zotac!) coupled with a low-end Core 2 Duo, would make an attractive and very customisable package. You'd get to choose your own everything, and could spec it just the way you wanted. You wouldn't end up with something quite as small as a Mac Mini, but there are a lot of nice Mini itx cases out there. Also, you can get silent DC PSUs up to 150W, which should be enough to run one of those builds (assuming you don't go over the top on extras ). You might find that it'll cost you as much as a Mac Mini to get a good-looking build though, so at that point it's down to whether you would draw pleasure from the discipline of building it. If you have any interesting in building at all, check out linitx - they have a really good range of components, cases, and accessories for SFF PCs.

[pcup]

From what the OP's said it isn't a second PC, it's a main PC. On that basis alone I'd avoid the Atom, because it will be painfully slow on those three occasions each month when you decide to do something processor intensive on your PC (and according to most hexus reviews of Atom based systems they struggle with flash video playback at any reasonable res because it's not GPU accelerated). So if you want to buy pre-built I think the Mac Mini is your best (and maybe only) option.

On the other hand: a Mini-itx build based around an AMD 780G board (http://www.linitx.com have Jetway and J&W models available) coupled with an Athlon II X2 245 (or, if you're feeling flush and fancy the extra core(s) a Phenom II X3 705 or X4 905), or alternatively a GeForce 9300 (i.e. Zotac!) coupled with a low-end Core 2 Duo, would make an attractive and very customisable package. You'd get to choose your own everything, and could spec it just the way you wanted. You wouldn't end up with something quite as small as a Mac Mini, but there are a lot of nice Mini itx cases out there. Also, you can get silent DC PSUs up to 150W, which should be enough to run one of those builds (assuming you don't go over the top on extras ). You might find that it'll cost you as much as a Mac Mini to get a good-looking build though, so at that point it's down to whether you would draw pleasure from the discipline of building it. If you have any interesting in building at all, check out linitx - they have a really good range of components, cases, and accessories for SFF PCs.

Great idea. I already have these components:

AMD Ahtlon II 250 CPU

DDR2 8500 ram (4gig)

160g Sata 2.5 Hard Drive

DVDrw

So, can anyone give me a specific set of components that i would need to put that lot into an ITX case (Smallest possible). I know i would need:

Case
Motherboard
Power
Heatsink

Be great if someone could help out as i don't have a clue about MITX.

Again, the case would need to be as small as possible while giving good cooling and a quiet setup.

If not, then maybe i should look for a 2nd hand Mac Mini instead.

Many thanks

[peterb]

This might be of interest to you - really small...

http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=39

[scaryjim]

CaseIf the DVD-RW is slimline: Cubid 3688 (£73.26), otherwise CFI A8989 Cube (£33.35)
Motherboard Zotac 8200 Wifi £94.30
PowerIf you get the Cubid case, you'll need to remove the existing 60W board and replace it with 150W 12V PicoPSU and 12V DC Brick (£30.59 + £43.36). If you get the CFI Cube it has a built in 150W PSU.
Heatsink If you go with the CFI Cube it should fit any AM2 cooler. If you go for the Cubid, you may have to do a little modding. Linitx sell this Jetway low profile cooler which will fit if you can connect it to the motherboard

I'm assuming your RAM is desktop, so the 780G boards are both out because they take laptop SODIMMs. Performance-wise, the NVidia 8200 is a little behind the 780G, which again is a little behind the NVidia 9300 / 9400, in general terms. It should still do you for light gaming at low resolutions though (as much as any onboard graphics will). The Cubid is a beautiful case, but is designed for slightly lower power systems, so it's going to cost you more to get everything in (£75 for the PSU / Brick alone!) The CFI is better designed for the components I've specified, and will take most aftermarket CPU coolers so could be quietened very effectively: the flip side being at 20cm x 16cm x 30cm it is obviously quite bulky. I also quite like this Compucase mini-itx, but the 120W PSU would be pushed to the limit with this spec and again it's not the smallest...

Of course, if wanted to make a statement you could go for this...

[pcup]

Well, looking at all that then i think a Mac Mini might be a better option due to its size and good spec plus i could upgrade the ram and HD easily. Agree?

[watercooled]

From what I know it's very difficult to upgrade a Mac Mini and I think doing so voids the warranty. On the other hand, upgrading components for a Mac when configuring it costs far too much IMO - E.G. £240 for an extra 1TB HDD on a Mac Pro, an extra DVD drive £80...

[nightkhaos]

From what I know it's very difficult to upgrade a Mac Mini and I think doing so voids the warranty. On the other hand, upgrading components for a Mac when configuring it costs far too much IMO - E.G. £240 for an extra 1TB HDD on a Mac Pro, an extra DVD drive £80...

There are SOME things you can upgrade without voiding the warrenty. Don't ask what they are, it's outlined SOMEWHERE on the Apple website.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Why does the OP need 4gb of RAM with their Mac Mini? 2gb is perfectly fine even with Vista or Windows 7.