Very much like the Mac Mini but is it possible to build an ITX system of the same size / power? If so, which Components would be the best to get?
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Very much like the Mac Mini but is it possible to build an ITX system of the same size / power? If so, which Components would be the best to get?
*Again*?! *sigh* and he sent me such a nice PM apologising for having a go at me too - I thought he'd learnt his lesson...
How much is the Mac Mini again? Due to the difficulty fitting all the necessary components on smaller motherboard mITX is *not* a cheap way to go, sadly. You're looking at at least £100 for a decent motherboard, to start with. You're probably looking at at least £500 for something decent. That said, most of the components from an ATX / mATX will be the same: the big difference is that you need to source a mITX motherboard of the appropriate socket and make sure it'll take your CPU (some mITX motherboards have a realistic maximum of 65W TDP for the CPU, meaning most quad cores are out straight away!). If you want to get as close as possible to a mac mini I guess you'd be looking at the Zotac GF9300 with a core 2 Duo?
Dual core would be fine.
This is what I would look at getting:
Silverstone SG05B ~ £60
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Silve...00W-80plus-PSU
Zotac GF9300-I-E ~ £116
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Zotac...s-RAID-ITX-VGA
I would make sure that you get the newer I-E version and not the earlier ones. The motherboard comes with integrated graphics and wireless.
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 ~ £106
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Intel...e-Ratio-Retail
The Zotac motherboard will take the Intel 95W quads fine.
Thanks cat but i would prefer a smaller case and the use of a Pico PSU.
What about the Intel DG45FC. Is that any good?
Dual core should be fine for my needs too. One that doesn't use as much power but can be nippy.
I'd look at the pentium dual core's if you don't want to go to a quad core
E6500 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Intel...ual-Core-E6500
Personally I think the silverstone sg05b looks very good for a small case
The g45 chipset is decent enough, the IGP is weak, fine to run a desktop but not much more.
You'll have problems with a Pico-PSU (ie power brick) as you'll need to look at a 150w system
You can get the Nexus Psile with one, but it's £220 (case+psu+slot loading dvd)
http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=30 it does look a bit like a minimac and you should be able to use a reasonable sized cpu cooler in there (not a bit 120mm fan tower cooler though)