Are SFF PSU's ok for gaming?

[da.Guvna]

Hey guys!

Ok, I've been moving my PC around a lot recently (taking it to my friend's house for LAN games etc) and I'm thinking it's about time I invested in a small form factor case.

I want to try and take all the components from my current pc (bar the mobo) and crush them all into a shuttle or something equally small.

The problem is, most of the cases I've seen advertised seem to come with REALLY wimpy PSUs (like, 250w). I'm worried that 250w just isn't gonna cut the mustard.

I'm currently running the following:

Athlon XP 2400+ (the older model that runs at 2GHz/266MHz FSB)
1Gb PC3200
nVidia 6600GT AGP 128Mb
2 x 7200rpm Desktar HDs
DVD RW
Sound is onboard.

My biggest worry is the graphics card.....is a 250w PSU REALLY gonna be capable of running it?
I know you can buy upgrades (up to 300w as far as I've seen), but even they seem rubbish.

I guess SFF cases are primarily designed as media centre ruigs that don't require so much juice, but I'm sure there must be people here that have turned them to gaming uses.

[Shmee150]

A 250W might be cutting if fine, but the Shuttle in my signature has absolutely no PSU problems whatsoever!

ShMeE

[menthel]

That will not be a problem. I had a 6800gt in my sn45g!

[paddlegod]

The Shuttle 250W PSU wouldn't have any difficulties with that. I have built many systems with 6600GT, 2xWD HDD and Athlon64s without any PSU issues.

[Kef9]

Check out my SFF gaming system. No problem with a 240w psu.

I think sff's are more efficient and thats why its ok. I had the same concerns before i put my gaming rig together.

[da.Guvna]

Wow, that's spandangly-tastic news!

Now I just gotta find a good one. Any recommendations?

This one has the exact same mobo chipset in it that I am already running (practically), so it would be perfect for me to swap over to:

http://www.dabs.com/uk/channels/hard...quicklinx=3KNF

The thing is, it only has two 3.5" bays.....so I guess if I wanted to keep my second HDD I'd have to sacrifice my floppy drive, right? No biggie really, I never use it.

[Shmee150]

Or get a USB caddy for it.

But otherwise yes, if you want two hard drives in it, then no floppy. But then you could get a USB floppy etc...

ShMeE

[Kef9]

I have that SFF as my media pc and your system will easily fit into it no problem.

Its very good and very quiet.

[menthel]

SN45G's are damn fine and clock really well I had my 2500+ mobile at 2400mhz in mine. May be slightly noisy though.

[da.Guvna]

Yeah, I can't wait to get my hands on one now. Scan currently stock them, so I'm trying to place an order with them but I'm having problems getting the free carriage at the moment so I'll have to wait until that gets sorted before I order

Looking forward to having a quiet PC though. The one I've got at the moment makes an awful lot of noise for what seems to be very little cooling, haha!

[menthel]

Just replace the ICE fan. I have one left here if you want it. A noiseblocker s4.

[da.Guvna]

Are the standard fans still quite loud then?

[menthel]

Moderately so. Give it a go when its up and running and see what you think. I replaced mine quite quickly. However having the 250w silentx in it will help.