Has anyone tried the Thermaltake Element Qi ITX case?

[DanceswithUnix]

I have an old Atom ITX board that needs a case.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/therm...h-220w-sfx-psu

Intended for a basic homework PC for my son running Libre Office under Linux. If it doesn't have the grunt for that then I could stretch to an AM1 solution, but I specifically don't want the machine able to play decent games

I make that case 9.5 litres, which seems about as small as I can get before I need exotic and expensive power supplies.

[Bonebreaker777]

Seems fine to me,especially with the PSU pre-installed.

Which Atom you have cause I seen even the dual-core/quad-thread Atoms to be sluggish in Windows. Not sure how they would behave under Linux. You could always dumm down the power settings on the AM1 IGP and lock the controls to prevent playing or downclock directly in the BIOS (if you can).

[DanceswithUnix]

Seems fine to me,especially with the PSU pre-installed.

Which Atom you have cause I seen even the dual-core/quad-thread Atoms to be sluggish in Windows. Not sure how they would behave under Linux. You could always dumm down the power settings on the AM1 IGP and lock the controls to prevent playing or downclock directly in the BIOS (if you can).

I think it is a D510, was given the board by someone at work and not powered it up yet. A job for this weekend!

[DanceswithUnix]

I got the case. The PSU is OK but not that quiet but good enough for this use, otherwise it is a rather nice little case. I think it looks better IRL than the pictures gave it credit for. The on/off and reset buttons look a bit cheap, but overall quite decent looking.

If it ever matters, a Silverstone PSU would be quieter and give enough grunt for a decent graphics card.

The Atom is indeed very slow though, makes my old E350 feel like a speed demon. Will try a Linux re-install, see if that can optimise a bit more speed out of it. Otherwise I might have to go AM1 in the end anyway. Only 2GB of ram isn't that goood either, though ISTR some Atom chips were artificially limited?

[Bonebreaker777]

Aye,if I recall correctly some Atoms were limited and they are slow as well. Best to install a OS optimised for fewer resources (little RAM,limited CPU performance).

Good luck with the reinstall. Go for Ubuntu or check http://www.linux.org/threads/extreme...x-distro.4505/

AM1 is nice but you can get a 1155 for the same price with massive upgrade options (I know I did, ITX H61 MoBo with IB Celeron G1620 under clocked). Eventually it is your call.

[Pob255]

Bit slow here as you've already got it but the HEC / Compucase 8Kxx cases are good for small basic pc's http://www.hec-group.com.tw/pccase/8k/
We have them at work, c2d systems
The Flex PSU's, esp the 120w are not so good, they've not taken any components with them when they died but pretty much every one of the 120w psu's has died within 3 to 4 years, the 200w models are ok so far.
Still I'd look at the FSP 80+ ones http://www.scan.co.uk/products/250w-...0mm-fan-1u-psu they have been the best Flex atx psu's I've found so far.
For SFX pu's again look for FSP 80+ Bronze (note both BeQuiet and SliverStone are the same FSP 80+ Bronze internally, so are also good options)

[DanceswithUnix]

For SFX pu's again look for FSP 80+ Bronze (note both BeQuiet and SliverStone are the same FSP 80+ Bronze internally, so are also good options)

Big fan of the Silverstone SFX units, interesting to hear the BeQuiet ones are the same. Do they do the same semi passive fan thing?

[Pob255]

Big fan of the Silverstone SFX units, interesting to hear the BeQuiet ones are the same. Do they do the same semi passive fan thing?

I don't think so, but from what I remember the 80+bronze silverstone psu's are not semi passive, it's only the 80+gold rated ones that are semi passive, modular, they are made by Enhance Electronics not FSP and cost about twice the price.

[watercooled]

I'm not sure how much I like the whole semi-passive thing with PSUs. I have a BeQuiet PSU in my Llano system and the fan always runs, but it's essentially inaudible anyway, and the exhaust temp despite the fairly low airflow is essentially room temperature judging from the back of my hand. All semi-passive would do in my case is let the PSU run hotter, especially given it runs in its own compartment in my case.

And TBH even my Enermax Modu82+ powering my gaming system is essentially inaudible, although it's a little harder to tell given the background noise of the system is higher.

Horses for courses I guess, but it's not a feature I'd actively seek out myself.

Oh and I had a D510 board myself; it's really not the quickest processor in the world. I expect it should be OK for basic stuff like office apps, but not much more, and anything CPU-heavy may lead to frustration.