Recommend a compact general purpose rig

[weng]

i think i've had enough of bulky mid towers that i've never really needed all these years. had it just because it's a "default" thing to do, you know, mid tower, full size mobo, full size gfx card and such. finally decided to totally revamp and even did away with the 2.1 that i also did not really need. just bought a creative t20 to replace my companion 3. now intending to look into real compact desktops, like the dell optiplex kind of size. have not been following for a long time so would really need some help here.

my intended have's:

- small sized casing that can hide behind monitor or more or less compact enough to put at the corner of the desk w/o cluttering. how many sizes are there? itx? got mini-itx? or is a mini-atx possible for very small size?

- 2 or more front usb3 ports.

- normal dvd drive if possible, else what options do i have besides external usb ones?

- able to accomodate a 3.5" normal hdd, and preferrably another 2.5" (eg ssd + hdd). if not, minimally a 3.5" hdd.

- preferably able to accomodate at least a discrete low profile gfx card and not limited to onboard vga.

- i saw some itx board have built in wifi? are they good enough? if yes then will be good to have it. dun have to be very power. my home router is still a G and my broadband is still a 3Mbps

- casing without all the fancy stuff, especially not full of grill holes like coolermaster ones please.

- must be dead silent.


specs and brand preference wise:

- 4th gen intel i5 or i7.
- asus mobo. unless there is something so good that i shouldn't miss.
- power supply i think not much choice (tied to the casing)? would like a good one.
- gfx card... any quiet decent low profile (if can't accomodate full size) nvidia card that can play fifa reasonably well.


usage of pc: surf, email. only game i play is fifa.

thanks!

 

[royfrosty]

i think i've had enough of bulky mid towers that i've never really needed all these years. had it just because it's a "default" thing to do, you know, mid tower, full size mobo, full size gfx card and such. finally decided to totally revamp and even did away with the 2.1 that i also did not really need. just bought a creative t20 to replace my companion 3. now intending to look into real compact desktops, like the dell optiplex kind of size. have not been following for a long time so would really need some help here.

my intended have's:

- small sized casing that can hide behind monitor or more or less compact enough to put at the corner of the desk w/o cluttering. how many sizes are there? itx? got mini-itx? or is a mini-atx possible for very small size?

- 2 or more front usb3 ports.

- normal dvd drive if possible, else what options do i have besides external usb ones?

- able to accomodate a 3.5" normal hdd, and preferrably another 2.5" (eg ssd + hdd). if not, minimally a 3.5" hdd.

- preferably able to accomodate at least a discrete low profile gfx card and not limited to onboard vga.

- i saw some itx board have built in wifi? are they good enough? if yes then will be good to have it. dun have to be very power. my home router is still a G and my broadband is still a 3Mbps

- casing without all the fancy stuff, especially not full of grill holes like coolermaster ones please.

- must be dead silent.


specs and brand preference wise:

- 4th gen intel i5 or i7.
- asus mobo. unless there is something so good that i shouldn't miss.
- power supply i think not much choice (tied to the casing)? would like a good one.
- gfx card... any quiet decent low profile (if can't accomodate full size) nvidia card that can play fifa reasonably well.


usage of pc: surf, email. only game i play is fifa.

thanks!

The current size of the GPU depends on the size of the ITX chassis that you want.

ITX chassis got 2 types, one is can squeeze everything in like a full size gpu and a standard PSU. The other type is cannot support full size gpu and standard PSU.

Since you want something that is way smaller to hide behind your monitor then you would probably hinder lots of stuffs. Like the size of the GPU and the size of the PSU.

This build if you want something small but cannot hide behind the monitor

Mobo + CPU
Gigabyte H87N WiFi ITX + CPU i5-4430 ~ $393 (Wifi is N standard but can be used on your router G standard)

RAM
Kingston Value Ram 4gb ~ $45

HDD
3.5" WD Blue 1TB ~ $79

SSD
2.5" Intel 120gb 330 Series ~ $117

GPU
Powercolor HD7750 4Gb ~ $145 (since you aint gaming much)

PSU
Seasonic m12ll 520W bronze ~ $98 (you need modular psu as to avoid wire clutters and generate lots of heat)

Chassis
Cooler Master Elite 120 Black $89

ODD
DVD Combo $25 any brand

OS
Windows 7 64bit OEM Home Premium $119
or
Windows 8 64bit OEM Home Premium $129

Total $966 without OS
Total $1085 with Windows 7
Total $1095 with Windows 8

Build from tradepac

Price listed are Retail Pricing should have further discounts. Cash & Carry.

 

[rAcEr]

not possible to fulfil all your requirements. u need to prioritize and decide whether it is more important to have a super compact chassis (with no discrete gfx and no support for 3.5 inch HDD or full-sized ODD, Inwin BQ660) or a mid sized mini-ITX casing (Bitfenix Prodigy or Coolermaster Elite 120)

 

[Arrow32]

I suggest PC-Q18... One of the best itx casing...
Its cool and spacious... Using one now..

PSU, just get a FSP450w 80Plus Bronze Micro-ATX will do... Its a lot smaller than normal PSU, which allows more airflow and more space in the case..

 

[weng]

wa thanks man... quite a handful of model numbers to check up on.

regarding casing (and probably the accompanying psu), does fuwell sell them? i've been getting my stuff from them since many years ago so kinda used to them. if they dun sell then i would have to venture to other shops liao.

 

[rAcEr]

go down SLS n look see lor...

 

[Kyo_kusanagi86]

You could consider the leadtek gtx 650 1gb DDR5 @ $155 cybermind.