Small Form Factor PC Advice Needed

[micarforum]

Hi guys,

I am looking to build a small form factor (e.g. mini itx) pc, somewhat like a mac mini, no display / input devices will be connected, it's more for remote desktop (to remote into this pc for running some applications), just need the following:

CPU: desktop cpu, not mobile cpu (prefer i7 3770, no need to overclock)
ram: as much as possible, prefer 16gb at least
hdd: a small ssd with high transfer rates
gfx: able to output via RDP 2560 x 1440 remotely

other items not impt

Would appreciate any advice!

 

[coyote]

your requirements seemes contradictory.

for a headless server that's on 24/7, ssd is not helpful.

for remote windows, internet speed will be bottleneck, people will usually choose lower resolution and lower color depths to speed up screen refresh. so having a power graphic card with super high resolution isn't going to help either. you want to play 3D shooter over remote access?

what application you run warrants an i7?

normally, a B75 asrock board with i3 or i5 with onboard intel HD2500/4000 is enough. 500G hdd is enough, no ssd unless you intend to keep rebooting your remote server.

 

[royfrosty]

Hmm mini mac is kinda too small

Anyway. Looks like you are willing to fork out some money on a cpu. So i make a wild guess that your budget should be quite high.

What i think is that you may need a WiDi (Wireless Display function which i find it quite useful)

May be can consider,

Mobo: Gigabyte H77N with WiFi and WiDi display functions
CPU: Intel i7-3770
Ram: Kingston Value Ram 4gb x 2
HDD: Plextor M5 Pro 128gb
GPU: ???
PSU: Corsair CX500 Bronze

Im not sure how you wanna display remotely to any other displays. Cause i believe that if you want to log in remotely to your desktop at anywhere in the world i believe the displays resolution will very much depends on the monitors display? Cause i don't see how does a discrete graphics are able to help in remote displays.

 

[royfrosty]

your requirements seemes contradictory.

for a headless server that's on 24/7, ssd is not helpful.

for remote windows, internet speed will be bottleneck, people will usually choose lower resolution and lower color depths to speed up screen refresh. so having a power graphic card with super high resolution isn't going to help either. you want to play 3D shooter over remote access?

what application you run warrants an i7?

normally, a B75 asrock board with i3 or i5 with onboard intel HD2500/4000 is enough. 500G hdd is enough, no ssd unless you intend to keep rebooting your remote server.

PRECISELY, i got a hard time giving him recommendations

 

[coyote]

last but not least, small casing means more heat, powweful cpu and graphic card = more heat and compromise stability of your remote server. since it's remote server, why bother whether it's small. while big chassis is overkill also. I'll suggest a mid size cooler master elite 361. better ventilation is good for stability of remote server especially so if you insist a powerful card in a server .

 

[micarforum]

hey guys, thanks for the advice so far, and sorry for not making myself clear in my initial requirements, here are more information on my needs:

Why I need the machine: I am using Mac, but I need to run some trading softwares natively on Windows 7 (parallel and bootcamp just doesn't offer the same stability/speed i need)

Purpose of machine: to run some trading softwares which will be accessed via my Macs via RDP (which can change resolution based on my client's display). In my case, I am outputting on 27", thus the resolution of 2560x1440

Was thinking of getting a dell vostro laptop, but the cpu like CMI leh, desktop i7 3770 or 4770 seems much faster.