There are 2 categories of smaller motherboards than standard ATX boards, microATX and miniATX. More selection of microATX which tend to be slightly bigger than miniATX. But miniATX do accommodate a decent GPU card. This case comes with a nice 80Plus rated PSU. If you decide to splurge, going with a Gold or higher rated PSU would be nicer. Holds 3.5" and 2.5" HD and has room with a slim external 5.25" drive bay. SilverStone Sugo SG05-B Black SECC / Plastic Mini-ITX Desktop Computer Case SFX 300W 80Plus Power Supply A decent rated miniATX ASUS mobo. Can take i7/i5 Intel CPU. PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot for a nice GPU. ASUS P8H61-I (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
Not at all. My current build is pretty quiet. Bought a decent CPU fan with alum/copper connects. Decent midrange GPU. Both of those things can go into a standard miniATX board. We are taking moderate performance here, not OCing so don't need all that extra cooling.
> Does Dell still produce something that is hard to kill? Noone does, everyone does. This is only a gamble, sorry. 3 years is a lot of time - not saying machienes are not robust, but even if you get a passively cooled system (low power, but ok) there is a chance you just get some crapped out RAM. Anyhow, you need: * SOmething with no moving parts, sorry THat is a low power Atom - anything with a FAN has a chance that you must replace the FAN. Warranties of Dell are USELESS for your requirements -because you talk about "not needing the warranty". Just yesterday my secretaries computer failed. Reset for patching. no start - hard disc did not come up. Bad luck - nothing would be different with a Dell. Now - the Warranty may mean Dell ships you another one, but that is not the question The machine is out. Not that it took us long - replace disc, reinstall OS (nothing stored there anyway). But anything mechanic may fail. The only way to do that is: * Run 2+ machines - 3 is standard. * Program in such a way that the system handles the loss of 2 machines. If you want tom inimize the risk on one system, you need a system that has zero moving parts (SSD, no fans) and is redundant on important stuff (ssd mirrored, ECC ram, dual power supply hot swappable, get a GOOD USV to reduce downtime and scrub your power). Point. If that is not possible, GET 2-3 machines - keep them ready. If that must work, then waiting for spares does not work. Sorry Life is as it is.
Shopster, that rig's in the back of a truck and it ain't for trading. What's behind the lens is more interesting, no?
thx for the recovery wishes - dr is taking out the pins tomorrow & wed... still grosses me out to think about metal rods half in my bonr & half exposed to the air... Just get a Dell P490 or T5400. They are great & cheap & robust as a mo-fo... the old 64-bit PCI cards are now cheap and will kick butt...
There is an updated version of the case with better power PSU. SILVERSTONE Sugo Series SG05BB-450 ALL Black Plastic / SECC Mini-ITX Desktop Computer Case with SFX 450W 80+ Bronze Certified / Single +12V rail Power Supply This guy went for performance and built a gaming rig. Using mobo's native graphics and an i5 instead of i7 will probably cut down on all those fans. Video gives a good idea of how small the case is. <object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9_4CgTNwrYg?version=3&feature=player_detailpage"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9_4CgTNwrYg?version=3&feature=player_detailpage" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="360"></object>
Thanks a lot for all the info. I am going to go with either Dell P490 or T5400. They seem to fit the bill. Aside from Dell outlet, is there a place where one could grab them easily? Any info woud go a long way. Thanks!