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Evaders99
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Recommendations for LAN Party machine

Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:42 am

I want to build a SFF gaming machine I can bring around for LAN parties, mostly playing high-end games like Supreme Commander.
Looking for recommendations outside the The Console on Steroids - mostly because I want to tailor it to a Intel Core i5 platform. The i5-750 seems ripe for performance/price as well as overclocking, given the latest TR reviews.

The second half would be as another machine for Folding@home. Having a quad core already for some SMP Folding, pretty sure I'm going to go with an Nvidia card for more PPD (despite the better performance/price with the ATI cards) - the GTX 260 seems well in supply.

So, cooling is my main concern - not so much noise or cost. Up to $1000 USD or so seems reasonable. I don't need any of the recommended wireless accessories, Blu-ray player, monitor, OS etc.

I don't know if the Silverstone Sugo SG02-BF recommended really cuts it here with one 80mm side fan.
Tempted to go with the Antec Mini P180 esp if it can fit a tower CPU cooler for good overclocking.
But the 20 lbs of weight is a little discouraging, as I want to be able to move it around.

Something like the Thermaltake LANBOXseems like an option, given its front and back fans.

Don't know if the SeaSonic SS-350ET will cut it for full load of the Core i5 + GTX 260


Not planning on doing any case modding, really just has to screw in easily.
Newegg is an option (I'm in the US) as well as Fry's (I have one locally and will try to get a case in-stock there if possible).

So suggestions on:
- CPU / mATX motherboard
- SFF case
- Power supply (modular maybe, given the tight space)
- CPU cooler... need a low-profile perhaps?

Thanks!

P.S. any suggestions on a KVM? Esp if it supports DVI and USB, since all my accessories are such. Would like to just swap between this desktop and the LAN party box easily :)
P.P.S Is the Caviar Black 640GB still worth the small premium as a system disk?
 
adam1378
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Re: Recommendations for LAN Party machine

Wed Feb 24, 2010 11:11 am

I am using the TT lanbox lite for the same reasons you want to build for. The case I have doesn't have the handle or a clear side but works as a matx case. I chose this case because it will support a full size psu and gpu plus I could also take it out. I never had heat issues and could add additional fans if needed. A small quirk was how heavy it was loaded but not a big deal. I had to use a low profile cpu cooler too: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185097&cm_re=scythe-_-35-185-097-_-Product that worked great for a AMD 7750 BE keeping it cool. Overall I am happy with the build and it serves its purpose.
Ancient 1366 chipset and 6GB of RAM oh and 6950
 
codedivine
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Re: Recommendations for LAN Party machine

Wed Feb 24, 2010 12:03 pm

Evaders99 wrote:
So, cooling is my main concern - not so much noise or cost. Up to $1000 USD or so seems reasonable. I don't need any of the recommended wireless accessories, Blu-ray player, monitor, OS etc.

I don't know if the Silverstone Sugo SG02-BF recommended really cuts it here with one 80mm side fan.
Tempted to go with the Antec Mini P180 esp if it can fit a tower CPU cooler for good overclocking.
But the 20 lbs of weight is a little discouraging, as I want to be able to move it around.

Something like the Thermaltake LANBOXseems like an option, given its front and back fans.


Mini P180 isn't really mini. As for lanbox, I am not quite sure if the lanbox will fit the GTX 260. Techpowerup review mentions that 8800gtx may or may not fit and a 8800gtx is the same length as a gtx 260 afaik. (Please correct if I am wrong about this).

Sugo has slots for 2 additional 80mm fans on the top and also has vent holes on the sides so I don't think cooling will be a major problem IMO.

Evaders99 wrote:
Don't know if the SeaSonic SS-350ET will cut it for full load of the Core i5 + GTX 260


No it is not suitable. Go for a better powersupply, lets say 500W or so and ensure that it has 2 6-pin PCI-E connectors for your graphics card.
Sidenote about power supply: If you are looking to install this system by yourself in a small case, then it might be easier to go for a modular power supply otherwise wiring can be a pain to do in a small case.
 
adam1378
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Re: Recommendations for LAN Party machine

Wed Feb 24, 2010 6:33 pm

I was using the Sapphire 4870 in the Lan box and it fit fine when I adjusted the HDD holder. It should support all gpu's except maybe the 5890. It has good airflow without alot of noise.
Ancient 1366 chipset and 6GB of RAM oh and 6950
 
Evaders99
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Re: Recommendations for LAN Party machine

Wed Feb 24, 2010 7:51 pm

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll look around and see what's available to me and what's a good deal.

I'm really leaning towards a more traditional minitower, esp if it has 120mm fan intakes and outtakes. I don't really see the point of having a box-looking case, they seem harder to work with and I don't seem to need one to fit under a desk. The PSU over the CPU is a big disadvantage in my eyes.

I took a look at the Antec Mini and it's just too big. It's quite heavy. The Silverstone TJ-08 looks like a good fit, but I can't find it in my area.

---
On a different issue, what do you think of an SSD here? Probably not going to spend the hundreds to store all the games themselves on a 200+ GB drive, but a value SSD (probably 60-80 GB) for the OS
 
adam1378
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Re: Recommendations for LAN Party machine

Fri Feb 26, 2010 4:38 pm

With the PSU over the CPU is not a problem, I can vent the PSU out the top of the case. FYI. On SSD's I have switched to SSD's for all my OS drives because the price of 60gb drives are fair enough and want the quick boot speed. WIndows 7 is most friendly for SSD, but OCZ has wiper programs to help for other OS.
Ancient 1366 chipset and 6GB of RAM oh and 6950
 
JustAnEngineer
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Re: Recommendations for LAN Party machine

Fri Feb 26, 2010 10:30 pm

viewtopic.php?f=33&t=70774
Replace the Core i3-530 with a Core i7-860 and the PCIe TV tuner card with a PCIe X16 graphics card.
 
Airmantharp
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Re: Recommendations for LAN Party machine

Sat Feb 27, 2010 1:34 am

JustAnEngineer wrote:
http://techreport.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=70774
Replace the Core i3-530 with a Core i7-860 and the PCIe TV tuner card with a PCIe X16 graphics card.


I've been researching these in another forum; if you move to the SG-06, you can cut some of the steel out (really) behind the faceplate to fit a 5850. Aside from a Shuttle, it doesn't get much smaller than that. Get an i5-750, or 860 if you're careful, and a low profile cooler (beware of clearance on these cases) and you're set.
 
Airmantharp
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Re: Recommendations for LAN Party machine

Sat Feb 27, 2010 1:38 am

Here is another suggestion for a LAN case. It takes an mATX board, with a full size PSU, full size GPU's, and a full size CPU cooler.
 
StuG
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Re: Recommendations for LAN Party machine

Sun Mar 07, 2010 5:42 am

I love LANbox's, I forget which one it was but there was a LANbox that came out recently that supports the 5970, maybe you want to look into that?

EDIT: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/c ... _fits_5970

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