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I wanna do it for fun really. Getting tired of my case. I'm thinkin' of going with a MiniATX board. Got a question though. I've always considered MiniATX boards to be inferior to regualr ATX boards. Maybe it was always because they used older technology, I don't know. I've looked at this board

http://www.biostar.com.tw/products/main ... index.php3

and specs wise it sounds great. Better than my Epox 8K5A2+ (minus the fact that it doesn't have RAID). Anybody have experience with this board? My main concern is performance, this will be a gamin' rig that I plan to take to friends houses every now and then.

I just want to, buy or possibly build a case that is rather small but at the same time everything is pretty easily accesable. Still looking for a case that can do this, but I don't think I'll find one. Best one I've found was the coolermaster 600 series but it's a desktop style case and still looks too big.

So, another goal is QUIET! So I would like a powersupply with only one fan (if thats even possibly anymore, sheesh) or if it does have two fans then it's atleast quiet or adjustable. There will be no overclocking so I figure temps should stay reasonable. Basically just want a pretty kick ass and quiet lan party machine.

Suggestions/comments about the motherboard or anything else? I need suggestions on a good case if ya'll have any (internal design are more important than looks).

why not just get a shuttle box or one of the many other look alikes out now?

they are extreamly small, are jsut as powerful as a desktops and are pretty quiet now adays. Just wondering.

Zalman now makes an extreamly quiet PS that has one fan and is powerful.

THe board seems nice, never used one though. but the nf2 chipset does do a Nice job.

Greg

From memory, aren't all the shuttle pc's using their own type of motherboard w/built in processors? I dunno, I just like the idea to be able to upgrade with "normal" parts. Plus it looks like I can get faster machine by building myself....plus I have the fun of building it myself

Thanks for the PSU suggestion, I'll look into it.

[edit]
can only find a 300w version....thats a little too small...

no, thoses are the eden VIA things. the shuttle stuff has 1 agp, one pci 2 ram, and 1 cpu socket.

Very quiet (expically when you do a few mods) as powerful as a desktop, at the size of a shoe box.

Ill be getting the nf2 one very soon my self.

It also has room for 1 cd drive, 1 floppy drive, and 1 hd. I see no use for a floppy drive though.

Greg

not really one for small pcs, but hey anything NForce 2 gets my vote

hehe, hell I don't even know what I want anymore I wanna upgrade but my PC runs everything I play fine. I keep goin' back and forth. If I could find a decent case I'd probably do it. It's hard to find a [SMALL] case that supports a normal PSU and two 5.25 drive bays. Desktop cases are too large and those shuttle cases are too small (I'd like to have a DVD-ROM & CD-Burner)...and to think I was tryin' to snag a server tower not too long ago! heh...(sorry for wastin' yer time DaMaN )

http://www.soltekusa.com/product/showpr ... 1042222291 its a p4 rig, but it has dual cd bays.

Greg

Hmm, not bad. Now only if I could find a PSU that is more than 200w Wonder if I'd need something more than that <img src=http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hipnotic_ ... es/sad.gif>

get a sis chipset ASUS mATX board and a P4 northwood. Sweet combination power, speeed and small size.

I also have a shuttle and those things rock!!!!Super small and the 200W PSU is plenty =)

I am looking at their nf2 and geting an AMD setup. Best bang for da buck!!

The Antec TruePower power supplies have 2 fans, but they are thermally controlled and very quiet. plus they have 2 fan only connectors which help to keep other case fans quiet. They only get faster when needed.

the ps's in the mini boxes cover everythign you can use. the one in the shuttle rig can run a 9700aiw, nice cpu and ram, as well as a cdrw and HD.

Greg

Any idea where I can purchase motherboard treys by themselves? Thinkin' I might like to actually build the case out or wood or something, then stain it so it looks real purty It'd just be nice to have a base to start with....

Here is a nice little Lian Li case that has two 5.25" bays.

Lian Li PC-402B


You can also buy the FN41 motherboard (same motherboard used in the Shuttle SN41G2 (nForce2) SFF for $200.00

Shuttle FN41 motherboard

MAC

Thanks, problem with that Lian Li is that it only supports motherboards as big as 7x7.5. The motherboard I'm lookin' at is a 9.5x9.5. My biggest beaf with a case <i>that</i> small is that it'll be harder to upgrade in the future (lack of motherboards that small). Where as MicroATX boards are becomming rather popular.

Plus, about $300 for a case & mobo Appreciate the input though! I almost wanna make my own case, that way I can have the exact layout I want and have the pride in saying "I built this.....no, I mean the case too "

here is a review of the board you were looking at origonally I think: http://www.bjorn3d.com/_preview.php?articleID=247

Greg