Can you recommend a small case?

BarGin

I'm looking to build a media centre pc and use a 40" 1080p television as a monitor.

I have assembled a list of components from Ebuyer that I think would make a good system. I am not interested in playing games - mainly playing Blu-Ray dvds and web browsing.

ABIT Fatal1ty F-I90HD Socket 775 Radeon Xpress 1250 onboard VGA 8 channel audio mATX
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping (2.4GHz 1066MHz) Socket 775 L2 8MB Cache (2x4MB (4MB per core pair) Retail Boxed Processor
Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache - OEM
Extra Value 1GB DDR2 800MHz PC2-6400 240pin Extra Value Ram
Pioneer BDC-202 Blu-Ray Reader 12X DVD±RWDL/RAM SATA Black - OEM

I was considering the Antec Fusion 2 case but now realise it is rather too big for where it needs to go.

Can anyone recommend a good quality smaller case that would be suitable please? Also any comments on my selection of components would be much appreciated.

BarGin

Red_Rose_Exile

You might want a micro atx case such as this one

Just been thinking though, to benefit from the blu ray you really are going to need a graphics card with DVI-I output, in which case you will probably need some thing like this

GoofyGAT

The Q6600 would be overkill for what you'll be using it for. An £76 E4400 or similar would be more than sufficient.

Actually, you'll get much better value if you go for an AMD system - & get a lesser motherboard & CPU. As an example: £30 MSI K9VGM-V AM2 mATX combined with a £44 AMD X2 4000+, saving a whopping £155 on your original choices!

Get better RAM too - there's only £5-10 difference between this & branded stuff. If it's going to be Vista, get an additional 1Gb. G

BarGin

Thanks for the suggestions. The Ibox Cube looks good - it would house a hd-dvd drive too (one day!)

The reason I went for the Abit motherboard was the onboard passively cooled Radeon graphics and hdmi output to feed the TV. I did mean to include 2GB ram - the quantity got lost during copy and paste.

I went for the Quad processor because I read somewhere that they run a lot cooler than Duos and I want to minimise fan noise.

BarGin

nickcardwell

BarGin wrote: »

I'm looking to build a media centre pc and use a 40" 1080p television as a monitor.

I have assembled a list of components from Ebuyer that I think would make a good system. I am not interested in playing games - mainly playing Blu-Ray dvds and web browsing.

ABIT Fatal1ty F-I90HD Socket 775 Radeon Xpress 1250 onboard VGA 8 channel audio mATX
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping (2.4GHz 1066MHz) Socket 775 L2 8MB Cache (2x4MB (4MB per core pair) Retail Boxed Processor
Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache - OEM
Extra Value 1GB DDR2 800MHz PC2-6400 240pin Extra Value Ram
Pioneer BDC-202 Blu-Ray Reader 12X DVD±RWDL/RAM SATA Black - OEM

I was considering the Antec Fusion 2 case but now realise it is rather too big for where it needs to go.

Can anyone recommend a good quality smaller case that would be suitable please? Also any comments on my selection of components would be much appreciated.

BarGin

try going for a samsung hard drive they are quieter.

i have a similar setup as your getting (including the antec case) , my pc is connected via the hdmi to the 2 flat screens (in different rooms) and use this via bluetooth keyboard and mouse. The motherboard will probably need a bios upgrade (the bios that comes with the abit board is buggy )

Will this be running xp or vista?

If its vista, you would be better getting more memory (less disk swapping) , i have a 4gb on mine.

Also it may be worth getting a quieter heatsink and fan .

Finally ebuyer can be cheaper, though i found out that www.overclockers.co.uk can be cheaper for some parts (im almost certain they are the cheapest for bluray drives.

Processor wise, its the same as mine. For blu ray play back you need a good fast processor.