Small Form Factor PC - Y SO MANY?

[mallenwho]

Investigating small form factor (console size small - 250D is way too big) as a new work pc to sit on my desk. Don't want to reach under to turn it on. I also wouldn't mind being able to just take it to work like i would i laptop but i wouldn't use the screen or battery and just getting the hardware would be cheaper.

 

I looked into various small itx builds and found either i'm comprimising on cooling in an Antec ISK110 or im comprimising on cost by going for a silverstone Raven Z01 - which i don't like either.

 

So i looked into small form factor PCs, but with Zbox, NUC, and BRIX, and each company putting out a couple dozen different models there is a lot to sort through, with not very clear notes on what each unit contains. Thumbnails look more or less the same, and specs i've found are not always displayed. 

Therefore i thought i'd ask if someone who knows what they're looking for could hand pick the right combo specs and price i'm looking for. =)

 

Does not need good graphics. Will never game - only word processing, small scale image processing (like in powerpoint or MS paint) and web browsing. However i want it to still be reasonably fast in 5 years so OTT for now. Therefore i was looking at either an i5 or the new pentium for CPU. If at all possible i'd like it to have optical drive but i can invest in an external one if one doesn't exist. An SSD boot drive i see as essential.

 

I'm happy to put together a barebones system but some are barebones, some aren't, and its hard to tell which is which.

 

Given i'd probably be buying OS, memory and drive anyway, i don't want the barebones kit to cost any more than $500. 

 

If someone can find me a barebones kit with above average processing but little or no graphics, with sd storage and an optical drive, i would very much appreciate it as it would save me a few hours of head numbing confusion in specs sheets.

 

Thank you =)

[Paralectic]

You want a simple office PC with an external PSU? There are many of them.

Just add an SSD and enough RAM.

[Rorgash]

exists in much lower specs as well.

 

[ShadowCaptain]

I looked into various small itx builds and found either i'm comprimising on cooling in an Antec ISK110 or im comprimising on cost by going for a silverstone Raven Z01 - which i don't like either.

 

 

If you are just using the pc for word processing, browsing, etc, then you really do not need to worry that much about cooling, it should stay pretty cool even with a stock cooler or low profile noctua cooler.

 

I use the Antec ISK 300-150, its a great case, a tiny bit larger, but still really tiny

 

Personally would get a mac mini, but thats just me

[samcool55]

I would go for an external optical drive, it gives you a lot more choice if you want a good barebone. 

 

I would take a zotac zbox with an i3 or an i5, there is a big chance it will still be enough over 5 years and most of the barebones have an sd card reader.

Atom, celeron and pentiums probably won't last 5 years, and the amd's are also too slow.

 

You can throw normally a 2.5' drive in it and some ram and off you go. And some zboxes come with an adapter from 2.5' to 2 m-sata slots.

[mallenwho]

If you are just using the pc for word processing, browsing, etc, then you really do not need to worry that much about cooling, it should stay pretty cool even with a stock cooler or low profile noctua cooler.

 

I use the Antec ISK 300-150, its a great case, a tiny bit larger, but still really tiny

 

Personally would get a mac mini, but thats just me

 

Never found the 150-300. Doesn't look half bad.

Regardless of how insignificant cooling on a low power PC is, i was intending to overclock a G3258 for this so that might put out a bit of heat. From the looks of this the 300-150 only has one 80mm side fan for exhaust. How is your experience with it?

[Hans Christian | Teri]

exists in much lower specs as well.

 

 

Don't understand how you can possibly recommend this when the design is so flawed.

[DIV1D3]

I recon this would do nicely, pair that with some Corsair Vengeance SODIMM RAM and your good to go. Since you won't be doing any taxing tasks 4GB will do fine. Then you can add in an Intel 530 240GB mSATA SSD and it'll be pretty shmick. 

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1552&products_id=25804

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=186_929&products_id=20941

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=210_902_909&products_id=26138

[Rorgash]

Don't understand how you can possibly recommend this when the design is so flawed.

that one yes, but he wanted a non gaming version which exists and wont have the heat issues

[ShadowCaptain]

Never found the 150-300. Doesn't look half bad.

Regardless of how insignificant cooling on a low power PC is, i was intending to overclock a G3258 for this so that might put out a bit of heat. From the looks of this the 300-150 only has one 80mm side fan for exhaust. How is your experience with it?

 

Really good, i have a low profile dvd drive in mine and use it as a media centre in my lounge, can barely hear it, its running a sandy bridge i3 with stock cooler and it stays cool and quiet, looks really smart too

[Sauron]

Don't understand how you can possibly recommend this when the design is so flawed.

 

It's flawed for a desktop grade gtx 760, not in general...

 

@mallenwho a gigabyte brix is probably what you are looking for, you can get anything from amd apus to core i7s.

[razor767]

What country are you looking to buy from?

[Misanthrope]

It's flawed for a desktop grade gtx 760, not in general...

 

@mallenwho a gigabyte brix is probably what you are looking for, you can get anything from amd apus to core i7s.

 

If you have to pay for it, then is flawed. Double fail since he mentions he won't ever do any gaming on it.

I'd go with a better version of this gigabyte cube systems or the zotac ones that don't include fancy graphics, they should be around 300 bucks plus what you need to spend on memory and storage.

[Sauron]

If you have to pay for it, then is flawed. Double fail since he mentions he won't ever do any gaming on it.

 

I meant that you can buy one that DOESN'T have the 760 and it will work well

[Misanthrope]

I meant that you can buy one that DOESN'T have the 760 and it will work well

 

In that case yes.

[flibberdipper]

GB-BXi5-4200 (rev. 1.0) Done.

[mallenwho]

 

GB-BXi5-4200 (rev. 1.0) Done.

 

 

I recon this would do nicely, pair that with some Corsair Vengeance SODIMM RAM and your good to go. Since you won't be doing any taxing tasks 4GB will do fine. Then you can add in an Intel 530 240GB mSATA SSD and it'll be pretty shmick. 

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1552&products_id=25804

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=186_929&products_id=20941

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=210_902_909&products_id=26138

 

Thank you very much. I had found the ram and SSD i was intending to use but this is exactly the recommendation i was hoping for.

 

 

GB-BXi5-4200 (rev. 1.0) Done.

 

 

This is exactly the problem i was trying to avoid by asking for advice. I know where to look for barebones systems and was fairly set on buying one. However that link, ya know, only has 11 systems.

 

Which ones are overkill for non-gaming? I don't know. Which ones are reasonably priced? I don't know. I was hoping someone could help me with that. 

[DIV1D3]

Thank you very much. I had found the ram and SSD i was intending to use but this is exactly the recommendation i was hoping for.

 

 

This is exactly the problem i was trying to avoid by asking for advice. I know where to look for barebones systems and was fairly set on buying one. However that link, ya know, only has 11 systems.

 

Which ones are overkill for non-gaming? I don't know. Which ones are reasonably priced? I don't know. I was hoping someone could help me with that. 

Awesome, glad I could help, also I'm fairly certain he meant the GB-BXi5-4200 (rev. 1.0) one, sorta because that's what the hyperlink is . 

So this one: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/list.aspx?s=47&ck=104&p=367&v=6

But I still stand by the Intel NUC I suggested.