Motherboard and APU for Commodore 64 case mod

[Lalorm]

Hi all,

 

I'm starting a case mod of an old Commodore 64 (Bread bin style case) and I'm trying to decide on what motherboard to use with this.  I'm hoping that maybe someone here has done something similar and can offer advice on the best choice of motherboard with an APU that will work ok for basic gaming.

 

In terms of the case, it's small in there.  Not much in the way of heigth for a large heatsink and not much, if nothing at all in terms of airflow.  So this baby has to run cool so it isn't going to be a beast of a machine, but I would like it to be able to do some minor 3D gaming if possible.

So as I see it I need the following...

• a Mini or Nano ITX motherboard and if possible a motherboard that comes with an APU and small heatsink/fan already fitted.  It has to be as low as possible to get in there under the keyboard!
  
• The PSU needs to be external, so the Motherboard needs to be able to use a Laptop style PSU.
  
• I'm planning to use Windows 8.1 on the system so I'd like to have a recent enough board so I know there shouldn't be any problems with the support of the OS.
  

I don't have much experience with these types of motherboards so I'm hoping that someone here might have suggestions on the best board to use.  Something like this is what I have in mind except I can't use this as it has an internal PSU connector...

http://www.ebay.ie/i...=item4879c25e3f

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Regards.

 

[Lalorm]

Wow, hadn't thought of that.  Perfect solution! That was easy

[Johannes_Lazor]

Id recommend a AM1 platform with a 5350, It only uses 25 watts and has a Really small heatsink, It doesnt have alot of iGPU power in comparison with the higher end FM2/+ ones But it is probably enough for indies and such.
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor  ($49.99 @ Directron) 

Motherboard: MSI AM1I Mini ITX AM1 Motherboard  ($29.99 @ Amazon) 

Total: $79.98

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-03 12:28 EST-0500

[Johannes_Lazor]

 

Id recommend a AM1 platform with a 5350, It only uses 25 watts and has a Really small heatsink, It doesnt have alot of iGPU power in comparison with the higher end FM2/+ ones But it is probably enough for indies and such.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor  ($49.99 @ Directron) 

Motherboard: MSI AM1I Mini ITX AM1 Motherboard  ($29.99 @ Amazon) 

Total: $79.98

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-03 12:28 EST-0500

 

Here are more info about it,

CPU

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7933/the-desktop-kabini-review-part-1-athlon-5350-am1

iGPU

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7933/the-desktop-kabini-review-part-1-athlon-5350-am1/6

 

[Syfes]

That mini ITX motherboard is still giant compared to the NUC motherboards tho. I personally doubt you'll be able to fit one in the housing of a commodore 64.

[Lalorm]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.  I've had a look as the MSI boards and the more I look at them, the more I like the NUC.  A big factor for me is getting power to the system.  I can't fit a big PSU in there so the NUC is a nice solution for that.  It's also perfect in terms of size.  just a little over 11cm x 11cm and 3cm in height and that's including the case.  It's a bit pricey in my part of the world, but I think it's a perfect solution.  It might even fit into the more modern 64C version of the case.  

Thanks again.