Compact ITX case and PSU for office build

[martian_aphid]

Happy Holidays guys.

 

Would love a bit of advice on the above. Basically I'm specing up a PC for office use with as small a footprint as possible, ideally that means ITX.

 

At the moment the innards will either be a salvaged i5-3450 and it's partnered RAM from a larger machine, if I can get hold of a LGA1155 ITX motherboard - there don't seem too many options for this older platform over here in the UK.

 

The other option is to get hold of some decent new parts (CPU/Mobo/Ram - no dedicated GPU just integrated graphics will be fine and will keep the size down) any advice on a spec for this would be great - it's just for general office usage.

 

For both options an small ITX is required and also a PSU to match - if we can run either of the above builds on a SFX PSU all the better. But the overall idea is that it doesn't need to be one of the gaming sized ITX cases with the extra space for full-sized graphics cards, megacoolers. There seem to be literally hundreds of ITX cases nowadays (if you take into account HTPC cases) and I'm a bit lost as to which to opt for. I like the smaller Lian Li designs but again they seem to have so many. Also the Rajintek Metis seems like a fairly svelte case.

 

Thanks in advance for any help

[dr_bowtie]

Here is a link to the case I use to build mini-itx cases. Now I realize its a US link but you get the idea.

 

http://www.directron.com/wi01.html

 

I throw the PSU away and get a Seasonic unit. 

 

The PSU it comes with is LOUD and ramps up pretty quickly. The Seasonic unit adds to the cost but it well worth it for silent running.

[martian_aphid]

Hi Mr Bowtie, thanks for the recommendation.

 

I couldn't find that exact Winsis unit over here but I found a couple that look awfully close:

 

In-Win

Akasa

 

There's also an Antec unit which is a touch longer:

Antec

 

They all come with PSUs which my best guess are TFX units. I was thinking of getting a 300W PSU - would that suffice? Out of interest what sort of spec do you put in these sized cases? The smallest I've gone before is mATX so I'm not sure what my limitations are at this size - would it be i3 or could I stretch to i5, or do you recommend AMD? I've only ever built gaming-focussed PCs and so it's been exclusively mid to high end intel.

Edited December 27, 2015 by martian_aphid

[VaporX]

If your gonna build from new the AMD APUs are awesome little systems for an ITX build without discrete graphics. They have more than enough horse power for office apps and much better onboard graphics options. If you want performance to value I would look at the AMD A8-7670K. Match that with a solid ITX board and DDR3 2400 RAM and you are rocking a quick little beast. For the RAM I would spend extra and get 16 gig since your stealing part of the RAM for graphics but the cost increase is not all that high. Your want 2400 speed as AMD APUs will eat up RAM speed and see real benefits.

[martian_aphid]

Thanks for that VaporX. I'm just putting together a basket with that configuration and it's coming in at less than

[dr_bowtie]

The only thing you need to watch is that with such a small case and the FM-series APU they are 95w-100w APUs and cooling them sufficiently with the stock cooler may be an issue. 

 

You might look into a Low Profile after market cooler that would be better than stock and keep it as a thought if the stock unit doesnt do well in the small case. I have not shoved a full blown FM-series APU in a real small form factor case but I have no doubt that with the right cooler it could be done quietly while remaining cool running.

 

The stock coolers can get somewhat loud.

 

My daily driver uses the case I linked plus a ASRock AM1H-ITX and a AMD-AM1-5350 APU with an Artic Cooling M1 low profile cooler. runs silent.

[martian_aphid]

yeah, I see that now. The AM1-5350 is only a 25w TDP so not much trouble. I suppose I should factor in a aftermarket cooler too, something along the lines of this for Kaveri:

 

low profile cooler

[dr_bowtie]

I havent tried any low profile coolers yet so I cannot advise on any for the FM-series. I have a box that I need to re-do the cooler on but havent gotten around to it yet.

[VaporX]

I would also look at the A8 7800 or 7600, both are 65 watt TDP so plenty cool but both also have the option to run at 45 watt TDP. I have a 7800 running at 65 TDP in a Xigmatek Nebula case with a Noctua NH-L9a and the system is nice and cool plus near silent. Also look at a Cryorig C7, rated for 100 TDP and really reasonably priced.

 

The AM1 platform is a decent base but from my experience I hated using it as a work system, did not have enough kick for me. If all I did was internet and email it would be okay.

[martian_aphid]

Thanks for all the help guys. Going to start sourcing all the parts in the coming week. All the best