Which SFF PC to build?

[NickD]

Hi all,

My trusty Shuttle XPC something or other (Athlon 2100+) is getting on a
bit, so I'm considering a new small form factor PC. Requirements are:
- 1GB RAM
- a DVDROM/ CDRW drive
- an internal HDD (I have an external one to back stuff up)
- USB, Firewire, onboard audio
- an AGP or PCI-E graphics card.
I'm not particularly fussed about which chipset or CPU, beyond good
value and able to run games like Prey at reasonable quality at
reasonable framerates. Something a step up from the 2100+ would be
good, but it doesn't have to be a huge step up.

Based on this, and a limited budget, what's my best bet? Build up a
barebones system (and which one?!) from ebay parts? Or an online
retailer? I'm in the UK, if that makes a difference...

Thanks
Nick

 

[NickD]

My trusty Shuttle XPC something or other (Athlon 2100+) is getting on a
bit, so I'm considering a new small form factor PC. Requirements are:
- 1GB RAM
- a DVDROM/ CDRW drive
- an internal HDD (I have an external one to back stuff up)
- USB, Firewire, onboard audio
- an AGP or PCI-E graphics card.
I'm not particularly fussed about which chipset or CPU, beyond good
value and able to run games like Prey at reasonable quality at
reasonable framerates. Something a step up from the 2100+ would be
good, but it doesn't have to be a huge step up.

Knew I'd forgotten something! I also need WLAN, either through an
expansion card, or built in. And an LPT printer port.

 

[Mike T.]

Hi all,

My trusty Shuttle XPC something or other (Athlon 2100+) is getting on a
bit, so I'm considering a new small form factor PC. Requirements are:
- 1GB RAM
- a DVDROM/ CDRW drive
- an internal HDD (I have an external one to back stuff up)
- USB, Firewire, onboard audio
- an AGP or PCI-E graphics card.
I'm not particularly fussed about which chipset or CPU, beyond good
value and able to run games like Prey at reasonable quality at
reasonable framerates. Something a step up from the 2100+ would be
good, but it doesn't have to be a huge step up.

Based on this, and a limited budget, what's my best bet? Build up a
barebones system (and which one?!) from ebay parts? Or an online
retailer? I'm in the UK, if that makes a difference...

Thanks
Nick

None. Even the best aren't that much smaller than a micro-ATX format
computer case, and the power supplies are proprietary. Meaning, when the
power supply dies, you will want to buy a new (micro-ATX or ATX) format case
anyway. -Dave