Compter Mod in small space restriction
October 14, 2006 8:20 AM Subscribe
ComputerModFilter: I need suggestions on building a computer with space restrictions...
I would like to build a home system powerful enough for average gaming (read: good graphics card and CPU), with a few HDs to hold a massive media collection. I am not sure a small form factor like Mini-ITX is powerful enough. My "case" will be an area under my IKEA "MOTIV" desk surface which has lift up panel to reveal space under the desk surface behind a set of draws - the ikea website has good photos. I have plenty of room laterally and wide but the height is only about 2-5/8 inches (sorry, no metric ruler) for the MD with some fashion of CPU cooler and PCI/AGP riser cards. A thought occured that I might just use a powerful laptop with a dock and disable or remove the screen so I could use it without opening the screen. Anyway any and all suggestions?
I would like to build a home system powerful enough for average gaming (read: good graphics card and CPU), with a few HDs to hold a massive media collection. I am not sure a small form factor like Mini-ITX is powerful enough. My "case" will be an area under my IKEA "MOTIV" desk surface which has lift up panel to reveal space under the desk surface behind a set of draws - the ikea website has good photos. I have plenty of room laterally and wide but the height is only about 2-5/8 inches (sorry, no metric ruler) for the MD with some fashion of CPU cooler and PCI/AGP riser cards. A thought occured that I might just use a powerful laptop with a dock and disable or remove the screen so I could use it without opening the screen. Anyway any and all suggestions?
The biggest problem I see is cooling. It doesn't matter if you have a great CPU and video card heatsink/fan if there's nowhere for the heat to go. You need to get the hot air out of the desk somehow. Ikea's website shows a computer in there, yes, but it's a laptop without an external monitor, so it's not running when the desk is closed.
You're going to have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse on the desk -- might as well put an attractive tower on the floor too.
posted by mendel at 8:51 AM on October 14, 2006
You're going to have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse on the desk -- might as well put an attractive tower on the floor too.
posted by mendel at 8:51 AM on October 14, 2006
If you added a CPU holder on the leg of your desk, you could have a reasonably attractive, off floor solution, with significantly greater flexibility and performance possibilities.
posted by paulsc at 8:56 AM on October 14, 2006
posted by paulsc at 8:56 AM on October 14, 2006
2-5/8", that's pretty tiny.
I agree that Mini-ITX form factors are going to be problematic for gaming. Processor speed isn't a terrible problem, as plenty of boards are supporting Pentium 4 processors now, but the video card is an issue. Some come with integrated Intel i845G video processors and they're absolutely miserable for 3D gaming.
The Commell LV-677 DOES support Core 2 Duo processors AND has a PCI-Express x16 slot which could be used for a powerful video card, but there are size, cooling, and compatibility issues according to this thread.
The shortest (height) MicroATX case I could find browsing around was more than 3" tall. I think I agree that a laptop would be a good solution. The Dell XPS laptops are complete beasts that (in my opinion) are useless for walking around with, but perfect for using as a docked laptop to suit your particular space-restricted needs.
They are, however, pricey. One with a 2.16GHz DuoCore processor, 512MB 7900 GTX video card, and and 1Gig of RAM runs $2600+. However, this, my friend, will blast through games.
The only problem you're going to run into is multiple hard drives. That particular notebook comes with an 80GB hard drive as standard with an optional upgrade to 160GB. The only thing I could think of to address that would be external USB drives for storage.
So there are some thoughts, hope they help some.
posted by empyrean at 9:00 AM on October 14, 2006
I agree that Mini-ITX form factors are going to be problematic for gaming. Processor speed isn't a terrible problem, as plenty of boards are supporting Pentium 4 processors now, but the video card is an issue. Some come with integrated Intel i845G video processors and they're absolutely miserable for 3D gaming.
The Commell LV-677 DOES support Core 2 Duo processors AND has a PCI-Express x16 slot which could be used for a powerful video card, but there are size, cooling, and compatibility issues according to this thread.
The shortest (height) MicroATX case I could find browsing around was more than 3" tall. I think I agree that a laptop would be a good solution. The Dell XPS laptops are complete beasts that (in my opinion) are useless for walking around with, but perfect for using as a docked laptop to suit your particular space-restricted needs.
They are, however, pricey. One with a 2.16GHz DuoCore processor, 512MB 7900 GTX video card, and and 1Gig of RAM runs $2600+. However, this, my friend, will blast through games.
The only problem you're going to run into is multiple hard drives. That particular notebook comes with an 80GB hard drive as standard with an optional upgrade to 160GB. The only thing I could think of to address that would be external USB drives for storage.
So there are some thoughts, hope they help some.
posted by empyrean at 9:00 AM on October 14, 2006
A 1U rackmount server is probably the best match to your needs. 1U is 1.75 inches and you can get barebones cases/motherboards fairly cheap, and you can easily add a PCI Express graphics card.
posted by cillit bang at 9:13 AM on October 14, 2006
posted by cillit bang at 9:13 AM on October 14, 2006
The 1U racks I've seen have a set of real loud fans across the front.
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:59 AM on October 14, 2006
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:59 AM on October 14, 2006
If it were me, I'd build the PC directly into the well - Mount everything as flat as you can get it. Nth-ing the idea of putting your storage elsewhere - If you can get by with just having a CF card/NetBoot to boot the machine locally, you would probably solve a lot of problems.
Some sort of AGP riser/extension card might help out with your space restrictions.
posted by Orb2069 at 12:13 PM on October 14, 2006
Some sort of AGP riser/extension card might help out with your space restrictions.
posted by Orb2069 at 12:13 PM on October 14, 2006
Also I'd think that in keeping a computer inside a wooden enclosure, you'd amplify a lot of humming, especially from the hard drives spinning up and seeking.
posted by mphuie at 12:54 PM on October 14, 2006
posted by mphuie at 12:54 PM on October 14, 2006
Response by poster: Funny, I never noticed the laptop in the Ikea photo :) I thought I could circulate air through the well by cutting a hole in the bottom plate and dampen the HD spin/noise with rubber feet or even some sort of rubber band suspension.
Anyone with water cooling experience? Could I water cool the CPU considering the height restriction? The two left wells of the desk have decent room.
Thanks all for input; if I cant work out the restriction I may just end up making my own tower and attaching it to the leg but I was hoping not to 1) because we store stuff under there and 2) for the fun of it.
posted by Kensational at 2:20 PM on October 14, 2006
Anyone with water cooling experience? Could I water cool the CPU considering the height restriction? The two left wells of the desk have decent room.
Thanks all for input; if I cant work out the restriction I may just end up making my own tower and attaching it to the leg but I was hoping not to 1) because we store stuff under there and 2) for the fun of it.
posted by Kensational at 2:20 PM on October 14, 2006
Re: watercooling - no experience, but I've been looking into it recently. A water-cooled heatsink for the CPU etc is much MUCH smaller than the air-cooled ones, so it would work with the height restriction, however the part of the watercooling system that cools the water (radiator) will be much larger. That shouldn't be a problem, because you can use tubing to put the radiator elsewhere, such as the side or back of the desk (though obviously it will need to be an unenclosed area for airflow purposes)
posted by -harlequin- at 3:37 PM on October 14, 2006
posted by -harlequin- at 3:37 PM on October 14, 2006
(Of course, at the point at which you have a water-cooling radiator with fans on the floor beside the desk, you may as well have put the computer there.)
posted by mendel at 5:26 PM on October 14, 2006
posted by mendel at 5:26 PM on October 14, 2006
Response by poster: Yeah, it looks that way. Perhaps I'm trying to reinvent the wheel here and might as well build it with some sort of case and place it near the desk.
posted by Kensational at 10:07 PM on October 14, 2006
posted by Kensational at 10:07 PM on October 14, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
It does sound like a laptop might be the best solution though. Most desktops designed to be small have slow, integrated video. You could possibly get a rack mount machine (very wide but thin) but these are usually servers and have poor video support too (and usually no AGP slots).
posted by wackybrit at 8:40 AM on October 14, 2006