Building the New Desktop System (in 2010)
My AMD-based tower system is robust but needs to be replaced with smaller hardware. Back in the day when I built this thing (before the Blog—even before flickr.com), this was considered a “mini” tower. Now this thing is huge! See my tower getting cleaned on the patio. I thought this thing would be swallowed up in my palatial estate but it’s not. Space is an issue.
So I’ve been collecting links to hardware that may or may not be a part of my future rig. This process of collection was sparked by the Dell drama I had. Simultaneously my youngest child, my daughter, is growing and she will need a dedicated computer (and desk). My old “tower” and CRT (and ink jet printer) are fine for a five/six year old. Babies can put finger prints all over the tube. She quickly outgrew the other old desktop reserved for her…
So, anyway, the following table summarizes my new hardware picks.
| [SAMSUNG 2443BWX Glossy Black 24" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001295) | $329.99
This BWX costs more at NewEgg.com than the BW model (below). |
| [SAMSUNG 2433BW High Glossy Black 24" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001309) | $309.99
My first personal foray into flat panel “home entertainment”… |
| [Shuttle X27 Barebone System—X27D-BK-V1](http://www.buy.com/prod/shuttle-x27-barebone-system-intel-945gc-express-socket-479-atom-533mhz/q/loc/101/209968847.html) | $233.51
shuttle.com: “The X27 is an extreme silent PC which produces only 23 db when in both idle and full load mode.” This is an option when it becomes clear that building the innards is not really helping… |
| [SHUTTLE, Shuttle X27 Mini-PC series PC](http://www.pcprodirect.com/product_details_configurator.asp?PRID=11963) | $376.75 (without customizations)
My bias is for PCProdirect.com because of the ability to customize the Shuttle. |
| [Gigabyte EP45-UD3P](http://techgage.com/article/gigabyte_ep45-ud3p/) | The Techgage.com article has such great photography of this [microATX](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroATX) board from [GIGABYTE](http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2919). But going along this route would get me too close to the chassis size I’m seeing now… |
| [Apex MI-008: A Cheap Quiet mini-ITX Case?](http://www.silentpcreview.com/apex-mi008) | “Between the case floor and the bottom of the power supply there is only 5cm of clearance. When you include height of the risers, the width of a motherboard PCB and CPU (of a ‘normal’ motherboard, in this case the Zotac GeForce 8200-ITX pictured above), there is room for only a 4cm high heatsink—most stock cooling solutions exceed that.”
My desire for such small size makes building the innards a problem. The margin of error for sizing various parts is too close for comfort. |
| [APEX MI-008 Black Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 250W Power Supply](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154091) | $49.99
“Too small. Mounting HDD in recommended place means [covering] up most of the side vent.” silentpcreview.com has a picture of this vent mounting… |
| [Intel BOXD945GCLF2 Atom 330 Intel 945GC Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121359&Tpk=D945GCLF2) | $79.99
“Awkwardly placed IDE port…” This combo should fit inside of the, say, Apex case (above). |
| [GIGABYTE GA-MA74GM-S2 AM2+/AM2 AMD 740G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128342&Tpk=Gigabyte%20GA-MA74GM) | $54.99
Like the Shuttle listed above, this GIGABYTE board has video built in with VGA and DVI connections. |
| [VANTEC NST-360UF-BK Aluminum 3.5" USB & 1394 External Enclosure](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817392003) | This 3.5" enclosure would hold the secondary ‘media’ drive in use (internally) today. |
| [Antec New Solution NSK2480 Black/Silver 0.8mm cold-rolled steel MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 380W Power Supply](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129034) | $119.99
This one looks like a classic stereo receiver! All of those GIGABYTE boards listed above would slide into this… but, again, this case is not much smaller than what I have now—and it is more horizontal. |
| [Intel BOXDG45FC LGA 775 Intel G45 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121353&Tpk=DG45FC) | $119.99
Unlike the GIGABYTE GA-MA74GM-S2, this board only has DVI. But the audio features are compelling… |
