Cheap small mcquiet gaming system, matx or small atx?

[Poison Ivy]

Already have:

Corsair 750w psu.

3 or so year old Thermaltake case, looking to ditch it.

Just bought:

Kingston SSDNow V100 Series 64GB 2.5IN SSD SATA Solid State Disk Flash Drive - $75

G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Memory - $40

MSI Radeon HD 6950 Twin Frozr II OC 810MHZ 2GB GDDR5 2XDVI 2x Mini DisplayPort HDMI PCI-E Video Card - $199 after rebate

For after market cooling was going to get:

Coolit Systems Eco CPU Water Cooling System AUTO-REGULATED & Maintenance Free LGA1366/1156/1155/AM3

I would like to downsize so I was looking at either:

Antec Mini P180 mATX Tower Case White 3X5.25 1X3.5EXT 5X3.5INT Front USB eSATA Audio - $50

Gigabyte 78LMT-S2P AMD760G mATX AM3 AM3+ 1PCI-E16 1PCI-E1 1PCI DDR3 SATA2 DVI GBLAN M *IR-$4* - $61

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Quad Core Processor AM3 3.4GHZ 8MB Cache 125W 45NM Retail Box - $123

or if I went ATX

Antec Three Hundred Mini Tower Gaming Case 300 ATX 3X5.25 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB & Audio - $50

+ one of the Thuban 1055t boxing day deals like

NCIX Gaming Bundle Deal AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 6 Core Processor & ASUS M5A97 970A AM3+ Motherboard - $199


Does this all look ok? Any suggestions either way? I plan to do a little OC'ing on this system nothing crazy. Space is an issue so that is why I wanted mATX.

I should add the Google says a 6950 should fit in the mini p180 if I remove a drive bay.

[Poison Ivy]

bump :)

[great_big_abyss]

2 things: That 1055T/M5A97 bundle looks good, but:

It's not a black edition CPU, so you can't OC using multipliers; and
the 965 will be faster in most gaming applications.

Edit #1: I think you're better off going micro-ATX with the 965BE. I mean, downsizing is the whole point for you, right?

Edit #2: Oh, and one more thing to check out: If you remove the hard drive trays in order to install a long video card, will you be able to install multiple drives? Keep in mind you'll need a secondary drive other than your SSD.

Edit #3: I just answered my own question. You're able to move the HDD tray up above where the video card goes (as per the picture)

[yamawho]

Small you say ... might want to think outside the box ...

This mini-itx case would accept that board but you may need to relocate the power switch ...
Killer deal on this right now ...
Lian Li PC-Q11A Aluminum Mini Computer Case Mini ITX 1X5.25 2X3.5 INT 2X2.5 INT USB 3.0 - Silver - LIAN-LI - PC-Q11A
There are also black and red models as well.

Here is a board 9.6" x 8.8" in this case ...

[great_big_abyss]

Isn't that case more 'boxlike' than the other one? Yuk Yuk Yuk,

anyway, there's no place to put his rad...

[Poison Ivy]

Her rad, but ya I don't HAVE to get that cooler it just seemed kinda "cool" (hyuk) for the price and had nice reviews. Would the 6950 fit into that itx case? That would be kinda sweet. I'll check the dimensions.

[great_big_abyss]

Originally Posted by Poison Ivy

but ya I don't HAVE to get that cooler it just seemed kinda "cool" (hyuk)

Oh, Groan.

I mean't your Rad wouldn't fit in the Lian Li. I'm sure it'll fit in the Antec Mini. But hey, if you're going to aircool (and not overclock..that Lian Li doesn't seem to be that well ventilated) then go for the Lian Li. It looks like a cool case.

Although really, looking at all the features packed into the Antec Mini, I still think your first instinct was the right one.

[Poison Ivy]

Originally Posted by great_big_abyss

Oh, Groan.

I mean't your Rad wouldn't fit in the Lian Li. I'm sure it'll fit in the Antec Mini. But hey, if you're going to aircool (and not overclock..that Lian Li doesn't seem to be that well ventilated) then go for the Lian Li. It looks like a cool case.

Although really, looking at all the features packed into the Antec Mini, I still think your first instinct was the right one.

Yea that's the route I am going to go, this should be a fun build. Thanks for the input.

[great_big_abyss]

Enjoy! And let us know how it turns out :)

[yamawho]

Have fun

I had a Mini P 180 and found it kinda big for a matx case ...

Here is how I did mine ... notice the 6970