@kubunteando: Thanks for the analysis. I was going to give up on the M350, but I'm considering it again. I think the ISK110 VESA would actually be a great choice for me except that the cost of it plus a replacement PicoPSU is pretty high. The Habey 800BL is a nice case too, but the adapter it comes ...

Thanks everyone for the feedback. It looks like using the M350 with the A8-3570k will be a challenge. Is this thing going to melt even if it is undervolted? I typically turn off my machines when I do not use them, so the most taxing thing it will be doing is playing a 1080p movie for about 2 hours a...

I received an AMD A8 3870K as a gift. I just built a new system for my main desktop but have been wanting to make an HTPC. Will this work? CPU: AMD A8 3870K MOBO: ASUS F1A75-I DELUXE Memory: Samsung low voltage low profile 8GB SSD: Undecided, but probably something between 60gb and 120gb. Would pref...

Awesome. I also noticed that the Asus H77 lists Lucid Virtu MVP on their web site while the Asrock doesn't seem to include a license for it. Looks like the Asus is a winner. Thanks!

Thanks for the reply about the SSD. It made me do some more searching and I've found a 120GB OCZ Agility 3 for the same price as the Vertex Plus so I'll go with that. Now I just need to figure out the motherboard and I'm pretty much ready to go!

Yikes, the Asus Z77 board is $199.99 CAD. Quite a bit more expensive than the H77. I guess i need to decide if I want to pay that much basically for Wifi and Bluetooth (again, I am not overclocking), or if I just want to use the $90 savings to add them on as USB dongles when I need them. Is there an...

Thanks so much for the suggestions! Would the Thermalright AXP140 not cover the PCIE slot? Any comments on the following motherboards? ASRock Z77E-ITX $159.99: I don't need the Z77, but the price is within my budget. Has Wifi, but that's not super important to me. Would have preferred bluetooth. I a...

Thanks for the tip on the (little) Shuriken.

How did you decide on the Intel DH77DF? I've been looking for an appropriate motherboard but ITX H77 boards are few and mostly the same.

I'm trying to build a quiet itx gaming box. Here's what I am thinking so far: Case : Silverstone SG06 (already purchased) CPU : Intel i5 3450 RAM : 4GB x 2 sticks of this Samsung low profile memory Motherboard : Undecided, but an H77 would be fine. I would like to have WIFI and Bluetooth on board if...

Thanks for the thoughtful replies everyone. I'm not too worried about power consumption since I usually power all my equipment down if I know that it won't be used for some time (overnight, or if I leave the house, for example). The power consumption numbers at techreport look fine for my usage: htt...

I've been looking at the APEX MI-008: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154091&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL101911CA&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL101911CA-_-EMC-101911-Index-_-ComputerCases-_-11154091-L06B Any opinions on that? There seems to be some issue with clearance for the CPU cooler. Would a sto...

Howdy everyone, I'd like to build an ITX box for light gaming and hobby coding. In the past, I've always felt bad about getting rid of an old PC, so this time I would like to be able to turn it into a 2-HDD NAS after it has passed usefulness as a main machine. My budget is between $500 and $600. I'm...