Which mini-ITX mobo + CPU + PSU for those two SFF cases?

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littlebigman
Posts: 111
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2007 8:54 pm

Which mini-ITX mobo + CPU + PSU for those two SFF cases?

Post by littlebigman » Mon Jun 23, 2014 3:28 pm

Hello

I'd like to build a mini-ITX-based SFF host for office use, and those two look good:
I took a look at mini-ITX mobos but am lost at what to pick, including the CPU and the PSU to get a silent box. Any idea?

Thank you.

Abula
Posts: 3662
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:22 pm
Location: Guatemala

Re: Which mini-ITX mobo + CPU + PSU for those two SFF cases?

Post by Abula » Mon Jun 23, 2014 3:49 pm

What will it be used for? email, msoffice, browsing? do it evolves editing or encoding?

No dedicated GPU? no gaming?

littlebigman
Posts: 111
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2007 8:54 pm

Re: Which mini-ITX mobo + CPU + PSU for those two SFF cases?

Post by littlebigman » Tue Jun 24, 2014 3:31 am

Just office work with light development, and occasional video editing (but it only has to be faster than my current AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+, as I'm OK leaving the application running in the background for a couple of hours.)

quest_for_silence
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Location: ITALY

Re: Which mini-ITX mobo + CPU + PSU for those two SFF cases?

Post by quest_for_silence » Tue Jun 24, 2014 3:06 pm

littlebigman wrote:I took a look at mini-ITX mobos but am lost at what to pick, including the CPU and the PSU to get a silent box. Any idea?
Just one: the allotted budget, how much is it?

Anyway, the Fractal should work cooler (and possibly quieter) than the more cramped Coolcube.
If you don't need an external GPU you can add a modular high efficiency PSU, like the Corsair RM450 or the BeQuiet E9, both a total overkill but there isn't about anything in the market around 200-250W.
With dual cores CPUs, you may safely go for the relatively inexpensive Silverstone SST-ST30SF SFX unit, which is not that efficient, not modular, but very small and semi-fanless up to 55°C, or with a classical all-arounder like the Seasonic G-360, usually fairly quiet under 100W DC.
Alternatively you may look for some PicoPSU setup, but maybe with different enclosures.

The hw could be fairly standard and not that expensive to run in the Node 304: an ASUS H87/H97, a base Core i5 (to be fair a Core i3 would suffice), a Scythe Kotetsu heatsink, a couple of 4/8Gb low voltage DDR3 sticks (G.Skill, Crucial), and a 512Gb Crucial MX100 or similar SSD.
Whether the Fractal stock fans should be too noticeable for your taste, some SPCR recommended fans may help you.

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