Thoughts and impressions on possible LAN box

[TX-Thunderbolt]

As stated, here's what I'm thinking of tossing together. Primarily, I want to be able to run IL2:46, COD4 and (hopefully) RoF and SoW when they arrive...if even at slightly lowered settings.

Anyway, here's the list

Mobo - P5GC-MX/1333 LGA775 945GC mATX

Processor- Core 2 Duo E8400

RAM- Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400 DDR2

PSU- PC P&C Silencer 750 EPS 12V Quad Blue

GPU- evga 9800GTX+ 512

Case- VF1000BWS LanBox Micro ATX Desktop

HDD- WD 320 GB 7200 rpm Caviar SE SATA II


I can get all of this for just under $850 with S&H included. Not the absolute best pricing, but I have plenty O' room on my Dell account and don't have to pay the piper right away.

Thoughts and impressions?


p.s. It's funny how the reciprocal of Moore's Law applies somewhat to the hardware side of things as well. This little LAN box will actually be faster than my primary and will have cost 1/3 of what my primary cost me 2 years ago. 

[TX-EcoDragon]

That looks pretty solid to me but there are three things I see that I'd look into further.

1) RAM - the higher FSB speeds that you'll see with an E8400 with some OCs suggest you might want to get PC2-8000/8500 RAM. I just picked up four gigs of 1066 for 34 bucks after rebate, and the 1066 Corsair Dominators were 39.99 after rebate. On my machine, an OC to only 3.6GHz (a walk in the park on an E8400) puts my RAM at 1,000 MHz, and the E8400 will do up to 4.0 GHz, so the RAM is a potential bottleneck at that speed.

2) PSU- That's a great PSU, one of the best out there, but it's fairly long, it has lots of beefy cables, and it's not modular. In a LAN case you probably need a modular PSU.

3) HDD - If this is ONLY a gaming machine then disregard, but a 640 GB drive can be found for around 60-70 bucks, while the last time I saw a 320 it was nearly as much.

[TX-Thunderbolt]

Yeah, I thought about the RAM, but the pc-8500 was out of stock. That may change soon as RAM inventory is so dynamic. I'll definitely look into that though. Regarding the HDD, yes, it is really only for gaming. If I end up giving it to my Wife, she'll also use it as her internet pc and as a music jukebox. I have all her music on an external drive though and it's only about 30GB worth. She uses her pc right now for a little surfing, paying bills and to play music (I got rid of our stereo a couple years ago and set her up with some Klipsch 5.1 speakers. She says they sound better anyway). So the HDD will probably work fine.

The PSU was a small dilemma for me as I want a really good one and I'm aware of the possible space constrictions. I'm really not sure what other one I could get to suffice for that box though or what size (wattage wise) I can get away with. I don't necessarily want to go with the smallest power I can get away with, but don't want to put a V8 in if I really only need a 2.0 liter 4 cyl.

I've never built a SFF machine before and have actually gone the other way typically opting for as large a case as I could realistically get for ease of install, better cooling etc,.

I don't have to have this thing together for another 60 days or so, so there's not a big rush.

[TX-EcoDragon]

If you aren't going to do any OCs, then the RAM is fine, but the E8400 is one sweet OCing chip, and if you aren't going to OC it, heck put the E8400 in your machine, and the E6700 in the lanbox!

RAM-wise: I'd get one of these

OCZ Platinum 44.00 after MIR:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227298

These G.SKills are some of the most popular, hence the price has been creeping up - $53
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

Here's mine - OCZ Reaper HPCs for 46.00, the price has also crept up on these (mine are running 1100MHz @ 5-5-5-13 and 2.15v):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289

The Corsair Dominators also had a similar pricing deal going too - but Corsair customer service has gone down the drain recently, and don't get Crucial right now either - bleh, they are making disposable RAM!!!!

Modular PSUs will be a little more costly for the same model. . .here's some of the best prices I've found on the better built PSUs at NewEgg:

Silverstone 600Watt for 80 bucks:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817163109

620 watt Corsair is more power than you'll ever remotely need in a lan box at 119 after MIR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002


You could certainly look at 500 watt Corsair, Seasonic, or maybe OCZ PSUs  - Even OCed, the E8400 hardly needs any extra voltage, the 9800GTX+ is a very efficient card too, only one small HDD, an optical or two. . .you don't need much power for this, just get something stable.

Corsair 500 at 95 after MIR http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001

[TX-Thunderbolt]

Thanks dude. Excellent info as always.

[TX-Chukar]

As far as those PSU's I have a Seasonic 600w about 2 years old now. After suspect power supply problems with my previous 2 rigs I wanted to put that problem out of my mind for good.  It was a bit more pricey but I think it may be some of the best spent money in the box.  I would say that it does have two small con's.  The wire harness has the pairs twisted, while there is a technical reason for it, it does make the harness thicker and thus takes up more space and a little harder to manage.  The other is the low PSU fan speed- under 700 rpm which at least on this older MB causes a low PSU fan speed alarm that I can't correct.

S~
TX-Chukar