Building a small form factor gaming PC

[RikuoAmero]

So, my current gaming PC is starting to die. The second PCI-E slot died, and I don't know for how long it's been dead. I only found out today when I bothered going into my Nvidia Control Panel and noticing that it was seeing only the one card. So I swapped out the cards, and found both cards work fine if I was just running only one in the top PCI-E slot, but when both are in, the second card isn't being picked up by Windows at all.

 

So unless someone out there can tell me some trick to getting the second slot to start working, I've decided to move up my timetable. I had had a plan for how to spend my money for this year: I was going to start on the home server, but necessity dictates I replace the gaming computer as fast as humanly possible.

 

So, I've picked out the following parts http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/FHVw

 

Of the components, I'm sticking with

1) CPU

2) Motherboard

3) Graphics cards (unless there's been a true 4GB 690 released that I haven't heard of, not just the regular 2GB mirrored RAM versions)

4) Power supply, since I've already ordered a short cable kit that works only with that series of PSUs.

5) OS, I want the Professional version because then I can use XP mode for whatever games and devices I have or will get that stubbornly work in XP only

6) I want to go as many Noctua fans as possible

 

Now, here is where I ask YOU guys for help once again.

 

I need a small form factor case, one that has room for two dual slot cards. If at all possible, I'd like it to have front panel USB 3.0 connectors, but that's not a necessity.

The case must also have good airflow. I'm not picky about where the PSU goes. If possible, I'd prefer to have side panel fans for graphics cards, and would I still be able to use liquid CPU coolers like the Corsair H80 in a small case? What if I get a H100i and have four fans running, with push and pull like this

Intake Exhaust

________

________    The double line being the radiator

Intake Exhaust

 

so the radiator can act as both an intake and exhaust. I would prefer to use liquid coolers because I don't like the sight of large air coolers, but if I must...I don't want the air cooler to be too big.

Noctua fans are a must: I've been watching LinusTechTips for quite a while now, and his favourite fans are Noctua, so unless someone can convince me differently, I'm going with Noctua fans for CPU cooling and for side panel.

[† L4ugh]

What exactly is your definition of small form factor? I honestly can't see you finding a case that meets all your needs, and isn't at least a mid-tower. My best suggestion for one that would work, and I think you'd like, would be this. You could probably get some pretty good air flow if you loaded it up with 140mm fans. 

 

As far as the intake-exhaust setup you mentioned, it sounds pretty interesting, but how would you mount it? Would the top fans be on the outside or inside of the case? 

 

I'm also not entirely sure those gfx cards will work with your mobo. The one pictured here seems to need three slots, but the mobo only seems to offer two per PCI-E slot. Do these cards come with the same heatsink setup where you live?

 

You may be able to find a smaller case if the gfx cards you get don't need three slots per card. However, I can't see you getting a true small form factor pc without using a mini-itx mobo. Going itx will cost you a gfx card at least, but you may also lose your liquid cooler as well. Smaller cases aren't very good at accommodating the type of hardware you're wanting to use. I'm not saying the case you're looking for doesn't exist, but if it does, I don't know of it. All the micro atx cases I've seen, only come with four rear expansion slots. That means they can't fit two gfx cards like the one I linked to, at least not without modification.

Edited February 26, 2013 by L4ugh

[JohnFlower]

to be honest, having a micro motherboard with that hardware seems to be a really big waste.

you wont have room for your soundcard at all on that board. if my gigabyte 580s are anything to go by, they take up atleast two slots. keep in mind, for high end cards like those, unless you plan on watercooling them soon, you should have a space between them. that doesn't look like it is possible with that small board.

i would get the bigger brother of the same line (maximus formula i think it's called), and then get a mid tower, which should fit everything you have. i don't know if there is any case on the market that has everything you are looking for.

fans: i hear corsair are also very good.

Edited February 26, 2013 by JohnFlower

[RikuoAmero]

Hey guys, thanks for the reply.

 

I was initially going for a small form factor because of Linus here

 

He managed to build a small gaming rig with two 680s sandwiched together.

 

Anyway, as for 4GB 680's being three slots...check this link out

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600315498%20600311819%20600007787&IsNodeId=1&name=4GB

 

Twelve cards there, and only one of them is a 3slot.

 

Having thought it over, I've decided to scrap the small form factor and go with a Cooler Master Cosmos II. With that and an Asus Maximus V Extreme Motherboard http://www.asus.com/ROG/MAXIMUS_V_EXTREME/, I should be able to throw in a couple of dual slot 680's and a sound card as well, along with recycling the four hard drives in my current rig (I fucking LOVE the design of the Cosmos II, I'll be able to hide the drives well away from the graphics card and have plenty of room for cable management, which is a nightmare in the DF-85 chassis).

 

Okay so here's a couple of questions.

1) The Maximus V Extreme has a mPCI-E slot for a mSSD and wireless NIC combo. The mSSD can be used as a cache drive. Would that feature, caching, only work with a mechanical hard drive as boot drive, or can I cache a non-boot mechanical hard drive (where I've installed all my games) when I have the OS on a couple of RAID'd SSDs?

2) I will most likely be getting this sound card

http://www.asus.com/ROG/ROG_Xonar_Phoebus/

 

and it mentions it has a 600 ohm headphone amp. What exactly does 600 ohm mean? What headset do you guys recommend?

[JohnFlower]

1. the built in raid of the motherboard is all software raid. it is likely it will work for all/any hard drives you have connected. there is probably a setting in windows for it.

2. i have the xonar stx, love it. personally prefer the essence series, but it really comes down to what you need/want. the stx is better for the headphone users, whereas the phoebus would be more for the people who have the big 5.1 setup.

600 ohms is the max impedance the soundcard can "push". most of your every day headphones are only like 10-20 ohms, so you have to be careful you don't blow them.

EDIT: don't use a headset, so i cant tell you which are best :\

Edited February 26, 2013 by JohnFlower

[† An IP BreAKDoWN]

I wouldn't use a msata drive simply because of the lack of performance compared to the sata III interface drives. If you wanted to raid you should get a raid controller, though i thought you got a home server for the HDDs. Also using a SSD as a cache is just silly to me.

Also is the Titan going to be a contender to your gfx card selection?

[RikuoAmero]

I wouldn't use a msata drive simply because of the lack of performance compared to the sata III interface drives. If you wanted to raid you should get a raid controller, though i thought you got a home server for the HDDs. Also using a SSD as a cache is just silly to me.

Heh heh...haven't built the server yet. I still only have the server chassis. Well, what I'll do is I'll build the new gaming rig, but leave mSATA SSD for down the line. It's not like I've yet to run into a game where load times are intolerable because of a hard drive.

 

Also, I'm looking at sound cards, there's the ASUS Xonar Phoebus I linked to before, and then the Creative Sound Blaster ZxR, which is quite interesting, in that it has a separate daughter board connected to the main sound card by ribbon cable (no PCI-E interface connector on the daughter), which handles recording. Since I plan to get a keyboard syntheziser (Yamaha Mox6 looks very interesting), that Sound Blaster looks great. I still have the Creative SB X-fi lying around, I just never got to use it cause of heat issues with it being so close to the graphics cards. I know I know...its overkill, but my inner geek went "Squeeeee!" upon seeing it.

Don't worry though guys, I won't buy a new sound card just yet. I'll throw in the one I have now once the main rig is built, and then a few weeks later swap it out. I'm just going through components now basically.

Here's the ONLY image I could find of a ZxR in a case

http://ask.creative.com/wwimages/audio_int%5Csbz_zx_zxr/DBPro%20connection.jpg

Notice that the Daughter board doesn't have to be anywhere near the motherboard. I like that.

Edited February 26, 2013 by RikuoAmero

[† L4ugh]

Anyway, as for 4GB 680's being three slots...check this link out

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600315498%20600311819%20600007787&IsNodeId=1&name=4GB

 

Twelve cards there, and only one of them is a 3slot.

 

I'm not really sure what this is suppose to mean, but the one I was referring to was the same card you had in your parts list. I was only trying to inform you that some of the parts you desired to "stick with" might not be compatible. 

[urban123456789]

I think when you  buy computer the most Inportent thing is cooling system. If spend more money on colling than on ur graphic or disk drive more smoothly ur computer will work!!

[shadowtheman]

Go for a better mother board. A way better mother board. The most common mistake people make is going cheapo with the mother board. Your going with two Gigatbyte Gv-N680OC a vary high end vid card. The thing is with out a equally powerful mother board to go with them you will end up with bottle necking issues and will never actually get the fps second the cards should deliver. I also know that your vid card does not support cross fire witch means you can't put two of them in one system. Your chosen mother board doesn't support this either. Two pci slots doesn't mean two vid cards support. Move up from a micro board to a normal atx. Some thing else to look at is a board that has high performance pci that can support two vid cards with equal timing. Other wise most cards that can't do this cause the second card to run at about 75% capacity will only the one in pci slot one will run a 99 to 100%. As stated above cooling is also a good thing to deal with. The cooler the cpu the better the cpu will run and last. I noticed you wanted to go with an antec KHULER and add two nactuas. You might as well cut out the middle man of the process and just go for a nactua itself. There vary great and high end yet the price isn't so out there. They look big but can fit on almost anything. (Compatibility withstanding)

You also don't need two solid states. The thing about them is that there high maintenance. Having one for your os is all you need and then never put any thing else on it except your most important programs like antivirus. Other wise if you put to much traffic on it they can die vary fast. Never run disk checks or defrags. Games can also be vary harsh due to all the temp data they create.

For an example try this

Motherboard:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131821

vid card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202008

Note these are just examples and nothing more. The mother board given is the minimum if you wanna go with any thing higher.

One of the nice things about crossfire is that you can go for two lesser cards and together with the right cpu mother board combo you can get even higher performance then the latest for a cheaper price.

I hope this helps, I build custom computers professionally for a living and enjoy any excuse to help some one with there build.

On another note. Just because he was able to do it doesn't mean you have to. If any thing else go for whats easier for you to deal with. Remember its your money to do with as you please but if your build doesn't work right for any reason that money is more likely gone.

In short

one solid state only. Get a high end hard drive that can take the abuse for your games.

one vid card (if two make sure they can crossfire)

your cpu, memory, and power supply are fine

buy a better cooler that comes with the fans rather then buying the fans separate.

raise the bar for your mother board

Edited June 3, 2013 by shadowtheman

[nordak]

I am looking to upgrade my system. I decided that it was a waste to get a full size atx board especially since i only have a 650. I am looking to do something similar ... ITX 660-680 8gb haswell most likely.