Asking the impossible (my new computer)

[ddrueding]

I haven't figured out how to do this yet, but here is what I want.

SFF (Ideally a shuttle, no bigger than an Antec Aria)
Dual-Core (Either Core2Duo or A64 X2)
High quality 2-channel audio out (Are any onboard solutions any good?)
Decent gaming video (I want to play games, but high quality is less important)
No optical necessary
300+GB HDD (therefore a 3.5" is necissary)
Near-Silent

So here are the questions I have.

1. Are there any onboard video solutions that don't suck?
2. Are there any onboard audio solutions that don't suck?
3. Are any of the chipsets that contain the answers to #1 or #2 available in a Shuttle SFF?
4. Does anyone have a guess how large a PS I'd need? (I'm thinking 300W)
5. Does anyone have a link to a high-quality fanless/DC power supply of the right capacity?

Case mods aren't an issue. I'd love to get the PS outside the system, using an AC/DC brick and then the adapter in the case, but I don't know of any in this capacity.

Need to run, I'll have more soon.

TIA

 

[sechs]

http://www.sfftech.com/

 

[P5-133XL]

There are no onboard video solutions that don't "Suck" for gaming, in any FF. All current and past onboard video is just plain not powerfull enough for gaming. It does fine for business work, but modern gaming is out.

300w for a high quality PS is more than enough, untill a modern graphics card is added to the mix. A graphics card can easily add 50-100w of additional power required when playing a game. Nvidia cards use much less power than ATI.

 

[Buck]

Perhaps this might work:

Case: Antec Aria
CPU: 4000+X2
MB: Gigagyte GA-M55S-S3
Video: Gigabyte GV-NX76G256D-RH
HDD: WD5000YS

 

[ddrueding]

I'm tempted to try and get by with 6100-level graphics. IIRC, Merc has had some experience with these?

Gigabyte GA-M61PM-S2

I'm pretty sure an Antec Aria will give me what I need. I built a system using one quite a while ago, and my only reservation with it was that the PS didn't have enough vents into the case. I'm pretty sure I could take care of that

The more I think about it, the more I'm tempted to go for a pair (or four) of 2.5" HDDs. Less noise, less heat, less restriction to airflow. I didn't realize how cheap 100GB+ drives were these days.

 

[ddrueding]

Perhaps a reason for the new rig with silly requirements would help.

I've started DJing for some of the Tango events that I attend. Most of the people that do this have a laptop with a USB soundcard, a firewire HDD, and USB mouse. Being a geek, I want a solution with less cables

The plan is to have a SFF with enough capacity for the music (~200GB) and high-quality audio output built in. I also plan to integrate a Laser Virtual Keyboard into the front, along with a passthrough for the LCD monitor's power connection. I'm still toying with the idea of mounting a 17" LCD to the PC's chassis; handling all the wiring inside the chassis.

Goals are to have a highly portable, lightweight, audio playback machine. Easy set-up/breakdown and a clean appearance are priorities.

 

[fb]

You mean something like this?

 

[ddrueding]

You mean something like this?

uke-r:

Yes, but better.

 

[ddrueding]

More thoughts:

As the laser keyboard is only available in bluetooth, and I'll want a proper mouse, and probably some form of remote control for use from the dancefloor; I'll need a reciever.

This looks like the longest range adapter available.

 

[ddrueding]

Are Samsung's 2.5" drives as good as their 3.5" drives?

 

[Buck]

Are Samsung's 2.5" drives as good as their 3.5" drives?

I think Tannin would be insulted that you asked. From what I've seen, yes, they are as reliable.

 

[Buck]

Goals are to have a highly portable, lightweight, audio playback machine. Easy set-up/breakdown and a clean appearance are priorities.

I think I might still have a portable record player somewhere!

 

[timwhit]

Goals are to have a highly portable, lightweight, audio playback machine. Easy set-up/breakdown and a clean appearance are priorities.

I think I might still have a portable record player somewhere!

iPod with some speakers attached?

 

[ddrueding]

The audio quality on an iPod is not up for the task. Neither is it's capacity or UI. I'll likely be using the internal soundcard as a monitor while playing on the better soundcard. Depending on the venue, the speakers will likely be something like this.

 

[LiamC]

If you go here and do a lot of hunting around:
http://www.techreport.com/reviews/page.x?pg=graphics

you will find that ATi mid-range cards (X1600 and above) and up use about 60W+ under full load, and go up from there.

NVIDIA's 7600 and up start at about 40W, so these might be a better option for SFF. Don't know if you can get a C2D board in SFF though.

When you get into the top line cards, power draw is eye watering...

Intel's HD audio is supposed to be very good, and so are solutions based upon VIA's Envy chip. All the rest are so-so.

 

[ddrueding]

For audio all I really need is really high quality 2-channel output. That's all. Does Intel have anything that would qualify? I've kind of decided that gaming isn't a necessity; I have other computers I can game on, but it needs to be the fastest 2-D available and support high-res video feeds. I'm sure the 6100-series video will work.

 

[P5-133XL]

If gaming is no longer a priority, then the 6100/6150 series is an excellent choice: It is probably the best current onboard graphics, but only a little better than ATI's Xpress 200 series.

 

[P5-133XL]

For audio all I really need is really high quality 2-channel output. That's all. Does Intel have anything that would qualify? I've kind of decided that gaming isn't a necessity; I have other computers I can game on, but it needs to be the fastest 2-D available and support high-res video feeds. I'm sure the 6100-series video will work.

Merc is the one to ask about HD audio: He keeps up with it. It may be worth you while to use a slot for a HQ sound card, but I really don't know much about sound chipsets: So ask Merc.

 

[ddrueding]

Yeah, I was hoping Merc could step in and provide his audio wisdom; but to be honest I have a BlueGears X-Plosion 7.1 just sitting here anyway. It puts out a bit of heat, but really nothing worth worrying about, and it seems to handle it well (even without ventilation for long periods).

I'm debating putting in an iRam for the OS and apps so the boot would be faster, but I can't seem to find any place that offers the new one (doesn't use a PCI slot and supports 8GB). But I guess a pair in RAID-0 would work if the PCI slots were available.

 

[Mercutio]

Merc is about to fall asleep but...
Intel's HD audio is in theory a 5.1 or 7.1 setup that can deliver ProLogic II to a set of surround speakers. There does not seem to be any advantage in audio quality for stereo. My experience with Intel-based boards is almost entirely midrange boards which also seem to omit the digital audio connectors that might be present on nicer models.

Via Envy, if you can find it, is a better audio chip for stereo. An Auzentech/Bluegears card would pretty much be wasted in the proposed setup.

I strongly suspect audio quality isn't going to be that great over loudspeakers, nor a primary concern for dancers. But that's just me.

The nVidia 61x0 doesn't seem to be anything special in 2D-land. It's capable for three-year-old PC games and trippy WinAmp 3D plugins. Some ATI boards have built-in DVI. I like that, but I'd far rather have something from Gigabyte than something from MSI.

 

[ddrueding]

Thanks Merc. Although loudspeakers will be one of the sets this will drive, others would include my soon-to-be-purchased speaker setup, and my current Klipsch setup. I want it to be good, whatever good is. As an interesting additional objective for the soundcard; of all the soundcards that put out excellent 2-channel sound, which is physically smallest? There's going to be some interesting toys getting squeezed in here...

As far as dancers being picky, I don't think I'm that different from the others. But for that matter, there are some things I'm trying to use my influence to change:

1. Broader range of music - Many restrict themselves to the "Golden Age" (1935-1952 being the broadest definition), while others are adventurous enough to try stuff from the '70s (provided it was made in Buenos Aires with the intent to be tango music). I'll AllPeers some samples of things I like to dance to.

2. Better quality recordings/better quality playback - This relates pretty strongly to item #1; recording tech at the time sucked. Heavy static and a lack of range is commonplace, I find it wholly uninspiring.

3. Trading lead/follow with my partner - It's fun to explore both sides of the dance, but it basically requires twice the work to be good at both. Also, it's highly frowned upon by the old people, and I like to start shit and show off.

Obviously, insulting their music directly would not go over well, so I’ve decided to focus on the fidelity issue. This will (at some point in the future) lead to me purchasing nice speakers that are capable of filling a large room.

 

[ddrueding]

While I'm at it, any suggested heatsinks for this thing? AM2 compatible, and keep in mind that the PSU kind of overhangs the CPU area.

 

[ddrueding]

Care to place any bets if this will work (provided the drive bay rack is removed)?

 

[ddrueding]

I'm also looking for a bluetooth remote control with at least 6 programmable buttons. If it's totally tricked out with an LCD display, that would be cool too, but small would also be nice.

 

[udaman]

It would be helpful if you specify a budget constraint/or range, yes?

You can do pretty decent modern gaming with an expensive laptop.

Most all of the higher-end Nvidia mobile GPU's are set up (some ATI) to run Apple's (and now other makes, since they can get the same screen from the manufacturer... ie Dell) ACD 30in. w/2560 res. You could specify how high a resolution you are looking at, this will determine how much GPU muscle you might need.

Alienware (bought out by Dell, if you didn't know) has laptops that are setup to do Raid0 (but currently only offer 120GB as max drive size, doesn't mean you can't substitute your own 160GB, but again $$$???).

1st Q2007, Seagate is supposed to have a 7.2k 160GB laptop drive, Vista will support the Samsung (and others like Seagate) drives that have built in NAND chips for instant boot up...all 1st Q2007.

Right now you can get 160GB from Seagate & Hitachi in 5.4k, 200GB from Fujitsu & Toshiba (dog slow 4.2k though) have been announced.

I take it you need this system now (yesterday?).

A little more specifics would be helpful. Whats wrong with FW? www.barefeats.com has done FW800 Raid0, wicked fast (well for laptops at least).

BTW, lets hope this post stays, seems my 2nd post to the 'Hollywood 'size' consistency' thread was a no go...what, was it something I said, damn this place is more censorship orientated than SR.

 

[Mercutio]

You linked to pictures of Sung-Hi Lee. That got you modded.
I link to NSFW things sometimes, but generally not images or movies. The times I have, I've been modded too. I can do whatever I want on the internet. Maybe you can too, but some of the other folks who visit are working in places where they can get in trouble for those links.

Anyway, ddrueding does not want a laptop. I'm pretty sure he doesn't like them; he's made comments to that effect in the past.

Raid0 is not my idea of a desireable feature set regardless. <shudder>

 

[udaman]

You linked to pictures of Sung-Hi Lee. That got you modded.
I link to NSFW things sometimes, but generally not images or movies. The times I have, I've been modded too. I can do whatever I want on the internet. Maybe you can too, but some of the other folks who visit are working in places where they can get in trouble for those links.

Anyway, ddrueding does not want a laptop. I'm pretty sure he doesn't like them; he's made comments to that effect in the past.

Raid0 is not my idea of a desireable feature set regardless. <shudder>

Well you can mirror 2 160GB drives in the Alienware also, if that's what you want. I was just thinking about the portability factor of a laptop.

Maybe this will do then, same concept, just AC only. Sort of like a Mac Mini will a little more features, but still crappy Intel GPU (not for intensive gaming at higher res).

http://enviveit.com/pc-17-6-the-e-center-micro-x.aspx

So you're saying I can re post my comments sans link to Sung-Hi Lee, which could have easily been ****** edited by a moderator without deleting the entire post? (which are at best PG-13, cause the naughty stuff is Pay-per view). I kind of doubt it was only SHL. But who knows?

Do a search on "Breasts Not Bombs" for a err... *ahem* wonderful pictorial of Berkley Anti-war Bush protests (NSFW, or anywhere else for that matter, may scar your senses for life- some people should just keep their clothes on ALL the time, IMHO...SHL can take them off all the time for me ).

 

[ddrueding]

I appreciate all the comments so far. Reasons I don't like laptops:

1. At some point they will be noisy; when the fans kick on.
2. The screen is too close to the keyboard; turns you into a hunchback.
3. Lack of upgrade options (better sound, SSD, better video, new wireless standards, etc)

There are others, but let's just say I'm not interested.

 

[Mercutio]

So you're saying I can re post my comments sans link to Sung-Hi Lee, which could have easily been ****** edited by a moderator without deleting the entire post?

Firefox, at least, has a prefetch feature that starts downloading data from links in the active page so that subsequent clicks load faster. If the prefetch is not turned off, that looks exactly, to a corporate proxy server, like the user clicked on the link and went to the NSFW location.
Which, if it's a picture or a movie, could really easily cost someone their job.

Personally, I love dirty pictures and make no attempt to hide it. This is not generally the place for such things. If you want to link to those things, I'd suggest offering them in a PM or suggesting search keywords that might lead to the URLs you want to share, instead.

In the history of this site, there have been perhaps 100 moderator actions, and most of those have been to remove crap from Russian spammers and/or Santilli's double posts. Moderation is not done lightly. Honest.

Can we drop this now?

 

[ddrueding]

For the record, planning a laptop with specs similar to what I'm pursuing from Alienware, Dell, or Lenovo leads to a price well above $3000.

Antec Aria
Gigabyte GA-M61PM-S2
AMD X2 4200+ (65W)
Thermalright Ultra-120
Thermalright HR-05-SLI
OCZ 2GB DDR2-800
Seagate 500GB SATA
Bluegears X-Plosion 7.1
Bluetooth Laser Keyboard
Logitech V270 Bluetooth
Linksys USBBT100
Netgear PCI 802.11B/G
Scythe S-Flex 120mm
Samsung 730B 17"LCD

Price so far? About $1600.

 

[Handruin]

udaman, just for the record, those two posts were not deleted. All posts are moved into the moderator section for proof of action. Since it was your first post and I didn't recognize the name right away, I thought it was spam and moved them out of the public forum. I am occasionally too pro-active with the spam filtering because I don't want free URL references given away to those people.


ddrueding...the Thermalright Ultra-120 may be in-stock in about a week or two. I e-mailed around asking why every one of thermalright's offical resellers are out of stock and the only thing I got was that they just didn't make enough quantity.

 

[P5-133XL]

udaman, just for the record, those two posts were not deleted. All posts are moved into the moderator section for proof of action. Since it was your first post and I didn't recognize the name right away, I thought it was spam and moved them out of the public forum. I am occasionally too pro-active with the spam filtering because I don't want free URL references given away to those people.

I logged in and looked at all new posts, and my immediate reaction upon seeing it was that it shouldn't be here and immediately reported it to Handruin (I didn't even notice that it was already in the moderators forum when I reported it). Really, it seems like spam to me and I know I'm not interested in such.

I think it was entirely correct to remove the two posts as SPAM and it is not because of the pictures, which are simply PG at worst.