Which SFF PC to build?

Hi all,

My trusty Shuttle XPC something or other (Athlon 2100+) is getting on a
bit, so I'm considering a new small form factor PC. Requirements a
- 1GB RAM
- a DVDROM/ CDRW drive
- an internal HDD (I have an external one to back stuff up)
- USB, Firewire, onboard audio
- an AGP or PCI-E graphics card.
I'm not particularly fussed about which chipset or CPU, beyond good
value and able to run games like Prey at reasonable quality at
reasonable framerates. Something a step up from the 2100+ would be
good, but it doesn't have to be a huge step up.

Based on this, and a limited budget, what's my best bet? Build up a
barebones system (and which one?!) from ebay parts? Or an online
retailer? I'm in the UK, if that makes a difference...

Thanks
Nick

My trusty Shuttle XPC something or other (Athlon 2100+) is getting on a
bit, so I'm considering a new small form factor PC. Requirements a
- 1GB RAM
- a DVDROM/ CDRW drive
- an internal HDD (I have an external one to back stuff up)
- USB, Firewire, onboard audio
- an AGP or PCI-E graphics card.
I'm not particularly fussed about which chipset or CPU, beyond good
value and able to run games like Prey at reasonable quality at
reasonable framerates. Something a step up from the 2100+ would be
good, but it doesn't have to be a huge step up.

Knew I'd forgotten something! I also need WLAN, either through an
expansion card, or built in. And an LPT printer port.

"NickD" wrote in message
ps.com...
Hi all,

My trusty Shuttle XPC something or other (Athlon 2100+) is getting on a
bit, so I'm considering a new small form factor PC. Requirements a
- 1GB RAM
- a DVDROM/ CDRW drive
- an internal HDD (I have an external one to back stuff up)
- USB, Firewire, onboard audio
- an AGP or PCI-E graphics card.
I'm not particularly fussed about which chipset or CPU, beyond good
value and able to run games like Prey at reasonable quality at
reasonable framerates. Something a step up from the 2100+ would be
good, but it doesn't have to be a huge step up.

Based on this, and a limited budget, what's my best bet? Build up a
barebones system (and which one?!) from ebay parts? Or an online
retailer? I'm in the UK, if that makes a difference...

Thanks
Nick


None. Even the best aren't that much smaller than a micro-ATX format
computer case, and the power supplies are proprietary. Meaning, when the
power supply dies, you will want to buy a new (micro-ATX or ATX) format case
anyway. -Dave