is this system doable? (GTX 650 with 160-200W PSU)

As you may be aware, for a while I've been trying to figure out how to get a bunch of components into a really small case. I might've finally found one.

C137 Mini-ITX case

The problem is, it only supports external/DC power adaptors (Ironically there's a smaller version that supports flex ATX psu's but no graphics cards C289 Mini-ITX Enclosure)

I can get a picopsu picoPSU-160-XT that operates at 160W while handling bursts to 200W (195W effectively)

The TDP of a Nvidia GTX 650 is 65W. AnandTech - NVIDIA Launches GeForce GTX 650: GK107 With GDDR5 The 650 isn't the most powerful chip, but it will handle my needs fine.

After that, I can add a 55W i3-3220, a motherboard, ram, optical drive, and a hard drive (think I can only install one drive, so it may be a hybrid drive)

Is it doable? or will the PSU be overloaded? eXtreme PSU calculator says that with a 100% load I need 184W minimum with 234W reccomended.

Thanks

Hum Future your last remark says it all really - is that the largest external power supply you can get? or can afford?

Don't want to sound rude but it seems to be pushing your luck a bit.

I have had a look at that site and there isn't much available that small there. To determine what you need you need to find one where the volts and the amps are stated - now to find what the wattage is you simply multiply the volts by the amps = watts - that is Ohms law and is one of the basic law of physics and electricity if you were wondering.

So you need to find an adaptor that states roughly 12 volts at 22 amps = 264 watts or

12 volts at 20 amps = 240 watts - which is quite close to what the recommended wattage is Personally I would opt for the slightly larger wattage to give yourself a better margin of fail safe if you get my drift. Either that or find a graphics card with less wattage requirements but then you do lose some quality but not really that much. A "silent" type might fit your bill and it is powered from the board and doesn't need a six pin power lead like the GTX 650 (which I have in my deskies)

However most of them only come with DDR3 memory while the 650 is DDR5 but for a look at

ASUS - - ASUS GT610-SL-1GD3-L or

GIGABYTE - Graphics Card - NVIDIA - PCI Express Solution - GeForce 200 Series - GV-N210SL-1GI

Let us know how you go.

Yeah the case requires a PicoPSU, which only go up to the one I linked to (160W with 200w peak). If I was to go with a bigger PSu then I'll have to go with a different and larger case


Mostly I'd be using it as a HTPC and Steam games such as Portal.

I'm still kind of wondering what would happen if I try this, though.

The PicoPSU can handle operating at 100% usage, so it should be able to handle operating at 195W well.

I'm just wondering how the 184W-234W range works...

That being said: Intel HD 4000 is very comparable (and sometimes better) than a Nvidia 610 or 210, so there's no point in either card. I want something a bit better. If possible.

Otherwise I might as well just wait for Haswell.

I am looking at the GT 640, which seems to be a better option. It handles Portal fine (the most intensive game I would own) and it's PSU requirements are lower (164W min, 214W max at 100% peak load). As long as I stick to powered USB hubs I should be fine.

Ok well the Intel graphics do look to be quite impressive and worth a try. I had a scratch around and it seems that some have actually run an i5 in their mini systems.

My thoughts are based around what that PSU can deliver not just in watts but the current (amps)

I think you need to research a bit the different components you are going to use and the games you are going to play and see which components are going to use what.

My mate and I had this situation on another thread just the other day where a member was trying to run games I guess those shoot them up and down war stuff and was wondering why the i3 was struggling and the machine as whole was racing the life out of the cooling fan.

Really does depend on what you want out of the machine when you have made it. Sorry but I am not a gamer so I cannot comment on what power requirements are needed.

Honestly? I don't know.

If i could find a case that supports FlexATX PSUs then I'd just go with a 650 or something and it would be a much easier decision.

That being said, i found this: New Alienware X51 Mini HD Gaming Computer
It has acceptable dimensions (only 12" deep) and supports up to a GTX 660, which is fairly powerful
I might go with the one with an i5 and GT 640, but add a bluray drive.

The only problem is it uses a H61 chipset, which doesn't support Sata III

I think I might just go with my original plan and build a case and wait for haswell.

Hum Future that is a nice small machine my mate I told you about had a friend of his that had some Alienware machine that cost $7K and being a brand name that I am not familiar with makes that machine you quoted look rather attractive.


Now for what it is worth I don't think there is a lot of difference to me anyway in the SATA 3Gbs and 6Gbs transfer rates but there again I don't game. It might be worth putting a thread in the hardware area and finding out from some of the others what the go is. The Haswell is due I suppose but the i5 is now such a good all rounder and uses I think the same architecture as the forthcoming core but I suppose one could go on forever I would hazard a guess that Haswell is already "obsolete" in that Intel will have already be well into something smaller and better.

Me I am staying with the Ivy B and the Sandy B I have in my two main deskies the Ivy just as good as an i7 unless one is some sort of par excellence type

Still there is this you might like to have a look at DailyTech - Intel Says Haswell Coming in 2013, Will Rival Today's Discrete Graphics
4th Generation of Core Microarchitecture: Intel Haswell - X-bit labs
.

Yeah to be honest the only thing I think Haswell will be better is in the graphics. Otherwise it'll be very similar to Ivy Bridge/Sandy Bridge in performance.

Part of me wants to go with this alienware. Part of me wants to wait for Haswell. Part of me wants to just get somethin like this and settle for HD 4000.

I think I have to sleep on it for a while.

Hum don't know about that mate you will still need the monitor and stuff eh?

Does it have to be so small - for travel or what? That Alienware looks pretty tempting though.

The Haswell stuff well don't forget you might have excellent graphics but you will need a monitor that is not going to be cheap to fully utilise those better quality pics and games.

I'm going to hook it to a TV. Not sure which one yet, but that's a different story.

DO you really need to settled with intel hd4000?
Why not an FM2 system if you need compact graphics?
I mean. A10-5800K. Use fast RAM, and overclock the CPU/GPU/RAM. Then you could get a lowprofile 6670 and run dual graphics.

Hmm, I never consider AMD...

I'm going to have to try to learn a bit.

How does the A10-5700 compare to the 5800K? It's not unlocked and is 65W vs 100W...

How does this system look?
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=29852988

I would pick a motherboard with the A85x chip over the old A75. The newer FM2 APU's coming up will use much more advantage of the A85X chip. The a10-5700 will do fine. Not to mention you won't have to worry about temperature in an enclosed space.

What are you using the system for again?

Mostly multimedia playback, with maybe some light (cheap) steam games such as Portal.

I'll probably use it as a movie server (maybe), and to download torrents overnight.

And to go in the internet.

I changed the Mobo to this: Newegg.com - ASRock FM2A85X-ITX FM2 AMD A85X (Hudson D4) HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
It's the only other FM2 Mini ITX mobo that newegg has.

On a tangent, how does this look for a starter kit?
Newegg.com - Once You Know, You Newegg

It's $260 for what I'm pretty sure is the basics for a HTPC, and things can be upgraded as time goes on* (and I have the money), but I can't find anything on how this Nvidia geForce 7025 performs.



* GPU limited to low profile card, most powerful that's readily available is one with an AMD Radeon HD 7750

To be honest, I would not... use anything else other than an APU for an HTPC.
Power/graphics are pretty damn good, and no movie would stop it from smooth playback if that is the intended purpose of it.

Not to mention you don't really -NEED- a GPU. so you could just save more space.

That is a good point.

Back to the Athenatech case system, are you sure that ventilation will be fine? all it has is a couple tiny vents in the rear, which have me worried.

It does seem like a pretty tight case.
The APU does run cool even though it is a 100W chip.

Mine would hit 45 under load, but my tasks would be more intensive than playing movies of course.
If it would be possible. Add small fans to keep air circulating.

I have to wait on it. The reviews for that case are kind of poor, and I don't trust the PSU that appears to be proprietary.

I might just build my own.

According to this: AMD A10-5700 APU: Trinity at 65W | silentpcreview.com

A system running the A10-5700 with micrATX mobo, 1 DIMM ram, a notebook drive and a bluray drive never exceeds 100 watts. If it was expected to consistently hit 120W or so then I'd write off the case.

That does ease my fears a good amount. I intend to also have a SSD in there and maybe 1-3 powered USB peripherals, but my system should be about the same (but with a not-so-heavy workload)

How tall is the stock cooler, though? I'm concerned it will be too big, and I can't find alternative coolers that work with the clip system (they all use backplates, which apparently conflicts with this motherboards rear capacitors.). I'm looking at unvoxing videos for the APUs, and it doesn't seem that big, but it's a lot more stocky then the intel cooler.