SFF SLI LAN Build

[cmmcnamara]

Hi everyone I am looking to build a small form factor SLI gaming rig for LAN parties. I have already nailed down the case, Silverstone's SG01B-F and the graphics cards, two 9800GT's by EVGA which puts me at about $260. I'm having trouble deciding on my CPU and motherboard, I can't decide AMD or Intel. I originally went AMD because of affordability, looking at either the 5400+ BE or 6000+ Brisbane but also realized I'd like to swap out my current rig's CPU, an E2180 for a quad core and could kill two birds with one stone. The E2180 I have is a proven overclocker, currently running at 3.2GHz from stock 2.0GHz so no worries. My limitations are I will not spend more than 100 bucks for a CPU and would like to stay around 80. I've been thinking AMD until I realized my E2180 but at the same time I am on a 780i board and I am worried about getting a microATX board good enough to get as high as the 780i, but if it even got to 2.8GHz, would the 6000+ or 5400+BE outperform it? What direction should I go?

 

[slomo4sho]

The DFI LP JR P45-T2RS is the only micro-ATX motherboard I know of that comes with 2 PCIe 2.0 slots and it doesn't support SLI. Your best bet is to go with ATI graphics if you plan on running two GPUs in a small form factor build. As far as CPU, go with the E5200.

 

[megamanx00]

I think you should use the E2180 that overclocks to 3.2 since it will outperform an overclocked X2 at 3.4. Good luck finding a micro-ATX SLi board though. You're going to have to see if you can find one on eBay.

 

[cmmcnamara]

Ahh yes, a few minutes after posting this I realized that I was SOL for SLI on a microATX motherboard. I'm so glad that you know of that DFI board because I didn't know of any. The E5200 looks awesome, but if I go Intel its going to be because I'm going to reuse my E2180. I'm very fond of my E2180, its an excellent chip so it looks like I'm going to be buying a quad core soon! Poor AMD. This is the third time in a row they've just barely missed a spot in one of my builds. They were exceptionally close this time. If AMD goes under I blame you guys! Lol just kidding. Time to read some reviews on that DFI board and see if I'll have to switch my graphics to a 9800GX2 or GTX260.

 

[slomo4sho]

You could always go with two 4850s or a 4850x2 as well. I would highly recommend ATI graphics for the DFI board because of the crossfire option.

 

[cmmcnamara]

Yea that motherboard is absolutely awesome, I have no worries about getting my E2180 to be just as fast as it is now. Just trying to figure out what cards to get...4850's sound nice but I was hoping for a little cheaper (the 9800GTs were 200 bucks total.).


EDIT: YES! After reading some reviews I found that two 4830's in Crossfire which are the same price as the 9800GT's I was looking at will get me 30% better performance than a GTX 280 for 200 bucks. Awesome.

 

[cmmcnamara]

Ok so my final choices are as follows:

Case: SILVERSTONE SG01-BW
Motherboard: DFI LP JR P45-T2RS
CPU: Intel E2180
RAM: 4GB(2x2GB) DDR2 800 GSKILL
Videocards: POWERCOLOR AX4830 512MD3-H(HDMI) x2 for CF
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX 520W

I think this is going to be a great build. Its got the compact and good looking case that I want for portability for LAN parties and showing off and my CPU has already proven itself a great overclocker/performer. The motherboard has tons of features I want including dual PCIE x16's. The dual 4830's in CF are going to give great performance for my 24" monitor and they have HDMI out as well for an easy HDTV connection. I think the PSU is also well qualified.

I think later I'll add a BluRay drive to make this a HTPC combo of sorts.

 

[slomo4sho]

I have the same PSU. It is well build and should support your build nicely. I would still recommend going with the E5200 or even a E7300 over the E2180.

 

[cmmcnamara]

Yea the E5200 and E7200 are nice but I am going to use the E2180 because it will have no home once I replace it with a new quad core I am buying.

Also I have run into a deal I am hoping to take advantage of. I am going to be able to participate in Intel's second retail edge deal this year which consists of a DP45SG Extreme Motherboard, a Q9300, a copy of Vista, and Farcry2 all for 280 which is amazing. I will use the Q9300 in my desktop and then the motherboard could be usable but it unfortunately is not microATX but ATX. So I was wondering, although it seems to be anti-SFF, but are there any small formfactor or slightly larger cases that support ATX? I really want to built a decent LANing rig but it'd be really cool to take advantage of this motherboard.