So I want to put together a super cheap yet decently powerful slim or mini tower case running Linux Mint. Here is what I am looking for:
-Cheap
-Really quiet
-Cool
-Powerful(for what a couple hundred bucks can get)
-Small(Slim is 1st choice, Micro tower is 2nd choice)
It will probably be on most if not all day on a frequent basis so I want to have reliable parts that I can trust not to have a meltdown and start a fire. I was giving a lot of consideration to these cases from Xion and Rosewill:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811208054
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147098
I don't trust the power supply that is in that turd Xion. It wouldn't surprise me if the damn thing started a fire. I have a lot more faith in Rosewill but from reviews I have seen it has it's own issues. The nice thing about choosing a case without PSU is that I can pick my own and spend the extra money on a top shelf one that I won't have to worry about melting down. Here is a part list I have so far:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1MUuw
HDD is missing because I will be cannibalizing some from my other rigs. I am torn between the 6400K and the 5500 APU. The 5500 being a quad core would be a decent amount faster for only about an extra $30, but I don't plan on doing anything too intensive with this rig. It will be utilized a lot but not for heavy tasks. Nice thing is that both are in the 65W TDP range. I also don't care about it being unlocked since it won't be OC'ed.
I am open to suggestions even going to Intel. I want a CPU that is 65W or under and for what the AMD APUs provide with speed/performance/price I thought that they would be the best option. Having an APU would allow me to play some games since I have quite a few games that work on Linux.
What are your suggestions regarding the cases? The minis worry me just because they have crap PSUs whereas the micro would have a nice HQ one. I would just have to find some extra room for it since I only have about enough space for a slim where I want to place it. :P