Hey all! new here :D, i was hoping somone could help me out with building a pc, but i have a unique situation for which im building it for, so it creates some complications.
my price range is ~1,200, and i need a computer that i can easily travel with - im spending a few months with my fiance who is currently in CA for family reasons ( i live in NY). i currently have an alienware aurora which i bought in 2008, its good enough not to warrant a major upgrade, but it is FAR too large and bulky to take with me, and the biggest issue is actually the monitor, if i were to build a smaller portable rig i still would run into an issue with display - the monitor i have is again, far too large and bulky to transport easily/safely.
while id love to buy a laptop they are so much more expensive for such less power, and i don't have the money to drop on a more powerful 2 grand plus model, i would if did. so im pretty lost, im not willing to buy a cheaper laptop, and i don't know how to build a rig that i can easily take with me, i was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on what i can do?
as far as specifications for the computer itself go, i can't even begin to look at a build untill i figure out how i can actually figure this out, i mean maybe im being stupid,
Alienware X51 (Even though Alienware is fucking overpriced).. but since you're on a budget, get some mini-ITX Chasis they're pretty small. That actually the smallest you can get unless you want a laptop or a mini.
yeah, i kind of regret buying my alienware, i payed a good 700$ markup (the service replacement actually ended up replacing parts beyond the markup value so it payed for itself in the end, but sitll) on it, but that was back when i was younger and didn't have a very good grasp on hardware, and the X51 is as you said, is hugely overpriced, and its capable stats that alienware lets you customize aren't even close to what i want.
I guess my delema is in the display, not necissarily the case itself :c, i'll probally just hve to get a smaller case, keep it lightweight and ship the computer, i just am not comftorable doing that
I guess this thread is more of a brainstorming thing, looking for any potshot opinions if anyone has any
remember to have positive air pressure meaning the side with 2 120mm (replace with the cosair) need to be intake, the other 120 fan needs to be exhaust, and the 2 80mm need to be exhuast
you can get a bit more powerful system but it will be larger, but in my opinion, that is a damn sexy setup that will have anybody drooling over it where ever you take it, both in aestetics and performance
well if you would look at all the pictures and stats, its is a Micro atx case with 4 full sized PCI/-E brakets and will fit a full sized PSU and a GPU up to 11 inches it has 3 120mm fan slots preinstalled with fans but you want to switch the 2 with the cosair fans, and 2 80mm fans slots on the back(according to silverstones website), there is a fullsized 5.25 bay for a fan controller or DVD drive if they wish, it can hold a 2.5 and 3.5 HDD and SSD, the GPU has the PCI-E power connectors in the back so there is no hieght or lenght problem and its 4 slots so no width problem GPU wise
the only real reason I limited it to a 7870 is because none of the higher end GPUs wether nvidia or AMD had cards with rear power plugs for PCI-E, you couldn't put them on top in that case, just not enough room up there, so I instead put that budget to inproving cooling so they can OC the GPU, would not recommend OCing the CPU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWAeZYB9DGg - I'd seen this earlier today and just thought I'd put it here, might be abit to large judging from what Giga came up with but it has a 670 and a 3570k in it so plenty of power there.
I'll try to come up with one that is thiner and taller similar to that build, I've heard moving cases and water cooling doesn't mix well, maybe that doesn't apply to closed loop coolers, I know from experience that you shouldn't have a problem with air cooling, as long as you screw everything down as you should, you'll be good
It's actually better with a closed loop system as all the weight is on the strong chassis, rather than the motherboard. This doesn't however apply to custom loops.