Micro ATX / Mini ITX (AMD, Intel, VIA)

**wanjer** · 09-11-2004, 06:07 AM

Hi guys

I've been doing alot of reading in here lately, to get some info about building a carpc. And i'm pretty much about what i'm going to buy. But i can't really dicede witch way I should go. The Epia way or build a micro ATX system.

I'm writing from a M10000 right now, and it's with out a doubt a nice board, and clearly the easy'st way to go. Every thing is onboard, and it doesn't use a bunch of power. The board isn't mine so I still have every option open!

The only thing about the Epia board is the lack of CPU, and graphic power

So I have used the last couple of days looking at micro ATX systems, mobile cpu's and so on. I used the

button alot

but I still didn't find a post that totally convinced med to ge either way.

So I started on my own to look acroos the internet after a motherboard and a cpu that could solve my problems. and here's what i came up with.

The Pentium M centrino Cpu would be a perfect processor to the project. It has alot of power, and doesn't use much power (10 - 15watt) and produce very little heat. But it's a very pricy solutions

Also i can't really find any motherboards that support this CPU, without they wont one of my kidneys in trade for it

So i started to look at the desktop P4 processor, and find out that they have a very high use of power

Except one cpu.... An old 1.6Ghz 0,13 micron, 400fsb cpu.
http://processorfinder.intel.com/scr...ALL&CorSpd=ALL
It only use's 38watt, so that could be an option, but it's proberly pretty hard to find

The good thing about the desktop P4 processor is that it's pretty easy to find Micro ATX board's the support this CPU, and they are low cost. The Intel 865G chipset with the Intel Xtreme 2 vga chip, should be a good buy ???

I also looked at the older PIII and celreon Taulatin processors, they are also pretty cheap, and doesn't use alot of wattage, and don't produce alot of heat. But they are using the old 370pins socket, wich is pretty low-tech, and are using the old PC-100/133 memmory

The AMD processors are known for there extreme use of power and giant heat produce. But i stumbled over the mobile CPU, 2400+. It's only using 35watt and is pretty low cost. But I really don't know what motherboard to go for here. I'm not a big fan of VIA's AMD chipset's, so I'm looking at the Nvidia Nforce2 IGP chipset, which should be okay ??? But what about the graphic's on those boards ???

The only thing's I'm pretty sure of right now is that i'm going to use a 2.5" harddrive, a slot loading dvd-rom (should be mounted in the dashboard) and for the power i'm going to be using an OPUS 90/150

Any body have any pro's / con's on my thinking ???

Sorry for my bad english

**Elderm007** · 09-11-2004, 07:23 AM

AMD is not know for there heat they are better then Intel. the reason that you find Intel at processors at a cooler temp is because of the heat sinks and fans Intel spent million upon millions to get it right, If you spend a little extra money for a better fan for an amd, I think you will find it a lot cooler then Intel.

-----if you cant tell im an AMD fan------ they are cheaper too

**Batmanatthenewb** · 09-11-2004, 07:31 AM

wanjer,
I run an AMD in my system. Here in the central United States, the hottest it got this summer was was 148 degrees on a 90+ degree day, after being parked in my parking lot all day. Normally the cpu runs in the low 120 degree range, while the inside case temp is about 18 degrees lower. I use a standard ATX PSU, strictly because when I come home at night I unplug the psu from my inverter, plug it into an extension cord, and can run the computer all night while doing updates or transferring data without running the battery down. I am sold on AMD's, normally cheaper and perform great. I run an MSI K3T ARU motherboard. While it is not a micro ATX, it gives me the ability for just about any upgrade I want. Size of the board should be your determining factor. Take a look at the MSI boards. Had great success with them over the years while running AMD cpu's.

Batman