Planning a small desktop/under desktop system

  • Thread starter Thread starter ken
  • Start date Start date
K

ken

Only because it is relatively slow now, I want to replace a slick 2" x
18" x 18" PC Power and Cooling system called Sleekline that they made a
number of years ago. It mounts very nicely in the leg well of my wife's
desk.

What options do I have for a box that would sit below the desktop and
not take up too much room (perhaps I could even build a bracket to hold
it off of the floor to make it easier to access a DVD)? I know of the
shuttle but don't know anything about the merits of a shuttle. I am not
sure what else is out there to consider.

Thanks
Ken K
 
Mon said:
Only because it is relatively slow now, I want to replace a slick 2" x
18" x 18" PC Power and Cooling system called Sleekline that they made a
number of years ago. It mounts very nicely in the leg well of my wife's
desk.

What options do I have for a box that would sit below the desktop and
not take up too much room (perhaps I could even build a bracket to hold
it off of the floor to make it easier to access a DVD)? I know of the
shuttle but don't know anything about the merits of a shuttle. I am not
sure what else is out there to consider.
Click to expand...

I've been eying this one hard as a replacement PC for my mom and as my
grandmother's first one. More than they will ever need, yet meets my
day-to-day needs as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856167032


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Bill said:
How much horsepower does you wife need? How much heat is the new pc
going to put out? How is the new pc going to keep cool where you
intand to put it? Are you going to allow enough clearance around the
new pc for proper cooling? Have you left enough room to properly
route cables and left enough length in the cable so you can pull the
pc out to work on it if there is a hardware problem?

Are you building this or looking for something already manufactured?

Lots of things to consider.

Have you seen this?

http://www.cybernetman.com/default.cfm?DocId=602


Bill
Click to expand...
Ultimately she needs less horsepower to run her apps (Excel, Paperport,
Word) than she needs to run the OS (I will install Win XP Pro). I
thought I would use a Core 2 Duo chip which would never even break a
sweat. The system will have two hdd's at most (one for holding a backup
image file and can be either internal or external). I want to have a
DVI connector for newer monitors. WRT the space, I can take up as much
or as little as I need to; cabling is not an issue. I was thinking of
building the unit, but if I can find something already built, that works
as well. The unit that you reference above could fit the bill quite
well, actually. It is not very upgradeable in the future, but it should
last quite a number of years for what she is doing. Very interesting...
I could use an external hdd for backup.... I will check to see reviews
on this system...
Thanks!
 
TVeblen said:
Well, the 2660 system I just looked at uses a P4 2.66 which is a hot chip,
so if the cooling has not been an issue for you to this point then I'm
guessing it runs at 1/4 throttle most of the time. I assume P&CS does not
make the sleekline anymore? If not I would pop the cover off that thing and
look to see what I would need to upgrade. If the case has standard ATX or
Micro-ATX configuration mounts and it uses standard components than you
could consider upgrading right in that case.
Click to expand...
Correct--the unit is no longer sold and hasn't been for years. The MB
is an AOpen MX4GR with a Pentium 4 2000mHz cpu. I can upgrade, but I
think the connectors are for the older ATX boards, so I am not sure what
the limitations are. I know that the present board has a memory
limitation, so that I could not increase the 512 that I have in it.
There is no space for a cpu cooler (I will pull the cover, but I think
that is the case), so that being the case, what older style chip runs
cool enough to work? Here is a link to the AOpen MX4GR manual, if that
helps:

http://download.aopen.com.tw/userdownload_List.aspx?RecNo=3616&Model=62

CPU/motherboard suggestions would be appreciated. What is the last
generation of chips and boards that can be used with the older connector
power supplies?

Thanks
Ken K
 
ken said:
Correct--the unit is no longer sold and hasn't been for years. The MB is
an AOpen MX4GR with a Pentium 4 2000mHz cpu. I can upgrade, but I think
the connectors are for the older ATX boards, so I am not sure what the
limitations are. I know that the present board has a memory limitation,
so that I could not increase the 512 that I have in it. There is no space
for a cpu cooler (I will pull the cover, but I think that is the case), so
that being the case, what older style chip runs cool enough to work? Here
is a link to the AOpen MX4GR manual, if that helps:

http://download.aopen.com.tw/userdownload_List.aspx?RecNo=3616&Model=62

CPU/motherboard suggestions would be appreciated. What is the last
generation of chips and boards that can be used with the older connector
power supplies?
Click to expand...
Almost anything runs cooler than a P4. If you were to go the upgrade route
you would be replacing the motherboard, processor, memory, and power supply
at a minimum. Probably the video card too, but I'm guessing that thing has
on board video, so you would look for the same in a new motherboard. An ATX
motherboard will fit in any case that takes an ATX - the screw holes will
line up. Micro-ATX for Micro-ATX also. Just read that manual and see if it
says what "form factor" the board is.
 
ken said:
Correct--the unit is no longer sold and hasn't been for years. The MB is
an AOpen MX4GR with a Pentium 4 2000mHz cpu. I can upgrade, but I think
the connectors are for the older ATX boards, so I am not sure what the
limitations are. I know that the present board has a memory limitation,
so that I could not increase the 512 that I have in it. There is no space
for a cpu cooler (I will pull the cover, but I think that is the case), so
that being the case, what older style chip runs cool enough to work? Here
is a link to the AOpen MX4GR manual, if that helps:

http://download.aopen.com.tw/userdownload_List.aspx?RecNo=3616&Model=62

CPU/motherboard suggestions would be appreciated. What is the last
generation of chips and boards that can be used with the older connector
power supplies?
Click to expand...
Almost anything runs cooler than a P4. If you were to go the upgrade route
you would be replacing the motherboard, processor, memory, and power supply
at a minimum. Probably the video card too, but I'm guessing that thing has
on board video, so you would look for the same in a new motherboard. An ATX
motherboard will fit in any case that takes an ATX - the screw holes will
line up. Micro-ATX for Micro-ATX also. Just read that manual and see if it
says what "form factor" the board is.
 
TVeblen said:
Almost anything runs cooler than a P4. If you were to go the upgrade route
you would be replacing the motherboard, processor, memory, and power supply
at a minimum. Probably the video card too, but I'm guessing that thing has
on board video, so you would look for the same in a new motherboard. An ATX
motherboard will fit in any case that takes an ATX - the screw holes will
line up. Micro-ATX for Micro-ATX also. Just read that manual and see if it
says what "form factor" the board is.
Click to expand...

Using on-board video would not be a problem if the motherboard had a DVI
connector; that is what we use now, but I would like a DVI connector so
that I could upgrade the monitor. I don't think I can find a power
supply that would fit the case, so that is why I thought I would use the
same generation motherboard, just up grading it to the latest and
greatest cpu + memory just before the switch to the next generation
motherboards. The connectors should be the same as for my motherboard,
I assume. The chip and memory should not be very expensive. Do you
know at which chipset the ATX motherboards were changed to ATX 2, or
whatever the newest ones are called?


Thanks
Ken
 
kenk said:
Using on-board video would not be a problem if the motherboard had a DVI
connector; that is what we use now, but I would like a DVI connector so
that I could upgrade the monitor. I don't think I can find a power supply
that would fit the case, so that is why I thought I would use the same
generation motherboard, just up grading it to the latest and greatest cpu
+ memory just before the switch to the next generation motherboards. The
connectors should be the same as for my motherboard, I assume. The chip
and memory should not be very expensive. Do you know at which chipset the
ATX motherboards were changed to ATX 2, or whatever the newest ones are
called?
Click to expand...
ATX is simply a uniform standard for motherboard design - it has nothing to
do with the generations, processors, etc.
After the Northwood P4 processor (yours) came the Prescott P4 and that was
the end of the line for that generation of processors and 8xx chipsets. It
would be hardly worth the effort or cost to upgrade from a northwood to a
prescott - I doubt you would see any noticeable performance difference.
After the Pentium 4 came the Core processors: the Core Duos, the Core
Extremes, then the Core 2 Duos, then the Core 2 Quads, then the i7. All
require the newer power supplies. Look on Newegg.com and see if they make
your type of power supply. They carry dozens of different types.
 
TVeblen said:
ATX is simply a uniform standard for motherboard design - it has nothing to
do with the generations, processors, etc.
After the Northwood P4 processor (yours) came the Prescott P4 and that was
the end of the line for that generation of processors and 8xx chipsets. It
would be hardly worth the effort or cost to upgrade from a northwood to a
prescott - I doubt you would see any noticeable performance difference.
After the Pentium 4 came the Core processors: the Core Duos, the Core
Extremes, then the Core 2 Duos, then the Core 2 Quads, then the i7. All
require the newer power supplies. Look on Newegg.com and see if they make
your type of power supply. They carry dozens of different types.
Click to expand...
I thought that the power connectors are different for the newer
motherboards...
 
ken said:
I thought that the power connectors are different for the newer
motherboards...
Click to expand...

Yes, that is what I meant when I said "All require the newer power
supplies", which have the newer connectors.
 
Yes, that is what I meant when I said "All require the newer power
supplies", which have the newer connectors.
Click to expand...
To clarify: You shouldn't assume that you can put a newer processor in your
current motherboard. Each motherboard is design for a family of processors.
That "family" can be pretty narrow. You have to check the specs for your
motherboard to see which processors it supports. The motherboard in your
computer may not be designed for Prescott P4s. It will certainly not be
designed for any Core processors. In addition, the RAM is also designed for
processor families, you should not assume you can use your old RAM for a
newer processor. The new motherboards for Core processors use a 24 pin
connector rather than the 20 pin connector used for the previous
generations. The new power supplies have the 24 pin connectors.
 
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