AMD small form home pc

[EricDL]

Hi folks,

Great site, very informative!

I'd like to build a AMD-based slim or small form pc. The new pc will multitask between 2 or 3 graphic design programs and will be used for work. The goal here is to build a pc that renders graphics faster than my Dual 1.8 Ghz Mac G5. I have a old Athlon XP 2000 pc but the Mac is of course much faster. Budget is not a factor. I am a hardware newbie and open to suggestions.

Will the following configuration work? And can a cable modem plug directly into the motherboard, or will a card be necessary?

Case: Antec Minuet350 Piano Black Steel MicroATX Slim Case 350W 80PLUS Certified Power Supply - Retail
Motherboard: ASUS M4A78-EM AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
Heatsink: Scythe SCKTN-3000 92mm Sleeve "KATANA3" 3Heat Pipes CPU Cooler - Retail
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM
Secondary Drive: SIIG JU-91RW12-S4 9-in-1 USB 2.0 Card Reader/Write + Floppy - Retail
Video Card: SAPPHIRE 100253HDMI Radeon HD 4650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Low Profile Video ... - Retail
Extra: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

[Khalil]

Welcome to pcmech forums.
That chassis is not for machines that need to render and multi task, it will be so hot it will be like on fire! Why does it need to be a small form factor? Another huge problem is the power supply, that 350W won't be able to handle the 955, that video card and all that heat!
Consider switching to a quality mid tower with a solid 500W power supply!

[EricDL]

Hi Khalil, thanks for telling me that! Wouldn't want the new pc to melt into a hot cinder

Choosing small form was for aesthetics only, to free the home office of a large suitcase pc and hopefully add a touch of class. I will take your advice and keep looking.

[glc]

If you like Antec cases, look at the Sonata III. It comes with a 500w. If esthetics and space are important, put it on the floor and/or under the desk.

A cable modem should never be connected directly to a PC unless it's also a NAT router. If it's just a standard modem, buy a router to plug it into. Either way, almost all new motherboards have onboard Ethernet, you won't need a card.

Why are you getting a 3rd party CPU cooler? The stock unit works fine and is needed to keep the 3 year CPU warranty.

That's a ridiculous price to pay for a card reader/floppy - this is all you need:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820300009