Fairly powerful gaming rig in Antec SOLO?

[ZZSmufa]

Hi everyone! I've been lurking here for a while and as building a new computer has finally become feasible, and somewhat mandatory, for me, I decided to defer to your collective wisdom before buying the parts.

This is what I have in mind:

Case: Antec SOLO
PSU: Seasonic S12-II-380
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3/GA-P35-DS3
CPU: E6750
GPU: A 8800GTS, probably the 640MB version.
RAM: 2x 1024 DDR2 800MHz, haven't really decided what brand yet.
HDD: 150GB Raptor X, as I have this already. Though I'm pretty fed up with its seek noise, and might change it to something else.
Optical drive: A DVD-RW drive with good CD ripping capabilities. If not possible, then separate drives for ripping and burning.

This machine would be used only for gaming and ripping CD-audio, as I do everything else on my laptop. As such, I don't mind it being somewhat audible, even in the worst case scenario it'll probably be much quieter than my last computer. I'd also like to keep it fairly small, to easy portability.

Without further ado, here are the questions:

1. Is this even feasible in the SOLO case? From what I've read, it would seem so, but I'd like to be sure.

2. Is the DDR3 support reason enough to pick the P35C over the P35? I ask this because the P35C seems to be quite hard to find in Finland or even Germany.

3. Cooling. I'm torn between Scythe Ninja and Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme. I'm under the impression that the Ninja has some problems with LGA775 motherboards, but is the Ultra-120 Extreme any easier? Does the 8800GTS need anything extra or will the stock cooler suffice?

This is everything I can think of right now; if there is anything else that seems to catch your attention, I'm all ears. I would be grateful for any and all advice you can think of.

[laguz1]

1. Is this even feasible in the SOLO case? From what I've read, it would seem so, but I'd like to be sure.

2. Is the DDR3 support reason enough to pick the P35C over the P35? I ask this because the P35C seems to be quite hard to find in Finland or even Germany.

3. Cooling. I'm torn between Scythe Ninja and Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme. I'm under the impression that the Ninja has some problems with LGA775 motherboards, but is the Ultra-120 Extreme any easier? Does the 8800GTS need anything extra or will the stock cooler suffice?

1. everything can fit

2. ddr3 isn't really worth it now, or possibly in a couple of months, since ddr3 ram has ridiculously high timings and is expensive, so that small <5% performance increase isn't worth the extra $100+ in my opinion...I would just stick with the P35-DS3R (non C version), and use a pair of crucial ballistix (2 gb for $99).

3. the ninja has no real issues - just some motherboard compatibility issues (the gigabytes do not pertain here). What they probably mean is the push-pin installation, which is not very smart on Scythe's part, but it still works...just more effort. The ultra 120 has a better installation (bolt-thru), but i don't think you can mount one in one a solo? (fan blowing out) i'm not sure if the top of the ultra 120 would touch the PSU above....you can always mount it facing up though.

the 8800GTS is quiet enough with stock fan, but your temps might get pretty hot...probably 70 Cs +. I would just keep stock, and see if you temps/noise is tolerable to you. If not, just put on a thermalright HR-03 or a zalman vf 1000.

*other notes...i would get a new HD if you want silence, preferably a samsung spinpoint T. For ram, i like crucial ballistix, now that they are cheap (and are amazing), but corsair, gskill, etc.. are all ok.

[Matzon]

isn't there some size issues with the 8800GTS and a solo ?

[rpsgc]

isn't there some size issues with the 8800GTS and a solo ?

Nope. The 8800GTX is another story though.

[laguz1]

yeah, its because the 8800GTS is pretty much the length of your motherboard...the 8800GTX actually hangs over like an inch, thats why it doesn't work with some cases

[dhanson865]

The last time I looked the S12 380 and Corsair VX450W were within a couple of dollars of each other. I'd be grabbing the Corsair instead assuming the pricing is still that close...

$75 shipped $55 after rebate

[CA_Steve]

I have an 8800GTS in a Solo. It fits. The Ninja as well. It fits. Some pepole have issues with the pushpin config.

If you don't think you'll need RAID, why not go to a P35-DS3L? Save some bucks.

[johnniecache7]

I have agree with him the P35-DS3L is awsome deal. If I did not have 965P-DS3 already I would buy one. I find raid to be rather useless feature and it save you few bucks.

[Knaack]

I'm pretty much running that same rig with a couple minor changes.

Case: Antec SOLO
PSU: Corsair HX620
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35C-DSR3
CPU: E6750 w/ Thermalright 120 Extreme
GPU: 8800GTS 640MB
RAM: 4x 1gb Crucial Ballistix
HDD: 2x 500gb Samsung T166
Optical drive: Samsung SH-183L

Everything fits fine, even with the ultra 120 (though it's close with the support bar in the Solo case). Temps for the CPU are ~38C with a ambient of 78F, running the CPU/case fans at ~900 RPM, and two front 92mm fans at 5-6V. Oh, and this is with the ultra 120 fan blowing out toward the case fan (just takes a little finesse to get it all into there).

Overall, very quiet. A slight whooshing noise with the fans at their current speed, but anything is better than my old gaming dell The ODD doesn't make too much noise, but the damn thing won't spin down for a good 2 min after use. And while this rig is portable from a size standpoint, it is somewhat heavy and can be a pain to lug around.

If I had to do it over, I'd probably get the 520HX or the 450VX PSU, and wouldn't get the PS3C... Like others said, DDR3 isn't worth it right now, and by the time you'll want it, you'll probably be ready to upgrade the MB anyway. DS3L would be a good choice.

Hope that helps

[jackylman]

Just a thought: If you have money left over in the budget, and you plan on keeping this system for a while, 4 GB of RAM would be a nice upgrade while DDR2 is cheap.