[olddog1234]

I have a old compaq sr1220nx I want to know if the case is acceptable for a new build gameing compute?? ty for any help you can give?

[LiveBrianD]

The motherboard in that PC is microATX, and that's probably all the case supports (no full-size ATX - cases that support that also support microatx). You can build a gaming machine in there.

This post has been edited by coastie65: 14 May 2012 - 06:38 AM
Reason for edit: Editeed out unnecessray misstatements.

[coastie65]

olddog1234, on 13 May 2012 - 05:57 PM, said:

I have a old compaq sr1220nx I want to know if the case is acceptable for a new build gameing compute?? ty for any help you can give?

Hi and welcome to the forums. Yep, you could put something in there. The one question I would have is how wide is the case across the front? If it is 7" or more ( not a slimline ) then it should be fine as you can use a standard ATX PSU and Video Cards. You could strt with this Motherboard : http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131786 , As for heat, there is another thread in here where someone has built a computer inside od an Xbox case using an AMD processor which are usually hotter and the temps are surprisingly fine. You should be fine. I had an eMachines MINI tower that was upgraded for gaming and it did fine.

This post has been edited by coastie65: 14 May 2012 - 10:07 AM

[LiveBrianD]

OK what's with my comments about potential heat issues being edited out? Those OEM cases aren't exactly designed to have great airflow you know. Yes, that guy was running an athlon x2 in an old xbox case, but he says that has quite a few vents (it's not obvious from the pictures though) and that was only a 65W CPU with integrated graphics.

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 14 May 2012 - 02:42 PM

[coastie65]

LiveBrianD, on 14 May 2012 - 02:41 PM, said:

OK what's with my comments about potential heat issues being edited out? Those OEM cases aren't exactly designed to have great airflow you know. Yes, that guy was running an athlon x2 in an old xbox case, but he says that has quite a few vents (it's not obvious from the pictures though) and that was only a 65W CPU with integrated graphics.

It's called experience. You seem to forget that I had an eMachines mini tower with a Pentium D 945. The TDP ws 95w on that thing as I remember, and heat was never an issue. It only had a 60mm rear fan too. As I've said before, if you haven't dealt with the stuff don't comment. I have dealt with those things and I know about the airflow in them ( not the best for sure ). They are putting quad cores in mini towers all the time. With a Mini tower, there is probably less of an issue than with a laptop.

[LiveBrianD]

coastie65, on 16 May 2012 - 12:39 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 14 May 2012 - 02:41 PM, said:

OK what's with my comments about potential heat issues being edited out? Those OEM cases aren't exactly designed to have great airflow you know. Yes, that guy was running an athlon x2 in an old xbox case, but he says that has quite a few vents (it's not obvious from the pictures though) and that was only a 65W CPU with integrated graphics.

It's called experience. You seem to forget that I had an eMachines mini tower with a Pentium D 945. The TDP ws 95w on that thing as I remember, and heat was never an issue. It only had a 60mm rear fan too. As I've said before, if you haven't dealt with the stuff don't comment. I have dealt with those things and I know about the airflow in them ( not the best for sure ). They are putting quad cores in mini towers all the time. With a Mini tower, there is probably less of an issue than with a laptop.

Yeah, but, for instance, at my school they have a bunch of Compaq 7600s that run pretty dang hot (for instance, the hard drives are at 50C all the time, I checked - there's no CPU temp sensor in those though), and they have Pentium 4s (775) and no discrete graphics. Meanwhile, the 8200s have higher wattage CPUs (i5 2400s) AND discrete graphics (only 6450s though) and yet run nice and cool, with the CPU at 30C and the entire case not feeling warm at all. Sure, better power management might be at play, but there's still a stark difference there. Granted, those are all SFF machines (the second to smallest varient I think - the smallest one doesn't have any pcie slots, these do), but still, with a minitower I would watch it a bit.

Edit: Coastie, your 9800GT only had a 105W TDP. http://www.geforce.c.../specifications In comparison, my 550ti, only mid-range, is 116W. http://www.nvidia.co...x-550ti-us.html If you want something better than that, you might have issues. (for instance, the 560ti is 170W)

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 16 May 2012 - 03:00 PM

[coastie65]

LiveBrianD, on 16 May 2012 - 02:43 PM, said:

coastie65, on 16 May 2012 - 12:39 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 14 May 2012 - 02:41 PM, said:

OK what's with my comments about potential heat issues being edited out? Those OEM cases aren't exactly designed to have great airflow you know. Yes, that guy was running an athlon x2 in an old xbox case, but he says that has quite a few vents (it's not obvious from the pictures though) and that was only a 65W CPU with integrated graphics.

It's called experience. You seem to forget that I had an eMachines mini tower with a Pentium D 945. The TDP ws 95w on that thing as I remember, and heat was never an issue. It only had a 60mm rear fan too. As I've said before, if you haven't dealt with the stuff don't comment. I have dealt with those things and I know about the airflow in them ( not the best for sure ). They are putting quad cores in mini towers all the time. With a Mini tower, there is probably less of an issue than with a laptop.

Yeah, but, for instance, at my school they have a bunch of Compaq 7600s that run pretty dang hot (for instance, the hard drives are at 50C all the time, I checked - there's no CPU temp sensor in those though), and they have Pentium 4s (775) and no discrete graphics. Meanwhile, the 8200s have higher wattage CPUs (i5 2400s) AND discrete graphics (only 6450s though) and yet run nice and cool, with the CPU at 30C and the entire case not feeling warm at all. Sure, better power management might be at play, but there's still a stark difference there. Granted, those are all SFF machines (the second to smallest varient I think - the smallest one doesn't have any pcie slots, these do), but still, with a minitower I would watch it a bit.

Edit: Coastie, your 9800GT only had a 105W TDP. http://www.geforce.c.../specifications In comparison, my 550ti, only mid-range, is 116W. http://www.nvidia.co...x-550ti-us.html If you want something better than that, you might have issues. (for instance, the 560ti is 170W)

The GPU was fine. Nice and cool. The PD would idle at about 48c though. never saw it get above 63c under load though. The GPU would go to about 73c under a heavy load, so not bad. Ithink the Hdd in that thing ran around the low to mid 40's c but not entirely sure. A lot would depend on how the case is vented too. The eMachines had vents along the bottom so the card was getting clean cool air down there. Course it had the side vent above the CPU as well. There could be any number of reasons those P4's are running so hot. Wonder when the last time it was that they were given a good cleaning and the TMC renewed?

[LiveBrianD]

For the CPU in your case, I think it's simply an issue of poor power management. For the GPU, it might also be that, or it might be the airflow - my 550ti, with a slightly higher TDP than your 9800GT, idles at 30C and under load hits 60C. Admittedly, I'm not sure when those things were last cleaned, and I'm almost certain they don't mess with the thermal paste on the CPUs in those. The Pentium 4 models were from 2006, and the i5 ones from 2011.

[coastie65]

LiveBrianD, on 16 May 2012 - 03:24 PM, said:

For the CPU in your case, I think it's simply an issue of poor power management. For the GPU, it might also be that, or it might be the airflow - my 550ti, with a slightly higher TDP than your 9800GT, idles at 30C and under load hits 60C. Admittedly, I'm not sure when those things were last cleaned, and I'm almost certain they don't mess with the thermal paste on the CPUs in those. The Pentium 4 models were from 2006, and the i5 ones from 2011.

The TMC does get old. As for the eMachines, that thing was really crowded inside and air flow was almost a joke.

[waldojim]

OK, ok - guys come on. First, Brian, there is a huge difference between the GTX 550 and 8800GT/9800GT. Namely that the 8800/9800 used a single slot cooler that vented back into the case, and the 550 vents outside. One of them adds more to the 'hotbox' effect. Secondly, when you start drawing more and more power, you do create more heat. In a normal scenario such as this case here, there is not enough heat to be an issue. You could get away with a GTX 680 in that box if you really wanted to. The problems start to arise when you have multiple heat sources, or overclocking.

So OP: the best answer you have is YES it is fine, conditionally. Do not bother buying an SLI mATX motherboard, and slapping two cards in there. Not going to end well. Do not expect any overclocking headroom - again, not going to end well. Also, make sure you pick up a power supply sufficient for your task. All that asside, remember, new cases - mid sized cases - can be picked up relatively cheap online. SOME of them, even ship with decent power supplies. Though you have to be careful with most brands.

[coastie65]

waldojim, on 16 May 2012 - 08:43 PM, said:

OK, ok - guys come on. First, Brian, there is a huge difference between the GTX 550 and 8800GT/9800GT. Namely that the 8800/9800 used a single slot cooler that vented back into the case, and the 550 vents outside. One of them adds more to the 'hotbox' effect. Secondly, when you start drawing more and more power, you do create more heat. In a normal scenario such as this case here, there is not enough heat to be an issue. You could get away with a GTX 680 in that box if you really wanted to. The problems start to arise when you have multiple heat sources, or overclocking.

So OP: the best answer you have is YES it is fine, conditionally. Do not bother buying an SLI mATX motherboard, and slapping two cards in there. Not going to end well. Do not expect any overclocking headroom - again, not going to end well. Also, make sure you pick up a power supply sufficient for your task. All that asside, remember, new cases - mid sized cases - can be picked up relatively cheap online. SOME of them, even ship with decent power supplies. Though you have to be careful with most brands.

Completely overlooked the mATX and sli/Crossfire factor. Not a good idea to go that route for sure. Most would be happy with a single good card though.