Budget Intel SFF

The budget Intel SFF is capable of basic computing, but you aren’t going to want to play games more demanding than, say, Farmville on this system. In a similar vein, the inexpensive case, power supply, and fan are not going to be particularly quiet. If the primary use will be online shopping, checking sports scores, emailing, working on basic documents and spreadsheets, and removing red eye from pictures taken with a point and shoot camera, this system will handle those tasks easily without breaking the bank.

Intel Budget SFF
Component Description Cost Rebate
Case APEX MI-008 $50  
CPU Intel Celeron E3400 $44  
Motherboard Intel BOXDG41AN $72  
Memory Patriot 2GB PSD32G13332 $20 -$7
HDD Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS $45  
DVDRW LITE-ON iHAS124 $20  
OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM $100  
Total Price $351 $344
Intel Basic SFF Upgrades
CPU Intel Core i3-2100 $125  
Motherboard ASUS P8H61-I $85  
Total Price with Upgrades $445 $438

While the LGA775 platform won’t see any new budget CPUs—it’s EOL, which makes sense considering

we’re now two cycles away from when it was Intel’s current platform—a more powerful (used) LGA775 chip could be a viable drop-in upgrade as prices on CPUs like the venerable E8400 continue to drop. If you’d rather go with a more up-to-date Intel setup, we’ve included a Sandy Bridge Core i3 CPU and an appropriate motherboard for reference. That combination will substantially increase the system’s computing and graphics capabilities, as well as providing more potential longevity if you want to upgrade the CPU down the road, but it will also increase the price by about $100.

We’re going with a single 2GB DIMM, since that makes it easy to upgrade to 4GB later should that be deemed necessary—you’d just drop in another 2GB DIMM. The APEX case measures 11.8” x 8.7” x 5.1” (Length x Width x Height).

Budget AMD SFF

In a rather bizarre twist, even though AMD is usually associated with budget computing, mini-ITX solutions featuring AMD platforms are not nearly so numerous as those featuring Intel CPUs. Of the mini-ITX AM3 boards that we can find, many sport very outdated chipsets (e.g. NVIDIA’s now-defunct 6100/8200 chipset). The recommended motherboard manufacturer, Giada, is a relative newcomer to the North American market, but of the dozen or so Giada boards I’ve used in builds, they’ve all been acceptable and unremarkable for budget-oriented products. (Note: some of you will undoubtedly noticed there is a less expensive AMD-based mini-ITX board available at Newegg. I cannot recommend it because it uses an ancient (six years old!) chipset that will artificially limit the performance of AM3 CPUs, uses more expensive DDR2 instead of cheaper DDR3 memory, and lacks DVI and HDMI outputs.)

Like the budget Intel SFF system, this inexpensive AMD machine is capable of basic computing, and the cheap case and power supply are not going to be as efficient or quiet as higher quality components. I’ve built multiple systems with each of these budget cases, and they’re really a wash—neither is notably superior to the other. While this AMD system’s integrated graphics are superior to the Intel system’s IGP, it’s still not a gaming computer. The Foxconn case recommended with the AMD SFF build measures 14.2” x 11” x 3.8” (LxWxH).

AMD Budget SFF
Component Description Cost Rebate
Case Foxconn RM233+FSP150-50GLT $46  
CPU AMD Athlon II X2 250 $61  
Motherboard Giada MI-R880G-01 $85  
Memory Patriot 2GB PSD32G13332 $20  
HDD Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS $45  
DVDRW LITE-ON iHAS124 $20  
OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM $100  
Total Price $377 $377

We really don’t have any recommend upgrades for the AMD budget SFF. If you want to reduce the price, there’s a $55 Athlon II X2 245 clocked at 2.9GHz; however, that particular CPU is an OEM model so you’d need to buy a separate HSF, which would likely cost far more than the $6 you save by going with an OEM CPU. AMD also has the single-core Sempron CPUs, like the Sempron 145 for $36 (plus shipping), but we’re not willing to go that far in pursuit of cost savings. A better way to reduce cost would be to skip mini-ITX altogether and go with a mATX case and motherboard instead; pricing on mATX boards with the AMD 880G chipset starts at a far more palatable $55.

Recommended Budget SFF

The Intel SFF has two primary advantages over the AMD SFF. First, the cheaper CPU and motherboard contribute to a less expensive system. Second, the E3400 CPU loads at much lower wattage than the Athlon II X2 250 CPU, which is especially important in a cramped SFF chassis. There are “E” suffix AMD Athlon II X2 and X3 CPUs with a 45W TDP, but while these energy efficient chips erase the E3400’s thermal advantage, they are also more expensive than the regular 65W TDP Athlon II X2 250 CPU—and they’re also becoming increasingly difficult to find in retail channels. Furthermore, the average user doesn’t load their CPU very frequently, especially in budget systems like these, and the two CPUs idle at very similarly low wattage (i.e. most of the time, neither will be noticeably hotter or noisier than the other).

The two CPUs trade blows on benchmarks; regular desktop users will likely not be able to tell the difference between them in terms of performance. The total price difference is $30 in favor of Intel (looking at just the CPU and motherboard costs, as the cases are interchangeable), and while we don’t have either of these CPUs in Bench, you can get a reasonable idea of how they stack up by looking at the Athlon II 255 vs. Pentium E5200. (The 255 is clocked at 3.1GHz vs. 3.0GHz, and the E5200 is clocked at 2.5GHz with 2MB cache, compared to 2.6GHz with 1MB cache on the E3400.) Intel generally gets better optimizations for multimedia work, but the AMD CPU is faster in many general-use tasks (which the gaming results help to show, though those are with a discrete GPU installed).

If you have to buy right now, we give a slight edge to Intel’s old platform, but remember that the impending release of AMD’s Llano platform could shake things up at the budget end. We’ll have to wait for mini-ITX Llano boards to hit retail channels, and then we’ll see how expensive they are. That could take several months, so waiting for a budget Llano-based system is an individual decision.

Defining Small Form Factor SFF HTPCs
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  • shamans33 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    I think there are problems with the component selection and they gimped the AMD platform in so many unnecessary ways such as: $136 400W PSU paired with a dual core cpu for the SFF HTPC. Why would someone need a $136 400W PSU.....really.........Can't we find a cheap ATX PSU where the fan does not spin in a reasonably wide temperature range?

    I'm not 100% sure but I think the AMD SFF HTPC can run on the PSU of the Antec ISK 300-65 (or similar) as well.

    The Intel platforms are more thought out while the AMD platforms tend to sport "alternative parts" that don't make sense together.

    In addition, there's a large emphasis on noise and power requirements (which is good) but where's the case fan or cpu heatsink recommendations (which is bad)?

    If heat is such a problem with SFF Gaming systems, why not add a Coolit ECO ALC on a case that sports a 120 mm fan (and has enough clearance around it).

    Again Anandtech uses the term "Buyer's Guide" loosely. They should call it an Introduction. This article CANNOT be taken seriously.
  • shamans33 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    I'd love to see what load temps are for the AMD SFF HTPC considering that case fans weren't added.

    Makes me think that the cpu heatsink fan would spin faster, negating the benefit of a "silent PSU".

    Other than temperatures, you need to post idle and load power usage to back up your claims.
  • Gigantopithecus - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    I dismissed the silent SeaSonic PSU as a boutique item when Anandtech reviewed it but after trying it out, I was very pleased with its performance. While it is not cheap, it's worth mentioning. Yes, we can find cheap ATX PSUs - see the other builds.

    The AMD SFF HTPC will NOT run on the ISK 300-65's PSU. The system loads at higher than that model's rated output. The system using a 7200rpm 3.5" HDD + 7200rpm 2.5" HDD instead of the guide's suggested SSD + 5400rpm 3.5" HDD loaded around 95W. Its idle draw was in the high 50s.

    As for your other question, load temps on the AMD SFF HTPC measured in February (60F ambient, I don't run my heat in the winter) were in the low 100s (i.e. 100-109F), so 40+ degrees delta vs ambient. At that temperature, the stock HSF is certainly not quiet. However, that system is not going to run at load as an HTPC often (if ever), and its operating temperatures were about 20 degrees over ambient, which for typical 'room temperature' is less than 100F, and at that temperature, the stock HSF can barely be heard across a room, and not at all during a movie.

    Your point about fan recommendations is noted.
  • shamans33 - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link

    One thing you might want to mention is that ASUS M4A88T-I Deluxe does not support dual display. This is a big deal for some people.
  • Spazweasel - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Once again, the low-profile question arises. For gaming purposes, what is the best low-profile card?

    Powercolor made a low-profile 5750, but it's discontinued, and I can't find it for sale anywhere.
    Palit makes a low-profile 450 GTS, but it has a reputation for running very hot and very loud. It is also quite long (by SFF standards).
    There are a few 5670 and 6570 low-profile cards available, but they're a little on the lightweight side for gaming.

    The best answer would be the promised 6670 low-profile card, which AMD has a reference design for, but which nobody seems to actually be making. Does anyone know whether low-profile 6670s are actually being made by anyone? I've checked a few major manufacturers, but haven't seen any 6670 in that form factor.
  • StormyParis - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    I guess it's on to a Silverstone Sugo, there's a handful of choices depending on legth of card.
  • SquattingDog - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link

    THIS - have been having major difficulties coming across a 6670 low profile - none of my suppliers are stocking them - curious if anyone knows of ANY brands which are actucally doing them?
  • Sharro - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link

    C'mon, not talking about Shuttle in this is ...sort of a crime...looking at all these boxes I do not see where they excel some of Shuttle models in any task...

    A pitty.

    All the best,

    Sharro
  • jrs77 - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link

    Shuttle uses their own mainboards, which is kinda against the premisse of switching components at will.
  • Mr Perfect - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link

    Shuttle is sort of a crime. >_< Proprietary motherboards, weak PSUs, old last generation components(or at least, the last time I bothered looking at them).

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