Smalllest 'form factor' computer than will take regular PCIe cards?

[Justin]

Hello all, it has been about 8 years now since my first cab build.  Still loving it every bit as much... have not been as active here lately though, but the bug is biting!

My cab is needing a new PC, the 8 yr old dated hardware is giving me all sorts of issues, so Ive had enough.

Question:  I want a small form factor PC, but I still require a PCIe card in it (regular sized) so I can use a video card with S-Video output (the only input my monitor has unfortunately...)
I have not really been keeping up to date with PCs, so I don't know what the right terminology is... what is the 'form factor' I am looking for?   I don't want Intel Atom processors... just plain i3/i5 dual cores which is what most people seem to be using now.   Thanks for any pointers, having a small box is important to me.

I am also looking at building a pinball cabinet soon (using HyperPin) and here again I will want to buy a small but powerful PC that can take good PCI cards -- 3d acceleration in futurepinball is important, unlike MAME.

Thanks a lot in advance!

[BobA]

This mini itx takes i3 and i5 and has pci-e as you were looking for.

Link to MB

[Justin]

Interesting, thanks.

I was kind of heading in the direction of a 'ready-to-go- setup.  Like the Aopen PCs of a few years back... anyone have recommendations?

This mini itx takes i3 and i5 and has pci-e as you were looking for.

Link to MB

[equlizer]

This is what i have and plays every game ive thrown at it.  I put in 4gig of ram and a 250w power supply.  Some of the 3d games are a bit choppy but im ok with that since thats only maybe 3-5% of the mame games.

I can play MK1,2,3 and 4 with no problems.  Can play the street fighter series 2,3.  Super street fighter 4 arcade runs at 800x600 smooth with moderate settings.

[Justin]

LINK?

This is what i have and plays every game ive thrown at it.  I put in 4gig of ram and a 250w power supply.  Some of the 3d games are a bit choppy but im ok with that since thats only maybe 3-5% of the mame games.

I can play MK1,2,3 and 4 with no problems.  Can play the street fighter series 2,3.  Super street fighter 4 arcade runs at 800x600 smooth with moderate settings.

[Cory]

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/motherboards/desktop-motherboards/desktop-board-dh67cf.html

DH67CF - this is probably what i'm going to buy.  6.75" x 6.75"

[SNAAKE]

why bother with intel? just get a micro atx amd am3 board with a nice quadcore processor(6 core would be overkill).

this one is good for $60.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138283

smaller but expensive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500060


this here should run all mame games.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103871

[equlizer]

LINK?

This is what i have and plays every game ive thrown at it.  I put in 4gig of ram and a 250w power supply.  Some of the 3d games are a bit choppy but im ok with that since thats only maybe 3-5% of the mame games.

I can play MK1,2,3 and 4 with no problems.  Can play the street fighter series 2,3.  Super street fighter 4 arcade runs at 800x600 smooth with moderate settings.

I did put a link in there but now its gone
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX32364%28ME%29.aspx
Anyways, if it goes missing again:  Asus E35M1-M pro AMD E-350.  Like i said, just throw some memory in and buy a power supply and thats it.

[SNAAKE]

is that dualcore supposed to run all mame games? like dreamcast games too(3d graphic and stuff)?

[Justin]

Thank you very much... so the E-350 is a notebook low consumption processor, from my research...  also from my research, it is easily 2x faster than my old Pentium4 2.8 Ghz CPU.  Does this make sense?  I may jump on one of these, Im liking the low consumption and over twice the speed...

LINK?

This is what i have and plays every game ive thrown at it.  I put in 4gig of ram and a 250w power supply.  Some of the 3d games are a bit choppy but im ok with that since thats only maybe 3-5% of the mame games.

I can play MK1,2,3 and 4 with no problems.  Can play the street fighter series 2,3.  Super street fighter 4 arcade runs at 800x600 smooth with moderate settings.

I did put a link in there but now its gone
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX32364%28ME%29.aspx
Anyways, if it goes missing again:  Asus E35M1-M pro AMD E-350.  Like i said, just throw some memory in and buy a power supply and thats it.

[Smeghead]

I have a Dell Optiplex with a full size PCi-E card sticking out the top
Obviously no side on the case but its no big deal

[equlizer]

Thank you very much... so the E-350 is a notebook low consumption processor, from my research...  also from my research, it is easily 2x faster than my old Pentium4 2.8 Ghz CPU.  Does this make sense?  I may jump on one of these, Im liking the low consumption and over twice the speed...

Tell me a game and ill see if it runs.  My setup runs around 95% of mame games.  GBA, SNES, NES are running 100% for me.  I have not tried dreamcast but it does run super street fighter 4 arcade edition at 800x600

LINK?

This is what i have and plays every game ive thrown at it.  I put in 4gig of ram and a 250w power supply.  Some of the 3d games are a bit choppy but im ok with that since thats only maybe 3-5% of the mame games.

I can play MK1,2,3 and 4 with no problems.  Can play the street fighter series 2,3.  Super street fighter 4 arcade runs at 800x600 smooth with moderate settings.

I did put a link in there but now its gone
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX32364%28ME%29.aspx
Anyways, if it goes missing again:  Asus E35M1-M pro AMD E-350.  Like i said, just throw some memory in and buy a power supply and thats it.

[Justin]

equ:  I like using Tekken3 as a benchmark... see if it runs 50-100%?  Also MetalSlug2  thanks!

[cmarion1024]

If your wanting to buy the components and do a DIY build, I prefer the AMD Phenom II.  A 555 Black Edition x2 can be overclocked later and unlocked into a quad core.  All that is needed is a different cooler to keep the heat down.  I built this same setup for my gaming PC and it currently turned into a Phenom II x4 overclocked to a 3.7Ghz with a Cooler Master Hyper 212, Gigabyte  GA-MA790GPT-UD3H motherboard,  8 gigs of DDR3 ram running at 1600 and twin ATI HD 5770 XXX Editions.   There is not a game I cant play and so far nothing slows it down.  Yet it was still cheaper than most gaming machines.  With one video card I spent $500 for that setup which couldnt be beat.

An Athlon II x2 is another good choice which can be overclocked, but not unlocked into triple or quad core.  The Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz that was linked by Snaake is good too, but the 555 BE x2 is currently $87 and can be bumped up in the future so you dont need to upgrade.  Heck, even at 3.7Ghz in Dual core its a beast.

Motherboards, I would stick with Gigabyte and Asus.  Better quality, support and works.

Gigabyte budget option (has everything needed)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128504

Asus budget option (has everything needed)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131728