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pre built sff

889 views 14 replies 4 participants last post by  dukenukem 
#1 ·
Are there any pre built sff desktops that have uefi so i can use 3tb and bigger hdd's with it as a media center?
 
#3 · (Edited)
Just want to add here that UEFI is only required when you are using that 3TB as the boot drive. If your motherboard has the legacy BIOS format, you can still use a 3TB and have it as all one partition, but it must be formatted as GPT (not MBR) and not be used as a boot drive, and using an OS that supports GPT (Windows 7 does). MBR is limited to ~2TB partitions. You can use custom software to access the rest of the drive if you are using the drive as a boot, but it appears as a different partition. Not ideal. GPT is better than MBR in every way (except perhaps using very old OS), and not just because it supports bigger drives.

Best bet in getting a quality prebuilt small form factor PC like that (with UEFI) is going to a boutique type online retailer and getting a custom build. Kinda like Overclockers.co.uk - or whatever similar retailer that exists in your country that do a similar service. That way, they build it for you and they list all the components they put in to the build and do not load any custom BIOS or anything like that. For example, you could pick a build that has an ASUS mITX board that you know is decent, for example. Of course, you will be paying a premium for this kind of service.

I would not recommend going to any brick and mortar store for any of this, as they most likely will use many low cost, low quality parts. Unless that is what you want. Nettops are a possibility, but I don't think there is one with 3TB. I may be wrong on this, though.
 
#4 ·
was gonna buy a hp elite 8300 since it has uefi and i would definitely wanna use at least 4-6 tb hdd.Not gonna buy from any local stores online only.
 
#5 ·
If i build one i would not need keyboard,mouse,ram.Any way i could get the parts about in the 300$ range not including windows license.I want it to be smaller type like sff and must be able to use at least 3 tb hdd as boot drive.
 
#9 ·
Which 4-6 tb hdd would i be able to just plug and go as it has it's own gpt software,if not how do i format it as gpt?
 
#10 ·
Sorry to say you won't be finding a 3.5" drive bay on a prebuilt small form factor system. They only offer 2.5" and they have only put up to 2tb drives out in the 2.5" form factor. Most people either use an external harddrive with all their media or stream the media over a network from another desktop/NAS setup. Sorry to say what you want is not possible at this point in time unless you go with a larger HTPC style case and forget about the NUC style form factor.
 
#11 ·
For got to mention that i am not looking for the really small nuc stuff,i am looking to use this build as a htpc with main focus on storing video.
 
#13 ·
Just ordered that case,cpu,windows8.1,and mobo.Gonna order 4tb hdd on next paycheck along with powersupply.
 
#15 ·
received everything yesterdya and put it together.For got to format hdd as new when installing windows so it got installed as 2tb mbr format with the other 765gb sitting uselessly.Still have to say i love how quiet and smooth this sytem is.
 
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