A New PC Build, assistance required.

Foxsbiscuits · 18 Mar 2010 at 10:03

Hello,

It has come to that time when my computer is getting passed on and I am planning on buying/building a complete new system.
After originally aiming for sub £1000 it seems I will be able to get a decent system for sub £500.
I almost went for a mac but am willing to hold my ground and give Windows 7 a try.
I am unlikely to use it for games, mostly browsing the web and an occassional video conversion. I basically want good response times from it.
I have some criteria:

I do not need a monitor (Dell 2007 Ultrasharp) or speakers (Acoustic Energy Aego).
Will be running Windows 7 so need the Home version of that.
Silence. I like quiet PCs, I currently have a great silent Antec case and admired the way it was geared toward silence, a similar case would be good.
At least 1TB HD, maybe more depends on price diff. Not sure whether to have two HDs (one for OS, other for data) or to partition one HD into sections. Opinions on separate drives over partitions?
Graphics - at least HD, doesn't have to be amazing though (probably won't be playing games, although might be nice to be able to play them at some point)
Best wireless keyboard/mouse available.
Good processor (+ fan)and RAM but nothing forefront. I've been told Intel i ones are good. I'm not too fussed about overclocking unless it is pretty easy and worthwhile to do.
PSU - Whatever you feel would be suitable
MoBo - Good quality onboard sound, generally decent build quality.

I would appreciate any assistance/opinions/guidance from you guys.

Thankyou,

Andy

Kill_Phil · 18 Mar 2010 at 10:28

well you need a definate answer on whether you want to be able to play games? and if so what calibre of games, because a graphics card can take up a good chunk of your budget..

Kill_Phil · 18 Mar 2010 at 10:47

well i have had a shot anyway, with a fairly low end graphics card which should still allow you to play some games. i added the SSD for the operating system and other imporants apps cause i know you said you wanted response time? its slightly over budget and missing the best mouse and keyboard. but here it goes..

Audigex · 18 Mar 2010 at 10:55

The CM-335 isn't a quiet case... too many vents and thin walls.

If you were originally going for sub-1k I'd aim for maybe £750. £500 will get you a reasonably quick PC, the extra £250 will get you quality components rather than just fast core components.

I'd also be hugely tempted to keep the antec case for yourself and put the old components into the new case, if you're giving it away.

Foxsbiscuits · 18 Mar 2010 at 11:01

OK going on above advice lets bump it up to £750 and see what happens.
It is unlikely I will want to play games on it thinking about it, that's the reason I bought an xbox360.
The silent case is still an important aspect.

McstylisT · 18 Mar 2010 at 11:06

A little different from my view here. Kept the budget low as possible here , you can tweak things for sure. But the overall system here is excellent. Also AM3 support on this board for a big CPU in the future. Not that the current one i listed is sluggish.

For the price i think this is an excellent system.

McT

Audigex · 18 Mar 2010 at 11:18

This is pretty damn quick, while being about as quiet as you're likely to get it.

Was just trying to work out how mine was so much more expensive than McT's, then realised his would be £650 with windows. I think the DDR3 ram will be worth having for you though.

Two throughts:
1) The CPU I've listed is VERY easily overclockable, as in literally a 5 minute job plus an overnight stress test. If you want to save £60, drop it to the 920
2) The GPU I've listed is passive, so will be silent; however I notice you've changed to "no gaming" rather than "unlikely to game" - so you might want to save another £65 and go with the onboard graphics, which is more than enough to keep up with desktop use.

So you can have the above for £640

Foxsbiscuits · 18 Mar 2010 at 12:49

Great responses guys, thankyou for such fast replies.

I'm liking the latest one (above) but had a query as to whether it is advisable to go for a solid state hard drive for OS (as the first reply suggested) or is the difference not that noticable?
Also lets say I went with the above minus the GFX (with the view to buying a decent card in the future if I wanted to game on it) would the onboard be good enough for high def outputs, say 1080p?
You also threw in a Scythe fan, is this for the case?
Guessing that the PSU you suggest is also redundant because the case comes with one?

I have never used water cooling before, is it easy enough? And if I go for water cooling on the processor do I still need system cooling?

On the case side I loved the way my current one is organised so think I might go for the same type but newer:
Antec P183 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black
I liked the modular design and how the PSU was at the bottom, thoughts about this one or the Sonata?

Thanks,
Andy

Foxsbiscuits · 18 Mar 2010 at 20:38

OK I have had a little think and came up with the following (Heavily inspired by Audigex)

Got the 64bit Win7, not sure why you suggested the non-64 one.

My questions are:

Do I need a sound card or will the onboard sound be good enough? (I have the 2.1 Aego M Acoustic Energy set)

How many 120mm fans should I get, am I right in thinking they are to replace the stock case ones?

If I know I won't be gaming should I knock off the GPU? I can always buy a decent card in the future if needed. Or will this affect watching high def videos?

Other than that please give any advice on my spec, you may spot something hugely out of place or have a better suggestion. I'm all ears.

Thankyou in advance,

Andy

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 18 Mar 2010 at 21:07

Foxsbiscuits said:
OK I have had a little think and came up with the following (Heavily inspired by Audigex)

Got the 64bit Win7, not sure why you suggested the non-64 one.

My questions are:

Do I need a sound card or will the onboard sound be good enough? (I have the 2.1 Aego M Acoustic Energy set)

How many 120mm fans should I get, am I right in thinking they are to replace the stock case ones?

If I know I won't be gaming should I knock off the GPU? I can always buy a decent card in the future if needed. Or will this affect watching high def videos?

Other than that please give any advice on my spec, you may spot something hugely out of place or have a better suggestion. I'm all ears.

Thankyou in advance,

Andy

You do realise that the components list I came up with elsewhere will be far quieter than this one. The PSU,case and cooler I listed are geared towards quieter operation.

I would also check SPCR too:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/

Foxsbiscuits · 19 Mar 2010 at 11:10

Cat,
Could you please link to the spec you created elsewhere, sounds like it would be good to see the components you recommend.
I am surprised you could get more silent than the bits I have chosen but I am open to suggestion.

Andy

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 19 Mar 2010 at 11:17

It is on the other plaice you asked a question - I cannot post a link here.