gaming spec - quiet, compact

LazyManc

LazyManc

LazyManc

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I'd like to build a new PC exclusively for gaming - priorities are it must be quiet and reasonably compact as it's going in the lounge. It's been several years since I last built a PC so I'm completely out of the loop spec-wise, but it seems you can now fit a reasonably performant gaming rig in a micro-atx form factor?

I've had a crack at a spec, but I'm not sure if it will all fit together, or if there are better parts for the cash, so suggestions welcome please. Budget isn't set in stone, but definitely no more than £1500 and the closer to £1000 the better.

YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 780 ACX FTW 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (03G-P4-3784-KR) £419.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £263.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £137.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP8G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £129.95
1 x Asus Z87 GRYPHON Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £129.95
1 x Be Quiet Power Zone 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Fully Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x BitFenix Phenom MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £74.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02733) £67.99
Total : £1,338.85 (includes shipping : £11.75).



I'm definitely not interested in flashy lights or case windows, it needs to be fairly stealthy. I don't need large capacity storage (got NAS), mouse & keyboard (sorted) or a display (using the TV).

Questions:
1. Is the stock Intel cooler adequate if I'm not OCing?
2a. Will the GTX 780 fit in that case?
2b. Are there more suitable cases?
3a. Will there be room to fit a 2nd 780 at a later date?
3b. Does the PSU / mobo cover this?
4. Are there quieter options if I switch to a midi tower?
5. Where could I save some money?

Cheers.
 
LazyManc said:
I'd like to build a new PC exclusively for gaming - priorities are it must be quiet and reasonably compact as it's going in the lounge. It's been several years since I last built a PC so I'm completely out of the loop spec-wise, but it seems you can now fit a reasonably performant gaming rig in a micro-atx form factor?

I've had a crack at a spec, but I'm not sure if it will all fit together, or if there are better parts for the cash, so suggestions welcome please. Budget isn't set in stone, but definitely no more than £1500 and the closer to £1000 the better.

YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 780 ACX FTW 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (03G-P4-3784-KR) £419.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £263.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £137.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP8G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £129.95
1 x Asus Z87 GRYPHON Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £129.95
1 x Be Quiet Power Zone 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Fully Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x BitFenix Phenom MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £74.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02733) £67.99
Total : £1,338.85 (includes shipping : £11.75).

I'm definitely not interested in flashy lights or case windows, it needs to be fairly stealthy. I don't need large capacity storage (got NAS), mouse & keyboard (sorted) or a display (using the TV).

Questions:
1. Is the stock Intel cooler adequate if I'm not OCing?
2a. Will the GTX 780 fit in that case?
2b. Are there more suitable cases?
3a. Will there be room to fit a 2nd 780 at a later date?
3b. Does the PSU / mobo cover this?
4. Are there quieter options if I switch to a midi tower?
5. Where could I save some money?

Cheers.
Click to expand...
1) yes in a normal size case but with a 780 and an i7 in a box that big, probably not.
2a yes but only just
2b yes an bigger matx case will be much better for this kind of hardware, something like a 350d
3a no it wont fit and if it did it would run super hot
3b for 2 780 and an i7 i would go for an 850w psu but be quiet psu's have very strong 12v rails so it should be ok
4 the rig will be a lot cooler in a bigger case and therefore quieter, you can get sound damped ones as well
5 you only need 8gb of ram for gaming. Also you could just get an i5 instead of the i7 and a cheaper motherboard.
 
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YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 OC WindForce 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-R929OC-4GD) £389.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £263.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £137.99
1 x Be Quiet Power Zone 850W '80 Plus Bronze' Fully Modular Power Supply £119.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £99.95
1 x Gigabyte Z87M-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £95.99
1 x BitFenix Phenom MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £74.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £71.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
2 x Corsair Fan, SP120 PWM Low Noise High Pressure Fan 4 pin, Dual Pack (CO-9050012-WW) £25.99 (£51.98)
Total : £1,376.90 (includes shipping : £11.75).



#1: Added the H100 as it will keep the CPU nice and cool and very quiet. Plus, why not have the chance to overclock?
#2: Changed the GPU to a 290 that has good cooler, again very quiet and great performance.
#3: A Second card won't fit. However look at the case below if you want too.
#3b: PSU is more than capable for 2 cards.
#4: The phenoms are sleek and quiet, especially with the corsair fans I have included.
#5: Drop the RAM from 16GB to 8GB of faster RAM.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair Obsidian 350D Windowed Micro ATX Case - Black (CC-9011029-WW) £94.99
1 x BitFenix Ghost Silent Tower Case - Black £77.95
Total : £185.24 (includes shipping : £10.25).



Added the 350D if you want to stay M-ATX or the Ghost for full ATX.
 
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LazyManc said:
Questions:
1. Is the stock Intel cooler adequate if I'm not OCing?
2a. Will the GTX 780 fit in that case?
2b. Are there more suitable cases?
3a. Will there be room to fit a 2nd 780 at a later date?
3b. Does the PSU / mobo cover this?
4. Are there quieter options if I switch to a midi tower?
5. Where could I save some money?

Cheers.
Click to expand...

1. Yes, but not if you want a quiet PC.
2a. Yes
2b. It's reasonably compact, looks sleek, reasonably priced. Sounds good.
3a. Technically yes, but I wouldn't in that case
3b. Just, if you're not overclocking. But see 3a. Also, it's too big for the case. Motherboard is fine.
4. Yes. There are case specifically designed for silence.
5. Get 8gb RAM. The MSI motherboard below will save you £40 - but it's only on offer until tomorrow morning.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gainward GeForce GTX 780 Phantom GLH 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £399.95
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £263.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £137.99
1 x MSI Z87M Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £99.95
1 x Seasonic G series 650w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x BitFenix Phenom MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £74.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £71.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2133HC11ADC01) £69.95
1 x BeQuiet Dark Rock 2 CPU Cooler £49.99
2 x Enermax Cluster UCCL12 120mm Fan £9.98 (£19.96)
Total : £1,303.67 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Quiet GPU, quiet PSU, quiet CPU cooler, and some quiet fans. The fans do have LEDs (white), but I suppose you won't see them without a case window.
 
ThaReaperGuy said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 OC WindForce 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-R929OC-4GD) £389.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £263.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £137.99
1 x Be Quiet Power Zone 850W '80 Plus Bronze' Fully Modular Power Supply £119.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £99.95
1 x Gigabyte Z87M-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £95.99
1 x BitFenix Phenom MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £74.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £71.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
2 x Corsair Fan, SP120 PWM Low Noise High Pressure Fan 4 pin, Dual Pack (CO-9050012-WW) £25.99 (£51.98)
Total : £1,376.90 (includes shipping : £11.75).



#1: Added the H100 as it will keep the CPU nice and cool and very quiet. Plus, why not have the chance to overclock?
#2: Changed the GPU to a 290 that has good cooler, again very quiet and great performance.
#3: A Second card won't fit. However look at the case below if you want too.
#3b: PSU is more than capable for 2 cards.
#4: The phenoms are sleek and quiet, especially with the corsair fans I have included.
#5: Drop the RAM from 16GB to 8GB of faster RAM.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair Obsidian 350D Windowed Micro ATX Case - Black (CC-9011029-WW) £94.99
1 x BitFenix Ghost Silent Tower Case - Black £77.95
Total : £185.24 (includes shipping : £10.25).



Added the 350D if you want to stay M-ATX or the Ghost for full ATX.
Click to expand...

This looks good to me. Definitely get on of those bigger cases if your going for dual gpu's (especially 290's) :)
 
Ok so 8Gb seems recommended, do I actually need faster mhz memory if I'm not OCing? I just want a decent stock system with as little involvement as possible, so if I can save money by not paying for highly tweak-able parts I'm not going to use then I'm happy to do that.

I picked the 780 as I read the Nvidia cards are generally quieter, but if the 290 is better bang per buck and similar noise then I don't mind switching?

The 350d is quite a bit taller (450mm vs 330mm) so I'd prefer to stick with the Phenom I think - I can always replace the case if / when I ever decide to add a 2nd GPU if that's the only reason to upsize.

Is it worth swapping the 120mm bottom fan for this 230mm http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-007-BX&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=2335 for extra airflow?

The help is much appreciated, thanks.
 
Any issue running Windows 7? I really really don't like the UI on Windows 8. I guess I can put up with it if necessary.

Where can I find dimensions for the PSU slot in the case and the PSUs themselves as they don't seem to be listed on the shop? Manufacturers site?
 
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LazyManc said:
Ok so 8Gb seems recommended, do I actually need faster mhz memory if I'm not OCing? I just want a decent stock system with as little involvement as possible, so if I can save money by not paying for highly tweak-able parts I'm not going to use then I'm happy to do that.

I picked the 780 as I read the Nvidia cards are generally quieter, but if the 290 is better bang per buck and similar noise then I don't mind switching?

The 350d is quite a bit taller (450mm vs 330mm) so I'd prefer to stick with the Phenom I think - I can always replace the case if / when I ever decide to add a 2nd GPU if that's the only reason to upsize.

Is it worth swapping the 120mm bottom fan for this 230mm http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-007-BX&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=2335 for extra airflow?

The help is much appreciated, thanks.
Click to expand...

If your not going to bother ocing then its pointless getting a 4770k and a z87 chipset motherboard. That would save you a bit. You also wouldn't need as good of an aftermarket cooler.
 
Idleman said:
The Phenom does`nt really look like a good case for the money.

Click to expand...

Any particular reason why? The guy in the review vid sounds fairly positive other than the cable routing issues, which won't be a problem for me as I don't care what the insides look like and I don't plan on opening it again unless it needs fixing or upgrading.

Jumper118 said:
If your not going to bother ocing then its pointless getting a 4770k and a z87 chipset motherboard. That would save you a bit. You also wouldn't need as good of an aftermarket cooler.
Click to expand...

It seems the OEM 4770k is a tenner more than the retail 4770 so I might as well I get it I guess, who knows I might change my mind about OCing it at some point ;) Most of the SLI boards are more expensive as it is, so I don't think it's going to save anything there if I do want that option to upgrade.

With regards to SLI in this case, is this image marketing BS then?
1042.png
 
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I've taken the comments on board and gone for a shorter PSU, and will get an aftermarket cooler for the CPU.

I can't work out from the pic above if that's a 200 or 230mm fan? It looks like it's the full width of the case which would suggest 230mm.

I'm not sure if a H90 will fit with a 200mm bottom fan, what do you think? If not I'll go for the H60.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 WindForce 3x OC Rev2.0 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N780OC-3GD) £379.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £249.95
1 x Seasonic X-Series 850w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £167.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £149.99
1 x MSI Z87M Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £119.99
1 x BitFenix Phenom MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £74.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £71.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2400HC10TDC01) £71.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H90 140mm High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060013-WW) £69.98
1 x BitFenix Spectre PRO 200mm Fan - All White £14.99
Total : £1,386.80 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Gone for the 850w so I don't have to replace it if I pick up a 2nd 780 later on (although I take on board that I may need to move to a bigger case).

Anything I've missed?
 
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Boxed version of the 4770k comes with Rome 2 and Final Fantasy 14, as well as a longer warranty and Intel's stock cooler (handy to have as a back-up). Obviously it is also more expensive, so that's your call.

Now the MSI board is no longer on offer, I would (and did) get the Sniper M5. It's a great board with great onboard sound, and should you ever wish to get a slightly bigger case for SLI (350D, for example), it has a space between the PCI-E x16 slots for better airflow. That's on Today Only at £120, down from £170. Bargain.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £269.99
1 x Gigabyte G1.Sniper M5 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £119.99
Total : £399.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).



EDIT: As for SLI in the Phenom, it is possible, but as you can see from the photo, things are a bit tight in there. With two powerful GPUs dumping hot air back into the case, it could get a bit warm. You'd really want a couple with blower-style coolers like the reference 780.

EDIT 2: You also don't have the 2x120mm fans you wanted for the top.
 
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Thanks Fulax, will go with those items. Think I'm ready to pull the trigger unless anyone has any comments about the H90 fit? Guess I can always return it for a H60 if it doesn't.
 
I assume it will fit as the Phenom has space for a 140mm fan in the back. I'd prefer the h80i - only a 120mm rad, but a thick one - but OcUK don't have it in stock.
 
Just want to put you right on one point : Cable management is NOT "only for good looks". Airflow in a case will be much better with clean cable management ! And in a cramped case like the one you're set on, good cable management is even more important than in a large case, imho.
 
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