Looking for experienced builders advice please.

TheSwede

TheSwede

TheSwede

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Hi all,

Thinking of getting me a small spare PC but don't want to go OTT on it so since I have no clue as to what goes well with each other I thought I ask you experience guys for some advice. :)

Wont be needing a OS, Keyboard, Mouse or Monitor but everything else. If I'm unlucky and main rig breaks, then I would want the spare PC to be able to run my Samsung 34'' S34E790C monitor and half decent graphics while gaming (mostly Skyrim and some Civilization V and Beyone Earth for now). Ohh and since I have AMD R9 290's in my main rig I thinking of maybe a nVidia card in the spare one, might be interesting to compare some games and what not. :eek:

If it would be possible to do, a quiet PC is always nice. :) Have been browsing through the MicroATX cases and like the look of the Parvum Systems S2.0 MicroATX, but no clue if it is a quiet case or if there is better cases out there, so pick what you fell is a good case. :cool:

Please fell free to give me your opinions and suggestions and then we can take it from there. Although no real budget, considering it wont be used all the time, I don't want it to be to expensive so maybe around the 750 mark ? If it would be of use, I have a Corsair HX750 PSU that was in my previous rig, bought 2013-08. Wont be needing any HDD's (if there is enough room in a small case for mech drives that is. lol ) but a SSD for the OS would be nice though.

Thank you for reading, any and all inputs will be greatly appreciated ! :)
 
If my PC breaks I spend my time fixing it rather than gaming! I can see wanting a backup of some sort for email and getting on the net to help fix the main PC, I happen to have a work-supplied laptop for that.

However I don't game so my priorities are different!
 
cats_five said:
If my PC breaks I spend my time fixing it rather than gaming! I can see wanting a backup of some sort for email and getting on the net to help fix the main PC, I happen to have a work-supplied laptop for that.

However I don't game so my priorities are different!
Click to expand...

Thank you for your input cats_five. :)
Of course I would be fixing it but if it is parts needing to be order etc I don't want to be without a PC, and since I like playing would be nice to have that option and not fiddle with my thumbs while waiting for parts to arrive. And since I don't have a work supplied laptop, I thought I build a small spare PC instead. :p
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 970 OC Silent "Infin8 Black Edition" 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **WorldWide Exclusive** £275.99
1 x Asus H81M-K Intel Core i5 DIY Micro ATX Motherboard, CPU & RAM Bundle £225.97
1 x SK Hynix 256GB SSD SH910A SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (HFS256G32MNB-2201A) £84.98
1 x BitFenix Phenom MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £64.99
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - Black £10.99
Total : £662.93 (includes shipping : ).




The Parvum case takes up a large chunk of the budget.

One issue is your PSU can actually be too long for some GFX cards in the Phenom case.

Q: Will the XYZ Power Supply or ZYX Video Card fit inside the Prodigy M?
Video cards at 9.5inches or less will have 200mm of power supply clearance
Video cards at 11 inches or less will have 160mm of power supply clearance
Video cards at over 11 inches will have 150mm of power supply clearance.
Click to expand...


YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97MX Gaming 5 - Devil's Canyon i5 4690K CPU & Micro ATX Motherboard Bundle **£10 Saving** £289.94
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 970 OC Silent "Infin8 Black Edition" 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **WorldWide Exclusive** £275.99
1 x SK Hynix 256GB SSD SH910A SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (HFS256G32MNB-2201A) £84.98
1 x Antec ISK600M mATX Cube Case - Black £56.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2400HC11CDC01) £44.99
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - Black £10.99
Total : £763.88 (includes shipping : ).

 
Thanks Stulid, as always you come with good suggestions. :)

The PSU is 180 x 87 x 150 (L x H x W), although the Antec case looks great. =) .. Question though, you suggest a Air Cooler, they better then the Water Hybrid versions ? Just curious really, since prices on a Air is cheaper then the Hybrid ones. =) .. and in regards to Air Cooler, forgot I have a Noctua NH-D15 sitting in it's box so guess I could use that one to keep costs down, seems to fit in the Antec case but not the BitFenix if I read things right though. Although, saying that, just realized the Raijintek is only 11 quid. lol ... Which of the two would you prefer yourself ?

Edit: Would the supplied fans be enough or should I buy others/more fans for the Antect case if going with that one ?
 
Last edited:
I prefer the 2nd case and spec.

Its overclocklable, already have a cooler, then awesome sauce.
 
Thanks again Stulid, and yes, I more inclined towards the 2nd case as well. =) And yes, the Parvum does cost a bit extra I noticed, so quiet happy you suggested the Antec one, since it looks great as well. :)

Postage gonna be a killer though, 70 quid for the above spec to be shipped to Sweden, sooo....

Would it make a big difference if I still pick the mobo but instead of the i5, picked a i3 instead, or would it be a bottleneck somewhere with a i3 ?? Also, bear in mind I most likely wont be overclocking it (never done any overclocking, always been running on stock settings.)

YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 970 OC Silent "Infin8 Black Edition" 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **WorldWide Exclusive** £287.49
1 x Intel Core i3-4350 3.60GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £119.74
1 x Gigabyte Z97MX-Gaming 5 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £116.61
1 x SK Hynix 256GB SSD SH910A SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (HFS256G32MNB-2201A) £88.53
1 x Antec ISK600M mATX Cube Case - Black £59.36
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2400HC11CDC01) £46.86
Total : £805.44 (includes shipping : £69.48).



66 quid isn't the whole world but if a i3 would work it would be a bit left over for other stuff, but if it would in any way or form bottleneck anything then I go for the i5.
 
Probably a daft question but would a Liquid CPU Cooler be quieter then the Noctua NH-D15, considering the Liquid one will be having one or two fans ?? If possible want the machine to be as quiet as it can be.. on another note, if anyone can help out, which fans are the most silent ones but still able to provide good air flow ?? :o
 
Sorry for bump but got a question, probably a silly one at that, but thought it's better to ask then to be sorry later.. :o

I'm not sure about the Antec ISK600M case now so been looking at these two:

Antec P50 mATX Dual Chamber Windowed Cube Case - Black
- mATX and mITX motherboard support

Phanteks Enthoo Evolv Micro ATX Case - Black
- Motherboard support uATX, mITX

But to be honest, the abrivations are all greek to me :o .. just used with full size motherboards.. would either of the above cases be able to hold the Gigabyte Z97MX-Gaming 5 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard ??
 
a fractal define r4 is one of the best noise dampening cases with its sound proofing foam and Scandinavian design of minimalistic and accommodating.

Hum the noctua nh14 is quiet and depending on the work load just as effective as a water cooled pc. i would get a new corsair pre done water cooled kit which do seem to be not that noisy.
 
@simpleMr said:
a fractal define r4 is one of the best noise dampening cases with its sound proofing foam and Scandinavian design of minimalistic and accommodating.
Click to expand...

Not really a mATX sized case is it:rolleyes:


TheSwede said:
Sorry for bump but got a question, probably a silly one at that, but thought it's better to ask then to be sorry later.. :o

I'm not sure about the Antec ISK600M case now so been looking at these two:

Antec P50 mATX Dual Chamber Windowed Cube Case - Black
- mATX and mITX motherboard support

Phanteks Enthoo Evolv Micro ATX Case - Black
- Motherboard support uATX, mITX

But to be honest, the abrivations are all greek to me :o .. just used with full size motherboards.. would either of the above cases be able to hold the Gigabyte Z97MX-Gaming 5 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard ??
Click to expand...

Either of those cases will work.

mATX is the same as u (symbol for micro) ATX.
 
Thank you Stulid, much appreciated. :)

I will ask them when they expect having the Antec P50 in stock then, hopeflly not to long away. =)
 
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