£600 - £700 budget need help with spec

showFocus

showFocus

showFocus

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11 Nov 2013
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Need help picking components for a new build. It's for a workstation, i'm building. Will be used for programming, mainly in Visual Studio or equivalent.

I'd like it to be as quiet as possible, currently have an iMac so if it can be anywhere near as quiet as that i'll be happy!

This is what I have so far (keyboard, mouse and OS not required) any advice would be appreciated

Intel Core i5-4440 3.10GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail

Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard

Be Quiet Power Zone 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Fully Modular Power Supply

Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW)

TeamGroup Vulcan GOLD 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLYD38G2133HC11ADC01) TeamGroup Vulcan GOLD 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLYD38G2133HC11ADC01)

Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black

Total : £558.00
 
Last edited:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £239.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte H87-HD3 Intel H87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £77.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 330R Silent Mid Tower Case - Black £74.95
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 530W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £65.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan GOLD 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLYD38G2400HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £47.99
1 x LiteOn IHAS124-14 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
Total : £678.97 (includes shipping : £11.75).



I guess you don't need a GFX card and so can use the IGP built-in to the CPU.

The i7 gives you Hyperthreading (so 8 threads).
 
Here's an alternative:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £107.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Sapphire Blue" 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9KBL) £65.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black £65.99
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 400W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £37.99
Total : £552.04 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Faster and overclockable CPU to go with the board (which is decent enough). 8gb is fine for programming unless you have specific needs for 16gb. Lower power PSU is more than adequate for running off integrated graphics.
 
Thank you both for your advice.

Will I see a big difference with an i7 over an i5 for the type of work I'm doing?

Could the integrated graphics handle some basic image editing in fireworks or photoshop?
 
The i7's hyperthreading will make it somewhat faster at compilation than the i5 at the same clocks (for large projects), though the 4770 cannot be overclocked.

The IGP can handle all desktop tasks fine. You won't get very good GPU acceleration in apps though.
 
Hmm wondering if I should go with a mixture of both builds. i5 but the more powerful psu and use the difference to purchase a graphics card. Decisions decisions...
 
Did you need a HDD and DVD drive?

If you didn't you can take them out and stick a £100 GFX card in there.
 
No, sorry, should have mentioned that. I already have a 2tb HDD and DVDRW from a build (my first and only one I done) from about 4 years ago. I also have a be quiet psu and a case but I'm not sure if they will work with this setup.

The psu is 650w if I remember and the case is a lian li aluminium tower.

Not really interested in salvaging the Lian Li, horrible case and I think I spent near £200 on the thing! Very noisy if I remember rightly.
 
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Well Ok, get a new case.

The 330R has sound dampening to keep noise down, the BitFenix Ghost also has sound dampening and I can confirm is a whisper quiet case.

Your existing PSU is probably fine, do you know the model?
 
I don't know the model unfortunately. I can find out tomorrow, don't want to wake the whole house up.:)

I know for certain it's a BeQuiet, it's definitely modular. And I'm pretty certain it's 650W.

I'll take a look at the Ghost now. Which would you say is quieter? Or is the difference negligible?
 
showFocus said:
I don't know the model unfortunately. I can find out tomorrow, don't want to wake the whole house up.:)

I know for certain it's a BeQuiet, it's definitely modular. And I'm pretty certain it's 650W.

I'll take a look at the Ghost now. Which would you say is quieter? Or is the difference negligible?
Click to expand...

There's a damn good chance then that your existing PSU is fine:)

I have not used the 330R but I have used the Ghost (I got a few here) and it's a nice quiet case.


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £239.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards £107.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte H87-HD3 Intel H87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £77.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 330R Silent Mid Tower Case - Black £74.95
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan GOLD 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLYD38G2400HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x NH-U12S Ultra-Quiet Slim CPU Cooler with NF-F12 Fan £52.99
Total : £713.99 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Hows that look? the Noctua may seem expensive but it is the quietest CPU cooler I have ever had the pleasure of using and I've tried a fair number in tests.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18512639
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18556056
 
stulid said:
There's a damn good chance then that your existing PSU is fine:)

I have not used the 330R but I have used the Ghost (I got a few here) and it's a nice quiet case.


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £239.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards £107.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte H87-HD3 Intel H87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £77.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 330R Silent Mid Tower Case - Black £74.95
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan GOLD 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLYD38G2400HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x NH-U12S Ultra-Quiet Slim CPU Cooler with NF-F12 Fan £52.99
Total : £713.99 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Hows that look? the Noctua may seem expensive but it is the quietest CPU cooler I have ever had the pleasure of using and I've tried a fair number in tests.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18512639
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18556056
Click to expand...
Looks really good to me. I like the ghost better than the corsair to look at. So I think I'd go with the ghost. Will the factory shipped CPU cooler not suffice if I don't overclock?

I have a custom CPU cooler on my old build but again couldn't tell you what it's called. I know it's a very heavy piece of metal with grills and a fan attached. Haha you can tell how much I am out of my depth here!
 
The stock cooler is ok, but they are just cheap and nasty and noisy.

If your custom cooler has socket 1155/56 support then it will fit socket 1150 also, so some new thermal paste is all you need.
 
stulid said:
There's a damn good chance then that your existing PSU is fine:)

I have not used the 330R but I have used the Ghost (I got a few here) and it's a nice quiet case.


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £239.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards £107.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte H87-HD3 Intel H87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £77.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 330R Silent Mid Tower Case - Black £74.95
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan GOLD 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLYD38G2400HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x NH-U12S Ultra-Quiet Slim CPU Cooler with NF-F12 Fan £52.99
Total : £713.99 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Hows that look? the Noctua may seem expensive but it is the quietest CPU cooler I have ever had the pleasure of using and I've tried a fair number in tests.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18512639
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18556056
Click to expand...

how about the gigabyte d3hp which works out at £20 or so cheaper as you don't have to get a separate cpu cooler, could use the money saved towards the 4770k(giving the op an option at overclocking in the future), towards something else or simply keeping it in their 'pocket'.
how does the free cpu cooler compare to the noctua in terms of noise?
 
fowler002 said:
how about the gigabyte d3hp which works out at £20 or so cheaper as you don't have to get a separate cpu cooler, could use the money saved towards the 4770k(giving the op an option at overclocking in the future), towards something else or simply keeping it in their 'pocket'.
how does the free cpu cooler compare to the noctua in terms of noise?
Click to expand...

Not used the Prolimatech Panther, the Megahelems with the Prolimatech Blue Vortex Blue Wings 120mm Fan was what I had.

I still maintain the Noctua is like a dead mouse in terms of noise.
 
stulid said:
The stock cooler is ok, but they are just cheap and nasty and noisy.

If your custom cooler has socket 1155/56 support then it will fit socket 1150 also, so some new thermal paste is all you need.
Click to expand...

Do all coolers look similar? The reason i ask is the noctua you recommended looks almost identical to mine.

Not sure what socket it is, I believe it is a Asus ROG DDR2 motherboard, with a Q6600 processor. If that helps?

Think the best thing to do is open that machine up tomorrow, see what's in there then update this thread.

Thank you all for your time and advice.
 
Well that board you have will be lga775 which is not compatible, so unless you have a box for the cooler somewhere with a bunch of spare parts that allows it to fit socket1155/56 then it wont fit.
 
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