Advice - Building a small yet powerfull PC

mykez69

mykez69

mykez69

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Joined
19 Jan 2009
Posts
18
Hello there.

I have a few questions if I may and I will try and be precise on my summary of what I want my build to do.

Ok, I hate noise - don't we all. Im in patient and I love HD.

I like things looking small and simple yet powerful.

I want a quite pc, I know there is a website there that reviews silent components so I can research all these. I need a good graphics card to power HD movies with 2 video outputs, maybe 1 DVI and 1 HDMI, my 20'' monitor is DVi, But I also want to connect the PC to my 42'' Sony Bravia HD via HDMI, so I can switch between the 2 withou unplugging cables etc.

Can A Mirco ATX do this? Is this ideal? or anyother micro motherboards maybe I don't know about? I'd like it to hold 2 HDD's and 4 gb of ram. I don't game on my pc. I'm a Graphics Visual kinda guy, playing HD movies, having a crips Desktop etc. Also will need a DVD RW drive.

Is this possible on a 500 GBP budget? or basically what kind of system would 500 GBP's build me thats small, fast and has good graphics for HD use?

Thanks
 
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YOUR BASKET
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F4 EcoGreen 2TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD204UI) £119.99
1 x Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £95.99
1 x Silverstone Sugo SG06B Mini ITX Case - Black (with 300 W PSU) £93.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT064M4SSD2) £85.99
1 x Asus P8H61-I Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £64.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML4GX3M2A1600C9) £23.99
Total : £496.93 (includes shipping : £10.00).



I'm fairly sure that integrated graphics is plenty for HD playback. This case will hold a 2.5" and 3.5" drive, so an SSD for the OS and 2TB for storage ( wouldn't necessarily buy this now as HDD prices are very expensive!) The only fan is the CPU and 1 case fan, it shouldn't produce much heat so should be quiet. It also has HDMI, VGA and DVI of which you can use 2 at once.

PLEASE NOTE: I know next to nothing about the quality of this motherboard, but I used to have this case and it's good.

EDIT: Forgot DVD Drive, oops. This case only takes slim drives, will see what I can find.
 
Hello.

WOW.

You have hit the nail on the head there! Case looks nice too! Isn't slimline DVD RW available?

Thanks very much for your help.
 
mykez69 said:
I'd like to watch Blueray rips yeah.

Haven't got a clue where to get them from.

Maybe easier to play from a disc?
Click to expand...

If you can get away with not having a Blu-ray drive you save yourself £60 (£80 blu ray compared to £20 standard).

It looks a great build.
 
mykez69 said:
I'd like to watch Blueray rips yeah.

Haven't got a clue where to get them from.

Maybe easier to play from a disc?
Click to expand...

Intel graphics are known to have a problem producing 23.976 frames.

Google it for more info.

P.S. You get rips by having the bluray disc in the first place... then ripping it.
 
Buchanan0204 said:
Intel graphics are known to have a problem producing 23.976 frames.

Google it for more info.

P.S. You get rips by having the bluray disc in the first place... then ripping it.
Click to expand...

if that is the case, you could get:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-384-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=2037

and then have a discrete GPU:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-144-OK

i.e.


YOUR BASKET
1 x Silverstone Sugo SG06B Mini ITX Case - Black (with 300 W PSU) £93.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT064M4SSD2) £82.99
1 x Asus P8H61-I Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £64.99
1 x Intel Pentium G620 2.60GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £52.99
1 x OcUK GeForce GT 430 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £49.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £19.98
Total : £376.93 (includes shipping : £10.00).



With an HDD of your choice.
 
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the second option looks better and is cheaper. Apart from the processor, would a 100 pound get me a faster processor thats compatible with this motherboard?
 
Personally I like the case :p there are others anyway, should you choose :)

That case can fit a dual slot card yes, so that would be fine. Good idea on a fanless one. Ah don't know actually as the heatsink extends beyond the height of the PCI slot. Would have to check that with more detailed dimensions of the case.

For £100 you could get an i3 (socket 1155) which will be better, but I'm not sure you will really need its extra power? Still an option if you want. It is cheaper, but bear in mind it doesn't have the £120 HDD in it! These are expensive at the moment so if you can avoid buying one now it's a good idea.
 
Well im running a 3.0 ghz intel dual core processor at the moment, so don't want my new machine to be slower.

I can hold on buying HDD's really, I could just use the 2 I have. Then wait until somewhere does deals on SSD's.

I think I will be running windows 7, I am on Vista at the minute.
 
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