Building a small form office workstation

ntg · 31 Oct 2014 at 19:37

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to build a small size desktop for office work.

I've had a look at the OC page here: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?catid=2476&groupid=43&sortby=priceDesc

and I think that's the kind of size range I'm interested in - the smaller the better.

I'm not sure how customizable those cases are, with regard to what can be fitted inside, as they come as bundles.

What's the smallest case that could accommodate:
SSD + hd
GPU
on top of the mobo+cpu+ram

Do you have any suggestions for:
a) case
b) best mobo+cpu combo (that will be used for office work in Windows, excel mostly, some word and web browsing. Nothing too intensive, no database stuff). But it has to be absolutely snappy and quiet so perhaps something that does not require a cooler? don't know if that's practical.
c) SSD I'm thinking of a 256gb one, not sure which one yet.
d) regular hd, probably go for a quiet one (those are the 'green' toshiba ones?)
e) GPU: no need for horsepower but it will be hooked up to 4 monitors so not sure which model could be adequate for that.

If you can at least give me some guidance on the type of cpu+mobo I should be looking for that would be great.

Ronald · 31 Oct 2014 at 20:18

With the description: nothing to intensive, just about any modern CPU will be fine. It is the SSD that generally keeps things responsive.

I'll give this a start with this, I kept things nice and sane as you didn't give a budget:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-4360 3.70GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £113.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £101.95
1 x Gigabyte H97N-WIFI Intel H97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £94.99
1 x MSI Radeon R7 260X OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £82.99
1 x Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Red (HX24C11BRK2/8-OC) £71.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD20EZRX) HDD £62.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £53.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced Mini-ITX Case - Black £39.95
Total : £632.44 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Another £50 will get you an i5. And yet another £50 gets you close to doubling the memory to a pretty generous 16GB.

You may want to upgrade the cpu cooler, but this case only allows you 65mm, so one of the slim Rajinteks/Noctuas would be required.

mtj111 · 31 Oct 2014 at 20:27

A passively cooled set-up is definitely possible. You'd need something like this for the CPU: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-097-ZA

ntg · 31 Oct 2014 at 23:22

thx guys, thats really useful.

how would such a setup compare to the likes of GB-BXi7-4500 for example? i like the tiny form factor but id def go for something with grunt like a custom built if its quite a difference.

Ronald: about the GPU, isnt there any cheaper option that stills allows the 4 monitors? it wont be used for gaming or anything like that. I noticed the mobo has 2hdmi and 1dp..couldnt i use the dp to power 2 monitors and the other 2x hdmi for the other two monitors? what adapter would i need for the dp to split it to 2 monitors?

Ronald · 1 Nov 2014 at 13:53

The Brix doesn't list diasy chaining support from its mini DP, and the mainboard I picked mentions up to 3 displays, with one of them on DSUB...
CPU wise, i don't expect either the i3 Desktop, or the i7-U or will struggle with office workload.

Triggered by your question though:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-4360 3.70GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £113.99
1 x Asus Z97I-Plus Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £105.95
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £101.95
1 x Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Red (HX24C11BRK2/8-OC) £71.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD20EZRX) HDD £62.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £53.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced Mini-ITX Case - Black £39.95
Total : £560.40 (includes shipping : £8.00).

The asus board lists daisy chain up to 3 display from the DP. I don't know if it keeps the HDMI operational when you do that. I'd suggest ask Asus support (And then post back here ;-)

)

You can go smaller with the case too, especially without video card, or go passive with something like the cooler above

ntg · 1 Nov 2014 at 15:12

Ronald said:
The Brix doesn't list diasy chaining support from its mini DP, and the mainboard I picked mentions up to 3 displays, with one of them on DSUB...
CPU wise, i don't expect either the i3 Desktop, or the i7-U or will struggle with office workload.

Triggered by your question though:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-4360 3.70GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £113.99
1 x Asus Z97I-Plus Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £105.95
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £101.95
1 x Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Red (HX24C11BRK2/8-OC) £71.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD20EZRX) HDD £62.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £53.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced Mini-ITX Case - Black £39.95
Total : £560.40 (includes shipping : £8.00).

The asus board lists daisy chain up to 3 display from the DP. I don't know if it keeps the HDMI operational when you do that. I'd suggest ask Asus support (And then post back here )

You can go smaller with the case too, especially without video card, or go passive with something like the cooler above

Passive with the cooler and smaller sounds great. What would be the smallest case I could fit your recommendation in? The hdd can be external - shouldn't be a problem as ill use it for backups mostly.

For some stupid reason I can't email ASUS over their website unless I already have a product (must provide serial number). Anyway, found this http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1150/Z97I-PLUS/E9272_Z97I-PLUS.pdf which says it only supports 3 displays simultaneously..so it's a no-go.

Can I get away with cheaper memory without a hit on performance? what do you think?

Ronald · 1 Nov 2014 at 15:40

ntg said:
Passive with the cooler and smaller sounds great. What would be the smallest case I could fit your recommendation in? The hdd can be external - shouldn't be a problem as ill use it for backups mostly.

I will check the display support with Asus and report back. Hopefully it should work.

Can I get away with cheaper memory without a hit on performance? what do you think?

You can get away with cheaper memory, it will be a very very minor performance hit, maybe 2-3 percent so you shouldn't notice. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-033-TG

If you order this weekend, this SSD is well worth £65 instead of the Samsung: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18633641

Re case: If you keep the mechanical drive external or go with a 2.5" (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-135-SA&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=896 1TB instead), and drop the idea of going passive, I think you can get away with an Antec ISK-310 which has a 150W PSU. Not 100% sure on that though!
OCUK Still hasn't fixed the case's product page, but you can get it in basket from search/overview pages.

Just read your edit: Not sure you can get away without a seperate video card and keep 4 displays.
If the IGP can stay enabled with a dedicated GPU, you should be able to use any old card for the 4th monitor. But it seems hit&miss on Google.

ntg · 5 Nov 2014 at 23:36

Ronald said:
You can get away with cheaper memory, it will be a very very minor performance hit, maybe 2-3 percent so you shouldn't notice. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-033-TG

If you order this weekend, this SSD is well worth £65 instead of the Samsung: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18633641

Re case: If you keep the mechanical drive external or go with a 2.5" (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-135-SA&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=896 1TB instead), and drop the idea of going passive, I think you can get away with an Antec ISK-310 which has a 150W PSU. Not 100% sure on that though!
OCUK Still hasn't fixed the case's product page, but you can get it in basket from search/overview pages.

Just read your edit: Not sure you can get away without a seperate video card and keep 4 displays.
If the IGP can stay enabled with a dedicated GPU, you should be able to use any old card for the 4th monitor. But it seems hit&miss on Google.

Did a bit of research. It seems that i cant get one mobo for 4 monitors, but I could hook up 2+2 if i get a cheapo gpu.

My next question is, since the pc will not get upgraded (just replaced after 3 years or so), is it worth getting this mobo or can i get away with something cheaper? and what would be my options?

also, how much smaller case can i get that will take in passive cooling and a cheap gpu? any options?