Haswelll build

Genoma

Genoma

Genoma

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Shropshire
What's the recommended set of components for a small, silent haswelll build with the best inbuilt hd graphics for a HTPC & light gaming?
 
Was thinking along these lines:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Silverstone Sugo SG06 HTPC Case with 450W Power Supply - All Black (SST-SG06BB USB3.0) £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87N-WIFI Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £119.99
1 x Intel Core i3-4330 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £109.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £71.99
1 x Kingston 120GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/120G) £67.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x OcUK Slimline Slot Loading 4x BluRay-ROM / 8x DVD-RW Drive - OEM £39.95
Total : £591.89 (includes shipping : £10.00).



This would give future proofing as I could drop a graphics card in it later if needed. The case PSU seems beefy enough. Just debating whether i5 would be worth the extra £60?
 
 
You mentioned silent, that's not going to give you silent. How about a passive streacom case and a piko PSU. That will give you silent.
 
Either of those options will only give you very light gaming though. You'd also want to use an AMD APU build as they are better for gaming than Intel's HD 4600, and you have no option to add a GPU down the line.

This is similar to you first build with an i5, a faster SSD and space to add a GPU later.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4440 3.10GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £139.99
1 x Silverstone Sugo SG05 HTPC Case with 450W Power Supply - All Black ( SST-SG05BB USB 3.0) £114.95
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £71.99
1 x Asus H81I-Plus Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £68.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G1600HC9DC01) £49.99
1 x OcUK Slimline Slot Loading 4x BluRay-ROM / 8x DVD-RW Drive - OEM £39.95
1 x TP-Link 300Mbps High-Gain Wireless-N USB Adapter (TL-WN822N) £17.99
Total : £604.33 (includes shipping : £11.25).

 
oceaness said:
Either of those options will only give you very light gaming though. You'd also want to use an AMD APU build as they are better for gaming than Intel's HD 4600, and you have no option to add a GPU down the line.

This is similar to you first build with an i5, a faster SSD and space to add a GPU later.
Click to expand...

Thanks oceaness. Isn't the case pretty much the same as the one in my first build? My first build and this both seem to be able to take a dual slot GPU?

Any pros/cons on my choice of MB versus yours?
 
Yeah the SG05 and 06 are very similar I believe, not 100% sure on what the differences are. I think it's just they've added a fascia on the 06 which means the front fan intakes from the sides rather than directly, so you don't see it.

Your motherboard would be better paired with a K series processor, as it would allow you to overclock by adjusting the multiplier, however neither the processor you spec'd nor the one I did are K series so wont allow this anyway.

My board and the Wi-Fi dongle come in £33 cheaper (you'd need a Bluetooth dongle as well if that's something you require), that's the only reason I chose it. Your board would have course allow you to drop in a K series later on, if you wanted to, and, with a better cooler, overclock. But there lies the difficulty, finding a better cooler to keep things quieter and/or overclock a bit.

I've actually got the Z77 version of the board you chose. I've paired mine with an Corsair H80 cooler, which is great, but not all ITX cases can fit them (I haven't decided on which case I want yet, seriously considering the FT03-Mini). I believe from a little looking around it should fit in the SG05 and therefore likely in the SG06 too, however you lose the drive cage and the optical drive bay. The SSD you can get creative with, the optical drive however is probably rather a requirement of an HTPC.

I did consider something like the below, but didn't post it as it's a little bit larger than the SG05/06. This build, being an ATX PSU, also has more power available to run a beefier graphics card (up to 620 watts would easily fit), and more room in the case for a longer card.

I believe the Cooler Master Elite 120 should allow an H80 in place of the hard drive cage whilst still allowing you to keep a 5.25" bay, the adapter then allowing you to fit your slim slot-load blu-ray drive and the SSD underneath it in the 5.25 bay.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4440 3.10GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £139.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £71.99
1 x Asus H81I-Plus Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £68.99
1 x Seasonic S12II 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G1600HC9DC01) £49.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced Mini-ITX Case - Black £39.95
1 x OcUK Slimline Slot Loading 4x BluRay-ROM / 8x DVD-RW Drive - OEM £39.95
1 x Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 90 Day Guarantee £37.55
1 x TP-Link 300Mbps High-Gain Wireless-N USB Adapter (TL-WN822N) £17.99
1 x Lian Li EX-553 Slimline ODD Bay & 3.5"/2.5" HDD/SSD Bay - Black £12.98
Total : £638.95 (includes shipping : £10.50).

 
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