Help spec me low power PC for browsing/Video/Light Gaming

AMDPower

AMDPower

AMDPower

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Hi all

I need to build 3 low power pc for my parents. They are using my old pc that are drawing close to 500W and on 24-7 basically for just surfing the internet and watching movies. I was thinking of AMD AM1 Kabini chips. But not sure if these are good enough for what i want. As a bonus it would be great if these can play battle field 2 on medium setting at 2560 x 1600 over DVI.

another issue is that these motherboards only support max 1920x1200 onver DVI and one of the monitors is 2560x1600, would it be possible to use a HDMI to DVI cable to output 2560x1600, since the motherboards offer resolutions of 4096 x 2160 @ 24 Hz over HDMI?

I was looking at such a build

Motherboard not sure which to pick from these, i would prefer a motherboard that can fit into atx case and from my understanding only Micro ATX will and not MINI ITX, is that correct?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=1903&subid=2808

RAM
TeamGroup Elite 2GB 1600MHz Single Channel Module

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-026-TG&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1180

CPU
AMD Athlon 5350 2.05GHz or would it be worth saving and going for the AMD Athlon 5150, i cant see much difference between them?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-377-AM&groupid=701&catid=1967&subcat=1946

PSU

Is it possible to use the PSU already installed in the current systems, i cant see why not, they are both 500W tagan PSU. Although old, i assume there should be no connection problems?

Another issue I have is that these motherboard only have 2 SATA connector, one would have to be a SATA DVD drive, but that leaves only 1 port for hard drive. I would have liked at least 1 more hard drive in there. I know there are some add in cards but I cant figure out if they would be compatible with these motherboards since they only have PCI-E x1 slots.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=49&subid=424

any help would be really appreciated, been out the loop for quite a while so just want to make sure I am getting the correct parts.

thanks for reading
 
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Well for 2560 X 1600 aka 1600p you will require a dual link DVI. The graphics port and the cable need to support this. oh and HDMI maxes out at 1920*1200 , i have a dell 30" 1600p.
For your psu in depends mainly in the cpu power connectors on the motherboard your purchase but old PSU's might not have enough cpu power connections.

So whats the budget ?
 
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AMDPower said:
PSU

Is it possible to use the PSU already installed in the current systems, i cant see why not, they are both 500W tagan PSU. Although old, i assume there should be no connection problems?
Click to expand...

Hello.

If your going for low power you need a PSU that's at least 90% efficient, other words something that's at least Gold rated. If the Tagan is old I would be surprised if it's even 80% efficient.

Something else that's important is under volting. A high quality PSU should allow at least 10% under volting from CPU, Memory and Chipset voltages. This is in addition to better PSU efficiently to begin with. When you add everything up it's quite a saving in electric, this is even before you have chosen other low power components.
 
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AMDPower said:
another issue is that these motherboards only support max 1920x1200 onver DVI and one of the monitors is 2560x1600, would it be possible to use a HDMI to DVI cable to output 2560x1600, since the motherboards offer resolutions of 4096 x 2160 @ 24 Hz over HDMI?
Click to expand...

Yes you will need a HDMI to Dual-Link DVI cable or adapter to output 2560x1600 but if the motherboards supported max resolution of 1920x1200 then it only display up to 1920x1200.

What motherboards brand and models you will use to build 3 PCs?
 
Thanks all for your advice.

JasonM said:
Hello.

If your going for low power you need a PSU that's at least 90% efficient, other words something that's at least Gold rated. If the Tagan is old I would be surprised if it's even 80% efficient.

Something else that's important is under volting. A high quality PSU should allow at least 10% under volting from CPU, Memory and Chipset voltages. This is in addition to better PSU efficiently to begin with. When you add everything up it's quite a saving in electric, this is even before you have chosen other low power components.
Click to expand...

I understand your arguments and they are indeed correct but from my understanding of this efficiency rating and power usage in the grand scheme of things its not as significatn as it sounds. The power usage of these machines are in effect less than 40W. Supposing I had just a 80 plus raing psu rating at 350w. This would mean that the power supply wastes 20% of power into heat/noise across 20,50&100% load. Supposing 40w power by these Kabini system + 20% = 40 + 8W = 48W where if I had a Gold plus power supply the efficiency under load of 20% say appx 10% appx gives aobut 4w. The bill for 4w difference is insignificant almost. The power wastage becomes more significant as you go over 600W load factors but I do agree the more efficient the better. Right now my 3 pc are almost swallowing between 800-1400w depending on what they are doing, if the power meter is correct. This is almost like having my dryer of for 7-8 hours on end.

also these MINI power supplies are so expensive specially in Gold Certification.

Yes you will need a HDMI to Dual-Link DVI cable or adapter to output 2560x1600 but if the motherboards supported max resolution of 1920x1200 then it only display up to 1920x1200.

What motherboards brand and models you will use to build 3 PCs?
Click to expand...

I have i think a solution to this limitation of these curernt mobo on OCUK, there is a motherboard by asrock that has 4 sata ports and also

http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/AM1H-ITX/?cat=Specifications

Supports DVI-D with max. resolution up to 1920x1200 @ 60Hz
- Supports D-Sub with max. resolution up to 2048x1536 @ 60Hz
- Supports DisplayPort 1.2 with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096x2160) @ 30Hz
- Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC and HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI Port

I am assuming I can use a DisplayPort to DVI cable to throw out 2560x1600, I hope???

I dont really have a budget but dont want to pay crazy prices either.
 
AMDPower said:
I am assuming I can use a DisplayPort to DVI cable to throw out 2560x1600, I hope???
Click to expand...

You might have trouble converting DP to dual link DVI as it seems to require an active adapter:

The DisplayPort signal is not compatible with DVI or HDMI. However, Dual-mode DisplayPorts are designed to transmit a single-link DVI or HDMI 1.2/1.4 protocol across the interface through the use of an external passive adapter that selects the desired signal and converts the electrical signaling from LVDS to TMDS. Analog VGA and dual-link DVI require powered active adapters to convert the protocol and signal levels and do not rely on Dual-Mode. VGA adapters are powered by the DisplayPort connector, while dual-link DVI adapters may rely on an external power source (see compatibility with HDMI, DVI and VGA).
Click to expand...

You might want to get a low power GPU (R7 240?) rather than an exotic motherboard.

calliusmaximus said:
Well for 2560 X 1600 aka 1600p you will require a dual link DVI. The graphics port and the cable need to support this. oh and HDMI maxes out at 1920*1200 , i have a dell 30" 1600p.
Click to expand...
JasonM said:
Something else that's important is under volting. A high quality PSU should allow at least 10% under volting from CPU, Memory and Chipset voltages.
Click to expand...

I don't think either of these points are correct.

The max resolution of HDMI varies by version. The latst (v 2.0) can carry 4096x2160 at 60 FPS. And with all versions you can run a higher resolution if you let the refresh rate slide.

Undervolting the chipset doesn't place any more stress on the PSU, since the PSU just puts out 3.3/5/12 V. It's the onboard regulators that knock those down to the chipset voltages.
 
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