New into mini-ITX world, need some advice on what platform to take

henrik-t

henrik-t

henrik-t

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Hi,

Im currently looking into a New into mini-ITX or mini Atx pc build.

I want a super silent build, but not a slow mo on daily tasks , like youtube, blu rays/h264 files, browsing internet.
its for my GF and for me when i want to just browse the net watching youtube ect, she currently have a asus one netbook that we connect for a lcd 17" when she want to watch stuff, even on that i feel that the fans kick in too high when watching content or browsing for 1hour,

my main is driving me crazy at night time, whit a HD6780 in stock fans.. :yucky: even at 25% fan speeds :) too loud for me at night time..we got a dell 15.6 lappy whit a gfx , but its loud too when doing anything...


So i was wondering if i could build a system that could give me what i need at night, browsing internet "and not slow as the asus one", video, maby some light gaming WoW, ect in 1200x800 or so and super-silent




Im looking at :

Properly a SSD for OS and a low-powers/noise 1T for storage if they exists^^ again my current WD 7200 speed one make bump sound every 5-10 sec, not that loud but its annoying too :)) even when i dont use any programs.


Asus AT3IONT-I Deluxe
AMD Fusion E35


H67 + i3 2100
h55 + i3 530/540
Wondering if these are silent enough as ill need a heat-sink, and a case-fan

1. is there some platform i have forgotten..!??

2. then theres the psu, dono what ill do there, maby a fan less or near silent one.. any recommendations ??

3. maby ill stick a 5450/5550 or similar into it and change in BIOS from on-board to gfx. if i want to game some hard games. there are some passive options, but then ill need a casefan !?? dont i...


Thanks guys, show me the path i need.
 
The ASUS fusion board is a good shout with its passive heatsink (E35M1-I DELUXE). Will be easily enough for doing all those basic tasks you mentioned. Not sure about its WoW performance.

If you went with the Intel options then Sandy Bridge runs much cooler so will be easier to cool passively. I just got a Thermalright AXP-140 heatsink and it performs pretty well with pretty much silent fans on an i5-2500K so will be fine on an i3.

The onboard graphics with SB are also pretty good so, depending what games you are looking to play, you should be able to play most things at 1200x800 ok, not amazing but definitely playable. Also just because the graphics card isn't being used doesnt mean it wont be running. If its plugged in the fan WILL be on so perhaps go for passive GFX (Here, or here).

PSU-wise it doesnt get much quieter than a fanless Seasonic X-400 but they can be pricey or you could get a pico psu as the power draw wont be too much.
There are no 1TB SSDs unless you have more money than sense but a 2.5" HDD will be pretty quiet especially a 5400 one like this one, only 750GB not sure if any of the 1TB 2.5" HDDs are out yet.

Bear in mind if you want to run things passively you will need some sort of case airflow so if you go that route make sure the case has decent airflow and space for one or two fans atleast 120mm. The bigger the fan the quieter you can make it.
 
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thanks for the reply, ill look into this and return.

as i know from previous builds searching and reading, will bring more question to the table... :)
How quiet could you run that airflow if its 2 case fans only,.!? 120-140mm

plus i read about a Scythe Shuriken low profile cpu fan http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-027-SY&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395 , but i dont know much about cpu fans and what noise they make, specs are one thing reality are another.

and looks like theres a 2105 coming out whit the HD3000 instead of HD2000 and the newer quad-core whit build in GFX from amd, dono if that is worth the wait,
 
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2 case fans could be ultra quiet fans, Noctua S12B-ULNs are super quiet, Zalman Golfs or Akasa Apaches are good too. I cant comment on quietness at night time as I need super silence to be able to sleep so I have never been able to live with computer fans on at night time but I can testify to the ridiculous quietness of the S12Bs.

The Scythe is low profile but not THAT quiet. Depends what case you plan to put it in but I certainly think that you should look at either the Thermalright AXP-140 or Noctua NH-C14 as you can fit some big quiet fans to them and get super silence.

Regarding the other CPUs it depends on whether you want low power or power. The HD3000 graphics are damn good. I played some games on it whilst I was waiting for my GFX card and I was mightily impressed so the 2105 may be one to watch, also look out for the 2405S, its a low power quad core i5 with HD3000, same TDP as the i3. Not sure how long it will be before quad-core AMD chips will be out and they may not come with the ability to fit aftermarket coolers and I can almost guarantee that there wont be a passive version like the ASUS.

So basically you could go passive E-350 or 2105 with a good cooler. Personally for an HTPC that waas only going to be used as an HTPC I would go for E-350. If I wanted to do more then i3-2105, or i5-2405-S depending on how much more I wanted it to do.
 
gropingmantis said:
Not sure how long it will be before quad-core AMD chips will be out and they may not come with the ability to fit aftermarket coolers and I can almost guarantee that there wont be a passive version like the ASUS
Click to expand...

Llano will use Socket FM1 and will feature full size ATX,M-atx,M-itx boards and notebook/laptop/netbook variants.
The GPU on the higher end Llano processors is a 400 shader part with UVD3,which will be comparable to a 5670 class card with newer decode tech for HTPC use.
For an on-chip solution this is going to be quite impressive.

As for when,it currently stands at June/July.
Computex will be stuffed with Llano and bulldozer kit.
 
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For case i think ill buy a lian qo7 or silverstone 05-07 i like the looks of those.


i have a nouctua 14d in my main rig now so i can pull out the gfx and see if the noise is something i can live whit..!? but is i need 1-2 big case fans anyway for a passive system, noise might be the same level anyway right or am i mistaken there, and 2-3 fans on same rpm will up the noise...

i just read over a silentpreview that the Nexus fans 120mm are more quiet than the noctua at same rmp, anyone try ed these fans.. or know better ones, aka more quiet ones..^

and if the Llano isent passive cooled i might be in the same boat anyways, sill need fans :(


i wont do any OC, tho i might on the asus e35 board as it gives 17% better performance, but we´ll se if i go that way if the heat is too much.

on the psu, i prob go a seasonic be quiet 250W or what its spec or a pica 150 one
 
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in a very similar boat

i'm waiting for llano release, they will probably be more expensive, but when they come out the old fusion boards might come down in price a bit aswell.

But im slightly tempted by ipad 2 also :D just for general browsing/shopping/youtube etc.
 
henrik-t said:
and if the Llano isent passive cooled i might be in the same boat anyways, sill need fans
Click to expand...

You can't run a quadcore with this class of gpu built into it passive,it will need active cooling!

E-350/Atom based boards just don't have the grunt for gaming,they really aren't designed for it.
 
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the Asus AT3IONT-I Deluxe is passive and silent, and comes with a silent pico psu to use as well. I have the standard version and run the whole system passivly, so its totally silent. But its only used as a media center, not for gaming

for movies and such, they are very good, but the gpu isn't that good when it comes to games, maybe low res, low graphics mode might work ok on some games thou.


seems kind of odd ppl specing large heatsinks for a mini itx build, kinda defeats the purpose if you need to put it in a full size case just to fit the heatsink
 
Cycrow said:
seems kind of odd ppl specing large heatsinks for a mini itx build, kinda defeats the purpose if you need to put it in a full size case just to fit the heatsink
Click to expand...

The ones I suggested are both low profile coolers but with a large area so you can achieve a decent cooling with a very low RPM fan for ultimate quietness which was the intention.
 
Not sure what your budget is, but this is what I'd get:

Silverstone SST-SG06
H67 ITX motherboard
Intel Core i3 2100T
Scythe Shuriken Rev. B w/ no fan
2x2GB DDR3 RAM

No idea if it'll all fit together perfectly due to clearances etc., but it'll be damn quiet.
 
my current build is a icore 760, noctua 14d Low setting 800 rpm, 800 rpm case fans, and stock hd6870, fractal R3 case, even in idle im not fund it at night time.
 
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thanks a lot guys, i think ill go for a box system like a z-box hit Amd 350, as the few fans needed for a build is too massive, and the picu options are expensive, or seems that way, i haven't fund a case fan-less psu 90-150W for cheaps yet.
 
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oki too the plunge, desided that the Zbox was too noisey whit the small 5000 rpm fan..:)

So i building it myself, specs are..:


1 ANTEC ISK 100 DESKTOP SLIMLINE 80W MINI ITX

1 ASUS E35M1-I DELUXE AMD ZACATE MINI-ITX

1 CORSAIR 4GB DDR3 XMS3 INTEL I3/I5/I7 1333MHZ (1X4GB)

1 SEAGATE MOMENTUS 7200.4 2.5" 250GB 7200RPM SATA/300

1 ZALMAN FANMATE 2 FAN SPEED CONTROLLER


i got the deluxe board so if possible to run fan less i got the best board to do it on, whit that massive passive cooler.

and the antec for the size and picu style Psu 80W, and a extra fan controller just in case ill need it.

i hope i made good picks on HHD and Ram, i got a 4gb module so if i want to trow in 4 more there s room.
 
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I've got the 500GB version of that HDD in my netbook and it is £#<(ing noisy!
Really wish i'd got a different one.
I was doing some work on someones R series Samsung laptop the other day and I couldn't belive how quiet it was....... but i can't for the life of me remember what the hard drive was!
 
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