pls spec me a bang/buck system

greenwiggle

greenwiggle

greenwiggle

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hi,

i'm ready for a new desktop, as i am currently using a laptop and and want to sell it.

i need a new system for office and email.
the most taxing procedures will be blu ray playback and flash video on the net.

i was thinking about going with integrated graphics, as i don't game.

i really want this system to be really quiet, as i get annoyed about fans quite easily.

i would also need integrated graphics that will work with the new flash beta hardware acceleration. i think the ati hd4200 does this.

the integrated graphics should also allow for blu ray hardware acceleration.

i'm looking at 4gb ram and potentially an 1156 board if the bang/buck ratio is good.

i also like the idea of a cool processor with a low TDW.

i was thinking about these potential specs:

intel i3 - 350
4gb ram
f3 samung 320gb
gigabyte h55 ud2

some seasonic or corsair psu and case

what kind of quiet cooler should i get or are the stock ones any good?


does this look ok or total overkill?

i am open to suggestions from intel and amd and the budget is flexible even though i don't expect to pay more then £450. if i can get away with half of the that, then that would be even better :-)

thanks to the OC guild for any suggestions
 
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Why don't you add a new graphics card to your system??

I would look at the HD5450:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=gx-221-as

there are also fanless hd5450 cards which are available if you have a look around.

the power consumption of the hd5450 is really low!!

spcr measured 7w at load:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1023-page6.html

I would then look at either adding a Samsung F3 or even an SSD!!

This Intel 40GB is under £100:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-006-IN

You can probably run the whole lot off a Pico PSU 150W.
 
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hi, thx for the suggestion, but i was thinking that i don't really need a dedicated graphics card, as i won't be gaming.

seems like a waste of money to get one, plus paying the additional electricity that it will consume.
 
greenwiggle said:
hi, thx for the suggestion, but i was thinking that i don't really need a dedicated graphics card, as i won't be gaming.

seems like a waste of money to get one, plus paying the additional electricity that it will consume.
Click to expand...

7W at load??? What is cheaper a whole system or an undervolted E5200 and a graphics card which consumes 7W at load?? The card is not for gaming but for HTPC use and is made for low power consumption. I have seen the passively cooled versions for around £40 which have 512MB of memory.

For instance this Q9550 setup with the Zotac 9300 mini ITX motherboard,an SSD and a 1TB hard disk runs fine off a 150W Pico PSU:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=54789

The CPU is not even undervolted as the first few versions of the Zotac 9300 could not do this!
 
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Surely it makes more sense to upgrade what you have rather than shelling out for a new system, and mentioned in the post the HD5450 draws 7Watts at load which tiny.
 
in honesty the 5450 is a waste. it offers very little more than what the GPU on the i3 can offers already. If the OP was to go for that card then I would look at an AMD system which would benifit more from it over its IGP. It seems that unless you need 2 monitors avoid that card. If you do want it, shop around, it can be had for just over £30 else where.
 
feeddagoat said:
in honesty the 5450 is a waste. it offers very little more than what the GPU on the i3 can offers already. If the OP was to go for that card then I would look at an AMD system which would benifit more from it over its IGP. It seems that unless you need 2 monitors avoid that card. If you do want it, shop around, it can be had for just over £30 else where.
Click to expand...

Apart from the fact that they already have an E5200 which can be undervolted and together with an HD5450 would consume very little power.

Lets look at the cost then:

Option One - Core i3 based system

Core i3 530 ~ £98

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-311-IN

Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H ~ £75

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-234-GI

4GB 1333MHZ DDR3 ~ £82

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-086-GL&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1516

Total cost ~ £255

Option Two

HD5450 ~ £50

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-221-AS

512MB passively cooled versions available for around £40.

Total cost £40 to £50.

Total increase in power consumption is 7W.

Basically this means that you are saving £215.

Going for a monitor with an LED backlight over one with a CCFL one will yield more power savings.

Going for a PSU with 88% efficiency over one with 80% efficiency would probably give you more power savings too.
 
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thx for the suggestions so far, but

please no atom-ion combos, my current ULV laptop (acer timeline series) with a dedicated graphics card struggles, as it is with 1080p flash (60% cpu), an atom is not going to cut it.

i don't understand why people are suggesting that i get a dedicated card for £40. I'd rather use the money to get a better cpu or board.

a nvidia 9400, ati4200 or the onboard in the i3 should be more than enough for flash and win7 aero, shouldn't it.
 
@Cat, i totally get what you are saying, but we got our wires crossed.

i used to have a e5200 before my laptop. i currently have no desktop system, so i am starting from scratch.

i hope this clears things up. sorry for the confusion.
 
greenwiggle said:
@cat, i totally get what you are saying, but we got our wires crossed.

i used to have a e5200 before my laptop. i currently have no desktop system, so i am starting from scratch.

i hope this clears things up. sorry for the confusion.
Click to expand...

Ok then!! Sorry about that as I thought you had an E5200!! I was getting worried that you were going to junk a perfectly good processor!!

Well I would look at the following options:
1.)A Core i3 530 based system.
2.)An X3 705e based system with an HD4200 IGP.
3.)A 45W TDP Athlon "e" series based system with an HD4200 IGP.

Also AMD is releasing the new 890G chipsets with a newer IGP too in the next month or so.

The current Athlon II processors seem to undervolt quite well from what I have read but the 32NM Core i3 processors seem to have very low power consumption.

I would also go over to SPCR as this is the best forum for these sorts of things:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/

The website and forums are dedicated to quiet and low power computers.
 
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785G chipset AM3 board with onboard HD4200.
Athlon II x2 or x3 chip.

Those run so cool that @ stock they could probably be cooled passively, stuck a noctua or two in the case and you have a pc so quiet that you won't be able to tell if it's on or off without looking at the LEDs / monitor.
 
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