Spec me a small PC with superb single core performance. Graphics not important.

[Feek]

I'm looking for a super small PC with the fastest possible single core performance using an Intel CPU.

Graphics performance is simply irrelevant because it won't have a monitor attached, I'll be using it headless for an application that doesn't really use the graphics card.

It needs 32Gb memory and a decent speed nvme. Someone has said it should have a Z790 chipset motherboard but that means nothing to me.

As quiet as possible. Ideally it'll be small enough to sit on top of my radio but that's probably not possible.

I know nothing of modern PC specs and I have no parts whatsoever so it's over to you, the knowledgable OcUK members

What do you suggest?

 

[tamzzy]

budget?
will you want to overclock to get the max single core perf?
how many cores do you need or just a single core is enough?

 

[Feek]

budget?

It costs what it costs, I don't have a specific budget but that doesn't mean that the sky is the limit. I really have zero idea what pc components cost these days because I haven't bought anything since around the time that Vista came out.

will you want to overclock to get the max single core perf?

Not really, no.

 

[tamzzy]

realistically you'd be looking at a 13600k for best price/performance without breaking the bank
if you're willing to sacrifice a bit more performance then the 13100 is better value because you can save more on the mobo etc as well

CPU Benchmarks and Hierarchy 2024: CPU Rankings

We've run thousands of CPU benchmarks on all new and older Intel and AMD CPUs and ranked them.

www.tomshardware.com

 

[Feek]

Thanks - I can look at the spec but I have no idea what individual components I need to put together to build a PC.

I mean, I know I need a PSU, case, motherboard, memory, cpu and nvme but it has literally been fifteen years since I built one.

 

[tamzzy]

13600k build

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Intel Core i5-13600K (Raptor Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-6AV-IN) = £299.99
• 1 x Asrock Z790M-ITX WiFi (LGA 1700) DDR5 ITX Motherboard (SKU: MB-199-AK) = £244.99
• 1 x Kingston FURY Renegade 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C32 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MY-29P-KS) = £128.99
• 1 x WD Black SN770 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0E) (SKU: HD-58F-WD) = £47.99
• 1 x Cooler Master MasterBox NR200P Mini-ITX Case - Black Tempered Glass (SKU: CA-385-CM) = £99.94
• 1 x be quiet! SFX-L Power 500W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-139-BQ) = £103.00
• 1 x Cooler Master MasterLiquid Lite 240 AIO CPU Cooler - 240mm (SKU: HS-07L-CM) = £62.99

Total: £999.88 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

​

 

[tamzzy]

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Intel Core i3-13100 (Raptor Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-6BA-IN) = £137.99
• 1 x Gigabyte B760I AORUS PRO DDR4 (LGA 1700) DDR4 ITX Motherboard (SKU: MB-5BY-GI) = £209.99
• 1 x Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (SKU: MY-0AJ-TG) = £79.99
• 1 x WD Black SN770 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0E) (SKU: HD-58F-WD) = £47.99
• 1 x Silverstone Sugo SG13B Mini-ITX Chassis - Black (SKU: CA-403-SV) = £59.98
• 1 x be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 10 450W 80 Plus Gold Power Supply (SKU: CA-14T-BQ) = £47.00
• 1 x Cooler Master MasterLiquid Lite 120 AIO CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: HS-07J-CM) = £34.99

Total: £629.92 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

​

edit: just read you wanted as quiet as possible so added a 120mm aio instead of the stock cooler

​

 

[dymetrie]

If the aim is small and quiet, Optiplex and Thinkcentres both come in ultra small form factors and can be specced/upgraded to hit your CPU/RAM requirements for not a huge pile of notes...

 

[Feek]

Actually @dymetrie, that's a really valid point. A little Dell Optiplex has an i5-13500T which is only 12% slower in single core mode than the i5-13600k that @tamzzy has mentioned and only 2% or slower than the i3-13100.

 

[andy_mk3]

Actually @dymetrie, that's a really valid point. A little Dell Optiplex has an i5-13500T which is only 12% slower in single core mode than the i5-13600k that @tamzzy has mentioned and only 2% or slower than the i3-13100.

I'd vote for that option. They're superb little machines. Well built in a small footprint.

 

[Feek]

13600k build

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Intel Core i5-13600K (Raptor Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-6AV-IN) = £299.99
• 1 x Asrock Z790M-ITX WiFi (LGA 1700) DDR5 ITX Motherboard (SKU: MB-199-AK) = £244.99
• 1 x Kingston FURY Renegade 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C32 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MY-29P-KS) = £128.99
• 1 x WD Black SN770 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0E) (SKU: HD-58F-WD) = £47.99
• 1 x Cooler Master MasterBox NR200P Mini-ITX Case - Black Tempered Glass (SKU: CA-385-CM) = £99.94
• 1 x be quiet! SFX-L Power 500W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-139-BQ) = £103.00
• 1 x Cooler Master MasterLiquid Lite 240 AIO CPU Cooler - 240mm (SKU: HS-07L-CM) = £62.99

Total: £999.88 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

​

​

​

But still looking for peak performance, would an i7-13700k go in there?

 

[Armageus]

But still looking for peak performance, would an i7-13700k go in there?

Yes it will, as would an i9-13900KS

ASRock Z790M-ITX WiFi

Supports 13th Gen & 12th Gen and next gen Intel Core™ Processors; 7+1+1 Phase Power Design, Dr.MOS for VCore+GT; 2 x DDR5 DIMMs, supports up to 7000+(OC); 1 PCIe 5.0 x16; Graphics Output Options: 1 HDMI, 1 DisplayPort, eDP; 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC897 Audio Codec), Nahimic Audio; 1 Hyper M.2...

www.asrock.com

 

[Armageus]

Optiplex Micro is available with i7-13700T if you are really wanting the small form factor

or Lenovo have a ThinkCentre M80q Gen 3 Tiny, that has the slightly older i9-12900T (which is basically identical in performance to the i7-13700t), with a fairly decent deal


Relative single thread performance

Intel Core i3-13100 vs Intel Core i5-13500T vs Intel Core i7-13700T vs Intel Core i9-12900T vs Intel Core i9-13900KS [cpubenchmark.net] by PassMark Software

 

[Feek]

The little form factor does mean a lot and I’ve managed to pick up a micro Dell Optiplex with the i7-13700T, brand new for £645. I’ll upgrade the memory to 32 Gb. That’ll do me nicely.