Spec thread - quiet, low power but high performance...

Tenzo · 12 Jun 2012 at 12:35

Hi,

I'm trying to help a friend spec a gaming PC, with some slightly testing requirements.

Basically, the remit is low power consumption, quiet as possible but be able to play GW2/Titan at 2560x1440 on max settings.

Budget is in the region of £1500-1700 (including monitor)

I've had a look about, getting some ideas but I reckon you kind gents are able to assist more ably....

So in summary:

Budget c. £1500-1700
Green, silent, high power
No need for an OS
Would like SSD + mechanical data drive
Blu ray
Monitor - either 2560x1440 or 3D 120hz @ 1920x1080

Thanks

Idleman · 12 Jun 2012 at 14:21

YOUR BASKET
1 x Palit GeForce GTX 670 Jetstream 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £349.99
1 x Samsung S27A750D 27" 120Hz 3D Widescreen Ultra Thin LED Monitor - Glossy Black £329.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £189.95
1 x Sandisk Extreme SSD 240GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - (SDSSDX-240G-G25) £161.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard with FREE BOOGIE BUG XXL GAMING MOUSE MAT £129.98
1 x Fractal Design Define XL USB3.0 Full Tower Case - Titanium Grey £114.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £99.98
1 x XFX 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £99.98
1 x LG BH10LS38 10x BluRay-RW / 16 x DVD±RW Lightscribe Drive - Black (Retail) £79.98
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Silver (Socket LGA 2011/1155/1156/1366/775/AMD AM2/2+/AM3) £66.98
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £38.39
Total : £1,688.84 (includes shipping : £22.20).

kilohawk · 12 Jun 2012 at 14:29

Go for a corsair AX or BeQuiet PSU for silence. The AX fans don't spin most of the time, and the BeQuiet are just always very quiet.

The fans in that case don't really do much for if you're planning on overclocking, id get some higher airflow to either work with them, or replace them. something like Akasa super silent.

edscdk · 12 Jun 2012 at 14:33

unless you are taking this thing onto the international space station I think you should drop the "low power" requirement!

drakioned · 12 Jun 2012 at 15:11

I don't think low power and high performance are compatible goals.

Tenzo · 12 Jun 2012 at 20:48

Thanks Idleman, appreciate you putting that together. Out of interest, what's the reliability on the sandisk SSD's like? I've only ever considered the crucial M4 or Intel ones..?

The low power is obvious driven up by the need for strong performance, however there are undoubtedly better choices of hardware that can help reduce consumption, without compromising too much on power.... well I hope so and that's why I asked here

Thanks for the responses so far though