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MrJubbly

MrJubbly

MrJubbly

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Joined
20 Jan 2007
Posts
129
Hi,

It's been over 10 years since I built my last PC and I've got the itch to do it again. Before I start coming up with some specs though I was looking for some general guidance.

The PC will be my main home PC and used mainly for video and photo processing, data streaming, internet and as a general work horse. Not much interested in overclocking, or using the machine for gaming at present, though I would like to have the option.

My main main priorites are:

1) Must be quiet, but with no water cooling.
2) As small as possible. SFF if at all possible.
3) High performance/longevity. My last PC has stood me in good stead this long so would like this one to do the same.

For now lets assume a budget of £1000. I do need some other peripheral stuff too (a new monitor, keyboard and OS spring immediatly to mind), so once I have a general direction to go in I can start to chop and change to fit. It's just getting that general direction to start with that I'm having difficulty with.

Any thoughts/help/gudance much appreciated.

Thanks,

MrJubbly
 
Hi,

What sort of photo and video processing do you do? Would you class it as light, medium or heavy use? Does your current PC handle it well? (if so what is your current CPU + GPU)

Have you got any part you want to/can reuse?
 
Hi,

You're right, I should've at least given my current 'old' spec.

Looking back, it turns out it is only 7 years old afterall. Anyways spec is as follows:

Mobo = Asus P5B Deluxe
CPU = Intel Core 2 Duo E6320, Socket 775 (1.8GHz)
Memory = GeIL 4GB (4x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2
GFX = BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC2 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI
PSU = Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant

I don't think any of this is any good to re-use, and besides, I 'm sure it's the Graphics card and PSU that are the greatest noise offenders in the setup.

There's also a couple of HDDs in there, running in as a RAID 0 pair, plus another single HDD, but they are low capacity compared to what's current now, so not sure if I'd re-use these. I'd be looking for SSD for the main OS/program disk and then possibly a couple large capacity HDDs in RAID 1 for data storage. Open to suggestions though.

I've got a reasonable soundcard and DVD re-writer I'd possibly re-use, though I do need Blu-Ray reader too.

I would say the photo/video processing was light. Current setup seems to cope for the most part, but everything else gets a bit clunky around it.

At the end of the day I'm hoping to build a quiet (fanless if possible), compact (smaller than the Lian-Li PC-7 Plus I currently have), with a reasonable amount of oomph to stand me in good stead for the next 5+ years without being too extreme (not that you could for the budget I've currently set anyways :D).

Thanks

MrJubbly
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4771 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £239.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £146.99
1 x HIS HD 7870 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H787QN2G2M) £143.99
1 x Adata XPG Xtreme v1.0 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C10 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AX3U2133XW8G10-2X) £129.95
1 x Antec EA 550w '80 Plus Platinum' Power Supply £83.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy M MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £74.95
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £54.95
1 x Asus H81M-C Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £43.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler £29.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £14.99
3 x BitFenix Spectre Plain BLACK 120mm Fan £5.99 (£17.97)
Total : £995.83 (includes shipping : £11.75).

 
ExRayTed said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4771 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £239.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £146.99
1 x HIS HD 7870 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H787QN2G2M) £143.99
1 x Adata XPG Xtreme v1.0 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C10 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AX3U2133XW8G10-2X) £129.95
1 x Antec EA 550w '80 Plus Platinum' Power Supply £83.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy M MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £74.95
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £54.95
1 x Asus H81M-C Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £43.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler £29.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £14.99
3 x BitFenix Spectre Plain BLACK 120mm Fan £5.99 (£17.97)
Total : £995.83 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Click to expand...

Thanks for the spec ExRayTed. Would you be able to give me a bit of reasoning behind some for your picks. I'm completely out of touch with things these days, so would be interested to know.

Like I say, I'm after Quite, Small, and some reasonable grunt. How do the CPU cooler, GPU, PSU and fans fair on the sound front? Also, I assumed I would need to go down the mATX route to get down to the smaller case, but I was expecting (naivly) that I would need to be paying more in general for a mobo. I'm not complaining, just want to make sure I'm not skimping in the wrong places.

I assume, going with an i7 over an i5, is more for giving me a bit of future proofing. Also why is it that the Haswell chips are so highly rated (told you I was out of touch)?

Any further info much appreciated.

Thanks,

MrJubbly
 
The build was selected with noise (or lack of) in mind. The GPU cooler has got good reviews for its relative noise levels, the CPU cooler is a very good cooler and again, very quiet. I spec'd in 3 120mm fans to replace ones in the case as they can be a bit noisy. The PSU was chosen again for its reliability and silence. I've got 2 Western Digital blue drives and they are very reliable and quiet.

The i7 coupled with the fast ram will eat video processing for breakfast. The non 'K' version was chosen as its cheaper and you don't want to overclock. Overall the system is easily powerful enough to chomp through almost anything with ease (short of professional workstation type software)
 
MrJubbly said:
I'd be looking for SSD for the main OS/program disk and then possibly a couple large capacity HDDs in RAID 1 for data storage. Open to suggestions though.

I've got a reasonable soundcard and DVD re-writer I'd possibly re-use, though I do need Blu-Ray reader too.

...

At the end of the day I'm hoping to build a quiet (fanless if possible), compact (smaller than the Lian-Li PC-7 Plus I currently have), with a reasonable amount of oomph to stand me in good stead for the next 5+ years without being too extreme (not that you could for the budget I've currently set anyways :D).
Click to expand...

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4771 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £239.99
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Superclocked 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £159.95
1 x Adata XPG Xtreme v1.0 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C10 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AX3U2133XW8G10-2X) £129.95
1 x MSI Z87I Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ITX Motherboard £104.99
1 x Pioneer BDR-208EBK 15x BluRay RW / 16x DVD±RW 128GB - Retail £85.99
1 x Seasonic G series 550w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £71.99
1 x BitFenix Phenom Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £69.95
2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £45.95 (£91.90)
1 x Be Quiet! Shadow Rock Topflow SR1 CPU Cooler £39.95
1 x BitFenix Spectre PRO 230mm - Black £15.95
2 x BitFenix Spectre PRO 120mm Fan - All Black £11.99 (£23.98)
Total : £1,048.67 (includes shipping : £11.75).



That's got a quad-layer BluRay reader/re-writer in there. Can swap for a BluRay read only. But that one's pretty awesome and comes with lots of features if you take the time to read the full specs on Pioneer's website, such as the ability to convert 2D video files and DVD's into 3D. And it comes with its own 128GB of storage too which makes it good value.

Got the two HDD's you said you might want in Raid 1. I have an identical Barracuda model and it's totally silent, for what it's worth.

The mobo has the best chipset (Z87) for Haswell and a bit more "oomph" without going extreme*. It's got Wifi/Bluetooth. Also WiDi if you want to stream wirelessly to a HD/Smart TV with WiDi function.

* http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-575-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2574

The Spectre Pro version of the fans are newer and have better CFM-to-noise ratio. These also come with a 7v adapter to reduce RPM and noise. Included a 230mm to help pull enough air into the case.

The Seasonic PSU's of that range are nice and quiet.

The video card is known to be a quiet one and solid (EVGA). Its reference cooler should be more helpful in extracting video card heat out of small form factor cases. And the 230mm fan will help feed it with some fresh air.

The Phenom case has no vents on the side panel, which should help keep noise down a bit more.

Please note in particular, that to get close to £1000 budget, the SSD has been lowered from a 250GB to a 120GB. I've got a 120GB and after adding Windows 7 Pro 64-bit, all the drivers and plenty of mobo utilities etc, there is 75GB left to play with, if that's any help.
 
Last edited:
Thanks Danny,

Like the spec.

Danny75 said:
The mobo has the best chipset (Z87) for Haswell and a bit more "oomph" without going extreme*. It's got Wifi/Bluetooth. Also WiDi if you want to stream wirelessly to a HD/Smart TV with WiDi function.
Click to expand...

I think I might go with the Z87 chipset. You've gone for ITX vs mATX. Is ITX fiddly to work with? Guess is depends on the case, but I've only worked with ATX before, so don't really know.

Danny75 said:
The Phenom case has no vents on the side panel, which should help keep noise down a bit more.
Click to expand...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think this case, or its mATX brother, has any exteral 5.25 bays. I couldn't see anything in the specs and can't find any pics that show the front panel as being able to be opened. Any other recommends?

Cheers,

MrJubbly
 
MrJubbly said:
I think I might go with the Z87 chipset. You've gone for ITX vs mATX. Is ITX fiddly to work with? Guess is depends on the case, but I've only worked with ATX before, so don't really know.
Click to expand...

This video will give you a good idea of whether you fancy the task or not:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tbh7zl6cDY

Only thing to watch out for really is that the longest dimension of the PSU must not exceed 160mm. Some recommend using non-modular PSU as well, as it avoids the extra length of the modular cable connectors, and it will also be easier to connect any extra gadgets to the PSU in the future. With modular PSU, you'd need to remove the PSU in order to access the connections. But modular should work too.

Here's a non-modular 150mm max alternative:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-038-SS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=2463


MrJubbly said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think this case, or its mATX brother, has any exteral 5.25 bays. I couldn't see anything in the specs and can't find any pics that show the front panel as being able to be opened.
Click to expand...

Both types of Phenom have one 5.25 bay, and the front panel pops off easily in order to access it. The Prodigy version's 5.25 bay is fully external.


MrJubbly said:
Any other recommends?

Cheers,

MrJubbly
Click to expand...

No, not really. Mostly due to personal preference. But OcUK have about 113 mini-ITX cases available, so you can take your pick. :)

You're welcome,

Danny
 
Last edited:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4771 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £239.99
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 270 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £143.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD316GB1333C9DC) **OcUK Exclusive** £113.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 650W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £67.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy M MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £64.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £61.99
1 x Pioneer BDC-207DBK 8x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £49.99
1 x Gigabyte H81M-D2V Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £46.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler £26.99
Total : £918.32 (includes shipping : £17.85).

 
lee32uk said:
See this thread for browser addons

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18371076

Or if you are using chrome - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ocuk-shopping-cart-viewer/empfloiadabicdlgahhamannadefhehj
Click to expand...

Thanks for that lee32uk, and everyone else for their help so far.

This is what I’ve come up with so far….

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4771 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £239.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64-Bit DVD - OEM (FQC-06949) £106.99
1 x Asus Z87M-PLUS Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £103.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Desktop Kit - (MZ-7TE120KW) £89.99
1 x Silverstone TemJin TJ08B-E Midi Tower Case - Black (SST-TJ08B-E USB 3.0) £83.99
2 x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD1002FAEX) HDD £76.99 (£153.98)
1 x Seasonic G series 550w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £74.99
1 x LG BH16NS40 16x SATA Internal BDRW - Retail £73.99
1 x Logitech Wireless MK520 Desktop (920-002606) £45.98
Total : £988.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).



I’m reasonably happy with the case, though I’ve read in places where people have reported noise issues with the front 180 fan. I’ve had a look to see if there are any on the market I could get as a possible dead cert quite replacement, but there don’t seem to be any around. Will the Silverstone 180 be okay? The 180 can be replaced with a 140 but not sure how detrimental to air flow that would be.

Umming and ahhhing over the HDD’s. A lot of people are recommending both the WD’s and the Barracudas. Obviously the Seagates are a darn site cheaper. The WDs have a longer warranty. So far the WD’s seem to be slightly winning in the reliability and quietness stakes, in terms of the user experiences I’ve seen on variaous forums. Is it enough to pay the premium though??

Still undecided on GPU. So far my searching has revolved around a GTX660 and I presently have the following down on the short list (apologies if some of these are not currently stocked at OC):

  • EVGA GeForce GTX 660 FTW ACX 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
  • EVGA GTX 660 Superclocked, 28nm, 6008MHz GDDR5, GPU 1046MHz, Boost 1111MHz, Cores 960
  • Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 Windforce 2X NVIDIA Graphics Card - 2GB
  • MSI GTX 660 GAMING, Twin Frozr IV, PCIe 3.0 (x16), 6008MHz GDDR5, GPU 1033
Case manual says the card should exhaust to the rear (not not sure how you tell) and be no longer than 13"?

Any guidance on GPU selction appreciated.

The same applies for memory, and I’m really at a bit of loss here. The RAM needs to be low profile, no higher than 58mm. Was hoping for 16GB in a 2x8 arrangement too. Also, I’m not sure whether I can deviate from ASUS’s QVL either. So far all I’ve come up with is:

  • Corsair CML16GX3M2A1600C10 Vengeance Low Profile 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 Mhz CL10 XMP Performance Desktop Memory...
  • Kingston KHX16C9K2/16X Memory Module 16 GB / 1600 MHz / 240-Pin / CL9 / 2x 8 GB / DDR3-RAM Kit (a 4x4 I know).
  • Kingston Technology KHX21C11X3K4/16X HyperX 10th Anniversary Series 16GB 2133MHz DDR3 CL11 DIMM Memory Module... (Not on QVL)
  • Patriot 16GB DDR3 Viper 3 Mamba Dual Channel 2 x 8GB 2133MHz 1.5v XMP 1.3 Ready Memory Kit – Black (Not on QVL)
That just leaves the CPU cooler and at least one 140 fan for the rear. Not got a clue on this one, and I think each recommenation on this thread has been different, so no common theme. What I can say is that the CPU cooler should be no taller than 165mm and not much deeper (I reckon 175mm, but smaller would be better). Does that help limit things?

Finally, I'm after a monitor too. Looking at the Asus VX239H or maybe the Asus PA238Q.

There's a lot of question in there, I know, but I hope you guys can giude me in the right direction.

Many Thanks,

MrJubbly
 
Ill try and help..

Im not going to answer all your question in depth but ill do my best.

Firstly, i have that case (which is a bonus. :)

This is my spec.. ill tell you why later:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4771 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £239.99
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 660 Gaming Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £136.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED316GM1600HC11DC01) £119.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64-Bit DVD - OEM (FQC-06949) £106.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Silverstone TemJin TJ08B-E Midi Tower Case - Black (SST-TJ08B-E USB 3.0) £83.99
1 x Seasonic G series 550w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £74.99
1 x LG BH16NS40 16x SATA Internal BDRW - Retail £73.99
1 x Gigabyte B85M-D3H Intel B85 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £67.99
1 x Prolimatech Black Megahalems CPU Cooler £49.98
2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £47.99 (£95.98)
1 x Corsair SP120 Performance Series High Pressure - Dual Pack (CO-9050008-WW) £23.99
Total : £1,176.85 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Firstly, you don't need overclocking facilities so a B85 motherboard is fine. I prefer gigabyte due to their reliability and UK RMA.

The blacks aren't wroth the premium in my opinion. Yes they come with a bigger warranty but if they fail, you've lost all your data anyway (normally)so why pay double to get a 'free' replacement HDD.. Where you could just replace it with another seagate (with the RMA hassle) and carry on.. I've included to for RAID0 if you want. :)

Appearently the blacks can be noisey too.

The cooler, ive gave you an option with. As it is it can be passive, not under heavy loads. I have also included two fans. I suggest you put one on the cooler (to start with) and one as an exhaust. If you feel the cooling isn't adequate (i doubt it but oh well) you can added the second to the cooler (rather than ans an exhaust).

The GPU is decently price and will give you good performance in games and CUDA for CAD work.

RAM is a solid brand with 'decent-ish' timings, i wouldn't worry too much about it..

The PSU will be bang on.
 
Thanks Doomspeed. This is great.

How do you find the TJ08? My only concern was over the front fan. I'd read in a couple of places that there have been some isolated noise issues (whining or bearing rattles). Are you using the supplied fan, or have you replaced it with another 180, or even down graded to a 140? Are you running an exhaust fan too?

Take your point re the motherboard and overclocking. I was looking more from the 'expandability' aspect. I thought the boards on the lower end of the chipset levels seem to be more restricive. I shall have to look into this further.

Are you using the SP120's? They get good reviews re cooling ability, but people do say they are noisy when running at full. They do have voltage step downs supplied, but I assume that is hardset and to have more variable control would require a fan controller?

Thanks Again,

MrJubbly
 
I have to be honest, i truly love this case.

I still use the supplied fan (AP180). I've had no issues with the fan. I run it on low (assuming the fan switch is low/high) and its fairly quiet and moves a massive amount of air through the case.

Well to be honest the only thing you can do on that Z87 board which you can't do on the board i specced is overclock. And considering you're getting a locked CPU that becomes void anyway..

Ohhh, and you can run faster RAM on the Z87 board.. But thats not a massive issue.

I had a H50 with 2 Sp120's on. The fans were silent and that was on full pelt. They comes with a 7v adaptor too.. I run my current fans at 7V and thats more than enough.

Currently i have a D14 with stock fans and a noctua fan (forgot the model) on the back (I just had this lieing around). If you want to see take a look here: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18488175&highlight=startername_doomedspeed

The megahalem is maybe a Bit OTT for your uses but its going to be very quiet and even with 1 fan at 5v it'll keep it super cool. :)
 
Hi Doomedspeed,

Don't think I can go for the B85 board because I don't think it has onboard RAID. I think a H87 should do the trick though. I think the H87M-D3H should fit the bill.

Cheers,

MrJubbly
 
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