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Which low-power Intel for gaming rig?

CaneyJ

CaneyJ

CaneyJ

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I'm looking at building an ultra-compact, ultra efficient desktop for gaming. I want something upgradeable so don't fancy a laptop and have a plan to move in the near future onto a narrow boat where power might be limited at times.

Nothing overclocked or hardcore like my previous Q6660 rig. I already have a 160W Pico (effectively more than that though due to running from a 192W 12V AC Adapter).

I just need to determine the best low-wattage CPU that will be best suited for gaming. Most games nowadays still only use two cores and battlefield seems to run just fine with two.

Would it be better gaming performance to use a higher clocked dual core or a lesser clocked quad core? Bearing in mind I will also be using a dedicated graphics card which is why I'm going with T-class processors to allow the pico to also handle that as well.

The pico is already bought so there is no change there as is the chassis I'm building as that is part of the plan in making my rig compact. Here is the list I need narrowing down.

  • i5 3470T Ivy - 2.9Ghz/3.6Ghz Dual Core, 3MB L3 Cache, 35W TDP
  • i5 3570T Ivy - 2.3Ghz/3.3Ghz Quad Core, 6MB L3 Cache, 45W TDP
  • T-Series i3 Ivy with no Turbo & Dual Core but cheaper.
another choice which is as cheap as the i3 option is
  • i5 2500T Sandy - 2.3Ghz/3.3Ghz Quad Core, 6MB L3 Cache, 45W TDP
Is this much diffent from the 3470T?

Other bits going into the system are:
  • Samsung Green 8GB 1600 Low-Pro Dual RAM
  • Asus, Gigabyte or Asrock Motherboard ITX Mobo (Z77 for undervolting CPU if needs be)
  • NVidia GTX 650 Ti when it comes out. The reason being for the 85W power draw. Hopefully will be better than the HD 7770 but don't think I will get away with a 130W HD 7850 so its the best compromise and will likely offer the best performance per watt around.
  • 250ish GB SSD for steam games.
I currently have a 1680x1050 22” LCD but will later upgrade to a new more efficient LG or Samsung 32” HD TV to play stuff at 1080P.
 
I have a 150W picoPSU myself,so I would consider a few things:
1.)Don't run the higher wattage picoPSUs too near to their maximum as they can run very hot. I would really consider some active cooling.
2.)What company makes the 192W adaptor?? The quality of the adaptor can make a big difference.

I would probably look at the dual core Core i5 3470T. I expect in reality it will consume much less power than a Core i5 3570T.

There is another CPU you might want to consider:

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Xeon/Intel-Xeon E3-1220L v2.html

It costs around £140 to £150 and has the IGP disabled. However,it has only a 17.5W TDP meaning it could be passively cooled.

The HD7750 also comes in bus powered single slot low profile versions too:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Club_3D/HD_7750_Low_Profile/

The Sapphire version is quieter:

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/sapphire_7750_lp/

TPU measures the actual graphics card power consumption like Kitguru.
 
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The Xeon is an interesting choice since I won't be needing the IGP. I'm pretty limited on space and height. The whole system will be just over 3L in volume and 1U is pretty much what I have available for cooling. The graphics card will be sitting over the motherboard on an over-head 1.5U riser.

Being fanless and noiseless is less of an issue to me so had planned on using a NT07-1156 cooler but I might investigate a passive one if the case exhaust is powerful enough.

The confusing thing is that the TDP is the thermal output and there is limited info on actual CPU power consumption though it might be a rough indicator. The 55W Celeron might be too much considering I want to use better graphics, the CPU will have to be made the compromise. Would the Celeron offer any boost over my current 3Ghz Q6660?

I would take some stress off the Pico by driving the 6-pin graphics card PCIe directly from the 12V Adapter splitting the input before it gets to the Pico so it doesn't have to pass through. The Pico unit itself will also be directly in-line to a 80mm PWM exhaust fan so there is active airflow over it always so shouldn't be derating.

Having looked at benchmarks I fancy a little more grunt than a 7750 can provide. The GTX 650, HD7770 and GTX 650 Ti all offer more the ball park I'm happy with but will just need a 6-PIN PCIE soldered onto 12V power input.

The 192W Brick is commonly sold with the 160W Pico variant. I believe the brand is adapter technology and is one of the best bricks you can get which is why it is often bundled with the 160W pico. It runs around 87% efficiency.

Should that prove insufficient, I'll use an old 203W XBox360 12V brick or a 220W dell laptop adapter and run the same PICO bypass to the graphics card though they will have lower efficiency and need some re-wiring.

There is a rig running this 192W power supply setup known to be running an under-volted 2500K, HD 6850 & a MSATA just fine though I don't believe it's been put though stress tests, just real life gaming use, don't want to push my luck.

I'd never run unrealistic stress tests on the system anyway. So long as it shows no glithes over extended gaming sessions and the brick isn't at melting temperature I'll be happy :). I just need to try and roughly match the ability of the CPU and GPU.
 
I can see where you got the picoPSU kit from. Generally speaking the best adaptors are from FSP,Seasonic and EDAC. OTH,the adaptor probably is fine if being bundled with the 160W picoPSU kit,but like I said just leave some leeway.

I would also consider doing something else which might be worth a ponder on your part. Have you considered simply using a separate 12V adaptor for the PCI-E power connector?? I have actually seen a 12V adaptor ending in a molex connector only although I cannot remember where.

OTH,you could try modding a Dell DA2 200W 12V adaptor(since it is cheap and very reliable) or a lower wattage 12V one to a molex or PCI-E power connector.

Edit!!

I see you mentioned it already!!:p
 
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This is the cooler I used in my build:

http://www.akasa.com.tw/update.php?... coolers&type_sub=Low Profile&model=AK-CC7111

This is how high mine was in a non standard case:

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss33/CAT-THE-FIFTH/Picture4_800x600_zps05f9b534.png

The build needs finishing still as you see!! :p

I managed to fit in a 120MM Scythe fan which is only 12MM high over the top to cool it. The system was based around an E3300 and a Zotac 9300 mini-ITX motherboard. I suspect the Xeon E3 1220 V2 probably could be passively cooled with that heatsink.
 
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If hes considering a 7750/7770 he'll want more gpu grunt than trinity can offer, unles hes willing to sacrifice some on the gpu side. I personally wouldn't want to rely on crossfire profiles to make up perfromance through pairing with a 6670 level card either.




edit: An idea, how does a 7850 respond to undervolting & underclocking, does anyone have any experience with that?
 
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eddyr if you look at the current reviews the trinity setups ar getting quite good performance with higher end cards as well plus for around £250 for board and cpu posibly less i think it would be a great buy
 
trickynickyuk said:
eddyr if you look at the current reviews the trinity setups ar getting quite good performance with higher end cards as well plus for around £250 for board and cpu posibly less i think it would be a great buy
Click to expand...

No more so than the 60 quid Phenom II x4 currently on today only at OCUK would be though.
Currently is the best buy today bar none.
 
If trinity could have paired with a HD7750 I might have considered it but I'm pretty sure I can achieve my Pico powered, 3.5L rig using a Dual Core i5 3470T and HD7770 which should beat Trinity both CPU and Graphics wise.

From what I've seen, Trinity isn't good enough for 1080P and the 100W A10-5800K cannot be cooled in the compact space I'm putting it in. I also have a bit more budget than Trinity. The aim is the make a gaming computer that has a peak power to watt ratio.
 
What you're looking at looks spot on.
i5 3470T should be quite the performer for the requirement, and the 7770 is also quite a way beyond the Trinity IGP.
 
I'm leaning toward using the Xeon E3-1220L v2. Being a server processor, would there be issues with RAM compatability or using it on a non-server board using a Z77 chipset or is it bios dependant?
 
CaneyJ said:
I'm leaning toward using the Xeon E3-1220L v2. Being a server processor, would there be issues with RAM compatability or using it on a non-server board using a Z77 chipset or is it bios dependant?
Click to expand...

You should be fine with a Z77 mini-ITX motherboard I suspect. The other Xeon E3 CPUs seem fine.

I would also look at this motherboard:

http://ark.intel.com/products/59046/Intel-Desktop-Board-DQ77KB

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/motherboards/desktop-motherboards/desktop-board-dq77kb.html

It has a built-in power supply and it is a low profile motherboard.The
 
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