Who fancies speccing a full SFF rig for me?

bertles86 · 5 Apr 2011 at 16:01

My boss needs a new PC, anyone fancy helping me spec it?

SFF Case
Dual video outputs for two monitors
Overclocked Sandybridge CPU
No need for peripherals, just the rig

I always prefer Western Digital Black Caviar HDD's as they tend to beat anything else hands down.

But other than that, open to ideas!

Come on folks, I know you love doing this stuff

Participant · 5 Apr 2011 at 16:19

Purpose of PC?
Is there a budget?

Regarding HDDs, it's more about the Samsung F3s these days I think!

Apem · 5 Apr 2011 at 16:40

F3's are good but they can be a tad noisey

bertles86 · 5 Apr 2011 at 17:20

Cheers people, the PC is for work and the main functions day-to-day are surfing/outlook + a serious amount of excel spreadsheets open at one time.

So not a gaming rig, and doesn't need to be graphics heavy. So long as the gfx (onboard or not) can handle Aero/W7 without the jitters that's fine.

Otherwise focus on CPU juice to run a 20+ documents open at once.

Hope that helps!

KiiYzOo · 5 Apr 2011 at 18:58

Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE Shogun 2 Game £239.99
(£199.99) £239.99
(£199.99)
Asus P8P67-M PRO Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 MicroATX Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £104.98
(£87.48) £104.98
(£87.48)
Lian Li PC-A05NB Aluminium Mini-Tower Case - Black £72.98
(£60.82) £72.98
(£60.82)
Corsair Builder Series CX 500W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-500CXUK) £47.99
(£39.99) £47.99
(£39.99)
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache WD10EALX - OEM £47.99
(£39.99) £47.99
(£39.99)
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £35.99
(£29.99) £35.99
(£29.99)
Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
MSI ATI Radeon HD 5450 512MB SILENT GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £27.98
(£23.32) £27.98
(£23.32)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.98
(£12.48) £14.98
(£12.48)
Sub Total : £519.05
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £106.31
Total : £637.86

KiiYzOo · 5 Apr 2011 at 18:59

^Micro-atx is the smallest you can get if your overclocking sandybridge.^

bertles86 · 5 Apr 2011 at 19:22

Cool thanks, would a Micro-ATX mobo not fit in any of the SFF cases?

Like the Lian Li PC-V351B?

Or the Silverstone Sugo SG01B-F?

KiiYzOo · 5 Apr 2011 at 19:42

yeah it would actually, must have missed those really like that lian li btw I'd go for that one.

bertles86 · 5 Apr 2011 at 19:44

The V351B? Yeh it caught my eye too, one more question...would that Sandybridge cpu be 64 bit? i.e. could I stick W7 Pro 64 bit on it?

bertles86 · 5 Apr 2011 at 19:49

P.S. Does that MSI card allow for dual-monitors?

KiiYzOo · 5 Apr 2011 at 19:59

depends, it only has a single vga and dvi port.

here's another one with quite a bit more power but it defiantly works with dual monitors

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-100-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=

KiiYzOo · 5 Apr 2011 at 20:03

do you have a limit on price?

bertles86 · 5 Apr 2011 at 20:05

Well really 500-700, but my boss isn't afraid on spending the ££ so long as I can back the reason why..

KiiYzOo · 5 Apr 2011 at 20:08

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-025-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673
this one may be better then

bertles86 · 5 Apr 2011 at 20:14

How does that look?

Chucked in a pair of 2m/s response rate displays.

KiiYzOo · 5 Apr 2011 at 20:18

the ram will not work with that motherboard you need dual channel, but otherwise it looks good

bertles86 · 5 Apr 2011 at 20:25

Cool sorted, thanks.

£1000 with two monitors isn't bad at all!

KiiYzOo · 5 Apr 2011 at 20:27

Yeah especially as they're 24"

glad I could help

Guardsmon · 5 Apr 2011 at 20:37

Um why are you buying an i7 for office work? Was going to ask about the K series but I know its cheaper this week... why not get a H67/1 board with an i5? Still more than enough for work.

Might miss USB3, but thats about it.. and you could even use the onboard GFX if you wanted.. admittedly not as good for 2 monitors as dedicated, but would still be suitable for work.

LePhuronn · 6 Apr 2011 at 12:37

Guardsmon said:
Um why are you buying an i7 for office work? Was going to ask about the K series but I know its cheaper this week... why not get a H67/1 board with an i5? Still more than enough for work.

Because the OP said he wanted to overclock the CPU, although I have to ask why. Yes definitely the i7 is a waste in the office - i5 2500K would be a better choice.

And yes, overclocking isn't necessary even for 20+ Excel spreadsheets so a H67 or H61 board would be even cheaper and drop in a i5 2500.