Thork's new computer

Its time. My Laptop died, the one I'm using as a replacement has a 1.5Ghz Celeron and sounds like its powered by a gas turbine. It also has to sit on a tea tray because it is so hot.

So, I'm gonna build a compy. Its advice time. I'll tell you what I'm thinking and then I suppose as is customary, you will all tell me what I should be thinking. Also its my birthday on 26^th Jan, so I'd like to get it ready for then. Gives me an excuse and a nice deadline.

Processor: i3-2130 (3.4Ghz dual core) ~ £112
Motherboard: Zotac H67ITX-C-E Intel H67 Motherboard ~ £108
RAM: Corsair Memory XMS3 8GB DDR3 1333 Mhz CAS 9 Dual Channel Desktop ~ £34
Case:  I want something small. The smaller the better but it needs to house a one slot graphics card & have 300W+ PSU or space for one.
This is winning but I don't realy know. Click for linky. ~ £48
Hard drive: OCZ Agility 3 60GB SSD Definitely want SSD. Kind of want Sata III. ~ £78
Graphics Card: XFX HD 6770 AMD Radeon Graphics Card - 1GB ~ £76  This I probably need the most advice on.

^ OK so left to my own devices that's what I would probably get. I already have a 400W PSU, DVD RW and monitor in case anyone is wondering.

What do I use my computer for?
Mostly browsing the web, watching youtube, and playing retro games. I write programs too but any old compy can do that. I want it to be small and most importantly, I want it to STFU. I don't want to hear fans. It needs to be as quiet as possible. That whirring does my head in.

Points of discussion.
Processor:
This is one of the few things I'm reasonably settled on. I don't have multi-core apps to run and in most cases the processor I picked will outrun an i5-2500 due to its higher clock rate. I know Intel game the system with bench marks to sort this from that, but in real world tests (time to boot MS word, or FPS in a game) there is nothing in it. I'll save more than £50. The i5 is just beyond what I need. The largest differences come when doing 3D rendering etc. Well it won't be doing hardly any of that.
Motherboard:
Well I need Wifi, I'm thinking SATA III - 6GB/s and I want something small hence Mini-ITX. Would like something cheaper than I found but if that's what it costs to get all the things I'd like, so be it.
Ram
No idea. Dual Channel @1333Hz fits processor and board. 8 Gb seems a good number.
Case:
I flipped over and back on this. Can't decide. I depends on if I need a graphics card or not. I want something small. As small as possible really.
I kind of like this, but no graphics card allowed.
I also like this kind of thing, but its much bigger.

Or do I want to be a bit more grown up about it and bung it all in a HTPC case?


Graphics card:
This is the part I know least about as it doesn't really interest me, and I never comment on other peoples as I know f'all about it. First, do I need one? How good are on board graphics these days? I like to occasionally play the odd retro game like Sid Meiers Pirates or Civ V. I don't need 90 fpm on 1920x1024 on the latest incarnation of COD. I have no interest in high octane games.
I went for AMD HD 6770 as it seems middle of the road. Do I even need a card and if so, should I be getting an Nvidia 450 instead? I kinda feel I need a little something, but ... well maybe I don't. Thoughts welcome. Also passively cooled interests me a lot, but worried as I want to stick it in a small box. Again, the graphics card needs to STFU.

Hard drive:
I went for sata III SSD 60gb for a few reasons. 1st, I hate waiting for windows to load. 2nd, SSD is quiet. 3rd, one of my favourite games is very heavy on the hard drive, its a database kind of game. (Football management game - lots of number crunching, sod all graphics). I went for 60Gb cos I just don't use space. If I decide to keep films or music on it at a later date I will get a 500Gb regular drive. I just want my OS and apps to be snappy. My last 3 computers I never filled more than 45 GB on any of them, so 60 seems ample. I suppose the only point of discussion, is this overkill or just a bad product that I happened to pick? Maybe the OCZ vertex is better?

Things not up for negotiation.
It will be running Windows. I want something I can actually use.
Whilst budget isn't really an issue, I'm in the ball park of what I think I should spend (I actually think I've gone a bit overboard). I definitely don't need to drop £2k on a computer.
I don't need to get sucked into any of this upgrade path bullshit that Intel and friends like to scare people with. I'll build it, I'll use it for about 3+ years and then I'll start again. I won't be adding RAM, or upgrading the processor or any of that nonsense. Once that is necessary, I will build again.

Let the postulating begin. I wanna be ordering in over a week. And yes, I am aware there is more than one shop despite all my links being from Scan.co.uk.

For what you do 8Gigs of RAM is excessive. 4 would be more than enough.

Yeah, its a bit much but Football Manager likes RAM and RAM is soooo cheap. For £10, an extra 4Gb seemed silly to ignore. I'll be going to 64-bit so ... well it seems silly not to?
As I say once in, I won't be adding any more. This new computer might last me 5 years. 8Gb in 5 years. Will probably not be much.

Yeah, its a bit much but Football Manager likes RAM and RAM is soooo cheap. For £10, an extra 4Gb seemed silly to ignore. I'll be going to 64-bit so ... well it seems silly not to?
As I say once in, I won't be adding any more. This new computer might last me 5 years. 8Gb in 5 years. Will probably not be much.

I think in 5 years 8 Gb will be mid range spec rather than high range spec.  Software isn't increasing in power requirements as quickly as hardware is increasing.

Yeah, you are probably right, but it is £10 and it isn't juicy in the power or heat.

My dilemma is more with the whole graphics card thing and what box to put it all in.

Well the graphics card looks beefy.  It certainly is newer than my Radeon 4890 HD so I'm sure it'll suit your needs fine.  Probably far more than you need if you don't play some high powered games like Skyrim or Crysis 2.

Neither of which is particularly "high-powered".

Neither of which is particularly "high-powered".

Sorry, I'm out of the loop on what's "high-powered" these days.

Yeah, me neither. I'm still wondering if I even need a graphics card. I could change processor to the i3-2125 which has better on board graphics for roughly the same price. I need an expert in these matters though.

Also I saw this. Its looks awesome but it costs more than the rest of the computer put together, £330! Also comes with only 150V power supply and by all accounts its noisy. But it looks great.

Well if you don't plan on playing any graphics heavy games or doing any rendering, the onboard video is probably ok.  You can always upgrade later if it doesn't satisfy your needs.

It will be running Windows. I want something I can actually use.

>implying

Keep in mind that the Ivy Bridge processors will be released in April and the mid-range of the AMD 7000 series will be available in February. These are both die-shrinks, and thus will consume a lot less power than the current stuff.

If you really want something now, and you don't want to buy a separate graphics card, I would actually recommend buying the I3-2125. This one has a pretty decent clock speed, the better of the intel integrated graphics.

If you want a solid state drive, the OCZ Agility line is probably the best value right now (since they fixed their issues).

For the RAM, 4GB of GSkill DDR3 should be plenty for your purposes.


Can't really help you on case, just pick what you like. If you aren't going to be hardcore gaming, you don't really need a separate graphics card, and the Intel HD-3000 graphics will be fine.

If you have any questions, just ask me, computer hardware is pretty much all I've been researching over the past couple months, and I'd be happy to help.

What kind of monitor do you have? You'll need some kind of graphics card if you have a largish monitor with a high resolution or plan on watching HD movies.

Quote from: Thork on January 08, 2012, 08:09:40 AM

It will be running Windows. I want something I can actually use.

>implying

Implying that I can't use Linux, nor do I have the desire to learn. Mostly because Linux is dying.

Keep in mind that the Ivy Bridge processors will be released in April and the mid-range of the AMD 7000 series will be available in February. These are both die-shrinks, and thus will consume a lot less power than the current stuff.

If you really want something now, and you don't want to buy a separate graphics card, I would actually recommend buying the I3-2125. This one has a pretty decent clock speed, the better of the intel integrated graphics.

If you want a solid state drive, the OCZ Agility line is probably the best value right now (since they fixed their issues).

For the RAM, 4GB of GSkill DDR3 should be plenty for your purposes.


Can't really help you on case, just pick what you like. If you aren't going to be hardcore gaming, you don't really need a separate graphics card, and the Intel HD-3000 graphics will be fine.

If you have any questions, just ask me, computer hardware is pretty much all I've been researching over the past couple months, and I'd be happy to help.

Thanks. You may be getting a PM or two in the next week.

Ivy bridge - 3 problems with this.
1) The better Ivy Bridge processors won't be out until another 6 months after that. The 2125 and 2130 only came out in September. It will be September again before the faster clocked ones appear and/or better onboard graphics versions.
2) Much more important, mother board prices for new Ivy Bridge will be stupid once it comes out. I'd have to wait a few months more until they were sensible.
3) I kinda need something now. This laptop isn't going to make it until april - it has issues, hardware issues.

2125 vs 2130 - If I have no graphics card I will go with 2125. I have been looking at that. Its tricky.

Also how many dba is a stock intel cpu fan? I have been looking everywhere for that. This new PC myst STFU.

Hard drive - Cool. We'll call that agreed.
RAM - As Ram is so cheap and only uses about 3 watts per stick, why skimp?

What kind of monitor do you have? You'll need some kind of graphics card if you have a largish monitor with a high resolution or plan on watching HD movies.

No, its a small screen and I rarely watch movies. I'd do that downstairs on the humungous TV instead.

I think I mostly need to be honest with myself as to whether I would use a graphics card or not. Will do some soul searching today.

Here is a list of the processors that will be released on April 8th. But the current i3s would be fine. Also, they can use any existing 1155 motherboard.

Stock intel heatsink is complete bullshit. It doesn't cool worth a damn, and it's loud. You should probably get something else if you're concerned about it.

For the motherboard, I found this. Wifi might be a problem if you want to use a dedicated card for it, as mini-itx boards usually only have one expansion slot. But, you could get a USB wireless adapter.

Stock intel heatsink is complete bullshit. It doesn't cool worth a damn, and it's loud. You should probably get something else if you're concerned about it.

And those fucking pins, man. Who the fuck designed that shit.

Quote from: General Disarray on January 09, 2012, 07:47:25 AM

Stock intel heatsink is complete bullshit. It doesn't cool worth a damn, and it's loud. You should probably get something else if you're concerned about it.

And those fucking pins, man. Who the fuck designed that shit.

I know. They actually didn't bother including a fan with their SB-E chips, knew no one would use that shit anyway.

Quote from: Blanko on January 09, 2012, 07:53:45 AM

Quote from: General Disarray on January 09, 2012, 07:47:25 AM

Stock intel heatsink is complete bullshit. It doesn't cool worth a damn, and it's loud. You should probably get something else if you're concerned about it.

And those fucking pins, man. Who the fuck designed that shit.

I know. They actually didn't bother including a fan with their SB-E chips, knew no one would use that shit anyway.

I'm using it. 

Idle heat 50 C, fuck yeah?

CPU coolers are for noobs, I didn't even bother putting mine on. 2500k idles at 30C.

Ok, so update. I gave myself a good talking to today and I need to be realistic. I've been building PCs for 15 years, and I just don't need all the things I used to. So, graphics card is unnecessary. If I am honest all I need is a glorified internet browser that plays retro games ...

So update
Processor: i3-2125
Motherboard: This is still a pain. I have to have wifi. No wifi, no internet. Will research moar tonight.
RAM: Yeah 4 Gb is enough. But its gonna be low latency RAM!
Hard drive: We'll stick with the OCZ one 60Gb.
Case: Gonna have a look for that too. Can now get the teeny tiny ones. Most require a picoPSU though.

Are picoPSUs any good or do they get hotter than the centre of the sun? I ask as my rig is looking like it will be under 150 watts now. Small cases tend to have the outside brick. Have a look how small they are though. I'm thinking something like " class="bbc_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this.

@GD
So no i3 replacements in April. Cool. That makes me feel even more happy with the 2125.
Will look for a cpu cooler once case decided on.
Wifi seems to be an issue. I'd like an internal solution. Wifi is a myst.

Feel I am making good progress on finalising my decisions. Have a better idea of what I want (or rather need).

CPU coolers are for noobs, I didn't even bother putting mine on. 2500k idles at 30C.

You'll forgive the yawn, but this is TFES. I've seen trolling before and it was way better than that. Wipe your nose junior.

Just realized I have no idea what is and isn't available to you over there, but this or this should be good for your RAM.

If you aren't getting a graphics card, then you can use the PCI-E slot for a wireless card, problem solved.

Just realized I have no idea what is and isn't available to you over there, but this or this should be good for your RAM.

If you aren't getting a graphics card, then you can use the PCI-E slot for a wireless card, problem solved.

I can get anything you can. I live in the UK, not the People's Democratic Republic of Congo. However I can't get it from newegg. That's US only.

The first set you showed me are 1600MHz. CPU, mobo are both for 1333MHz so a bit of a waste of cash. Second one is not for H67 mobo chip set. Probably ok but ... both have those little aesthetic rip-saw teeth on top. I need low profile ram sticks as the slimline cd tray is right above. To give clearance I want clean shims - I found some nice Corsair stuff - CL8. My CPU cooler is going to have to be ...

Only 28mm high and its really quiet. The standard intel one is too high so noise and clearance gave me a double excuse to splash on an aftermarket CPU cooler.

I think I know what I am doing now. I'll begin the ordering process. Update to follow, depending on availability of parts.

You'll forgive the yawn, but this is TFES. I've seen trolling before and it was way better than that. Wipe your nose junior.

 

You can always upgrade later if you feel like it. Intel has been surprisingly upgrade-friendly lately and are actually allowing 2 generations of processors to fit in the same socket.

One of the benefits of Ivy Bridge will be improved integrated graphics, people are saying they will be 60%+ better than the current stuff.

Its done. I'll update what I did in a bit. I need a cup of tea and sit down. My wallet just took a beating.

Here we go. This is what I bought.

Processor: i3-2125


Aftermarket CPU fan: Gelid Solutions Slim Silence iPlus Low Profile Intel CPU Cooler


Motherboard: ASRock H67M-ITX/HT


Hard drive: 60Gb OCZ AGILITY 3 SATA III 2.5" SSD


RAM: Corsair XMS3 — 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1333C8)

Case: Streacom F1C Black Home Theatre Aluminium Chassis
   

DVD player: Sony AD-7640S Slot Load DVD+RW Drive


PSU: 150W Pico PSU with 150W Adapter Power Kit


Replacement quiet case fan: Scythe Mini Kaze, 40mm x 10mm Quiet Cooling Fan


Keyboard: Keysonic ACK-616RF Wireless Multimedia Keyboard with Built-in Laser Trackball



Inspired by Parsifal I thought about calling my new PC "Gary Coleman", because its small and black, but I am hoping my computer won't die on me so I have decided to name him ... Nibbler (from Futurama, because he is also small and black)
I'm starting to get a little bit excited now. It won't change my life a jot, but I know I'll enjoy opening all the pretty boxes.

Good choices. You might also need some thermal paste since you are using a different heatsink, do you have some?

Supposedly, you should be able to overclock that processor by 400 MHz, so I've heard.

Just out of curiosity, what are you doing for wireless?

The board I picked has wireless (look top right of the picture I posted of it). And was $30 cheaper than the first one I found.

I don't think I can overclock the processor. Its not a k version + its i3. Its locked. I'm not really that worried. I'll have to keep the heat down anyway and as I eventually admitted, its only for old games and internet browsing.

Was thinking about thermal paste. I wasn't sure if the fan might already have the paste applied. If not I'll grab some from a local computer shop.

As for the Ivy Bridge, I didn't want to wait that long. Also the i3-3xxx line isn't due in April, but much later. I won't be upgrading later. Once built, that's it. A few more GHz here and there isn't noticeable for my uses. My PC after this, will likely run Windows 9.

Cheers for help. Helped me make the processor choice, lose the graphics card and slim down to 4gb of RAM so it was worth asking.

Some parts arrived today. The case is here. Looks better in real life than the pictures. Less plasticy. Its actually a sturdy little thing. The CPU fan also arrived. Its actually very pretty (for a fan). Nice shiny chunk of metal, really well finished parts and it even has thermal paste in a neat square already applied. I suspected this. To be honest I thought it was standard these days which is why I didn't buy a tube, but maybe I leaped to conclusions. The DVD drive also arrived as did the case fan.

As irony would have it, Alienware sent me an e-mail today telling me they just brought out a new desktop. (I'm still on the mailing list as my laptop was Alienswear). £1600! (2450 USD) Using their configurator though, you can push that up to £7000 (10,700 USD) with better processors and hard drives etc. I didn't think they made stupid computers like that these days ...

Feel free to configure a computer that costs as much as a car.
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=d00amw04&c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&model_id=alienware-aurora-r4

irony would have it, Alienware sent me an e-mail today telling me they just brought out a new desktop. (I'm still on the mailing list as my laptop was Alienswear). £1600! (2450 USD) Using their configurator though, you can push that up to £7000 (10,700 USD) with better processors and hard drives etc. I didn't think they made stupid computers like that these days ...

Feel free to configure a computer that costs as much as a car.
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=d00amw04&c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&model_id=alienware-aurora-r4

You think that's bad?