Very Quiet, Cold, Fast, Power Efficient and Small Sized PC for Programming (Mobile/General), Budget £500 - 750

Izzywizz

Distinguished
May 4, 2012
12
0
18,510
Hi everyone,

I have had some brilliant advice off here before regarding my power supply so I thought I would try to be more ambitious this time and go for a full rig advice. I am using the format supplied by the sticky at the top so bare with me :) .

Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next few months. December/ January.

Budget Range: £500-750

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Primarily Programming (Mobile & General C# sort of stuff), Webdesign, Web surfing, Unix partition, Netflix, Very light gaming (Football manager/ Early Civilisation games)

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: Whole System needs to built, I have Geforce 580 that I am currently using but its a bit big and power hungry.

Do you need to buy OS: No, I have windows 8.1

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon, or somewhere with a good warranty within the UK

Location: UK

Parts Preferences: Hmmm I've had good experiences with both AMD and Intel, whichever is best to suit my needs really.

Overclocking: Maybe (wound that not make it run hotter?)

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: I currently have two monitors running at 2560 x 1440, the Future PC needs to handle that I guess.

Additional Comments:
I am quite embarrassed to say as a developer/ programmer and I don't know much about the hardware side of things, I am currently using a PC that I built couple of years using a Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 and my Mini Mac for iOS development.
I have been using my PC for few years now and I would love a PC that is small in size but Fast. It doesn't have to run any intensive games really.
I mean I would love to play the new Civilisation game, Beyond Earth I think its called but I think that is probably going to need a substantial graphics card. I usually have Football Manager ticking over in the background to pass the time, so gaming is not really a priority.

I know I am possibly asking too much for so little but I figured I would see what's out there.
My dream build would be a PC that is very very quite and runs cold, ice cold (excuse the expression) but is very fast for its needs (programming really), mines pumps out way too much heat and is still using mechanical drive, so its not the quickest kicking about but it has lasted a long time, so that's good I guess. If it could also be compact in size, not sure if that is possible but I prefer it to be small (Apple horrible influence I imagine haha) and very power efficient would be massive bonus.

Connectivity I guess would need to considered as well, Bluetooth and I usually have loads of USB devices connected like Android/iOS devices,so I am always switching out or using my useless hub. Ermmm not sure if you need any more information but don't hesitate to ask, sorry about the essay.
Oh I guess if the PC build could last a few years then that would be cool.

Thanks in advance.
 
Solution
The problem with cases designed for silence is that they usually are reasonably big as insulating panels take up extra space. This is much of the reason why you won't find an ITX case marketed as being incredibly quiet.
Additionally, case cooling+silence don't really go together as they are counter-intuitive goals. The more vents you cut and fans you add to a case, generally the noisier it gets.

I think the best approach for you is to deliberately target quiet components and cases which support them well.

This means any case which uses bespoke/unusual PSUs (most Silverstones and the Hadron Air) is probably a "no", though they are all worth a look if the aesthetic/form factor works for you.
In general any case with a fairly solid front...
This rig is basically a non-overclocking ITX gaming rig, so unless what your doing is a lot more CPU intensive than I realize you should be fine with this rig. This rig should pretty much sip at power while offering fairly good performance at most things. I would include a Hyper 212 EVO cooler on there just to replace the stock cooler (not so great), but seems Part Picker cant find any UK sellers of it.
Another case to consider is the Bitfenix Prodigy.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor (£143.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£83.94 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£62.16 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£55.14 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£49.98 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£108.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Corsair 250D Mini ITX Tower Case (£64.90 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.93 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£84.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £701.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-03 21:20 BST+0100
 

Rammy

Honorable

The reason you can't find UK sellers of a Hyper 212 is you have compatibility turned on. Here's the link
The 250D won't fit a 212, or any decent air coolers, in fact it's a pretty poor choice for any build that isn't using a H100i or similar.
Which cases will be suitable really depends on what the OP wants in terms of proportions and what he needs it to include. The big thing which helps narrow down the selection is if he needs an optical drive bay (and if so, if it needs to be a full size one). As for size/scale, the 250D and Prodigy are excellent at what they do but are both pretty wide. If the name of the game is something discreet then the Silverstone RVZ01, ML03 and FT03-Mini are all very interesting, their main disadvantages being the SFX PSU and slim ODD only. Somewhere in the middle are what I call, for lack of a better word, shoe-boxes - Coolermaster Elite 120/130, Antec ISK-600 and Fractal Design Node 304. They are all a bit different to each other but are vaguely similar in size/shape.
Which hardware you pick will have an effect but often picking a case comes down to personal preference on aesthetics.
 

Izzywizz

Distinguished
May 4, 2012
12
0
18,510
Thank you for the very quick responses, I have been pondering over the cases.
I think my pursuit of aesthetics is going to cost me in the long run, so I guess my restriction of the case being small has gone.
My main priority is for the PC to be Quite,Cold and Fast (as possible). Mine current one pumps out way to much heat/ noise and its horrible.

I think we can remove the Windows 8.1 and the 2TB HD both of which I already have so that would save me some money, maybe lose the Graphics card as well. I can put up with the Geforce 580 size/noise if the case is going to be normal sized. If we remove all that, then that brings it down to the lower end of my budget, which is always good.
Admittedly I haven't used my Disc drive in ages but it is still a useful device to have so might need to look purchasing one as well.

If at all possible, is there a case that reduces sound and a air cooler that runs the system really cold?
 

Rammy

Honorable
The problem with cases designed for silence is that they usually are reasonably big as insulating panels take up extra space. This is much of the reason why you won't find an ITX case marketed as being incredibly quiet.
Additionally, case cooling+silence don't really go together as they are counter-intuitive goals. The more vents you cut and fans you add to a case, generally the noisier it gets.

I think the best approach for you is to deliberately target quiet components and cases which support them well.

This means any case which uses bespoke/unusual PSUs (most Silverstones and the Hadron Air) is probably a "no", though they are all worth a look if the aesthetic/form factor works for you.
In general any case with a fairly solid front will be better for noise than one with mesh. This isn't a definitive rule, it'll depend on fans+fan speeds, but it's a good way to try to narrow the field.
Any case with a built in fan controller (the Node 304 for example) is also helpful as it enables you to very easily scale noise levels depending on the performance you need.
The Intel stock cooler is sufficient for cooling a non-overclocked i5, but I'm with manofchalk on this one. Going with a larger tower cooler (case dependant) means you can run it at incredibly low speeds which will make it super quiet. Something like a Hyper 212 is a solid choice, and you can always look to change the fan later to tweak the noise levels further. If you want it as quiet as is possible, the bigger the heatsink the better.
For graphics you need to keep in mind that bigger, more powerful cards generally are hotter and noisier. The GTX750Ti manofchalk suggested uses so little power you can get passively cooled versions, which is great, but I dunno how strong a card it is for your needs. Civ5 was oddly graphically demanding (despite strategy games being CPU heavy) but I think that was poor design rather than necessity. Gaming at 1440P does need some grunt if you start trying to run a bigger selection of titles (basically anything new and 1st/3rd person). What I would suggest is considering waiting for the new line of Nvidia cards. They use some of the same tech behind the GTX750Ti but it's being applied to more powerful cards so in theory the new line will be much more energy efficient which will help with both noise+heat.


I'd suggest something like this as a base.
For Wifi enabled motherboard, pick the ASRock H97M-ITX or Gigabyte H97N-Wifi.
For M.2 drive support (but no Wifi) pick the Asus H97I-PLUS.
Avoid the MSI H97-AC altogether due to poor CPU cooler support.
Cooler - whatever you fancy, stuck with the 212 as it's good value.
Memory - whatever is cheap, hard to go wrong.
Case - went with the Node for the reasons above
PSU - went with a model with a hybrid fan mode as the PSU sits near the front of this case and may be slightly.

It leaves you at the bottom of your budget with just graphics to include. You could always use the GTX580 as a temporary measure.

EDIT - If you need an optical drive then a lot of that goes out of the window. Like I said in my first reply whether or not you need an optical drive, and if it needs to be a full size model, will dramatically change your case choices.
 
Solution

Izzywizz

Distinguished
May 4, 2012
12
0
18,510
That makes sense actually and I have to admit I love the design of the 304 case in white. I can live without an optical drive drive, I can always get an external one.

I changed the motherboard round to the one with M.2 support. Dumb question M.2 Drive support is a good thing right?
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/DD6n99

I will save up for the new graphics cards, do you happen to know when these graphics cards will be released?
Apologies for the barrage of questions but I assume my current Geforce 580 will fit? This is the one that I am currently using; its called a 'EVGA GeForce GTX 580 DS Superclocked'
 

Rammy

Honorable
An M.2 SSD is just a different interface, and it's significantly faster than SATA. It's a bit niche right now, and I wouldn't consider it a "must have" but if it's available then you might as well have it.
The Asus is a nice board, good features and a good layout. The main negative is no Wifi, so if you don't need that you are fine.

New Nvidia line - in theory 2 weeks, but it's probably going to be at least a month until they are widely available. They tend to trickle them out too, so it'll only be a couple of higher end models at first (presumably the GTX980 and GTX970) then they'll start to fill in the gaps.

As for the 580, no idea why it wouldn't fit. It's dual slot and 267mm long, the Node can take up to 310mm.
 

Izzywizz

Distinguished
May 4, 2012
12
0
18,510
That is awesome thanks, no I don't to have Wi-Fi, I usually use Ethernet cable when possible.
Hmm not long at all, I will definitely wait it out and check out these new power efficient video cards.

That's cool, I like niche, so I assume the SSD that you've picked uses this new interface?

Ooh while I've got your attention! Regarding the processor, i5 / i7. I guess for the level of work I do there's no need for these crazy expensive i7?

My budget would usually be higher but I'm determined to save money for once haha
 

Rammy

Honorable
Nah I stuck with the standard SATA drive as it's got greater compatibility .
Linking a Wikipedia article is a bit of a poor show, but here I go anyway. Some good images in here if nothing else
Basically instead of a separate drive, M.2 is more like a motherboard expansion card. They are incredibly small and discreet, as well as fast, but the technology isn't super mainstream just yet. It's probably more one for the future.

The difference between an i5 and an i7 is Hyperthreading (and an increased L3 cache) - they are otherwise basically identical. If you are running software which can take advantage of Hyperthreading then the i7s start to earn their price tag, but in general there's not a lot of difference in base performance. In gaming for example, i5s are almost always the way to go as it means more money for graphics.
 

Izzywizz

Distinguished
May 4, 2012
12
0
18,510
Yeah it seems that the interface is definitely set to be big deal in the future, especially with all different connector applications it ties into, its so small as well. I enjoyed reading about it. Cheers for that.
I didn't know about the processor type but that's useful information, I will definitely stick with the i5. Well I'm happy with my future build, I am going to wait a month or two and order the parts from the respective stores and put this crazy thing together.
Thank you everyone for your help! Awesome as always, special thanks to Rammy for putting up with all my questions haha.