Quiet i5 build - should I wait?

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nebulous1

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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: this month (UK) BUDGET RANGE: 600-800GBP (1000-1250USD)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Photoshop/CameraRaw/Illustrator/VisualStudio, TV and Entertainment (low-noise a high priority!), Games

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: monitor

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: www.scan.co.uk COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UK

PARTS PREFERENCES: Antec Sonata Elite already selected, would like to reuse my http://www.nexustek.nl/NXS-Nexus-VALUE-430-silent-power-supply-80plus-430watt.htm ] Hexus Value 430 PSU [/url] as it's so darn quiet! I'm probably going to stick my PCI TV tuner card and PCI Trust 7.1 surround card in it, too.

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200 (have a wicked Samsung 26inch - very happy with it)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I'm feeling very drawn to the Intel i5 750, since it sounds like the power draw is much lower than the AMD Phenom 2 X4 955 BE I had originally started building around. Downsides seem to be motherboard availability and cooler availability. Then again, as graphics apps have high ram usage, maybe I should stretch myself to a core i7 920 and a 6gb ram kit? Conditionally I'm thinking these:

Case: SONATA III UK - Antec Sonata III (but pref without PSU if the 430W Hexus can handle things?)
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P55-UD4, Intel P55
Processor: Intel Core i5 750
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS10X Quiet - Very few choices here!
RAM: 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS3 Dominator DDR3
Graphics: 1GB Sapphire HD 4870 Vapor-X
HDD: 1tb something-or-other, but would be good to add a second for photography backup (again, would I be taxing my PSU too hard?)
Optical: DVD RW, until blu-ray gets cheaper sometime next year.

Everyone keeps saying wait till socket 1156 has bedded in, and there are some cheaper boards, but you know how it is when you get the shiny things in your sights!

Cheers in advance for any advice!

 
W

wathman

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I would say you are cutting it close on the PSU. As Dndhatcher said, you won't get 2 4870's on that PSU. http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonhd4800/requirements.html
The ATI specs page says at least 500 Watt, but if you look at the full vendor list on recommended products, they have a 430 Watt Seasonic that made the cut and it has similar specs to yours.

I'd say give your PSU a try with the new hardware first, but be prepared for the possibility of needing an upgrade. Also, keep in mind that PSUs lose maximum output as they age.
 
dndhatcher

dndhatcher

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I forgot to check the RAM. Thats high voltage (1.8V) RAM. You want low voltage RAM (1.5-1.65V) with a p55 motherboard. That site doesnt have any. Getting Cas8 or 7 instead of 9 would be preferable. Gskill Ripjaws or
for Corsair this will give you the model numbers that are 1.65 volts in 2x2 kits.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2+50001666+40000147+1052315794+1259929402&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&Subcategory=147&description=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=1&srchInDesc=
This is the cheapest corsair low voltage model# CMX4GX3M2A1600C9

If your choices seem pretty limited, dont worry much about the CAS as it wont make much difference. You could even drop to DDR3 (1333) without noticeable real performance loss.
 
geofelt

geofelt

Titan
Oct 9, 2006
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For quiet computing, do some research at www.silentpcreview.com

Noise is mostly caused by fans running at high speeds.

Use any oem cpu cooler with a 120mm fan turning at 1000rpm or so, and you won't hear it.
Here is a review of some 1366 coolers:
http://www.frozencpu.com/resource/r24/Best_CPU_Cooler_Performance_LGA1366_-_Q1_2009.html?id=JqPuITTJ
Differences among the top 10 are not worth worrying about.

Corsair and PC P&C silencer PSU's are my favorites. They will be quiet unless they are overtaxed. How large a psu you need is determined by the graphics card, and not much else.

I would suggest looking at the Antec Solo case, there is nothing quieter. The sides are insulated, and the intakes baffled. The rear fan is a 3 speed unit, and on low, I can't hear mine. I like the washable intake filters.

Your applications will respond well to lots of ram. Ram is cheap, but current 4gb modules are expensive, so look for a motherboard with 6 slots to hold 12gb in a 6x2gb configuration. Don't pay extra for faster ram or better timings. It will make negligible difference to your applications. The gigabyte P55-UD6 is the only P55 board I know of with 6 ram slots, and it costs as much as a X58 motherboard. You can actually get a nice X58 motherboard for much less.

Look at a i7-920 configuration instead. You will get the extra threads for performance, and the cpu is a bit easier to overclock safely without increasing voltages. I think the smallish increase in price will be worth it to you.

I don't think you need a strong graphics card unless you will be doing lots of fast action gaming. I think photoshop can use some features of the Nvidia cards, so you might want to look into that. A card like the GTS250 would be a good starting point. Such a card would only require a 450 or 500Watt psu.

---good luck---
 
B

bnorth

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doesn't eclipse computers have quite a lot of bad press on the internet ?
I know every company has some bad press but eclips seems to have more than expected for the size of the company
 
N

nebulous1

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OK, for the sake of argument, let's try a 1366 build. With yet another retailer. The layout as adjusted above was coming out at £700 ($1,115). (I'm sticking with the case - I think it's very similar in it's properties to the Solo, and also has the washable filters). Let's see what the difference is like.

Mobo: ASRock X58 Deluxe Motherboard Intel Socket 1366
CPU: Intel Core i7 (920) 2.66GHz
Cooler: Akasa Intel 1366 775 Nero CPU Cooler
RAM: crucial 6GB 3x2GB DDR3-1066 CL7 ECC
Graphics: RADEON HD4850 512MB
HDDs: 2x SAMSUNG 1TB 32M SATA

This comes out at around £800 ($1,275), and I'm missing a PSU (as I take it my 430W would really not power all this??) Not a massive leap, I grant, and the lower power graphics is rated for 450W rather than the 500W of the 4870. Hm, I might get persuaded. It's more or less in budget. Still have to buy Windows 7, but OK.

Thanks for the link to those heat sinks, but they all seem very hard to find in the UK.

Cheers!
 
N

nebulous1

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I think for me the 250gts could still be a good choice, especially with that fancy cooler pre-installed. I'm a bit scared to go changing GPU coolers. The 4850 512mb is around £85 ($135) and the 250gts 1gb is £118 ($188). It's a pretty big difference in price for what sounds like a not massive difference in performance. I could get the 4870 1gb vapor-x for about £130 ($210), which is not much of a difference. Hum again!
 
N

nebulous1

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But maybe the pros are significant enough - I wan't reasonably low power draw, and a quiet cooler (but probably can't risk passive, with a sealed up quiet case)... There seems so little choice for truly quiet cards! Maybe I'll just buy something really cheap to get by until a mid-range 5000 series with vapor-x comes out. But rumour has it these cards are super long, and I don't think my case will handle that either!!!
 
N

nebulous1

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Right, here's the revised build:

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: this month (UK) BUDGET RANGE: 600-800GBP (1000-1250USD)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Photoshop/CameraRaw/Illustrator/VisualStudio, TV and Entertainment (low-noise a high priority!), Games

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: monitor

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: www.ebuyer.com COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UK

PARTS PREFERENCES: Antec Sonata Elite already selected, would like to reuse my http://www.nexustek.nl/NXS-Nexus-V [...] 30watt.htm ] Hexus Value 430 PSU [/url] as it's so darn quiet! I'm probably going to stick my PCI TV tuner card and PCI Trust 7.1 surround card in it, too.

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200 (have a wicked Samsung 26inch - very happy with it)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I've moved towards the i7 920 because everyone's been telling me what a good deal it is, and it seems the upgrade path will remain open for a good while.

Antec Sonata Elite Black Mid Tower Silent Case - No PSU £67.04
OCZ 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz/PC3-12800 Platinum Triple Channel Memory Kit CL7 1.65V £105.46 (about £25 more than higher latency ram - worth it?)
ASUS P6T SE iX58 Socket 1366 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard £139.78
Intel Core i7 920 D0 2.66GHz Socket 1366 8MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor £210.98
Akasa Nero Intel Socket 1366 Processor Cooler £23.86
2x Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache - OEM £55.35
PowerColor HD 4770 PCS 512MB GDDR5 DVI VGA HDMI PCI-E Graphics Card £72.41 (with a 6 month old baby around, I ain't really got masses of time for gaming these days. It's going to be a case of cheeky late night sessions, when I'm already far too tired, and suffering for it at work the next day!)

Shipping Charge: £12.40

Total: £742.63

Right, I've built her up, now knock her down, please!
 
N

nebulous1

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Sep 25, 2009
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Antec Sonata Elite Black Mid Tower Silent Case - No PSU £67.04
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz/PC3-12800 Platinum i5 Memory Kit 1.65V CL7(7-7-7-24) £84.99
ASUS P7P55D iP55 Socket LGA 1156 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard £115.52
Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz Socket LGA1156 8MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor £146.97
Zalman CNPS10X QUIET CPU Tower Cooler £34.77 (plus postage - different retailer - few 1156 tower coolers available and read a good review of this, but alternatively:
Scythe SCZP-2000 ZIPANG 2 Socket 478/775/754/939/940/AM2/AM3/1156/1366 with 140mm Fan Heatpipe Processor Cooler £42.78 (this is in the frostytech top 5, which seems to be a bit of a bible)
2x Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache - OEM £55.35
XFX HD 4770 512MB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDCP HDTV out PCI-E Graphics Card

£657.24 / £647 based on final cooler choice

It's a chuck less change.

Good grief - one day I'll make a decision, but I may need a whole month. I was going to wait for Windows 7 to ship before I build, anyway, so I got time.
 
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